Just another calm day... no way it'll last.

[Ashton]

The morning had been nice and cool, the dew had already rolled off the blades of grass, and the sun was progressing nicely through it's arc carefully planned out by Celestia. Ponyville was quiet though slowly growing louder as ponies began to wake up and go about their daily lives. Going off to work, school, running errands, and countless other activities soon had the streets becoming filled. They were not crowded, Ponyville was still a small town, but they had gotten quite lively.

Things were no different inside the town's Library. Well, ok, they were a lot different. The day had started with a cup of coffee, with creamer, but instead of sugar a few small marshmallows floated in the cup. Most would expect a royal princess to only enjoy the finest coffee, made from beans imported directly from Saddle Arabia, but Twilight was not what most people called regal. She started the morning with a loud slurp of the coffee as she crunched away on some toast, spread with jam, a bowl of bran flakes, and an orange (Though not from any of her failed experiments --- at least she hoped not!). She also did not spend time carefully eating, instead hurrying through her fruit and cereal, and carrying the toast with her as she moved into the library, munching away on it as she went.

Twilight went about checking the books to make sure they were in good order, well as good of an order as ever - she would have quite a few to move around as always, then dusting off the chairs and making sure there were no slick or sticky spots from a patron's snack they snuck into the library. As she levitated up her checklist she smiled as she reached the penultimate item of opening the door. Of course the final item was to double-check the checklist, but she barely needed it as it had become habit anyway.

And so the day began, and Twilight, one of the royal princesses, heir to celestia herself, and hero many times over, was spending her time reshelving books and munching on her toast. It was a calm and peaceful time all to herself. She was enjoying it, because she knew that with this being ponyville, the peace would never last...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack had always made a concerted effort to understand everything she could about her farm. It was a far greater task than anypony could have imagined and it was only because of her tireless dedication and ceaseless work ethic that she ever even made a dent in what would otherwise be an impervious fortress of knowledge. Could ponies learn all there was to know about the many topics that were involved with farming? Possibly. After all, there was little in the way of variables. You knew the soil, you knew the seeds, you knew the metods and you knew the strategies. After a while it could be easily learned. But for a farm on the edge of the Everfree this equation was shattered under the barrage of subtle magics that permeated the area. It infected everything there wasabout Sweet Appe Acres. The soil, the seeds, the trees and the air. Most of it didn't hurt and had no real impact but some of it had a cruel tone to it. Strange creatures wandered about at night in search of sustenance and once in a while an invasion of critters turned certain fractions of the farm into magically infested warzones where the stakes couldn't be higher for families that depended on it.

Knowing how to ward off the Everfree was an endless endeavor with as much variance and fundamental change as the boundless Everfree, which existed in a state that mocked normal Equestrian laws of nature. Against that beast no amount of knowledge could be gained to forever keep it at bay and any effort against it was doomed to occassional bouts of dissapointment, defeat, and failure. More than once Applejack had been forced to write off a portion of Sweet Apple Acres after all efforts had failed while she learned new methods. In the end her failures would be redeemped through final victory, but failures were failures and harvests lost were lost forever. It was an awful conundrum to have: She needed to be prepared against an enemy who was constantly shifting form and function. She needed to beat an enemy who would always return stronger or simply different. And she needed needed to keep it at bay even though it would never stop nor tire. It was a losing war but somepony had to fight the good fight regardless of success, and she therefore armed herself with what knowledge she could get.

Luckily, the local library had a scholarly flair to it ever since Twilight Sparkle had moved to town. It provided Applejack with many books and works on the nature of the Everfree and how to combat it. There were times where the work was frustrating nd plagued either by excessive philosophy, inaccuracies, or writing clearly meant for fellow scholars. Applejack would put her vault of practical and useful knowledge of the world up against anypony but she wasn't one for flowery prose delivered by geniuses who wrote accordingly. The majority of the time she came away from a work with some new arms against the unyielding tide of the Everfree and she placed most of the thanks for that on Twilight. She had a way about her where she would go above and beyond for a friend and fellow Equestrian. It was part of a very nice overall package that had changed only very little since she became a Princess. What changes had taken place happened to Applejack's eyes in the manner of a kicking and screaming fit, and that suited Applejack just fine. Twilight was fine the way she was- no need to change!

