DELIRUM:
Dawning

It had become a lovely morning despite the night’s best efforts. And though their bones ached and groaned, Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon awoke to a glorious sight…the moon was in the same sky as the sun and both cast down faint light and warmth upon the formerly-sleeping duo. Better still, Princess Luna was gazing down upon them with a faint air of big sister-esque concern, her expression soft like the water of a lake with a lunar reflection shimmering across it as her midnight mane flowed freely. She helped the two up as Spike let out a yawn, Luna leading them out of the sunken trench that they’d been sleeping in and along the natural road they’d been following, which opened up to a beautiful brook that kept fast, fresh water freely flowing past them as they trotted along.

“It’s beautiful out, is it not?” Luna admitted as she turned back to Twilight, who nodded in agreement as Spike rubbed the back of his neck with an air of nervousness.

“I have to admit, I’m glad you’re here…and to think, just a few years ago I’d never be saying such a thing.” The little dragon managed to mumble out as Luna waved a slightly dismissive hoof in the air.

“All is forgiven, young Spike. You and Twilight have nothing to fear from me anymore. The spirit that once possessed me has been long banished. And I assure you, when I WAS possessed by it, I was ten times scarier than anything you’ll encounter here.” Princess Luna admitted as they continued their way past the brook, leading them towards what appeared to be a faintly glowing light off in the distance, high above an enormous plains they could just barely make out…the plains where the city of New Hope had been built upon.

It was definitely a lovely morning for such a trip, a sunstruck morning with clear air that seemed to ring like a bell, and the wind was as an invisible hand, combing the rich green grass of the meadow they were walking in every which way it felt. Twilight closed her eyes and allowed the soft wind to feel her face as they continued moving down the path before the twinkling in the distance made Luna stop Twilight in place, and she pointed with a hoof. “Do my eyes deceive me, Twilight?” She wished to know as Twilight looked up at the skies above, realizing that what she was beholding was-

…a rip…in the sky. Like a stitch being slowly opened.

Just like the book had spoken of. Just like…

For a brief moment, there was absolutely nothing to be seen on the plains off in the distance, and then it began to flicker slowly into existence, the unmistakable beauty of a city on a hill, of gleaming, towering structures and pearly walls, the hustle and bustle of train whistles roaring through the air, along with a panicked, terrified unanimous series of cries. People were TERRIFIED. What in holy heck had just happened to them? What was going on?

“We need to get there NOW.” Twilight murmured as Princess Luna knelt down before her and Spike. “Oh, no, Princess, I can’t ask you-”

“You needn’t ask me when I am offering already what is natural to offer. We need to get over there as quickly as we can. I can fly. You cannot.” Luna said calmly. “Believe me, I feel no shame in humbling myself before such a dedicated student to my sister, and such a devoted historian…and, of course, I cannot forget her noble dragon, who so stalwartly joins her in deepest danger.” She added as she gave Spike a slight smile.

“We’re really not worthy!” Spike said with a deep blush as he and Twilight climbed atop of Luna’s back and she soared off through the clear blue skies towards the city, the people milling about in confusion and surprise before taking notice of the regal being that was flying high above them, who appered to have hair like the night, with such dazzling, beautiful eyes and skin…

“Who…ARE you?” One of them asked, kneeling by a thick-bodied Changeling that Twilight, despite never having seen him in person, somehow recognized.

“I am Princess Luna of Equestria. There is much we have to tell you. But this Changeling needs immediate medical attention…no doubt many in your city do.” Princess Luna said as she touched down before them all and bowed her head with a faintly regal air, Twilight and Spike getting off of her as Twilight raced over to Carapace the Changeling as he mumbled incoherently in a daze, Twilight wrapping some gauze around his bloodied stomach. “Please. Bring them to me. I’ll do everything I can to help them, and Twilight Sparkle and Spike here shall answer whatever questions we can. You must have so many.”

“I don’t think they’re the only ones.” Twilight admitted with a slight chuckle.

…

…

…

…he had run. Run through the cornfield, run through a natural apple orchard, and had settled down at long last in a far-off, hidden thicket in the far most northwest corner of an old meadow by said orchard. Shimmer the Changeling made up his mind that he would have to stay there, there was just nowhere else for miles. No city, no towns, and evidently no people. He’d been the only person to go this way when the city had vanished, unless maybe there were people still out there, searching around, hoping to find others like him.

