AUG 2 Sunday.

Today is the day, and by magic I am nervous. Even with her reassurance and further reassurance it still doesn't keep my mind from worrying about the outcome of today's meeting.

And as I wait the final minutes I keep myself busy as a distraction. Over the past few weeks I've continued my work on the only decent idea I've come up with to maybe help this situation, the widespread illusion detector, a horrible name but it gets the point across.

It can cover a roughly thirty-foot area and can be adjusted to fit specific sizes. But as I've worked on this project it's become apparent that there are a few downsides. The first problem I had was how the gem would inform somepony that an illusion spell had been detected.

My solution was to just use what works, I modified the spell to link to five bracelets. The bracelets will only need very small gems to warm up and maintain the link, when anything is detected the spell will heat up all the linked bracelets at the same time.

And that brings me to the next problem, the spell still can't differentiate between changelings and other illusions. I wanted to try and make something that can detect only Changelings, but like with all my other ideas I don't have enough information, something I plan to ask Celestia about.

The final problem with the new spell is that it proved harder than I expected to improve the spell's ability to overpower the changelings bracelets. And the problem lies in the runes used in the spell, they simply aren't magically cost-efficient or powerful enough.

A rune's strength and magical cost efficiency come from how well the rune is made. The two base runes used for the illusion detection spell aren't bad, but they are also far from the best.

My problem comes down to the fact that the magical cost doesn't increase linearly but exponentially, the more I increase the range or power of the spell the more magic it will take.

At a certain point the magical cost overtakes my ability to supply it, and that means I've basically reached the point that the spell can't be strengthened anymore than it already is. So until I find some better runes this is the best I can do while still making the spell producible on a wide scale.

That also means the spell can only bypass magical defensives up to a certain point before a strong enough protection won't be broken through. So if a changeling has a powerful enough bracelet they would be able to walk right past it.

I move out of my thoughts as I put the finishing touches on a new gift for Celestia, in truth it's less of a gift and more a form of revenge. I still remember her carrying me like a suitcase and I'd like to get her back for that. I know it might not even be used, depending on how this meeting goes.

But despite all the stress, I have enough trust in Celestia to keep her promise, and making this was a fun little project to distract myself. It's a very simple illusion spell that can be cast on anypony or enchanted into a gem, and all it does is create a small illusion, it should prove interesting.

I smile as I place a small pebble-sized ruby in my saddlebag pocket while calling over Entropy. It's time for my meeting and time to face whatever is to come, by magic please everything be ok. I take a deep breath before turning to Entropy and giving her a nod.

The silence of the Void is a slight comfort to me, and a moment later I'm standing inside the mailroom I send Entropy to. I look around to see only a single table, I walk over to the door and open it and like I expected a guard is waiting for me, I give them a nod and they start leading me through the palace like so many times before.

I'm led to what I think is her office, and after opening the door I'm proven right. Inside is Celestia working at her desk while Philomena rests on a perch nearby. Despite all my mental preparation for this I'm still a little tense and end up just standing there for a few seconds.

She puts down a piece of paper and smiles when she sees me. "Shade, it's good to see you, please come in, I'll be with you in a minute." My mind is settled some by the friendly tone so I close the door behind me and walk over to the couch, I might as well make myself as comfortable as I can.

She keeps reading for a moment while Philomena decides to come and demand scratches from me, and that means Entropy demands the same a moment later. I let Celestia finish her work while I satisfy the two gremlins, after a minute I watch as Celestia walks over and lays on the couch with me.

"So how have you been?" She asks with that smile she always has, I like that smile more than I'll ever admit to myself.

I don't lie and just tell my friend the truth. "Nervous about this meeting and somewhat worried about what the changelings told us. But not everything is bad, my friends have kept my mood up."

Her smile falters a little and she nods. "I'm sorry it took so long for us to meet, things have been very busy recently." There is a lapse of somewhat tense silence and we both know the topic that's sitting in front of us.

