The Changeling Trials

by PastCat

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Celestia, Slice of Life, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Romance, Changelings, Original Character, Sex, Comedy
Length: 50916

After the royal wedding, the guard rounds up suspected changelings across Equestria. Princess Luna takes charge of resolving the fates of these non-Chrysalis changelings

In the wake of the interrupted wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, the Royal Guard went on a changeling hunt, fanning out throughout Equestria to find any changelings living amongst ponykind. The captured changelings have been confined to a guard barracks in Canterlot.

Meanwhile Princess Celestia is finding herself swamped with petitions from ponies across Equestria asking for amnesty for their changeling friends, colleagues, and lovers. Princess Luna, who has been itching to regain some responsibility since her return, offers to take on the petitioners... and the changelings.

(sex tag for off-screen births and hinted baby-making)

Published 2014-12-10 03:40:15 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-15 05:42:59 UTC

Prologue: Princess of Paperwork

Celestia felt harassed. Seriously. The least known part of being a princess was all the paperwork. Celestia’s office was crowded with stack after stack of various documents having to do with the administration of Equestria. And now… these had started to show up. In the wake of the wedding and attempted invasion by the changeling hive of Queen Chrysalis, the Royal Guard had been kept busy seeking out and rounding up changelings all over Equestria. That, though, was not the cause of the excess paperwork. Not directly anyway. The growing mountain of paper here consisted of petitions from ponies asking for amnesties for changelings. There were dozens of them, more coming every day. The Princess of the Sun sighed. There was not enough time in the day (and there was no way that a newly returned Luna would ever agree to shorten her night for the sake of finishing paperwork), but it was all still there. Paperwork. Ugh.

Her mental complaints were interrupted by a knock on the door. “What?” The princess snapped. The door was eased open by a pale blue aura and a dark blue alicorn stepped through, bearing a tray with a teapot, two cups, and Celestia’s favorite angel food cake on a platter of its own. “Sister, thy Luna hast brought thee some repast!” Celestia glanced at the clock and started. It was that time already? She and Luna had restarted an old hobby of sharing a snack just before each princess performed her duties at sundown. Luna was looking askance at her sister. “You forgot again, did you not?” Celestia sighed guiltily. “Yes.”

“Tia, you are working too hard! What in the name of Faust is all this?” Luna levitated a page off the stack nearest to her with her shimmering magic aura and read the first few lines. She glanced back up at her sister. “Tia, how many of these changeling petitions are in here?”

Celestia rubbed at her forehead with a hoof. “I do not know. I have not had time to look. Too many.”

Luna rolled her eyes at her workaholic sibling. “Sister, you have not slept in two days. Do not try and tell me otherwise; I know these things. You will wear yourself to a nub if you do not take a break. Is there any of this that you would let me take over,” she tapped the pile of petitions, “like these?”

Celestia looked confused. “But Luna, are you sure…?” She began hesitantly.

Luna quelled her by looking Celestia in the baggy eyes and interrupted. “I am not fresh from the nightmare moon thing any longer, Tia. Plus…” the blue alicorn hesitated before continuing, “I am not certain you would be the best judge for these non-hive changelings. Both you and Cadence had painful encounters with Chrysalis and her hive. I am not sure that, were I the friend of a changeling, I would trust your objectivity.”

Celestia looked scandalized, then thoughtful, then guilty. It was true; she was not inclined toward a gentle treatment of the changelings. “And you are?” the older alicorn asked.

“Moreso than you think. I did, after all, sleep through the whole incident when it all blew up. I at least have the advantage of no direct encounters with the attackers. Besides, due to what little we know of the changelings’ feeding needs, we should deal with this as quickly as possible. Not even changelings from a hostile hive should be allowed to starve.”

They were good reasons, all of them. Celestia inhaled before responding. “This seems… odd for you, Luna. I am not used to you being a voice of… mercy.”

Luna smiled in sympathy. “You taught me about the benefit of mercy, sister. Do not forget the role you played during my salvation via the elements at our old castle. I would like to apply it my way, to help some pony, or some changelings as the case would be. And who knows, these changelings could be of benefit to society in Equestria.”

Celestia sighed again before slowly nodding. This was one argument she was not about to win. Luna had always been a lover of logic puzzles, even as a foal. Celestia preferred to use her time differently. Besides, her sister had brought up good points. “All right, Lulu. If you are certain you want to take these on as part of your Night Court duties, I will let you do so. I will also notify the couriers to direct all changeling petitions to you from now on.”

“I thank you, sister, for trusting me with this.” Luna lifted the entire stack of petitions off her sister’s desk and replaced them with the cake and hot cocoa. “Now Tia, it is time we ate and spoke of naught but pleasantries.”

Author's Note

I just want to say a couple things:
1) This was my NaNoWriMo novel. If it seems too wordy, that's why. I will be editing it more as I get time.

2) This is also my first attempt at a fic on here. I am open to advice (but please don't be too evil).

3) The format involves a string of changeling scenarios stretching anywhere from 1 to 5 chapters. All will be longer than this first one. Consider yourself warned, dear reader.

Chapter I: From the Desk of Luna

After watching her sister lower the sun and raising and placing the stars in its place, Luna checked the docket for Night Court. She quickly made it through the few petitioners (most of them either wanted her to overturn some decision of Celestia’s or were from ponies who worked during the day. The former she loathed; the latter she enjoyed). Luna then settled down in her study, accompanied by her pet opossum, Tiberius, and her secretary, Eclipse.

Eclipse was unusual; she was from a subspecies of unicorn that was naturally nocturnal. Like Luna’s bat pony guards, ebon unicorns had been ostracized during Luna’s stint as Nightmare Moon, but had come back into royal regard with the lunar princess’s return. Eclipse was a green so dark it appeared black, with a horn that spiraled in the opposite direction of a daylight unicorn. Her aura was so pale as to be only visible at night, and her mane and tail were the same shade of blue as her turquoise ink pot cutie mark.

“What is all this?” Eclipse asked incredulously as Tiberius looked up from his lounging position on his mistress’s lap.

“My dear sister is allowing me to take on responsibility for these changeling requests.” Luna replied. Her brow furrowed a little. “But first we need a place to start.”

“You are quite right, princess,” Eclipse murmured, nodding as she levitated a scroll, ink bottle and quill to her desk, “Might I suggest that we begin with some rules to determine in what order you will deal with these and how?”

Luna mentally blessed one of her guards for bringing this very organized mare to her attention last year. She nodded in approval. “Let us begin with something simple. Petitioners must be able and willing to identify their changeling friend by name and appearance. Equestrian or Changeish name, either would do.” Eclipse wrote that down as Luna continued.

“Secondly, there must be more than one pony willing to vouch for the changeling’s character and verify his or her identity. Said pony must be willing to undergo a magic scan to ensure that he or she is a pony.” A very simple concept, but it was wise to cover all the bases here.

“Thirdly, the pony must show that the changeling has a way of feeding safely without causing harm to any other ponies or being at risk to themselves.” She paused to be certain Eclipse was still keeping up. She was.

“Finally, the changeling must have a place and form of their own and be able to contribute to their communities. It may not be safe for changelings to be out in their natural form these days, and it would be best if they did not use other ponies’ forms in public.” Eclipse finished and read the list back to the princess. Luna smiled and nodded again. “Very well. Time to start sorting. Let us begin with sorting by date of capture, since those will have been here the longest and will probably have the most dire hunger.”

Two magic auras lit up stacks of paper and three sets of eyes, two equine, and one not, began scanning petitions. Luna glanced at Eclipse and found the ebon unicorn looking back at her. “We need to know more about the care and feeding of changelings," the Night Princess added. "I shall ask one of my guards to speak to the detainees. Perhaps if one of them speaks Equestrian, we can make him of her an offer of amnesty in exchange for talking to us.”

Eclipse gave her boss a cockeyed grin. “Maybe we should offer Twilight a research opportunity.” Luna cringed. In pursuit of knowledge, the bearer of Magic could be, well, tactless, to put it mildly.

“I do not think that would be a good idea.” Luna said.

Eclipse flashed that grin again. “I know, Princess. But it was worth seeing your reaction. It would be worth a try to send somepony to talk to the changelings.”

Luna chuckled, recognizing the joke. “Very well. Let us return to our sorting. And Eclipse…”

“Yes?”

“When it is just us in here, please call me Luna.” The two mares exchanged smiles and returned to their work.

“Might I make another suggestion?” Eclipse inquired after an hour’s work.

Princess Luna nodded. “Please do, Eclipse. I am open to suggestions of any kind.”

“If there are any petitioners that are of a more, uh, sensitive nature, perhaps you should see them in private rather than at open night court. If we run into any changelings with, for example, pony lovers or spouses, they may not want to air that in public, especially given some of the… hmmm… less discrete nobles who attend court solely for their entertainment.” Eclipse paused, as if to collect her thoughts.

“Is there something else, my friend?” Asked Princess Luna, patiently eying her assistant.

“The only thing I was going to add is that maybe you should do some of these earliest ones in private. I think it would give you a better feel for the kinds of requests you will be getting and you will not need to worry about embarrassing either the changelings or their pony sponsors. It may make the whole situation easier to handle. I suspect there will be plenty of … ahhh… more public petitioners who will not wait to be summoned to a more private audience.”

Luna nodded again at her assistant’s idea; that was one of her favorite aspects of her secretary and friend. Eclipse had that odd combination of a solid core of common sense and an exterior idealism that bordered on whimsy. “I know what else you are thinking of, Eclipse.” Luna said, with a slight chiding note to her voice. “You are also trying to spare my feelings as much as possible.”

Eclipse’s face turned a slightly darker shade of green that Luna pretended not to notice. The princess of the night continued her thoughts: “While I appreciate the sentiment, there is no need to be so protective. Yes, it will be necessary to protect all parties involved here, but I still want some of this at least to be very public indeed. We need to show ponies that we are doing something to solve the present changeling threat as well as that we want to be able to prevent something like Chrysalis’s attempted invasion in the future. With that in mind, I hope we can find not only changelings that bear no hive affiliation, but also an alliance with a less hostile hive or two in order to gain us insight as to how a queen controls her underlings. My hope is that by granting resident changelings some semblance of citizenship, we open up diplomatic channels for hives as well.”

There was silence as Eclipse thought over the moon princess’s proposal. “That would be unprecedented, Luna,” the ebon unicorn commented a few minutes later, “but it would be very useful if you were able to manage it.”

The alicorn nodded. “Tis a noble goal to be certain, but one, I believe, that would be worth aiming for.” The pair returned to their amiable silence and sorting of petitions.

Author's Note

Ok, a little headcannon here: Eclipse and the ebon unicorns are basically night unicorns and equivalent to the bat-ponies. They're no less or more powerful than daylight unicorns, but they are much less common.

(I imagine that Sombra was an ebon unicorn and that his corruption and subsequent betrayal helped drive Luna into the nightmare.)

Chapter II: The First Petitioner

The next evening, Luna read the note her assistant had left before taking her preplanned evening off:

Luna, it read, I found this while looking through the older petitions earlier. Perhaps it would be an appropriate place to begin? ~Eclipse.

Curious, Luna examined the attached document. The first thing that attracted her notice was the quality of the paper. It was the stiff, pale blue stock with a magical watermark that contained the insignia of the night division of the Frontier Guard used by officers of that unit. The Frontier Guard was a holdover from the wilder days in Equestria’s history when border incursions were frequent and clashes with griffons and nomadic bands of roving bison or camels a regular occurrence. These days were more peaceful, but the Frontier Guard remained as an outlet for more adventurous ponies to serve their kingdom. On the page, the insignia of the night division showed the crest of the Lunar Guard, a silver crest of a crescent moon. A note stated pompously that it was “From the desk of Commander Star Skimmer” and had an address that listed a location near the mountainous northern border of Equestria. Luna felt proud and nostalgic knowing that at least this remnant of her ancient army structure had endured and remained intact after her centuries of banishment. The Frontier Guard had been a sort of sanctuary for bat ponies and ebon unicorns after her attempted coup. Luna let herself stay lost in thought for a few minutes before turning her attention to the letter’s contents.

To Her Majesty, Princess Luna,
I wish to thank you for your devotion to the night-born and humbly request that you consider my query regarding the amnesty of a young changeling recently brought to Canterlot by the Royal Guard. She goes by the name of Rough Diamond and is black with silver wings and crest in her natural state. When in pony form she wears the appearance of a black bat pony with a silver mane and tail and a cutie mark of a single white diamond on a spear shaft. Di has been an unofficial member of our regiment for three years, ever since a patrol found her as a foal in the foothills of the Drake’s Spine Mountains.

She was raised within our troop and those of us who care for her deeply also know how to ensure that she is well-fed and happy. She is an excellent comrade in battle and a benevolent trickster in camp and has come to be a sort of mascot for the lot of us. The troops rally around her name as if she were a princess or other high officer! Because we are concerned for her well-being, we humbly request that Rough Diamond be returned to her post with the regiment. Since her absence, morale has dropped to a level far below normal.

Should you wish to verify this with a present member of our regiment, I can endeavor to send someone on detached duty in a few weeks. However, if you are willing to speak to a former member, one of my sergeants, Gray Wing, was honorably discharged due to battle injuries. He and his wife retired to the Canterlot area last summer. I have written to him and his address is listed below. Thank you for your consideration of this matter, your highness.

~Star Skimmer, Commanding Officer, Night Division, Frontier Guard, North

Enclosed with the letter, Luna found the aforementioned address as well as a photograph. The photo showed a crowd of ponies in frontier guard uniforms clustered around two figures. One was a dark changeling with light markings and bright eyes who grinned straight at the camera. The troops around her looked happy, proud, and very cocky. All wore the dark purple armor of the Lunar Guard but were armed with the crossbows favored on the frontier. The most prominent of these was the other central figure, a tough- looking tall stallion with an old-fashioned crested helmet with more in common to the armor of ancient Pegasopolis than the modern guard. That fierce impression was somewhat spoiled by the way he smiled down at the changeling, much like a proud grandfather would do over a particularly precocious first grandchild. Luna admired the image before flipping the photo over to read the note on the back. The Night Frontiersponies: Note the diamond within our roughness! Luna chuckled. Frontier guards had a reputation for rowdy fun and a wicked sense of humor. She was startled out of her contemplation when a servant tapped on the door frame to remind her that Night Court was scheduled to begin. Before the session started, Luna sent a note to Gray Wings’ address via courier inviting the retired sergeant to meet with her about Diamond. By the end of Night Court, a trivial one as such things went, she had received an answer. Sergeant Gray Wings would arrive an hour past midnight.

At one a.m. sharp, a Lunar Guard led a stallion and his companion into the audience chamber. Luna studied the newcomers. The stallion was large for a bat pony, with a straight-spined military dignity that was counteracted by a glint in his green eye that belied a wry sense of humor. The cause of his discharge was quite apparent, as his left eye was covered with a patch and his left wing bound to a splint that suggested a wound had not healed right. The most attractive thing about the charcoal gray stallion was his attitude. He swaggered with a boldness that only a cinematic pirate could aspire to. His tufted ears were in constant motion, as if to take in any unexpected action and confront it.

The mare who accompanied him had a decidedly different air about her. Luna recognized it as similar to that which Twilight Sparkle occasionally had with her sister when Celestia was feeling fractious. The mare looked at the Gray Wings’ swagger with a look that said something akin to “I know you and respect you, but by Faust, do you have to act like that in public?” The mare was a pegasus the color of butter, but with the stallion’s dark gray mane and tail. Like the stallion she too had tufted ears, though her wings were feathered.

“I greet you, Sergeant Gray Wings, and…?” Luna began.

“My daughter, Sandstone,” the stallion replied, “but please, I prefer to be called Sarge.” Sandstone rolled her eyes.

“Ah, yes, quite.” Luna said regaining her composure. Faust, she thought, I’d forgotten how awkward these private audiences were. The stallion rescued her from her awkward silence.

“I heard through the grape vine that you were in charge of the shifties. When I heard that Rough Diamond had gotten caught up in all that I thought I would give the little scamp a wing. Faust knows she is no danger to Equestria. Old Skimmer is probably itching to have her back on patrol. No one is better at noticing border crossers.”

Luna blinked. No one had spoken so directly to her since her return except for Celestia. It was surprisingly refreshing. From his attitude, Sergeant Gray Wings considered her as a sort of comrade. That warmed her heart.

“Indeed, Sarge,” the princess of the night said, chuckling. “Of course, would you be willing to answer a few questions about Rough Diamond and her… exploits with the Frontier Guard?”
“Absolutely, your majesty. Fire at will!” The stallion replied, shifting into a seated position. He turned to his daughter. “You might as well sit and listen too, you whippersnapper. This will take a while and you haven't heard some of these stories.” The mare rolled her eyes. Luna winked at her as Sandstone took a seat next to her father.

“Very well. Let us begin. Can you tell me how Rough Diamond became attached to the regiment?” Luna asked.

“Certainly.” The bat pony replied. “It all started in the winter…”

Author's Note

I wrote this before reading the comic with Trixie and a different Rough Diamond.

Chapter III: Gray Wings and the Diamond

"It was a dark and snowy night, very cold and windy, so all around poor flying weather. I have never seen such a storm before nor since. It was one of those blusterers where you can not tell what direction the wind is coming from without getting blown half the way to Griffonia. We were on patrol near the border. I think we were all complaining up a storm as much as the storm was complaining about everything, including us being out in it. All of a sudden, we heard the sound of someone whimpering. Now, I was not a parent yet, but it takes a harder stally than me to ignore the cry of a young thing in distress.

"The six of us in that night’s patrol, it was me, Wild Ride, Blue Stone, Ice Slider, Rooke, and one of the rookies, Candlewick I think. Any ways, it was us six all following this little sound in a snow storm when Rooke stumbled into a little black thing. It looked like a rock that had been covered with ice, but we saw it wiggle a little and realized she was breathing. We did not know that she was a changeling, not that we knew what a changeling was of course, but it would not have been right to leave any critter out in that storm. Blue took her up on his back and said she felt cold. Well, you can bet we rushed her back to base as quickly as we could. We took her straight to our medic, Golden Touch. Sweet as honey, that one, I always loved her even back then."

“Daddy!”

“Sorry, Sandy”

"Anyhow, Touch got the little ling all warm and cozy and the six of us who found her took turns stayin’ up with the little thing and reading her stories and whatnot. She did not speak at all, but she was understandin’ us all the same. We did not realize it at the time, but whenever we were in there takin’ care of her, she was taking the bits and pieces of TLC, ya know, tender loving care, with an emphasis on the L. She would not eat anything, which was perplexing to all of us, but eventually Touch found an old book that said something about how changelings like to eat love. It did not seem worth causing a ruckus about, since it was just the one little ling. I never saw another changeling looking for her when we were out patrolling, so I guess she was outside of any hive connection.

"Anywho, she stayed, and once the little ling taught herself how to shift into something pony enough that we could understand her speaking Equestrian, she managed to worm her way into every pony who came into camp, from the travelers and merchants just passing through to those of us who were based there. She even had the commandant tied around her hoof. It was never any harm, you understand. She was always real sweet to everybody and as friendly as all get out. She never had to steal love from any pony. It was freely given by the trough full. As she got older, she stuck with us, doing all our exercises and going out on patrol and even fighting alongside us or helping Touch with the medical stuff. We joked that she was the luck of the regiment and to us she was the most valuable, the most special jewel in our treasure hoard. That’s where the name came from, you see. We were all these rough types, out for adventure and whatnot, and through it all was this little changeling, flying with us, fighting with us. She would do other things too. When we got new recruits especially, Di would give them some kind of initiation. Usually it was some kind of crazy over the top prank. I saw everything from a recruit’s uniform being dyed neon green to whoopee cushions in some pony’s cot to when she somehow filled a couple cannons with confetti during a ten-gun salute for the commandant’s birthday instead of shot.

"It was a lucky happening that she was with us when my patrol got caught by a pack of timber wolves. I stayed behind as rear guard to let the rest get away, but she stayed with me, though I did not realize it at the time. I got torn up something awful and I guess I was knocked out. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in Golden Touch’s hooves at the infirmary with one wing and one eye bandaged. When I was able to talk again, dear Goldie told me that it was that little diamond in the rough who persuaded the commandant to send another patrol out to look for me and bring me back. If she had not, I would not be standing here.

"Well, after that I spent a lot of time getting used to what happened to the eye, but the wing just would not set properly. Golden Touch would stay by my side and so would Diamond. They were the only two ponies on base I felt I could talk to. Eventually we realized I was grounded permanently and the commander gave me a medal and a discharge and I retired back here to Canterlot. Golden Touch came with me as my nurse, and later as my bride. I never forgot about Diamond though. I would send her letters all the time. She sent me some too. Then after the Royal Wedding they just… stopped coming. I didn't know what had gone wrong until the commander wrote to me about what happened. I knew I had to do everything I could for that little diamond in the rough, just as she had done for me. It is a life debt, you know, Princess, as strong as any comrade’s blood bond or earth pony cupcake promise or pegasus feather swear or unicorn magical vow.

"She is a friend, Princess, one of the only ones still with the regiment. It always meant so much to her and the other guys and gals to have her there. I imagine that they all feel really unlucky now. That's dangerous, ya see. A pony who feels unlucky is more likely to be unlucky and come to disaster in battle. Just as an army with a reputation for being unbeatable wins battles, that regiment is lucky because it feels lucky. And since it only feels lucky when she is there…"

Chapter IV: Luna's First Changeling

An awkward silence descended upon the room as the stallion finished speaking. He looked older, and, if that was even possible, grayer. The mare beside him broke the silence. “You're right, Father. You never told me this much about Rough Diamond and Mother. I had no idea she was how you two got together.”

The defiance of the posturing teenage pony was gone. With the facade melted away, Luna could see the resemblance between Sandstone and Gray Wings and the closeness the father and daughter shared. It reminded her of herself and Celestia in their weaker moments. The princess shook herself out of her reverie.

“Well, Sergeant, would you and your daughter be willing to enter the dungeons with me to find your diamond in the rough?”

The stallion looked up at the alicorn and nodded silently. The three equines headed for a set of stairs that led downward to the holding area near the guards’ barracks.

A few dozen changelings were being held in an unused barracks near the guards. Luna nodded to the pony in armor who stood watch over the entrance to the building. He unlocked the door for the princess and her guests. In the large building, numerous insect-like eyes turned towards the newcomers. Luna stood aside and watched the retired guard for his reaction. Gray Wings stood still, then closed his remaining eye and set his jaw. He let out an almost inaudible sound, one so high-pitched that only those with bat enhanced ears could hear. The changelings looked startled; evidently it was not too high for their ears. Gray Wings made the sound again, walking through the building, listening for a reply and navigating by the sound of the area around him. Luna and Sandstone followed, neither saying a word. Eventually the stallion stopped at one of the cots. A rather small changeling with light-colored markings looked back at him and buzzed. He let out a noise of the same pitch in reply, then re-adjusted himself to be understood by normal ponies. He opened his eye and turned to Luna.

“Princess, meet Rough Diamond, the luck of the Frontier Night Guard.”

Luna and the changeling stared at each other for a moment. Then the changeling made a buzzing noise. Luna shook her head. She could not understand the little bug pony’s speech. Gray Wing saw the problem. He shifted his ears forward again and buzzed at the changeling, then nodded.

“She greets you, your majesty, and asks if you would remove the magic inhibitor on her horn so she can speak for herself in a form that is more easily understood."

Luna blinked, then used her magic to unclip the device from the changeling’s horn. Immediately, the bug-pony lit herself with sickly green fire and the ponies found themselves facing a young bat pony mare with a large diamond-tipped spear cutie mark.

“Thanks, Sarge. This is much more comfortable.” The now-pony murmured in a voice that had the smoothness and sweetness of molasses. She then turned to the princess and bowed gracefully.

Luna gestured for her to rise. “It seems we have much to discuss. Let us adjourn to my study.”

The four of them left by the door that they had entered by, with Luna informing the guard that the changeling was under her care until further notice. When the princess turned back to her guests, she was surprised to see that the changeling was animatedly talking with Sandstone, who was looking more lively than Luna had seen her all evening. Gray Wing looked smug, as if he had planned this all along. Luna suspected he had brought his daughter along for just that purpose. The walk to the Night Princess’s study was full of amiable chatter between the two young mares as their elders were content to listen.

Upon arrival in the room, Luna gestured her guests onto cushions around her desk.

“So it appears that this is indeed the changeling you have been telling me about, Sargent.” The princess began.

The former guard nodded and the princess continued.

“Before we do anything, would you be willing to answer any of my questions, Miss Diamond?”

The changeling nodded.

“Very well. Can you tell me anything about how changelings feed?”

Rough Diamond thought for a moment “Well your highness, you have to understand that I am not an ordinary changeling, seeing as I was raised by ponies and all.”

Luna waved a hoof to say that was of no consequence.

The changeling continued with a nod. “Ponies give off a lot of love among themselves. It is kind of just there, hovering like dust motes in the sunlight. At the base camp, it was so thick that I could just breathe it in. Between that and what my comrades freely gave me as one of their own, I was never hungry until I left. I don't know how to feed off ponies directly, you see. I never had to.”

Luna nodded in understanding. She asked another question. “Can you tell me why you asked me to remove your magic inhibitor to be understood?”

“In my natural form,” the changeling replied, “my vocal cords are attuned to a higher pitch than most ponies can hear. In addition, Changeish is spoken much more rapidly than Equestrian and thus sounds like a high-pitched buzz. In a way, I was very fortunate to be found by bat ponies. They have the right hearing ability to be able to understand me in changeling form.”

Gray Wing broke in at seeing the princess’s puzzled look. “I think I can describe it for you, your majesty. Think about that pink Element Bearer, the one with Laughter. Now imagine that you have fed her coffee beans that have been dipped in chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Then she took a dozen floating balloons full of helium gas and inhaled it all to make her voice sound funny.”

Luna cringed. Pinkie was hyper and squeaky enough on a normal basis. Add caffeine, sugar, and helium to the mix and there would be no chance of keeping up with that mare.

Gray Wings saw the expression on the princess’s face and grinned. “Now double the effect. That is what a natural changeling speaking Equestrian or Changeish sounds like.”

Luna had a difficult time imagining what that would sound like. All she could see in her mind’s eye was an explosion of some kind, complete with mushroom cloud with a blinding flash of light and a sound that would echo across Equestria.

“And… you are able to understand that?” She asked hesitantly.

The stallion and changeling both nodded. “As long as I speak slowly and speak Equestrian, he does.” Rough Diamond replied. “Some of the changelings back at the barracks, though, I am not certain they know how to speak Equestrian in natural form. It takes a while to get right.”

Luna sighed inwardly. “I have one more inquiry to make of you. It may take a little while before we would be able to arrange transport back to your regiment. Where would you stay in the mean time?”

“With us and our family.” Sandstone broke in. “That way, you would get another pony to verify Di for you when Mother gets home from work and she will be well-cared for in the interim.”

Luna nodded, pleased with the Pegasus pony’s answer. “Very well.” The princess reached for an inkwell, quill, and scroll and wrote out a pass of amnesty for Rough Diamond to carry with her back to the regiment with her. She passed the note over to the ponies and changeling to sign. Three sets of eyes read the document. Diamond was the first to react. She jumped up, her wings fluttering, and dove toward the princess, wrapping her in a hug.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” She squealed. Sandstone chuckled and Gray Wings raised an eyebrow.

“Your freedom and an official commission with your regiment of the Frontier Guard.” Luna managed to murmur when the babbling mare had to stop for breath. “Now you are an official member. Perform your duties with honor,” she winked, “and by all means, enjoy yourself.”

The two ponies and one overjoyed changeling left the room together; Rough Diamond was chattering up a storm with Sandstone attempting to get a word in edgewise. Before he departed the room behind them, Gray Wings turned back to the Princess of the Night. “I thank you, your majesty, from the bottom of my heart. Would it be all right if I – we – wrote to you? I am certain Di will have loads of stories to tell you.”

Luna smiled at the retired guard. “You are very welcome Sergeant. It would make me very happy to correspond with you and yours.”

The stallion returned her grin, sketched a quick bow, then followed his daughter and her friend toward the exit. As the door swung shut behind them, Luna let out a satisfied sigh. This mercy thing felt good. And it gave her a good story to tell Tia tomorrow. The princess of the night turned to the stack of petitions. Perhaps there would be another in here that would prove equally fruitful…

Chapter V: Next?

Luna was still sorting through the stack of petitions when Eclipse trotted in. “So how did it go, Prin- er, Luna?” The ebon unicorn asked.

