Magicka Lager

Twilight squinted her eyes against the sun streaming in through the windows, casting rays of light that filled the room. Rubbing her eyes with a hoof, she sat up in bed, preparing herself to get up out of the room and prepare for the day. As she stepped out of her room, her mane a complete mess, she contemplated cutting it again, as it was getting somewhat unwieldy, and she could feel it starting to get into her eyes. She was one of the only ponies in Ponyville with bangs, and most saw it as a pretty addition to her overall appearance, but too much of a hassle to use themselves. Twilight continued to rub sleep from her eyes as she entered the bathroom, and stepped into the tile floor of her shower. She allowed the warm water wash over her before applying a shampoo with a thick bristled  brush, and proceeded to scrub down. As she finished her sower, she stepped out to dry off.  Her mane was quickly dried with a hair dryer spell, and her coat was as well. She began to style her mane into her usual setting, and as she did so, brushed her teeth.

She finished her bathroom routine fairly easily, and now was fully awake. She saw Spike, still curled up in an adorable little ball. She gently prodded him with a hoof.

“Spike,” she whispered, “wake up.”

Spike waved a claw in the air. “Five more minutes...”

Twilight chuckled to herself. She poked him again with “Come on, now, you gotta get up! It’s Saturday. We've got stuff to do!”

Spike grumpily got up from his sleep, rubbing at his eyes with both hands, and said “Fine, fine. I’ll get up.”

As spike showered and readied himself for the day, Twilight stretched out in the recliner in the main lobby. She was reading a book on the magic of sentient non-pony beings, and the interesting thing was they could almost be classified as the pony races were. Gryphons were the fliers of the non-ponies. The minotaurs roughly represented the earth pony race. And the crystal ponies, while something like a pony, still were considered non-pony, and thus were the magic wielders. Twilight was engrossed in the book, and almost didn't hear the knock on the door. The knocking grew frantic, and Twilight looked up, set her book down, and crossed the room tho the oak door. As the door swung creakily open, she was greeted by the sight of a pony she had never seen before. Unicorn mare, the stranger had a dark green mane and light green coat. Her startling eyes were a dark shade of brown, and her cutie mark was a tree with something hanging off of it: a beehive. She had a small saddlebag draped over her back.

“Hello,” said the mare nervously.

“Hi.” said Twilight, and nodded to let the mare enter. The stranger obliged, and closed the door behind her.

The mare came over  to face Twilight, who had crossed the room to the other side of the library floor. Her horn glowed a vibrant green, and a wave of magic washed over the library. Second and third magic waves followed soon after. “There,” said the mare in a satisfied tone. “alone at last. Twilight Sparkle, I need your help.”

Twilight looked around at the room and asked, “What sort of spells did you cast?”

The mare chuckled. “Simple wards, soundproofing, sight-block, and one that is set on a lasting effect. When cast, it records everything said and heard by the target, namely you. When cast a second time at you, it prevents you from mentioning, in any form or fashion, what I say or do.”

“Wait, why would you need to do those spells?”

“Word cannot get out about us. I’m going to show you something to you, Twilight. I will also give you an item that must be only seen and used by you, and ask you for something only you can provide. First, I will show you. Scream all you want, nopony will hear you.” With that, the green mare was enveloped in a sparkling ethereal flame. When the dazzling light had faded away, a changeling was left standing where the unicorn mare was. “Look, Twilight, we need your help.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. Her horn began to glow with purple magic as she said “Why are you here, changeling?” in the best threatening voice she could, which was pretty darn intimidating. But the changeling was unfazed.

“My name is Xrap. And like I said, the hive needs help, Twilight Sparkle. We are... dying.”

“Dying?” Said Twilight, discharging her horn into her magic reserves, sheathing the spell.

“We are dying, yes. Before we were driven out, we fed on the love of ponies. The love was collected by the drones, and sent back to the hive to be magically processed. Raw emotion is extremely hazardous to your health. It consumes you from the inside out. Normally, we had reserves of magic that we drew from unicorn targets, that never harmed the unicorns, of course, and we stored and used it for brewing drinkable emotion.” Xrap looked up at Twilight, to check if she was following, which she was. “But now, unicorns across the land are learning anti-changeling spells, detection, deterioration... destruction.” All of this was said bitterly. “We are running out of magic, Twilight Sparkle, and we need more. We are starving, and growing desperate for a solution. And no matter what we look like, we are creatures, sentient beings, and in pain. Chrysalis has been growing weaker, and is in no state or want of attempting anything close to the scale of what was attempted previously. And there is no reason for her to do so, anyhow. The amount of love in the general atmosphere has been increased since the restoration of the Crystal Empire, and we have no need of siphoning love off of ponies. But now, we need magic, or we die of starvation. Imagine having all the food you ever needed, and couldn't use it because you couldn't defrost it. It taunts us, Twilight, that all the food we need is there, but unusable in the state it’s in. That is why we need you. When a unicorn willingly channels and casts the spell, rather than a changling using unicorn magic, the product comes out better, and with much less magic consumed.”

        Twilight looked at Xrap and asked with more than a bit of hostility: “Why should I help you?”

        In answer, Xrap reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a small vial. In the vial, blocked by a cork stopper, was a thick, pink liquid. “Try it,” said Xrap. “I will drink some myself, if necessary to ensure it’s not poisoned. Try it, and then give e an answer. But let me say this. If you are to take the vial and do nothing, then you have killed us all. Take it, and answer. If you drink, and say no, then we will take no aggressive action, and attempt to find another way. If you drink it, and accept,” Xrap said with a weak smile, “Then come to the hive entrance outside of Ponyville. You will recognize it if you drink. So make your choice, Twilight Sparkle. Save us, or not.”

Xrap was gone in a flash of fire, leaving the vial sitting on the center table. Twilight stared at it, numb. Her brain should have rejected the thought of drinking the liquid at once. But she was strangely conflicted in her choice. There was possibility of something special in that little bottle, but she wasn't sure if the leap of faith would make it across the gorge. She sat there as the vial levitated in front of her, and the cork came out. She made no attempt to stop herself as the strange fluid went down the hatch.

Twilight was hit with a sensation that turned her legs to jelly, and she collapsed on the floor with her legs twitching to the beat of an insane drummer and her eyes dilated to pinpricks. She was assaulted by wave after wave of something so wonderful she couldn't describe it in words. Her body felt lighter, flying, and contentment filled her soul. She visibly relaxed as the blunt force of the love wore off, leaving a warm, fuzzy feeling that didn't seem to fade as she lay there, eyes half-closed, and a sigh of content escaped her lips.

‘W-what was that?’ She asked herself weakly. ‘Love? Is this what the changelings drink everyday? I can understand why, that was remarkable.’ Twilight was still in a dreamy half aware state and once again sighed. She slowly picked herself off the floor. ‘Well,’ she thought smugly, ‘at least that wasn't enough to convince me to help those changelings.’

Spike called from upstairs, and only then did Twilight realize that the barriers had worn off. “Breakfast!”

She made her way up to the second story to look down on her breakfast. Twilight gazed upon her favorite morning meal, apple pancakes, and realized how disgusting it looked.