So I decided to break that silence and just be blunt, I never did like dancing around issues. "I.... I honestly don't know what to say, so I'll just ask directly. Are you still going to keep your promise?" It takes a moment to form my words and despite my best efforts a little of my nervousness comes through in my voice.

She nods instantly. "I am, I was serious when I told you I will never demand an answer from you. But I will still ask. How?" It's a simple and blunt question, the kind of question I normally prefer.

I stay silent for a moment as my mind wars with itself. It would be so easy to just tell her, so much worry would just melt away if I did. But that worry would just be replaced with more worry over what her knowing would mean, sure the timeline is changed in many ways but some things could still be affected if I tell her.

In a way it reminds me of Pandora's box, once it's open there is no going back. I could tell her the truth, I wouldn't even have to mention my past life, I could just tell her I've seen the future for an unknown reason. But once that is revealed anything could happen.

After a long moment of silence, I look back and face her again. "You've shown a lot of trust in me the whole time we've known each other, never demanding any answers, even now. And I want to return that trust, but I can't bring myself to answer that question."

She doesn't look surprised at my answer and seems ready to move on from this topic, but I continue. "Do you have a way to determine if I'm being truthful?"

She raises a brow. "You know we can just leave it here right? I'm ok with not knowing, I trust you." I'm a little surprised hearing those words, but it just makes me more determined.

I nod after a second. "And that trust means a lot to me, and I'd like to prove that trust isn't misplaced, even if it's in a vague and small way. And it will help put my mind at ease a little for not telling you anything."

After a moment she nods, that same smile happy appearing on her face. "I do have a way, but it only works on willing ponies, it's something I've had for a long time but rarely use."

Despite the serious mood, I raise a brow. "Why? I feel like that could be useful in several ways."

She nods. "It could be, but the spell is unique, some of the runes used to make it are completely lost. And using magic to determine the truth is a tricky thing, magic can fail or be subverted. It's simply a crutch that could fail when most needed and a risk that isn't worth it in my opinion."

I think about it and nod after a moment as she stands up. Sure a lie detector is a good idea at first glance, but as with all things that try to tell the truth, they are always eventually subverted by those who wish to lie. I watch as Celestia stands up and her horn starts to glow brightly.

I wait until she's done to ask what she's doing, but a second later I'm blinded a little as she vanishes completely. I stare for a moment at the spot she was in and decide to feel it with my space magic, it's the first time I've seen a teleportation spell and I'm curious what it looks like.

I feel nothing out of the ordinary but keep my spatial sense on that spot as I wait for her return. I don't feel anything for a few minutes, but when I do it is odd. The best way I can describe it is as if somepony bent a piece of paper through itself, and that's with me simplifying it. I don't manage to learn much but I do now know something, if I ever want to do that I'll need to get much MUCH better at converting my magic into space magic.

I open my eyes as she sits down on the couch again, and next to her is a foot-thick pure diamond cube. That is one heavy-duty gem and with how much magic it seems to hold this spell is not an easy one. "That seems like a lot of magic for a single spell, even a spell like this."

She gives me an odd look. "Maybe by your standards, but not everypony makes spells like you, this one will only last for a little over a minute." I look at the large gem like it's committed a crime, who the fuck made something so inefficient? "All you need to do is touch the gem while it's active, if you lie it will flash once and if you tell a half lie it will flash twice."

There's a moment of silence. "Are you sure you want to do this? You don't need to prove anything to me." She tried to reassure me again.

Honestly I don't mind doing this, even if it's just to give me some slight peace of mind. I nod and place a hoof on the gem. "Ready when you are." I wait for a moment while thinking of the wording I'll use, I need to be precise and quick.

She nods and a second later the gem's glow increases. She gives me a nod, I take a breath and carefully speak. "To the best of my knowledge I believe I'm acting in your and my best interest by not answering your question." I keep my statement short and simple, once I'm done I take my hoof off the gem.

