(Windbreak Valley along the Griffica/Equestrian border, township of Applecrest, Fields Wind Tavern, nine hundred ninety third Celestial year, twenty ninth day of spring)

29☯, ζ, 993♋,

I’m about ten or eleven miles out from Applecrest, and I can see the smoke from their homes rising into the sky. I hope that I can make some acquaintances while visiting. I wonder what medicine they’ll need here. Fang has been doing me quite proud: rather than waste the mana crystals I gave him, he broke them up into portions large enough that he only needed one per day. They evened out to around eleven days worth. Anyway, I’m off to the village after I finish cleaning up the fire and putting this journal away. I’ll add another entry tonight.

T.S.

29☯, ζ, 993♋,

Twilight looked around the building as she entered. Heading towards the main bar, she noticed several of the patrons giving her cursory glances, which she disregarded. However, there were two stallions whose eyes she held, staring at her hungrily, like the last petal of a rose before finishing the plate. Keeping an eye on them, she settled down on a bar stool in the corner. Letting her eyes wander across the small room, she noticed several things about the patrons. Three of which showed a severe lack of attentiveness as they spoke in whispers amongst each other, two had taken up one of the modest tavern’s corners, keeping an eye on the other pony’s, similar to the other one she saw in Windbreak. Another four were laying on the counter face down next to a collection of mugs with a strange amber liquid inside them. She sniffed the fumes for only a second before wrinkling her nose slightly in disgust, finally she turned to glance carefully at the two ponies who had been watching her upon entry.

Focused as she was she barely noticed the barkeep as he trotted over to her, letting go of the two ponies she turned towards the barkeep just as the pony arrived. “Hello, I was wondering if there were any rooms available tonight, I would also be willing to part with some bits for a mug of fresh apple juice.”

The barkeep, a large brown earthpony mare with a bright yellow mane and tail, and blue streaks running through the middle, stopped and took a quick glance at the filly then nodded at the request.

“I have a few rooms, that would be thirty bits a night for one room and board, along with another two bits for the drink.” Twilight nodded absentmindedly as she pulled out the designated bits and paid the bartender.

“Thank you,” the lavender filly called as the bartender poured a mug of amber liquid from the tap, passing the drink to her Twilight pulled it towards herself in her hooves, Taking a cursory sniff of the beverage she immediately felt the burning sensation that layered from the other patrons drinks. Placing the mug back down Twilight called to the barkeep again as he grabbed some of the empty mugs from other patrons. “Hello.”

The barkeeper turned and waved back to her kindly.

“Names Summer Fields Filly, what do ya need?”

“Sorry to bother you but, I was wondering if I could have a cup of boiling water.” Twilight asked, the barkeep noticed the untouched mug of cider, placing two and two together she nodded.

“Sure, just let me take care of this first.” The older mare answered walking over to the filly and pulling the mug away and replacing it a few minutes later with a steaming mug of clear liquid, and raised a hoof as Twilight lit her horn to retrieve her bits. “On the house, think of it as a sorry for getting your first order wrong. I’m not used to getting customers that want the clean stuff.”

Twilights lavender eyes lit up in understanding as she only pulled out some of her tea ingredients.

“Thank you Miss Fields.”

“Just call me Summer.”

Twilight nodded.

After an indeterminable amount of time, Twilight flipped her hind legs forward and pushed herself off the seat, landing on her forehooves Twilight silently trotted over to Summer Fields. “Summer? Which room will I be staying the night in?”

The barkeep acknowledged Twilight, as she continued her current task with a flick of her ear. Finishing the task, Summer turned to face the cloaked unicorn.

“Should be the third room, around the bend. Here’s the key.” The elder mare answered, pulling a key from one of the pockets in her blouse.

Twilight smiled as she wrapped the key in her telekinesis and pulled it towards herself, then reacted with a jerk as she realized.

’I don’t have a medium on hoof,’ thought Twilight. “I’m sorry to bother you again.” the lavender filly exclaimed, raising her hoof and placing it on the barkeep’s withers, grabbing her attention and causing her to turn around. “How much would it cost for a few apples? I’d like four if possible.”

The elder mare flicked an ear.