So it was no heavy burden- just two book due- that she trotted into the library, giving a huge yawn as she nodded to her friend. She had gotten up pre-dawn to take care of some things and was just now being hit by the wave of yawns and rubbing eyes that usually came with her light breakfast. Blame the pollen. Twilight was in the middle of a reshelving project which was the same project she seemed to be involved in all day, every day. At least whenever Applejack came by. She couldn't blame Twilight though. The library was popular and yet was remarkably well kept. Spike played a big part for sure but Twilight was definitely a worker bee herself. Applejack removed her hat and threw a hoof through her mane as she set the books down on the table.

"Mornin' Twi. Looks real busy 'round here. How're you?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning again.

[Ashton]

The purple alicorn glanced up "uh-huh" she said, then shook her head "oh, sorry, applejack, I didn't hear you come in" she smiled awkwardly - one thing that never changed, no matter how much of a princess twilight was, she would always be at least a little (most likely a lot) socially awkward "Well, I have some catching up to do after having to take time off to help with the wrap-up, but now that that's over, I can focus on getting this place in order again, after all Spike's no help because he sleeps too much!" she said, rather loudly, no doubt hoping spike would hear it and hurry down, though she said it with a smile on her face. She sighed when she heard no pitter-patter of little dragon-feet, but she'd worry about going up and waking him herself until after her friend had left and she had gotten some more of her resolving done.

"So, what brings you here, Applejack?" she asked with a smile, she remembered mentioning to AJ that they would 'talk about it later' at the wrap-up after she got herself deep-fried by lightning, but she wasn't going to bring it up unless the farm pony did such herself...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack chuckled at the mention of Winter Wrap-Up. That hadn't gone according to plan, not one bit. It had started off very well and Plant Team was moving as well as Applejack could have hoped for and were getting the job done faster than ever, even if Twilight's consistent worry-wart sensibilities brought her down to the team for complaints. If she had gone to the weather team first, maybe the storm could have been prevented. But that was baseless pondering of an odd time in an odd place and she couldn't be sure of what the truth was, as during the storm she had been tossed about in a tornado- a snow tornado, to be exact- smacked into a tree, and knocked right out. She wasn't much help after that. Part of her felt bad but she couldn't help but think that after it was all over at least they didn't have to worry about schedules and took their time the next day repairing everything and finishing Winter Wrap-Up thankful that nopony got hurt and willing to allow a bit of slacking in the pace. She had expected Twilight to talk to her sooner about that day but she hadn't. Not yet.

"Heh, maybe Spike developed tree fever an' can't be around books for a while. When Apple Bloom was a real little foal an' we were teachin' her how ta read, she'd always try an' say she was allergic ta pages so she couldn't be 'round 'em. 'Course, she loves ta read now. Funny how those sorts of illnesses fade away with time!" She laughed, putting the book down she had brought with her, "just returnin' this book. It didn't help too much, tha author spent too much time theoryizing 'bout tha Everfree and none of it was useful ta me. Uhh, 'Everfree Dia...Dianterical Accu..per...fentication an' Slo..dicity...of Aural Dispersanation'? Twi, that title is pretty awful. At least tha last one was just, 'Aural Dispersal an' tha Equestrian Dawn' but some ponies, yeesh. But he did mention a book an' I was wondering if ya had it: 'The Bark of Tomorrow", which is 'bout Everfree bark from the trees in thar. Sounded interesting. An' how ya holdin' up? I didn't see how the Weather team panned out. Ah was too busy being buried in a ditch by snow while knocked out. Not tha most fun, Ah'll tell you," she ended with a nervous chuckle, understating how awful the whole ordeal was that day. Next Winter Wrap Up would be better, she was sure of it.

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' had an idea stuck in her head, and she wasn't particularly happy about that. She didn't mind ideas, as long as they had their proper place. Quick thinking had gotten her out of a few tight spaces in the past, and she saw nothing wrong with passing time contemplating life's mysteries when one was otherwise unoccupied. But this idea just wouldn't leave.

So the false pegasus decided to do something about it, though there was admittedly little for her to do. Not knowing much about magic at all, much less being able to cast anything resembling a spell 'Spring Breeze' likely wouldn't be able to enact anything she came up with. However, she doubted she'd be able to stop thinking about it until she'd at least proved it impossible, and now she was headed to the Ponyville library. Besides, having a specific goal was a nice change from her usual routine.

