A shadow appeared on the horizon, the only distraction to the otherwise clear skies and green plains. As it got closer, it dissolved into five shadows. Five ponies: two Pegasi, two earth ponies, and one unicorn, getting closer. One of them, a pink Pegasus with a wavy purple mane, fluffy white wings, and a musical note with a crown as a cutie mark, held something on her hoof, waving it around.
"Ugh, no bars,'' she complained, moving it up and down, her purple hair waving. "I could have been streaming"
"Really?" said the other Pegasi next to her. "That's what you're thinking of, Pipp?"
"Says the one who spent her entire life more worried about flying than her own sister.”
The other pegasi turned her back to Pipp. She had a white, slightly leaner body than the pink Pegasus, while her wings graduated from dark blue at the base to dark purple at the tips. Her mane was hot pink with cyan stripes, and her cutie mark was a cyan and pink lightning bolt with a crown on top.
"Hey, calm down you two, I think I see something," said one of the earth ponies, putting his hoof over his eyes to block the sun, his sea-green hair providing little natural protection.
He was the only male in the group, his fur a light yellow, with patches of white underneath his belly and near his hooves. Hanging from his chest was a silver sheriff’s badge: a horseshoe with a star inside of it. His cutie mark was similar, a golden shield with a blue horseshoe inside it and two small blue hearts, one on each side of the shield. Next to him stood the other two girls. The one in front, another earth pony, was orange with a bright purple braided mane. Around her waist was a sea-green saddlebag with a six-sided Star stitched to its side and three colored pins on the strap. Her cutie mark was a purple shooting star with a cyan tail, the same color as her hair braids. The other one, a unicorn, trotted a little farther behind. She was light purple, and her mane graduated from light blue at the top to dark purple at the tips. Her cutie mark was a heart-shaped button halfway stitched, and on her left hoof was a bracelet made out of crystals.
"What do you think it is, Sunny?" The male earth pony asked.
“I don't know, Hitch, but it looks big,” answered the orange earth pony. “Probably an old structure from before the tribes divided.”
"It looks pretty," said the unicorn, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"You always say that, Izzy," said the white Pegasus, still hovering in the air.
"Well, a lot of things are pretty, Zipp," Izzy answered.
Hitch and Sunny just looked at each other and laughed.
"Well, we won't know until we get there," said Sunny.
As they kept walking the structure got clearer. In the middle of a huge crater of unimaginable size and depth, stood ruins of a black mountain. It had once reached higher than the walls of the crater, but the top had clearly been destroyed. Now only the bottom of the structure stood, overcome by vegetation that had found home in its holed walls. The group of ponies carefully went down the crater and across the overgrowth to finally stand in front of the ruins.
"Woah," said Zipp. "It looks a lot bigger up close."
"Eyup," said Hitch, "I wonder what it is..."
They walked in through one of the holes into the ruins. The inside was hollow, with only a few walls here and there. The open ceiling provided a perfect ecosystem for short plants and bushes, which covered most of the ground. Some of the rocks from the destroyed ceiling had been moved to form tables and other things, while caves had been used as rooms.
"Looks like someone used to live here," said Sunny, looking at one of the empty cave-rooms.
"Make that someones," said Zipp, eyeing multiple chairs.
"Doesn't look like these someone's had any wifi," mumbled Pipp, who had flown on top of a boulder and was waving her phone around again.
Then, there was a quiet stomping sound. Pipp froze.
"Did you hear that?"
"Huh? Hear what?" said Hitch, looking away from one of the tables.
"A thumping sound, like steps..." she said, looking around.
"I didn't hear anything," said Sunny, looking out from the cave she was inspecting.
"Are you sure you heard something, sis?" asked Zipp, standing next to Hitch.
"I... I don't know... maybe I imagined it?" Pipp answered, then went back to waving her phone around.
Then the noise sounded again, only slightly louder.
"There it is again," she said, putting her phone back and looking around worriedly.
"It's probably just the wind," said Hitch, though he started looking around, too.
"Yeah, are you sure you're not just saying that so you can go home and stream?" Zipp asked.
"No, I'm sure I heard it that time..." Pipp said, looking around.
