---------- Melody’s Tale - Return Part 2 ----------

Melody found respite after that. If only for a while. Ephemira modified a monitoring spell to run interference on her brain so she could sleep more peacefully. That, and she was moved away from the terrible jail cell. Granted, she was still under watch, and she had to wear the shackles whenever Ephemira wasn’t present herself, but she began to recover. The fuzzy sleep she found was all but devoid of nightmares, and for the first time in what felt like eons, she slept soundly. Afterwards, she could eat, bathe, and recover. She was even allowed to see Verse again. Her brother looked thin, but he had shaved and the bags under his eyes were all but gone. He was beginning to look like himself once more.

Ephemira’s plan was wild. Incomprehensible, even, but it seemed like it was their only course of action. They had discussed it with the other bearers of harmony, Judicia, Discord, and even Hurricane one afternoon about three days after Melody had been released.

“Chrysalis is beginning to push for Eyriewatch. The guard there can hold out as long as we need them to. If we’re going to strike, it ought to be now.”

“There will be no striking,” Judicia shook her head. “Chrysalis has the survivors of the last battle hostage. If we attack Canterlot now, we’ll be condemning even more of them to death.”

“Let them die,” Dash rolled her eyes. “They defected. In my opinion, they’re already dead.”

“Enough.” Ephemira interjected with a glare. “We’re trying to save lives, not end them. Besides, I don’t think we’ll need the guard for this. Melody, tell them.” Melody shared a look with her brother before stepping forward.

“We’re changelings, at least to an extent. Trueform doesn’t affect us, though. Still, we’re thinking we can use our shifting powers to our advantage. Verse and I will infiltrate Canterlot under the guise of a couple changelings and get close to Chrysalis. Verse can create a barrier in an admirable amount of time, and that should give us enough time alone with Chrysalis and her recipient to execute the change without the others ripping us to shreds. Hopefully, we can do it before her recipient changes as well.”

“A solid plan,” Fluttershy nodded her agreement, albeit with a frown. “Who is her replacement going to be?”

“Noth.” Discord said automatically. “He’s loyal to Equestria, and could be a good king if we so required. He might even be willing to reason with Equestria, and come to some agreement between them and the changelings.”

“That’s… A surprisingly good plan.” Ephemira frowned at Discord. “What’s your ploy?”

“Ploy? I’m offended. I simply think Noth would be a fine king. If not him, then some other lieutenant who managed to defect. Mathias, perhaps. I’d suggest Liliana, but…”

“She prefers to be called Lily. And truth be told, she’s no longer a changeling.” The fiery-haired goddess of Generosity spoke up. “I’d offer to take the role myself. But you see.” She held her hands up, frowning at them intently. “I can’t change anymore. It seems my awakening has robbed Lily of her changeling powers. I’m afraid she’s unable to be queen.”

“On the contrary.” Verse spoke up, the first Melody had heard from him since before they had been captured. “Lily has gone dormant inside of you. I think if you allow her to come back, her powers would return.”

“Unacceptable.” Dash stepped forward, her wings flaring out. “All of us agreed to allow our counterparts to remain dormant inside of us. They shall not re-emerge. Not without the acquiescence of all the others. And I for one do not want to take that risk. The six of us have awakened in Equestria’s time of most dire need. What you need right now are goddesses. Not a changeling, a magi, a doctor, a commander, a party planner, and a farmer. We’re better serving Equestria as we are now. Perhaps afterwards we’ll allow our counterparts to resurface. But for now, we’re here.” Melody decided she seriously did not like the element of loyalty. She could see why half the guard had defected, and in doing so forfeited their lives.

“Be reasonable,” Fluttershy stepped forward. “Verse makes a very good point. Think hard. If Liliana were to become the new queen AND the element of generosity, she could give the changelings all the love they’d need. We might just be able to avoid another changeling prime episode for… Well, forever.”

“This is within my ability.” Lily nodded solemnly, looking across the way at Dash. “We might not just be able to fix the problem at-hand, but this could be a long-term solution as well.”

“I don’t like it.” Dash folded her arms in a huff. “But you make a good point. Lily is as loyal to Equestria as anything, and has little love for the horde that Chrysalis has made. Why don’t you ask her how she feels about taking the queen’s place?” At Dash’s insistence, Lily gave a soft nod and let her eyes glaze over for a moment. Melody recognized that look. It was the same her mother had worn whenever she retreated into the link, to converse with the other elements of harmony. She had seen it hundreds of times throughout her childhood. When she came back with a blink, she smiled at the group.

“Lily would be honored to serve Equestria, and to get Chrysalis back for all the pain she’s caused.”