'Spring Breeze' paused at the door for only a second. Ordinarily she'd be hesitant, the library's keeper was not only an element bearer but also Celestia's personal student and a Princess in her own right, however given her topic of investigation she doubted she was in any risk. Not that she'd have little risk stop her at this point anyways.

She could hear a pair of voices from inside, though not well enough to tell who was talking or what they were discussing. It seems she wasn't the only one visiting the library today. She raised a hoof, and knocked twice on the door.

[Ashton]

Twilight giggled "Dont give spike any ideas, I'm sure he'd try a cheesy excuse like that" she said, as usual playing up how annoying and useless he was, of course he often did the same thing with her too, it was a mutual and benign joke that ran back and forth between them a lot.

"Sorry about the book" she said with a quirky smile "that's kinda how some authors are, they write because they like to hear themselves talk" she giggled, no doubt thinking about a certain pegasus who often liked to hear herself talk too it seemed. "I'll check and see if I have that book, if not I'm sure I can get it for you" she said as she headed over to the shelves.

As Aj spoke Twilight slowed and finally stopped, the topic was approaching something on ehr mind that was important it seemed "...yeah... well I got stuck foalsitting... double-foalsitting really since the request for me to 'help' was more a request for me to keep an eye on both the boal and Derpy" she smiled faintly though, like everyone she couldn't stay mad at derpy - despite her shortcomings derpy was a nice mare who always tried her hardest, even if she was a little slow and semi-blind, it just made her more loveable "I swear, it seems like Rainbow might as well open herself a school, every time I look around she has another foal wanting to be just like her" twilight giggled, but the giggle died in her throat as she sighed a deep and wall-rattling sigh "yeah... If I'd just know what I was doing, There would have been no storm. Nopony would have had to get hurt if I'd been able to do my job" she hung her head "I bet if Princess Celestia had been there instead, she could have just given the storm a stern look and it would have dissipated..." it was clear she was feeling like she should have been more and been able to do more but couldn't and it was eating at her.

When the knock came to the door, though she snapped right back to 'normal' and like many of her friends immediately slid a proverbial mask into place, pushing down her feelings and emotions to deal with some other time "Who's that, I wonder" she said "Coming!" she called as she gave AJ a polite nod and headed over to the door and opened it "good morning, come in" she said, motioning inside "How can I help you"

((Just saying I am completely and totally in the dark here... "False Pegasus"??? _Please_ either post a detailed description or post a log and link to it with the character (like how I did in my first post or steel did in hers) because right now from the narration it's *obvious* there's something different here that I should react to, but instead I'm leaft with a proverbial pegasus-shaped-dark-spot that I cant fill in because there's no information...))

[SteelEagle]

Twilight sounded like she had a hard time with the weather team. No doubt having a hard-headed pegasus un the figurative sense like Dash and another in the literal sense like Derpy could cause havoc and destroy any well-intention plan no matter who was responsible for it. She had known to a certain extent that the weather team couldn't have turned out much better than the plant team as if they had bdone their job then the storm would have ended sooner, but considering the concussion she had suffered had thought better of placing blame so quickly. More importantly, watching Twilight kick herself over her supposed failure only reinforced Applejack's belief that no matter what her title or progress, Twilight still seemed to be a bit easy to dent and turn sideways from her task. Failure was a part of life, everypony knew that. Applejack's life was built on improving from the failures of the past after all. Even then, Twilight hadn't failed at all. She couldn't have done anything and she needed to know that before she wore a painful crown for too long.

"Listen sugarcube, there wasn't a single thing ya could have done 'bout that storm. It was from tha Everfree. You couldn't've controlled it any better than you could have plowed Sweet Apple Acres! It was beyond yer control. Just a trick of a storm at the wrong place and time. Celestia couldn't have done anything either, just as helpless as we all were. You should be thankful that not more happened. No serious long term injuries and tha town is as good as new! Literally in some places. Ah needed a new barn an' everything!" She laughed uproariously, less upset than one might think. She had more lumber on hoof than most lumber yards. Raising a new barn was almost fun by this point in time, song or not. She patted her alicorn friend on the head before turning it into a friendly noogie for a brief moment, "sides, if there was anything ta be done you would have found a way. yer Twilight Sparkle, not some trickster!" he said encouragingly before the door was lightly tapped upon.