I tried to reveal as little as possible while still offering some form of reassurance. And from her expression I'm not sure what if anything she gleamed from my words. Once I remove my hoof she turns the gem off, I give her a small smile. "I know that's not much, but I hope it helps, in some way."

She nods while gently moving the gem out of the way. "I won't ask about it more, and it does, thank you. Now we have other things to talk about, yes?" I can see her changing the subject for my sake and going along with her.

"Can I see the spell that gem has?" It's the first thing that comes to mind and I'm pretty curious about it, and that curiosity shows that on my face.

I can tell she expected me to ask something like that and a moment later she casts a spell on the gem while moving it a few feet away from us. The spell she casts is some form of a reveal enchantment spell. The enchantment takes form and not long after I have a complex spell matrix in front of me.

And this thing pisses me off slightly. It's definitely an impressive spell, four rings, at least fifteen runes, and a lot more math the necessary. After a few minutes of looking at it, I turned back to Celestia. "If I ever meet who made this I'm going to have a lot of less than polite words with them."

She chuckles, and it seems she is truly letting our last subject go. "And why is that?"

I groan. "Where do I even start? Take that section right there." I point to the worst math equation in the spell that I have found so far. "It could easily be replaced with a math equation a quarter the size." To prove my point I draw what I would replace it with in the air with my magic.

She looks at both for a few seconds before noting my example down on some paper she gets from her desk. "I think you underestimate just how good you are at making spells."

I shake my head. "Nope, I just overestimated everypony else, and then I'm inevitably disappointed with the result. Now please take that down before looking at it gives me a headache." She snorts at my response and lets the spell she cast collapse and dissolve.

After a moment I change the subject yet again, I look over at all the paperwork on her desk. "Well, I can tell you've been busy, what's been happening?" I ask as she moves the gem to her desk along with the quick note she made while bringing over some tea.

It's her turn to groan a little. "A lot, and at the same time, not much. Right now we've been trying to find more information without tipping any of them off, and it's proven very difficult. They are very good at hiding, but that's not much of a surprise. beyond that, it's mostly been preparation and implementing plans for different potential situations." She's probably leaving a lot out, but that's not something I need to know, it's thankfully not my job

"Don't overwork yourself," I say only half joking.

She raises a brow again. "As if you're one to talk?" She jokes back before looking happy at my concern for her. "I'm not, I know well the practice of delegating my work, this is just a backlog that will take some time to get through."

I smile at that. "Well, speaking of work, I've brought you more," I say in a cheery tone while taking a few papers out of my saddlebags, they contain the new widespread illusion detection spell, its limitations, and instructions on how to best use it.

She stares at it, I can see her face fighting in between happy and annoyed, I chuckle when she just tosses the papers on her desk and ignores them for the time being. "Thank you, it should prove useful."

I keep smiling. "Also this." This time I passed her the pebble-sized ruby. She looks confused and curious, "You remember when you held me like a sack of potatoes?"

She just smiles back a little mockingly at the memory. "Good, that is my revenge," I say while pointing at the gem.

She stares at the gem for a moment. "I wouldn't describe how I carried you quite like that, and why would I use this? You already tipped your hoof."

I give her a knowing look. "Because you're like me, too curious for our own good. And we both know it will be funny." I reason as a slight taunt.

She looks at it for several seconds, and I can see the curiosity slowly winning out in her. I glance down at Philomena as she rests in between my forelegs, she's not as smart as Entropy but she's still a curious bird, so she also watches as Celestia activates the tiny gem.

I watch as a small illusion takes form, a single green illusionary grape floats right above the gem as Celestia holds it in front of her face. It takes half a second for her to realize what she's looking at, and that proves to be a half-second too late. Like a small flaming missile, Philomena jumps from her spot and lunges at the fake grape.

And passes through it before smacking right into Celestia's face, the next several seconds consist of Philomena flapping around and trying to eat the grape while Celestia tries to stop her from climbing on her face. While I just break down laughing at the sight of Celestia struggling to control a hyperactive phoenix.