”It’s settled, then.” Hurricane seemed to be the one neutral party here. He had agreed to offer an unbiased view of the proceedings. ”It seems to me the path is clear. Lily, Melody, and Verse will return to Canterlot disguised as changelings. When they get the chance, they will transfer Chrysalis’ power to Lily. With luck, we can avoid an outbreak of primes. Still, the transfer might take time. We could see sporadic shifts.”

“It’s a risk we have to take.” Applejack, or rather the element of honesty, added her first opinion. “We can’t risk a worldwide prime outbreak. Those things would level Canterlot. And what’s more, they might release the darker things kept beneath the palace.” At her words, Lily’s face darkened over. It seemed she had recalled something from long ago. Applejack continued. “Not to mention the library. Only Celestia and Luna know how to access it, but the primes are resistant to magic. They just may destroy the library. Or worse, open it. Ephemira knows what’s in there.”

“She’s right.” Ephemira sighed. “We can’t compromise that library. Provided the change happens smoothly, I will personally take responsibility for the library and its contents. Verse, Melody, are you two up to the task? Can we trust you with this?”

“If we’d have known about essences and changeling’s ability to transfer them, we never would have handed Canterlot over to Chrysalis in the first place.” Verse and Melody shared a look, both of them nodding their agreement. “We’ll do this.”

“Very good. Take as much time as you need to prepare. Eyriewatch can hold out. Fillydelphia, too.” Ephemira looked around at all of them gathered. “We have to do everything we can to help them prepare for the task ahead. If they fail… Chrysalis may very well overrun Equestria’s power. We’re fighting a defensive war now. We’re placing our hopes on these three.” A look crossed Ephemira’s face just then. Melody had never seen it before, but she knew what it was.

Mortality.

-----------------

“Hey,” Verse nearly shocked Melody. She gasped and whirled around, tightening the robe around her front.

“Shit, Verse! You scared me.” She tucked a stray wisp of teal hair behind her hear and laid a hand across her beating heart.

“Heh. Sorry.” Verse closed the door to her room behind him, shutting them away from the light and slight noise. They had been granted rooms in the guard’s barracks, where there seemed to be activity all times of the day. At least she had the luxury of her own room. Verse had to bunk with two surly sergeants. He visited her often. She really didn’t know why he had shocked her. Still, she smiled at him and re-adjusted the front of her robe. “I wanted to talk to you about Dash. And the others.”

“Oh yeah…” Melody sighed and went to sit on the edge of her bed. Verse took the office chair that sat in front of the lone desk in the room. “She seemed so much more different than Dash… And Lily, too. All of them, in fact.” Melody was feeling slightly fuzzy. Ephemira had made an effective tea enchanted with her sleep spell, and Melody had already had a few sips. But the conversation was helping to rouse her a little. “I wonder if the elements are really so drastically different from their hosts. Dash used to be so kind, the type of person you could take orders from. I find it hard to believe half the guard defected as soon as she went dormant.”

“I find it hard to believe any of them went dormant at all.” Verse crossed his arms, his voice hushed. “Celestia and Luna were close to them all. And our death shouldn’t have made them shut down. Melody, something’s up here. And I think I know who’s to blame.”

“Who?” Melody was almost afraid to hear his answer.

“Discord.”

It clicked.

“He would have put them to sleep, or at least helped them along. Look at what it did for him. Half the guard defected when Dash went dormant. And he said he’d run interference on Twilight coming back to Canterlot. What if his interference was our bodies? What if it wasn’t even Chrysalis who hung us? What if it was his doing?”

“He has everything to gain by the original bearers going dormant.” Melody breathed. “This is wrong, Verse. We have to set it right. We need to talk to him.”

“No need.” Both Melody and Verse whirled around with a gasp. Discord stood in her room, grinning wickedly at her. “I’ve already taken the liberty.”

“Discord! What did you do!”

“Well, you actually figured out my ploy.” Discord sighed wistfully, his lips still curled in a devious grin. “Congratulations, children. I admit, I helped influence the elements of harmony to… Take a breather. Not that difficult, really, I’ve actually done it before. Only unlike last time, their alternate personalities took over with some help. You see, your beloved elements are locked away within their own minds. While I might have given them the push, I’ve no way to bring them back.” He opened his hands and bowed at them mockingly. “Your friends won’t return, not unless they can break out of their own prisons. And let’s face it.” When he righted himself, his grin was even more ugly and sinister than before.

“The gods know how to devise some devious prisons.”