Twilight opened it up and lo and behold, it was Spring Breeze! Nice enough pegasus with a family as rotten to the core as any other. Seeing Spring made Applejack's hind legs feel a powerful surge of adrenaline as she picture bucking an ungrateful pack of rats with wings deep into the earth. No matter. He was a good pony, good enough to weather sthe storm alongside her and that was good enough for her.

"Howdy Spring!"

[DerpRavener]

[Well, that was silly of me. My apologies. I lack the skills to make a good banner, and so far haven't thought a log would be worth making for a single character, so for now I'll just post the character's app: http://www.canterlot...6990-naj-ready/ Hopefully that works for the time being. Also, given my start, let me know if you'd prefer me out of the thread. I have an idea or two for a quick exit.]

The princess herself answered the knock. 'Spring Breeze' never understood why a princess would choose to live almost by herself in a library in a small town, but then she had to suppose that the princesses would be allowed to do what they wanted. And if anything it might work in her favour. She could think of few ponies better than the element of magic to talk to about what she had in mind.

She also saw Applejack off to the side, recognizing the orange mare from Winter Wrap Up. Evidently this was the other visitor. Applejack offered a greeting, which 'Spring Breeze' returned with a smile and a wave before stepping inside and returning to the matter at hoof.

“Hello...I was wondering if there were any books on magic I could borrow? Preferably transformation magic.” She thought for a moment before adding, “And maybe changelings." 'Spring Breeze' got a little more animated as she began to explain, eager to either prove or disprove her idea.

“See I've been thinking: changelings attack and foalnap ponies because they need their love to feed, right? Well, what if they didn't need to?”

[Ashton]

((if you want to drop out it's up to you, steel and I can do an RP anytime, but if you want to stay your more than welcome))

Twilight wanted to say more to AJ, she wanted to explain how she felt, but this was simply not the time with a visitor.

"Changelings and TRansformation magic?" asked Twilight in surprise "please tell me your not planning on infiltrating one of their compounds" she said as she went to the shelves to look "They have to feed off emotions to survive, and if your thinking of experimenting to get one to feed of all emotions, that doesn't work, there is a recorded experiment, supposedly by Starswirl the Bearded himself that says the changeling, when put under that spell, went critical and exploded from a severe overload of energy" she pulled out a book or two "of course it could be fake, but the results do make sense"

[SteelEagle]

Applejack wondered why the hay anypony would want to concern themselves with the worst type of critter known to ponydom, the changeling. They were nothing more than dark insects that thought they were somehow better than their cousins caught in the spider's web but were even worse as they served no purpose at all. Just because you can spin a web does not make you a spider; just because you can feed on others does not make you a predator and they prey. Makes you a parasite. That was all they were and all they would ever be, sickly little ticks feeding and feeding and feeding off of good Equestrian folk. They were purposeless bugs who happened to live in a world without the necessary species to balance them out. Lucky them, unlucky for Equestria, but the thought of what they had done to others only ever riled her up. She'd beaten up more than a few during the Canterlot attack and a few more during her capture and eventual escape, and she wouldn't stuffing their jaw lines with her hoof for a bit. That only begged the question why he was so interested in the darn things.

"Why tha hay would you concern yerself with those good for nothin' parasprites? They're the cruellest, most conniving, and most dangerous species this side of viking caribou. They're bad and will always be bad. Tha few exceptions ta the rule are just that, exceptions. Let'm rot in the Leota and find some new nation ta torment for a while. Pmmfff. They come within ten miles of Ponyville next time and Ah'll get 'nough buckin' practice done on their heads Ah'll be set for a full year, " Applejack finished with a good laugh, randomly kicking in the air for effect, "though Ah suppose if ya did get them ta go after emotions 'sides love, it couldn't hurt us any. They either blow up en masse and everypony celebrates, or they go after the griffons and Aquelia turns them into appetizers. Heh, on second that, Ah suppose we win either way there too. Twi, any luck so far?" She asked, gently patting the spines of books with her hoof in a gentle and not entirely committed search.

