Kingdom of Loving: Fear and Loving in the Crystal Empire

Chapter 9: Dinner and a Plot

Cadance and Shining Armor returned to the castle a little after lunch and brought along a treat - sandwiches from one of the caterers that would be handling the reception. Twilight had worked up a pretty serious appetite running on nothing but toast, but she was almost too excited to eat. Almost.

“Changelings?” Cadance was holding the book open above the dining room table.

“Mhmm,” Twilight said around a cheek full of bread and greens. “I was able to find that, at least, but there’s no mention of them in any other texts.”

“I’ve never heard of them, even in Equestria.”

“Twily, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Shining chided as he came back with some iced tea.

“Yes, Dad,” she teased him, making a visible show of swallowing.

Shining coughed and blushed very faintly while Cadance gave him a little glance that only made it worse.

“So the librarian’s assistant managed to help?” asked Cadance to get the topic off full muzzles.

“Oh yes! She had exactly what I needed.”

“Sunset Shimmer is one of our most promising magical students,” Cadance noted with a soft smile.

“She’s amazing. Smart and talented and funny,” Twilight went on, her hands weaving a much grander story than her words. She realized that she was meandering and cleared her throat. “I’m glad we met.”

“I’m glad to hear you two got along. It’s always nice when you meet somepony.”

“Yeah.” Twilight’s ears splayed. Cadance knew, she absolutely had to. There was no way that gentle smile and those soulful eyes did not imply she had been told, or maybe she was just so connected to the power of love she could get a read on anypony who had a feeling, ever.

That was a bit of a disturbing image, actually. Twilight wondered if Cadance was aware of every act of love in the kingdom. Did that include things like kind gestures, the love between two friends, or even deep, passionate makeouts in the library?

How silly. Even Celestia couldn’t see everything the sun touched.

“Well, I hear Twily’s been making new friends everywhere she goes,” Shining added in with an encouraging smile. “I’m going to put the rest of those things away, honey.”

Cadance nodded and kissed her fiance. Once he was gone, Twilight nervously bobbed a hoof against the leg of her chair while Cadance put down the book. Her expression was serene, the very definition of calm. It looked far to serious to be good.

“Twilight, I want to ask you something, and please understand I am not trying to make this unpleasant.”

“What is it?” she asked in return, ears perking, swiveling, and then laying back.

“You’ve never had intercourse, correct?”

“What?” Twilight’s nervous laugh was strangely involuntary.

“This is something everypony should talk about, Twilight,” Cadance said in a patient tone. “It’s not something to be embarrassed about, when and how and who are all your decision. But since I’m the one who introduced you to this concept, I want to be the one to let you know there also some dangers.”

“Like what?” Twilight’s attention grew more rapt as Cadance continued.

“Other than the obvious, like safety, hygiene? Lust. More so than most emotions, the physical desire to be intimate can drive us to make very poor decisions. Especially in the spur of the moment, and especially when we feel pressured to. Has anypony made you feel pressured here?”

“No! No, she hasn’t,” Twilight defended Sunset immediately.

“She?” Cadance asked in a slightly raised voice, brows arching.

“I - but - you didn’t know?”

“No, my goodness. I didn’t think you would be into girls.”

Twilight stared across the table at Cadance, mouth agape, eyes wide, cheeks burning a little more intensely than she thought they were capable of.

“It’s just that Celestia always felt, in many ways, that ponies of the same sex shouldn’t,” Cadance explained, “but you should know by now there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“No, no, of course. Celestia has relaxed a little on that, but it’s still a stigma. It’s still not possible for two ponies to get married in Ponyville if they’re - well, gay.”

Cadance nodded. “It’s a difficult subject. Even though it’s really no pony’s place to judge, the truth is it will be something that everypony discusses in one way or another.”

“I had never even really considered it,” Twilight admitted, leaning back into her chair a little. She drummed her fingertips on the edge of the table. Even now she was giving it more thought than she had when she had kissed Sunset. “My parents, Celestia, everypony I’ve ever talked to, they’ve always said I’d find a handsome young stallion one day. It just sort of pushed out the possibility that one day he’d be a mare. Er, she’d!”

Cadance chuckled. “And I’ve seen the way you look at Shining’s cock.”