I keep laughing as she finally turns the illusion off and gets Philomena off of her. Philomena keeps looking around for a while as I get my laughing somewhat under control and smile widely at Celestia. "Now we're even," I say in between breaths as I try to catch my breath

She looks at me for a second before laughing for a few moments, "I guess we are even, for now." I don't like that smile she has, but a challenge would be nice.

"Bring it on." I decided to take out my chess set and start setting it up, Celestia may not be overworked but she could probably do with a little more fun. And I'm proven right as she smiles at the sight of my setting up the game.

It's mostly small talk and uninteresting conversation for a while as we play, but eventually, I stop for a moment and remember something I wanted to ask about. "How have..." I stop short trying to remember their names. "Cricket, and... I don't remember the second one's name. And also the third one. How have they all been."

She smiles at me while checkmating me yet again. "Miss Cricket and Miss Cicada have been doing just fine. They have been staying here for their own safety, they are allowed around the place with a guard escort and seem to be doing well. As for the prisoner, he's still being questioned but has said nothing so far." I nod. "Why do you ask?"

I don't ask about the prisoner, probably not going to get much of an answer anyway. "Well, I have several questions for Cricket and Cicada. And I need to know something for an idea of mine." She looks interested.

"Our meeting is almost over so I'll just take you to them." I nod my agreement, I collect Entropy and my chess set from the couch. "Also here, this should interest you." She grabs some papers from her desk and passes them to me, I'm confused but start reading through them.

It's a report on the B.L.P spell. From what I see it's been a massive success across the board, it doesn't have exact numbers but it shows that the spell has proven to be very effective at its job. And it's not required learning for doctors, that's one hell of an achievement.

I smile while reading through the report and get a nice feeling of accomplishment. Once I'm done I pass it back over. "Thanks." It was definitely a mood booster. She smiles and puts the report back as we leave her office.

"So what was this idea you mentioned?" She asks as we walk down the winding hallways of the palace.

I think for a moment about how best to answer. "Well, the emotional shield I gave you works by keeping emotional magical affinities inside itself." I won't mention how I know changelings can sense emotional magic. "So my main question is what do changelings actually eat? Is it the magic itself or some other form that a pony's emotions can take on?"

She seems to see where I'm going with my line of thought. "If it's the former then that shield would also contain all the emotional magic that builds up inside."

I nod and continue. "Yup, and with some modification it could become a way to store emotional magic and collect more of it. A new food source and a decent bargaining chip. But it depends on several things. For example, have you asked them if they have a way to store their emotions?"

She thinks for a moment before shaking her head. "Not that I remember, the last few weeks we've mostly asked them about the political situation and any information about the war." I'm not too surprised at that, it seems like a good idea to prioritize that information.

She continues. "Even if the shield doesn't work for this idea I'd like you to see if you can make some way to store food for them, even if they already have a way to store their food. If nothing else it's an avenue for trade, which in itself is a good bargaining chip for some form of peace." She seems happy with the idea.

And she brings up a good point, trade could start some form of peace and cooperation, but I'm not the pony for diplomacy so I'll leave that to experts. I'll definitely keep looking into ways to gather and store whatever it is that changelings eat, food trade is the oldest form of trade for a good reason.

We come to a door I don't recognize with two guards at the door's sides. "I wish you luck with the idea, and please keep me updated on how it goes."

I smile, it was nice talking to her again. "Have a good day Celestia, and enjoy the paperwork." I give one last jab.

She gives me a deadpan look, that's a first. "No." Her face shifts back to normal. "Have a good day Shade, our next meeting should be in the normal amount of time, I'll see you then. Oh, and I'll have Philomena bring you your mail." She walks away after that and I can't help but notice her well-toned flank.

I shake my head after a moment and shove those thoughts down, by magic I'm starting to remember why puberty sucked. After a moment I knock on the door and walk inside.