Then it sounded again, louder.
"Ok, now I'm sure I heard it," Pipp said, climbing down the rock towards Hitch.
"This time she wasn't the only one," said Hitch, also looking around with worry.
Then again, and again, the stomping got closer and closer, louder and louder.
"Whatever it is, it's big, really big," said Sunny, walking closer to the others.
Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. The noise got closer and closer, until it was strong enough to shake the chairs and tables around the little ponies.
"I think we should leave," said Hitch.
"Not yet, we still need to look for clues," Sunny said, looking at the direction of the noise.
Hitch gulped.
“Well, maybe it’s friendly?” he said, doubtfully.
Then, an enormous beetle-like bug appeared from behind a wall where the ponies had come from. It had six legs, each one ending in a sharp spike. Its body was a sleek, dark red with black stripes across its main body and legs. Its head was shaped like a helmet, and was completely red aside from its five dark brown eyes; two pointy ears coming out from the top. The mouth was just as ghastly, with sharp teeth lining the bottom and two small fangs at the top. Behind its head perforated three red spines. The body got thinner the farther it went, and the most terrifying part was the stinger that perforated from its tail, so huge it was hard to tell the difference between it and one of the legs. The creature opened a pair of dark wings and roared.
Instinctively, Zipp and a clearly terrified Hitch put themselves in front of their friends protectively.
“So, not friendly?” Hitch said, shaking but still standing his ground.
“Well, you know what they say: the bigger they are, the harder they fall,” said Zipp, stretching out her wings, ready for a fight.
“Not if it’s got wings!” Said Hitch, yet he remained in front of his friends.
Then, the bug opened his mouth again, but instead of a roar came a deep, rumbling voice.
“Leave this place.” it said. “You are not welcome here.”
Hitch jumped. "It speaks!" he said.
"Who dares come here?" The voice spoke once again.
Slowly, Sunny moved to stand next to Hitch and Zipp.
"I'm sorry for intruding, we're traveling historians trying to find out what happened a long time ago," she said.
The creature scoffed, smoke coming out of its nostrils. It looked at each pony, eyeing them carefully.
"Two pegasi, one unicorn, and two earth ponies together? I doubt it," he said. "What are you really doing here?"
"We're telling the truth, '' Sunny responded. "The three tribes have reunited. In fact, we're trying to figure out why we divided in the first place."
The giant bug puffed another stream of smoke from his nose, then moved his head close to Sunny's.
"If you really are united," he started, with his rumbling voice. "Then tell me, what is the key to the survival of the pony race?"
The question hung in the air for a little, until a hoof was placed on Sunny's shoulders. She turned her head to see Izzy smiling at her. Then she looked behind her, at her friends. They all looked at each other and nodded. Sunny smiled and turned back to the creature and said simply:
"Friendship."
At this, the monster seemed surprised.
"Huh, maybe you ponies really have learned something after all," he said, backing up."You said you're looking for answers, correct?"
Sunny instantly brightened.
"Yes! Do you know what happened?"
"Follow me," the bug said simply, turning around and heading deeper into the structure.
The ponies looked at each other and slowly followed the beast.
"Are we really following a giant monster bug we just met?" Pipp whispered to her sister.
"You know how important this is to Sunny," Zipp answered. “Plus, you got a better idea?”
“They’re right, you know, how do we know we can trust him?” Hitch said, walking up to Sunny; then he turned to the monster and repeated: “How do we know we can trust you?”
The giant bug stopped, then turned his head.
“Because,” he said, “I was there.”
At this, Sunny nearly fell over.
“Wait, you were there? You knew the ponies of legend?” She asked, then gasped. “You knew Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
“Twilight? Not personally, no,” The monster responded. “I only occasionally saw her when she visited. But I did know one of her close friends; her name was Starlight Glimmer, if my memory serves me correct”
“Starlight?” Sunny asked, pulling out a notebook from her saddlebag.
“Yes, she was the Princess’s apprentice, and headmaster of the princess’s school back in the small town of Ponyville, where they lived for a long time before she had to leave for the Capital of Canterlot. She was also a great sorcerer, some said she was even better than the Princess herself.”