The color must have visibly fallen from Twilight’s face, because Cadance snort-laughed. Twilight felt queasy. Her tail trembled behind her and she gripped the tablecloth into the tight balls of her fists.

“N-No! I don’t - I wouldn’t - he’s my brother!”

“And you are both grown, consenting adults,” Cadance said softly.

“But still! It’s wrong-”

“If you’ve never talked about it, then yes, it would be. But Twilight, dear, you and only you have the power to say so. Love takes many, many forms. And no action...”

“..taken out of love. I know, but, I don’t think I could ever. I love him, but our parents would never approve.” Twilight slowly released the tablecloth. Her legs folded and she flicked her tail a little to ensure there was still feeling in her extremities.

“It’s not their place to.” Cadance sat up a little more straight and adjusted the cloth on her side, which had been pulled by Twilight’s panic. “Besides, the fact that you have a girlfriend doesn’t mean you aren’t interested in boys. You don’t even have to be exclusive, but these are all things you have to talk to her about. The only ponies who matter in your life are the ones who love you just as much as you love them.”

Twilight tilted her head slightly, looking at Cadance questioningly. These were all such strange concepts compared to Equestria’s values. She was getting used to everything here breaking some form of taboo because it was logical, and if she could logically understand why something was the way it was she could straighten it out in her own mind, but this was becoming complicated swiftly. Perhaps it only failed to make as much sense to her because she had never thought about the subject, really applied her own intellect and come to her own conclusions. Whenever her brain had approached a subject that was considered uncouth it avoided it, just like she avoided naked ponies and sex and relationships.

And she’d only ever done it because somepony else had told her it was wrong.

Shining came back in through the kitchen door, smiling and brushing his hands off in front of him. “Everything’s stocked and ready for the big day,” he said with a sigh of relief that only came after a good round of physical labor. “What are you two talking about?”

Twilight’s eyes shot to Cadance. The alicorn gave a comforting little smile.

“Twilight has found a girlfriend.”

“Really?”

For a moment there was a twinge of fear, a terrifying coldness that lanced up from her stomach to her fingers and spread down to her hooves. Twilight’s eyes shifted over to her brother, waiting for the moment when he would judge her, condemn her decision, disown her or worse.

“That’s great news!” Shining strode around the table and clapped Twilight on the back firmly enough that she rocked forward a little. It broke her out of her shame spiral just in time for him to hug her tightly. Her eyes were watering as she leaned in and hugged him back as deeply as she could manage.

“Thank you,” Twilight murmured, making Shining lean back a little. She wiped the corner of an eye. “Thank you both.”

“Hey, now,” Shining offered with a firm rub on Twi’s shoulder. Cadance approached from the other side and gently brushed Twilight’s mane from her face from where the hug and spreading dampness mussed it. She looked between the two of them and could only shake her head and smile. Even if she’d never had a sister Twilight knew Cadance was what she wanted in one, and as always, Shining was the best friend, her first friend, her big brother.

“So who is she? I want to meet her! Can she come to dinner?”

The next day came and went in a buzz. Twilight felt as though she were dancing on clouds like a pegasus, free and light and carefree. Everything seemed so much brighter and happier, from the sun sending its refracting rays down through the crystal pillars to paint shining color everywhere. Maybe she was just swimming through the serene thought of seeing Sunset again and that was making her dizzy, but Twi couldn’t remember the last time she had been so excited.

Of course she’d extended the invitation to dinner. She had barely been able to contain herself. Sunset had agreed, but only after she promised that there would be no other ponies around. It was, after all, a family affair - Shining and Cadance had expressed a deep interest in meeting Sunset personally. Cadance had apparently never introduced herself personally, even though she had recommended Sunset to Twilight to help with her research. Apparently that had all been Mrs. Ryefield’s glowing praise.

“Has anypony ever called you Sunny?” Twilight asked as she walked Sunset towards the grand dining hall. It was larger and more formal than the small breakfast area where she had dined casually so far. Twilight had joked that she didn’t have a thing to wear to such a grand occasion but Sunset appeared very distracted and distant.

“What?” she asked, looking up from the floor for the first time since they left her room.

Twilight tilted her head, ears forward and attentive. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really,” Sunset waved off the concern. “Just nervous. I’m meeting the princess in person.”