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' shook her head and waved a hoof dismissively at the notion of trying to disguise herself as a changeling. She chuckled a little at the notion. If she wanted to get into a hive it would actually be easier for her to drop a disguise than to try and a apply one. Though she had to hope neither of the other ponies in the room would get the joke. “No, no, I'm not planning on any infiltration. It wouldn't do anypony any good for me to go ba- *ahem* to go to the hive.”

The princess also suggested having changelings feed on other emotions. “Huh. I actually hadn't thought of that...don't think it solves the problem though. Changelings still need ponies for food in that case. I was actually wondering if it would be possible to go a little farther than that. Make them into something other than changelings, if necessary.” The magnitude of the decision wasn't lost on 'Spring Breeze', and giving up her species wouldn't be easy if it came to that. Fortunately, she didn't have to make it right away, so after a moment's pause she pushed it aside. “If nopony has to feed on anypony else, maybe there wouldn't be a need for any more wasteful conflict.” The fear had already begun to creep in that it wouldn't be enough regardless, but for now 'Spring Breeze' still held out hope.

Applejack's comment made her cringe, and shrink back involuntarily. 'Spring Breeze' could taste the hatred, and she wasn't comfortable being that reviled, even if just by association. “I-I was...hoping to end the conflict without that much bloodshed...” she managed to mumble out, trying desperately to avoid looking too suspicious. She was beginning to regret this decision, and made a mental note to never bring up the subject of changelings around Applejack ever again.

[Ashton]

Twilight was paying close attention, after all she was suspicious too when some pony came researching such dangerous creatures, but she didn't want to risk a confrontation with a very pissed-off changeling if that was the case, though with what AJ had mentioned earlier about the pegasus, it seemed she was genuine, but that didn't mean that she didn't have some friend or -celestia forbid- a relative who was a changeling, and she might be offended and attack or return with reinforcements. The last thing Twilight wanted to deal with was an invasion of changelings, especially if they were slow and careful, they could take over ponyville... again!

"Applejack, your making your friend uncomfortable" she said with a sigh. It seemed like lately AJ was getting more and more antagonistic, Twilight was starting to wonder if there *was* another stealth-invasion underway...

"Well, breeze, I don't know that it's possible to completely take away the changeling's need to feed on emotion, it must serve some purpose, such as powering their magic, and without it there could be dire consequences for them... but I have a few books and research notes that might be of use to you" unfortunately the ones she needed were hard to find and more than a few were misplaced and it was going to take her quite a while to root them out...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack rolled her eyes. She repsected other pony's slightly less antagonistic view of the changelings because not everypony had the same concerns as Applejack. So many ponies were so selfish that they didn't have concerns outside themselves, or they didn't understand the real impacts of the Changelings. Applejack did. Oh sweet Celestia she did. Twilight knew what it was to be taken by them but long-term what impact did it have? None. Apple Bloom had nearly been killed and her front legs stilll were healing. What madness was it that possessed some ponies to forgot the sacrifices that ponies in the REA and ponies like Apple Bloom had made for them? Applejack hadn't. She couldn't. Others could feel how they want or look for the bright side in the dark and she lauded them for it. But she was an honest pony and honestly, she didn't quite care if the changelings simply went away for good, were dealt with for good, or changed for good, all she cared about is that she didn't have to worry about one of them hurting her or her family ever again.

"Well, Spring, ya shouldn't feel uncomfortable," Applejack offered with a sigh and a smile as a response to both her bristling at Applejack's words as well as Twilight's slight chastisement. "Changelings are afraid of Ponyville now. Or at least, well, they should be by this stage. No reaspn ta worry 'bout me spilling Changeling blood again any time soon. Ya want ta find a way ta change 'em up, be mah guest. Ah personally think thar ain't much you can do ta change 'em. If there was a way, ya'd think that Twi here woulda come up with a plan after tha last time. But heck, maybe more eyes on a subject will open'r up ta a new idea. Maybe we can get 'em addicted ta good farmin' practices an' we can have'm make a food nopony wants to make, like onions and artichokes," Applejck suggested only half kidding. Two birds with one stone- Applejack wouldn't mind giving up artichokes in her lineup. Things were too tricky!

[DerpRavener]

The princess continued her search, which 'Spring Breeze' had avoiding taking part in. She had little experience in libraries, and thought trying to help would only complicate things. She hoped she'd find a way to repay the alicorn's generosity later, but for now the most she could do was simply stay out of the way.

