The Lost Changeling: Taken it Back

As the train arrives upon dusk, several ponies, as well as Spike, Carina and Aita, spill onto the platform of the station, all of which I know about, one of them being a filly. Then, by the time the train leaves, my other top drones arrive, alongside me, Shining Armor and Carve. Well, I waited by the floating heart for the two, who had said that Twilight was going to catch up.

“Is everypony here?” Cadence asks, prompting me to nod.

“It looks like it. Let me go see if Twilight’s coming at the moment.”

“Finally!!! We’ve been looking forever! Now, it’s just a matter of if she’s coming!”

“Rainbow Dash... she will be here. Trust me.”

I proceed to walk back to the palace, awaiting Twilight’s arrival. What has me more determined now is that I have the chance the show my intentions rather than simply spilling the honest truth. I guess my day is looking look quite a bit more promising than initially. But even if my stand-in found Twilight, the fact that Twilight’s friends still-

I thought so!

That’s her! And she’s coming toward me.

“Twilight Sparkle!”

“What are you and your changelings doing here in the Crystal Empire?!?”

“I could ask the same thing to you! Your friends have been looking for you for the entire day now! They went to my hive to ask for my help!”

Twilight scoffs.

“Yeah, like the friends I met in Ponyville would ever go to you for help! There are plenty of other kingdoms they could’ve gone to! Hell, they could’ve even gone to Celestia!”

“Yes. That may be true... but I want to show you something at the train station. You may recognize... a few of the ponies present.”

“And WHAT would that BE?!?”

“I said show. Now please, come with me.”

As I turn around, I hear Twilight groan.

“Fine... what do you need to show me?”

The two of us walk away from the palace, in the direction I came from.

“Twilight... do you remember first meeting Carve?”

“Um... yes?”

“Then I assume she told you about how she was in Rolling Acres... did she?”

“Well, yeah... yeah, she did!”

“Now, tell me about the last time you met her.”

“A-are you sure about this?”

I nod.

“Okay. Well, I ran into her, to my unpleasant surprise, and she told me I haven’t always taken precaution against changelings when I-”

“Twilight... I’m going to stop you right there. Were those Carve’s exact words?”

“Um, not really?”

“Then, what did she say?”

“That... that I didn’t use to act the way I do now.”

“Well? Did you ever run away from your friends? Because that’s how I’d interpret those words.”

“...Now that you mention it, no. I never have deliberately done this before.”

“Okay then.”

;=;

As Twilight and I arrive at the train station, Twilight discovers who exactly is standing on the platform, prompting her to gasp.

“My friends!”

Fluttershy gallops off the platform, up to Twilight.

“Oh Twilight! We were so WORRIED about you!”

“PLEASE don’t do that again, Twilight! We’re not two hundred yet!”

With Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy now in front of her, Twilight steps back.

“Well, o-okay, I will stay with you all.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?”

“And Trixie Promise?” Trixie adds for Pinkie Pie as the worried two also approach Twilight, who nods.

“Yes. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. When I have no choice, I’ll just mute my voice.”

“Yes, while we took care of the runaway portion of it, I want you, Twilight, to know that you still don’t have to trust me. It’s entirely up to you whether or not you do. But just because you don’t trust me doesn’t mean you have to run away from your friends.”

Trixie, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash make way for the approaching Pane Fall, Rusty Flashlight, Carve, and Carina.

“Exactly what Chrysalis said. Rusty basically told me the same thing the day after Nightmare Night. I bailed on him when helping the trick-or-treaters, because Chrysalis was resting in the storage barn, but she didn’t get into Rusty’s house until the next morning, for him to watch over Aita.”

“Twilight, when did you first meet me and Carina?” Carve asks.

“You, Carve? Um, a couple of months after the Canterlot Wedding. Carina? A little over a year.”

“When Aita flew away from home when he was first told he was a changeling, I went to Equestria to search for him.”

“Yes, and I let him stay at my library, because he was defenseless and young.”

“Exactly. I found him at the Golden Oak Library, and he wasn’t even the first changeling you were comfortable around. Carve?”

“I believe that first changeling you became comfortable with was me.”

“Well, you went to live under the care of two ponies that gave you the help you needed when you were trapped in Rolling Acres.”

“Those two cases proved that it’s possible for you to trust changelings, Twilight. In the future, at the very least, please don’t give your friends heart attacks anymore. It would leave me in great grief to see them worry like that about you again.”

Twilight takes a moment to pause. I can tell that she feels like she’s being forced into trusting me. Seriously though, that is not the case.

“...If I trust you, Chrysalis, what’ll change? What’ll happen to everypony around me? Will it affect my power?”

As Twilight’s questions enter my mind, the thoughts begin working. This is not nearly the same as the sonic rainboom from when I was Queen Areola’s student. A powerful event like that is no common feat for a pegasus like Rainbow Dash. One decision would rarely grant such a cascade of results as that near twenty year old sonic rainboom. This would likely have shorter effects than most others, like One Thirteen, or Eleven One.

“Those changes would only happen if you enacted them. Your power won’t make any difference, whether or not you trust me. The only thing it would mean is that you’ve let go of the ways I have now abandoned, something that’s entirely up to you to do.”

“...Where’s Starlight?”

“She’s watching over the changelings at the hive, as a result of your friends coming to me for help.”

“...Okay... I think we can reach an agreement. If Starlight can come back to Ponyville... could I permanently trust the changeling kingdom? For the next two centuries I may have?”

“The permanence is your choice. There should be no force in your decisions. Starlight and I learned that the hard way. A real leader doesn’t force her subjects to deny who they are. She celebrates what makes them unique, and listens when one of them finds a better way.”

“Wow... I’ve lived with my friends for over seven years, believing that I had a destiny, to save Equestria... I was so focused on that, that I never realized that it was to simply make Equestria a better place. I’ve trusted changelings before, though only ones who have independent lifestyles. But now, I can see it... you care about my friends, just as much as I do. You’ve taken influence from my student very well from what I can see. Now that I think about it... I can trust you. Thank you, Chrysalis, for showing me your remarkable change...”

Suddenly, as Twilight hugs me, the two of us black out from a sudden flow of energy within out chests.