Luna looked up from examining one of the pages and replied “It went very well, if I may say so myself. The retired sergeant came with his daughter and recognized Rough Diamond immediately. I received word just a short while ago from the guard I sent to escort them back to Gray Wings’ home that the sergeant’s wife also recognized the changeling from her time with the Frontier Guard. Rough Diamond will be staying with their family until the snow has melted enough for the pass to the Drake’s Spine mountains to be passable.”

Eclipse smiled. “I am very glad the first one went well. Did you get a chance to speak to the changeling about possible feeding for the others still in the barracks?”

“I did, but she did not have any suggestions to offer. It was difficult enough to understand what she was saying until she was allowed to shift into a pony form.”

Eclipse looked confused. Luna hastened to explain: “normal changeling speech is inaudible; it just sounds like a buzzing insect. Only the enhanced hearing of bat ponies like my night guard is able to pick it up. In addition, the native tongue of many changelings is different from Equestrian. We would have a hard time finding a bat pony who would be able to interpret for us.”

“But these changelings were all captured in Equestria! Wouldn't they all speak our language?” Eclipse blurted out.

Luna shook her head. “Not in changeling form. Apparently they are unable to enunciate some of the motions that make up equine speech. That is why most ponies are likewise unable to speak Changeish; it uses a whole different way of speaking.”

The two mares sat in silence for a moment and contemplated this development. “Perhaps there is a spell somewhere, something akin to the one used to understand animal speech, that can be modified to work on changelings. Or perhaps there is a way to turn pony speech into Changeish when one is speaking to changelings.” Eclipse at last suggested.

Luna considered the idea, then nodded. “I shall ask the scholars at the Royal Canterlot Archives and Library if they can find anything of that sort. I will likewise consult with the savants at the Equestrian National Museum.”

The alicorn and ebon unicorn then turned their attention to the petitions. “After that first one, it will be difficult to decide which of these to take under consideration next.” Luna murmured.

Eclipse levitated three petitions from the stack. “Whatever ponies sent you these must be desperate. One is addressed to Princess Celestia, one is addressed to you, and one is addressed to both of you. They are all asking about the exact same three changelings, and I think they are from the same ponies, but it is difficult to be sure. The paper quality is very different on each of them. The message and magic signature are the same though.”

Luna caught the one addressed to her alone from the pile and read it. The petition claimed that three changelings were vital to the entrepreneurial enterprise of the pair of unicorns who had written the document. The princess examined the names and descriptions more closely. The first thing that struck her was that, unlike the first letter from the Night Guard commander, these writers did not describe the changelings as friends. The descriptions were more detailed about their physical features than about their personalities. The writers even failed to mention the changelings’ names. It felt more like they were describing parts of a machine to a metal worker in order to secure a replacement. The dryness of the words made Luna feel sick to her stomach, and a little cold. To say the least, it was highly unnerving.

“What do you think of these?” She asked Eclipse at last.

Eclipse scanned the letter before replying. “Well, Luna, I don't like it. This feels more akin to the sale of livestock than a request to have a friend or something like that freed from prison. Besides, I have heard something of these unicorns. They have a … reputation.”

Luna looked questioningly at her assistant. The night unicorn squirmed uncomfortably. “What kind of reputation?”

“They are hucksters, out to make a quick buck off of whatever they can. Shady farm deals, snake oil tonics, black marketeering of magical goods, questionable machinery, and I am certain there is more that they are up to but have never gotten caught. They stay in a small town for a while, make as many deals as possible, then try to depart without paying what is owed.”

Luna pondered this information. “So should we invite them to Canterlot to make their case?”

Eclipse looked hesitant. “If it were solely up to me, Luna, I would say ‘no’. This tale of theirs just does not ring true to me. Your sister might have a suggestion on how or whether to pursue this case.”

Luna pondered that. Yes, Celestia had more experience with this kind of question. If what Eclipse had said of the reputation of these Flim and Flam ponies was true, her sister may even know of their exploits. Very well; she would consult with the solar princess when they met for breakfast. In the meantime, though…

“The Royal Archives, Library, and Equestrian Museum. If any of these places of learning can give us a way to understand Changeish speech, we should get them to do their utmost.”

“May I make a suggestion, Luna?” Eclipse asked her companion. Luna nodded. “Perhaps we could also make inquiries of Twilight Sparkle. She may not like changelings after what happened with her brother, but I think that the possibility of learning something of changeling life from a first-hoof source would be irresistible to her. After all, it took a royal order from Princess Celestia to even get her to leave the Royal Library and go to Ponyville for your return. She practically lived there. It would be better to get her involved indirectly at first; we can always ask for more direct help later.”

Luna nodded. “I will ask if my sister will send her a letter, then. It will give Twilight Sparkle something new to research.” The pair of nocturnal equines returned to their sorting in companionable silence. As the night began to draw to a close, they had finally worked out a general system for working through the petitioners. As Luna left to lower the moon and join her sister for breakfast, she carried the Flim-Flam petitions with her. As she closed the door behind her, the last thing she noticed was Eclipse sound asleep on an old divan, surrounded by documents and wrapped up in one of the decorative throw blankets embroidered with a design of constellations in the night sky.

Chapter VI: Breakfast at Tia's

Luna joined her sister at the breakfast table. As usual, only a fraction of the long dining hall table was in use. To tell the truth, the only time it was ever full was for state dinners and the Grand Galloping Gala. The immense wooden table was polished to a shine, but still felt out of place amid the bright colors and pastel walls of the castle. This table had been a gift from one of the great Thanes of the Kingdom of the Deer to the north and west of Equestria, a place where more than just eating would be done in the great halls. Today, though, this table would play host to more than a meal.

“Hello, my dearest and favorite sister!” Luna extolled, still feeling some of the energy from the night before.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Good morning Luna, my ONLY sister.”

Luna chuckled. Celestia was not one who enjoyed fanciful wordplay; rather, it annoyed her. It was one of the reasons Luna still allowed herself to lapse into old Equestrian in her sister’s presence. As the younger alicorn sat down near the older, she asked “And I take it you slept well, dear Tia?”

“I did indeed, Luna. It was one of the most restful nights I have had in a long time. How are you and your assistant doing with those petitions?”

“We seem to have most of them in hoof, Celestia, but there is at least one for which I could use some of your insight.” Luna passed one of the copies of the petition she and Eclipse had been discussing to her sister. Celestia read the document slowly, blinking behind her reading glasses. By the time she had finished the page, she looked rather disgusted.

“Ugh, these two again? I have had at least one complaint about them every year since they went into business. Even Twilight and her friends have encountered them. I would rather not have them within ten leagues of the palace.”

Tia is really vehement about these stallions, Luna thought to herself, they annoyed her enough that she is speaking of archaic units of measurement! Inwardly, the Princess of the Moon grinned. “So in other words, I should attempt to speak to ‘their’ changelings without them present. May I ask of you a favor, then?”

Celestia looked surprised. “You are my sister, Luna, there is no need to be so formal about it. What do you need?”

Luna told Celestia about the conversations she had had with Rough Diamond, Gray Wings, and Eclipse about changeling speech. Her sister nearly crossed her eyes attempting to imagine what a sugar-high Pinkie Pie on coffee and helium would sound like. “So would you be willing to send Twilight Sparkle a message asking if she would be willing to do some research for me?”

“I can send her one this morning when I go through my correspondence.” Celestia replied. “Now let's eat so you can get your own beauty rest.” The two mares shared a glance as they both reached for a slice of that heavenly angel food cake. With strawberries.

“I swear, sister, one of these days I WILL get you to eat chocolate cake with me again.” Luna chuckled around a mouthful of cake.

“Promises, promises.” Celestia teased back.

Chapter VII: Enter the Twilight

That morning, in a small town a few hours’ train ride from Canterlot, or half that as the pegasus flies, a purple unicorn with a lavender mane and tail was reading in the tree house known as the Golden Oaks Library. A loud belch suddenly broke her concentration. She turned away from her desk to find a small green and purple dragon waving a scroll in her face. “What is it, Spike? A letter from the princess?”

“Yep!” He tossed her the scroll before trotting off to return to his reshelving (a typical activity after one of Twilight Sparkle’s book binges). Using her magenta magic, the unicorn unrolled the scroll to find that it contained a most unusual request:

To Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student,

I am writing on behalf of my sister, Princess Luna, who has run into quite a quandary that she believes you can help solve. You see, she has taken charge of the many petitions from ponies asking for amnesty for non-hive changelings living in Equestria that have been brought to our attention and are being kept under guard. However, it seems that she has hit a stumbling block when it comes to interrogating these changelings. Apparently, a changeling can only speak Equestrian in a way that ponies can understand if they are in pony form. As we are loathe to remove magical inhibitors at this time, we need a way to understand changeling speech.

Because of this, Luna has requested that you see if you can find or construct an appropriate spell for this purpose. It would need to be able to not only interpret Changeish to modern Equestrian, but also both lower the pitch of the speaker’s voice to an understandable level and make it slow enough that it can be understood (Luna told me that one of her guards likened it to Pinkie Pie after drinking a pot of coffee and mountain of doughnuts, then inhaling several balloons’ worth of helium gas. It even stretches my imagination!) I know that if anyone can come up with an acceptable solution, it would be you. Best of luck Twilight!

Your proud mentor, Princess Celestia

P.S. Luna’s secretary says to ask you to ask Pinkie Pie for a recipe for Schwartzwalder kirschtorte, whatever that is.

Twilight Sparkle looked up from the letter. “Spike!”

“Yes?”

“Bring me whatever books we have on speech interpretation, sound modification, voice modulation, and changelings. I have a research project to do!”

“Right away, Twilight!” The little dragon bounded off as quickly as his short legs could carry him towards one of the shelves. Twilight was glad he knew the organizational system of the library so well, probably even better than she did herself. Within half an hour, four neat stacks of books of varying sizes were piled around Twilight’s desk. Once Spike had finished delivering the books, Twilight sent him over to Sugar Cube Corner to ask Pinkie Pie about the recipe. Twilight efficiently sorted through the books, pulling out the ones that she thought would be the most useful.

The pile sizes did not take long to dwindle to only a few selected volumes. There was quite a lot available on speech and language interpretation spells as well as voice changing spells, all temporary. Twilight Sparkle secretly wondered if that was because past librarians had also had to deal with some pony like Pinkie Pie in the past. On changelings, the available information was much more scarce. Eventually, Twilight was left with a single tome, which turned out to be the journal of a pony who had traveled Equestria and written a series of travelogues about her journeys. This one was entitled My Year Among the Changelings. Twilight leafed through the pages as the author discussed the hive structure, status of the queen, changeling feeding habits, and numerous other subjects. Near the back was a section on the Changish language. Jackpot! Twilight immediately began reading:

Within the hive, spoken language is quite uncommon, as the hive mind is the primary modus of communication. However, when communicating with other hives or with non-hive changelings, it is necessary for there to be a universally spoken language. This language, known to outsiders as Changish, sounds to pony ears like a high pitched buzz or whine. Few not taught the language from a young age learn how to speak it and it utilizes sounds that ponies can not make. However, there are ways to be understood. One of my informants, who asked to be referred to as “Bzzt”, told me that he had met ponies that could comprehend his speech when in changeling form. He told me though, that the most skilled at this were the ponies with bat wings and ears, as they needed only language interpretation spells to understand changeling speech. As long as Bzzt spoke slowly, these bat ponies could understand.

Most changelings who live among ponies learn Equestrian, but it becomes much more difficult to understand if the changeling is not in pony form. Consonants that require heavy lip motions, such as B, M, and P, are almost impossible to make out, due to the different mouth structures of our species. Although Bzzt was in pony form in order to interpret for me during my stay, he was kind enough to teach me some phrases that a pony could use and be understood…

What followed was a short glossary of Changish words, along with phonetic pronunciations. Twilight Sparkle flipped to the author page in hopes of finding out more from her. Unfortunately, the book was old enough that “Story Chaser” was, at best, retired from her profession, though listed as living in Canterlot. Ever thorough, Twilight searched through first a Canterlot phone book, then a city directory, then, hesitantly, the necrology listings for the Canterlot Star-Herald. There was no mention of the book’s author. The unicorn was perplexed, but decided to let it go for now. Story Chaser’s book had at least given her a starting point.

Half an hour later, Pinkie Pie came bouncing into the library with Spike in tow. “Hi Twilight! I did a lot of looking and looking and looking and I think I found that cake recipe for Princess Luna! It is this really really really yummy chocolate dessert with lots of cherries and a few secret ingredients that make it especially splendoriffic!” With every two syllables, she hit the ground for a new bounce.

“Great! Do you want Spike to send it for you?” Twilight asked.

“Silly Twilight! I can't do that! How would the secret ingredients stay secret? I made a Pinkie Promise that I would never ever ever give this recipe to any pony or changeling without Cookies N Cream’s permission! And you know that I can never break a Pinkie Promise!”

Twilight facehoofed. “So there is no way we can send that recipe to Princess Luna?” She asked.

“Of course there is, Twilight!” Pinkie answered mid bounce, “All we have to do is go to Trottingham and get it!”

Twilight groaned. “Can you do it?”

“Not by myself! You see, my mane has been going all zing! Zowie! Kapow! Woink! And you know that means that I am going to go away and take a friend with me who can help with a problem that another friend was having and when I thought of the most problem solvingest pony I knew I thought of you!”

Trying her best to shrug off the randomness of her friend’s Pinkie Sense, Twilight asked “is that all?” while raising a skeptical eyebrow.

“Yep. So come on! The train to Trottingham gets to Ponyville Station in a little while. We can go there and talk to Cookie and be back by tomorrow morning at the latest! So come on! Let's go!”

Twilight had Spike pack her saddle bag with pen, ink, and parchment and followed Pinkie to the train station. Pinkie was still talking. “I think you'd like Cookie, Twilight. He is so nice and friendly and makes the most wonderfullest chocolate cookies and scones and other coffee shop goodies around! And his wife makes really yummy hot cocoa and other stuff that she will not let me have, but her place smells sooooo good! Oh my gosh Twilight this is going to be so much fun!”

After a while, Twilight began to tune her energetic friend out. She was still pondering Story Chaser’s words about and from changelings. One pony lost in her academic pondering, the other in her blissful anticipation of meeting up with an old friend, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie barely made it to the station in time to catch the train to Trottingham.

VIII: Chai and the Changelings

It was midday when Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie descended to the boarding platform at the Trottingham train station. The two mares looked around. They were in a medium to small city, anchored by Trottingham University of the Arts in the southern end and a tall building with a campanile's bell tower at the other. Pinkie headed toward the former and Twilight trailed behind, admiring the architecture.

“Have you ever been here before, Twilight? Isn't this exciting? We're going to see one of the most splendoriffic bakers in the city. Every pony who goes to TUA spends a lot of time at this shop. They say that the professors don't let you into an exam period without one of Cookie N Cream’s pastries and a cup of Chai Spice’s Equestria-famous drinks in hoof!”

Twilight continued to follow her bouncing friend across the town toward that enormous place of learning. Just before the pair of ponies entered campus, Pinkie Pie turned down a side street. Just past a series of apartment buildings, Twilight Sparkle spied a small café. As the two approached, Pinkie’s future-predicting tail gave three abrupt shakes, then deflated completely. Twilight Sparkle looked to her friend for an explanation. She had never seen that happen with her friend’s Pinkie Sense. Even more worrisome was the fact that Pinkie herself looked very confused.

“I don't get it,” she said after a suspiciously quiet moment. “It's saying that there is someone in there who is very sad and worried but is trying to hide it and that she's about to get help from an unexpected source.” She grinned at Twilight. “That sounds like it could be us! Let's go inside!” Tail still deflated, Pinkie Pie led Twilight Sparkle toward the coffee house. As she opened the door, a bell chimed and a pony looked up from behind the counter.

She was a mare in her middle years, the pale orange of a ripening pumpkin, with a cinnamon-colored mane and tail streaked with a pale yellow. Her green eyes were red from crying and tears streaked her face. She wiped them away and attempted to greet her visitors with a customer service smile. “Hello, and welcome to Cookie’s and Chai’s Café. I am Chai Spice. How may I help you?”

Pinkie Pie bounded up to the counter. “Hi Spicy! You remember me, yes? I am Pinkie Pie, you know, Cookie N Cream’s friend from the baking competition?”

Chai Spice nodded. “Oh yes, I do! How could I forget my husband’s favorite cupcake baker? You must excuse me. I have been out of sorts ever since he … left.”

Pinkie looked confused. “But why would he leave? He wrote to me just last month that he was excited about seeing me at the Big City Bake-Off next week and was looking forward to introducing me to your first foal!”

Twilight realized that the mare behind the counter was, indeed, heavily with foal.

The mare sighed. “It wasn't that kind of leaving, Pinkie, dear. Some guard pony came to the show where he was competing in Vanhoofer and you know what he looks like at competitions...” She fell silent. Pinkie Pie opened the gate that separated the back counter area from the dining room. She embraced the larger mare as Chai Spice burst into tears again. Twilight stood awkwardly watching as her friend comforted the coffee house owner. This was not what she had expected to hear at all.

“So wait, Cookie N Cream is a changeling? And your foal is his?” Twilight asked.

Chai Spice nodded. “It was the most open secret at Trottingham University of the Arts. The students would come here and eat his desserts and be so happy from them that he could feed openly, just on the happy feelings in the air. During final exams, he would even make things for free and offer them to students to make them feel better about their tests. He only wore pony form when the weather became too cold for him to be comfortable in his changeling form. Every pony loved him…” She trailed off, losing her expression of control. “And now he is gooooonnnneeee!” the mare wailed. It echoed through the empty room.

Pinkie, as calm as Twilight had ever seen her, enfolded the mare into an enormous hug. She held the other pony close as Twilight mentally processed the information. The unicorn waited until the pregnant earth pony calmed herself again before tentatively asking. “Have you written to Princess Luna to try and get him back? I heard she was taking amnesty petitions for changelings living with ponies.”

Chai Spice looked surprised. “She is? I… guess it would be worth a try, wouldn't it? I would do anything to get my super special somepony back. It is after the summer mid-term, so business will be slow until the school year starts up again next month. Pinkie, would you, and your friend too, come with me to see the princess? It would mean ever so much to me.” She glanced pleadingly at the other two ponies with tear-streaked eyes.

“Of course, silly! What are friends for? We can catch the train and be in Canterlot by tomorrow night.” Pinkie Pie answered, her tail inflating to its natural curly self.

Chai Spice looked nervous. “I've never ridden a train before, especially not as far as Canterlot.”

Pinkie had gotten her bounce back and she and the older mare stood up together. Twilight walked over to the pair. “Let us help and find you some things that would help you with getting Cookie back. Do you have any photographs or newspaper clippings or advertisements for the shop, anything with his picture on it?”

The mare nodded and turned to Pinkie. “Go up the stairs. In the first room on the right, go to the dresser. In the top left drawer is a box of old newsprint. Grab that and the framed photograph on the top of the dresser.” Pinkie nodded and headed for the stairs. Chai Spice turned to the unicorn. “I didn't catch your name, dear, what is it?”

“Oh sorry, My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am one of Pinkie’s friends from Ponyville.”

For the first time, the mare smiled a real smile. “It seems that every pony who sets hoof in her presence is Pinkie’s friend. Never the less, she's a good judge of character. I will trust you. Will you go to the front room and take down the big framed photograph from our award-winning fair food? It should be pretty conspicuous, and it's the only thing I don't have a copy of in that scrapbooking box.”

Twilight nodded, happy to have something to do to help the distraught mare. She trotted toward the wall that was crowded with framed photographs and other memorabilia. Alongside the required certificates from the health board and City of Trottingham Business Bureau were a number of plaques proclaiming “Student’s Choice Awards: Best Coffee and Pastries”. From the looks of it, this place had been a popular meeting spot for years.

There were also numerous pictures of various food items, many of them decorated with ribbons of various colors. One of them that held pride of place in the exact center of the display showed Chai Spice standing next to a robust male changeling. Both of them had enormous grins as they displayed a gigantic silver trophy in front of an elaborate display of chocolate confections. A plaque on the frame read “Grand Prize, Trottingham Provincial Fair: Cookie N. Cream and Chai Spice for best Baked Goods.” Several hungry-looking judges stood in the background, their eyes glued on the immense stack of cookies directly above the trophy.

Twilight used her magenta magic to carefully lift the framed photograph off of its hanger and bring it to Chai Spice. By the time she had gotten there, Pinkie had returned with the items Chai had requested and the latter mare was putting them in her saddle bags. She gratefully took the framed picture from Twilight and added it to the bag.

“All right,” she sighed, “just let me close up the shop and we can go.” She walked toward the front door and wrote something down on a piece of paper that she placed as a sign on the window. Then she locked the front door and switched off the dining area lights. She ushered Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle through the back room, placing various food items in cabinets and turning off coffee machines as she passed by. The mare flicked off the last lights as the three stepped out the back door. Chai Spice locked the back door, then glanced at it longingly before squaring her shoulders and turning to her companions. "Now let us get my special somebuggy back!” With that she strode purposefully away from the closed coffee shop.

As Pinkie Pie bounded after her, Twilight Sparkle followed more sedately. She looked back one more time at the closed shop to get a glance at the sign its proprietor had placed in the window. It read: Gone to Save My Changeling. Will Be Back for Semester. Will Not Return Alone. Twilight smiled to herself. It seemed that Chai Spice’s resolve ran deeper than she had initially expected.

“Are you coming Twilight?” Pinkie called out.

“Yes, I am coming!” Twilight yelled as she cantered to catch up. “Let's get to the station and catch the express to Canterlot. I'll send Spike a note to catch the Ponyville special and meet us there and one to Princess Luna to tell her that we are coming.” They arrived at the station. Pinkie Pie took care of tickets while Twilight paid for a few messages to be sent via magic telegram. By the time evening had come, all three mares were seated on the train bound for Canterlot.

IX: If You Give a Princess a Cookie

Chai Spice, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie arrived in Canterlot in time for Spike to meet them at the station. He handed his unicorn friend a note from Princess Celestia saying that they were expected and that they were welcome to stay at the castle while waiting for Princess Luna to open her Night Court. The ponies and dragon decided to take her up on the offer and took a cab to the castle. At the gate, Twilight spoke to one of the day guards on duty and he let them in. All four of them entered the castle and found their way into one of the gardens. Chai Spice sat down on a bench with a sigh. The journey had not been a comfortable one for the mare. Train benches were not made with the comfort of the pregnant in mind. “Is there a place where I can rest for a while, Twilight? I mean, it's very nice out here, but I don't like all these other ponies staring at me.” She looked around nervously at the nobles promenading around the garden stealing glances at the group.

“Of course,” Twilight responded, helping the older mare to her feet. “I'll take you inside to one of the bedrooms. I can ask the steward if there are any on the ground floor that are open.” She did so as the group approached the main entrance to the Great Hall. The steward smiled, recognizing Twilight, and gave her directions to a quiet room not far from the ballroom. With no events planned for the latter room, the unicorn thought it unlikely that the princess’s guests would be disturbed. Twilight led the way, with Spike, Pinkie Pie and Chai Spice following.

Spike looked curiously at Twilight, wanting to know why she had asked him to meet them, but Twilight shook her head subtly at him. She was not sure she wanted Chai Spice to know her reasons. Pinkie was doing her best to keep her friend distracted from the overwhelming surroundings, chattering nonstop about how wonderful everything was here and what it had been like to come to the Grand Galloping Gala and liven it up from the expectations of all those snooty noble ponies. For her part, Chai Spice was silent, perhaps lost in thought of her beloved, but more likely feeling the stress of the day and wanting desperately to lie down and get some sleep. When they arrived at the room, Chai Spice and Pinkie Pie went in, leaving Twilight Sparkle and Spike outside.

“Okay, what's going on, Twilight? You've been going crazy about this changeling thing, then you left with Pinkie. Seriously, even for having Pinkie involved, this is strange.” Spike accused.

“All right, I'll explain. Just give me a moment to collect my thoughts.” Twilight stood still for a moment, fiddling with her saddle bags as Spike waited patiently. “Ok, so here's the scoop. It turns out that Pinkie’s friend with the recipe is a really famous baker. He also happens to be a changeling who was swept up and brought here after all the goings on at Shining Armor’s and Cadence’s wedding. Chai Spice is his wife and she is pregnant with his foal. I wanted you to come with me to talk to the guards in charge of doing the magic scans on petitioners for Night Court. If they are using the spell I think they use, it could hurt Chai or her foal. I need to talk to them before she gets there. Are you in?”

Spike nodded. “We don't have much time. How many of the Night Court guards are going to be up this early?”

“There are always a few,” Twilight answered. “My brother used to complain about early risers relieving his guards before sunset. Luna’s assistant or Celestia’s secretary would probably know who to ask.”

She and Spike trotted toward the princesses’ rooms. It was not long before they found themselves face to face with a lean ebon unicorn mare with a dark coat and draconic eyes.

“Yes, I am Princess Luna’s assistant,” the mare answered when the unicorn and dragon asked. “Can I help you?”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike. We were wondering about the changeling reveal spell being used for Night Court changeling hearings. Is it the one created by Smokey Mirror?”

The mare’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh, Princess Celestia’s student! I remember hearing about you! Yes, the spell is one of Smokey Mirror’s. Why?”

“Because Luna will be having a petitioner tonight who is pregnant with a changeling’s foal.” There was silence as the ebon unicorn pondered the purple unicorn’s words. Twilight had wondered whether Luna’s assistant would know the implications of that spell; one glance at Eclipse’s face dispelled that impression.

“I believe I will have a word with the princess. We try not to deal with every one of these petitioners in private, but if this is true and the spell may affect her or her unborn foal, I would say it is worthy of a less public review. I shall speak to her tonight, before court. Where are you and your friend staying?” Twilight gave the ebon unicorn the name of the room where Pinkie Pie and Chai Spice were staying and Eclipse nodded. “I'll send a note to you by sundown if the princess is willing to meet with you. Between you, me, and your scaly companion,” she nodded at Spike, “she will probably agree.”

Twilight and Spike thanked the assistant and headed back to the room. “Is there something else you're not telling your number one assistant?” Spike teased.

“I'm worried, Spike, that's all. I can't believe they are still using Smokey Mirror’s spells in the guard. They have been known to have a dangerous effect on mares, particularly those with foal. Smokey was a very bitter spell caster and had a strong dislike of mares, for no reason that I understand. Many of his later spells made mares infertile or miscarry painfully. He was removed from the magic academy when he was found out.” Twilight shivered. “There's got to be a better scanning or reveal spell for changelings than anything he came up with.”

“What about the one you used when you were fighting the changelings?”

“Mine is too complex. It's not just a stun spell; it's not easy to cast without hurting the other pony. I only used it because I was defending myself and it was the only option I had.”

“Oh.”

By this time the unicorn and the dragon were nearing the room where Pinkie Pie and Chai Spice were staying. The hall was very quiet. Too quiet. As Twilight Sparkle eased open the door and she and Spike peered inside, both pony and dragon breathed a sigh of relief. There was Chai Spice, sound asleep on the bed, in a position that most ponies would find uncomfortable. Pinkie Pie was similarly sound asleep on a sofa. The pink earth pony mare was posed like a puppy, sprawled on her back with all four legs in the air, hooves twitching profusely as if the party pony was dancing in her sleep. Noticing the baker’s scrapbook box lying open on the floor, Twilight sat down amidst the stacks of papers and began looking at them.

It appeared that everything was divided into two piles: one related to the coffee shop, the other to Chai Spice and Cookie N Cream’s personal lives. In the coffee shop pile were letters expressing thanks from students and faculty of the Trottingham University for the Arts. Notes told of free catering, surprise deliveries of coffee and snacks to study parties at the dorms, and at least one graduate student thanking them for saving her from embarrassment at forgetting food at her dissertation review. From the looks of it, Cookie loved surprises.

Interspersed with the copious thank yous were newspaper clippings, most from the Trottingham Gazette, but also from other cities. There were articles about Cookie N Chai’s Coffee and Confectionery Shop, focused on the café’s place in the college community, as well as the food and drinks being served. Pages from food critic columns in news papers and magazines universally praised the desserts made by Chai’s partner. The last grouping consisted of stories related to baking competitions. Twilight could not help but notice that these were some of the most high-profile contests in the baking business. She had heard Pinkie Pie raving about some of her idols, many of whom made appearances in these articles.