“You’re going to get along great.” Twi gripped Sunset’s arms and squeezed her. The faint flicker of a smile was hardly reassuring but it was enough, even if it hadn’t been the most confident she’d seen Sunset since meeting her.

“And no, don’t call me Sunny.”

The grand doors to the dining hall swung open of their own accord. As the two ponies passed through them the true grandeur of the elaborate crystalline architecture settled in. Both looked up to the towering vaulted ceilings and the chandeliers that gave off radiant and pleasing multicolored light, then followed the sparkling shafts down to the table that ran the full course of the room. It was covered with a fine silk cloth that could have served as a banner or tapestry. There were several dozen chairs with tall backs and thick cushions, gemstones set into nearly every curve and carving.

The silverware - or more appropriately, crystalwear - laid out was no less impressive, wrought from the very substance of the kingdom. Though every single place on the table was set there were only four at the head of the table that were accompanied by waiters standing nearby, ready to pull out the seat at the approach of their guests.

“Wow,” Sunset breathed.

“I know. This is much bigger than I thought,” Twilight whispered.

“She sure knows how to make a girl feel severely underdressed.”

Twilight and Sunset shared a giggle as they stepped over to the nude waitstaff and were seated. Before long one of the many small side doors opened and Cadance and Shining Armor entered, wearing their crowns and nothing else.

“You must be Sunset!” Cadance enthused as both ponies rose to greet them, and she immediately wrapped the unicorn in a tight hug. Shining instead opted for a quick handshake before moving to their seats and settling in.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” he said with a broad grin.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Sunset nearly mumbled.

“No reason to be shy, sweetie. We’re all friends here.” Cadance motioned for the waiters to begin bringing out the food. It took only a few moments for a procession of ponies to emerge from the side corridors, carrying trays of greenery and carafes of dressing and pitchers of fresh juice and tea and milk.

“Cadance, Shining, isn’t this all a bit much?” Twi asked uncertainly. She’d never been comfortable with these royal affairs, even when she was in Canterlot. She much preferred quietly eating in her room, mostly because it avoided the crowds and she could study in peace.

“Oh, this is actually a sort of practice run for the wedding reception. Speaking of! Sunset, will you be attending?” Cadance asked across the short distance. Though there were two large chairs set at the head of the table, Cadance and Shining had settled into the matching seats across from Twilight and Sunset.

“I didn’t know I was invited!”

“Of course you are. This castle can fit everypony in the Crystal Kingdom and the reception will be held after the wedding. There’s no pony who isn’t invited, even if they’re not guests of honor.”

“Then I wouldn’t miss it.” Sunset’s cheeks darkened just a bit.

Twilight smiled at Sunset as she picked up a fork and began serving herself some of the salad greens that had been set out. “What about your mother?”

Sunset nearly dropped her fork. She looked like somepony had visibly slapped her and the warmth drained from her face. “What?”

“Your mother. Would she be coming? You’re getting to meet my family, I’d love to meet yours!”

“Oh, uh, I’ll ask her, but she’s probably already planning to, right?”

Twilight gave Sunset a curious stare as she played with the bits of kale that sat loaded but untouched on her plate. With a quick glance to make sure Cadance and Shining weren’t focusing directly on her, Twi slid a hand under the tablecloth and brushed her fingers against Sunset’s thigh. Those blue eyes lifted from the table to the stroking unicorn questioningly, but then a smile broke. Twilight returned it as she cupped a little more deeply along Sunset’s upper leg.

“So Sunset. Mrs. Ryefield tells me you’re an excellent student,” Cadance said between tiny bites of her own salad. “Crystal studies is your best subject, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yes, I’m in her class, and I like to read about it,” Sunset nodded.

“She even made me this!” Twilight beamed as she used her fork-hand to lift the pendant off her purple chest. Shining and Cadance nodded appreciatively.

“That’s outstanding, really. Most ponies start out making simple shapes and geometric objects.”

“That was how we started,” Sunset said, “but I kind of picked up on it quick.” She picked up one of the unused forks - why were there always so many other forks? - and opened her hand. The crystal utensil stood up of its own accord, floating above her palm without touching it.

“Crystal kinesis,” Cadance said with an approving smirk.

“And this,” Sunset noted. The fork looked like it was melting. It shifted and distorted until it was a perfectly round sphere, and its crystal surface glinted with polish. With nothing but a roll in her palm she separated it into two orbs, then into three, and began levitating them in a rotating pattern. Faster and faster they spun until they twirled upright and spun together back into the shape of a fork.