"Wait, how did you know them?" Hitch interrupted. "I mean, you are a giant monster bug."
The huge insect turned to face him, and the yellow pony seemed to shrink. Then, the bug smiled a little.
“Oh, this?” The insect said, looking down at itself. “This is just a disguise I use to scare away ponies. I’m not really a ‘monster bug’.”
Then, all at once, green flames burst from its body, seemingly changing everything it touched. Its torso started to shrink, becoming leaner and more pony-like. The legs grew smaller; one pair disappearing into its torso while the other two became legs. The spikes at the end of its legs shortened and flattened into hooves, while the tail thinned and slowly disappeared along with the stinger at the end. The details in its face also became smaller, though it still left some bug-like features, like its pointed ears and two huge round eyes. Finally, the giant wings shrunk, folding themselves under a newly made elytra. When it was done transforming, it looked more like a pony, its skin dark red with what looked like a protective exoskeleton around its belly while black and red wings could be seen poking out of the black elytra on its back, and a hooked red horn coming out of its head.
“My name is Mantis,” the creature said. “And I am a Changeling”.
A cloud of silence rolled over the ponies as they tried to process what they just saw.
“A changeling?” said Hitch, breaking the silence. “I’ve never heard of them before...”
Sunny put her hoof on her chin thoughtfully as she looked at her journal.
“I think I have. The changelings were a race of shapeshifters that feed out of the love of other species. But no one’s seen one ever since the tribes divided.” she said, looking up at Mantis.
He looked away.
“That’s because,” he said. “I’m the only one left.”
The words hung in the air as silence seemed to hold everyone’s mouths closed. Finally, after a few moments, Sunny broke the spell.
“If you’re the last one,“ she said. “What happened to the others, if you don't mind?”
The changeling looked back towards the ponies, then sighed.
“You said you’re historians, correct?” The group nodded. “Then allow me to tell you a story.”
Sunny immediately grabbed her notebook and pencil from her backpack and prepared to write.
“Thousands and thousands of years ago,” he started. “Before Princess Twilight, at a time where her predecessors, the sisters princesses Celestia and Luna, ruled over Equestria, the changelings were formed. No creature quite knows how, but none tried to find out. I was born far after that, and most of our accounts from back then have been lost, so I don’t know exact details, only the big pictures. Anyways, we laid low for a while, gaining strength in the shadows. Then, our greedy ex-queen, Chrysalis, ordered scouts out to investigate the outer reaches of Equestria, while the rest proceeded to drain the feelings out of every plant and animal around the forest we lived in. After only a few months, we were living like parasites within the pony kingdom, shapeshifting into ponies that meant a lot to others in order to get the most emotion possible; we basically had an infinite food source that didn't even know we existed. It was all a changeling could ever want. But then, one day, our ex-Queen decided it wasn't enough, and immediately ordered all of us to attack, a mistake that cost us dearly. Though alone they were weak, under the leadership of Celestia and Luna, as well as the threat of a new enemy, they squashed us like bugs. We were banished to the badlands, which was the name given to the area of forest where we had completely drained the emotion off of every living thing. We realized that we needed more power and, over time, built a massive hive made of a magical material we had found which changed shape constantly. Being already adapted to an ever-changing environment, the changelings were the only ones able to navigate it.”
“Wait, so what you’re saying is this, all of this, was once the changeling hive?” Asked Zipp, motioning her hoof to the strange rocks around them.
“Yes, yes it was,” said Mantis.
“Then what happened to it?” Asked Izzy, turning her head to the side a little.
“I’m getting there,” said the changeling, then, nodding to the path they were taking, added “Come on, we can walk and talk.”
“As I was saying, the changelings stayed here for a very long time, while the queen took the time to plan her next attack. While the changeling population and strength grew bigger, changes also happened in the Pony kingdom. By now, Princess Celestia had taken on an apprentice, Twilight Sparkle.”
Sunny nearly exploded from excitement.
“Twilight and her five friends, honest Applejack, loyal Rainbow Dash, generous Rarity, funny Pinkie Pie, and kind Fluttershy, had discovered the Elements of Harmony, and used them to rescue Princess Luna, who had been banished by her sister some years after the changelings were banished.”