Twilight moved on to the second large pile. It was full of photographs: of the shop, of Cookie N Cream and Chai Spice in various poses, of Cookie on vacation in various cities or showing off his skills at competitions across Equestria. Postcards from cities across the country and even abroad abounded as well. There was also a large stack of letters, all in envelopes that had been opened many times and were postmarked from many different places. Twilight gingerly opened the top one from the nearest stack:

To the Most Heavenly and Sweet Spice in our Store,

I am here in Baltimare watching the sun set over the harbor, but all I can think about is how much it reminds me of watching your eyes light up in the morning. The salty air here is very inspiring to the taste, but it is nothing compared to the smell of your chai tea in our coffee shop. I know you do not like to travel, my dear Chai, but someday I will convince you to come with me. We could lay on the beach and watch the waves or have a picnic on some high mountain meadow. It would not matter where we were as long as we were together. I can't wait to hear from you again, my dearest, and I expect I will be home soon. After all, it would be most awful if our little 'Ling came into this world without its father as well as its mother there to welcome it into our shop of wonders and into our hearts.

From the Sweetest and Loving Dessert in the Shop,
Cookie

Twilight put down the love letter. Judging from the dates on the postmarks, it seemed that whenever Cookie left Trottingham on work-related business or a baking competition, he sent at least one letter or post card or both to his wife back home. Some of the letters dated back years; Twilight Sparkle wondered if Cookie had a similar stack of letters wherever he was.

Twilight next found her eye drawn to a folder neatly labelled “Wedding Photos” She opened it and flipped through the images. There was Chai Spice in a fancy dress and veil dancing cheek-to-cheek with that robust changeling stallion again. In the crowd around them were dozens of ponies, with a few random changelings thrown in to leaven the mix. According to the wedding invitation also in the envelope, the event had been held in a local park, and the entirety of Trottingham’s small changeling community had been invited along with members of the bride’s family and many of the patrons of their coffee house.

Twilight was surprised to notice just how many changelings actually attended the gathering. They appeared dancing with ponies, enjoying the food, and one, listed as Cookie’s “Best Bug” was pictured giving a toast to the happy couple. Twilight wondered if the changelings had all fed on the guests as they enjoyed themselves, but that thought disappeared as she reached a small pile of notes from party guests. It soon became clear that the ponies who had attended were happy enough to let the changelings feed on the happiness in the air without being in pony form and tricking their fellow guests into letting them directly feed. There would have been enough positive emotion in the air for every pony and bug pony to leave sated, and the notes reflected that. Based on the guest list, around one fifth to one fourth of the attendees were not ponies.

Twilight put the last page aside as a quiet tap on the door brought her back into the real world. She opened the door to find that Eclipse was waiting outside. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Luna has asked that you and Miss Spice come to her office after Night Court to consult with her. Bring whatever evidence you wish to use to make your claim. If you are persuasive enough, she will let your friend find her lover.”

Twilight nodded her thanks and Eclipse turned away and started heading down the hall. “Wait.” Twilight murmured. She slipped out the door and closed it quietly before she hurried after the paused ebon unicorn. “Is there anything you can do to help? I mean, about the spell used…”

Eclipse nodded in understanding. “I know, Miss Sparkle. Thus far it has only been used on male claimants; most female claimants thus far have had their identities as ponies verified by members of the Royal Guard, as either relatives or close friends. We have a newer spell for mares, but because it is so new, the princess judged that it would be too risky for a pregnant mare, especially since she is bearing a half-changeling foal. Thus, the meeting. If this mare is as trustworthy as you say she is, she will comport herself well.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Eclipse. Could I ask you one more small favor?”

“I suppose, Miss Sparkle.”

“Call Me Twilight.”

X: Of Coffeemares and Moon Princesses

Princess Luna waited in her office as Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and the mare who was mated to a changeling made their way to her. Night Court this evening had been uneventful, and as a result, Luna had high hopes for this meeting. Eclipse had seemed think it a very important one, and that sense of urgency had passed to Luna. At last the sound of hoofsteps sounded in the dark hall. One set seemed particularly heavy; another the light tap of an agitated unicorn, the third an even lighter skipping step that almost sounded like the cadence for a foal’s nursery rhyme. Sure enough, here came a heavily pregnant earth pony mare, accompanied by Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. The two younger mares each carried saddle bags full of what looked like papers. As the ponies considered bowing, Luna waved them onto the cushions in front of her desk. As the three mares took their seats, a hissing sound heralded the completion of a pot of coffee brewing. Luna offered the pregnant mare coffee, while Twilight and Pinkie took hot cocoa.

The mare lifted the cup to her lips and inhaled. “Ah. Epona blend, from the Isles of Horsica. A full-bodied flavor best paired with a sweet desert, especially chocolate.” The mare sat blissfully enjoying the aroma with her eyes closed.

Luna smiled. “You have an excellent taste in beverages, Miss Spice. Do you often serve this blend?”

Chai Spice opened her eyes and pondered for a moment. “On special occasions, your majesty. It is too expensive for most of our patrons, but it is one of Cookie’s and my favorites. The beans are one of his favorite things to buy me for Hearth’s Warming. The smell is so distinct it wakes you up from anywhere.”

Luna turned her attention to the matter at hoof. “Tell me more about your husband, if you please.” The order was politely phrased, but an order none the less.

“I first met Cookie N Cream at a convention for small business owners in Trottingham. I was just out of school and he had recently moved to the area. He was living with his brother, who is part of the changeling community there and teaches performance arts at Trottingham University of the Arts. Cookie was interested in starting a business and I had just inherited my parents’ shop. I have no skill when it comes to baking though, but I love making coffee. I was making the rounds and we accidentally ended up sitting beside one another during a session on creating partnership businesses. We ended up being paired off to do an activity together and, well, there was some kind of spark between us.

"Afterwards, he asked if I knew a good place to get coffee and we ended up back at my café. I had just gotten in a new blend that I wanted to try and he was willing, so I made us some coffee. He took one sip and then opened his briefcase. He pulled out a bag of ginger snap cookies and said to me ‘I believe coffee is best paired with sweets. These should complement this blend nicely’. Well, I was very surprised, but we shared the cookies and the pot of coffee and more or less talked the night away. By sunrise, we were business partners. I could not believe it. He later said that we had charmed each other; I had charmed him with coffee, he had done the same with cookies. It was so wonderful.

“We opened the coffee shop together. He made the cookies and pastries, I made coffee and tea drinks. It was not long before I noticed something peculiar. At first, whenever students and faculty from the university came in, they would get their food and leave. After a while though, with no change to the customer areas of the shop or our prices, they started to stay longer. They would sit and chat, do homework and grade assignments, whatever, but they were staying. I once asked one of the professors who is one of our most frequent patrons why he started staying longer. The only answer he gave me was a shrug and the words ‘it feels like home here. I can close my eyes and imagine I am a foal again back in my grandmother’s kitchen.’

"Eventually I posed the question to Cookie. He confessed to me that the additional business was not entirely by accident. Apparently there is a kind of pheromone that changelings can use that makes ponies feel more comfortable in strange places. It is supposed to make feeding easier. I had never noticed him feeding before, so it made me a little uncomfortable, but he hastened to tell me that he never fed from any ponies directly. Rather, he consumed whatever emotions were left in the air from their passing. I believed him after he showed me how it worked. One night after the last of the ponies had gone home, he stood perfectly still in the center of the room and just kind of breathed. He used his magic to illuminate the clouds of emotion in the air, and I must say that it was impressive. He pulled some of those clouds into himself until he could reach no more, then stopped. Afterwards, I thought nothing of it. After all, there are other changelings in Trottingham, most of whom have no hive affiliation and can still survive just fine without leaving behind a trail of empty ponies.

“So we continued to work together and over time, things happened and we drew closer and closer together. I took over more and more of the business side of the coffee shop as well as the coffee. Cookie threw himself into advertising for us, then into competitive baking. I did not realize it at the time, but he was saving up his prize money for something special. On Hearth’s Warming Eve three years ago, he presented me with a gold necklace and proposed marriage. I said yes, and we were married in early summer.

"During the summer competition season, Cookie would travel all over Equestria, trying out new recipes and ingredients and sending me postcards and letters. I wrote back with my new findings and drinks. By the time classes at the university started up again every fall, he would be back, often with new foods to try and pair up with whatever drinks I had created. He showed me pictures of the other bakers he had met and became pen pals with a few of them. We shared everything, and when I revealed to him on our anniversary that I was pregnant, he was thrilled. We consulted a midwife who worked with the changeling community who told me that if nothing went awry, I could carry my foals to term with no more problems than any other mare.

"We set up a nursery in our home above the shop and Cookie left for another series of competitions, promising that he would come back to me so he would be with me to welcome our foals. He had been gone for a month and a half when word reached me of the incident at the royal wedding here. Then Cookie’s letters just… stopped coming. I didn't know what to do. I had no idea where in Equestria he was or even where to start looking. Then a few days ago, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle here came to the coffee shop asking after my husband and… I kind of lost it. Luckily, between the two of them, they were able to calm me down enough to convince me to come here to look for Cookie.”

The room was silent for a little while after the mare had finished speaking. Finally Pinkie Pie broke the silence. “Oh my gosh! You are having twins? That means twice the party!”

Chai Spice gave the pink pony a wry grin. “I believe Cookie mentioned something about having you plan that party when the time was right, Pinkie. You were always his most enthusiastic pen pal, besides me of course.” Pinkie Pie grinned and bounced a little.

Twilight turned to Chai. “How could you understand him speaking in changeling form? I mean, it is a whole different sound system and language!”

“It's some kind of spell, I think. There is a unicorn at Trottingham University of the Arts who specializes in linguistics, including changeling speech. It's not a very well-known program, but she sort of advertises by offering her spell to residents and students free of charge. It has never been published because she hates the copyright laws publishers insist on, and she prefers that the spell be public domain and available to all who ask. Her name is…” She paused to think. “Buzz Words, but I think she likes to go by Bugsy. The changelings have a name for her that means something like ‘pony who understands what must be understood’. She still teaches language arts and linguistics at the university.”

Twilight looked mutinous, as if she wanted to go straight back to Trottingham to convince the professor to teach her the changeling speech spell. Luna quelled her sister’s student with a look. Now was not the time. “Do you have any proof that you can show me?” Luna asked Chai Spice. The latter nodded and reached for her saddle bags. Wordlessly, she passed items to the princess, who carefully examined the photographs, newspaper and magazine articles, notes of admiration, and love letters before passing them back to their owner.

“Well,” Luna said finally, “there is one final test that you must pass, and it is a simple one. Would you be able to identify Cookie N Cream in his changeling form?” Chai Spice nodded. “Very well. Let us go and find him.”

Luna led the way out of the room, followed by the other three ponies. They arrived at the guard barracks. Luna greeted the guard, who let the party pass into the changeling-occupied space. Any need for a search became inconsequential, when Chai Spice made a beeline towards a heavily built stallion pacing the far end of the barracks. With a cry of delight, she leaped into his open embrace. As the pair held each other close, Luna gestured for the other two ponies to remain silent. She lit up the air above them with her horn, and Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie watched as the room filled with colorful streams of emotional energy. A few stemmed from Luna and the other two ponies, each with differing colors, but these were greatly drowned out by wave upon wave of colors emanating from the embrace at the far end of the room. The other changelings watched the waves and crowded toward the couple. Twilight made an aborted move towards them, but Luna gestured for her to back off. Each changeling drifted towards Chai Spice and Cookie N Cream, stood in place for a few minutes, then drifted away to let another one approach. This happened for a while until there were no more changelings trying to drift closer.

The waves of love energy, though diminished from the changelings’ feeding, were still fairly strong as Chai Spice and Cookie N Cream broke off their embrace and headed towards Princess Luna and the door. Chai Spice asked “would you be so kind as to remove the magic inhibitor, your majesty? It negates the communication spell from Professor Bugsy." With a slight smile, the princess did so, and the entire group followed her out into the moonlight.

“I thank you, your majesty, for bringing my wife here,” a gruff voice murmured. “I suspect the other changelings in there are equally grateful. It is the fullest meal they have had in a long while.” He nuzzled his wife, who looked about to melt into him again. “We are ever so grateful. Is there anything I could do for you?”

Pinkie Pie wiggled. “Um, Princess Luna, when you wrote to me asking for a Shwartzwalder kirschtorte recipe, I wasn't able to send you one. My only recipe for one is actually Cookie’s and I Pinkie Promised not to tell any ponies what the secret ingredients were.”

Cookie laughed, a deep throaty laugh. “I would be happy to give the royal chef my recipe for Black Forest Cake, your majesty. It has been a while since I've used it in competition, but it is still one of my most popular desserts. Shall I write it down for you?”

Luna gleefully nodded. “Princess, may we indulge in your hospitality for a few more nights?” Chai Spice broke in. “I am not sure I should be going immediately back to Trottingham just yet.” She looked down at her bulging belly. “I am not sure… things… will wait long enough.”

Luna nodded again, more somberly this time. “Of course, Miss Spice. If you should require the services of a midwife, I am certain that between myself and my sister we can find one who is willing to help birth a pair of little pony-lings. In the meantime though, you look exhausted. Go ahead inside to your rooms and get some rest. Both of you.”

Chai Spice and Cookie N Cream bowed to the princess and walked steadily toward the palace. Their movement was slow, but they clung to each other like limpets on a stone and had their tails intertwined. After the pair had gone indoors, Luna turned to the two element bearers. “Thank you both.” She whispered to Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. “If it had not been for you two, this case would never have been brought to my attention. You have my gratitude as much as you have theirs.” She licked her lips. “And as a bonus, I will get to see my sister’s face when I deliver a chocolate and cherry cake made from a changeling’s recipe to our morning repast! Finally, no more of that blasted angel’s food cake!”

Pinkie Pie giggled, then guffawed. That set off Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna; soon the three of them were laughing hard enough for even the Night Guard standing vigil over the changeling barracks to crack a smile.

XI: A Tale of Two Cakes

The next evening, Luna awaited the arrival of her sister with gleeful anticipation. The set-up was the same as other evening meals, with a variety of dishes spread out across the long table. The only difference from normal was a clever substitution – and two additional place settings. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie would be joining them tonight; Chai Spice was at a midwife’s home, her husband accompanying her. Luna eyed the centerpiece confection again with satisfaction. In the place of her sister’s beloved angel food cake was a dark chocolate monstrosity adorned with brandy soaked cherries and a creamy chocolate frosting. Luna licked her lips. If there had been one earthly thing she had missed on the moon besides her sister, it was chocolate. The sound of hooves on tile announced the entrance of a bouncy pink earth pony, a more sedate unicorn and a regal and dignified…

“What in the name of our mother is that?” Celestia was stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the enormous black forest cake in the center of the table. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

Luna stifled a giggle as she peered around the confection. “Do you like it, sister? It was a most generous gift from one of my petitioners last night! Have you ever seen such dark beauty grace this table?”

Behind the princess of the sun, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were doing their best to keep their snickers inaudible. Celestia remained flabbergasted “Buh, buh, but sister,” she stammered, “what hast thou done to my cake?”

Hearing the normally modern-speaking princess lapse into the old Equestrian only used for the Royal Canterlot Voice proved too much for the little ponies, who collapsed with convulsions of loud laughter.

Luna gave her sister a smug grin. “You have chosen our dessert every night since I returned, my dear sister.” Her voice, saccharine sweet, was still audible over the guffaws in the background. “I simply mentioned to a friend how much I missed the taste of well-made chocolate and cherries.” She nodded towards Pinkie before continuing. “She recommended to me the recipe created by a wonderful changeling baker who happened to be among my detainees. After his wife brought him to my attention and I let him be with her, he was kind enough to assist in the creation of this beautiful centerpiece and gave the recipe to our chef.” The smugness never left her face. “We shall be having it in alternating takes with your favorite angel food until I receive a more variety of recipes.”

The smugness was replaced by an innocent glance at her sister, who finally appeared to be recovering. Celestia was reaching out toward the cake with a cake knife and deftly cutting herself a wedge. She put it on a plate and passed it to her sister. Luna took the offered slice and immediately scooped up some with a fork and took a bite. Soooo goooood! The explosion of flavor was making her eyes water as the rich chocolate cake and cherries melted in her mouth.

Celestia still looked mutinous. “Sister, are you certain it is safe to eat? I mean, it is a changeling’s recipe Lulu.”

Luna swallowed, then laughed in her sister’s face. “My dear Tia, this recipe has won awards at baking competitions across Equestria. Pinkie Pie here has made it multiple times with no ill effects. Stop acting like a foal with a plate of steamed broccoli and Brussel sprouts and EAT SOME CAKE!” The last three words, done in the style of the Royal Canterlot Voice, surprised Celestia into action. She cut herself a slice of cake and, staring at her sister as though she were answering the challenge of a thrown gauntlet, took a bite. By the look on her face, Princess Celestia was seeing stars. She did not even notice as Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle took their own slices; even the proud look on Princess Luna’s face was relegated to Celestia’s peripheral vision. The only sound in the room was that of happy eating. All good things must come to an end, though, and as Celestia finished the slice she became aware of the three ponies looking at her.

“Well?” Luna inquired.

Celestia looked guilty. “I never thought I would admit this about chocolate, Lulu, but that was absolutely wonderful!”

Pinkie Pie was bouncing in her seat. “I know, right? Cookie N Cream makes the most splendorific, scrum-diddly-umptous cakes ever! And his cookies are even awesomer! If you like these you should have him send you some of his gingerbread Hearth’s Warmers in the winter. They are the best right out of the oven but even cold they are like so mmmmmmmmmm!” She probably would have said more, but at that moment, an exhausted looking pony was admitted into the room.

He looked like a large pale cream stallion with a rust-colored mane and tail. He had a cutie mark of a stack of cookies on a plate shaped like a heart. “Forgive my intrusion, your majesties,” the stallion gasped as he tried to catch his breath. “I have some news for Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie from Chai Spice.” He paused again as the princess and the pink pony exchanged looks.

“What is it?” Luna asked. The stallion licked his lips and then crowed “Two! Two healthy little pony-lings! Born just a little while ago! Chai Spice sent me to tell you. She wants you two to be godmothers to the little ones!” The stallion broke into a grin, followed by all four mares at the table.

“I thank you, good sir, for letting me know. Please tell Chai Spice that I would be honored to be a god mother.” Luna murmured.

Pinkie Pie left the table and gave the visitor a hug. “Yay! I love little foals! I hope they will be very very happy with you and that you will teach them all your yummy cooking stuff!”

The stallion returned the hug, then turned to take his leave. “Thank you. My wife will be very pleased. Oh, and I am glad you all are enjoying my black forest cake.”

“Wait!” Princess Celestia called out; the stallion paused. “Cookie N Cream? I would like to thank you for this most wonderful confection!”

The stallion bowed. “It was my pleasure, princess. If you should ever find yourself in Trottingham, please visit our shop to enjoy some more.” The stallion departed with more dignity and less haste than he arrived, evidently heading back to his wife and foals. Pinkie Pie was chattering about what kind of party she had to plan, with Twilight working out logistics with quill and ink. Celestia looked at her sister; Luna had tears in her eyes.

“Lulu? Are you okay?”

Luna nodded. “I am simply happy, Tia. This is one of the first times I have been approached by a non-night pony and asked to be a godmother. I believe I will be traveling to Trottingham sometime soon, at least for that party Pinkie is planning over there.”

Celestia patted her sister on the back with a wing before drawing her into a hug. The two alicorn sisters embraced for a moment before turning their attention back to the table. Luna raised the cake knife. “Now let us celebrate with more of this amazing schwartzwalder kirschtorte!” Celestia rolled her eyes. Leave it to Luna to use the Pferdic name for a chocolate cake.

Author's Note

Ok, confession time: In this chapter and the next are a few German phrases (I use "Pferdic", as the in-world name from the German word for "horse"). Schwartzwalder kirschtorte is German for Black Forest cherry cake. I'll define the words used in the next chapter as well.

XII: Letter to a Linguist

As Luna prepared to retire for the morning, there was a slight tap on her door. Wondering who would be asking for her at this hour, the princess opened it to find her assistant and Twilight Sparkle waiting outside. “Sorry to disturb you, Princess, but I was wondering if you had gotten the mailing address for that professor Cookie N Cream mentioned.” Twilight began.

Eclipse nodded and jumped in, adding, “it is a good possibility that she would be willing to part with the changeling communication spell if we explain to her what it will be used for and that it would not be restricted in its use. From what the Trottingham ponies told us, her greatest worry was that it would be copyrighted and limited to elite usage, but if we show her how it would be used here…”

Luna nodded in understanding. “Would you be willing to write to her then, either of you I mean? It is far too late for me to do so after all.”

Both of the young unicorns looked guilty at that. “Of course, princess.” Twilight answered. “I will write to her and Eclipse can send it out under the royal seal so it will travel with all possible speed.”

Luna smiled inwardly, enjoying this more outgoing version of her sister’s student. Spending time with Pinkie Pie and the others must be rubbing off on her. Good. “Very well. Is there anything else I should know before I get some sleep?” Recognizing that as a dismissal, both unicorns shook their heads and said their goodbyes. No doubt Eclipse, at least, would be going to sleep too. Depending on how much this goal burned in Twilight compared to the fog of exhaustion she was probably in, the other mare would either stay up later writing to Professor “Bugsy” Buzz Words or sleep. Luna would have bet on something in between, with the scholar falling asleep mid-letter and waking up with a face lined with ink. No matter, it would all be done in time. Luna turned to her bed and joined a waiting Tiberius to slumber away the day.

Luna’s prediction was only half correct. Twilight did fall asleep mid-letter, but fortunately for her, the ink had dried enough that it did not stain her face strange colors. The unicorn was awakened in the late afternoon by the shrieking laughter of her pale pink roommate and a bright light from a camera flash. “Ooooh I totally can not wait to show Dashie this one!” Pinkie crowed. “You are so adorkable when you fall asleep at your desk, Twilight! This one is going in a frame!”

She bounced off before Twilight Sparkle could recover enough to chase after her demanding the camera. Somehow, Pinkie managed to hide said camera (in some strange place that Twilight could have sworn had not been there before) long enough to escape. From the sound of it, she was going to visit Chai Spice, Cookie N Cream, and her new god-foals. Alone at last, Twilight began to recopy the letter she had been composing earlier that day.

To the esteemed professor Buzz Words,
Greetings. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am a student of Princess Celestia. Recently, I had occasion to meet a changeling by the name of Cookie N Cream, from Trottingham. He mentioned that you had created a spell that allowed changelings and ponies to communicate with one another. As you may know, Princess Luna is in charge of interrogating changelings captured by the Royal Guards in the wake of the attack earlier this summer. However, she seems to have hit a stumbling block with regards to not being able to understand the language of changelings. If your spell works on other changelings as well as it works for Cookie, would you be willing to come to Canterlot and teach it to us so that we may be able to more efficiently speak with the changelings here and more quickly allow them to return to their homes? The princess is prepared to make any guarantees you wish regarding your spell work if you are willing to allow us to use it.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

Twilight sent the letter out with the afternoon post. The mail carrier promised that it would be in Trottingham by the next morning at the latest. That did not surprise the purple unicorn. What did surprise her was the rapidity of the reply:

To Miss Twilight Sparkle,
I heard about what happened to Cookie and am very much willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that it happens as little as possible in the future. I will be on the next train to Canterlot to teach the spell to any who wish to know it as well as cast it on any changelings willing to have the spell work done.
Dr. Bugsy, Prof. of Linguistics
Trottingham University of the Arts

When Twilight Sparkle met up with her mentor and her sister at dinner, she brought the letter to the table with her. Pinkie Pie was not in evidence. Apparently, the thrilled new father had invited his pen pal to join him in the kitchen to make a thank you dessert for the midwife and it had expanded into a small party. (Twilight was of the opinion that it was a sign of incredible ability in Cookie to be able to keep her party pony friend to a minimal party.) As Twilight arrived, she found the two princesses in the midst of a lively debate over the merits of various kinds of cake.

“But seriously, Tia. One simply is unable to survive off of angel’s food cake alone. I do understand that there are innumerable toppings that go well with that confection, but really, sister. If that is all you have been eating for dessert since I came back, that simply will not do!”

“I know you prefer chocolate, Luna, but it is no better than angel food. There are only a few toppings that truly taste good with chocolate!”

Luna suddenly turned her attention to Twilight Sparkle. “Little Twilight, what is your favorite kind of cake? It has gotten boring without a third opinion to argue with us this meal.”

Twilight thought for a moment before answering. “I am rather fond of my mother’s lemon chiffon cake.” She murmured. “Even Pinkie Pie’s version is not quite as good, but I suppose that is because of who makes it. My mother, Twilight Velvet, always made it for special occasions and it always had little candied lemons on top of a buttercream icing.” She licked her lips. “But Princess Luna, I need to give you something.” She passed the letter over to the princess of the moon, who read it over quickly.

“Well,” she said at last, “it seems we are to have another guest at the castle, Tia. I shall alert the guards to send her to me when she arrives.

Sure enough, not long after they finished eating, Eclipse entered the room followed by an older unicorn pony. The newcomer was a plum-colored mare with a lighter mane and tail gone silver. Despite her age, she walked straight, with a long stride. Her eyes were a flashing silver that seemed to record everything like the negatives of a film camera. On her flank was a cutie mark of various script symbols – letters from various pony and non-pony languages. She bowed as she approached the still seated princesses and spoke in a language that Twilight Sparkle did not understand. To her surprise, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia both laughed and replied in what sounded like the same tongue. The mare smiled as she rose from her bow.

“We were not aware anyone not part of the diplomatic corps spoke Gryphican, much less the older version thereof.” Luna commented, in Equish.

“Few do, your majesties,” the mare replied in a mellow alto voice, “but I spent much of my youth traveling. I was born near the border with Gryphos and had playmates who spoke the modern tongue. Through them, I met an old priest who was willing to teach me the older way of speaking.”

Luna leaned forward. “And can you speak other tongues, professor?”

“Ja, ich weiß , wie man mehrere Sprachen sprechen.” At that sentence, Celestia gave her sister a glance; Luna ignored her sister, but gave Twilight Sparkle a conspiratorial wink and a slight nod towards the handsome dark chocolate cake on her plate. Twilight suppressed snickers, remembering how the princess had used the Pferdic name for the Black Forest Cake a few nights before.

“How many?” A curious Twilight blurted out.

The professor chuckled. “I am a fluent speaker of six languages, and can read another four or five without a translation spell. As far as translation spells go, that is applicable to around thirty languages, including Changeish, Canis, Elkan, Llamani, Camelaic, Kirinese and Tapiric.”

Twilight was flabbergasted. Some of those languages had no written alphabet of their own, or were only expressed via magic. Professor Buzz Words returned the young unicorn’s whirling mind back to the princesses and her reason for being at the palace. “Miss Sparkle wrote to me regarding a changeling translation and communication spell; this is to be used to speak with and interview resident changelings to allow them to return to their normal lives, correct?”

The princesses both nodded. “That will do very well. I had been planning on sending my works to Canterlot upon retirement any way for use in the royal archives and diplomatic corps, as well as public libraries. I see no reason why this knowledge should be restricted, at least not the speech translation spells. The ones in present use are not restricted, so I see no reason mine should be either. Public domain. I would prefer my legacy to be in common use than to have my name only go down in infamy in some dusty corner.”

The elderly mare took no notice of the expressions on the faces of her audience (no doubt a skill borne of instructing glazed-eyed freshmen on the art of fine speaking over a course of years). After a moment, Celestia managed to recover enough to say “Indeed, we shall take your requests under consideration. When you are ready to demonstrate your translation spells and deliver the written versions to the archives, I can ensure that they are distributed to libraries and Equestrian diplomats across the nation.”

The mare nodded in satisfaction. “All right then. Princess Luna, have you any volunteers among the changelings that would be willing to undergo the spell? I will be using a short term temporary version for this, but there is also a longer term and a permanent variation.”

Eclipse, who had been watching and listening near the door with an amused expression on her face, waved a scroll with her magic. “It appears that my assistant has the list, Doctor Words. You should check in with her.” Luna answered.

The professor turned to speak to the ebon unicorn and the two began to walk off together. Before they left the room, she spoke a final time. “Oh, and your majesties, Please call me Dr. Bugsy. Every one of my students does.”

Before any of the ponies in the room could respond, she waltzed out in the wake of Luna’s assistant. The princesses and Twilight Sparkle looked at each other. That was a mistake, as all three were holding in guffaws. They all burst out laughing. Eventually, Luna managed to gasp “By Faust, such ego! And yet she acts with such aplomb! Are we certain she teaches languages and linguistics and not theater?”

Twilight’s only answer was “I wonder if she has ever met Rarity.” Laughter echoed through the room again.

Author's Note

As promised: the sentence the professor speaks in German is "Yes, I know how to speak many languages."

Some of the other languages the professor speaks are the languages of Changelings, Diamond Dogs, Deer, Llamas, Camels, Kirins (Chinese unicorns) and Tapirs, respectively.