“That is absolutely amazing,” Cadance breathed, and Shining clapped. His mouth was full. “You could probably teach me a thing or two.”

Sunset laughed and shook her head. “I’ve just had a lot of free time to practice.”

“I mean it, you’re a natural. And Twilight said she was very interested in crystal magic.”

Twilight gave Sunset’s leg an approving squeeze under the table. She could feel her stiffen just a little, but that glint in her eye clearly conveyed one idea: don’t stop.

“I wouldn’t mind teaching her a thing or two, and she’s got plenty to teach me.”

Shining coughed a little in the middle of a sip from a glass of water. Cadance covered her muzzle with the back of her hand while Twilight’s cheeks started to warm. Sunset gave her a teasing grin that said everything was alright.

“I’ve learned a lot since I came to the Crystal Kingdom. I’m sure I’m going to learn lots more before I go.” Twilight’s hand encroached on Sunset’s warm inner thigh. Her fingertips brushed familiar territory. She knew from seeing all of Sunset that she wasn’t shaved, but things were more or less right where she expected. The leg she was cupping gently shifted as Sunset pretended to wiggle in her seat to get more comfortable and left herself beautifully open for Twilight’s hand to continue.

Suddenly one of the doors nearby snapped open.

Sunset’s immediate reaction was to jump straight up out of her chair. Her legs hit the table, making it bang loudly. Twi let out a pained yelp as her fingers were caught between crystal and thigh and she jerked her hand back, putting all four of her digits in her mouth to ease the pain of having them abruptly smashed. Cadance and Shining turned to look sternly in the direction of the disturbance.

“Your Majesty,” the brown-coated guard said as he hurried to the table’s side.

“What is it? Speak freely,” Cadance commanded, although Shining was already getting up.

“We’ve caught one.”

An imposing silence settled over the table. Cadance looked at Shining, who nodded. “I’m coming with you,” she insisted when he turned to leave. She stood up and began to follow.

“I’m coming too!” Twilight said hurriedly, but she remembered Sunset. Turning back to her date, she looked nervous, almost afraid.

“One of them,” she repeated. “You mean it’s a-”

“A changeling, probably,” Twilight nodded.

“Twi, it could be a trick,” Sunset pleaded, grabbing at Twilight’s nearest hand to grip firmly. Her blue eyes were glistening.

“It’s okay, Sunset. I’m just going to get a look and make sure that’s what we’re dealing with.”

“I’m going to head up to your room,” Sunset said quickly as Twi turned to go. It made her stop in place and turn to regard Sunset with furrowed brows.

“Just stay here, it’ll be safer.”

Sunset’s look of partial dismay made it difficult to leave her like that, but it was important. As Twi stepped out through the side door that the guard had opened she found Cadance and Shining waiting for her. That was a surprise, since she was so used to being treated like a child, forgotten about, or told to stay behind. Her ears flattened when the realization dawned on her. She had just told Sunset the same thing. Hopefully it wouldn’t make her feel like she wasn’t important, but that’s why she’d said it - Sunset was very important to her, and dealing with these changelings was still very new, unknown, and probably very dangerous.

There was a large ring of guards standing in the main hall, more than Twilight was even aware existed inside the castle. Their halberds were all gripped firmly at the ready, lowered towards the middle of the circle between them. Cadance and Shining stepped through first, and Twilight followed in their wake.

On the floor was a creature not unlike a pony. It had vaguely equine features and shapes, but that was were the resemblance ended. Its entire body was black as pitch and covered in a slightly shiny carapace, smooth and furless. On its back were a pair of gossamer wings, buzzing and twitching angrily. Its arms - which were tied firmly behind it - were long and thin, ending in clawed hands. It had spindly legs which were roped together and tied to big stones, likely to prevent it from flying, and in place of hooves it had a weird, round, insectoid foot with three clawlike protrusions, two sticking out of the front and one behind. Its eyes were bulbous and faceted, its snarling mouth full of needlelike teeth.

This was a changeling.

Twilight inhaled sharply through her nose. Shining looked at her and she gave him a silent nod.