“Wait, Princess Celestia banished her own sister?!” Said Pipp, outraged at this.
“From what I know, Luna had become envious of Celestia and was overcome by a great evil; the only way to stop her had been to banish her to the Moon, a choice I am sure was not done lightly. As I was saying, Twilight received an invitation to her brother’s wedding to Princess Cadance. Twilight and her friends went to Canterlot to celebrate, but Twilight realized something was wrong with the Princess, something that no-pony else seemed to notice, not even her brother, Shining Armor. As it turns out, ex-queen Chrysalis had captured and replaced Cadance in order to take control of Equestria.”
“Ooo, what happens then?” Asked an excited Izzy.
“Well, long story short, Chrysalis found out Twilight had been snooping around and trapped her under the castle with the real Princess Cadance, where the two proceeded to escape and face the changeling queen who by now had shed her disguise and, after being fed Shining’s love for days, was now more powerful than Celestia. However, when Shining Armor saw the real Cadance, he was snapped out of his spell and the two radiated so much love that it blew away all the changelings from Canterlot.”
“Well that was… surprisingly anticlimactic.” Said Hitch.
“Wait, they radiated so much love that it blew you away?” Asked Sunny, having paused from writing notes.
“Well, it’s kinda hard to describe something when you’re getting hit by it.” Answered Mantis.
“But I thought the changelings feed on love?” Said Sunny, slightly confused.
“Hmm, let me try putting it like this: what’s your favorite food, Sunny?” Asked the changeling.
“Um… cupcakes! Definitely cupcakes.”
“Wait, cupcakes? I thought your favorite food was smoothies, don’t you run a smoothie business back in Maretime?'' asked Pipp.
“Cupcakes? Like the ones your dad used to make?” Said Hitch, looking at Sunny with a sad smile.
Sunny mirrored his smile. “Yeah”
Mantis cleared his throat. “Anyways, think about it like this: you love cupcakes more than anything else, and you would eat only them if it was possible. But what happens when you eat too much? You get full. Now, imagine an avalanche of cupcakes hitting you so fast you never saw it coming, basically overwhelmed you.”
“Oh, ouch,” she said, “that would hurt”
“Yeah, and some changelings thought so too, so they disbanded from the ex-queen’s army.” Said Mantis.
“Hold on,” Hitch interrupted, “you keep calling her your ex-queen. By now I know she’s not your leader anymore, but why do you keep saying it like that?”
At this, Mantis stopped walking. “Chrysalis might have led us at one point, but she was no leader. You wanna know why more changelings didn’t disband? Because they were afraid of what she would do to them if they were caught. So many changelings had tried to escape the hive before, only to be discovered by her and sentenced to prison, or worse. She led by fear and manipulation. She taught her drones that the ponies were the bad guys for having banished us in the badlands, and that it was right for us to fight back and take over. Over the centuries, many changelings, usually scouts and spies sent on missions to the pony world, discovered the truth and tried to escape, only to be captured later on by the ex-queen, who kept everything silent so the other drones never found out.”
“You know, I suddenly feel a lot better that we only had Sprout to deal with…” said Hitch.
“Anyways, after seeing how the ponies reacted during the attack, a lot of changelings decided to leave the hive for good, including one called Thorax.”
Sunny squealed. “Thorax as in-“
“I’m getting there!” Mantis said, annoyed at the multiple interruptions. “Now can you please let me finish without interrupting me in every sentence?”
At that, the ponies became quiet once again.
Mantis sighed. “Thank you. So, as I was saying, Thorax found himself in the Crystal Empire, a kingdom that had disappeared for a long time only to poof back into existence a few thousand moons afterwards and was now ruled by Princes Cadance and Shining Armor, as well as their newborn filly Flurry Heart, the first ever alicorn-born pony. There, Thorax befriended Twilight’s number one assistant, Spike the Dragon-“
“Wait, she had a dragon as an assistant?” Zipp interrupted. “Cool.”
