Re-Enlistment

Why does anypony -ever- get out of bed in the first place? I mean, sure, you’d have to use the restroom and eat at some point, but not if you have ponies to help you with all of that so you don't have to move.

"Do you know what's wrong with him? Can we fix it?" Night Breeze asked, joined by Moon Sight, Lantern Light, The Changeling I'll get to name at some point, and Captain Shining Armor.

"So far, from what this stallion that won't tell us his name has stated, saw Novel Thought on the ground outside of his home. He was present in Canterlot during the changeling attack, and 'saw the signs of a pony becoming a husk', and brought Novel to the hospital." A unicorn mare reported.

"Becoming a husk? What does that mean?" Lantern Light asked.

"It happens when a changeling drains too much emotion from a host, disrupting the host's ability to generate more. Effectively, it stops the host from caring about anything. If we hadn't given Novel a nutrient drip and dealt with his body's waste, he would be laying somewhere doing nothing but breathing."

"So... we can fix it, right?" Moon Sight worried.

"So far, we have no known way of actually curing a pony becoming a Husk. However, this is usually because the emotions that were drained by the changeling were long since removed. So far, Novel seems to be holding onto enough to not become a vegetable."

Wouldn't that mean that I could be eaten? Being a vegetable wouldn't be that bad. I'd want to be a carrot. Those are really nice.

"He really looks out of it." Lantern noted, poking me with a hoof before it was swatted away by Night Breeze.

I grumbled a bit at the poke, but decided against rolling away from him, as that would take far too much effort.

"Ponies deteriorate rapidly without emotions. We've lived with them all of our lives, so when they're taken away, we have no idea how to function. We have our thoughts, but those are influenced by emotion. The only beings that would know how to deal with not having emotions would be the Changelings. Given the current situation with them, I doubt they would be willing to send a specialist our way. That is, if they even -have- a specialist for Husks."

"Isn't there anything you could try?" The changeling disguised as a pegasus asked.

"Unless we can find the changeling that did this to him, not for certain. We could attempt some experimental procedures but there is no guarantee of success. The only way we've thought of that would give Novel back his emotions, is if the changeling returned them. Given that it has escaped by now, it doesn't leave many options." The mare said.

"We will continue to monitor Novel, and if there is any change in his status we will notify all of you." She opened the door to my room and motioned for the gathered ponies to leave.

I wonder if I got flowers. They usually leave flowers or something in the stories whenever a pony visits another pony in the hospital. I slowly moved my head to look around, and noticed that there wasn't even a vase.

Aw. Well that’s disappointing. Now I have to bring my head back to where it was.

Nah, that takes way too much effort. I'll just get used to where it is now.

***

The unicorn mare doctor and another mare that I remember from somewhere walked into my room and quietly closed the door.

"Yikes, he looks pretty bad." The unicorn said suddenly. I’m pretty sure her name started with a see?

"It's been a while, and still no sign of the changeling that did this to him. We've tried a few procedures and experimental spells, but nothing has taken hold. We're just thankful that he still retained a mild curiosity. Otherwise it would be a complete lost cause." the Doctor mare said.

"You sure it’s good to be talking like that in front of him?" The Unicorn mare with a C for a name...nope, still can't remember.

"He's mostly catatonic. He can hear us speaking, but he shows no signs of response other than his ears moving."

"I think I remember something about him not liking my cheerfulness... Mind if I try something?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

Ugh. Why does that smirk make me want to go through the effort of looking away? That takes SO much energy to do. It’s pointless anyway.

"Please don't antagonize the patient. We're not even certain if he can feel antagonized, but I don’t want to get a malpractice suit because you were having a theory." the doctor grumbled.

"Well that’s easy, just take a nap!" the other unicorn chirped, and her horn flashed a bright green before the doctor fell over, asleep.

"That was way easier than I expected." She said, her tone changing to be more even one.

"Novel, are you there?" She waved a hoof in front of my face, but I just closed my eyes so I didn't have to deal with the invasion of personal space.

"Okay, wonderful. I have an idea of how to fix you, but it's going to force me to revert my form back into my usual Changeling self." She was rocking me a little, trying to get her words across.

"I'm going to need your help, because as soon as I do this, there’s going to be a massive flash of pink light coming from the room, and guards are going to rush in. You -have- to vouch for me, or they'll imprison me on the spot, or worse!" she pleaded, turning my head to look at her.

"I trust you, because you're the only pony that's given me a chance. You showed me what love felt like, but I got greedy and took -all- of it from you. I turned you into a husk because I was reckless. It has been weeks and you haven't been improving at all, you've just been staying the same all this time. I can't sit back and just watch you waste away anymore, even if this gets me killed." she was tearing up, and set herself down beside me on the bed.

"I just hope you can still hear me, because this is going to take everything out of me. I'll be unconscious as soon as I complete the spell. So -please- be ready when it finishes." Her horn began to glow a fiery green, as she looked at me.

"You still have to give me a name, and I want to hear what it is..." She closed her eyes, and her horn lit up into a massive plume of bright pink. It bathed the entire room in magic, and she pointed her horn at me before a loud boom rattled the room and sent objects clattering to the floor. I heard banging on the door as the spell faded.

"Open up!" I heard a voice shout.

Oh no! The changeling is going to get caught!

I was about to leap out of bed, before remembering all the needles that were stuck into me. I didn't really know how to remove them safely, so I decided to just tear them out. It made me squeak in pain as I’m certain I didn’t do it right, but I had to tell the Royals outside that I was fine.

"Everything’s alright! Nothing bad going on! Everything is normal!" I called to the other side of the door, before the banging started knocking the hinges loose from the doorframe.