Inside is a nicely decorated room with two beds and a table, along with a few bookshelves. Both changelings notice me and stop what they are doing, "Hello, Miss Cricket and Miss Cicada, I hope both of you have been well since the last time we met."

I plan to speak like a government employee from my past life. Basically being friendly while also being all business.

They are both silent for a moment as they stare at me, neither are in disguise so it's hard to tell what their expressions are. "We've been well, how have you been?" Cricket answers me with the same manner of speech I'm using. But both also seem a little awkward, but I might be wrong, still they at least are somewhat friendly.

"I am doing well. I'll get right to the point of my visit, I'm here to ask both of you a few questions, if that's fine with both of you?" I have no intention to force them, but I hope they'll agree.

They glance at each other, and Cricket answers me again. "That's fine, but I'm not sure how much more we could explain."

I walk over and sit down while Entropy decides to stay on my back looking at them, they haven't seen Entropy without her illusion before so both give her odd looks. "Before that, I think it's best that I introduce myself." I might as well be friendly and I don't see much harm in them knowing my name.

They already know where I live and that I'm far from normal, so trading a little information about myself for some small amount of trust seems worth it. "My name is Shade, and I work for the crown in a capacity that I'm not allowed to fully disclose."

Entropy is an odd bird to look at but both seem to not pay her too much mind, and after a moment Cricket once again speaks. "I'm Cricket, and that is Cicada. I never got to thank you for helping us, thank you." Cricket tells me their names, even though I greeted them by names, she really is being awkward, or she's on edge about something.

I then watch as Cicada pokes her with a hoof and gives her a look. "And sorry for getting you involved." Seems she's somewhat embarrassed about it.

I just show them a customer service smile. "Not your fault, your apology is appreciated." My lack of anger seems to perk up their moods and cause them to relax a little.

This time it's Cicada who speaks. "You had questions?" She seems far less professional and much more blunt than we are being, I can see why Cricket normally does the talking. Cicada seems like the blunt and simple type, and I can work with that.

I nod and take out some paper, a quill, and some ink. "Several. But before I start I'd just like to make it clear you don't have to answer me if you don't want to." Cicada nods at that. "What exactly do you eat?"

Cricket answers me first. "We eat emotions from ponies and other races." Her answer is polite and simple.

Cicada interrupts her at the end. "He knows that, I think he's asking what form it takes, right?" She asks me.

I'm a little surprised that she's the one to guess correctly, so I give her a nod. "That is correct, our best guess so far has been emotional magical affinities." Cricket seems lost at the terms I'm using, but Cicada seems to understand completely.

"Oh, you're actually smart." I'm confused by both her statement and her excitement, but don't let it show. Cricket glares at Cicada but stays silent, Cicada just smiles at her. "Come on Crick, we both know you don't know anything about how stuff like this works." Cricket just keeps silent at that.

Out of the two of them I didn't expect the blunt small changeling to be the one more versed in magic, guess it's true, you can't judge a book by its cover. Cicada looks back at me. "And you made a good guess. It's a little more complicated than that though so I'll have to explain a few things first." I nod and ready my quill.

She seems happy to talk about magic, or maybe it's because we're talking about changelings? I'm not sure. "We do mainly live off of emotional magic, but there is also something we call pure emotion. All races produce emotional magic while we can produce pure emotion ." She pauses for a breath.

"Do changelings require both?" I take notes of everything she's saying.

She shakes her head. "Nope, we only need enough of either to keep us full, and we can even convert one to the other. Now you may be wondering what pure emotion is?" I nod, honestly it's a little hard keeping my professional face with how friendly she's being, she kind of reminds me of a less hyperactive Pinkie Pie.

"Well, it's a solid form of emotional magic that we can naturally produce if we have enough emotional magic gathered. But the conversion is not the best and it takes time and effort to create, but it lets us store food for long amounts of time."

Well, that answers a few questions and brings up a few new ones. "Can you eat all emotions? And if so, is there a difference from eating different emotions?"

