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Metamorphoses

by Orcus

Chapter 4: Chapter 3: "...And That is my Sorrow"

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Chapter 3: "...And That is my Sorrow"

The rays of the afternoon sun rained down on the back of a disguised changeling as she strolled through Ponyville.

The young, but mature changeling, Pharsalia was her name, hid behind the guise of a young adult, red-furred unicorn mare that represented her age, with a cutie mark displaying a pair of books. She was exploring the town, hoping to sate her curiosity of what ponies did with their time. Far behind her, the grand shape of the theater appeared just over some of Ponyville's buildings, the massive stage having been moved to its location by a mixture of physical labor and a great deal of magic.

Despite being the image of changeling health otherwise, her rear left leg dragged behind in a limp, the limb rendered scarred and lame after an incident she had in her nymphhood that left it damaged beyond proper repair. Despite being offered a brace by the Theatre's doctor, she never liked the things, and went without one.

As she hobbled her way through or past the ponies that walked along the busy steets, Pharsalia stopped in her tracks as she witnessed Thoraxis, of all individuals, suddenly plod in front of her.

A changeling... without his disguise on?! Pharsalia thought, in shock. The shock as a matter of fact, was so much, that she could feel as her own false form vanished in a flash of green flame, her concentration to keep it lost. Witnessing the flash from out of the corner of his eye, Thoraxis turned his head, and gave Pharsalia a sarcastic, tired look.

"Oh. Hello again, hallucination Skia," he groaned, noting the resemblance the young changeling bore to his daughter.

"U-um... eh-yes! That's me! Hallucination Skia!" Pharsalia said nervously, her skills she practiced at pretending coming into play. Thoraxis sighed, turned his head forward, and trudged on. Pharsalia, noticing he was heading in the direction of the castle, decided to follow, quickly going back into her false form before any pony witnessed her as well.

"Why do you visions come to torment me?" the strange changeling asked, not bothering to look back. "Why must you materialize with the sole reason to taunt me endlessly? I'm doing my best to find you, Skia."

"Visions? Oh, well, that's because you... are getting close to... finding me?" she guessed, trying to piece together what he was rambling on about.

"Pff. I wish," he puffed, as he kicked a nearby, gray stone, which slid a few feet across the ground before spinning to an abrupt stop when the pebble impacted against the lower wall of a house. "Petra's right. I do need more sleep... or at least some form of medication to keep you away..."

"Um... yeah..." Pharsalia chuckled uneasily. Her brow curled into one of both interest and curiosity as she followed Thoraxis deeper into the bustling town's marketplace.

"Where are you going?"

"The library, after I meet up with someone. Where else?" he muttered.

"This town has a library? Ooh, where, where, where?" she asked, excitedly.

"In Twilight Sparkle's castle. How do you not know that, Skia? You tried visiting the place every day, remember?"

"I don't know, because I'm a... figment of your imagination?"

"Good point, I guess..."

Their conversation ended as they entered a table-filled lot near a restaurant. Sitting by one table was the white, scaly, draconid shape of Petra, one claw clasped onto a pickle jar, and the other inside of it, pulling one of the gherkins out.

"Hey Thoraxis!" she greeted, just before her mouth snapped off the end of the pickle, and chewed heartily, her stinger-tipped tail moving behind her in apparent glee at seeing him. "I'm glad to see you slept in. You looked so peaceful when I last saw you."

"I woke up about an hour ago, and came down here when I saw the note you left behind, as a matter of fact," he chuckled, lightly. Petra leaned over, and the two kissed briefly on the lips.

"I thought you hated pickles," he said after they both pulled away, noticing the taste she left behind in his mouth.

"I dunno... I guess I have a little craving for the things right now," Petra chuckled. As she finished the one in her claw, Pharsalia limped closer to Thoraxis, eager to know who this strange couple was from him.

"Who's that?" Pharsalia asked, as the wyvern greedily started on the last one of the juicy vegetables the jar held.

"My girlfriend," Thoraxis said back, keeping his head straight, and his voice in a low enough tone that he thought Petra wouldn't hear. Judging from how fast she turned her head to the two of them though, she did.