“A bit each, four you said? Comin’ right up,” the mare called, as she reached the counter and disappeared, appearing again a few moments later with a small bag containing four distinct shapes. The barkeep passed the bag across the counter, accepting the four bits Twilight paid from her personal stash, floating them to the other side of the counter where the bar keeper deftly caught them. Withholding any further pleasantries, Twilight exited the main room of the tavern, entering a medium ranged corridor, that stretched on for a good distance.

Looking along the hallway she saw the portal to the room the bar keeper gave. Nodding to herself Twilight trotted over and nudged the door open. Inside the room lay several objects, each one simple in design and wholly utilitarian: a wood frame bed with white cotton sheets and a cloud pillow with a moisture containment enchanted fabric covering. A wood desk with a flat top and four supports, and a wool cushion underneath to sit on. A night stand with a holder on top, a crystal lay coldly in place of a regular burning wick candle, its facets dull and dark.

Twilight entered the room taking in the simplicity of it all. Suddenly, she sensed a familiar dull throbbing in her horn. Opening her senses, she felt the vibrations coming directly from the crystal on the wooden table next to the small bed. On instinct, she immediately trotted over to it and examined it, her magical energies lifting it from its small pedestal and bringing it closer to her eye.

Twilight remembered this enchantment from a few crystals she found within the decaying tower a few days before. She also remembered how it worked. Lifting her hoof to the small shard, she gently began rubbing it letting the heat from her hoof and the friction transfer energy to the small device. The reaction was immediate as the dull facets began to brighten and a third light entered the room including her horn and the moon light from outside. Twilight let her lips draw back into a small satisfied grin as her assumptions proved correct, Looking towards the window which the moonlight pushed through Twilight swiftly closed the shutters, blocking outside light and observation.

Letting the crystal’s glow guide her actions, Twilight mentally drifted her cloak with a sleeping Fang onto the bed, while carefully laying down her sleeping mat. She settled on it to meditate and guide her magic to peace while she waited. As if on cue, she heard faint steps as a pair of ponies headed down the hall, stopping before her door. Opening her lavender eyes, Twilight calmly waited.

*Knock*

*Knock*

*Knock*

“Please, come in.” Twilight calmly answered.

The wooden portal opened silently letting the light of the hallway flood into the corners of the room that Twilight’s light stone didn’t reach. Then entered the two ponies she challenged earlier when she entered the bar. Twilight’s face immediately lit up in delight, as she noted even more hints upon the visitors bodies of their true forms. Coughing softly into a hoof to grasp their attention, Twilight waved them over as they glanced in her direction. Both pegasi trotted over and sat at her gesture on the warm rug beneath them.

Twilight lifted a hoof to the first one, “Greetings, my name is Glimmering Wisp, what’s yours?” The pony began to speak only to be cut off as Twilight spoke again. “I’m sorry I meant to say what was your true name, not the the pony you’re disguised as.”

The left pegasus lifted an eyebrow answering in a light baritone.

“And what makes you think that?”

Twilight chuckled a little.

“First of all, a normal pegasus doesn’t reek of unicorn magic. Second your mannerisms are all wrong, instead of normal regular breaths you only take them when you notice others looking at you, and rather than the normal flighty attitudes of a regular pegasus, you tend to focus more like a unicorn.” The lavender filly answered readily, giggling even more at the chagrined looks on the other ponies faces.

The right pegasus closed his gaping mouth. Taking a small gulp he asked, “Alright then so we aren’t pegasi, what do you think we are then?” he asked while his companion remained frozen in place his mouth still gaping.

Twilight reached inside herself and grasped the familiar well of magical energy. Acting swiftly, she let loose a jolt of energy behind her. As expected, she felt her spell connect. Smiling gently, she responded.

“Changelings,” she said, loud and clear, after a sound barrier went up around the room and the door slammed shut with deafening finality.

The pegasus illusion to the left broke, as Twilight heard a thud behind her. The changeling on the right burst into flames, only to be slammed into the ground and bound in place by bright blue rings of energy. The green fires died away, revealing a black carapace with a blue saddle like shell on its back covering its thin membranous wings and a pointed horn coming out of its head. Parts of its body were riddled with holes. The dark creature struggled as it lay bound on the ground, its eyes wide in fear as it stared in the lavender mare’s direction. Twilight, sensing the creatures thought, responded, chuckling a little, “Your companion should be waking in a few moments, nothing to worry about. How about we talk a little?”