XIII: Professor Bugsy's Test

A couple of nights later, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Eclipse, Twilight Sparkle and Spike met Doctor Buzz Words in the courtyard outside the changeling barracks. When they arrived, Bugsy was talking to one of the changelings through the open door under the watch of a vigilant night guard.

“Ah, you are here at last!” The professor called out as the alicorns and unicorns and dragon scribe came into view. She stepped aside with a flourish, followed by one of the changelings who had volunteered.

The changeling buzzed something at the audience. “She says ‘thank you for this opportunity, your majesties’,” the academic interpreted. “Now it is time to do what I came out of my distant home town to do.” Behind the professor’s back, the changeling rolled her eyes dramatically. The peanut gallery smothered snickers behind hooves and claws.

The changeling stepped forward and stood face to face with the professor, who began to cast the spell. Spike sat nearby, transcribing as best he could the words the unicorn was using to invoke the spell. Before long, though, it became obvious that even his Twilight-honed skills could not keep up with a fluent speaker of seven languages at work within her element and magical focus. A curl of very pale pink magic emerged from the linguist’s horn and arced toward the waiting changeling. It coalesced into an amorphous shape and was temporarily stymied by the magic suppressor on the changeling’s horn, but then an additional surge of magic allowed it to bypass the obstruction. For a moment, it glowed on the changeling’s face as if the shifter pony were wearing a mask. Within seconds, the glowing mask had faded from view completely. The professor, looking tired but satisfied, nodded toward the blinking changeling.

“Is it working, Bugsy?” a voice that seemed to come from the mouth of the changeling sang through the clearing. It was still fairly high-pitched for a pony, but understandable and somewhat louder than the buzzing had been earlier. The changeling blinked in shock, then smiled and bowed to the astounded but nodding audience. “Now that I may do so in words understandable for your kind, I humbly greet your majesties. Though my larval name does not translate properly, you may address me by my pony name, Pine Climber.”

“Arise, Pine Climber, and well met.” Celestia spoke, as the first to recover. Luna followed. “Now then, are you interested in returning to your home?”

The changeling shrugged. “Not particularly, your majesty. I was caught after escaping from a fellow who was running a freak show. To be sure, I fed often, but it was hardly a healthy situation for any pony involved. Would it be possible for me to remain here for now? For as long as this spell lasts,” the changeling nodded to the professor, “I can act as an interpreter or go-between for the others, plus if we get any more visitors like Cookie’s lady friend—“ she paused and licked her lips. “I could do quite well here.”

“We shall see.” Luna answered. “For now, you may stay as long as you choose.” The princess of the night turned to the professor. “Well done. How long does this version last?”

“A few days.” The linguist answered. “The longer ones last a few weeks or months.”

She surreptitiously slid a notebook over to Spike. “Here is what you were attempting to record, young drake." She returned her attention to the princesses. "I assure you, no changes were made other than an additional power surge to counteract the inhibitors. I made note of how much that was on the final leaf. I do recommend that if you make any changes you be very careful. Language translation can be a delicate matter and disastrous if disrupted. Consider yourselves warned. I leave the spell in your oh-so-noble hooves.” Eager claws stretched towards the notebook.

The mare then turned back to the changeling and, with a toss of her mane, stated. “Miss Pine Climber, should you find that there is no place for you here in Canterlot, I am in need of an assistant next semester. I shall leave my forwarding address with the princesses. I sense great potential in you; it would be a shame to waste it in some barracks. And now I shall take my leave to prepare to return to Trottingham!” The mare flounced off, leaving behind a stupefied changeling and three other ponies and a dragon staring after.

As Celestia and Pine Climber watched the wordy professor depart, Luna turned to Spike. “May I see those notes, Spike? I would like to see whether she included a spell that I could cast that would allow me to personally understand changeling speech without casting it on every changeling in that building.” The little dragon flipped a few pages then passed the open notebook to the princess. Luna read through the notes, examining the structure and power levels of each of the components, then the modifications the spell’s creator had tested to make it work for other ponies. Unfortunately, it seemed that Professor Buzz Words had never tested these on an alicorn, for understandable reasons. I will have to do some experimenting. It should not take much modification of the unicorn version for this to work for me. Most of the professor's horn writing was very legible, but some side notes appeared as mere scribbles.

“Will you be able to transcribe these?” The night princess asked Spike, directing the baby dragon's attention to the marginal notes.

“Of course!” the dragon replied confidently. “It is actually still neater than Twilight’s writing after a Pinkie Pie party or one of Applejack’s special cider nights." He glanced around before continuing, "it always looks more like a chicken walking in sand when she is stressed out of her mind.” That last comment was spoken in a low voice, one hopefully inaudible to the dragon’s house-mate. Luna chuckled. A glance at Twilight's face suggested the comment had not been made quite quietly enough. Luna wordlessly passed the photograph of Twilight's sleeping face to her sister and Twilight. The latter turned red with embarrassment; the former turned red from trying to hold in her laughter. Luna and Spike shared conspiratorial grins.

XIV: A Flim-Flam or a Flower?

The next morning, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Spike took the train back to Ponyville. Back in Canterlot, life returned to normal. Between Princess Luna, Eclipse, and Pine Climber, the three mares managed to modify Buzz Words’ spell so that Luna could hear the interviewed changelings’ words straight from the horse’s (or bug’s) mouth. The princess of the night returned to the mountain of petitions, including the ever-more persistent Flim and Flam. During the course of the week of working with Cookie N Cream and Professor Bugsy, the annoying unicorns had sent several more letters asking for “their” changelings. They still failed to mention any names, which continued to arouse Princess Luna’s suspicions, but now she had a way to confirm or disprove the claims of the obnoxious sales ponies. Carrying the most recent version of the letters, Luna and Eclipse headed toward the changeling barracks. Following the emotional reunion between Cookie N Cream and Chai Spice, the inhabitants of the building had begun to open up more with the princess, as they were feeling safer in the knowledge that she truly was trying to help their lives return to normal. Being able to be understood was not hurting their cause either.

Tonight, Luna read the letter from Flim and Flam aloud to the changelings. “Do any of you know these ponies?” She inquired.

A few changelings shuffled their hooves nervously. “Only by reputation.” One answered in a gravelly voice. “A bad one.” Another added. There were murmurs of assent throughout the large room.

One changeling, a mare, judging by her size, spoke up. “I was one of the changelings who worked for those so and so’s last year. They care for nothing but their own profit. I would rather rot in this shed among my own species than spend any amount of time in their company.”

Luna turned to the very vocal changeling. “Would you be willing to tell me more?” She asked gently.

“Gladly. If nothing else, it gives me someone new to complain to.” The bug pony answered, waving a limb at her roommates. She followed the princess into a smaller room at the end of the hall. The room was cozy and contained a few comfortable chairs; despite its name, the “interrogation chamber” (as the changelings referred to it) was no uncomfortable place of torture. The changeling selected an overstuffed blue ottoman while the princess settled herself in a large crimson arm chair.

“So what did you mean by what you said earlier? Were they abusive?” The princess asked.

“Not as the law recognizes. It was basically your standard freak show gig, you know, where you stand around for ponies to gawk at you and try and feed without them taking any notice. There were three of us who did it: me and Glow Wings and a stallion who just calls himself Trek. Any way, one of us would always be on display while the others wandered the crowd as ponies and tried to drum up business. The brothers would be peddling some weird tonic or whatever and we would act like we knew what it was and made claims about how great it was and so on. It would bring ponies to the booth and everything would be fine and dandy. Then it got worse after that wedding. Flim and Flam made up this new spray, they called it changeling detector or changeling B gone or something like that. It all went sour from there. The three of us were forced to become demonstration tools. They would spray some in our faces and we would shift from pony into changeling form as if it made us change. It was really just water mixed with some kind of pepper, but it never failed to leave our eyes watering. I suppose we could resist the change, but bug eyes are less susceptible to that repellent, so it was easier to shift away. Even so, we were totally stuck in their clutches. It was sickening. After they started selling that repellent stuff, it became much harder for us to feed from the crowds—all that hostility is bad for the digestion. The night they did their demonstration for a guard outpost was one of the best nights of my life, because the commander of the unit came around back afterwards to find all three of us trying to wash that peppery spray out of our faces and decided to take us away. I was just happy to get away from those two annoying fakers.”

A changeling of strong opinions, Luna thought, but seeing the completely serious expression on the mare’s face, she revised her thought process. If she is correct, she has good reason to hold them. After the changeling finished speaking, there was silence for a few minutes as Luna attempted to puzzle out what she had heard. Finally the princess asked, “are Glow Wings and Trek here too? Would they add anything?”

The changeling shrugged. “Glow might. She is not really one to speak up for herself though. I'm not sure she has spoken at all since we came here, and Trek, well,” the changeling mare hesitated before she continued, “to be honest, I don't think he is the sharpest tool in the shed, if you catch my meaning. I'm not sure how much he understands of what is going on around him. He is very sweet but I have seen more brains in a diamond dog.”

Luna nodded in understanding. She had known a few ponies like that over the centuries. “All right. What would you have me do with you and your two friends then? If the situation with Flim and Flam is as you described it to me, then it would be unhealthy to send you back to them.”

The changeling appeared thoughtful. “I can not really speak for the others, you understand. For me though,” she paused as she pondered how to phrase her request, “I would like to be made useful. Ever since I was little I have been very good at illusions and shifting, even better than Glow. I can even do a few other species besides ponies. If you would have me, I would like to work for you. Maybe as a spy or something?” The mare shrugged. “Honestly, I have never really thought about what my life would be like after escaping from those two. The escape was always the end goal.”

Luna nodded again in understanding; to some extent, she had felt the same way about escaping from her lunar exile a couple years ago. “I think we may be able to make some kind of arrangement. Let me have a few nights and I shall speak to some ponies in Intelligence and see if they would be willing to take you on.” Before the princess could add any more, the changeling was on her knees in a deep bow before her.

“Thank you, oh thank you, thank you ever so much,” the changeling babbled.

Luna raised the bug pony back to her feet. She was smiling. “Before you return to the others, what is your name, young one?”

The changeling’s answer was surprising. “I never had a true name of my own. Glow always called me her little crazy friend, and Flim and Flam never gave me one either. I suppose you could always suggest something.”

Luna thought for a moment. “How about Zinnia? It is a pretty flower, with complicated layered petals, a variety of beautiful colors, and very attractive to butterflies.”

“Zinnia.” The changeling repeated the name, as if tasting the flavor. “Zinnia. That's a flower of constancy, a flower of memory. I like it. Thank you, Princess. I have never had a real name before.” The pair smiled at one another.

XV: Butterflies and Bugs (part 1)

Given what Zinnia had mentioned when describing Glow Wings, Luna was not sure that the direct approach would work. It was far more likely to scare the poor changeling. When she mentioned the possibility to Eclipse, the ebon unicorn had shaken her head. “No way, no how, Luna.” She had said bluntly. “I can barely get that one to speak with me long enough for me to catch her name. Even with Buzz Words’ spell I can barely make her out most of the time. You are going to need the help of someone from outside if you want to get anything out of her.”

“You sound as though you have some pony in mind.” Luna had commented.

“I do.” Eclipse’s answer was somewhat surprising to Luna. “Mayhaps you should contact Twilight Sparkle’s friend in Ponyville. Not the pink one; that would be a disaster. No, I mean the pegasus, the one who lives with all the animals.”

Luna had felt surprised, then understood. Fluttershy was herself a soft spoken pony who was used to dealing with a variety of non pony animals. It was worth a try. She sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle via Spike before going to bed in the morning. By the time she awoke in the evening, she had her answer. Fluttershy was scared, but she would come. According to the note, Rarity would be attending Fashion Week in Canterlot anyway and Fluttershy had agreed to fill in for one of her friend’s models after the latter had tripped and sprained an ankle a day before. The pair would be here in a few days.

True to Twilight’s reply, Fluttershy arrived with Rarity a few nights later. The latter pony had taken advantage of Luna’s offer to quarter them both in Canterlot Castle. At Fluttershy’s request, Luna agreed to allow Rarity to join the nervous pegasus in interviewing the skittish changeling. Luna cast the spell over both the visiting pegasus and unicorn then sent them towards the barracks with a pass to show the guard. Luna had notified Glow Wings via Zinnia of the visitors, so the changelings were both waiting in the interview room when the ponies arrived. It was a quiet evening, and even Rarity seemed subdued (though that might have been the effect of the mismatched furniture and décor of the room).

As soon as they entered, Rarity’s focus was drawn to Zinnia. “Oh darling, I have never gotten a chance to talk with a changeling before! I mean, I have fought them and such of course, but I do not know anything else! And Princess Luna tells me you have travelled all over Equestria! I want to know all about it!”

Luckily, Zinnia seemed to take the fashionista’s squees in stride and, after giving her friend a final squeeze with her wing, led the ebullient white unicorn to another corner of the room to talk. Fluttershy took the changeling’s place. She moved slowly, softly and gently. Glow Wings seemed confused and frightened. The motherly urge in Fluttershy was activated upon meeting the scared bug pony. “It is all right. You are safe here. No one is going to hurt you.” She murmured softly. She reached out a wing, but seeing that the changeling flinched away, the pegasus withdrew it. The pair sat in silence, Fluttershy waiting patiently for Glow Wing to make the first move.

“Zinnia says…” The changeling stammered a little. “She says that you can… can help me… I do not know what is going on here…except for her I am all alone… and I am scared.” Fluttershy reached out a hoof and took the changeling’s trembling hoof in hers. Glow Wings did not pull away.

“I know. I have felt the same way. It feels as though no pony is there for you.” She stroked the changeling’s leg, tracing the holes in her chitin. “But you are right about one thing. Zinnia is here for you. She cares for you and does not want to leave you alone.”

For the first time all evening, the changeling lifted her head and made eye contact with the pegasus. “But… she has been talking about leaving. She wants to go be a spy or something for the princess. I want her to live her dreams, but I do not want to be left all alone either.”

The changeling fell silent. Had she been in pony form, there would have been tears streaking her face.

Fluttershy continued to stroke the changeling’s hoof. “Were you always this frightened?” The butter colored pegasus asked.

Glow Wings shook her head. “I … do not think so. Zinnia was always the braver one though. Even when those two unicorns…” she cringed.

“You do not want to go back to them, do you?” Fluttershy whispered, not expecting an answer and not receiving one. “More happened to you than happened to Zinnia, but you are unable to talk to her about it. That's not okay; that's worrisome. You need to tell someone, otherwise it is eating you from the inside out.”

The changeling still said nothing. Fluttershy reached out with a wing and began caressing the bug pony’s back, between her wings. The pair sat in companionable silence. “If… if I tell you everything, will you tell it all to the princess?” The changeling asked at last.

“Only if you want me to.” Fluttershy answered serenely. “If others are being harmed, though, then I think the princess should know.”

The changeling nodded in understanding. “I will tell you everything, miss.”

The pair continued their subdued conversation as the changeling haltingly describes some of the scams she had been made to take part in that could have been harmful or frightening. There were stories about false tonics, wild stunts, and being chased out of town after town as those false promises had been proven fake. After many years, it had worn on the poor changeling mare’s nerves, which had been stretched near to their breaking point when the Flim Flam brothers had unveiled their changeling repellant spray. The rescue that had the sound of an epic adventure according to Zinnia was more akin to a traumatic kidnapping for Glow Wings. “And Trek has not spoken since.” The changeling had concluded, sounding far older than her age.

The pair sat in silence for a while after she had finished, with only the background noise of Canterlot and the ringing discussion of a San Franciscolt designer trend coming from the opposite corner of the room audible to both parties. As the latter grew to a crescendo, it drew the shy pair’s attention away from their discussion. “She is not going to change her mind,” Glow Wings whispered to Fluttershy softly. “Zinnia is surprisingly stubborn when it comes to clothing and she is very fond of Groovy Summertime’s style.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Rarity prefers more elegance than casual, I am afraid.” She whispered in reply. “Some pony who turns tye-dye into fashionwear will always give her conniptions.”

For the first time all evening, Glow Wings smiled. The pair returned to their spectating, enjoying the growing debate with all the interest of a circus audience watching a lion tamer go through his paces.

“The funny thing is,” Fluttershy whispered, “Rarity is here for Canterlot Fashion Week. She wants me to model for her.”

Glow Wings looked surprised. “You?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I have done it before; it is not something I really enjoy though. I am good at understanding the way clothing should be constructed, but I do not like being in the spotlight while wearing it.”

Glow Wings looked thoughtful. “I wonder,” she began hesitantly, “would Princess Luna let Zinnia out to model for Rarity? I mean, I have seen her shift into all shapes and sizes and she can play pretty much any role. If you do not want to be in the spotlight,” Here the changeling let out a slight giggle, “and Zinnia is probably meant for it…”

Both ponies watched the debate for a minute or so longer, then lost their composure completely at the sight of Zinnia strutting around Rarity in her impression of some high-class society noble, complete with nose in the air and erect wings. Through her giggles, Fluttershy could have sworn she saw the bold changeling give her a wink before turning back to the fashion designer. “I think you are on to something, Glow.” The pair shared a conspiratorial glance before they had to part ways at the end of the night.

Back in the room, Fluttershy cautiously broached the subject with Rarity. The unicorn snorted. “That Zinnia? She is even wilder than Rainbow Dash. I can not imagine how difficult it would be to get her into a dress, much less one of the evening gowns I am modelling tomorrow night! I mean, come now Fluttershy! She considers tye-dye a fashionable pattern! I mean really!”

It did not take much of an imagination on Fluttershy’s part to imagine the conversation happening back at the barracks. But she knew she had an in when Rarity murmured to herself, “although it would be nice if the model for the blue dress were a bit darker in color and heavier…”

XV: Butterflies and Bugs (part 2)

Meanwhile, a pair of changelings were having a deep discussion of sorts with the guard. It involved using every trick they could think of to get him to take off the magic inhibitor that Zinnia was wearing. So far, it was not working. Finally, an exasperated Zinnia asked for a piece of paper and a pencil. Time to call in the big guns.

Fluttershy,
Would you be willing to speak to Princess Luna on our behalf and get her to let us remove the magic inhibitors for Miss Rarity’s modelling gig? The guard here seems to be deaf.
Your friend, Zinnie
PS. Have you managed to persuade Rarity that I would make a better model yet?

Fluttershy received the note with a slight feeling of trepidation. Rarity was wavering, but she needed some kind of final push to convince her to change models. It was not something that would happen with only Fluttershy involved. But perhaps Glow Wings’s idea might work fairly well. It would take a little time on the pegasus's part, but she had a suspicion of what could finally persuade her friend. The butter-yellow pegasus first discretely approached the princess of the night after Night Court had ended. “Princess?” She whispered. “May I ask you something?”

“Of course, Fluttershy. I will answer to the best of my ability.”

“Why do all the changelings wear those inhibitors? I mean, their magic only allows them to shift forms. They are unable to teleport and the only ponies who go into the barracks are you and your guests. Why would it matter if they are in pony form or not?”

Luna appeared thoughtful. “It is something that Princess Cadence insisted on, I believe. She has not been here since the wedding, of course, but the very idea of disguised changelings near the palace is unnerving to her. Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Fluttershy began hesitantly, “It has to do with those changelings you asked me and Rarity to talk to. You see, one of them would like an opportunity to test her skills in pony form. She was saying something about wanting to be an undercover agent for you. Then Glow Wings suggested that Rarity’s show might be a good opportunity. It all went on from there.”

Luna looked curiously at Fluttershy. “Surely you jest, my dear. I thought you would be modelling for Rarity.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I was only doing it because the regular model got hurt and no other acceptably sized pony was available. But if Zinnia is able to replicate any sized pony form, she might be a good substitute. It would also give her a chance to try out one of these personas she has been itching to test out.”

Luna looked somewhat surprised, but assented. “I suppose it would be fine. If Rarity agrees, I will let Zinnia and Glow Wings go to the show with the two of you.” Fluttershy nodded her thanks and took her leave.

When she returned to the room she was sharing with Rarity, Fluttershy found the fashion pony experimenting with the fit of the dress Fluttershy was supposed to wear and getting increasingly frustrated with the differing dimensions of her model.

“I simply do not understand! This was fitting just fine in Ponyville! What has gone wrong? It does not fit the wings right any more and I am at my wit’s end! Fluttershy, darling, did you notice anything odd the last time you tried this on?”

The pegasus shrugged. “It was always a little tight around my wings, Rarity. You know mine are larger than Dance Steps’ wings. I am amazed they fit me at all. Perhaps you need a different model?”

“But who else is there?” Rarity wailed. “I simply do not have time to modify the dress for any other model!”

Inwardly, Fluttershy smiled. “Maybe you need a model who can change to fit the dress.”

Rarity froze. “What did you say, dear?”

“I said perhaps instead of making the dress fit your model, you need a model for the dress.”

“You think I should talk to that changeling again? You really think she could model my couture as well as you can?”

“It is worth a try, Rarity. Maybe you should give her a tryout, one in pony form. I bet Princess Luna would let her do it if you asked.”

Rarity looked appraisingly first at Fluttershy, then her dress. “All right, I shall do as you suggest and ask Princess Luna to let Zinnia and Glow Wing come up here and audition for me.”

The fashion designer swept dramatically out of the room. Fluttershy let out a quiet sigh of relief. Despite not being a unicorn, her not insignificant knowledge of sewing techniques had served her well. It had taken little effort to modify the wing seams just enough while the fashionable unicorn had been taking her beauty rest that day. Now it would be up to Zinnia to prove herself.

Sure enough, later that evening, both changelings were escorted to the Ponyvillians’ room. Upon entering, the guard removed their magic inhibitors and left them alone with the ponies. “Well,” Rarity said hesitantly, “Shall we begin?” Zinnia nodded. She walked over to the dress stand and examined the fashionable garment.

“Is this the kind of lighting we will be working with?” The changeling asked.

“It is a bit darker than that and a more yellow tint in here.”

Zinnia paced around the dress, examining its features. “Hmmm. Then I would say a darker yellow or golden tone would agree nicely with the chartreuse of this fabric. A subtly dark red for mane and tail. And wings, of course.” The changeling stood still, face deep in concentration. “It may take me a try or two to get right, as I am a little rusty, but here goes.”

Before the eyes of the assembled ponies, she used her magic to ignite illusory green flames that appeared to consume her from the ground up. Within a few seconds, the changeling was gone, having assumed the form of a yellow and red pegasus. Her eyes remained an odd blue-green. “Do you have an eye color preference, Miss Rarity?” The changeling asked in a voice huskier than the one the ponies heard when she was in her natural form.

The fashion designer shook herself out of stillness and examined the changed mare with a critical eye. “Let us see you in the dress first, Miss Zinnia. Then we can decide on subtleties and accessories.” Zinnia smiled and, with Glow Wings’s and Fluttershy’s help, changed into the dress.

“Hmmm. The wings still look too tight.” The unicorn mumbled.

“That is easily remedied.” The changeling replied, and modified her wings to fit the cut of the dress. Rarity stared open-mouthed. Fluttershy and Glow Wing smothered giggles at the flabbergasted and most undignified expression on the designer’s face.

“Does it fit now, miss?” Zinnia asked sweetly. Rarity nodded and approached the changeling model and began adjusting the fit. “It is a little large here.” She noted, trying to sound dispassionate. She squealed in alarm as the changeling adjusted her figure under the unicorn’s hoof.

“Is that better, Miss Rarity?” The changeling’s polite and obliging attitude was winning over the fashionable unicorn. She took to her adjusting model quickly enough. As the dress fitting was completed, the pair began to discuss accessories.

Fluttershy and Glow Wings looked on in satisfaction. “When I asked the princess’s permission, I asked her to include you in the invitation. I want you to be there with us.” The yellow pegasus commented off-hand.

Glow Wings looked at her in surprise. “Are you sure? I have never seen a pony fashion show before. What would I wear?”

Fluttershy beckoned her soft-spoken changeling friend over to a wardrobe. “Why not check here? Rarity has several garments that might work. Can you shift into pony form for me? I am not expecting you to take any color or form in particular; just make sure you are about my size and a pegasus or about Rarity’s size and a unicorn and we will find something.”

The changeling nodded and stood still with her eyes closed. Her flames were a lighter, almost white shade of green than her friend’s , and grew more slowly, but soon Fluttershy was facing a nervous looking pegasus about her size with sage green fur and a long cobalt blue mane and tail. Glow Wings looked behind her. “I do not know how to do cutie marks.” She whispered, flushing.

“That is okay.” Fluttershy answered. “We will simply have to select a style that covers your mark. There are a few in here that could do.” Fluttershy pulled out three or four gowns from Rarity’s previous fashion line, from the same one she herself had chosen a dress. One deep blue dress caught Glow Wings’ attention immediately.

“How about that one?” She asked, leaning closer. The dress was made for a pegasus and had a swooping, toga-like feel to it, accented by silvery closures in the shape of columbine flowers. A simple hair band and a few matching jewelry items were in a nearby box along with a set of shoes.

Fluttershy noticed her enthusiasm. “I think this would look good with your colors. Try it on and we can look at the fit. If I get it right and you like it, we can show Rarity.” The task was quickly accomplished, as the garment was deceptively simple. Fluttershy led the nervous changeling back into the main room.

“Fluttershy, dear, who is this?” Rarity asked. “And where did you find such a demure dear to wear that dress? It is as if it was made for her!”

Embarassed, Glow Wings looked down and shuffled her hooves. “It is me, Miss Rarity. Glow Wings.”

Rarity’s experience in dealing with Fluttershy’s shyness and stage fright overtook her astonishment. “Oh my dear, it is quite all right! You simply startled me. Fluttershy, you and Glow Wings had a wonderful idea to select this dress.” Rarity walked around the begowned Glow Wings, testing the fit. “Yes, I believe you will do nicely. I take it you will be in the audience with Fluttershy and myself?”

The changeling nodded with relief. For a moment, she had thought that Rarity would want her to join Zinnia on the catwalk. Rarity nodded in response. “It looks as though it were made for you, my dear!" The unicorn repeated. "I would be honored to have you share a box with us. I have an idea. You seem to be a good judge of colors. Will you help Zinnia and myself match colors for some of these other dresses? Some of them could use a more subtle eye than mine.”

Glow Wings nodded again. By the expression on her face, she was happy to be useful to the fashion designer. Fluttershy watched with satisfaction as the two changelings and the unicorn tried on various outfits. By the end of the evening, they had worked out a series of subtle changes for Zinnia to use at the show, and Rarity had given the model suggestions on how to show the clothing to the best advantage.

The next night served as a dress rehearsal for all those showing clothing at Canterlot Fashion Week. Rarity was only doing a minor showing of a few dresses, so Zinnia was easily able to change between strutting her stuff to exhibiting various clothing items. Glow Wings offered suggestions for more subtle color changes that her friend could use to show the dresses to the best advantage in the different light. To the complete surprise of Fluttershy, Rarity, and Zinnia, Glow Wings decided to stay after Rarity’s turn to talk to the ponies in charge of lighting for the show. She spent most of the rest of the evening in the company of Spotter Light in the lighting control booth, making suggestions about lighting for the various showing designers and learning about the different lighting used for the show.

“I have never seen her so enthusiastic before,” Zinnia confided in Fluttershy as Glow Wings tested out a pale blue light on a Manehattan designer’s creation. The designer on stage looked pleased with the change, as it highlighted the unusual silk of a wedding gown with a long flowing train to great effect.

“If changelings get cutie marks,” Fluttershy answered, “it would not surprise me if Glow Wings found hers tonight.” She nodded toward the normally subdued mare now hovering above the lighting booth.

Zinnia gave her a sly grin. “Who says we do not? We don't wear them on our chitin, but it is there all the same. I suspect part of Glow’s skittishness is from being teased about her blank flank all through her foalhood. The reason she can't shift one is that she has never had anything to work with in the first place.” Fluttershy glanced sympathetically at the normally shy changeling.

“So you have one?” She asked as an aside. “Yep.”

“May I see it, if that is okay with you?”

“Here, give me a moment.” Zinnia answered. The cutie mark of a tangle of flowers she presently wore dissolved in a greenish glow, replaced by a mirror with a gilt silver frame. The frame, Fluttershy saw, was decorated with flowers. Zinnia looked a bit surprised. “Those were not there before.” She commented, gesturing at the flowers. “It used to be plain, but now…” The two mares looked at each other, then chorused together, “Zinnias.”