"Ooh, who's your friend?" Petra asked, putting the now-empty jar down, taking notice that he was talking to somepony else, and wasn't being grumpy or rude about it. Thoraxis gave her an odd look before replying.

"Friend? I'm just talking to one of my hallucinations again. You wouldn't believe this one either, I think I'm imagining what Skia would look like as an adult."

"Thoraxis, that's... not a hallucination..." the albino wyvern pointed out slowly, in a whisper. "You're talking to a pony. And she's standing right... next... to... you."

"Hi," Pharsalia greeted, after Thoraxis's head had spun around to her. "I believe you were calling me "Hallucination Skia?""

Thoraxis rubbed his eyes with a hoof in disbelief, before getting another, long, wide-eyed look at her. "M-my mistake..." he quickly apologized, chuckling in embarrassment. "I thought you looked like a changeling I'm searching for. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately, so... I haven't been as astute as I should be, heh..."

"I guess it's my fault too, for playing along this far," Pharsalia giggled. "My name's Pharsalia. I'm one of the stagehooves from the Theatre. It's very nice to meet you two."

"Oh, so you are?" Petra inquired, as she got up from her seat. "Neat! Thoraxis and I were planning on going to see the opening play tomorrow night, right honey?"

"Yes, dear," Thoraxis replied in a monotonous voice, one of his webbed ears twitching to the side lazily. "...Because you said it was good for my health, and all..."

With an arched brow and a claw on her hip, Petra looked down and gave a sardonic smile to the changeling. "You know you need this, Thoraxis," she chided.

"I know, I know," he agreed. "By the way, are you going to come to the castle with me?"

"Sure am," she said, before giving a side glance at Pharsalia. "Are you?"

"No, not right now," Pharsalia replied, sullenly. "I've got to get ready to have lunch with one of my friends. I just wanted to know more about the town to, ya'know, see if it had anything interesting, before I did so. So I guess this means goodbye for now."

"Goodbye to you then Pharsalia. I hope we get to see you again soon," Petra spoke. Pharsalia gave a last wave with a hoof, and departed, leaving the two alone as she tottered on her way.

After the goodbye had finished, Thoraxis and Petra made it to the castle a brief walk later. The tall, crystalline, tree-like structure was enough to impress all who beheld it, but both the changeling and the wyvern had gotten used to it's awesome visage by now. Just as they made it to the door, it swung open, revealing two shapes.

"...And that's how she got frigophobia," Odyssia spoke, finishing up her tale as Twilight and herself exited the castle's main door. With neither looking ahead, both Odyssia and Thoraxis collided against one another, jumping back in reaction when they recovered.

"Oops! Pardon me, sir," the changeling princess started. "I was j-"

Odyssia went silent when she saw the changeling and wyvern who now stood before her. Quickly, she cleared her throat, and spoke again, mustering up the regal, elegant voice she was trained to use.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies. I didn't see either of you there."

"Don't worry about it," Thoraxis spoke, before he got a good look her. "Say... I've never seen you around before. Are you with the theater thing, too?"

"Yes, I am. I am Madam Odyssia Metamorphoses, the leader of the Theatre Metamorphoses," Odyssia responded. Petra's eyes widened and her jaw fell agape in surprise as she heard, while Thoraxis looked indifferent to the revelation, pawing at the dirt below him instead.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam!" Petra said as she stepped forward, vigorously shaking her hoof (but not vigorously enough to cause a scene). "Since I first heard about what your group did when I was younger, I've always wanted to see at least one show."

"Well, tomorrow's your chance, now isn't it?" the disguised changeling princess laughed, when she retracted her hoof. Changing her field of view to Thoraxis, who had remained in silence thus far, her expression turned inquisitive.

"I take it that you're Thoraxis, correct?"

"How did you know?" he asked, his attention now on Odyssia when he heard his name.

"The princess told me," she replied, motioning to Twilight. "It was about one of her past adventures."

"Yeah... remember that time when you first came to Ponyville?" the alicorn herself asked. "We thought you were bad, you turned out to be good, and then settled down here after you found-"

"Yes... I remember," he cut in, but in a way that sounded as formal as he thought he could make it. "Those were good times."