“Technically he was a baby dragon,” Sunny told her, then, seeing Mantis’ face, added, “I’ll explain later”
Mantis grumbled something about not remembering ponies being so talkative, then resumed the story. “Anyways, Thorax befriended Spike, who, after realizing that the changeling really wanted to change, introduced him to Twilight, who was visiting at the time, and the new Crystal royal family. Though Shining was a bit hostile at first, since the changelings had attacked during his wedding and he now had a daughter to protect, in the end it all worked out, and Thorax decided to stay in the Crystal Empire. Back in the Hive, Chrysalis had finally figured out a plan. After her failure at Canterlot, she was changing tactics. This time she wouldn’t attack right away; She would sneakily invade the pony kingdom while no one noticed, like they had a long time ago. And this time, she succeeded. The ex-queen managed to kidnap the royal sisters, as well as the royal family of the Crystal Empire, and even Twilight and her friends. What Chrysalis didn’t know was that Twilight had started teaching an apprentice, Starlight Glimmer, who figured out that her friends had been captured. Starlight, as well as her best friend Trixie Lulamoon, an illusionist, partnered with Thorax and Discord, the only Draconequus left in Equestria as well as the Lord of Chaos.”
“Draconi-what?” Izzy asked. “What’s that?”
Mantis sighed. “I guess I should have expected that. A Draconequus was a creature with the head of a pony, somewhat at least, and the body of all sorts of things. He had, let’s see, where do I begin… one paw of a griffin, the other of a hippogriff, one of a dragon- wait, why am I even doing this when I can just show you? Here, he looked like this:”
In another flash of light, Mantis shape-shifted again. This time, his body became slim and long, like a serpent, with each of his four paws being from a different creature: dragon and goat for the back legs, and griffin and hippogriff for the front. His main body was brown and furry, with two wings, one of a bat and one of a pegasus, sprouting from his otherwise bare back. Even after all of that, his face was the strangest. Standing on the tip of a very long, grey neck, his head looked like one of a goat, with two horns, one being the antler of a deer and the other the rounded horn of a goat. His eyes were yellow, with bright red pupils and bushy white eyebrows. On his mouth was a single big fang, and at his chin was a bushy beard barely attached. And at the end of its body was a long, scaly red tail.
The ponies gaped at the sight, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. A few moments later, the Draconiquus-Mantis spoke.
“Yes,” he said simply. “Whatever you’re thinking, the answer is most likely yes.”
Then, in another flash of green fire, he changed back.
“If I learned anything from the ponies, it’s that you don’t question Discord, it’s just too difficult to explain. What you need to know is that he had a weird sort of magic, Chaos Magic, which no one really understood. He usually didn’t hang out with ponies, mostly hanging out by himself pulling pranks on the passerby. However, he had a strong relationship with one of Twilight's friends, Fluttershy, and would do whatever it took to get her back. This strange quartet went to the hive to get their friends back, only to find that Chrysalis’ throne was built of a material which blocked all magical abilities aside from the ones of changelings. With Thorax as a guide, the group infiltrated the hive, using their brains, illusions, and Discord’s annoying personality, they were able to get to the throne room, but by then both Trixie and Discord had been captured. When they got to the throne room, Thorax confronted the queen, while Starlight sneakily tried to break the ex-queen’s throne. Chrysalis, however, trapped Thorax and Starlight, and went to drain the love out of Thorax. It was then that Starlight had an idea, one that would forever change the way of the changelings. He told Thorax that if Chrysalis wanted his love, then he should give it willingly. You see, love, when given, is divided between the original and the new one, meaning Thorax let his love flow out infinitely, overflowing the queen’s magic and freeing him. This caused him to undergo a sort of metamorphosis. The other changelings, seeing Thorax’s actions, realized that, if they shared love, they would never run out of food, and wouldn’t have to steal from other creatures ever again. At this realization, they, too, metamorphosed. Before, changelings used to all look the same: black and beetle-like with short blue wings, small horns, and with holes on their legs. After metamorphosis, they gained personality, each one being a lot more colorful, and with a similar body shape than mine. Ever since then, the changelings have lived happily.” Then, after a slight pause, added: “You can ask questions now”
“If you all metamorphosed, what happened to the Chrysalis? Who became the leader?” Asked Sunny, looking at her notes,
“Chrysalis ran away, being the only changeling never to reform. She later joined forces with two other villains to try and gain control of Equestria, but were foiled when all the creatures that live here turned against them to protect their home. Griffons, Hippogriffs, ponies, and even changelings helped, and at the end Twilight and her friends turned them to stone, imprisoning them for eternity. As for your other question, Thorax became King of the Changelings, a true leader.” He said smiling, then added: “we’re here”
The group reached a great clearing, with beautiful plants everywhere. Grey pillars at the edge of the clearing were covered in flowers of all colors while birds of many kinds flew around them. At the end of the clearing, on top of a small hill, lay a magnificent throne made of wood, colorful flowers growing in between the bark. Next to it was a slightly smaller, but just as beautiful copy, with flowers around it.