In any case, he didn’t want to risk going anywhere else where there wasn’t food and a degree of shelter. He’d taken apples from the orchard and whatever little vegetables he could get from the meadow, and bits and pieces from the cornfield…whatever didn’t have bugs crawling all over them, anyhow. Though sometimes even that had to be ignored.

Luckily, though there were no towns, there WAS an old farmhouse, the last remnants of somebody else’s life that had been left behind to collect dust and rot. Whomever had lived out here was long gone, but at least Shimmer could still put their home to proper use, and he could write in his journal. He would sit on moldy blankets and made himself a bed of leaves, cooking vegetables with fires he made and sitting outside the farmhouse, hoping that one day the fires would attract someone to him. Just…someone.

Anyone.

But then winter set in…the coldest. The loneliest. He had to stay covered up constantly for days at a time, sometimes not even having the strength to move outside the farmhouse as he shivered in the cold. He’d occasionally turn himself into a bulkier, more hairy version of himself in a desperate attempt to stay warm, but his powers were being slowly ebbed away. He couldn’t feed on emotions anymore, not with no people. So eventually even that boon was beginning to fail, and all he was left with was the loneliness.

Not a single solitary soul appeared for an entire year. Not even any animals. So Shimmer just sat alone in the abandoned farmhouse, resting his head against the creaky old wall, as the faint images of his past played out before him, fading away in time like a mirage.

“I can’t…keep thinking about that.” He thought to himself over and over. “…I’m not Shimmer the pop star anymore. Not Shimmer the actor anymore. I’m just Shimmer the changeling…just some pony trying to stay alive. And I’m barely succeeding at that.”

But the second year was quite better. The animals were beginning to come out and approach the farmhouse now. The displacement of New Hope had seemingly unsettled all of nature, but now it was beginning to slowly retake root…and to take notice of him. He noticed animals would approach his farmhouse, and he’d just sit in the front door, looking at them as squirrels, chipmunks and little rabbits would approach. Soon they became wild cats and dogs, the occasional snake and frog, and then…a family of deer, at long last, came across the meadow and approached him, fascinated by this strange being with holes in its body.

Shimmer had reached out with a single hoof and felt their soft skin, and as he did, he felt the tears flow freely. Being able to just…feel something ALIVE, lifeblood flowing beneath his hoof, made him weep quietly, the tears trickling down his cheek. But he said nothing to them. He just softly stroked them, not saying a word. The word was the hurt. You couldn’t ruin a moment like this.

He would then begin leaving apples and corn out for the animals, and they would come more often to his farmhouse, providing him with his the first thing he really had to “company” in years. And sometimes the knowledge that this was all he had made him cry, as the lonely cry of an owl reminded him of what he’d lost. And other times he would just laugh as the sun cast its rays over him, and be grateful he was there. Still THERE, unlike the others, who were all gone…and he would feel a sense of pride. He was himself. He was ALIVE. He was there.

There was still hope.

It helped that he’d learned how to garden. He went searching around the meadow for vegetables that were growing, and would take wild seeds from tiny little tomato plants, beans, peas…he planted turnips and onions and of course, apples and corn. So he planted a garden by the farmhouse, and it became vibrant as time passed on…and of course, the animals.

“Sorry. MUST like vegetables.” He informed the bear, shaking his hoof back and forth before it as it slightly pouted.

He wouldn’t let an animal hang around the farmhouse or let it eat anything or any animal…unless it was a vegetable. That was just the way it would have to be. Now, he had different approaches for different animals. Sometimes he’d seemingly charm the little critters into taking the food.

“Come on…try this onion. It’s nice and juicy. Just try it.”

Other times, he’d just have to be harsher. “Look, fox, it’s either eat the squash or STARVE, cuz the chipmunks are off limits!”

Amazingly, the methods were working. Bit by bit. And Shimmer’s garden was growing larger. Soon he was expanding, building more and more of it, digging out new trenches to put more seeds down into.

It was then that he discovered it. It was a simple little thing but…it was pretty.