His morose expression was nullified, however, when a strange look came about on his face, as if it suddenly went blank. His teal eyes, both widened immensely, stared in dull fashion at nothing. One of his ears twitched, listening to something the others could not hear.

"Thoraxis? Is there something wrong?" Petra asked, as she placed a claw on his shoulder. Snapping out of his trance as sudden as it appeared, and going silent, Thoraxis lowered his muzzle, but brought it up again as he turned to Petra, a concerned look on his face.

"I've got a terrible migraine going on in my head right now, so I think I'll go to see Zecora for something to help with it," he said to her. "I'll be back later. Love you."

"Okay, I... love you too," Petra replied, somewhat startled by his abrupt statement. After the two traded slightly more assuring glances, Thoraxis turned, and began to walk in the direction of the Everfree Forest, where the zebra's cottage lied.

"You'll have to pardon his quirkiness, he's been through a lot..." Twilight spoke to Odyssia. She nodded in understanding, before looking back at Petra, who simply watched Thoraxis disappear among the crowd of ponies with a worried expression glued on her eyes.

"Want to talk about the Theatre over lunch, Petra?" Odyssia asked the wyvern. "A colleague of mine and I were invited to go along with Twilight Sparkle and two of her friends."

"We can easily make room for one more," Twilight concurred. Petra looked at the two, and a small grin formed on her face.

"That sounds lovely," she answered, positively.


Longinus strolled through the dark forest, alone. The only thing to light his way was the stars and moon that showed through the canopy above.

These kinds of walks helped ease his mind whenever a disturbing thought entered it. His deeds of the past burdened him greatly, but he was slowly learning to cope with, and overcome them.

He was about to make it to the final turn on the path, and head back from where he came, but a peculiar sound then hit his ears.

"...And all they come, and all they go, remaining along and underneath the shoreline... down, down into the ocean they stay, while I arise, leaving the current's brine... But on the horizon lies my sorrow."

The voice was enthrallingly beautiful, in an utterly alien sort of way. Longinus may never have heard what a siren sounded like, but whatever he was hearing now seemed to match the description of one. Very eager to know who, what, and where it was, he strayed from the path he trotted on, and entered the thick of the forest.

"...Forthwith to the last, to leave my kin, I find my calling, though myself is blate... in this new world, in this new land, there upon lies my final fate... Too late I find it is sorrow."

Longinus turned past a final tree, and finally saw the source of the beautiful sound. To his utter astonishment, he spotted the familiar shape he recognized as Carol; the bell pony from the night before, in the distance. She was trotting through the forest, keeping only herself company, her cloak of bells jingling behind her, and still she continued her song.

"...I traveled far, seeking the sound, pushing aside all in my way in search of what created such a knell. After much travel I happened upon a town, the ville of the bell... And this is where I would find my sorrow."

"That town I found, that town I stole, and in selfishness I ruled it for years as the cruelest and vainest of things. I got whatever I wanted, for my voice compelled, but the townspony's retribution they did eventually bring... And with it was brought my sorrow."

The song was a story. Longinus, listening intently, snuck closer to Carol, whom he saw was approaching a small pond that rested in a clearing.

The ring-shaped pond had reeds and cattails growing along its waterline aplenty, and lilies were abundant everywhere else. When she reached it, Carol simply stopped, and sang some more in her haunting voice.

"I asked for a bell, the most beautiful-sounding in all the land, and they crafted that bell, but they didn't tell me what upon it was put. The ponies, in secret, had charmed the metal, and when I heard the bell ring, their vengeance bloomed like coltsfoot... The instrument's melody was my sorrow."

"And with the bell's chime a curse was placed. And with the bell's chime, a hex was cast. And with the bell's chime, my reign was brought to a final end at last. My mind is shattered by the sound, my sanity now thin, my reality all and in-between... I wander this land, alone and lost, and never allowed to love, nor dream. To dream, to dream! Oh, do I dream? What is a dream, I do not know..."

"My own unkindness brought this upon myself... and that is my sorrow..." she finished. Had Longinus possessed less control over his emotions, he may have even shed a tear. Instead, he merely continued to watch, unsure of what Carol was going to do next.