“Woah!” Said Zipp.
“Glorious!” Added her sister in a singsong voice.
“Welcome to the throne room! The center of the hive.” Said Mantis, motioning his hoof at the scene in front of them.
“But there’s one thing I don’t get.” Hitch said, after taking some time to look around, “If you had an infinite food source, how did you all disappear?”
The smile on Mantis’ face disappeared, and he turned away.
“Hate” he said plainly. “One time, the changelings and the dragons agreed to hold a celebration to bring the two races closer together. The dragon lord, Ember, had become a close friend of Thorax, and the joint celebration lasted for nearly a whole moon, in which the changelings and dragons lived together, and no one went to the other kingdoms during that time. When the celebrities ended, and the two races returned to check on the pony kingdoms, they were shocked to find no trace of Twilight or her friends. After the battle against Chrysalis and the other two villains, the royal Princesses retired and Twilight rose to the throne. Now, without Twilight and her friends, tension between the three pony tribes grew, eventually causing them to split. For other kingdoms, while this was a great shock, they could manage well on their own, and began to do so. But the Changelings weren’t a normal kingdom, their only food source was love and, after the ponies divided, tension in the Changeling kingdom grew too. After all, if those who taught us to change couldn’t do it themselves, why should we? This new tension was a disaster for the kingdom, since their food source relied on the cooperation of all its inhabitants. Slowly but surely, the changelings began to starve. A desperate Thorax decided to call an Equestrian Emergency meeting to talk about their dilemma. All the kingdoms attended, all except the ponies. This was an assurance to the other leaders that the once great kingdom of ponies, known for their friendship with everyone, now cared nothing about them. Thorax had brought me along, one of the only changelings who had continued to love, and asked for help from the other tribes. After seeing that the ponies weren’t attending, nearly all of them refused, saying that they had other problems to deal with in their own kingdoms. Only the Dragons agreed to help, with Ember deciding to stay with the changelings for as long as needed. After seeing the state of the changeling kingdom, she did everything to help and, as things began to get worse, even suggested that Thorax feed off of her love. But Thorax couldn’t do that, not to his best friend, so Ember tried giving it to him. But a battle-loving dragon born for combat had little love to give. Eventually, the changelings starved and began to fade, leaving only Thorax, his brother, me, and one other. After the king and his brother finally fell, the changeling kingdom was no more.”
Silence fell over the ponies, who had gathered around him as he spoke. Suddenly, Izzy trotted up to him and wrapped her front hooves around him. Mantis’ eyes widened, then smiled again as the other ponies joined in. At this, his entire body seemed to brighten and he gave a soft sigh.
“Thank you,” he said.
As the ponies stepped back, a question suddenly came to Mantis.
“Sunny, how did you know so much about the changelings at the beginning? I made sure no-pony ever found these ruins.”
“Oh, my dad told me,” she said, picking up her notebook. “And he wrote a lot of notes”
“Your father, eh? Is he, by chance, a blue earth pony buck? Dark blue mane and tail, beard, and glasses?”
At this, Sunny brightened so much her name was an understatement.
“You knew Argyle?” Hutch asked, shocked.
“He was the only one, aside from you five, that I let inside the hive. He seemed fascinated by nature, and it had been so long since I checked on the pony kingdoms. I explained to him the beginning of changeling history, but he couldn’t stay long, he said he had ‘a little something to take care of’” he said, then turning to Sunny, added: “I take it he was talking about you?”
A tear flowed down Sunny’s cheek as she smiled. “Yes, I think he was.”