The changeling pair asked for and received permission to stay with Fluttershy and Rarity in the castle rather than return to the changeling barracks. Rarity’s reason had been that she wanted to do another rehearsal with Zinnia before the performance. Fluttershy simply said she wanted Glow Wings' company. As all four of them got ready for bed, Fluttershy noticed Glow Wings appearing puzzled. It was Zinnia who realized first why. “Glow! Your mark! You got one!”

“What?” The shy changeling glanced at her side to see the mark of a lit candle in a fancy holder gracing her flanks.

“So, you got that just for lighting up those dresses?” Zinnia baited her friend.

“Why of course not!” Rarity broke in. “A cutie mark has more meaning than the obvious. I do not know what Glow Wings’ understanding of her mark is, but I would say that she was not only lighting up the stage, but she was also providing, if you will, a light of inspiration to those of us watching. Why, I heard several designers commenting that those lights and the way they were playing off different materials gave them new ideas for clothing that would show well on the walk. I would not be surprised at all if Mr. Spotter Light gets inquiries about the lighting after today and more after the show tomorrow night!”

Glow Wings looked at Rarity with wary approval. “You mean it? You think they would want my help?”

“Absolutely.” The Fashionista replied with enthusiasm. “Ask Spotter Light after the show tomorrow night. I would bet a custom dress that he would agree with me.”

The ebullient enthusiasm of the unicorn was finally winning over Glow Wings’ reticence. As the moon began to set, all four ponies went to get some beauty rest. Before they fell asleep completely, Zinnia gave Glow Wings a hug. “I am proud of you, my friend. If this all works out right, you can set up shop here or somewhere where you can do lighting stuff, maybe even theater work. I hope it does.”

Glow Wings returned the gesture. “Me Too.” She murmured as the changelings dropped off to sleep.

Author's Note

I had to break this up into two parts, as it was originally over four thousand words. Good for NaNoWriMo, not so much for here.

XVI: Welcome to the Show

Preparations were a whirlwind in the hours leading up to the show. Despite having only a small selection for showing, Rarity was a basketcase. If it were not for Fluttershy’s seeming unfathomable calm, there would have been broken objects scattered all over the dressing room. Since she was no longer expected to model, Fluttershy was focused on keeping Rarity on all four hooves. Upon arrival at the venue, Glow Wings had disappeared to find Spotter Light and the other crew members she had met the night before. Fluttershy had extracted a promise that the changeling would meet them at Zinnia’s dressing room a little while before the show to dress.

Meanwhile, Zinnia was caught up in the maelstrom of excitement. She was in pony form now, practicing her model strut with Rarity and one of the model coaches. Rarity had introduced them upon arrival, and, after hearing that Zinnia was new to modelling, the coach had offered his services in perfecting her walk before the curtains opened and his other clients arrived. Fluttershy hoped that everything went well.

The session was interrupted by yells from outside the dressing room. Fluttershy peeked out to find Glow Wings looking confused. The reason was obvious. Though the flustered changeling was in pony form, her wings looked as they did in her natural form, with their delicate membranes all aglow. Fluttershy pulled the changeling into the dressing room. Ponies outside were already yelling about a changeling and calling security. When a guard arrived and knocked on the door, Rarity answered. Glow Wings was still in her bug-winged pony form and looked terrified. Zinnia had assumed a similar half pony form with her wings similarly visible, though hers were not glowing. Both Fluttershy and Zinnia were attempting to comfort the frightened changeling.

“Ma’am, I received a report of a changeling backstage. Have you seen one?” The guard asked Rarity.

“Of course I have, good sir. I have two of them in my employ tonight.” The unicorn replied. She levitated a few papers off the desk near the door and passed them to the guard. “As you can see, they are here with the permission of Princess Luna. Miss Zinnia is my primary model for the evening and Miss Glow Wings is my stage lighting consultant.”

The guard read over the papers to ascertain their legitimacy, then gave the fashion designer a polite nod. “Very well, miss. I shall notify the other guards of this development. If you would keep these papers and your changeling companions in your company for the rest of the evening, I believe this will all blow over.”

Rarity nodded in agreement and after a few more words, the guard left. The fashion designer turned to the unnerved Glow Wings. “I am so sorry, so sorry! I was just so excited and Light Spotter was showing me all the new lighting colors and I was feeling so good I lost track of time and was running back and I guess I forgot I was in pony form and tried to fly back and then every pony started screaming.” The changeling rambled until Rarity laid a calming hoof on her shoulder.

“Everything is fine. You are allowed to be here and you are with us. Every pony who is in this theater is on pins and needles tonight. If it had not been you, something else would have set them all off. Something always does. I am grateful that you did.”

The changeling looked up from examining her hooves. “Why is that? I just panicked a bunch of fashion models and every other pony back here.”

“Yes, but you did it before the opening reception and the show.” Rarity answered. “You have no idea how rare that is, darling. Usually there is some kind of dramatic breakdown at the opening reception or at the show itself! There is always some pony who pushes herself far beyond her limit. By setting all that emotion loose early, you have defused the tension. By the time the curtain opens tonight, we will be more relaxed and it will all go better , you will see.”

The changeling looked thoughtful. “I suppose you are right. But do you still want me with you at the reception? I mean, I do not know if any of the ponies would be willing to talk to me after they all saw me like this.”

Rarity smiled. “I have an idea. Why not make it look intentional. I love the way your wings were lit up earlier.” She trotted over to the clothing rack. “What if we used that to our advantage? After all, no other designer that I know of has changelings working with her.” She pulled Glow Wings’ dress off the rack. “Instead of going into pegasus form for this dress, why not leave your changeling wings in the open. It will certainly be warm enough in the reception room, and with your wings aglow it would accent the lines of this gown nicely.”

Zinnia stood up and trotted over to the gowns she would be modelling. “Is there any one of these that would work well for me to do the same, Rarity?” She inquired. “I would like to do that too, if possible.”

Rarity sized up the changeling model. “Try the red taffeta, my dear. With your wing color the dark shade would be a nice contrast. Can you light up yours too?”

Zinnia shrugged. “Not as well as Glow can. Mine kind of flickers.”

“Never mind then. A constant light would work better, so we will have to go without."

Rarity helped Zinnia into her creation. “Are you going to want me to wear my natural wings on stage too?” The changeling asked.

“No. This reception will be enough. Most of my wing dresses are designed for pegasi. We are just fortunate that this one also is appealing for changeling wing styles.”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had convinced Glow Wings to dress in her reception gown. Glow Wings’ wings were not lit any more, as she was too nervous. Fluttershy gave her a quick hug before dressing herself while Rarity did likewise. The four admired the dresses. Zinnia’s was a bright crimson red that was adorned with tiny diamonds that shimmered and caught the natural light like clouds of pollen. Zinnia had her gold wings folded gracefully over her back, where they seemed to hover like a cloud covering the sun. She wore the form of a pale gold pony with an orange mane and tail. Rarity’s dress was a spectacular creation of rich mauve satin adorned with a variety of jewels of various warm colors. In contrast, Fluttershy’s dress was a demure nature-inspired creation of light blue and sage green. Little pink butterflies were embroidered on the green skirt.

All three of them though, were especially admiring the effect of Glow Wing’s dress. The shy changeling’s deep blue gown was adorned with tiny brilliants similar to those on Zinnia’s dress, but the effect of these was more akin to stars in the night sky. The changeling’s sliver wings rested above the whole gown, though they appeared tenser than Zinnias. “Light them up, if you can my dear.” Rarity urged. Glow Wings trembled, then took a deep breath and relaxed. Light began to flow into her wings, creating an effect that looked much like a full moon bathing the land below in light. The little “stars” reflected it beautifully.

“Magnificent!” Rarity crowed. Fluttershy nodded in agreement and Zinnia squealed in delight.

“Oh Glow! That looks amazing! Rarity, you were right about the wings. It looks much better than it did with feathers. We are going to turn such heads tonight!”

Glow Wings gave a little “eep!” of nervousness, but allowed her companions to guide her out of the room toward the pre-show reception.

The four of them walked into a large room to face the appraising glances of the other fashion designers and models. Rarity was in her element here. She led the way into the crowd like the figurehead on the prow of a noble’s sailing ship cutting through the waves. Fluttershy and the changelings followed in her wake. It did not take long for Zinnia to take up the mantle of the excited first-time model and make her own waves in the room full of socialites. Fluttershy stayed with the nervous Glow Wings. Eventually, a pompous looking white unicorn in a suit and his slender pale companion walked over to the pair. “You are friends of Miss Rarity, are you not?” The stallion asked. “I remember meeting you before, at a party last year.”

“That is right. You are Mr. Fancy Pants?”

“Indeed I am.” The stallion replied to Fluttershy’s query. “And this is my wife, Fleur dis Lis. I must say, Miss Rarity has gone in a very different direction with these newest creations. I had heard she had a changeling modelling for her earlier, but I never imagined the effect would be like this! Your friends are simply lovely!”

Glow Wings flushed with embarrassment, but her wings lit up at the complement. Suddenly the room quieted. Striding through the gathering was the princess of the night and her entourage. Princess Luna was walking calmly through the room, though unlike her sister usually did, she made no small talk. The overall effect was of trying to hide a fear of social faux pas with a facade of aloofness. She waved off ponies’ bows. “Let the thought be taken for the deed the rest of the evening. I came here to see ponies in beautiful clothing, not the tops of bowed heads!” As she made her way through the various cliques and crowds, that facade and the nervousness behind it seemed to melt away.

“She is doing well.” Fleur dis Lis murmured to her companions.

Fancy Pants nodded in agreement. “It seems we may not have to do much interference tonight. Good.”

Fluttershy looked puzzled. “What do you mean by ‘interference’? Is Luna doing something wrong?”

“No my dear,” Fleur dis Lis answered sweetly. “Princess Celestia likes to have us at events when Princess Luna is here to keep an eye on her, and to smooth over the social waters, as the case can be. Princess Luna is still getting used to the court and does not deserve to be swarmed over. We simply are here as backup for her and her entourage.”

Fluttershy nodded, remembering how Luna had acted at Nightmare Night the year before. She was distracted by a nudge from Glow Wings. “She is coming this way.” The changeling looked as if she wanted to escape as the princess of the night made her way toward the changeling and the pegasus. Fluttershy reached out a comforting wing as Fleur dis Lis and Fancy Pants moved aside to allow the princess to approach.

“I greet you Fluttershy, and this is Miss Glow Wings?” The princess asked.

“Yes, princess.” The pegasus answered. Luna smiled at Glow Wings.

“I must say, Rarity did a brilliant job with the design of this gown. It is as though it were made to be worn by a changeling. You have such lovely wings; they ornament the dress as the moon ornaments my night sky.”

“Th- Thank you, your majesty.” Glow Wings murmured. Her wings glowed brighter.

Luna continued. “I have heard that you were a great asset to the lighting crew for this fashion show. I look forward to seeing the effect this has on the designers’ work.”

Flushing at the praise, Glow Wings only nodded. Luna returned the gesture, then turned to Fluttershy. “I thank you for your patience these past few days. I have not been able to pay as much attention to our changeling guests as I might have. For now, though, I will go to pay my attentions to Rarity.”

The princess wandered away with her followers, now including Fancy Pants and Fleur dis Lis, in tow. After noticing the princess’s favor with Glow Wings or overhearing the praise, other ponies began to approach, first cautiously, then more actively. With each additional complement, Glow Wings would flash brighter for a moment, creating a pattern of sparkles on the wall behind her that would last a short while before fading. It created an intermittent halo above the group that attracted more attention. Had she been alone, Glow Wings likely would have tried to flee, but Fluttershy’s reassuring presence and wing kept her calm enough to remain in place. As the reception began to come to a close, the pair were joined by Rarity and Zinnia. The former was enthusiastic about the response her changeling models and the designs they wore. The latter was bored and trying not to show it. Together, the four of them headed into the theater. Rarity and Zinnia disappeared backstage as Fluttershy and Glow Wings took a pair of seats where they could see everything without being in any ponies’ way.

“Do… do you think the princess would let me stay here?” Glow Wings asked the pegasus in the silence. “I mean, I would like to work more with Spotter Light and the others up there.” She gestured toward the lighting stand above them. “I mean, he was fine with me being what I am, but after tonight I do not know if the manager of the theater would take me on.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I do not know either. Why not just sit back and watch the show and enjoy tonight. We can worry about it tomorrow. The offer will still be there, after all.”

The lights dimmed and Glow Wings toned down her wing light as the first designer’s model stepped on stage. Because this was a collage-style show, there were a number of minor designers’ creations being worn in between the major collections. Rarity’s first dress being modeled by Zinnia appeared following the design of a prominent Vanhoofer show pony. Fluttershy’s attention was divided between the catwalk and her companion, who kept looking at the way the lighting style was changed from the obscured light booth. Zinnia pulled off the modelling with aplomb, dramatically posing and using the train of her gown to best advantage. The show went on, with Zinnia stealing the show during her intermittent appearances. Her theatrical flair added even more to the already attractive garments she wore. The event passed as a blur; at the end, Fluttershy and Glow Wings met Zinnia and Rarity back in the Carousel Boutique’s dressing room.

Rarity was on cloud nine. “You were fantastic, my dear, simply fantastic! I have been hearing praise for your performance all evening long! I already have a dozen new orders and will probably see more when the reviews come out tomorrow! Oh this is so exciting! I insist that you two keep in touch with me. We simply must continue this!”

“I can not help but agree,” a voice announced from the doorway. The room’s inhabitants turned to find Princess Luna and Eclipse entering the room. “Miss Rarity, I have been approached by numerous ponies tonight asking about how you obtained permission to have changelings model for you and how others may do the same for other designers. I must say, it is an opportunity that I had not considered before.”

The princess turned to Zinnia. “Miss Zinnia, how did you fare on the catwalk, considering this was your first time modelling?”

Zinnia grinned widely. “Oh princess, I have never felt so energetic before. It is even better than when we were visited by Cookie’s lady friend because all that positive emotion was directed straight at me! It was an absolutely heady experience, as if I drank an entire bottle of sparkling cider at once. If I could, I would love to do it again. Given tonight’s reaction, I could set up shop for myself as a model for designers here and do very well.”

Glow Wings nodded in agreement. “I was feeling it too, at the reception. Not to the same degree, I do not think, but it was enough. And in the lighting stands earlier…” The shyer changeling's face colored. Luna and the other ponies affected not to notice, but Zinnia gave her friend a speculative glance. There was a soft tap at the door. Rarity opened it to find an embarrassed looking stallion standing there with a bouquet of flowers.

“Oh, if you all are busy, I will just come back later.” He muttered, turning away.

“Wait, if you please, sir. Flowers are always welcome.”

The pony cautiously entered the room. He scanned the room’s inhabitants, his eye falling on the changelings. “Glow?” He asked uncertainly. Glow Wings looked up at him. He nervously held out the bouquet of flowers to her. “I just wanted to say that you looked really pretty tonight and that I want to see you again and would you like to go out with me some time?” The words fell from his lips in a waterfall- like rush that caught the ponies in the room by complete surprise.

Glow Wings was the first to respond. Wordlessly, she reached over and took the flowers in hoof, then swept up the stallion in a hug. Her wings were glowing brightly. His nervous expression turned into an enormous smile and flush of happiness. At the sound of the princess clearing her throat, the pair broke off their hug.

“And who is this?”

“Your majesty, this is Spotter Light, He is the lighting manager for the theater here,” Glow Wings stopped to catch her breath, “and I worked with him on some of the lighting effects for the show here tonight. I wanted to ask if I could stay and do more with the lighting here. There is so much I could learn… and he is such a good teacher.”

If Luna noticed the hesitation, she was polite enough to ignore it. “I see. Well, since the two of you seem to have your hooves on the ground here in Canterlot, would you care to stay as residents?”

Both Glow Wings and Zinnia looked at one another and exchanged nods. “Absolutely, your majesty.” Zinnia answered. “But may we stay another night with Rarity and Fluttershy at the palace? I want to see the reviews from the show—and see if we can make arrangements for a place to live. I do not think there are many ponies here who would rent to a pair of changelings right out of the blue.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “Then allow me to offer the hospitality of the palace as my guests in the interim. I would like to learn a bit more about changeling life here in Equestria to see if we can find some better feeding solutions for your kind.”

“I would be happy to tell you what I know.” Zinnia volunteered. Glow Wings was silent; she and Spotter Light appeared to be lost in their own little world again.

“Very well. I shall see you all at dinner tomorrow then. I suspect you have all had a long day and a very long night. I bid you farewell.” The princess swept from the room, leaving behind three stunned ponies and a pair of equally stunned changelings.

“Well then,” Rarity announced, taking charge of the situation, “Let us return to the palace and follow her advice. The reviews will not have hit the presses until dawn at the earliest.” She trotted out of the room, followed by Fluttershy and Zinnia and, a bit further behind, by Spotter Light and Glow Wings. The former three quickly outpaced the other.

“Well, that went swimmingly.” Rarity commented when they were out of earshot. “Frankly, I am amazed that that worked. I had no idea that changelings could inspire that kind of … affection.”

Zinnia chuckled. “What, you thought that we could only steal the love meant for others by wearing pony form? It is easier, I will admit , to do just that, but sometimes we manage to inspire love just by being ourselves.” She glanced back at her friend. “I've never done it myself, of course, but I have been told that that kind of natural love is even better than what we absorb from others. I would not be surprised if by the time Glow catches up with us, she will be lit up enough to be visible at the end of a well-lit Manehattan boulevard. The stuff that Spotter is giving her… that is powerful.”

Fluttershy looked thoughtful. “I just hope he is not just leading her on only to do something awful later.” She murmured softly.

Zinnia snorted. “Not a chance. Even an untaught nymph can tell when emotions are false and to avoid them. It's an instinct thing. Spotter is being totally genuine with Glow. That is the other reason I think this will turn out for the best. She needs someone stable that she can depend on. If Spotter can fill that gap…” She shrugged. The mares walked in silence until they got to the palace. Sure enough, Glow Wings arrived later than the rest, lit up like a showy firework. When the others asked how her time with Spotter Light went, she just smiled.

Author's Note

Awwwww... there's the reason for the romance tag!

XVII: Review and Routine

The ponies and changelings slept through the full night and well into the next day. They were all awake by noon, when a steward delivered two stacks of mail. One was full of newspapers and fashion magazines with show reviews. The other contained numerous envelopes from various Canterlot socialites addressed to Rarity. The fashion designer reached for the former first. “Now to see what the reviewers thought!” Because she was hardly well-known enough to be the headliner for the show, Rarity was used to mining a small mention to gauge the impact of a particular show’s impression of her clothing line. As she and the others flipped through the printed articles, they read what snippets they found aloud to one another: “a most creative showing by an up-and-coming designer”; “these new designs are indeed created by a Rarity”, “brilliant use of gemstones to highlight clean lines and patterns”, “well-chosen lighting and well-chosen models”, “looking forward to seeing more of this”.

Finally, Rarity reached for the final magazine, a glossy book with a very colorful cover. “Now this one is the biggest one in Equestrian fashion!” She crowed. “If there is even the tiniest mention of my designs in this, the Canterlot Style Star, I will be amazed.” She opened the magazine and started scanning pages. After a while, she stopped and turned the magazine around to her waiting companions. A full page photograph dominated the opened section. It showed Zinnia in full model pose in a fancier version of the dress she had worn to the reception. Her wings were splayed to full effect and glowing slightly. Her back was turned toward the camera, displaying the full train with its ornate design to great effect but her face was to the camera as she looked over her shoulder with a look of pure ennui. As this was the only dress in which she had donned her natural wings on stage (after a bit of an argument with Rarity right before the show), the effect was stunning. The article next to it was headlined with the phrase “Canterlot Changeling Couture” and four sets of eyes were riveted to the page as they read the article together:

Tonight, the greatest impression was made by Miss Rarity Belle of Ponyville’s Carousel Boutique with her stunning designs and unusual choice of model. This exquisite gown of satin brocade is one of seven displayed over the course of the evening, all on the same model, despite the other dresses being designed with unicorns, pegasi, or earth pony models in mind. It seems that Miss Rarity has found a way to incorporate changelings into her design process as well. Sources say this was an experimental exhibition for the young designer, but I expect that changelings may become the next big thing in the business of modelling. Kudos to this innovative designer!

As they finished with the page, Fluttershy glanced at Rarity. It was obvious to the pegasus that, although Rarity wanted a mention in a prestigious publication, she would have preferred that it be for her designs rather than her choice of model. The jealousy was subtle, but it was there. Eventually, Zinnia noticed as well. The changeling reached out a hoof to the fashion designer.

“Oh Rarity, there is no need to be slighted. After all, they did mention you and your business by name and said that the design of the dress itself is yours. After all,” She winked, “we both know my fashion sense includes tye-dyed clothing. With really eye-popping colors.” She startled Rarity into a laugh. “Now can we have a look at that magazine? Maybe there are other mentions that you missed.”

The group returned to the magazine. Most of the rest was about the major fashion house designers who were headlining the show. There were a few positive tidbits about the choice of lighting that made Glow Wings look quite pleased. Few of the other minor designers received much of a mention; certainly none of them contained a full-page photograph of any of their designs. At last, they turned their attention to the stack of mail. Rarity divided up the letters, as most of them were addressed to her as fan mail or social invitations. Soon enough, Rarity’s green monster was acting up again as numerous notes and invitations turned out to be for Zinnia.

“Rarity, calm down.” Fluttershy whispered to her friend. “Remember, you will have to go back to Ponyville eventually. You would not want to leave all of us behind, would you?”

Rarity shook her head and tried to look pleased at the attention Zinnia had garnered from the socialite and fashion ponies at the show. By the time they had finished sorting, Rarity still had a respectable stack of notes, though paltry compared to Zinnia’s. It appeared that the fashionista had indeed gained some new clients with her showing.

Zinnia turned to Rarity. “Rarity, I know nothing about these ponies. I know even less about being a Canterlot socialite. That reception bored me to tears. Would… would you be willing to teach me how to do this whole… thing? I could use some, er, a lot of coaching.”

Rarity looked surprised and flattered. “I suppose so, darling. After all, I was fortunate enough to have some pony take me under his wing when I got started in the business. I see no reason why I should not help you out.”

Zinnia looked grateful. “Thank you, Rarity. And I hope I will get a chance to model for you again. Some of the other fashion ponies I met…” She shuddered. “Even at your most stressed, you were among the sanest.”

Rarity nodded in understanding. “You have no idea, my dear.”

Fluttershy watched this exchange with rapt attention. Glow Wings did not. She had retreated to a corner with a pair of envelopes and was reading their contents to herself. Judging by the luminosity of her wings, one was from Spotter Light. A flare from her wings akin to that of a flash bulb from a camera distracted the ponies and Zinnia from their discussion.

“What is that, Glowy?” Asked Zinnia. “Is it from your boy toy?”

Glow Wings flushed. “The…the first one was. Boy toy?” The last phrase , combined with an incredulous look at her friend was enough to send them all into shrieks of laughter.

At last, Glow Wings and the others got a hold of themselves. “What…was the other one?” Fluttershy gasped as she tried to regain her breath.

Glow Wings smiled. “It is from Center Stage, the theater owner. Apparently Spotter talked to him, and,” she took a deep breath, “he wants to offer me a job working with the lights. It turns out, he needs someone who can work with the lights for bigger productions and Spotter can not handle everything at once, so…” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Zinnia was on her in an instant, giving her friend a huge hug. “I am so proud of you! We are on our way!”

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Rarity and Zinnia examining the invitations together and discussing which they would accept, Zinnia having asked the society-conscious unicorn to escort her through the twists and turns of the social labyrinth. Rarity had decided to stay a bit longer in Canterlot to help the changeling and drum up more interest in her business. Fluttershy finished her packing; she would be returning to her animals in Ponyville. Glow Wings helped; she and the pegasus worked in companionable silence. When a servant came to escort the group to dinner, The four of them followed eagerly. Princess Celestia was already seated, a couple of her advisers from Day Court also at table. Princess Luna entered the room shortly after the Ponyvillians and changelings had been seated. She took a place near the group and watched curiously as the changelings helped themselves to food.

“I thought you only fed off love?” she blurted out.

The changelings shared a glance and chuckled. “We feed off emotions, your majesty,” Zinnia began, “but we eat pony food too. We do have to appear normal among the rest of you, after all. Besides, this all has a very different flavor to emotions. It is good to have a little ballast; we just need to be sure that we do not eat too much. Pony food can make us too heavy to fly if we overeat. Emotions are nice and ethereal and do not add any weight.” She licked her lips. “And it tastes delicious!”

The princess looked surprised, then changed the subject to what the changelings had found to do in Canterlot. With some prompting from her friends, Glow Wings told the princess of her job offering from the theater. Then Zinnia and Rarity filled the princess in on the changeling’s forays into the social whirl. Luna was pleased to hear that the changelings had found an appropriate place here. It gave her hope for some of the others who were still living in the barracks. She had spent the last week going through petitions with Eclipse, weeding out the most promising and sending out invitations to petitioners to do interviews with the princess about their changeling friends. Nonetheless, there were still many poor souls who had received no word from pony friends or colleagues. Princess Luna was planning on making letter-writing materials available to the changelings still at the barracks when she reached the end of her interviews. That would happen in a few days.

She returned her attention to the discussion at table, which involved the changelings’ favorite foods. “I am rather fond of sweets myself,” Glow Wings was saying. “But it is even better when paired with something very hot and spicy.”

Zinnia made a face. “That is kind of gross, Glowy. When did you last try anything like that?”

Glow Wing smiled at her friend. “That was Trek’s idea. He dared me to eat a cupcake drenched in hot sauce. I think he expected that I would completely panic or something, but it was really tasty.”

Zinnia rolled her eyes. Luna thought about Trek; the changelings’ dim companion seemed very happy to live in the barracks. “Speaking of Trek, do you have any suggestions for something he could do? I am loathe to return him to Flim and Flam after what you two have told me, but he seems happy enough here.”

Zinnia shrugged. “He did not talk to me much, so there is not much I can say.”

Glow Wings looked thoughtful. “He likes to pony watch. He is clumsy when it comes to magic or hoofwork, but he is very good at picking up details and remembering them. He sees everything, even if he never feels right talking about what he sees or figuring out what it all means. If he were partnered with someone who was able to keep up with him and put together the puzzle pieces, he would do okay. It just takes a lot of patience to get used to him. I do not think he would hurt any pony and he is not stupid; it is more like his head is a coin bank. It is really easy to put useful things in, but not so much to get them to come back out again. If you can get past that, he is a good pony to work with.”

Luna thought to herself that she would need to talk about this with her sister. Celestia had more experience dealing with … unique… ponies than Luna herself did, and might be able to offer better suggestions as to how to place Trek. After all, he deserved as much of a chance as any of the other changelings here. As she bid her fellow ponies good night after dinner, Luna returned to her petitions with a thoughtful expression on her face. She penned a note to her sister that night.

Tia,
I have run into a new quandary that you may be able to help with. It seems that one of the changelings that Zinnia and Glow Wings (tonight’s dinner guests) worked with has unusual mental issues. According to Miss Wings, the changeling, who calls himself Trek, is highly observant, but since he is unable to use magic, write or speak, there is little he can do for himself, yet he seems content in the barracks. Can you offer any suggestions on how to proceed?
Lulu.

The next evening, Luna received a reply:
Luna,
Is it possible that Trek has other hidden talents? Maybe you should talk to the other changelings and see what suggestions they may have. Also, one of the day guards for the changelings suggested that along with letter writing supplies, you also offer the changelings art supplies. Apparently, some of them have been annoying the guards at irregular intervals; Cpl. Solid Shield thinks they are bored. (He seems to understand Changeish. You may want to have a word with him).
Tia

Luna glanced up from the note. It was still early in the evening, so it was possible that some of the day guards were still awake. She sent a servant with a note to the guard barracks asking if Cpl. Shield was still awake and if he would be willing to attend to her. Shortly thereafter, the servant returned with the corporal in tow. He did not appear to have been awakened.

“Greetings, your majesty. How may I be of assistance?” the stallion asked warily. Many of the day guards were still wary around the princess of the night, though they at least stayed polite about it.

“I was speaking with my sister recently, and she mentioned a request you had regarding the detained changelings. Is there anything I should know that my night guards would not have picked up?”

The guard stallion shifted his posture nervously. “Well,” he began hesitantly, “Over the past few days, as the number of changelings has gone down, the number of pranks and jokes they have been playing on the guards has gone up. It is mostly little things, like random taps on the door and catching hold of whatever they can reach and other little nuisances like that. To put it simply, Princess Luna, they are getting tired of being stuck in that building with only each other for company and it is showing. They are even getting tired of seeing the same guards coming in to visit over and over again. It is grating on all of us.” He kicked at the tile underhoof.