"Weel, time tae catch me some fesh," the pony spoke, her accent returning with a vengeance. After talking to herself, she lifted her hooves, and removed the bell-helmet that concealed her head. Despite the star and moonlight, he could only make out a faint outline of her shape. No sooner had she tossed the helmet away, she shed her cape, and quickly moved to the water in a blur of movement, disappearing beneath the glistening waves she started up by entering.

A minute passed. Then another. Then another, but still she didn't resurface for air. A feeling of fear jolted through Longinus's body when the fourth went by, and he came to the realization that she may not be coming back up. What he chose to do next was act.

What pony would leave a crazy mare like her alone? By the moon, she's drowning! he thought, dashing forward. He looked down to the water, but it was too dark and murky to see through. Taking in a gulp of air, Longinus dove into the cool water, opening his eyes once more when he was submerged. The second he made out the only moving, pony-esque shape near the water's bottom, he took several, powerful strokes to reach it, and then wrapped his forelegs around its form. Kicking off from the muddy depths, he and the shape went sailing back up.

Breaking the surface and gasping for air, Longinus, with Carol in hoof, made his way to the shoreline, and hoisted her over it, before he himself collapsed onto her equally-wet body, fatigue finally catching up with him. Once he had a deep, good breather, he calmly lifted his soggy head up and looked at carol's face, only to reel back in utter surprise. The being before him was female, but it was clearly not a pony!

Her head was pony-shaped, and without that helmet on to obscure her visage, he could see into her large, glassy, blue, pupil-less eyes. A white, mane-like fin ran down from the top of her head to the base of her back, and on either side of her head rested two, large ears with reddish tints at their edges, each laced with multiple bell-themed earrings. Clutched in her mouth was a large brown fish, its tail still moving around in a vain attempt to escape.

With a "ptooey" she spat the fish out of her mouth, where it landed on the grass nearby.

"Oh. Ah didne expect tae see ye haur, Maister Eveningstar! How're ye daein'?" the creature asked using Carol's voice, in the most causal manner the alicorn could swear he'd ever heard.

"You're... not a pony..." he said, slowly, as he crawled off of the creature's body, now getting a good look at its legless, serpentine visage, which ended with a white tail fin at its tip. Carol couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the look on his face, also taking the time to pull out whatever part of her body was still in the water, and sit up before responding.

"Ye thooght Ah was a pony? Hah! Hahaha!" she chortled. "Nae, heh, aam nae a pony. Aam a kelpie!"

"If you're not a pony, how did I see you walking around? You don't have hooves!" he shouted, motioning to the two, long, fin-like appendages that stuck out of the midsection of her body.

"Ah ken a speel ur tois 'at can make mah fins shift forms," she responded. "I've bin aroond a while, sae Ah ken these things."

An awkward silence came between the two that continued even after the kelpie started to randomly hum, her gaze turning also as she became distracted by some nearby fireflies. Coughing into his hoof to regain her attention, Longinus started to speak.

"You certainly have a beautiful singing voice," he complimented, attempting to break the tension he was feeling. "I've never heard something like that in all my life."

"Ye heard 'at? Hehe... och..." she sighed, sheepishly. "Thenk ye kindly, Maister Eveningstar."

"Please, you can call me Longinus," he smiled with a hint of unease, raising a hoof.

"Okay, "Longinus," if that's whit ye want tae be called..." Carol said in a playful tone as she looked back to the fish, currently flopping helplessly on the grass nearby. With a brief smack from her long tail, the scaly creature was sent back into the water, landing in the pool with a splash.

"You could've eaten that, you know," Longinus spoke. "I wouldn't have minded."

"Oh, Ah decided tae lit th' blighter live fur anither day," she confessed, as she watched the ripples settle. Before doing anything else after that, she simply went still, and fell onto her back, the long, knotted grass below cushioning her serpentine body as it landed. After a few seconds of wriggling into a comfortable spot, she gave a large, warm, toothy grin to the alicorn looking down at her.

"Wanna watch th' stars wi' me?" she inquired, a fin patting the grass nearby invitingly. "Seeing's hoo ye sae generoosly tried tae sae mah life when ye thooght wee auld me was in danger, it's only fittin' Ah shoods ask ye."