“This is the creature,” he said with new resolution in his voice. “Men, secure the perimeter, and make sure every single guard is accounted for. Ask for the password.”

Cadance stepped forward. Her hands were on her hips and her tail twitched in what Twilight saw as a barely-restrained sense agitation.

“I want to know what you’re doing in my kingdom,” Cadance said shortly.

The creature didn’t respond. It hissed and snapped, but the guards holding a pair of lead ropes tied firmly around its upper body kept it from going anywhere significant. Even if it lunged for Cadance it would likely be cut down before it got within an inch of her closest hoof.

“Don’t give me that. You can go, now, if you tell me what it is you want.”

“We are coming. We are hungry!” the creature buzzed out in a voice that was both chittering, phlegmatic, and multitudinous.

Cadance’s expression darkened and she turned to Shining. “Have it locked up. We’ll get what we need out of it.”

Shining nodded and began directing the guards. Twilight stepped back to let Cadance pass and she saw the princess’ face was drawn with concern. She caught up in a little jog and fell into stride nearby. Cadance offered a soft but weak smile.

“I don’t like the look of that thing,” Twilight said simply.

“Neither do I. It sounded like it might be part of a bigger collective.”

“Like some sort of colony or a hive?”

“Let’s hope not. Twilight, Shining and I will take care of this. You go take care of Sunset. Make sure she’s safe. The two of you go up to your room and stay there, okay?”

Twilight nodded and quickly stepped away from Cadance as she approached the central hall. The dining hall doors were still open, but as soon as she stepped through them Twilight stopped again. Looking one way and then the other with growing concern, she noticed that Sunset was not there.

Twilight had searched everywhere between the kitchen and the main hall before remembering what Sunset had said about going to her room. Why the girl even figured that would be a good idea with things like changelings possibly running around was beyond Twi, but she’d seemed very disturbed by the notion. It wasn’t hard to figure out why anypony would be terrified of some shapeshifting emotional vampire and no matter how laid back Sunset was, that would unsettle the best ponies.

The door opened easily and Twilight stepped inside to find Sunset pacing the floor. She turned quickly, sighed, and hugged her.

“I’m so sorry, Twi,” Sunset breathed heavily.

“No, no, it’s okay. What happened?” Twilight hugged Sunset and patted her back softly before they separated again. Their hands found each other’s but Sunset’s eyes fell to the crystalline floor.

“I was just scared, I guess,” she shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound like you at all.”

“I was already feeling nervous from the dinner and it got cut short so quickly. And these changelings? What if they’re around us already, and they’re just waiting?”

“That’s exactly what we’re working to find out, Sunset,” Twilight assured her, squeezing her hands. “Shining Armor is one of the most talented guards in all of Equestria and Cadance’s only concern is the safety of the Crystal Kingdom.”

Sunset sighed heavily and looked at Twilight, her blue eyes still uncertain. Twilight hoped that she looked as confident as she sounded, but it was starting to unnerve her a bit as well. The idea that there could be more changelings than just the one - many more, if her thoughts on it were correct - was all the more disturbing. How many more could there be, and if they could look like anypony, who could be a changeling?

“You know what, though,” Sunset said with a slowly returning grin that looked very familiar. “I’m still waiting to hear where you were going with that teaching thing.”

Twilight laughed and started towards the bed, Sunset’s fingers still latched between her own. She sat down first, bouncing slightly on the comfy mattress.

“You actually might have to teach me a thing or two first,” she said as she let her hands move away from Sunset’s and instead started to ply their fingertips through the amber-orange fur around her hips.

“It’s not that difficult,” Sunset mentioned as she cupped Twilight’s cheek softly. “Just think about what you want me to do to you when it’s my turn.”

Twilight shivered with a glorious rush of anticipation and thrill. She raked her fingers down the outside of Sunset’s flank, caressing the shapely contours of her fur, the bare pelt ruffling easily. She nuzzled her short snout into the fur on Sunset’s stomach, inhaling the light smell of chemical shampoo mixed with just the vaguest twinge of sweat. It wasn’t unpleasant but natural, the scent of a mare and a body. Her eyes closed for just a moment before she helped Sunset gyrate a step closer to her.

As Twilight opened her eyes she swore she saw something - or rather, saw something that was not there. Blinking curiously, she leaned back just a little, tilting her head to one side, and then the other.