The changeling, having calmed down after realizing it was in no danger of direct harm and that its companion was alive if a little burned, only returned the lavender filly’s query with a blank stare.

Twilight sighed in exasperation. “Please answer me I’d rather have you be willing to help me help you.”

The changeling narrowed its eyes for a few seconds before letting its mouth twitch a little in amusement. Twilight heard the slight scuffling of a hoof on the floor behind her. Letting her features drop, the filly shook her head from side to side as she released a deep sigh. Without warning, the lavender filly let loose the compacted muscles of her right leg, causing it to spring with enough force to break the wheel of a wagon, all in one concentrated strike that slammed hard into whoever tried to sneak up behind her. Reaching for her magic again, Twilight quickly grabbed the flying body midair before it could even hit the wall, and dragged it back towards her. She then placed the second chitinous changeling next to the first in front of her, binding him in place with more blue bindings.

Twilight looked between the two changelings, gauging their facial expressions. The lavender filly felt her smile grow brighter by the second. “I’m impressed. Unlike most of the predators I’ve run into, you’ve actually gotten the closest to catching me off guard. Now I’ll ask again: Will you answer a few questions for me? Maybe even help me with a small project I’ve been trying?” Twilight watched their reactions to the question, seeing the left one twitch a little in response.

“Fine. But you won't get any answers that can harm the hive,” it spat with a little venom.

“Why would I harm the creatures I’m trying to help?” the lavender filly asked, her eyebrow rising a little. She then smiled widely, before letting loose a small giggle. “Barring certain exceptions of course. How about a simple question first. What are your names?” She asked pointing a hoof at the right changeling first and adjusting to the left after.

Both changelings looked at each other and nodded in slight agreement, before the right one faced her again. “Our individual designation, given by the hive is Velt.”

The other changeling beside Velt sighed then continued.

“And this one’s designation is Rhode,” it answered in multiple tones.

Twilight felt her smile grow a little at the candid replies of the two changelings and their honest answers to her question.

“Thank you for answering that you two. So Rhode, If you and Velt promise not to do anything rash, I’ll be willing to set you loose. Would you be willing to give your word for this?” Twilight felt the subtle tingle of magic again as the changeling gave her a look as if it was thinking hard about the idea. After a few seconds, the changeling nodded.

“We give the word of our Queen,” both changelings answered in a subdued tone.

“Interesting.” Twilight muttered, as she disrupted the spells holding Rhode and Velt. “So,” Twilight began as they stood up. “I’ve been sensing some minor magical fluctuations from you two. Would you be willing to explain?”

Rhode nodded.

“We were speaking with our queen, the Hive Mother. She guides all drones within the Iron Hills Hive, she has decided to give you a chance to speak with us.”

Twilight smiled, “Interesting, I’ve come up with a similar method of communicating between me and others that I know. However it is far from natural, but that is besides the point. Thanks for telling me. Now I wanted to test an experiment to see if I could make a portable and quick source of food that a changeling could eat for nourishment. Would you two be willing to try it?”

Bothe Rhode and Velt looked at each other for a few seconds, mentally arguing whether to try the experiment or not. Seeing their hesitance, Twilight decided to add, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll be willing to feed you any way you need for tonight.” ‘Changelings feed on love through multiple methods. Copulation seems to be the swiftest method for them to gain it... I’m quite thankful they trained me against harpy’s mind manipulation.’ Twilight let her shoulders sag a little in comfort, while waiting on either of the changelings to answer her.

Rhode broke his slight trance and answered first, “We would like to accept your offer. However, we must ask what dangers we would encounter from the experiment. This we must know before we can accept.” Velt nodded in agreement with the statement.

“From what I’ve been able to ascertain of changeling biology, I think I understand how to keep the experiment from harming you. However, I have never tried this, so I have to ask: what do you do with any food that you’ve eaten?” The lavender filly asks politely.

Both changelings stared at her, Rhode giving Twilight a strange look, while Velt chittered a little.

“Hhee, mmh mhh mhh, it is converted into three types of excrement, two of which we regurgitate. The last is what hardens our outer shells. The first is a binding agent that becomes as hard as iron after drying. The other is a strong aphrodisiac. Whatever isn’t converted is regurgitated afterwards.”

Twilight sighed gratefully.