Luna decided to ease him into the question she wanted answered. “And you think offering them art supplies as well as writing supplies would help?” she asked.

“Well, to put it bluntly, yes.” He answered. “You see, I know most of them can write, but there is at least one fellow there who can not. I have met him several times; he is smart, but just does not think in the same way most ponies do. He reminds me of my youngest son; we despaired of teaching him anything until the colt got a hold of some modelling clay; it was the best thing that could have happened to him and now he is becoming more confident, as if shaping the clay is shaping him too. It could be that since these ponies are not able to express themselves the way you and I can, they must do it in some other way. It seems to me that the best routes for this are art or sports, and there is not much room for sports around the barracks.”

Luna nodded. What Corporal Shield said made sense. She had seen many ponies one might consider a ‘genius’ with a complete excess in talent that was so strong that the pony in question was left very much weakened in other areas. It made for some completely amazing results—and a very lonely genius in the end. She turned to the corporal. “I believe I will take this into consideration. I too have seen that art can be a good outlet for those who are unable to speak for themselves. Thank you for your suggestion.”

The princess smiled at the guard, who sketched a quick bow before departing. The princess added a few more items to a list on her desk. She would ask her sister to send a servant around with the list to shop for supplies in the morning when the shops were open. For now, she returned to the few remaining petitions she had left. Most of them would be easy to deal with. They were for changelings whose pony friends were more distant from Canterlot and so had a greater distance to travel. Fortunately, the hype from the wedding had mostly died down. It only continued on the fringes of Equestria now; the area around Canterlot and most of central Equestria was for the most part tranquil. Now and then there would be a new wave of changeling sightings and the guard would send a patrol to investigate, but those were becoming fewer as well. It seemed that the changeling hunt hysteria was coming to an end, and Princess Luna was glad for it. Still, she had a vague feeling that she was waiting for the last horse shoe to drop.

XVIII: Artists in the Mist

It did not take long for the remaining changelings to take up the art and writing supplies Luna had offered. Many of them wrote to their pony friends who had not been aware of their predicament to ask for help in returning home. Even so, a small cadre of changelings showed no interest in writing the outside world. This group focused its energy on the art supplies. It was not long before colorfully painted canvases began appearing in the barracks. Most of these were watercolor paints, but a few changelings were experimenting with other mediums as well. Princess Luna was surprised to rise one night to find a card on her desk. It was an obviously hoof-made affair, made of thick paper. The cover of the card was an illustration of the night sky, with an emphasis on the constellation of Orion. As the princess opened the card, she found herself looking at a carefully written invitation:

To Her Majesty, Princess Luna,
You are cordially invited to the opening of the first ever Canterlot Exhibition of Changeling Art. The exhibition is to be held in the main hall of the Changeling House in two weeks’ time after sunset. All artists will be in attendance in their natural form to assist with the show. We dearly hope you will grace our humble company with your presence.
Most sincerely,
The Changeling Artists’ Guild

Well, that was a surprise. Princess Luna wondered how many others had received similar invitations. She was getting ready to go down to break her fast when her sister tapped on the door. Luna opened it to find Celestia standing there holding a familiar-looking card in her aura.

“Luna, did you have anything to do with this?” Celestia asked her sister.

Luna shook her head. “I had no idea that they would take to art so quickly. I just received an invitation myself. Have you heard of any others?”

Celestia nodded. “They must have gone out in the mail this morning. I have received inquiries from several art critics and prominent artists from around Canterlot asking about this event. Are you certain this is a good idea?”

Luna shrugged. “It seems harmless enough, sister. After all, the changelings will be in their natural form and it is not as if they will be able to harm anypony while we are there.”

“True.” Celestia answered, somewhat hesitantly. “So I take it you will be going?” She asked the princess of the night.

“I think I will, Tia. I want to see what this changeling artists’ guild has created. Will you?”

The day princess shrugged. “I will check with my scheduler. If I can, I will put in an appearance.”

Luna sighed; she knew her sister’s opinion of art galleries. Celestia was more of a patron of the arts than an artist herself; Luna doubted her sister would experience this exhibition in the same way that she had. No matter. Appearances must be kept up. “Verily, sister. I think I am looking forward to this. I have not been to an art show in a long time and would like to see this one.”

Celestia nodded in understanding. “If you are sure, Lulu.” The night princess nodded. If something good came out of this whole changeling hunt experience, she could feel as if she were doing something worthwhile again.
~~
The evening of the show arrived quickly; the royal sisters approached the gathering together. Several guards stood watch around the building to keep an eye on the visitors as well as to watch for any attempted escapees. Luna was doubtful there would be any tonight, but Celestia had insisted on additional security. The interior of the building was brightly lit, with a buffet table moved to one side. The changelings’ bunks had all been pushed to the far side of the building and various art pieces were arranged tastefully throughout the room. As of yet, only ponies appeared in the room, all admiring the various art objects. In one corner, a critic was pontificating on the choice of medium used by one artist. In another, Fancy Pants and his wife admired an oil painting. The overall centerpiece was a large sculpture that was at present covered by a canvas tarp. According to one of the guards, the changeling artist had wanted to unveil it himself as part of the festivities. Celestia had her “royal patron” face on and was soon chatting amiably with a pair of glass artists from the glaziers guild. Luna could not remember their names, but she knew that they had created many of the ornate stained glass windows that adorned the Great Hall. Seeing that her sister was appropriately distracted, Princess Luna wandered away toward one of the paintings that had captured her attention.

This one was, like the image on her invitation, a watercolor scene of the night sky. Unlike the small landscape from the card, this was several times larger and included an image of a changeling. The changeling was seated in lonely repose, staring out at the moonlit sky. The multiple hues of blue and gray gave the painting a feeling of turmoil and impermanence. Luna examined the painting more closely. The changeling did not appear hostile; if anything, it simply looked sad and alone. Luna allowed her eyes to drift away from the painting to the label stuck nearby on the wall. It said, simply “Watcher of the Moon, watercolors on canvas, Summit Streak/jakevustedfisl” Luna was puzzled at first by the final name, but then realized that this was the closest that “Summit Streak” could come to spelling his Changeish name in the Equish alphabet. Even seeing that name told Luna one thing: this was not some attempt at a facade for the changelings; instead this was an opportunity for them to show that there was more to them than the mindless swarm that Queen Crysalis had unleashed several months before. As Princess Luna moved on to other works of art, she noticed other artists’ paired names: Stone Stepper/ewikfrinjr, Ice Glow/begnjirofewj, Red Wing/hisssstaaaki, and Loop-de-Loop/gienksidjikntijnajilnjkuuu among others. Even with Professor Buzz Words’ spell, Luna doubted that she could have pronounced any of the names correctly. She wondered if they could even be pronounced in pony form.

There was a sudden whistling sound that caught the attention of all the ponies in the room. At that moment, a dozen changelings entered the room from the upstairs living quarters. All of them were dressed in fine style akin to their guests and none wore pony disguises. In fact, all of them were still wearing their magic inhibitors, though they seemed to treat them more as jewelry to be flashed around with panache than as a hindrance. Luna was glad she had convinced Professor Buzz Words to teach the variant of her changeling speech spell to the guards so the changelings would be able to talk to their guests and be understood. It was just the temporary version, but that was all that was needed for tonight. By what seemed to be mutual consent, the changelings remained as a group and clustered around the still-covered statue. The ponies gravitated towards them.

Once the majority of the room was turned toward the statue, one of the changelings spoke up. “Fillies and Gentlecolts, welcome to the first ever exhibition of changeling art to be shown here in Canterlot. Every art work in this room was created by the hoof of a changeling, and each and every one of us is proud to share our talents with you. It is difficult to imagine that a pony who has been exiled from one way of life can find a new place for himself among others of his ilk, but here that is exactly what has happened. We are drifters, unattached to any hive and without much of a place in the pony world to call home. What we are, we are because we were brought here, brought together by the sole bond of our species. Yet, we made a place for us. For many of us, this is the only place we have ever felt at home. And so, ponies of Canterlot, the show this evening is to welcome you into our home, to show you what it means to be Changeling. As you look at the art on display tonight, remember that you are seeing your world through the eyes of someone else. Please come and speak with the artists. They have much to say for themselves.”

“Yet there is one among us who can not speak for himself; rather he allows his art to speak for him. At his request, this central work has remained hidden from all non-changeling eyes until now. Fillies and Gentlecolts: please welcome Treksidjonfr, and his grand sculpture, The Princess.”

At that moment, one of the other changelings stepped forward and tugged on a rope. The rope spiraled down and the canvas tarp pulled away to reveal a life sized sculpture of an alicorn. It appeared to be made of several different colors of stone, pieced together into a mosaic of shapes that seemed to combine the features of the pure color of pony fur with the holed chitin of the changelings. Before any of the critics could respond, Princess Luna stood up and paced around the statue. She found it very intriguing; from some angles, it was very much like a pony. From other angles, it had more changeling features. More often than not, though, it was something in between. Luna admired the artist’s deft touch with color and form. This is what art should be, the princess of the night thought to herself, it should influence the viewer and make them think. She made a second pace around the statue. The room was very quiet with anticipation; both the art critics and the changelings alike waited with bated breath to see whether the artistic princess would approve of this central work.

Princess Luna smiled. “I congratulate you, young Treksidjonfr,” she said into the silence, hoping she had pronounced the Changeish name correctly, “this piece is a magnificent and thoughtful reminder to us all that creative energy is not limited to the pony species.” There was some awkward shuffling of hooves from some of the critics. Luna nodded to the spokesbug who had opened the exhibition. “Please continue. There is still much to see.”

With that, the crowd began to drift back around the room again, with changeling artists carried along with the flow of ponies. Luna remained near The Princess. Even when she was young, there was always at least one art object that would attract her attention and hold it fast. Tonight, the sculpture was performing that service. Princess Luna felt a tug at her wing and found herself face to face with the changeling Trek. He gestured toward the princess of the night, then toward himself. He rubbed his stomach.

The speaker for the evening was still nearby and saw the interaction. “He says thank you, your majesty.” The changeling interpreted for his mute companion. “Your praise was very thoughtful and genuinely meant. It helped change the mood of the room and made it more comfortable for the ponies and thus easier for us to feed on the ambiance.”

The mute changeling made several more gestures at the sculpture and Princess Luna. His companion added narrative: “He says he made this sculpture for you. He saw how you have been helping all of the changelings who have been here find a place. He sees you as a hive bound changeling would see a queen—as a leader worthy of respect from underlings. He would be most honored if you would accept this sculpture as a gift.”

To the changelings’ surprise, Princess Luna bowed to the artists. “I thank you both and would be honored to accept.”

She stayed with Trek and his friend for a little while longer before a sense of duty to meeting the other artists drew her away. She made her way around the room, exchanging a few words with each changeling about his or her art, finally ending with the first watercolor that had caught her attention. The changeling artist looked scared. “Mister Summit Streak?” Luna asked. The changeling nodded. Luna continued, “I sense much talent in you. You have a wonderful eye for detail. Few ponies could do so well to capture a night sky in watercolors. Yet, there is something different about this that appeals to me. There is a feeling of melancholy, of loneliness and isolation that I have not seen in other works here.”

The changeling took a deep breath and responded “I do not think I belong here, Princess. I do not feel the comradery of the other artists, nor do I know any pony on the outside. I was brought here after being across the border only a day or two, after being purged from my hive. I have nothing to return to.”

Luna nodded and reached out a comforting wing. “I know the feeling.” She whispered to the changeling. “I too have been an exile, an exile of mine own making. Those who understand are few and far between. Would you be willing to stay here as one of my personal artists? Your style appeals to me greatly and I think that given some finer instruction, it could become even more beautiful.”

The changeling looked surprised. “You mean it; you really mean it?” he asked slowly, as if trying to convince himself as much as the princess. Luna nodded; the changeling bowed. “Then I accept. Please call me Summit.”

As the evening drew to a close, ponies began to disappear into the streets of Canterlot. Princess Luna pulled her sister aside. Celestia eyed her sister. “I know that look, Luna. You have an artistic streak shining in that eye and it means you are up to something. Spill.”

Luna rolled said eyes at her sister’s melodramatic words. “I can not hide anything from you, Tia. All right, I shall ‘spill’ as you say. I want to set the artistic changelings here up as an artists’ colony around here, either in Canterlot city or up on Canterlot Mountain. Several of them have immense talent and no other place to go. I would hate to lose that talent because of some stupid prejudices.”

Celestia sighed. Luna was really taking this mercy thing too far. “Are you sure, Lulu? I mean, they are still emotivores…”

“Who proved through tonight’s event that they can feed themselves easily without much outside help and without completely draining a single pony. All they need is a safe place where they can stay that is close enough to the city for them to be able to feed regularly and where we can keep an eye on them. I think this can work.” Luna interrupted her sister.

Celestia gave Luna a critical look. “You are going to do this whether I give my blessing or not, aren't you?” Luna gave a determined nod. With a sigh, Celestia relented. “Very well, Lulu. I see your point. Go ahead.”

Luna turned away from the princess of the sun and addressed the changelings, asking them what they thought of her idea. At first there was silence, but then the changelings turned to the frantically gesturing Trek and his interpreter. The former’s enthusiasm was infectious and the latter’s response showed an equal amount of enthusiasm. “That would be ideal, your majesty. It would give us a private place to work on commissions or whatever art we pursue. Perhaps other artists could join us later after we are well established. It would be a good place, a free place.” The other changelings nodded in agreement.

After a few more words, the princesses took their leave. As they walked outside, Celestia gave her sister a hug. “I am proud of you, Luna. You did well tonight.”

“So did you, Tia. Thank you for keeping the nobles off my back all evening so I could enjoy myself.”

“What are sisters for?”

Author's Note

How to make up Changeish names: bang body part on keyboard, add vowels.

Any resemblance to real words is coincidental.

XIX: The Last Hunter

As the days passed, the changeling barracks emptied quickly. The Artists’ Guild moved out by Nightmare Night and were living in a colony on the mountain above Canterlot before the first snow fell. For other changelings, their written requests to friends bore fruit in the form of ponies making their way to Luna’s Night Court with proof of identity for their friends. By the first snowfall, the guard was considering retaking the barracks for itself and the guards had begun to move on to other assignments. The remaining changelings seemed to have gained enough of a rapport with the guards to write to Princess Luna seeking permission to join the Royal Guards. Luna was still considering their request and trying to persuade Celestia of its merits. It was at this point that Princess Luna received a disturbing missive:

To Her Majesty, Princess Luna,
We have found a small changeling hive living in Equestria near the city of San Franciscolt. It is the opinion that this hive is potentially disruptive to ponies living in the area. There have been rumors of the changelings speaking out in favor of tribalism and other ancient customs no longer proper in modern Equestria. There have even been rumors of rebellion. I have sent troops to detain the hive and send it to you in Canterlot for evaluation.
Your Obedient Servant,
Col. Stone Jaw.

Luna was puzzled. From her interviews, she knew that none of the non-hive changelings knew of any hives besides Chrysalis’s existing in the vicinity of Equestria’s borders. None the less, she quickly contacted the captain in charge of the guard for the changeling barracks with orders to prepare for the new arrivals.

The changelings arrived under guard along with the cold weather of winter. As they were ushered into the heated barracks, they looked miserably cold. They all shivered under their chitin and crowded around the stoves as soon as they could. The last changeling to enter was a tall and gracile changeling about the size Luna had been when she had been recovering from her exile. The changeling mare had helped all the others get inside before entering herself, giving a curt nod to the guards watching. After the door slammed behind her, Luna turned her attention to the guard colonel who had brought the dozen changelings to Canterlot.

“Attend to me in my throne room, if you would, colonel. I would like to hear the story behind this group from your own tongue. This is the only hive we have found in all of Equestria.”

The colonel puffed out his chest. “It shall be done, your majesty.” He strode away. Arrogant fellow, Luna thought. She thought that the service had mellowed over the years as martinets retired; evidently Stone Jaw was one of those remaining exceptions to the rule.

Sure enough, a few minutes after Princess Luna had seated herself upon her throne, Col. Stone Jaw entered the room and what the princess could only think of as a quickstep march.

“Tell me how you came upon these changelings. Spare me the details from your written report; a broad outline will do for now," the princess commanded.

The colonel saluted and began, “Your majesty, I had been hearing rumors of changelings living near San Franciscolt ever since I had been posted to the area. Every time I thought I had found one or more, they seemed to slip through my hooves. After the events of the wedding, I received additional help in the form of a task force and was thus able to more efficiently follow the trail of rumors.”

“I caught up to this lot a couple of weeks ago in the woods east of San Franciscolt. They were in a clearing with several circled wagons. Besides these changelings there were also a couple dozen ordinary ponies in the area that I assumed were their food source. I observed the group for several days and noticed that the changelings shifted into numerous pony forms and spoke very loudly among themselves. The ponies did not seem to notice that the changelings were speaking of treason, of a divided Equestria and the separation of the pony tribes. They also argued about windigoes and what they looked like and other such things. The last straw was when I myself heard them talking about invading San Franciscolt and making ponies love them. It sounded like something that other queen was trying to do, Crystalis or whatever her name was. So my task force swept in and took all the changelings into custody and told the ponies they were free. We brought them all back here real quietly so there was no fuss.”

Princess Luna listened to the colonel’s recounting of the events. Something did not fit right about all this, but she did not want to show her suspicions to the prideful colonel. “I thank you for your vigilance.” She said at last. “You and your task force will be rewarded, of course.” The colonel preened. “For now, please return to your troopers and I will ensure that you all receive a short leave as a temporary reward.”

The colonel bowed and left the room. Princess Luna sighed. It was unlikely that this group of changelings would have someone contact her immediately, as the colonel had, in his zeal, been a bit too efficient. She privately hoped that one of the ponies the guard had “freed” from the changelings would know to contact her in Canterlot. Meanwhile, she planned on meeting with these hive changelings in a couple of nights to ensure that they were comfortable and to speak to the queen. For now, she would leave them be.

Such peace would not last long, however. As the winter continued toward Hearth’s Warming Eve, Princess Luna found herself recruited to help with holiday preparations. It was almost a week before she was able to get away to speak with the changeling queen. As she entered the barracks, she could hear the changelings talking loudly among themselves. Interestingly, they were speaking Equish, not Changeish, and were discussing Hearth’s Warming Eve. More specifically, one of the males was pontificating about the characters in the traditional Hearth’s Warming pageant.

“I still say that Commander Hurricane is best portrayed as a gray pegasus. Having him as a blue one makes him seem less intimidating. He is a military leader, after all. He ought to look like that stuck up captain who hauled us in here.”

“That pony is a colonel. You would think you would know rank badges by now, seeing as you have been wearing various ones for weeks now.”

“Do not change the subject, Feathers. I know very well what his uniform said, but he acts like a military fellow trumped up well above his deserved station.”

Luna snorted to herself. Evidently, the changelings were no slumps when it came to judging the character of ponies. This one, at least, had an opinion that matched her own evaluation of the popinjay colonel.

“Enough, both of you,” a new voice broke in. The new voice sounded weary, like a parent of twin foals. “You have been bickering like hatchlings even before we left ‘ciscolt. What would Shaker and Quick say?” There was silence.

Then the first voice asked “Have you heard anything from either of them, Meri? I know you carried that calling beacon with us.”

“I have not, but that means nothing. It could be that they know we are here, but can not get here yet. After all, they have to get the company back in one piece before they can travel. It is deuced awful timing, I will say that.” There were sighs.

Luna slipped into the room. The tall changeling had her back to the door. “I know you are there, princess.” She commented without turning around. “You may as well join us around the heater here. Just be sure the door closes all the way so the heat stays in here.”

Luna made sure the door was firmly shut behind her before making her way toward the dozen changelings clustered around the stove. The bug ponies were overlapping wings in a vaguely circular formation around the heat source. Only the queen was outside the array, with most of the group facing her in a horseshoe shape. The queen waved the alicorn toward a cushion next to her; Luna took the seat awkwardly. The changelings seemed restless and were looking to their queen for reassurance. The queen said nothing out loud, but one by one the changelings began to relax. As Luna watched, the queen seemed to go into a trance; the other changelings pulled closer together as a soft humming sound filled the air. One by one, the smaller changelings fell asleep. As the last one dropped off, the queen awoke from her trance and stood up, stretching.

She then pulled up a cushion and sat down across from Princess Luna. “They will not overhear us now.” She told the princess. “You came here because you want to know about us, yes?”

Luna nodded. “Thank you. I did want to speak to you, leader to leader, I suppose. Can we start with your name and where you come from?”

“That is a tall order. But you are correct. The best place to start is always at the beginning and to continue to the end. My name is Maricopa Elytra, or Mari. I am indeed a queen caste changeling, and this is my hive. We splintered off from Queen Chrysalis six years ago and have living as a migratory hive ever since. All twelve of us are connected via hive mind, but I am the connection, not some other queen. We all have unique pony forms that we have created as a group, though we only wear them in cold weather. We are likewise multi-talented shifters and can assume numerous forms. What you overheard is pretty typical for us, as we tend to debate the various virtues of different forms."

"In the course of our travels, my hive has built up a friendship with a playwright and acting troupe that travels with us. The ponies mostly handle the stage work and sets and so on, while we do the acting. Our fearless leaders are our playwright and producer, who were unfortunately not with us when we were discovered by your guards. We were on our way to San Franciscolt to perform for Hearth’s Warming when we were ambushed by that colonel and his troopers. They frightened the hair off the ponies and forced us all to shift into our natural forms. Then they brought us here. You more or less know the rest.”

Luna nodded. From what other changelings had told her, she knew that winter was a dangerous time for changelings to be in their natural form outside of the hive. In a mobile situation, like Queen Maricopa’s hive’s, it was doubly important that they have pony forms as well as changeling. “So how do you all maintain yourselves? Do you feed off the ponies from the stage company?”

The changeling queen shook her head. “Not usually. We feed by performing. You would be amazed by just how much emotion a theater troupe as skilled as ours can create in an audience. When we had performances lined up, we knew we would be well fed for a while. After all, one performance can sustain a hive of this size for a week or more depending on the size of the audience.”

Luna looked puzzled. “So, you do not feed directly on ponies?”

“Almost never. If we hit a dry spell, there are always ponies we could depend on from the crew to volunteer to help out. More likely we would have a sort of spontaneous variety performance night at a random town where we could drum up an audience and do some improvisational acting. It was usually a good way to tank up for a journey. We would always have the last show be the biggest so we would be able to make it to the next place.” The changeling queen shrugged. “As I said, it worked well most of the time. Ambient feeding is really easy to do and takes less energy than taking a pony’s place, with less chance of a problem.”

“Do you perform in pony form?”

“Usually we do. It has become something we are known for, actually. When onstage we wear the form of an appropriate pony, then during the curtain call at the end we shift into our natural form and take our final adieus in costume. It is an interesting way of performing and keeps us on our toes.”

“So how is it you are able to speak as ponies in Changeling form?”

“Part of it comes from being part of a hive. Queens can naturally shift tongues, as we call it, and if a queen has a hive, she can pass that trait on to her drones and workers. I have done so in order that we can be understood by our pony colleagues when in rehearsal.” The changeling queen shrugged again. “Fortunately this thing,” she tapped the magic inhibitor on her horn, “does not have any effect on hive communication.”

Luna paused to absorb this information before continuing her questioning. “So… can you tell me more about this hive mind? None of the other changelings I have interviewed were connected to hives.”

“I will tell you what I can, though what I can do is on the low end of hive mind capabilities. I am still a very young queen, after all, and only lead a small hive.” Luna nodded and waved for Queen Maricopa to continue. “As a queen, I always have some kind of connection to members of my hive and they have one to each other via me. I can talk to them without speaking and otherwise transmit warnings or news very quickly to my followers. If the need arises, I can pass food on to them as well, if, say, I am the only one in a position to feed, I can fill up with a surplus that can then be shared with my hive via the hive mind. I have other ways of speaking to individual hive members and can sort of control them, but only within a short range. Doing something like the sleep song I did earlier is something I learned very recently, and it is more tiring than passive hive mind communication. In theory, a queen of sufficient age can control a much larger hive and have more power over her changelings than I do, but I have no desire to control a swarm, much less one the size of Chrysalis’s. All it does is multiply the potential for disaster and changelings going rogue by several factors.”

“Going rogue?”

“Losing control of their impulses and no longer responding to the hive mind. Rogue changelings are dangerous if left unchecked and can become desperate enough to engage in direct feeding. For us, direct feeding rather than ambient feeding is only a last resort action. For a queen to do it is a sign of her coming into too much power and losing control over herself. Such things can split a hive easily.”

Luna listened quietly as the changeling queen finished speaking. What she said made sense, and was very logical. All the same, the degree of authority even this young queen could potentially wield was frightening. To control minds… Luna had her special ability of dream walking, but she rarely indulged herself. It was one thing to guide some pony who felt lost with a friendly nudge in the right direction in the dream world; it was quite another to be there every waking minute of the same individual’s life. But if what Queen Maricopa said was true, it was not something she had much of a choice in. Finally, Luna broke the silence. “Do you think the manager or someone of your theater troop would be willing to come here and verify your story?”

The changeling queen laughed. “I know for a fact that it is our play writer’s greatest ambition to perform before crowds here in Canterlot. I would not bet on him being the one to come here, not without bringing the entire crew in tow. Our manager though…” She was silent for a few moments, her face tilted upward in thought. “She would move heaven and earth to get us back, I think, even if it meant paying for the entire group to take the train across Equestria. I would bet a week’s worth of feeding that she already has a plan and that you will be hearing from her within three days at the most.”

Luna chuckled a little, but then noticed how very serious the changeling queen looked. There was a determined glint in the queen’s eye that Luna recognized from living among royalty for generations. It reminded her of when Celestia had heard about King Sombra all those centuries ago; it was a look that said this is something I must do, and my people depend on me to act. It was a look of someone who knew what it meant to hold great responsibility in her hooves and use it in the way that would give her the most benefit. It was something that Luna had had to learn the hard way. “I believe you.” She answered the changeling with equal seriousness. The pair exchanged knowing smiles.

XX: Much Ado About Changelings

True to Queen Maricopa’s prediction, two days after Princess Luna met the queen, she found that a petition had been left on her desk. Or, more accurately, two versions of the same petition had landed on her desk. She reached for the simpler-looking one first. It read:

To Princess Luna,
My name is Quick Chance, and I am the manager and producer for Spear Shaker’s Travelling Players. I am writing to inform you of the anticipated arrival of our remaining cast and crew to verify the changelings’ identities. Their names are listed as follows:
Maricopa Elytra, Queen, actress and handler
Feathers on the Wind, male, actor
Dragonfly, female, actor and makeup artist
Trailblazer, female, actor
Goldenscale, male, actor
Red Flier, male, actor
Ochre Stone, female, actor and prop design
Maelstrom, female, actor and costumes
Ruby Shoes, female, actor
Ice Rose, female, actor
Twister, male, actor and props
Bounder, male (nymph), apprentice actor
I will be arriving within a few days accompanied by our playwright and the remaining members of our company. I will send another message upon our arrival so that we may have a pass for night court.

Your servant, Quick Chance

Luna nodded in understanding. Quick Chance indeed seemed to match what Maricopa had said about the mare. The letter was very businesslike and organized. Twilight Sparkle would have approved. The princess of the night then turned her attention to the other letter. This had different mouth writing. Despite having the signature blots of the writer being an earth pony or pegasus, the writing was a much more florid and old fashioned style. Luna smiled to herself; ponies normally did not write with such ornate flourishes any more. This was something she had been missing since her exile. The style of the letter was much the same, with the same old style. Its contents were more or less the same as Quick Chance’s. Luna began to read:

To her most luminescent majesty, Princess Luna, bearer of the moon and guardian of the night.

Salutations! I am the great writer of dramatic performance, Spear Shaker. I have been the trunk from whence all the reknown of our company derives, and thus when the branches were stripped away by your fine royal guard, I saw the need to humbly request their return. I shall be attending thy Night Court within a few days’ time and hope that my companions might be restor’d to me and mine. My stage manager will be accompanying me on this quest.

Your most humble servant, Spear Shaker, writer for the Travelling Players

Luna chuckled. If this pony wrote plays half as dramatically as her addressed her, he was a talented playwright indeed. He certainly had a flair for that style. Eclipse looked at the giggling princess questioningly. Luna passed the second note over to her secretary. Soon the ebon unicorn was laughing just as hard as her principal.

“Oh my.” She gasped. “I have not read anything so pompous sounding since the Great and Powerful Trixie performed in my home town a few years ago. At least he does not write in third person!”

