"I don't know what you mean Fluttershy," Twilight Sparkle said, staring at her friend. Everypony had just returned from Shining Armor and Cadence's wedding. Twilight had been in the library relaxing with a good book, trying to forget all the crazy stuff that had happened back in Canterlot when Fluttershy had burst into the room demanding the answer to a very puzzling question.
Fluttershy sighed and repeated the question. "Would it matter if I was?"
This didn't help at all. It only made things worse. Frustrated, Twilight carefully put a bookmark in her book and stood up, glaring at Fluttershy.
"I don't get it!" she almost shouted. "Would it matter if you were what? Just stop being so cryptic and tell me already!"
Fluttershy jumped and immediately started backing away from her. Twilight felt bad about making her shy friend so scared, so she decided to try and calm down. "Sorry Fluttershy, I'm just...confused. What do you mean by "would it matter if I was?"
Fluttershy looked as if she had been dreading the moment she would have to explain this. After spending a few seconds pretending like she hadn't heard Twilight, she answered. "Twilight, I meant, would it matter, if I was...um...a changling." She said this very softly and slowly, carefully watching her unicorn friend to see what her reaction might be.
Twilight didn't know how to react to this. She seriously felt like she had heard that question before, somewhere, somehow, but she couldn't guess where. The scientist in her was jumping around happily shouting "yes yes yes YES!" at the possibility of a strange question that needed answering. Something else inside her was telling her to scream and run away. All this at the same time.
Shocked and confused, Twilight told Fluttershy, "I...I...don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" her pegasus friend said quietly.
"I mean I'm confused! Are you a changling Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy shrugged. "Maybe."
"YOU AREN'T HELPING!" Twilight actually yelled this time. "There are so many things you have to think about when answering a question like this! If you were a changling, I would have to report you to Princess Celestia. Then we would have to tell the others, and they wouldn't trust you anymore. That would mean the Elements wouldn't work anymore because we wouldn't be friends anymore, and Equestria could be in danger again and nopony would be there to stop it, ALL BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU DID! YOU BEING A CHANGLING COULD DESTROY THE WORLD-"
"Twilight, STOP!" Fluttershy was yelling now, something that rarily happened. Twilight, stunned that her shy friend had spoken louder than her usual whisper, stopped shouting. "Twilight, it wouldn't matter if you were, so why would it matter if I was?"
"Well, Fluttershy, it would matter because we wouldn't be able to trust you anymore, and that means we wouldn't be friends anymore, which means the Elements wouldn't-" Fluttershy cut her off.
"Then you aren't my...real...friend, I guess. If you were a changling, it wouldn't matter. You would still be the same Twilight me, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie have known for a long time now. You would still be our friend. We would still be able to trust you and use the Elements of Harmony. Nothing would change, except it would make our friendship stronger, if anything. The fact that you trusted us enough to tell us that you were a changling, if you were, would make us more confident to share our secrets with you!"
Twilight stood there, staring. "But how does that even..."
"From what you've told me so far, you care about Equestria. A lot. But, would you really stop being friends with somepony just to save Equestria from an extremely unlikely probably-never-going-to-happen changling attack?"