A little diamond, sparkling softly in the sunlight. But useless to him, except for one thing…it would look really, really lovely atop the farmhouse. It took him time, but he managed to bend a metal pole into something that could hold the diamond up atop the farmhouse, turning it and the pole into a makeshift weather vane that glittered brightly, even in the dead of night. A beacon better than any fire he’d ever lit.

With time, it would draw somebody else to the farmhouse. Or rather…somePONY else.

“…hi.”

Slowly but surely Shimmer the changeling poked his head out from behind the door he was hiding behind, shamefully looking down at the ground. “Oh, please, please, don’t look on me. I’m an absolute mess, and I haven’t taken a dip in the brook for three days, I must smell disgusting!” He insisted to the dark-haired pony. The minute he’d heard the unmistakable trotting of feet, he’d dived into the farmhouse out of a mixture of panic, nervousness and shame over how…SLOVENLY he appeared.

“Come on out, please.” She insisted, her voice oddly deep and solemn as Shimmer carefully made his way out of the farmhouse, head still hung as he looked away from her faintly…glittering…body? What?

He looked up at her, mouth slowly opening in surprise. Her body was…it shimmered in the light like the diamond he had high above the farmhouse. It glistened in the sunlight as her black hair fell down around her soft face, her eyes glittering faint green as she looked him over. “Your…your body. It’s…it is as beautiful as a black pearl.” He mumbled out. “I don’t deserve to be in the presence of one so beautiful, I’m a slob.”

“I’ve seen many animals coming this way. And when I saw the light above the farmhouse, I had to see who was bringing so many of them together. Now I understand why.” She said, approaching him as she held his cheek and lifted his head up. “Your eyes.” She whispered out. “They’re kind eyes, changeling. Good eyes. And a good face beneath all that dirt caked onto it.”

“I’m…sorry, I…” Shimmer began to shudder, cringing as he stepped back away from her. “Please, try to understand, I’m a “Ghainahm”, we feed off of negative emotions! I don’t want to just start sucking off of you. I’m afraid I might hurt you out of desperation, I’m…I’m so damned HUNGRY for emotions. It’s just been me and the animals for two years now and…everyone I knew and loved is gone along with the place I called home…” He whispered, resting his head in his hooves and shaking it slowly back and forth. “I can’t ever get back what I lost.”

“It doesn’t have to be the same.” The mare murmured out as he looked up into her face. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be good.” She went on…a single tear trickling down her cheek as Shimmer gasped slightly in surprise.

“You’re…”

“Grief is great, changeling. Let us be good to one another.” She murmured out.

Sympathy. Compassion. SADNESS…sadness for another, but still…sadness…

Shimmer deeply inhaled, wrapping his hooves around the mare as he breathed deep, inhaling her scent, like that of fresh licorice as the raw emotion wafted from off of her and through his body, his own tears freely flowing as he nuzzled against her cheek. In this one moment, they were becoming one, both sharing in each other’s sorrow, as she felt the pain he endured, and he felt the sadness she felt for him. A lovely, tingling sensation rose across his body like a thousand tiny little hooves massaging him across the fur, and Shimmer finally broke the embrace, looking into her eyes.

“Where are you from?” He murmured out.

“I come from a land of crystal and beauty.” She told him tenderly. “There are many of us who heard of the destruction of New Hope. We’ve taken many refugees in. Would you like to come with me?” She wanted to know.

Shimmer nervously glanced back at the farmhouse, cringing slightly as he saw the many animals emerging from the garden…all of them walking up to him, many nuzzling him as he returned the favor. For what seemed to be many hours he stood there, looking at them as they looked back at him. And then…

“One last journey.” He said aloud. “…will you follow me?” He asked of them all.

All seemed to nod at once, as he turned to the mare, nodding in agreement. “Take me there.” He said to her. “I’d like to see it for myself. And…to know you better.” He added. “Please. Tell me your name.”

“Umbra.” She said. “Don’t laugh, please. My whole family is very big on color names. I have a brother named Red and a sister named Pearl.”

“My name’s Shimmer. I won’t laugh. My whole family was big on names that emphasized flashy things.” The changeling laughed in return, as he, Umbra and the animals slowly made their trek through the fields, making their way to the north. Through hill and vane they travelled, walking across a lonely valley…until at last they disappeared into the trees, the meadow now far, far behind, and the last remnants of New Hope’s civilization with it.

