Chapter 3 - The New Citizen Of Ponyville

It had been a beautiful shining day in the capital city of Canterlot.  The sunlight reflected off the castle spires magnificently.  It was the sun princess's best work yet.  But it would soon go ignored, as it often does.  When one delivers a spectacular view every morning, it seems to become less so.

This was one of the things that kept Celestia from being bored.  Despite having lived longer than anypony else, there was always something for her to do, something to fix, something she could really put her mind to, coming up with a solution.  It was this same reason that she was excited to find another letter from her faithful student each week.  Well, up until she made the whole town crazy when she didn't have one.

Celestia chuckled to herself, remembering the humorous-in-hindsight scenario.  The solution was simple.  She didn't have to fix everypony individually, all she had to do was disenchant the doll, and the rest took care of itself.

This most recent letter, however, appeared in the middle of one of the magic classes that she was teaching.  As she read it, her thoughts harkened back to the wedding between her niece and Twilight's brother.  Despite all that happened, it was still a much better wedding than if her nephew had gotten married.

Shaking her head of the thoughts, she remembered where she was and called everyone's attention.  “Excuse me, my little ponies, but I've received a letter from Twilight Sparkle that I believe deserves immediate attention.”

The princess continued to speak while everypony's mouths were hanging open, “I must meet with my sister to decide what to do about her concerns.  The rest of you, talk amongst yourselves.”  She left the room in a magnificent teleportation flash.

Princess Celestia appeared up in her sister's room and gently tapped on the headboard.  It was still mid-day so Luna was asleep.  From the looks of it, she wasn't waking up any time soon either.  Celestia decided the Royal Canterlot Voice would be necessary.

“LUNA WAKE UP!” she spoke.

Princess Luna woke up with a start and fell out of bed.  “I'M UP I'M UP!” she yelled back, not knowing yet whom she was addressing.  Celestia chuckled, but quickly regained her composure.  “Sister, we have matters of utmost importance to discuss.”

Luna blinked her eyes.  “Oh, it's just you.”

Celestia couldn't help but chuckle again.  She missed having her sister around, and the last two years she had been struggling with making up for lost time.  Their differing sleep schedules made this a challenge, but it was a challenge that Celestia had eagerly accepted.  Luna was worth it.

“Luna, we have something to discuss,” Celestia reminded her.

“Can't it wait until twilight when I'm awake?” Luna pleaded, giving Celestia puppy dog eyes.

Celestia ignored the puppy dog eyes.  “Funny you should mention Twilight,” she said as she held up Twilight's letter.  “This is what she wrote to me:

“Dear Princess Celestia,

“We are on the precipice of disaster.  For you see, a Changeling has been discovered here in Ponyville.  Something must be done to make sure that a repeat of the attack on Canterlot is avoided.  I await your quick response.

“Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”

Luna listened to the whole letter without interruption, annoyed at the play on words.  But the letter did contain vital data.  “Changelings?  You mean, those things that were at the wedding?” Luna asked as she got up off the floor.

“Yes, the same wedding you slept through,” Celestia replied.  She was a little annoyed that Luna had missed everything, but not outright angry.  The moon princess needs her sleep too.

“Sister, you know I sleep during the day so I can raise and lower the moon at night,” Luna said as she got back into bed.

“I know sis, I just wish you could be with us during the daytime more so we could do more together,” Celestia said wistfully.  “But we're getting off-topic.”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle's letter,” Luna said.  “Well, it's a Changeling.  That could be troublesome.  We don't know how many there are.”

“The letter says 'a Changeling', so I'm guessing one.”

“Oh, that's not so bad then,” Luna said, promptly followed by turning around in bed and pretending to sleep.  After Celestia turned around, Luna opened an eye to make sure her sister couldn't see that she wasn't actually asleep yet.

Celestia chuckled, “Goodnight Luna” she smiled.

Luna, despite her intentions, actually helped Celestia make her decision.  It IS just one Changeling.  Twilight and her friends have proven to be able to take on several at once already.  If anything did get out of hand, Celestia had complete faith in her student's ability to take care of things.  This could even work out in her favor.

There's still a lot they don't know about Changelings, except for what they feed on, and their hierarchy structure.  They have a queen, and she's the ultimate authority.  As a princess, her role was similar, but Celestia preferred to have others involved in the decision-making process.  This way, the ponies took part in their government and didn't feel oppressed.

As a teacher herself, Celestia was always looking for ways to turn experiences into lessons, either for herself or her students.  Teaching was one of those things that never got old no matter how long she had been doing it.

Celestia blinked out of Luna's room with a bright flash and back to her own chambers.  She levitated a quill, an ink well, and piece of parchment over to her desk.  She thought about what she wanted to say, how to say it.  Once she had the ideas formed in her head and what she wanted to write, the quill scribbled frantically across the page.

Once she had finished writing out the letter, she gave it to Philomena, “Here Philomena, please send the letter with all due haste.  I must get back to my class and hope that Twilight can take care of the matter in the way I have instructed her to.”

Philomena chirped as she took hold of the letter in her beak and scorched it with flame from her plumage.  It was a trick the phoenix learned to facilitate sending mail between the princess and her prized pupil more easily.

Celestia then blinked out of her chambers, again with a bright flash, and back into her classroom.  The room fell silent as she appeared, as they were all engaged in tomfoolery instead of actual studying or discussing.

“That, by the way, is a teleportation spell,” Celestia began, looking very cross with her students.  “I can appear in class before any of you notice.  So, if I'm not here yet, act like I'm here already, and feel free to actually study instead of goofing off.”