“Sunset. Where’s your cutie mark?”

“What?” the mare asked, sounding a little baffled herself. She looked down at Twilight who looked up at her with a suddenly stony expression on her small muzzle. Her eyes shot to her own flank.

And her cutie mark wasn’t there.

A coldness plunged into Twilight’s stomach like she’d drank a pitcher full of icewater. Her hands snapped away from Sunset who had the good sense to take a step back. Her eyes darted back and forth between Twilight’s, growing more and more terrified as the purple unicorn refused to break the accusing glare.

“Sunset,” Twilight said, soft but firm, leaning back a little more onto the bed. “Sunset. Are you - are you one of them?”

Sunset’s eyes still hadn’t left Twilight’s, but now they were glossy and trembling. “Yes.”

Twilight felt as though the floor had just fallen out from under her. Her mind spun with the implications, the ideas. What was this creature here in front of her? Was it really Sunset? Was it trying to trick her? Was it spying on her? Was it going to feed off of her? Shuddering from her hooves to her ears, she tried not to let the intense nausea escape in some visceral form by taking in a deep breath through her nose.

The sound itself made Sunset grip her hands nervously in front of her.

“Twilight, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she croaked in a voice too weak to be deceptive.

“Are you really Sunset Shimmer?”

“Yes,” Sunset said more firmly. “I mean, I am me, it’s been me all along.”

“Were you spying on me?”

Sunset froze in her anxious swaying. Her face contorted like she’d just been stabbed. Her mouth hung open and her eyes fell to the floor. “Yes.”

Twilight’s eyes flinched and she curled her legs up against her chest. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she used them to rest her chin and keep it from trembling while she regarded the pony in front of her, the pony that wasn’t.

“How many of you are there?” Twilight asked to break the uncomfortable deadness that hung in the air.

“Lots. A hive,” Sunset managed to whisper out. At least that confirmed it.

“What do you want?”

Sunset faltered for just a moment. She shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. “We just want to live, Twilight. My mother is the queen of our hive. She’s the one who believes ponies are afraid of us, that they’d never accept us. She wants us to work in the shadows, to collect emotions in secret. The few that have been spotted in the kingdom are slipping. Growing desperate, almost feral.”

“And why would you tell me all this?”

Sunset’s eyes suddenly lifted from the floor and met Twilight’s. Her cheeks were stained with wet tracks and she was still silently crying. Her muzzle was wrinkled and her lip trembled. A shift forward in her posture said that she wanted nothing more than to run over to Twilight’s side, but instead she grabbed one arm with her hand and wrung it until the fur was out of line.

“Twilight, we don’t want to hurt anypony,” Sunset began through a crack or two, nearly descending into unrelenting sobs. “We just feed on - borrow - emotions, feelings. We don’t kill and we don’t hurt. But this isn’t my idea. I swear, I’m not lying.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed slightly. She didn’t make eye contact as she considered in silence. “Was there ever a real Sunset Shimmer?”

The quiet grew denser. Sunset’s gaze fell from pleading to simply staring at the floor, unmoving. Her hands dropped to her sides as though they had been tied to weights, and nothing about her moved. “Yes.”

“What happened to her?” Twilight’s tone wasn’t accusing or harsh, but it was still even and lacking in the sweet compassion she’d always shown before.

“There was an accident,” Sunset said after a long, unsuccessful attempt at steadying her voice. “A cave-in, in the crystal mines where the changelings - where we live. It was before we came to the Crystal Kingdom. She didn’t - she was--”

Twilight could see that just trying to recount the story was making Sunset shudder involuntarily. Her heart briefly skipped in her chest, a tiny ray that dared to hope amidst the still-spiraling feeling of the world falling apart. It clearly upset Sunset and that meant that on some level, she was not heartless or cruel. Maybe that meant some tiny possibility of her actually caring about Twi was there.

“If you really don’t want to hurt anypony,” Twilight said, mostly into her own legs, “why haven’t you just talked to Cadance?”

“After what Celestia did to our kind? We were banished from Equestria and hunted down. Hives were destroyed without question. We were treated like monsters! My mother would never accept that any pony would ever welcome us.”

“And why should I believe you?” Twilight’s eyes snapped back into line with Sunset’s, and she started visibly. A loud sniffle nearly made Twilight’s own watering eyes begin to run, but she remained steadfast and focused on the one thing she needed right now: the facts.

