Saphirus, we need to talk
I pace around my living room. News about the Changeling invasion of Canterlot has been spreading and I’ve since barricaded myself in my home. Not out of fear of a ‘witch hunt’ but more for time to think. I didn’t imagine that the Changelings would be so bold to make such a move, but then again Queen Chrysalis is one step away from a megalomaniac for power. How could I put it past her?
I used to be part of her hive before I decided to venture off on my own. Many events occurred which soon led me to live here on Ponyville. And it is here I met Saphirus. He was a traveling writer stopping on Ponyville for inspiration on his next story. He didn’t plan to stay until meeting me. After a few dates we decided to make ourselves official and he moved in with me. I had never had issues hiding my true self from him and had even thought to tell him before. But I never did out of fear he’d be repulsed by me. But now...I need to tell him. And just hope he will stay.
I walk to my kitchen and prepare a snack. What better way to break the ice for some shocking news than with his favorite snack? I make my preparations, set the table...and wait. Saphirus now works part-time at the library, most days regaling the children with his fantastical tales from his crazy imagination. I begin to pace again while I wait. It won't be long till he's home. And I need to gather as much courage as I can to drown the ball of nerves in my stomach. I try to not think of the worst-case scenario but it is getting hard to not go that route. Saphirus is a sweet guy and the best thing to ever happen to me. I don't know what I'd ever do if he didn't accept me. I was on my 20th pacing lap when my ears flicked at the sound of the door opening.
"Lotus, I'm home." I heard him lightly kick the door close behind him.
"Saphirus is home. It's now or never." I thought and peeked out of the kitchen. "Welcome back. I have a snack waiting for you. Thought you could use one after work."
"Sounds great." That knee-weakening smile beamed on his face. It almost made me want to back out of my plan. But I had to stay strong. He trots past me, giving me a loving peck on the cheek as he went. "You made your homemade iced tea and a whole strawberry and custard swiss roll cake? Now you're really spoiling me."
"Well, I just wanted to do something nice for the stallion I love." I lightly kicked my hoof. "S-Sit down and have a slice."
I use my magic and start to slice. On the outside, I look calm. But inside, my heart is racing like I just finished the running of the leaves! "Ok, he's not tired or in a bad mood from work. This may go easier than I thought. But what if it doesn't? What if he really doesn't accept me once I tell him the truth? What if he reports me to someone and I'm taken away?! I mean the Canterlot Wedding fiasco was literally just a few days ago...what if he thinks I was apart of it?! What if-" My thoughts were interrupted when Saphy lightly flicked my horn, something he knew made me a little uncomfortable. "What gives?"
"I can ask you the same thing. You're overflowing my glass." He pointed out. I looked and let out a high squeak before quickly cleaning up. "Lotus is something wrong? You seem a little distracted."
"I...n-nothing is wrong." I lie...lie upon lie and I know I shouldn't.
"You're looking away, your ear is flicking, you're stuttering, and you're drifting off. Signs I've come to associate with something being wrong." He takes my hoof. "We've been dating for a few years now and you know you can depend on me. If anything is bothering you, I'm here to listen."
The look in his dark coral eyes was deep and soothing. There was no way I could get through "stalling" much longer. Time to come out and say it. I take a few steps back and sigh heavily. "Saphirus...we need to talk."
The only thing I hear is the ticking clock and the fork against the plate. I insisted Saphy at least have one slice of the swiss roll cake before I say anything. Other than that, we sat in relative silence. He did try to break the silence, but I'd always raise my hoof as a way to say "After you finish the slice" and nothing more would be said. My ear twitched a bit when, after another few minutes, I heard the fork rest on the plate and Saphirus take a few sips of his tea. Once his glass was back on the table, he looked at me with a serious face. It was time.
"Saphirus...you know I love you. And I'd never hurt you. I'd go to the deepest circles of Tartarus rather than ever hurt you. But I have to admit...I've been lying to you." My voice squeaked at the last part. I know he heard it.
"Lotus. Whatever it is, I can take it. I'm sure it can't be too bad." He shrugged a bit. "I love you no matter what."
I take a deep breath and look up at him. "Saphirus...I...I'm a Changeling."
The silence was so deafening, I could swear I heard a pin drop somewhere. Saphirus and I stare at each other, him in quiet confusion and me in full seriousness. It wasn't the look on his face that started to build up my nerves again. It was all of the silence. I was getting a little scared he had stopped breathing for a moment. Before I said anything again, he spoke up.
"Dear, that's a joke right? You can't be a Changeling. They just recently went on an invasion of Canterlot. You've been here the whole time. Besides, no pony knew about them until recently...well maybe no pony other than Princess Celestia." He rolled his eyes a bit. "Are you saying this because you're scared?"
"No, I'm not scared. I could care less about the hive or that maniac, Queen Crysalis. It's just...with the recent invasion, every pony is kinda on alert, even though there's no real threat of them coming here. And...if it comes down to it...I'd rather you hear it from me than be outed by her or any pony else." I get up and start to pace again. "I mean...of course no pony knew about them. The psycho Queen has always been waiting for the perfect time to strike Equestria. I don't know how she found out about Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's...well now Prince Shining Armor's wedding or how she even took Princess Cadence's place so easily. I left the hive years ago and never looked back."
Saphirus slid out of his seat and took my hoof again to stop my pacing. "Lotus, you're not making sense. Let's go sit by the fireplace and just relax. Then we'll make dinner together and get a good night's rest."