One student was about to raise her hoof when Celestia spoke again, “Alright my little ponies, turn your textbooks to page 122, and use your horns, not your hooves.  We're going to start learning more than the simple telekinesis magics that most unicorns already know.”

-***-

Spike read the letter from the princess:

“To my faithful student...”

“Twilight Sparkle, you know that I hold your family in the highest regard, for without all of you, instead of a princess on the throne there would be a Changeling queen, or a draconequus, or my sister would have brought eternal night dooming Equestria to an age of darkness and famine.”

Twilight smiled and nodded as the letter listed off each of their accomplishments.  She might not be an athlete like Rainbow Dash, but she was still not without pride.

Spike continued, “But in this situation, I must ask that you stand down and bear no hostility toward this Changeling.”

Twilight gasped in surprise.  She was puzzled; this was an enemy of the state who participated in the attack on Canterlot.  He should be locked up and interrogated!

Spike ignored Twilight and continued reading, “The Changeling queen may have performed evil and deceptive deeds, but she was merely trying to feed her people, as a proper ruler should.  Had Equestria not been so prosperous, I couldn't promise you we wouldn't have resorted to similar tactics.  So far, the Changelings have learned that the only way to get their nourishment is through a parasitic relationship with their prey.

“This could be the ultimate friendship learning experience for all of you.  I urge you all to seek this opportunity and not turn away a potentially valuable ally.  There is much we can all learn from each other.

“Signed, Princess Celestia.

"P.S. Despite being a friend to the Changeling, remaining vigilant is still a good idea, in case things don't turn out well."

Tumbler sighed in relief.  He was worried that the Canterlot royal guard would've been beating down the door of the hospital as soon as that letter arrived, if not sooner.

“The princess knows what's best, of course...” Twilight started, but she was still troubled with doubt.

Tumbler tried to reassure Twilight.  “Miss Sparkle, I understand your hesitation,” he began, “but the princess's words ring true.  We wouldn't be any different from them if we weren't such an affluent nation.  The fact that Canterlot has an elite upper class is proof enough that we have excess.  If we can share what we have and love our new Changeling friend, he'll learn a new way of life, without having to resort to his queen's brand of deception.”

Twilight was starting to come around, but still had her reservations.  “First, I want to see that the Changeling can, well, change.”

Tumbler nodded in agreement.

“Second, we can't have him just sitting around, he'll have to be a productive member of the town.”

“Where is he going to stay?” Tumbler asked, “Once he gets out of the hospital, of course.”

“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  For now, it's late.”  Twilight stifled a yawn.  “We can talk about this tomorrow.  For now, it's time for bed.”

Tumbler bid Twilight farewell and good night, and then stopped by the hospital one last time before heading home to bed.  Asouva was asleep in his bed already, the book opened and lying next to him.  Seems like he fell asleep reading, Tumbler thought to himself and chuckled.  He closed the book and set it on the night stand, then pulled the covers over Asouva.

As he was leaving the hospital, the receptionist stopped him.  “He'll be ready to leave tomorrow.  I hope you have somewhere he can stay.”

Tumbler bit his lip, Twilight had just said earlier that day they would cross that bridge when they got to it.  But now it seems they're getting there sooner than he thought.  But, she did say tomorrow.  Tonight, it was time for shuteye.

-***-

He was awoken in the morning by his alarm as usual.  He quickly got up and dressed in his usual hat and vest and set out to perform his chores.  Raking up leaves and mowing the lawn went as normal as one expected.  It was another beautiful day in Ponyville.  The Summer Sun Celebration was coming up soon, and even though it wasn't being held in Ponyville this year, the weather was still scheduled for clear skies.

Once Tumbler finished his chores he was back at the hospital.  To his surprise, he found that Twilight Sparkle was there already.  She had been talking to Asouva and Nurse Wintergreen for some time it seemed.  Nurse Wintergreen excused herself to get some paperwork ready for the discharge.

“What's going on?” Tumbler asked.

“We've figured out what to do for Asouva's accommodations,” Twilight said as she smiled.

“That's great!” Tumbler was excited.  He was worried that some serious deal-making would have to be done.  Little did he know, it already had been.

Asouva spoke up first.  “Twilight has agreed to let me stay in the library in exchange for teaching her a magic trick or two.”

Nurse Wintergreen entered the room at that moment, carrying clipboard with some forms on it.  “I need you to sign this paperwork saying that you're taking him into your custody and you're clearing the hospital of any liability due to the care received,” she declared.

Tumbler asked Asouva, “Do you feel the care here was adequate?”

Asouva scrunched up his face.  The food was okay, but would still leave him feeling hungry.  His non-food needs were seen to in a timely fashion, but it was still altogether an unpleasant experience.

Tumbler chuckled, “Sounds like adequate hospital care to me then.  Sign it, Twilight,” he said as he smiled.

Twilight couldn't help but chuckle as well.  She signed the paperwork using her horn to levitate the pen of course.  Once that was all done with, the nurse disappeared with the clipboard, then after a few minutes reappeared with Twilight's copies of what she signed.

“You'll want to keep those for your records,” the nurse advised.  “He'll also want to make sure he does his physical therapy.  He hasn't been out of bed for a while, and his legs and wings will need to get acclimated to walking again.”

Asouva got up out of bed and tested out each of his limbs to make sure they all still worked.  He had a hard time at first from the atrophy, but it would improve with time.

The three of them, Twilight Sparkle, Tumbler, and Asouva, were all headed to the library to set things up for the new resident.  Upon arrival, Twilight noted that everything was eerily quiet.  In fact, it was very quiet, and very dark, in an old familiar way.  Twilight barely had enough time to roll her eyes before the lights came on and everypony in town shouted “SURPRISE!”