“Because you made me realize,” Sunset halted, having to struggle through an attempt at speaking, “that maybe, ponies can accept us. You accepted me, and all I had to do was be honest. And Cadance and Shining were so nice to me. I didn’t know how to tell you and I was so afraid that you’d hate me. Do you?”

Twilight lowered her head into the darkness of her knees for a moment, wrapping her arms around her face to be alone. Did she? That was a question she couldn’t truly answer herself at the moment.

“Show me,” she said finally, after what felt like minutes of deliberation. Sunset was already choking back sobs, and when Twilight said that, she actually let one go.

Fire started at her hooves. Green fire, eerie and flickering, ran up Sunset’s amber fur across her long, attractive legs. Every inch that it passed by was replaced with strange, black carapace, slightly shiny in the light from the crystal lamp in the room. Her limbs were gangly and twisted, and as the flames licked up her torso it revealed an orange ribbing along her abdomen and ribcage. Her figure was still much the same, but she was somehow even thinner, like a shadow that was too difficult to look at directly and see clearly. When the fires reached her back and shoulders two pairs of long, gossamer wings fluttered out behind her, a notable difference between her form and the one Twilight had seen writhing on the floor not minutes ago. They recalled a dragonfly more than some baser bug, but still, they were not pony in shape or function.

The last vestiges of Sunset vanished as the flames licked up her muzzle and face. She still had a short, slender, feminine snout, but her eyes were green with slitted pupils. A pair of fangs were visible peeking over the edges of her lip, and the horn atop her head was gnarled and curved like a wicked sword. Instead of the two-tone contrast of her pony mane, she instead had a length of odd, gossamer substance that resembled hair, but was not, spilling down her back in brilliant orange.

Maybe it was Twilight’s imagination, but the smooth carapace of her cheeks looked even more drenched now in wetness than her fur had.

Seeing this creature for the first time made Twilight’s stomach do a somersault. She recalled her face being pressed against that stomach, her lips on that inky black mouth, her tongue - oh, Celestia above, the tongue had been between her teeth. For just a moment she felt like screaming and letting everything out, but there was another thought that held it back. The singular, inspiring notion that maybe, just maybe, Sunset was still standing right here in front of her. She looked away from it once she’d had her fill and rested her cheek on her arm to keep herself from crying, too.

“Twilight,” the creature said into the horrible silence. Its voice was soft and buzzed in the back of its throat unnaturally, but it was still superficially Sunset’s.

“What’s your name?” Twilight posed directly.

“Nymphaedra,” the changeling responded.

“Can you talk to your mother? Arrange a meeting?”

Nymphaedra’s eyes went wide. It was difficult to tell on such alien features if it was shock or horror or utter elation. “Yes! I can, I can go speak with her.”

“If,” Twilight said meaningfully, “if I can arrange a meeting between your hive and Princess Cadance, and if, a very big if, Cadance can help your kind, would your mother do that?”

“She would!” Nymphaedra practically gushed.

“Then I’ll make sure Cadance listens.”

The changeling’s wings flickered, their translucent sheen reflecting a rainbow of color. It was beautiful, in a way, but it made the sound of crinkling paper, of an insect buzzing in the hot summer air, dry and rubbing against things unpleasantly.

“Twilight, I’m sorry,” Nymphaedra repeated. Twilight turned her head back to the creature.

“I’ll give you a day. Tomorrow afternoon. If you’re not back I’ll consider you gone.”

Nymphaedra hesitated, her clawed fingers curling against one another in front of her bizarrely see-through orange stomach. It was as if she didn’t know whether to go through the door or melt into the floor, or perhaps just curl up and die where she stood. Finally she closed her eyes and the green fire returned to swath her form. When it cleared, Sunset was standing in front of her once again, her blue eyes shimmering.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Twilight didn’t lift her gaze to see her leave.

Once the door had clicked shut behind the unicorn Twilight buried her face against her legs. Her body shook as she let the dam break. Tears stained her face and her arms and her knees, but she couldn’t help it. Of all the places, of all the ponies, and of all the times, now, here, and her. Her breath came in wracking sobs and it was all she could do to keep the muffled wailing quiet enough that they wouldn’t be able to hear her downstairs.