Luna was regaining her composure as well. “As long as he does not refer to himself thus and give himself a title like that magician, all will go well. If he calls himself ‘the talented and amazing Spear Shaker’ every other phrase, it will be difficult indeed to take him seriously. At least his stage manager seems to have a solid core of sense. Trunk of the tree, indeed.” The pair lost their composure again and dissolved into fits of giggles.

~~

True to their words, both Quick Chance and Spear Shaker arrived in Canterlot within a couple of days. Quick Chance sent word to the palace of where the pair and their fellow performers were lodging in the city. Luna sent a pass and an invitation to night court and alerted her guards as to these new petitioners. Sure enough, a pair of ponies were shown into the throne room. Luna sized them up as they walked down the carpet toward her throne. It was obvious which pony was which. The stallion did not walk; he strutted, like a rooster showing off for his flock of hens. He was a tall, long legged earth pony stallion with a royal purple coat and golden mane and tail that was in an elaborate braided style. His cutie mark was an open scroll with a feather pen.

In contrast, the small grey pegasus keeping pace with him was drab. Her brown mane and tail were cut in a short style that could only be charitably described as ‘cute’. Even her cutie mark was a fairly generic trifecta of intertwined horseshoes of various shades of gray and brown. Her shorter stride was quick and businesslike, with a no-nonsense tempo. As the pair approached the throne, the stallion gave the princess one of the most florid and over-done bows she had seen in a very long while. The mare gave a simpler, more modern bow.

Luna raised them both to their feet. “So tell me of your changeling companions, Mr. Shaker and Ms. Chance. How did they come into your company and what do they do for you?”

To no surprise of Luna’s, Spear Shaker opened. “Your majesty, the changelings are the most important piece of the company. They are the heart and soul, for without them we are only a body. There is naught but form, without substance; we are a mold, but with neither wax nor metal to be shaped. It is for the best that we all pull together, as we are weaker in separate. Thus, I humbly request that the changelings be returned to us. The survival of our company depends upon them being among us.”

He probably would have continued on this diatribe, but Quick Chance cut him off early. “Your majesty, Queen Maricopa and her hive are more than actors to us. They are more like family and friends. Shaker is right; we have gained some renown, or at least notoriety, for having an all changeling cast, but our fame does not depend on them. What we do not care for is the heavy hoofed method by which they were absconded with from our traveling camp. If it is at all possible, we could use compensation not only for that but also for the cost of having to come after them. We had to cancel a couple of important gigs in San Franciscolt because of this.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “You will receive compensation for transportation to Canterlot, as written in my changeling amnesty decree. However there is not much I can do with some of the other.”

Spear Shaker spoke again. “Verily, your majesty, there is but one option that we have not yet broached to you. Mayhaps we might perform here in Canterlot, for you and your sister and whatever ponies are at court for this holiday season. After all, we have been in rehearsals these last several months for a production of a few Hearth’s Warming themed shows including the traditional pageant. Thus we could give some performances here that would benefit both you, as a member of the audience, as well as both our pony and changeling cast and crew members. The changelings could dine upon the aether and the rest of us would have the byline of having performed for royalty to add to our repertoire.”

Quick Chance looked startled at the suggestion. “But Shaker, we do not have all the props for any of our shows here with us. They are all back at the wagon station near ‘ciscolt.”

The stallion waved his hoof at the mare. “Mere details, my dear. For Hearth’s Warming, the royal theater has a great many props and scenery that has been reused for many years. As far as set pieces for A Hearth’s Warming Carol and Once Upon A Winter, I can trust you to take care of the details.” The pegasus mare rolled her eyes. Her earth pony companion did not notice. Luna watched the byplay with interest. This idea intrigued her and, like the Changeling Artists’ Guild, tickled her artistic streak.

“I shall speak to my sister.” She found herself saying. Spear Shaker looked ecstatic. Quick Chance looked a combination of apprehensive and completely horrified. Luna guessed that she was the one who would have to deal with all of those “details” that Spear Shaker had referred to.

“If we do not have another professional group that is scheduled to perform for us at that time, I will make arrangements with the manager of the royal theater to allow your crew access to whatever props and costumes are needed.”

“And our changeling actors?” Quick Chance interrupted sharply.

“Your actors will of course be released into your custody, however I would like to speak with Maricopa some more. For as long as you care to stay, I will allow you and your company members to stay with your changelings as long as you all can stand to share quarters.” Privately, Luna doubted that would last very long, but seeing as they were all used to traveling together there was still some hope. “The royal treasury also has enough to cover the cost of transporting your wagons here to Canterlot from San Franciscolt. Please send me reports of your progress with regards to the upcoming performances.”

The pair bowed again. Princess Luna sensed a great deal of relief in Quick Chance’s simple but graceful bow. In Spear Shaker’s bow, Luna recognized the flourishes of a real show pony. It was not the oily feel she had gotten from seeing Flim and Flam when they had come to court even after their petitions being denied; rather this had echoes of the courtly behavior of a millennia ago with the foppish nobles who provided so much fodder for jesters’ mockery. The odd pair left as quickly as they had arrived, with Spear Shaker’s strut and Quick Chance’s short stride intact. Luna turned to the desk beside the throne and penned a short note to her sister that told her of her idea. As she left the throne room at the close of Night Court, she slipped the note under her sister’s bedroom door. Celestia was supposed to be asleep. This could wait until morning. Luna wondered if her sister would let it lie. This was, after all, more involved than the princess of the night had been with any of the other changelings in her charge for the past few months. Oh Tia, but this is about more than one changeling. This feels bigger than even a dozen changelings.

Sure enough, when Luna met her sister for their celestial duties early in the morning, Celestia had the note in her magical aura’s grasp. As Luna lowered the moon, her sister said with a raised eyebrow “I hope you know what you are doing, Lulu.”

As Luna stepped aside to let Celestia take her place, she replied. “I really think I do this time, Tia. This is about more than just whether some writer of plays gets his actors back. I have been thinking that we need to reach out to changelings more than we have been. It seems to me that all this round up has done is scare the changeling communities here in Equestria into going underground. Recall that there is a changeling community in Trottingham that is connected to that university professor. No doubt there are similar enclaves of changelings in many of our major cities. Some of them are just clusters of independent individuals, but others may be hives like Maricopa’s. Because they are here, we ought to learn as much as we can about them so that we can meet their needs as well as we meet the needs of the other non-pony species in Equestria. If all goes well, perhaps this acting troupe can become a resident theater troupe in Canterlot. That way we would have both a friendly hive and a friendly colony in the area that we could turn to if we need information about how to deal with outsider changelings. Just think, Tia. We have learned so much from the individual changelings that were unfortunate enough to be brought to us, but I think we have only scratched the surface of their numbers here.”

“What about Chrysalis?”

“That is what I mean. We need an insider’s view of changeling politics so we can deal with queens like Chrysalis more effectively. Cadence will not be living in Canterlot forever, you know. She and Shining Armor will find their own place soon enough. By keeping some changelings close, we can keep their insight in order to improve our defenses against hostile outsiders.”

“You think it may come to that, Luna?” The princess of the night nodded seriously. Celestia had been fortunate to lead a largely peaceful Equestria in Luna’s absence, but Queen Chrysalis’s invasion had shaken that peace. It had been appalling to both princesses how woefully underprepared the Royal Guard had been to combat such intrusions. That had probably been a large part of why the guard had gone after undercover changelings with such zeal; they were trying to repair that sagging reputation. Luna was not sure their efforts to save face had been at all successful. Luna realized she had won her point when Celestia sighed and murmured “I just hope you know what you are doing, little sister.”

Luna answered with a sigh of her own. “So do I, Tia. So do I.”

XXI: Organized Chaos (But Not Discord)

It had taken a large amount of cajoling, persuading, and finally bribery to convince the manager of the Royal Theater to allow Spear Shaker and Quick Chance to appropriate his venue for their productions. As the Canterlot Hearth’s Warming play was being held at an outdoor venue this year (among the guest performers were some of the finest weather pegasi in Equestria, who had sworn on their flight feathers that they could keep the weather under control on stage and not unleash snow flurries on the audience.)

That left Spear Shaker’s troupe free rein when it came to using the Royal Theater. It soon became apparent that Luna had unleashed a monster. She made it one of her nightly tasks to check in on the production and more often than not found changelings and ponies alike engaging in a variety of tasks that , to an outsider, looked like Discord had been unleashed early. There were loud arguments, set pieces that were in constant motion, props that disappeared and reappeared in the oddest of locations, lines that were dropped, improvised or forgotten altogether, and through it all a playwright who liked to make seemingly random changes in scene order. Princess Luna quickly realized that though Spear Shaker was the whirlwind of activity that kept the cast and crew busy, Quick Chance was the eye of the hurricane. She was always calm and unhurried, completing her tasks with a single mindedness and matter of fact attitude that Luna could appreciate. It was as if the production had two faces: the wild and spontaneous writer and director versus the planning and logical producer and manager. What intrigued the princess of the night the most was the fact that these two ponies never seemed to be at odds with one another. Quick Chance was tolerant beyond belief, and Spear Shaker could keep to deadlines—the one thing that Quick Chance absolutely put her hoof down on.

The Hearth’s Warming show came together quickly enough. After all, the props and costumes could be reused year after year, and with the changelings’ ability to shift forms to fit costumes, there was little altering that needed to be done. It was Spear Shaker’s plays that were taking more time and effort. When Princess Luna asked Quick Chance about the odds of her seeing one of Spear Shaker’s shows, the mare had looked at the princess with an imperturbable gaze and answered, “it may not appear as though we have made any progress, your majesty, but in truth we are actually ahead of schedule for A Hearth’s Warming Carol and on schedule for Once Upon a Winter. The traditional pageant is ready to go and we should be ready to open the former show within a week of Hearth’s Warming Day and the second about one to two weeks later depending on how everything goes.” Luna had looked at the mare in surprise; Quick Chance had shrugged, as if to say Well, you asked.

“That is ahead of schedule?” Luna had asked incredulously.

With a laugh, Quick Chance had replied, “well, your majesty, Spear Shaker has a bad habit of editing and rewriting every scene over and over again. We had one show that we premiered last year that he had been working and reworking for three years before we could even start with physical preparations and rehearsals. He is a perfectionist, but when he hits his stride with a show, the results are worth the wait. I have been with him long enough to know that.”

“How long?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“How long have you been working with him, and with the others here?”

“I joined up with Spear Shaker about seven or eight years ago, I think. The changeling hive joined our repertoire about five years ago, after a large number of our performers got sick right before a major performance. Queen Maricopa and her merry band of bugs had seen the show a few nights prior and had enjoyed it to the point that they had seen it every following night. When we ran into problems for the last show, Mari offered their services. Spear and I were skeptical at first, but after seeing the group change into forms that could have easily been our actors, including their mannerisms, we decided to take a risk. The show was such a hit that we decided to continue the partnership. You see, Princess, it is beneficial to both sides. Queen Maricopa and her people have a harmless way of feeding off a crowd that is freely giving them their emotions without endangering either party, and Spear Shaker gets an ensemble cast that he can rely on that is more flexible than any pony cast we could recruit.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you have said how this benefits the changelings and Spear Shaker, but what about you?”

The mare had chuckled. “Well, first of all, it works well as a gimmick for our troupe. As far as I know, we are the only all-changeling cast performance troupe in Equestria, and we can bank on that reputation. Secondly, it is very hard to keep Spear Shaker happy. The changelings work hard enough and are flexible enough in form and attitude to keep him at least content, if not happy. When Spear is happy, I am happy. Thirdly, I have become good friends with all of our changelings, especially Queen Maricopa. She has a good heart and it is in the right place. I have never seen a pony who goes as far as she does to ensure the safety and comfort of everyone around her, whether they are members of her hive or not. During dry spells, I have seen her pass up feeding opportunities or give away most of her personal love to her own folks rather than eat her fill and let them fend for themselves. In addition, she has a really good feel for emotions, in both an audience and in our crew members. When someone gets bad news, she knows and is more often than not there to offer comfort and help, whether it is a warm blanket and hot cocoa or simply an ear to listen to what is troubling the pony. She is an absolute saint when it comes to stressful situations, and she has an uncanny ability to calm stage nerves. I have never seen anything like it before.”

Luna had sat in silence for a little while to ponder this. Quick Chance had sat in companionable silence beside the princess as she collected her thoughts. Both equines had sat in one of the balconies watching the rehearsal on stage. Queen Maricopa had not been in evidence, but a half dozen of her changeling actors had been on stage. This was the famous freezing scene in the Hearth’s Warming pageant’s final rehearsal. It would open the next night. To Luna’s surprise, no magic had been used on stage; rather, it appeared that the ponies who worked props and scenery used old style stagecraft. This had prompted Luna to change the subject away from Quick Chance’s relationship with the changelings.

“So why are your stage hooves not using magic for this?” She had asked as she watched set pieces that looked like frozen ice being hauled across the stage.

“Making ice indoors is expensive.” The stage manager had answered. “These pieces will be frozen over right before the show to keep it fresh and cold. We can not use it for every rehearsal, as even in pony form, changelings are vulnerable to cold temperatures. As to why we are not simply using illusions, that is Spear Shaker’s and Maricopa’s idea. They decided that since this is a very old play, the emotions would be stronger if the effects were more realistic. If ponies can see the actors on stage freezing with real ice, the sympathy in this building will be going through the roof. It makes the melting and end scenes that much more sweet and heartening.”

“Will the freezing harm the changelings?”

Quick Chance had shaken her head. “The ice we use for the actual freezing of Chancellor Puddinghead, Commander Hurricane, and Princess Platinum is not a full encasement. Rather, it is a half-dome that is visible to the majority of the audience, but is open on the backdrop side. To us out here, the actors appear frozen completely, but the actors on stage will be able to escape as needed and will not need to worry about being forced into a partial hibernation state.”

Luna had watched the rehearsal a bit more. “I had no idea that there was this much effort involved in the Hearth’s Warming pageant. Even though it has been done ever since before I was sent to the moon, I have never seen it like this.”

For the first time in a while, Quick Chance had smiled at the princess of the moon. “That is the idea, your majesty. We want this to be a show to remember. After all, everything is riding on this.”

Luna had departed soon after. On the one hoof, it was good that Quick Chance and the other members of the troop were aware of the stakes. It meant that they would work extra hard to ensure the show’s success. On the other hoof, Luna worried that it was all a sham, and that the whole event was going to fall to pieces before the curtain raised and that the strain would be too much, too soon. She waited the last few nights leading up to the opening on Hearths’ Warming with trepidation. Anxious, she wrote to Twilight Sparkle and her Ponyville friends asking them to come see the play with her and spend the holidays in Canterlot. She suggested they bring whatever family cared to join them as well; there was plenty of room.

Within a day, Twilight Sparkle replied that she would be attending, along with Spike, Rarity and her family, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash (and her “sister” Scootaloo), Pinkie Pie and the Cake family, and Applejack and her family. A few other select families in Canterlot also received invitations. Celestia and Luna would be there, of course, as would some of the nobles who had become patrons of the changeling artists’ colony. Luna was determined to give the performing changelings the best audience she could. Anything was worth the possible reward of having a resident hive in the area that she and Celestia could speak to for advice. After overseeing one night’s rehearsal, Princess Luna had asked Queen Maricopa Elytra to come aside with her. Luna had asked the young queen if she would be willing to act in such a role to the Equestrian diarchs. The queen had ansered in the affirmative, but had said she was not willing to stay in Canterlot if the reception she and hers received from these special performances was not appropriate. Luna was determined that they would not be.

XXII: Shining Night, Opening Night (part 1)

The true challenge arrived, along with the princess’s guests. It did not take much to ensconce the Ponyville elements of harmony bearers in the castle, as well as their families. Luna secretly counted her blessings for that. The real problem emerged with Twilight Sparkle’s family. Twilight had invited her parents to the show, and they had accepted. Unfortunately, her brother, Captain Shining Armor had gotten wind of the show and was, to put it mildly, unhappy. After an incident where he had a run in with a tired Princess Celestia after day court, the annoyed princess of the sun had sent him to Luna. The result of that was quite a scene:

Shining Armor stood in front of Princess Luna’s desk. Well, stood is not quite right. He was pacing. “What I fail to understand, your majesty, is how I am supposed to ensure your safety and your sister’s safety when you will both be in the audience together as a crowd of changelings cavort about on stage. Security is already a nightmare around Hearth’s Warming and now you have invited a bunch of changelings to stay in Canterlot? That crazy bunch of artists are bad enough, the way they stride around the streets as if they have not a care in the world, but you are considering giving these changelings an official status? Pardon me if I sound skeptical, but I do not like it.”

Luna sat behind her desk and continued to write as she listened to the guard captain’s diatribe. He continued, “and then you have the gall to invite not only my sister, but all the element bearers and their families to the same showing as well as their families. Do you not think that is even the slightest bit dangerous? This could easily turn into a hostage situation, with Equestria possibly hanging in the balance.”

As Shining Armor paused to catch his breath, Luna broke in, “So, Captain Armor, what is your chief concern here? I have already spoken to Princess Cadance, who shows absolutely no desire to be present. Thus, she will be providing backup should anything untoward happen. I suspect that you, given your most intimate position with her, will be up to the challenge of protecting her.”

The stallion blushed until his face appeared as pink as his wife’s. Luna still thought that was very funny; she strained not to laugh whenever it happened.

“Yes, your majesty,” the stallion stammered, “however my primary concern with this event involves my sister and her friends and families as well as you and your sister.”

Luna waved a hoof, cutting him off. “Queen Maricopa is a much younger queen than Chrysalis, and is correspondingly less powerful. To compare the two of them is like attempting to compare your wife’s magical power stores with my sister’s. We should have no problem containing her if something were to go wrong.” Shining thought about that for a moment and grudgingly nodded. “Furthermore, Maricopa and her companions are fully aware of the consequences for if they should act inappropriately towards their audience. Every pony who will be there is aware that the cast consists of primarily changelings and that they will be feeding on whatever ambient emotion they can cause and use during the production, but no direct feeding. They know that their freedom rides on their actions here. Finally, I suspect this whole hullabaloo you are advocating has more to it than simply the changelings, yes?”

Shining did one of those infuriatingly funny blushes again. “I… Have no idea… what are you talking about?” He stammered. Luna hid a smile.

“I suspect it has to do with a great deal of guilt on the part of you, both in your official capacity as a captain of the guard and your unofficial, but no less important, capacity as protective older brother. The guard has become positively stifling with security concerns ever since your wedding, and your leadership has caused many officers to overcompensate with potentially disastrous results to our few native changeling communities. In addition, you really need to give Twilight and her friends a chance to enjoy themselves while they are here. This is one of the only opportunities all six of them have had to just be together and enjoy the sights in Canterlot without some official function or natural disaster occurring. Keep in mind, Captain Armor, that although Twilight Sparkle is your younger sister, she is not your baby sister. You do not need to protect her from everything as when she was a filly. She and her friends will be perfectly safe. I also have a company of Night Guards on hoof should any emergencies arise. Now, are there any more concerns?”

Stunned, Shining Armor shook his head. “Very well, Captain. I dismiss you. Go home, spend some time with your parents and sister, then go have a holiday alone with your wife. I am certain that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza misses the presence of her big strong guard husband.” To the princess’s amusement and satisfaction, Shining Armor flushed that charming pink flush again before taking his leave. Sighing contently, Luna sat back on her cushions as she watched him disappear through the door. Hopefully, being with Cadence for a while would help the poor stallion to relax a bit. He had been on edge ever since he had put up the enormous changeling blocking shield over Canterlot before the wedding.

Shortly thereafter, she had an unexpected visitor tapping at her door. She opened it with her magic to find herself face to face with a maniacally grinning Rarity. “Greetings, Miss Rarity. What can I do for you?” The princess of the night inquired.

“Oh no, Princess Luna. It is what I can do for you. Call it an early Hearth’s Warming present, if you will.” She pulled a rack containing a large garment bag into the room behind her. “Courtesy of your sister, of course. We simply can not allow you to attend such a momentous occasion as the theater without an appropriate set of attire! And so, your majesty, stand up, so that I may finish with the proper fit!” Luna chuckled a bit nervously. After being stuck on the Moon for a thousand years, there had been much for her to catch up on, and fashion was one of the biggest gaps in her knowledge of how Equestria had changed over the intervening centuries.

“Oh do not look so glum, princess. I assure you, these are the latest in chic styles among the Canterlot elite. Your sister sent me your measurements in anticipation for this being a special gift. I brought her hers this morning, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in it. I have no doubt what so ever that you will appear likewise lovely.” The fashion-loving unicorn whisked the cover off the clothing stand to reveal an elegant gown done in silver, with dark blue accents and a design of a moon and stars in dark blue dancing around the skirt. The dress was made complete with a dark blue belt adorned with silver stars and a dark blue crocheted shawl flecked with silver threads. A pair of silver shoes and a silvery tiara completed the ensemble. Her eyes wide, Luna reached out a hesitant hoof to touch the exquisite fabric. It was light to the touch and the shawl was lovely and soft and plush.

“It is time to try it on, if you please, princess.” Rarity commented in a voice that said this means business, and Luna allowed the unicorn to coax her to her hooves and try on the shining garment. As Luna stood still, Rarity fussed with a pincushion as she adjusted hemlines and seams throughout the garment and mumbled to herself about modifications. At last, the unicorn pronounced the dress to be “magnifique” and allowed Luna to disrobe.

“You are so much easier to fit than your sister,” the white unicorn noted.

“Why is that, dear Rarity?” Luna asked magnanimously.

Rarity gave a little ladylike smile and answered, “because, between you, me, and that wall, Princess Celestia, Faust bless her, has an unfortunate habit of gaining and losing weight on a frequent basis. Whenever she commissions something from me, I have to make it heavy to start out with, and then do major adjustments later because she has gotten thinner. With your dress, all I needed to adjust are hemlines and details.”

There was a glint in amusement in her eyes as she and Princess Luna made eye contact. Within seconds, both mares were on the floor, having collapsed in identical lady like giggle fits. Shortly thereafter, Rarity took her leave and Princess Luna returned to her work. If her encounter with Rarity was any positive indication, the coming performance would be an interesting event, to say the least.
~~
Soon, Rarity returned, this time to drop off the dress with its final modifications so that Luna could prepare for the evening’s Hearth’s Warming pageant performance. Princess Luna dressed quickly, then went down the stairs to meet up with her sister and their guests for a meal before the show began at midnight. There was no surprise on Luna’s face when she sat at a table ornamented with not one, but two large cakes. One was her very own Black Forest Cake, adorned with the candied cherries she enjoyed so much (and a more discrete bowl of brandied cherries for the adults in the group sat nearby). Next to it, glowing in white frosting, was Celestia’s beloved angel food cake. Luna watched with glee as Rarity saw the immense cake sitting next to Princess Celestia. The unicorn gave the former a wicked glare, as if she blamed the large confection for the princess’s annoying periods of weight gain. Celestia pretended innocence. It was funny in a way, and Luna chuckled inwardly. Eclipse watched the encounter with a similar interest.

Luna had spoken quietly to Rarity a week before to ask for a dress for her secretary, and, despite the work, the fashion designer had jumped at the chance. The result was a gorgeous forest green velvet dress that made the most of Eclipse’s slim figure adorned with a sparkling pattern of leaves. A simple ribbon closure at the neck added a touch of elegance and style reminiscent of the eastern Kirin empire. The result was simply stunning.

Somehow, Rarity had also managed to get her family into formalwear. Her father looked quite the thing, as Rarity called it, and her mother and sister also had cleaned up nicely. Both princess welcomed them, as they did when the other element bearers arrived with their families. Twilight Sparkle escorted her mother and father, Shining Armor having taken Luna’s strong hint to go on a belated honeymoon with Cadence, while Applejack was accompanied by her brother, sister, and grandmother. From what Twilight had said, Luna was impressed that the Apple family had decided to uproot for the holidays. Apparently Granny Smith was still grumbling in private about the change in plans, but the princess secretly believed that all the griping was an act and that the elderly matriarch was actually glad to get away from the farm for a few days. Little Applebloom’s enthusiastic bouncing doubtlessly had more to do with that.

Pinkie Pie was her bouncy, happy self. She spent a great deal of time attempting to get her adopted family to be more comfortable. Mr. and Mrs. Cake seemed in awe of their surroundings and spoke little at first, but it did not take long for the antics of little Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake to break the ice. Pinkie Pie had gained a skilled hoof when it came to dealing with the twin trouble makers, and was doing her best to keep them on a tight enough rein that their parents could enjoy themselves. Luna had heard a rumor that Pinkie had tried to invite her birth family to come to the big city from their little village of Stone Town, but the Pies had refused and said that they already had plans for a quiet holiday with their kin (Luna was also aware of rumors that Stone Town’s peculiar traditions forbade its residents from traveling during the winter months, as an angry rock golem that was said to live in the surrounding mountains was purported to cause avalanches if displeased). All the same, it was still a busy table. Only the pegasi had only one another to keep themselves company. Fluttershy had agreed to come to help Rarity with the last minute clothing alterations, an agreement made all the sweeter by Celestia’s promise that she would be allowed to have a private meeting with the palace’s animal residents, sans the hubbub of the Grand Galloping Gala. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had brought along her prodigy, little Scootaloo, ostensibly as a reward for her hard work, but more likely as an additional playmate to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Rainbow Dash was working with the little pegasus to keep her from going too gung-ho in her pursuit of flight. The hope was that the partnership would do both parties good; Scootaloo would get a reliable flight coach who was fast enough and skilled enough to spot trouble early, and Rainbow Dash would get a taste of responsibility. So far, it appeared to be working out.

The entire party sat down for the meal, with each member of the group careful to keep her or his clothing tidy so that none would incur the wrath of Rarity before the performance. All went well; even Celestia managed to keep her portion size of angel food cake small enough to not earn the princess of the sun the ire of the fashion designer. Luna wondered if Celestia would eat more later. She shrugged and returned to the table conversations; Celestia would do whatever she would do, and Luna would pick a different time to play the annoying little sister. The table conversations revolved around a variety of topics; the diners could participate in any number of discussions, ranging from the classes the fillies were taking in school, to the chances of various hoofball teams making playoffs (Rarity’s father was particularly vehement in his support of a team from Vanhoofer), to thaumaturgy (mostly between Twilight Sparkle, her family, and Celestia), to the arts of apple raising and cookery (somehow similar, but Luna could not quite understand why), to an intense discussion of clothing and accessories (Rarity and her mother seemed to have very different opinions on what was an appropriate adornment for headwear).

For the most part, Luna was content to listen, an activity that Fluttershy was also doing. Even Eclipse was involved. Luna had had no idea her secretary was such a fan of hoofball, much less a frequent attendee of the Canterlot Wondercolts’ games. Between her team, Rarity’s father’s beloved Vanhoofer Seahorses and Rainbow Dash’s Cloudsdale Windigoes, that conversation soon became the most visually interesting, if not the most intelligent sounding. It was more gibberish about various teams’ stats about catch percentages, touchdowns and yardages, and other numbers that only the most dedicated fans would care to know. It almost turned into a four-sided verbal brawl when Spike put in his two cents about a new hoofball team starting up in Trottingham. Apparently this new club included changeling players, who had official permission to participate as long as they maintained the same form throughout the entire season. Luna thought to herself I ought to take in a hoofball game or two soon. It sounds like a great deal of fun. When she said this aloud, all four of the sports fans were soon clamoring to give her advice as to which team or teams she should watch and where. The competitive chatter was all good natured and exuberant, with no ill will felt between the various fan rivals.

Author's Note

I was thinking more along the lines of American football for the end conversation here, but I don't play sports, so no comment on my use of sports terms :derpytongue2:

XXII: Shining Night, Opening Night (part 2)

As the meal came to a close, all the diners filtered towards the door and outside where carriages awaited to take the entire group over to the Canterlot Royal Theater. The element bearers had been there before, of course, since they had performed in last year’s Hearth’s Warming pageant. They had done an excellent job, despite issues ranging from Fluttershy’s crippling stage fright to Twilight Sparkle’s grumbles under her breath about historical inaccuracies in the props and costuming. Princess Luna sat in the Royal Balcony with Princess Celestia, while the other guests filled in the seats down below. The theater was hardly packed; the additional balconies were empty tonight. When a concerned Luna had asked Queen Maricopa if the empty seats would be a problem, the queen had shaken her head. “We have performed for smaller crowds than the one expected for this,” she had said, “a small but very emotional crowd can sustain us better than a large one that is mostly indifferent to what is happening on stage.”