-------------------

Discord’s words had never proved truer. Melody and Verse had spoken with Ephemira and Lily over the next few days, partially to begin planning their infiltration, but mainly because they were the only two they felt like they could speak with. Dash was out of the question, and Applejack seemed too busy volunteering with the military forces. Pinkie Pie was only all too eager to talk, not just with them, but with everybody. Which was the problem. They couldn’t seem to hold her in one place for long before she went bounding off somewhere else. And Fluttershy had her hands full assisting with the wounded that were still trickling back from the Canterlot front. Chrysalis’ forces were pushing into Fillydelphia, and Southbay was handling the overflow. Not to mention there was a relief effort in Ponyville, trying to mend some of the havoc Chrysalis and her horde had wrought on the small town during their stay.

So Melody and Verse were stuck with their parents, or rather, the husks of their parents. The topic of their counterparts seemed to be a picky topic of conversation with either of them. Ephemira would frown and change the topic as soon as she could without snapping at them, and Lily all but shut down. One time, when Melody asked how her mom was doing, she burst into tears and began shaking violently. The episode passed almost as soon as it started, but Lily excused herself, saying she felt exhausted. Twilight yielded more promising results, so both Melody and Verse focused their efforts on her. It was during one planning session that they teamed up on her.

“How is Twilight?” Verse slipped the first question in gently. Ephemira almost immediately frowned and opened her mouth. It seemed she was about to draw them back to the topic at hand, but she paused and stared blankly at the table in front of them.

“She’s… Okay.”

“Yeah? How is she holding up in there?”

“It’s not so bad.” Ephemira sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “She’s made a home for herself. It looks like her old home in Ponyville. I always liked that place. It was quaint; a nice place to be dormant inside of my host.”

“I’m sure it’s nice.” Melody reached a hand out to rest on Ephemira’s arm. “But it isn’t her home.”

“I know,” Ephemira frowned at her and pulled her arm away from the touch. “But it’s where she belongs for now.”

“No it isn’t.” Verse slipped around to Ephemira’s other side, laying his hand on her shoulder. Melody reached out to touch her arm again. “Twilight’s home is with her family. She thinks we’re dead. Ephemira, please. It might not be permanent. Just let us speak with our mother. Just for a few minutes.”

“If I did that, she wouldn’t let me back.” A look crossed her face. She went from an indignant scowl to a shocked expression before the frown returned. Melody knew, Twilight had just spoken to her. Yes I would.

“She would, Ephemira. Please. We just want to speak to our mother. We’ve told you why we did what we did, but we didn’t tell her. We owe her that much. Directly.” Melody pleaded with the goddess before her. She didn’t need to fake the tears in her eyes.

Ephemira shot to her feet. The chair she had been seated in clattered across the floor. Melody and Verse both pulled away, but that was all the time she needed. In a flash, Ephemira disappeared. Melody and Verse were left alone in the small conference room, with maps of Canterlot and the surrounding area spread out on the table.

“Do you think it worked?” Verse asked quietly. Melody just frowned in return.

“There’s only one way to tell.”

-------------

“Kiss me.”

“What?!” Lily shot up, scrambling to make herself decent. Ephemira could hardly believe the things coming out of her mouth, but she clapsed her fellow goddess, her sister, by her shoulders. Poor Lily. Ephemira had teleported herself into the goddess’ bedroom. She was wearing nothing but a bath robe.

“I need you. To kiss me.”

“What for? I mean, I’ve given more than just a kiss in the past, but what’s gotten into you, Ephemira?!”

“JUST KISS ME!”

She did. Reluctantly. Almost begrudgingly. And certainly most fearfully. But she kissed her.

’You see?’ Twilight. ’You’ve done this thousands of times before. You don’t know it, but you have. You’re in my body, Ephemira. And my body knows Lily’s body. Not just that, but my soul knows hers. We conceived, Ephemira. You know what we did, because you were the one who made the magic. Give us our bodies back, Ephemira. You can keep our knowledge and you can guide us in our lives, but you can’t take our souls, or the connection Lily and I share, away from us.’

“Hmm… Wow.” Lily pulled away from the kiss with a breath. She was flushed. “What was that?! I’ve never felt that way about a kiss before!”

“Yeah you have.” Ephemira released her shoulders, her hands shaking. “You’ve felt all that and more… Oh… Oh sister, what have we done…?”

“Hmm?” Lily, or rather her element, was beaming. “I don’t follow.”

“We… We don’t own these bodies.”

“… What.”

“Lily, can you hear me?” Ephemira was shaking now, but her eyes were alight with an inner fire. She looked at the imposter in Lily’s body, straight into her own eyes. “You’re in there, aren’t you?”

“I… Ephemira, what are you-“

“Lily, can you hear me in there?”

“I- yes! Yes she can year you! I! I can hear you! What, I’m… I…” Lily began to stutter, her eyes darting back and forth. She was shaking now, but Ephemira closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around her love. And it was her love. Well, maybe not hers, but Twilight’s.

