The Changeling of Illusions

Canterlot: 9:30 PM
End of Discord's Defeat Ceremony Afterparty

Aurelic is currently in his hiding spot, the large crowd that swarmed the group once the main ceremony was over having overwhelmed him. The hiding spot itself being the ceiling, as he stands upside-down, invisible, and head turned "upright". No need to mute himself, the noise of the crowd having served him well in that regard. Thankfully, ponies were filing out of the main palace hall now. After a bit of waiting, only Celestia and the mane six remain. Cue his teleport from the ceiling to the floor and subsequent re-disguising.

"I'm all for celebrations, but I am NOT good with large crowds like that." Forge says in exasperation.

"Gee, I hadn't noticed." Rainbow comments.

Celestia simply nods. "Not everypony is cut out for larger gatherings."

Pinkie seems to pop in from above, the rest of her body's placement ambiguous when unobserved. "But that's the best part! You get to meet so many new friends, talk to them about everything like what you had for breakfast the morning Discord broke free, I had some leftover cake from Gummy's Took-a-bath-only-biting-me-forty-five-times-instead-of-forty-six-times-party."

"That might work for you, Pinkie. But in case ya hadn't noticed, Forge's a bit of a..." Applejack trails off.

"Shut-in, egghead, scaredy cat." Rainbow remarks, giving Applejack a smirk so she knows she's just playing around.

"Introvert, like how I used to be before meeting all of you. And how Fluttershy is now." Twilight corrects, that bit of humor sailing right over her head.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, has only just come out from her own hiding place underneath one of the tables in the room.

"... Uh, yeah... Anyway, what should we do now? Discord's stoned again, but he's already broken out of it once. If I recall, there was a field trip to the trophy garden." Forge starts to say.

"Now that you mention it, Cheerilee did say somethin' about that when Apple Bloom was sent home early today..." Applejack adds.

"The same happened with Sweetie Belle, you don't think-" Rarity stops before finishing her sentence, gasping dramatically.

Forge holds up a hoof. "Regardless of who was involved, one thing is clear. Nobody should be touring the trophy garden anymore, that should keep anything from letting Discord get free again." He finishes.

"Agreed, if something as simple as a fight between schoolfoals is enough to release Discord from his stone prison, we can't just leave him in a trophy garden for anypony to get near. I propose that Discord's statue should be locked away in a secure containment cell in the castle." Twilight states.

Celestia looks at the ground in thought for a moment. "Very well, I shall have him moved within the hour." She looks at the group, smiling. "I'm glad Equestria has such dependable heroes protecting it, element or not. All of you have proven yourselves once again. For that, I thank you." She nods.

Once the collective aneurysm the mane six share is over, Twilight focuses her attention back to Forge. "We still have one last thing to discuss here. Something Discord mentioned when Forge was distracting him."

Forge's ears splay back involuntarily. "Already, huh? Well, we'd better get some privacy, then." He looks to Celestia.

Celestia promptly dismisses her guards for the time being, then casts the privacy barrier spells. "Go ahead."

With that, Forge reverts back into Aurelic, who plops his ass down on the ground with a thud.

"What exactly did Discord mean when he said you helped him?" Twilight asked.

Aurelic sighs. "To be honest, I didn't know what he was talking about at first either. Now though, you all deserve to know the truth." Aurelic says, standing back up, before balancing himself on his hind legs. Suddenly, he changes his form, back to what he looked like before. As a human. Thankfully, clothed.

While the others' mouths were agape in mostly surprise and confusion at what they were seeing, Celestia immediately recognizes the form, something she'd encountered a long, long time ago. Only, there were some noticeable differences from what she'd recalled.

"I wasn't always a changeling. I used to have this form, one of a human." Aurelic states. "I'd lived on a world similar to this one, except humans like myself are the only sentient beings there. My life had been pretty uneventful, until I was suddenly thrust into this world in the form of a changeling. That's the real reason I have no hive, nor have I ever. Knowing what I do now, Discord was likely the culprit behind my coming here. If I hadn't had those visions, and been sent here to see them through, Nightmare Moon would have won, and Discord would have remained imprisoned. Somehow, he managed to have a Discord from a parallel world rip me from mine, and sent me here to ensure those events leading up to his escape would occur. Luckily for us, he hadn't planned out anything after that, not thinking we'd ever have a chance against him. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had to create a new identity for myself. After all, what do you think would have happened if I'd told everyone I was an alien turned changeling immediately? Anyone within their right mind would think I was insane. I had to bide my time, and slowly reveal myself. Now, though, that's everything. All of my biggest secrets, and now you know the truth."

The ponies present have to take their time to process what just happened.

"Wait, you're an alien!?" Rainbow shouts in disbelief.

Fluttershy yelps, immediately bolting underneath a table again, her rear end still sticking out and quivering in fear.

Aurelic reverts. "Was, as in not anymore. Biologically, anyway."

Twilight, meanwhile, is entering a state of thinking and planning. It won't be long before she begins to go into her manic science mode.

"So, you used to wear clothes, or was that part of your body?" Rarity asks.

"Clothes are pretty much a standard in human society, since we're mostly hairless, and our privates would be exposed otherwise. It's actually considered public indecency to not wear clothing outside of your home, and you could actually be arrested for it." Aurelic clarifies.

Rarity ponders this for a moment. "Mandatory clothes laws, how peculiar..."

Twilight has entered the zone, disregarding Aurelic's personal space now as she tries to inspect him. He teleports a few meters away, and she immediately follows suit.

"Hold still, I need to see whether or not you have any residual human biology." Twilight says, a hint of frustration in her tone.

Meanwhile, a very flustered Aurelic is attempting to hide how her touching and prodding of him is making him feel. "Ever heard of personal space!?"

Twilight ignores his disdain, as they continue a game of teleport cat-and-mouse, much to the amusement of the others. Celestia steps in, prying Twilight off of Aurelic.

"That's enough, Twilight. You're making him uncomfortable." Celestia says firmly.

"But- But, I could learn so much more from him!" Twilight says in a surprisingly childish manner.

"No, we don't force ourselves on our friends." Celestia warns.

Meanwhile, Rainbow is snickering. "Oh, I don't think he minds."

At this, Aurelic covers his genitals, blushing profusely and looking away. That's when it clicks for Twilight, an equal sense of embarrassment overtaking her.

Applejack clears her throat, glaring Rainbow's way.

Rainbow stops laughing. "What? It was funny!"

"I think we're done here. Aurelic, you may go back to your quarters. Everypony else, you should go home. After what happened today, you all need the rest." Celestia says, diffusing the situation.

Wordlessly and without protest, Aurelic teleports back to his room, slumping onto his bed. Now with a half-chub to take care of too.

"Just my fucking luck, stupid sexy Twilight."