I looked around and saw the doctor mare from before was passed out on the floor, with the changeling also unconscious on my bed.

Well, here goes nothing.

I opened the door, and was immediately tackled to the ground by two Royal Guard Pegasai.

After a moment's struggle, they looked at who they tackled to the ground.

"Novel Thought? You were a vegetable! What happened?" One asked in surprise. They lifted me to my hooves after climbing off.

"The changeling came back, and gave me my emotions. No wait, don't hurt it!" I cried, as they looked like they were getting ready to pummel it to death.

"Why shouldn't we? It could've killed you!" One growled, moving towards the changeling.

"It killed the doctor!" The other shouted.

"She's just sleeping! It didn't hurt anypony, I'm fine! Stop this!" I pleaded, trying to pull them away from the changeling to no success, as my body had withered away while I was inactive on the bed.

"We're at least going to take the changeling in for questioning. It's our duty." A royal said, knocking me off of him.

"Then you're taking me with you! I'm not going to let you harm it!" I protested from the ground, trying to get up but too weak to do so on my own.

They both looked at each other for a moment, before one of them asked the other,

"Do you think that Changelings can possess ponies to care about them?"

Their ears folded back, and looked between the changeling and myself.

"Alright, you're getting your wish. You and the Changeling are coming with us until we get this mess sorted out." One grumbled, lifting me off of the ground and setting me on the back of the other guard.

"Wow, you're lighter than I thought." The one I was resting on commented.

"Enough, let’s just sign these two into holding and be done with this assignment." The second one grumbled.

I hope I did the right thing...

***

I was practically emaciated. Sure, my body had been given enough nutrients to not die, but in my state of absolutely not caring, all of my muscle mass and body fat had been eaten away. I looked like I belonged in a dungeon.

The changeling had woken up, and was dismayed to find itself in a cell before I called out to it. It seemed happy for a moment, but I wasn't sure if that was genuine happiness or just an act.

"I thought that you had turned me in, for a moment there. I was worried!" It said, pulling me off of the floor and setting me on a bench.

"Really? Because from what I remember, you didn't seem too concerned with how long I was wasting away on a bed in the hospital." I growled, making the changeling frown.

"Hey, I know what I did wasn't right from your point of view, but... Alright fine. It was completely horrible of me, but I was enjoying having the ability to feel emotions of my -own- for once. When I felt that tiny bit of love, it overwhelmed me. I -had- to have it, and I took almost everything from you." It seemed regretful, but then again, it was a changeling.

"Right. I'm sure you enjoyed yourself immensely." I deadpanned, slouching over and falling sideways onto the bench.

"Don't be like that, I -did- come back to save you." it pointed out.

"Only to save your own carapace. You don't give a lick about me." I pouted.

"If I didn't care about you, I would've found some other pony to feed off of. Don't be an idiot." it shoved my chest playfully, but I was weak enough that it hurt.

"Ooww." I complained, holding a hoof to my chest.

"Quiet down in there!" A guard called out.

Fine. I can stay quiet. I'll just sit in here with the changeling that sapped me of my will to live and left me for weeks on end to be poked, prodded and experimented on in the name of study in a hospital.

"Hey, please don't be mad at me. I didn't have a choice but to leave." It whispered in my ear.

"Oh sure! You were a victim! It wasn't -me- who was sapped entirely of what made them who they were, it was -you- and your poor changeling physiology that needs to make other ponies' lives miserable in order for you to live!" I hissed, turning away from the changeling and facing the wall.

The changeling sighed heavily, before moving away from me to sit on a bench opposite. It buzzed a few times in what I imagine was its thoughts, but I was half expecting it to just eat me for the fun of it.

I didn't speak to it after that, even though it tried a few times to placate me. I wasn't having any of it.

***

"Guards, open the cell please." A familiar voice said, and I looked up from my bench to see Princess Luna walking through the door.

"Oh please, tell me you're not here to poke fun at me again about what happened that one morning." I groaned, turning my head away to look at a mossy spot of dungeon wall.

"What do you mean, Novel Thought? We had come down into this dungeon to question the Changeling. We did not arrive to simply spite you." she answered, slightly hurt.

"He's been like this for hours now. I think that all of his emotions are catching up with the weeks they've been away, and he is -very- upset." the changeling explained, buzzing off of the bench to stand near the Princess of the Night.

"Ah, and you would be the Changeling I’ve come to see." Luna stated in an official tone.

"I've tried to bring him out of it, but he doesn't trust me anymore. His emotions have been very unstable since the hospital. He's gone from being cheerful, to desperately needy, to crying and then laughing again like everything was fine. He's a total wreck." It said with worry. Or with however much a -changeling- can worry.

I curled up and tried to make myself disappear from their looks of pity, but I was lifted from the safety of my mossy wall and dungeon bench to rest on the back of Luna. I stubbornly refused to unfurl myself, and felt contented to remain in my ball and hug myself.

"We will give Novel a guest room so that he may rest. We would offer to send him home, but there would be nopony there to ensure his recovery." Luna said.

"That just leaves me." The changeling sighed.

"Yes. Just you." Luna's tone was stern, but not angry. "You will follow us to an audience with Princesses Celestia and Cadence, and the guard captain Shining Armor. We wish to hear your side of the story before anything is decided. We may have just been attacked by your queen, but it would be unjust to accuse all of your species of crimes against Equestria." She said with finality.

"Very well, your highness. Lead on." The changeling moped. It sounded like it was going to be walking to its own execution.

I didn't really care either way. I just wanted to eat and sleep. Everything else could come later.