…

…

…

… “The book you’ve written is positively fascinating.” Luna informed Twilight Sparkle as she looked in on an enormous room from behind large glass windows in Ponyville General Hospital’s mental ward. The princess of the night was there with Celestia to pay a visit to some of the residents in the hospital who were still left over from the large move from New Hope to Ponyville. New Hope was currently in shambles ever since it had come back from whatever it had fallen into when the sky had opened up. But it’s people were resilient. With time, and with patience and love…they would recover.

And what better place to do so than in the comforting embrace of Ponyville?

“They’ve got so much to learn about this new world they’ve been awakened to.” Princess Luna admitted. “But we’ve been doing everything we can for them to ease the transition. In a few more months, who knows?”

“I never thought Ponyville would be so open to letting so many Changelings be here, but they were all in such need of new homes, I guess we just couldn’t help ourselves!” Twilight admitted as Spike entered the room, looking over the book that Twilight had written, with the title “Delirum: From the Edge and Back Again”, the story of Shimmer the Changeling combined with her own experiences in seeking out where he had come from. Upon arriving in New Hope, she’d been brought the recently-deceased bodies of Sirocco and Hyacinth in the desperate hope that Princess Luna could aid them…

But as powerful as Luna was, nothing could be done except give them a few more minutes of life. Hyacinth had wanted to know where Shimmer was…Twilight couldn’t tell him. But the gryphon, Sirocco…

“Please…tell me he’s alright.” The gryphon had managed to ask, one arm wrapped around Twilight as Luna’s horn brightly glittered, a faint light slowly fading from the gryphon’s eyes. “Please tell me he got away.”

“He did.” Twilight gently informed him, holding the side of his face. “We’re gonna get Carapace help. And I’m going to let everyone know your story. You didn’t die for nothing. I promise.”

“…I hope…he was happy.” Sirocco murmured. “He’d like to know his story…made people…happy…”

“What a way to end it.” Spike admitted as he closed the book, sighing as he shook his head back and forth. “To think, Shimmer never knew what happened to his city.”

“But Sirocco was right. He would be happy to know his story reached so many people.” Twilight said as she looked down at the knapsack that hung around her waist, containting the original manuscript for the tale, and Shimmer and Hyacinth’s journals, which had contributed TO the manuscript. She smiled broadly down at Spike, patting him atop the head. “He lived a full life, Spike. He had children, a wife, family, and he never stopped telling people stories. And now he never WILL stop telling his story. With this and with the recordings of “Delirium” we uncovered from the studio, what he did will be reaching people for years to come.”

“It would be fortuitous indeed if the Changeling race could somewhat gain a semblance of normal peaceful existence in cooperation with us now that so many of their kind have taken shelter under our wing.” Luna admitted with a firm nod. “We have shown them we are willing to take the first step. The rest is up to them.”

“What about Mr. Carry?” Spike wanted to know as he pointed a claw through the glass window. Several changelings were sitting at tables, looking over history books with interest, their heads wrapped up in bandages. Others were hitting their heads against the wall, heads in helmets as nurses gently led them away to get a little snack and some medication. But one changeling was most noticeable of all, a bulky “Keobjil” type changeling who was holding onto some flowers and walking across the room as he murmured to himself.

“Thank you so much for the pretty flowers. You always bring me such lovely roses. I’ll just go find a vase to put them in…they’re so pretty…so pretty…” Carapace the Changeling mumbled to himself as Luna sighed, shaking her head back and forth as she glanced from him to Twilight and Spike.

“I have been inside his dreams and attempted to aid him just as I have done all I can to aid these poor, unfortunate souls.” Princess Luna sighed out, hanging her head. “But alas. Though he occasionally has minor flashes back to his normal persona, he continues to remain deluded.”

“Yes, I’ll put them in my room…they’re pretty. So pretty…”

“I know that we’ll never see that person ever again. But thanks to Carry…Shimmer became the person that told me this story.” Twilight admitted as her horn glowed softly and the journal floated out from her knapsack before her, and she turned the pages until she reached the very last one, a single sentence being all that remained.

“I am Shimmer. And I…am the real deal.”