When Twilight suggested that there might not be a way to accomplish the task safely, 'Spring Breeze' nodded. “Y-yeah, I'm prepared for that. At this point, I just want to know if it would even be possible.” She fidgeted awkwardly for a second before adding, “...Thanks. For the help.” The appreciation was genuine, but she had no idea what the protocol was for Equestrians in this situation. That, and she was still a little on edge about being in a room with two element bearers.

Applejack eased up a bit, saying 'Spring Breeze' didn't have to worry as there wouldn't be any changelings around Ponyville anytime soon. 'Spring Breeze' found it a little humorous that it was being said to her of all ponies, but she was overall mostly comforted by the notion, and let out a breath as she relaxed some.

Applejack went on to say that if there was anything Twilight would probably have found it by now, but that another pony searching never hurt. 'Spring Breeze' had to agree, though it didn't diminish her desire to search any. “Heh. I couldn't hope to compete against the element of magic. It's just, I had the thought a few days ago, and I'd never get it out of my head if I didn't at least look.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Ever had a thought like that?” It was an open question, more thinking aloud than a question directed to anypony in particular.

[Ashton]

Twilight had to giggle at AJ's idea, glad to see her friend had calmed down "Somehow, applejack, Idont need it's possible to fill an emmotional void with food - though I know plenty of ponies who try" she said as she went through a few more books "quite honestly, after our last defeat of Crysalis, I've not heard anything from her clan of changelings, and the few I hae heard of were mostly lone drones who didnt offer much resistance and seemed more confused than threatening, I think with her locked up in that old castle, what little influence she had over those not in ehr clan has faded and they're probably going to become more 'normal' and 'free thinking' than they were... of course that also means we'll see more crime since some will decide to use their powers for evil, but overall I think the effect will be positive" she smiled at her little mini-lecture,

looking at the 'pegasus' twilight smiled "Not often, I tend to lecture spike about anything in my head, but sometimes that does happen, like when I have thoughs about Eldritch magic... cant really talk to anypony about that..." she laughed a little awkwardly, realizing she'd just opened a huge can of worms and praying neither of them knew enough to ask about it...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack nodded, knowing that the exact same hope ran through her own head. Hopefully Chrysalis and her kind were rotting in their rotted lands, slowly starving away until they were more image than function. She wouldn't have minded that one bit at all. Maybe that made her a bit cruel and if it did, well, she was cruel. But nopony batted an eye when as a farmer she had to put too rest some beloved farm animals. That was all part of the life and everypony understood that. But extend that thought process out to protecting those you loved and suddenly it became cruel? She didn't quite care if the changelings vanished or went extinct, but she felt no shame in thinking that the second option wasn't so bad and didn't feel as though she was in the wrong for thinking that. maybe the others could forgive them for what they did, but Applejack couldn't. Oh well. She'd just have to the most getting alongingest pony who also wouldn't be one iota concerned if a whole species just vanished.

"Ah know, Ah know. But better than the alternatives, right? Hehe,they'd be just like Apple Bloom. Ya'd think she was trying ta get a cutie mark in eating competitions at the rate that filly tries to eat away 'er problems. 'course then she gets a stomachache and has to face them snout to snout, but can't blame her for trying," Applejack finished with a dark laugh. Heck, her sister had her ups and and her downs as well as an appetite to rival her sister, but one day she'd get her cutie mark and be the happiest filly to ever trample about Sweet Apple Acres.

She could also get behind Spring Breeze's rumination that couldn't knock itself out of her skull. That happened all the time to Applejack. She'd get some tenacious thought that she couldn't root out of her head until she prostrated herself in front of it and gave in to whatever it was saying. Usually this was just farming advice but she suspected something was up as more than a few odd Everfree animal incursions that would have otherwise been hard to trace or stop instead were halted by her insistence on rechecking an area after her brain had a funny tick that prevented her from turning away. Call it luck, skill, providence or instincts, in any case Applejack had some good version of it and it came in the form of a tick that would not leave. Many times it led to nothing but the one time in many it led to something important was enough to make it valuable despite all that wasted time.