And so, the theater filled and anticipation built. All eyes were glued to the stage as the tall lanky stallion strode into the lights. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I am the great Spear Shaker, and I welcome all of you to our grand production of the Hearth’s Warming pageant. Please sit back and enjoy the show and remember,” he paused and winked an eye at the audience, “with Spear Shaker’s Players, things are not always as they appear to be.” The playwright took his bow and retreated into the wings as the curtain opened on a lone stallion clothed in a handsome dark blue suit. He began the traditional narration opening the show: “Long ago, before the peaceful rule of the Royal Pony Sisters, ponies did not live in harmony. The three tribes were torn apart… by hatred! During this frightful age, each of the three tribes: the earth ponies, the pegasi, and the unicorns, cared not for the others but only for their own welfare...”

The scene changed, and the narrator and his set piece moved off into an alcove. The main stage now showed an outdoor scene of a wild land adorned with fields of farm crops, peaks with precariously perched castles, and a cloud city. “The earth ponies farmed the land, raising the food that all three tribes needed to survive. The pegasi exacted a tribute in return for bringing adequate rainfall to the farmers’ fields. The unicorns demanded the same, in return for magically turning day into night.” Sure enough, the actors on stage wore the guises of the three tribes. Luna admired the stagecraft that began to make itself unobtrusively evident, as lights and props and scenery changed as the story progressed. When the snowstorm occurred, bits of false snow took flight and landed on the audience, to the pleasure of the fillies seated in the front row. During the confrontation scene with the council of the three tribes, Luna watched as the debate between the three leaders left the audience leaning forward in their seats.

During the individual scenes of the three leaders and their traveling companions, the unique set configurations meant that all three sets of actors could be on the stage at the same time, while lighting directed the audience’s focus from one pairing to another. The ponies in the crowd laughed at the buffoonery of Chancellor Puddinghead, bristled at the heavy-hoofedness of Commander Hurricane, and rolled their eyes with exasperated sighs at the arrogance of Princess Platinum. When all three set pieces combined as the leaders realized that they were, in fact, all attempting to claim the same new land, the effect was masterful. The scene shifted flawlessly to the cave, guided by the narrator’s smooth recitation of the familiar story.

Once in the cave, the effects became truly astounding. Luna watched with wide eyes as the ice appeared to grow and encase the furiously arguing leaders. Something she had really not expected was a pair of changelings, in their natural form but in the color of a glowing ice blue, flying above the conflicting ponies, only to be scattered by a fiery heart of friendship as the advisers’ love and tolerance came to a climax. By the time the curtain came down on the revived and chastened leaders and the their heroic companions, the audience was cheering. The curtain raised, and ten actors stepped onto the stage. There were the six stars, plus the two windigoes, and two other ponies who had appeared as various extra tribes. They were joined by the narrator and Spear Shaker. Then, one by one, each actor shifted from pony form into their natural changeling form, sized the same as for their costumes as they had been as ponies. One by one they went down the line. The narrator and Spear Shaker stood at the end. The former shifted in a ball of blue and green fire. Then Spear Shaker gave an enormous smile, with a mischievous wink, then he too dissolved in flames, to reveal… Queen Maricopa. Luna was startled into a laugh at the audience’s astonishment. Similar guffaws were coming from the next balcony over and from the ponies seated below.

Princess Luna stole a glance at the only other occupied box. Sure enough, there was the real Spear Shaker and beside him sat Quick Chance. The mare noticed Luna’s attention and gave the princess of the night a conspiratorial wink and nodded toward the stage. Luna returned her attention to the actors as they bowed as one, then stood up with mouths open. They appeared to be smiling. Luna felt the temperature of the room shift, just slightly, to a colder one, before returning to normal. The changelings closed their mouths and bowed again. After three curtain calls, the group waved as one, shifted back into pony form, and departed backstage. Beside Princess Luna, her sister sat back in her chair.

“Well, little sister, you were certainly right when you said this would be a night to remember. I, for one, shall not soon forget this rendition of the Hearth’s Warming play. I have never seen it done quite so well before.” Luna nodded in agreement. Evidently the crowd below had similar sentiments, as they all seemed reluctant to leave. One of the changelings stepped back out onto the stage. Luna could see that it was Queen Maricopa.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts, the actors will be available for a meet and greet in ten minutes in the lobby. Please feel free to get to know us out there!” She gave the audience a cocky grin before vanishing behind the curtain again.

As the ponies below begain to filter out toward the lobby, Celestia turned to her sister. “Shall we do likewise?”

“Go ahead,” Luna answered. “I shall meet you down there shortly. I would like to speak to some ponies first.”

Celestia nodded that she understood and left. Luna followed, then headed to the box seat where Spear Shaker and Quick Chance had been sitting. The stallion was not in evidence, but Quick Chance was just coming out as she was arriving. “How did you like it, Princess?” The mare inquired.

Luna answered “It was one of the most dynamic versions of this show I have ever seen. You were right about how the stagecraft added such a special touch. The windigoes were particularly impressive.”

Quick Chance smiled. “Ice Rose and Maelstrom have been looking forward to that role for months. It is so interesting that changelings can be so easily confused for windigoes with nothing more than a bit of ice and paint.”

Luna chuckled. “I must say, if Spear Shaker’s other performances are as impressive as this one, you all could do very well in Canterlot. Would you think me forward if I offered your troupe the opportunity to become a repertory company with a resident theater here in Canterlot?”

The mare looked astounded. “Well, princess, for me that is personally a dream come true, but would the audiences stay interested enough here? I mean this would mean they would be seeing the same group over and over again, but doing different things…” she paused, as the possibility dawned on her, “but wait! With our unique cast, they would not think they were seeing the same group doing the same thing!”

Luna nodded, a smile on her face. Quick Chance’s face went serious as she pondered the possibilities. “I would need to consult with Spear Shaker and the rest of the cast and crew, of course, but I think it would be good for all involved.”

Luna nodded her agreement. Her earlier conversation with Maricopa had told her the same thing. “Shall we go down to the lobby and see how my little ponies and your little changelings are getting along?” She asked.

“It would be my pleasure,” the stage manager answered.

In the lobby, the room was brimming with excitement. All over, changelings and ponies were socializing. The ponies remained in their formal wear, while the changelings remained in costume. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat entranced as the changelings painted as windigoes regaled them with tales of their wide ranging travels. Luna had never before seen Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom sitting so still. Nearby, Rarity was discussing trade spells with the actress and costume mistress. Each of the element bearers was talking with a changeling actor, mostly with the one who had played the same part as they had done the year before. Spike and Eclipse were in deep conversation with the tall changeling who had played the narrator. Luna overheard something about voice projection and breathing exercises to improve one’s volume in outdoor settings.

Throughout the room, the air was filled with content chatter. Above it all, Queen Maricopa sat in regal repose, watching from a pegasus perch above. She had shed her guise as Spear Shaker (who was now discussing hoofball in one corner with Rarity's father). Princess Celestia sat beside her to likewise oversee the crowd. Both leaders appeared content. Princess Luna took her leave from Quick Chance, who ambled over to where the Cakes and the Apples were discussing food near the catered refreshment table. As she landed next to her sister, Queen Maricopa Elytra turned to greet the princess of the night.

“So, how did my little changelings do? I know how well I think they did, of course, and judging from the audience reaction it was a very successful premier.”

Luna and Celestia both assured the changeling queen that the show had been very impressive.

“Are your shows usually this… visually interesting?” Celestia inquired.

Maricopa shrugged. “It depends on the show. With this one, we felt that there was a need to be as over the top as possible when it came to effects. When it comes to Spear Shaker’s productions, they are not usually quite as over done. But yes, this is the same kind of shenanigans that we pull, especially for the big shows. Half the fun of acting in a show that has been done over and over again is to make the audience feel as though they were seeing if for the first time, even if they have seen the same show over and over again. Spear Shaker’s crew is masterful at that, and when we started working with them, it did not take long for us to all realize that we were more impressive together than if we were apart.”

“And… the feeding?” Luna asked cautiously. “Was that when it got a little cold in the auditorium?”

Maricopa shook her head. “That was the end of the feeding, actually. From the moment each of us stepped on stage, we fed as soon as we had the chance. Excess emotion has an energy all its own, and our feeding makes it heat up and move more. When we cut off the flow, the movement stops and that is the chill you felt. The audience tonight was good. Very good. I know I will not need to feed for a while, and I have been getting similar messages from the hive mind all evening.”

Luna told the changeling queen about the offer she had presented to Quick Chance. “I think it is a good possibility that the hive would not be unhappy to have a permanent residence. It will be up to Spear Shaker and the crew as well, of course. We are all used to moving around a lot. It would definitely be a change for us all.”

Luna nodded in understanding. All three monarchs watched the cacophony below as changelings and ponies continued to mingle. “Do you think this could happen everywhere?” Celestia asked quietly as the two species contined below. “I mean, all across Equestria, with little groups of changelings and pony towns?”

Luna turned to her sister. “I, for one, think so. There is a large changeling community in Trottingham, according to Cookie N Cream and Professor Buzz Words, and they are formally integrated into society there. There are numerous other changelings all over who live as ponies in their daily lives without a hive. I would like to see it happen more.”

“As would I.” Maricopa responded. “As would I.” The three leaders silently nodded in agreement and returned their attention to watching the integrated group below.

Author's Note

Yeah, I don't quite have all the lines of Hearth's Warming Eve memorized. I blame Spear Shaker for messing with the lines and creating any discrepancies.

XXIII: Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

Princess Luna, monarch of the night sky and protector of the nocturnal sighed as she closed the last of the files from the mountainous stack she had received from Princess Celestia all those months earlier. Not as single one of the changelings captured by the guard had harbored hostile intentions. It was as she had expected; the hive of Queen Chrysalis had been forced out of Equestria completely by their informal (but very effective) exile at the horn of the princess of love. How fitting, Luna thought, that a story that began with a species that survives by stealing love should end with a Hearth’s Warming celebrating that love and tolerance have saved the ponies from themselves.

Slowly, as life returned to normal for the lunar princess, the world continued on. Now, though, Princess Luna was once again feeling herself to be closer to Celestia’s equal, as she had been a thousand years ago. As she had recovered her powers and authority, her mane and tail had returned to their ethereal star-spangled selves and she was getting closer to her sister’s size. More importantly, more ponies had started to attend her night court. There were some, at least, who had decided she was worth trusting. It was a step in the right direction. There was still a long way to go; Luna’s attempted visit to Ponyville during Nightmare Night showed that her reputation and that of her alter ego would not die out for a generation or more. To Luna, though, her return to power was another chance as well. There was an opportunity here to return to some of the older traditions that had fallen by the wayside; not any of the harmful ones of course, but night-bound traditions that had slowly vanished as the princess herself had done.

She had started one of those back in motion again this year; when the three fillies (what did they call themselves? Oh yes, the "Cutie Mark Crusaders") had wanted to ask her about the history of Hearth’s Warming for their class ("Cutie Mark Crusader historians! Yay!"), Princess Luna had told them of the story of the first wishing star and of how foals all over Equestria used to watch the night sky on Hearth’s Warming Eve to wait for a single star to shine brighter than all the others. It was believed that if a foal spotted that special star, if he or she wished upon it, that wish would come true, especially if the wish was one that would help others as well as the wisher. The three fillies had joined the night princess up on the balcony to watch for a wishing star after the pageant. They had watched for a quarter of an hour before Scootaloo had spotted the wishing star. All three fillies had closed their eyes and wished; unbeknownst to them, Princess Luna had wished too. I wish that the night be more beautiful and more welcoming to all those living in Equestria than in the past. I wish that all may feel safe under the light of my moon again. Afterwards the group had returned inside to hot cider and cookies before all had returned to their rooms to await the bountiful generous gifting of the next day.

As such things often went, the foals were up early. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom’s cheery dispositions helped the adults grin and bear their way through the chaotic shredding of wrapping paper and ribbon. At times like this, Luna had thought, Coffee is a blessing. Among the gifts the lunar princess had received was a bag of Horsican coffee and a small bag of gingerbread cookies labelled "Cookie N Cream's Hearth's Warmers: best eaten warm!".

The Ponyville crowd had been joined by the changeling hive, who were jubilant at the gifts they had received from the princesses in anticipation for their new roles as resident players in Canterlot. Queen Maricopa Elytra had sat and watched the show with the appearance of a benevolent mother as her hive, from the oldest drone to the youngest nymph, exclaimed over their gifts. To Princess Luna’s surprise, Spear Shaker and Quick Chance had elected to have a quiet Hearth’s Warming Day in their quarters rather than join in the large group’s festivities. When Luna had asked one of the servants what they planned on doing, she had received only a conspiratorial wink and a suggestive tilt of the head. It did not take Starswirl the Bearded to figure out that there may be a new member of Spear Shaker’s Players by next year. The pair did make an appearance when the group went en masse to the Great Hall for the annual Hearth’s Warming Feast.

Luna had brought back another tradition, in which the palace staff ate at table with the princesses as equals, with each pony busing his or her own plate to be cleaned by the princesses’ magic and put away. The most impressive part of the meal was a pair of cakes. To no pony’s surprise, there were two of them, one Celestia’s angel’s food cake, the other Luna’s black forest cake. The biggest surprise here was the decorations. Both cakes had been frosted with ornate fondant icing and the two cakes combined looked like Canterlot Castle and Canterlot Mountain, respectively. Tiny marzipan ponies of various tribes decorated spun sugar balconies and hard candy stained glass windows caught the light in a myriad of different colors. Most interesting of all was an addition to Canterlot Mountain: a cluster of little cottages inhabited by more tiny marzipan creatures, both ponies and changelings. A small slip of paper next to the confectionery masterpiece read “Dedicated to Princess Luna in thanks for her efforts in the creation of the Royal Changelings’ Artists Guild Colony.” The note was signed by two dozen of the changelings. Luna had never considered that one could turn cake decorating into an art form of its own, but this was certainly evidence to the contrary. The confection was almost too beautiful to eat; no pony seemed to want to touch it and mar the edible creation’s beauty until Pinkie Pie brazenly took a bite of one of the towers and squealed that it was "Cookie N Cream’s super duper secret cake frosting recipe that was only used for super uber special cakes". Her subsequent faint from apparent sugar overload made every pony and changeling in the room interested in sampling the enormous dessert. Fortunately, there was more than enough to go around without sending anyone into a food coma. All left the meal satisfied and full. The next day, the guests departed and everything returned to normal.

Almost everything, that is. Just as Twilight Sparkle wrote to Princess Celestia every so often, Princess Luna began to receive mail from her own pen pals. All across Equestria, changelings who had been granted citizenship and the ponies who had supported them sent their princess of the night letters that told her what they were doing, what went on in their lives, and notices of when other changelings appeared in their home towns. It appeared to be that these changelings would be Luna’s responsibility, as Celestia showed no interest in immigration reform and Luna was inclined towards granting most citizenship requests. Not long after the end of the Hearth’s Warming festivities, Luna had received her first non-changeling citizenship application: a zebra colony that had washed ashore near San Franciscolt had asked for and received permission to create their own enclave within the city. Now a well-established part of the City of the Bays, these zebras had requested citizenship. After some investigation into the enclave by Luna’s Night Guard, that request had been granted. It was a benefit to all parties; Luna got to take another small step toward having official power back in her hooves; Celestia no longer had to deal with the horn ache of tedious immigration paperwork, and the immigrants seeking citizenship had their waits cut by half or more. When a reporter had asked Luna about why she granted so many citizenship requests, she had answered, “Because I have been an exile, I know what it is like to live apart from the wider world and how lonely it can be. It takes courage to say ‘no, I do not want to stay on the outside forever, I want to be a part of something more’, especially when that something more is a group that is very different from what you are used to.”

Author's Note

Please don't use the comment section to start an argument about immigration.

Epilogue: Dear Princess Luna

Despite all the paperwork and additional responsibility, Luna still managed to write back to many of her changeling friends. On one wall of her study, she and Eclipse had placed several framed photographs sent to her by changelings all over Equestria. Each one was a memory of a unique individual who held a place in the lunar princess’s heart.

A pale-winged changeling in the uniform of the Night Guard, surrounded by her comrades in arms:

Dear Princess Luna,

Today I am proud to let you know that our troop has come in first in the annual Grand Guard Rendezvous obstacle course! It may not look like it, but Commander Star Skimmer is absolutely thrilled. He claims that all our mountain training is paying off (though I suspect more of it comes from the recent influx of experimental auxiliary changelings who joined us in the spring). I hope to hear more from you about the planned updates to the pranking training system, as Commander Skimmer is starting to run short of ideas on how to keep morale up. Some of these new pony and changeling recruits have absolutely no sense of humor! This shall not stand!

Yours in silver uniform, Rough Diamond of the Night Frontier Guard

A large male changeling and a pretty mare, each holding blanket wrapped foals and surrounded by a bewildering variety of cookies and a couple pots of steaming coffee:

Dear Godmother Luna,

Thank you for the wonderful Hearth’s Warming gifts for the little pony lings. Both were very appreciative of their new toys and have decided that this is their favorite holiday (of course, they have yet to experience a complete Nightmare Night yet!). Both of the little ones have started shifter training under the authority of one of Cookie’s friends from the university. Both seem to be doing well; the other day, little Starburst managed to do a full transformation completely on her own! Let me tell you, Princess, it was one of the cutest and most surprising things when I walked in to check on the little mites and found instead of a half changeling pony a little blue unicorn foal. But wait, that was not the best part; Star walked right up to me and yelled (in what I can only assume is her version of the Royal Canterlot Voice) “I am Pwincess Woonaa. Da pwincess demands dat you make her woyal bweakfast!” It was all I could do not to burst out laughing on the spot. It took some persuasion from her father to shift back into her natural form, but all is well now.

Meanwhile, Rocket seems to have taken after his other godmother, Pinkie Pie. The other day, we were cleaning up after the lunch rush when he walked right up to the president of the university and his secretary, changed form into one that looked like a smaller version of Professor Bugsy, and gave his best impression of the dear professor, complete with randomly spouting Changeish words. It was not long before our little joker had both the university president and his crusty old secretary nearly in tears. Cookie says he also has winning impressions of the university president as well as numerous other professors. Apparently my dear husband has been taking him along on deliveries; he uses the former change when they deliver to university staff and the latter changes for students. Of course, both Starburst and Rocket spend most of the time in their natural forms, as they are not yet old enough to create their own pony forms. Their instructor tells us that that will come within a year or two. So there you have it; we are now raising a little princess and a future stage comedian.

With love and coffee, Chai Spice

PS: I am sending you another case of my Hearth’s Warmers cookies. I recommend that you warm them up a bit before eating to bring out the flavor (the twins like them hot with ice cream) ~ Cookie N Cream

PPS: Dear Pwincess, I would really like to see you again. Your sky is so pwetty at night with lots and lots of stars. If you come for my birfday, Daddy says he will make your favorite cake! Love Starburst

PPPS: Why did the changeling cross the road? He wanted to be something different. Love, Rocket

Another photo showed a changeling mare standing next to an elderly plum purple mare with silver mane and tail. The changeling was leaping in the air with joy, as she was attired in a black graduate’s robe and cap with a colorful tassel. A note at the bottom read “Miss Pine Climber, graduation from Masters program at Trottingham University for the Arts, in the field of linguistics. Mentor and adviser Professor Dr. Buzz ‘Bugsy’ Words”. Professor Buzz Words looked exhausted, but proud of her prize pupil. The latest letter from the pair sat on Luna’s desk:

To Princess Luna,
I wish to thank you again for your help in securing the grant that would allow us to visit and conduct studies of Marelantic Sea Pony languages this summer. This study, as you know, will be a sort of final hurrah for the professor, as she intends to retire once I finish my phD (she has been pulling the university president’s wing for several months hinting that I would make a “tolerable” replacement. I already know how to teach her classes!)

Thanks to your support, we have begun to attract a wider variety of students to campus. We can not have sea ponies or mer ponies or plesio ponies yet, as we do not have appropriate aquatic facilities, but getting Professor Bugsy’s name into the spotlight has attracted numerous exchange students. For example, this morning my “Equish as a Second Language” class consisted of a small flock of griffons, two elks, a tapir, a pair of llamas and my newest students, three young stallions from Pferdreich (it should come as no surprise that one of the first Equish words they knew was “beer”, after all, it is both a cognate and an important part of college life. “Coffee” was their second word, acquired just before the first exam!) The president is proud of our fame (or perhaps Professor Bugsy’s notoriety).

I hope you will be able to attend the ceremony for my doctorate in two years; it meant a lot to me to see you in the crowd for my masters’ degree. Professor Buzz Words sends her regards.

Best wishes, Pine Climber, assistant professor

PS: Do not get excited about taking my place yet, little whipper snapper! I am not that old yet! ~Bugsy

There was also a wedding photo; at first glance, it was not obvious that the mare was a changeling, but the composition of the crowd on the bride’s side of the aisle and the mare’s unusual dragonfly-like wings told the viewer otherwise. Both mare and groom were smiling brightly at the camera, and there seemed to be an unusual glow between them.

Dear Princess Luna,

I am writing to say thank you for the lovely wedding gift. We shall be making great use of it once the theater season closes. An all expenses paid honeymoon to the beach at Horseshoe Bay is a dream come true for us! We will, of course be sending you pictures and a postcard. I am very happy we are going there; despite all my past travels, I have never seen the ocean before and neither has Spotter.

I have heard from Zinnia that she is enjoying her time among the elites of Canterlot society. While she is not able to tell me details, I assume she is acting as your eyes and ears among the nobles and high society ponies. There is no need to worry; she only tells me the funny stories about the nose in the air kind of ponies getting their comeuppance. I assume you get more details than I do.

Oh, and one other thing, Spotter Light and I are expecting a pair of little sparks of our own in a little less than a year. (The theater staff are taking bets on gender already!) I have heard from Cookie that you accepted his request that you be a godmother to his little nymphs. Would you think it a terrible imposition if I made a similar request? After all, if it had not been for you and Zinnia, I would have never met Spotter Light. Please write back to me!

Your little light, Glow Wings

There is a large group shot on the wall, consisting of around two dozen changelings and a similar number of ponies and a few other species. A large decorated sign in the center of the photo reads “Canterlot Mountain Artists’ Collective: Dedicated to a more accepting and colorful world”. Below the picture, the artists signed their names in styles ranging from elegant flowing calligraphy to a shaky print made by “Trak”. Few of the collective’s inhabitants send Princess Luna letters, but the princess of the night receives beautiful art pieces on a regular basis, as well as poems, stories, and invitations to various exhibitions and gallery openings. Luna attends as many of the last as she can. She often sends commissions the collective’s way, and the royal artists spend a great deal of time at the colony to “recharge” their creativity. One of the most frequent visitors is a stallion who calls himself Summit Streak. Next to the photograph is a framed watercolor painting of a changeling watching the night sky from the peak of Canterlot mountain; the city of Canterlot appears lit up in all its glory below. The painting is accompanied by a poem:

Over stone and under sky
We dream and see the world together
Though summer’s sun has its hue and cry
Tis winter’s moon’s glow that wishes better.
For while life is spent in daylight’s glow
The night’s moon makes the spirit giving
For without dreaming what we know
The real world is not worth living.

There is one other large group represented on Princess Luna’s Wall of Changeling Fame: this one was taken at the front entrance of the Royal Theater. Clustered around a statue of a changeling and a pony dancing is a herd of ponies and a hive of changelings. No one in the crowd is wearing costumes, but it is obvious all the same that the group is all together as the combined talents of Spear Shaker’s (no longer travelling) Players and the hard working staff of the Royal Theater. Luna had been surprised that it had taken so little time for the Royal Theater manager to come to terms with Spear Shaker’s production manager Quick Chance with regards to who would run the whole shebang. From the sound of it, the theater manager had been convinced by the Hearth’s Warming pageant and Spear Shaker’s gregarious persuasion that having a resident set of players would be good for the theater. Plus, as Quick Change had pointed out, he could still book other groups to perform when the theater troupe was in rehearsals for a different show. Luna attended as many shows as she could. Under the guiding hoof of Spear Shaker, the princess found herself alternately laughing, crying, and clinging to the edge of her seat as the players gave the audience their show and received the fulfillment and nourishment they desired. With every new production, Quick Chance and Spear Shaker sent Princess Luna an illustrated program for the show, complete with autographs from every pony or changeling to set hoof on stage. It always included tickets. Luna has a growing stack of them on her bookshelf:

A Nightmare Night’s Dream
The Griffon King
Much Ado About Changelings
Droolius Caesar (starring guests from the Cheroonear diamond dog pack)
Death of a Sales Pony
The Sound of Moo-Sic (starring the great bovine opera singer Moolie Andrews)
Pie Pie Pony (guest star Pinkie Pie)
How Discord Stole Hearth’s Warming
Mane Spray
Ponyo and Muleiet
The Little Mer Mare
The Shadow of the Catacombs
The Unsinkable Marely Brown
The Queen and I (with Queen Maricopa as herself in the title role)

And dozens of others make up a growing collection. None of the cast and crew write the princess, of course, but she sees many of them at social functions and at the shows. The sole exception is Queen Maricopa Elytra, who, when not performing on stage, acts as an adviser on changeling politics. When Queen Chrysalis and part of her swarm were sighted on Equestria’s southern border, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia spoke to Queen Maricopa.

“Let them be,” the changeling queen had advised. “They will probably move on on their own; defend your ponies in border towns as needed, but I suspect that the swarm has a destination elsewhere in mind.”

That prediction had proved correct, as the princesses soon received word that a changeling hive had settled around an oasis near the border of Naqua, land of the camels. From the sound of it, the changelings were conducting peaceful trade agreements with the humped nomads, with the camels offering goods and emotional interaction in exchange for water and hive wax and other changeling produced goods. The threat had vanished on the wind for the most part, though Celestia had insisted on keeping a regiment of Frontier Guards based in the closest pony town. Soon enough, Princess Luna received a message from the border:

To Princess Luna,

I am writing to seek official sanction for the present location of my hive in the north east part of the Great Ungulate Desert. You see, we are on the border between Equestria and the Naqua Caliphate and wish to come under the aegis of Equestrian law rather than that of the camels (due to trade). As I have been informed that you have been in charge of handling pony to other species interactions, I am writing to you to request amnesty for me and mine as well as permission to remain here.

Following the events of my attempted invasion, the remnants of my swarm and I were scattered; I lost hive mind contact with all but a fragment of my underlings. I have since repented of my foolish quest for power, as I have encountered and learned from a Naquan mystic. This camel is known as the Great Teacher and has made it his purpose in life to teach others about contentment and desire’s role in disrupting it. As a result, I have realized that the reason I was always unhappy is because I was too obsessed with gaining more: more changelings, more posessions, more power, and more land stripped for our well being without consequences. My hive and I seek your forgiveness, as well as that of your sister and the princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Your humbled queen, Chrysalis

Ps: I will be sending a gift of a hoof woven tapestry as a gift to the newly weds. If they choose not to accept it along with my apology, please feel free to keep it for your own collection.

After reading the letter from Queen Chrysalis, Luna reached for a piece of paper and a quill to write to her sister. However, she stopped the motion mid reach. Why should she seek Princess Celestia’s permission to grant Queen Chrysalis’s request for amnesty? After all, as the queen had written, Luna herself had taken over control of the changeling petitions that had begun this sequence of letters. Why would the princess of the sun take any trouble to deal with them? As far as Luna was concerned, as long as the changelings treated all those they contacted with equal respect to their own kind, she did not much care if they were on Equestrian soil. A glance at a map of the Great Ungulate Desert showed that the oasis and caverns claimed by Queen Chrysalis’s hive were for all intents and purposes in the middle of nowhere. Few camels came this far into the desert and even fewer ponies. The nearest pony settlement was a Frontier Guard outpost in constant contact with the Frontier Guard communication network headquartered in Canterlot. Any trouble could be dealt with in a moment’s notice. And so Princess Luna, protector of the night sky, raiser of the moon, and keeper of dreams instead wrote a letter in reply to the changeling queen:

To Chrysalis, queen of the Great Ungulate Desert changeling hive:

I, Princess Luna Equestris, diarch of the Royal Nation of Equestria, hereby grant thee and thine permission to inhabit the Scorpion Rock Oasis and Arachna Caves as well as to open and maintain trading and commercial relations with the camel caravans of Naqua. If she should desire further assistance for her people from the twin crowns, she may contact us either via letter or through contacting the Frontier Guard Outpost at Turquoise Cliffs. The latter have been informed of this.

Should you and your followers wish to pursue citizenship, you will need to wait at least six months from receipt of this missive before contacting myself, Princess Luna Equestris.

Congratulations.

Princess Luna Equestris, princess of the night

PS: If your Great Teacher would care to write to us about his lessons, please extend my invitation for him to do so.