There was a long moment of silence, while Sunny just smiled with her friends standing around her.
After some time, Hitch finally broke the silence.
“Speaking of not staying long, it’s getting late and we still need to make it back to Maretime before dark.” he said.
Sunny sighed. “I know, you’re right, we should probably get going.”
“Before we go, I have a quick question,” Zipp told them.
“Ask away.” Said Mantis.
“Earlier you said that there were two changelings when the kingdom fell, so where are they?”
“Ah, you mean Orchid. She passed away about a moon ago.” Mantis said, sadly.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Zipp said, looking down.
“It’s ok. Actually, Orchid was part of the reason I survived. She and I loved each other, and that was just enough to carry us through the rough times. But when we began to think about the ponies, and remembered that there was nothing we could do, our love wavered, and she started to get sick. I tried to help, but my love wasn’t enough.”
Yet again, the ponies huddled around Mantis and hugged him.
“Heh, you don’t need to do that every time I say something sad,” he said, smiling.
Izzy looked up to him. “Yes, we do”
As the ponies stepped back once again, Mantis spoke.
“Before you go, I have something to show you, follow me”
He stood up and began to lead the ponies behind the throne. There, he moved a few pieces of bark to reveal a hidden talisman. It had a striped blue and black hilt, which held a purple stone beetle with massive pincers holding a round, dark yellow gemstone.
“This” Mantis said, “is the Talisman of Mirage. From what I’ve seen, it can be used to change non living objects into something else for a certain amount of time, but has no effects on living beings. I’ve been using it to keep the hive invisible to outsiders, only removing it once in a while to check up on the ponies. And now, I want you to have it.”
Sunny looked shocked. “I can’t! What about the hive, every pony will know about it now!”
“And?” Mantis asked. “If the tribes are reunited, then I can once again open it up to outsiders. Who knows, maybe it’ll even bring back the changelings.”
Then, Sunny had an idea.
“Then how about you come with us?” She said, standing up and heading back, “That way you can not only keep an eye on the Talisman, but you’ll see how much we ponies changed over the years. You can teach us about our past, and live a better life!”
Mantis smiled sadly, “I’m sorry, can’t do that. This is my home, I can’t just leave it. Plus, I have a little something to take care of that I can’t just leave here.”
“Oh,” Sunny said, simply.
“Now, it’s getting late, you should probably get going if you want to make it back before dark,” said Mantis.
“He’s right, Sunny,” added Hitch, turning to his friend. “As much as I like it here, we’ll never make it back if we don’t leave now.”
“Aww,” said Izzy.
“But you can come back anytime! I’m not going anywhere” the changeling said, smiling.
When they reached the edge of the hive, Sunny turned.
“Well, guess it’s goodbye, then,” she said.
“No, it’s see you later,” Mantis answered. “Now go, or you’ll be late."
Sunny laughed. When they finished saying their farewells, the group of ponies began to walk the way they came. Mantis watched them as they slowly became dots at the edge of his vision, then disappeared into the unknown. He sighed, then turned and began to head back to the throne room.
He hated having to lie to them, even if only a little. It was a reminder of their dark past. But he doubted the little ponies could handle the truth behind the disappearance of magic. The truth about what happened to Twilight. If the tribes were indeed back together, he didn't want to be the reason they fell once again. Now was a time for new hope, not old wounds.
“You were right, Thorax,” he said, pausing and looking up into the sky. “They really could change”.
Then he resumed walking, thinking of what he had told Sunny about her father. Had he really told the blue buck that much about the changelings? And what else had he found out about old Equestria? Would it have been better if Argyle had stayed a little longer? Had he discovered the truth?
He stopped in front of the throne, looking at it in appreciation. Then, he kneeled down and started digging through the bark as he resumed thinking. He shook his head. If Argyle had stayed, he wouldn't have been able to take care of Sunny. And Mantis knew how important that was. He finally made a hole in the bark, revealing a clear green egg; an equine figure curled up inside it.
“After all,” he said out loud. “I too have a little something to take care of.”
Author's Note
Update #3
I edited the last few paragraphs to better fit my upcoming story "Divided We Fall"