"No. I'm making all kinds of sense. But...I guess you won't believe me...until you see." I sigh and back away from him again. My horn flares to life and I'm encircled by lavender flames. I did hear Saphirus panic a bit, but he fell silent because as the flames climbed, my appearance changed. My azure blue coat became a hard carapis with a lavendar shell on my back under my matching transparent insect wings. My red and black mane and tail were the same style but just with some holes dotted in. My lavender eyes became wide bug eyes. My horn remained short but with jagged edges and holes adorned my legs. "This is...the real me..."
I stare at Saphirus as he stares back at me with his mouth wide open. His pupils had shrunken a bit and this time he did look like he possibly had stopped breathing. I waited a few moments before starting to say "Um...Darling...are you-" before I was cut off by his sudden screaming. Saphirus screamed and ran about the living room spouting incoherent nonsense to the point I was convinced he was close to having a stroke. I sit on the floor and sigh before calling for him.
"Saphy...Saphy...Saphy...Saaaaaaaaphy...Saphirus...SAPHIRUS SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME ALREADY!!!" I levitate a pillow and hurled it at him, causing him to face plant into the floor and lose consciousness. "Oops..."
Around sunset, Saphirus started to wake up. I had moved him to the sofa to make him more comfortable. I made sure to stay out of his line of sight for the moment, but also hope he didn't freak out again upon seeing me.
"Saphirus? Are you ok?"
He sits up and rubs his head. "Lotus? I had the weirdest dream...I dreamt you told me you were a Changeling and then turned into one. Then I suddenly met the floor and passed out."
"That...actually wasn't a dream." I step into his line of sight, still as my true self. "I did reveal myself to be a Changeling. And admittedly, it's my fault you suddenly kissed the floor so hard. I didn't mean to toss the pillow that hard, love." Saphirus looked at me with a shocked expression and when it looked like he would scream again, I placed a hoof over his mouth. "Please don't scream again. I don't want to have to explain to the neighbors again. Now I know you have questions and I will answer those questions. But I only request that when I remove my hoof, you don't scream and we talk this out like adults. And if you scream, I will place you in a soundproof bubble for the rest of the night." He gulped and nodded before I removed my hoof.
As he sat up straight on the sofa, I moved to join him, leaving an open space between us. I waited for him to ask his first question, which took a bit longer to come.
"So...have you been...feeding off of me?" He asked after a moment. It had become public knowledge now that Changelings feed on love to survive, so I did expect this.
"Well yes and no. When I left the hive, I didn't stoop to Chrysalis' methods. I fed off of residual love from couples and families around me. I never attacked any pony. Even when I came here, I continued that feeding method because it was never harmful. When I met you, I had stopped feeding for a while. I didn't expect you to fall in love with me or that I'd fall for you too. The love you had for me was sweeter than anything else. Did I feed on you? Yes, but you gave that love so freely, it was addicting." I rubbed my arm.
"When you say you left the hive...why did you? Wouldn't Queen Chrysalis have been able to find you? I mean, I don't know this but don't Changelings have a hive mind?" I felt him move a bit closer.
"I left because I was practically starving. Back then, there wasn't much to eat or much we could do for food. We had to be careful to not be caught. And a lot of the time, most of the love we gather went to Chrysalis. It sometimes wasn't enough. And no, we don't have a hive mind, but I was scared for a while that she would find me. I didn't want to lose the freedom I had finally gained." I sighed. "I was especially scared if she found me with you...she'd use you as a bargaining chip and I'd have to reveal myself to save you. But even if I did...I feared you'd reject me for being a Changeling."
Saphirus moved closer and wrapped his arm around my hard shell. I didn't pull away, probably from shock, but I did expect some form of rejection after this. What I wasn't expecting was him lifting my face to his and staring me in the eyes, still brimming with all the love he had for before this reveal. "Lotus Moon. Do you really love me?"
My heart skipped a beat but I didn't hesitate in my answer. "Of course I do...more than anything."
"Then it doesn't matter if you're a Changeling, a Mantecore, or anything in between. You're still the mare I fell in love with. Even more, because it must've been terrifying to tell me this, but you still did it." He smiled. "I'm proud of you."
"So...so you really don't mind that I'm a Changeling?" I ask, tears lightly welling in my eyes.
"Well, it was a shock and could take a little time to get used to. But no. I don't mind. I'd even love it if you didn't hide it from me at home. It'll be our little secret." He kissed my forehead. "My little secret Luella."
"Th-That's a take on the name Libellula...a genus of the dragonfly." A blush was heavily evident on my face. "I like it."
"And it suits you." He nuzzled me, holding me close as we stare into the fireplace.
"I'll make your favorite dinner tonight."
"I look forward to it." He sighed but then suddenly sat up. "Wait...I know this is dumb to ask now but how can you eat normal food?"
"Babe, it's not that we Changelings can't eat it...it just doesn't taste as good as love. But with you, everything is delicious." I smile brightly.
Author's Note
This is a joke story as some time back someone playfully thought I could be a Changeling with the fact I have so many OCs. So I figured why not have some fun with the idea?
Go ahead and judge me but I'm just having fun with this
Minor super late change. I changed the description of my changeling form from "My azure blue coat became a black carapis with an azure shell on my back under my matching transparent insect wings. My red and black mane and tail were replaced with black webbing with red tipped highlights. My lavender eyes became wide bug eyes. My horn became short and jagged with small holes and holes adorned my legs." to what it is now to match how it appears in the audio reading and vector shown.