’Give her back to me.’

“Okay, Twilight.” Ephemira closed her eyes, her tears already spilling out freely. “I hope you can forgive me.”

’You’re already forgiven, Ephemira. And yes, I will give you my body back. When the time is right.’

Twilight came back with a gasp. She flexed her fingers, her toes. She looked her body up and down, almost as if in disbelief. She was back. Back in her own body. Just as she turned her eyes to Lily, though, she was tackled.

“It has been.” There was a kiss. “Far too long.” Another. “Since I have made love-“ Yet another tongue-filled, hot kiss. “To my wife.”

“Welcome back, Lily. Ahn!”

----------

There was a knock on Melody’s door. She frowned at the sudden rousing from her sleep, glaring at the clock on her bedside table. Who in the blazes was knocking on her door at three in the morning? Pulling a robe on over her t-shirt and panties, Melody went to go answer the door. Just as soon as she opened it, a stinging slap landed across her face.

“What the-“ *Whack!* Another. Melody stumbled backwards, her magic rising up to defend herself. As soon as the shield sprung to life, though, it fizzled. Caught off-guard, Melody was subject to another slap. Only this one was followed up by an embrace. And the person hugging her was not unknown.

“We thought you were dead.” Twilight sobbed, clutching Melody tight. Melody all but forgot the stinging in her cheeks. Lily joined Twilight, both of them clinging to Melody as they cried. “We saw your bodies, hanging from the ramparts. One whole month, Melody. We thought you had died.”

“I’m sorry,” Melody knew then that her mothers were back. She didn’t care that she had been awoken or slapped. Nothing else mattered just then. She clung to Twilight, her own tears flowing fast and free. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t know that there was another way. We didn’t know he would go so far to do something like that.”

“He?” Twilight peeled away, her brilliant eyes rimmed with red from crying so hard. “Don’t you mean she? Chrysalis?”

“She didn’t do that.” Melody shook her head, still holding Twilight. “It was Discord. Sit down, I have a lot of explaining to do.”

“We. We have a lot of explaining to do.” Verse appeared in the doorway, though he slowly closed it behind him. The light flickered on, and he joined the group hug with tears of his own. Twilight and Lily held their children tight, and their children clung to them right back.

For half a moment, Melody almost felt like she was at home again. After their embrace, all four of them sat on Melody’s bed while the two of them shared their story. It was a dark and depressing story, but Melody told her parents everything. From their dreams after Baltimare, and their abandoning Lily on the plains, to their week-long stay in Stalliongrad, all the way up to returning to Canterlot, putting the princesses down, and returning home. After that, Melody and Verse described the dreams, and how it drove them to return to Twilight with Hurricane’s help.

“And that’s where we are now.” Melody sighed, wiping away the last tear from her face.

“Wow.” Twilight leaned back on her hands, shaking her head. All of them had cried during the story. “Hearing it all like that, I… I can’t say I can blame you two.”

“We’re just trying to do our best.” Melody rested her chin on her knees. “We didn’t know any better. If we had, we… Well, we might have been able to feint.”

“Feint?”

“We could have drawn Chrysalis out, and swapped her essence at any time.” Verse said quietly. “We even could have done it in the Everfree Forest. This war could be over by now.”

“You didn’t know,” Lily patted his knee reassuringly. “You did what you thought was best. Both of you. While some may be disappointed with you or even angry, I for one can say I’m proud of what you did.”

“Really?” Melody perked up a little.”

“Of course.” Twilight nodded. “I’m none too fond of Chrysalis controlling Canterlot, but it’s better than her repeating Baltimare. Then after causing as much mayhem as she could, she would have died anyways. We’d have had the primes to deal with then. All things considered, you two performed admirably. I just wish you would have returned to us after putting Celestia and Luna to sleep.”

“We were scared.” Melody admitted. “We had just pretty much betrayed Equestria. While maybe you or Lily would have understood, we were afraid of what the other elements would have felt. Not to mention the guard. Could the six of you really have kept half the guard from attacking us?”

“Well… maybe not. But I still think it might have worked out. Still, I’m just glad you’re alive. I can hardly believe it.” Twilight smiled and pulled Melody against her side. “Words cannot describe how happy I am you made it through.”

Verse tucked against Lily’s side, while Lily and Twilight scooted against one another. Melody felt her exhaustion catch up with her. She was just about to open her mouth when Twilight’s hands began to glow.

“We can all sleep here tonight.” She cast the sleep spell, and Melody felt herself begin to slip off. They had enough time to re-adjust and turn back-to-front before slipping away. As consciousness fled her, Melody felt warm and happy for the very first time.

“Sleep well,” Lily whispered into her ear. “We leave tomorrow.”