She seems very forthcoming with information, maybe she's just used to it after the last few weeks. "Another good guess, you're good at this. We can, and they do. Positive emotions are preferred because they give us more, but all of them can work in a pinch."

This solid form of magic is definitely something that would be interesting to study, if I could copy it for other types of magic it could prove very useful. "What emotion works best?" I can guess but it's good to make sure.

She gives me a smile, a changeling smile is odd but not unpleasant, at least not unpleasant to me. "Love, so many other emotions all mixed together while also being a very powerful emotion, gives us more than anything else I know of." No surprise there.

At this point, I can only think of two other good questions for this topic. "How do you collect emotions? And is there a limit to how much you can hold at one time?"

She tilts her head and seems to think about it for a moment. "It's kind of hard to describe. We can feel all types of emotional magic and some of the skilled changelings can even pick what emotions they collect. But most changelings simply collect all emotions around them, that's why picking a good spot is important."

"Things like restaurants or taverns, places where ponies have a good time. And yes there is a limit to how much we can hold, when we reach it we can't gather more, but that limit is smaller or bigger depending on the changeling and how much practice they have."

"Whenever we have too much emotional magic stored and have a safe place to stay we turn that gathered emotional magic into Pure Emotion to store it for later. But most changelings aren't the best at converting it and often lose a decent amount of the emotional magic in the process. You're just full of questions, do you mind if I ask something?"

I note down everything she's told me, I'm done with the main thing I wanted to know so why not? "Sure, but I may not answer you." I don't see much harm in answering a question, and I could always just refuse to answer.

"Why do you not have emotions?" I'm confused by her question for a second, it seems my necklace does work.

Cricket has just been reading while we've talked, and also quietly listening in on us. But when she hears this she gives Cicada what I think is an incredulous look. "Cicada! Don't be rude." I almost chuckle as Cricket admonishes her friend, these two seem to be close.

They are about to continue but I interrupt them. "What do my emotions feel like to you?" I've never known for sure how well my necklace works and it would be good to know.

Cicada smiles again, I wonder if she can eat meat with those teeth. "I can kind of feel some emotions from you, but barely any. I've felt ponies like that a few times before but not this consistently, do you have something happening to your brain?" I can't stop myself from chuckle very slightly, she really doesn't have a filter.

They both looked at me confused as I finally broke my calm mask a little, I started thinking about how to approach this. The emotional shield is something that they will probably figure out when the guards guarding them start using it, and I know Celestia well enough to say that's something she's probably already working on implementing for the guard.

But such a shield is too fast for a pony to have invented it, so I lie. "No I do not, but I'm not allowed to say how or why." Neither of them looked that surprised at my answer.

I cast a spell and check the time. "And that's also me out of time, thank you for answering my questions. Do you need to know anything before I leave?" I decided to start shutting down the conversation to avoid the topic, I already got the answers I needed anyway.

They can obviously tell what I'm doing, but I keep a professional and non negotiable tone. Cicada seems a little disappointed but as far as I can tell neither of them seem mad. "What is their name?" She asks while pointing to Entropy, who's still on my back.

I stand up and organize my notes before placing them in my saddlebags. "Entropy." I turn to Cricket and wait to see if she has any questions.

Her pupil-less eyes stare back for a few moments. "Why these questions?"

I'm honestly surprised it took this long for either of them to ask that. "To better understand your kind." I give a nice corporate answer. After that answer, I give them both a nod. "Miss Cricket, Miss Cicada, I hope both of you have a good day."

Cricket just nods and goes back to her book, while Cicada is more lively. "Come back anytime, it's fun to have interesting questions for once, and you have a good day too." I give them one last nod and leave the room, once the door is closed behind me I finally let my mask go.

Well, talking to them was interesting, and I now have a good amount of answers. I whistle as Entropy takes me home, I have work to do.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D

Took a day off. Also this one came out way longer then expected, the next chapter will probably be shorter, for my sake.