“Good, that means the experiment can’t harm you. I’d love to take a few samples of these excrements before you leave, that is of course if you and your hive mother would be willing to part with a little.”
Rhode nodded, “We would not mind, Mother agrees too.” Twilight’s eyes lit up, like receiving a book shaped hearths warming eve present.

“Oh thank you so much. I’ve already promised to feed you whether the experiment succeeds or fails. I’m hoping it succeeds, but even if it doesn’t, I won’t mind,” the lavender filly explained without worry. “I’m willing to kee-” A small signal bounced off her barrier, slight but noticeable, her eyes widening Twilight speaks swiftly. “Put your disguises back on I think we have company.” Without any further explanation, Twilight began casting a few flair illusions, completely covering the sounds of Rhode and Velt burning their disguises back on. After a few moments, Twilight stopped, keeping a sharp memetic grasp on the location of the presence that penetrated her sound and sight barrier. “As I was saying, I’m willing to keep contact with your group and establish some more agreeable trades between us. Any queries, or am I boring you as an audience?”

Velt disguised as a cobalt blue pegasus with a seafoam green mane and tail answered cheerfully, “no no its quite ok I know that me and Hard bargain here don’t mind, though we’d like to try this experimental potion you’ve told us about if you don’t mind.”

Twilight placed a hoof to her chin in thought while her horn released a soft glow as she began to weave a secondary spell past the silence barrier. “Hmm, I don’t know I have not prepared the experiment yet, also I need to make sure there aren’t any interruptions on the test otherwise the results will be rendered mute and inconclusive.” The light dimming out. Twilight’s face melted into a smile as she nodded to the two Changelings before her. “Besides do you think you two could help the barrier more resistant against intrusion? It seems we have visitor trying to spy on our little conversation.”

Velt turned towards Rhode, they both nodded after a split second, “We would know first what you plan, and whether it would be safe for us to use our magic on the barriers.” Twilight exhaled deeply, with a sigh.

Looking back up, the lavender filly answered.

“I plan on making listening from outside with magic less than feasible, and your right to question adding your magic to the barriers..” Twilight lifted a cold, dust covered hoof to her lavender chin once more in thought, after a few second her face lit up with radiance and she placed her hoof down as the Idea began to take shape within her organic hard drive. “How about this, you two feed your magic into this crystal,” Twilight explained pulling a Sapphire from her bag, then as your magic hits the crystal I redirect it with my energy signature allowing it to reinforce the barrier without you being detected.” Twilight explained swiftly lighting her horn again to push away a slightly more persistent probe than the last.

Both changelings burned away their illusions, allowing access to their horns. Nodding as one, they both fired direct beams of their signature green energy into the crystal Twilight had pulled out. Feeling the crystal pulse with energy, Twilight grasped the prism with her own magic, then began focusing and disbursing the magic from the crystal, filling in and maintaining the remaining thin openings of the field.

Nodding in satisfaction, Twilight turned back to her chitinous visitors. “Thank you for helping out. So, as I was saying, I need to prep the experiment first. Give me a few minutes to get the apples I’m going to enchant.” Noticing a small high pitched noise from nearby, Twilight jerked her head to better hear the sound. “What was that?” She asked the two undisguised and chittering changelings.

Velt shook his head from side to side as Rhode lifted a hoof to his mouth to stifle his giggles, somewhat successfully.

“That was Velt’s stomach reminding him that he’s hungry, even though he now realizes his quickie meal is no longer so fast.” Twilight gave a small thankful sigh.

Surfacing her mana strings and passing it through her horn, Twilight guided all four apples out of her bag.

“Alright, you two rest while I get these apples enchanted, then the experiment can fully begin,” Twilight answered forming several energy transfer runes within her mind’s eye. Overlaying them with a special rune that changes the energy to any desired frequency, she finally overlays the entire spell group with an overall seal, that turns any magical energy poured into the item, and stores it within. Both changelings lay quietly, watching her work on the four apples, her spending at least a minute on the last one, and pouring a slightly larger proportion than the others. Smiling at her successful first cast, Twilight lifted all of them over before the two changelings, two apples each.

With all the materials, the subjects, and the control items in place, Twilight joyfully cries,
“Alright! The experiment has been set. Eat the apples to begin.”

Author's Notes:

Well here's chapter 10 part three.
I've had immense help from two authors Janushayed and Skeeter The Lurker.

Severely Edited and Yelled at by Zetetic,