"No... I'm busy with other things," he replied. Carol frowned at his response.

"Aw, 'main 'en," she complained. "It's late, an' ye dornt swatch loch yoo're thrang wi' anythin'! Ye can lay haur wi' me fur puckle minutes, at leest? We can gab abit each other, ur jist funay mince!"

Longinus's eyes narrowed, and his ears splayed back in annoyance. "You really are insane, aren't you?"

"'at Ah main be, but Ah hae moments ay clarity," Carol answered. "It' jist 'at there's nae huir uv a mony moments ay 'at."

"Are you currently in one of those "moments of clarity?"" he asked curiously, leaning his head in.

"Weel, yoo'll jist hae tae fin' it 'en, eh?" she responded, teasingly.

The only creatures Longinus had spoken to in the last six months were Zecora, and Thoraxis whenever he dropped by. He truly did long for something new to ease his loneliness. With a sigh, he too fell back-first onto the grass, adjacent to where Carol lied.

"Ye ken what's funay?" the kelpie asked, as she pawed at one of her bell-earrings. "Ah aye seemed tae hink aw those wee stars up thaur looked loch... bits ay glitter. Ur sparklin' diamonds. Ur..."

"Or what?"

"...Giant, burnin', gaseoos balls ay hydrogen an' helium 'at ur a million miles awa'," she continued, just before one of the flying, glowing insects from before flew in front of her face. "Ur... fireflies..."

As they watched the stars, another bout of silence came between the two. It was broken once more as Longinus spoke up.

"I don't mean to sound so obtuse, but what were you singing about?" he asked. "I've never heard a song with lyrics matching what yours had before."

"Beats me," she said, shrugging. "Ah dornt pure ken half th' time. Those songs jist... come tae me at weird times. Ah dornt min' whit exactly it was, but Ah hink other kelpies called them "heart songs," ur somethin'."

"Heart song?" Longinus questioned.

"Yeah. Songs frae th' heart," she started to answer. "Every kelpie has one. When we sin' it, we're basically tellin' th' story ay hoo uir li'es hae gain up tae noo... ur it's somethin' abit hoo red bluid cells wark. Loch Ah said, aam a body bat short ay a belfry, sae Ah dornt pure ken anymair."

Her head swiveled to the left, and looked at the alicorn. "Sae... what's yer story?" she inquired. "Ah ken Ah said we'd gab abit each other's histories at th' theater's openin', but since we're haur, wa nae gab noo?"

Longinus pursed his lips as he tried to find the right words. "Where do I begin?" he finally started.

"Wi' th' beginnin' ay coorse!" Carol chuckled back.


Under the light of the crescent moon, the two began to talk and share secrets. Throughout that entire night, they spoke of many different subjects that led to where and who they were as of the present. They spoke of funny things, sad things, intimate things, and life-changing things, unaware that in the far distance, another figure; a twisted, bent, unnatural figure, was watching them from behind goggled eyes.

Sharp, mechanical claws protruding from ragged sleeves gripped a pair of long metal stilts that kept the front of its pony-sized, trench coat-covered body upright, and a fair distance above the ground, while a set of lengthy metal peg legs, similar to the stilt-crutches, projected from where the torn cloth of the coat ended, near its rear. Its head was covered by a metal helmet that matched the black paint scheme of the coat, and a metal, face-covering mask lied on the front, but what made it look eerie was the fact it ended in a meter-long drill where its mouth would have hid behind the mask.

And there it stood, just... watching, staring at the two through its round, glass goggles. Every twitchy breath it emitted sounded like a tortured, droning buzz from the wings of a gnat, with a sickly, machine-like twist added to it. Though its body constantly convulsed and jerked in a manner akin to a pony with a severe nervous tic, it remained unmoving from where it stood.

Watching.

Author's Notes:

Fun fact: I was originally going to model Carol's appearance after what a traditional kelpie looks like, but then I saw what the MLP comics did with what a kelpie's supposed to look like in the MLP universe (Cassie the kelpie). Being the lore-lover I am, I decided to use the comic's version of what a kelpie looks likes instead, but tweaked the size a tad bit.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4: A Sudden Realization Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes
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