"Sure have, Spring. All tha time. No real harm comes from investigatin' and huntin' down the answers 'till it goes away! Though, uhh, Twi, if yer gonna be talkin' bout Eldtritch or dark magic or what-have-you, at least allow me ta erect some sorta barricade ta protect tha rest of us from whatever tha hay happens."

[DerpRavener]

Twilight's comments about isolated changeling drones caused 'Spring Breeze's ears to perk up. There were others isolated from the hive? She began to wonder, and started to open her mouth to ask a question but took a look over at Applejack and decided leave well enough alone for now. She filed the questions away in her head, she'd have to come back and ask them later, but she'd had her fill of AppleJack's opinion of changelings for now. They'd already gotten off the subject, and as far as 'Spring Breeze' could tell everypony was happier that way.

Twilight mentioned eldritch magic as what stuck with her sometimes. 'Spring Breeze' started to ask the question, “ 'Eldritch magic'? What's-” She stopped herself however, and shook her head. She restrained herself this time, as although she was curious Twilight's warning and her own limited knowledge of the subject made her think twice. “Nevermind,” she said after a moment, “maybe it's better if I don't know.”

Feeling a little awkward just standing there fidgeting, and noticing that the search seemed to be taking a while, finally asked “Er, is there some way I could help? With searching for the notes, I mean.”

[Ashton]

Twilight frowned at AJ, then turned to 'spring' and smiled "Asking what it is does no harm, asking he how to perform any of it..." she shook her head "Honestly I know very little about Eldritch Magic, it's the most potent form of power any pony could possesses, but it is a... strain.. on your sanity because it involves power from beyond our perceivable universe, sometimes involving contracts with creatures that exist if four, five, or even six dimensional space. Even seeing one of these creatures can destroy your mind" she explained "I have my suspicions that Nightmare Moon may have been a shadow of an Abomination - a creature of Eldritch origins" she said "But most of thte spellbooks for such magic are either lost or locked up in the darkest most guarded parts of the castle. I dont know if even _I_ could get access to them if I requested it" she was taking great care to dance around the question about what she knew of Eldritch magic since, honestly, as the element of magic itself, she did have some knowledge and even did know a spell or two, but the risk of using them made certain she would never attempt them unless it truly was the only option, not even the threat of discord had been enough to risk Eldritch magic. Though she feared one day she would have to take that risk, she prayed she was wrong... "Basically if you ever find an eldritch tome, bring it to me, or Celestia, or Luna, and do not even open it. If you are ever approached by an abomination, turn and run as fast as you can... You'll thank me for it"

She sighed "Enough talk of this, you were here to see about finding some sort of... cure... for changelings, right? Lets focus on that instead of the black pits we can cast ourselves into" she smiled

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' recoiled slightly at Twilight's description of eldritch magic. She wasn't that well versed in magic, so just thinking about the idea of spells that gave the element of magic pause made her a little uneasy. When the princess concluded by saying 'Spring' should give any such books to her if found, 'Spring Breeze' could only reply, “...I'll be sure to do that, though I hope I won't need to.”

The princess then moved the conversation back to changelings. 'Spring Breeze' wasn't sure how she felt about her species considered as a disease, but as she'd essentially brought it up supposed she couldn't blame anypony but herself for it. “Er, yeah, I guess that's one way to put it. Really, I'm just wondering if there's a way to make it so that changelings don't have to hunt ponies. If changelings don't need ponies for food, they have no reason to attack, the war ends. Hopefully. In some ways it wouldn't matter how it happened.”

'Spring Breeze' pondered in silence for a moment, before thinking aloud. “I wonder if there's some way for ponies to store love? Maybe they could export it. Changelings would need something to provide in return, but if they're determined enough to attack Canterlot I'm sure they could come up with something useful...”

[steeleagle said I should post next, as AJ doesn't have much to add to the conversation at the moment.]

[Ashton]

((yeah, he told me last night))

Twilight nodded, glad that the 'pegasus' understood the dangers of Eldritch Magic. Last thing she needed was sompony with no idea what they were doing to accidentally open a gate and let an Eldritch Abomination into this world... again...

Twilight nodded "That's a very interesting idea" she said "if we could develop some way to store the emotional energy, we could equip certain places with collectors and we could easily get a maintainable supply!" she said "I have to research this! There must be a way!" she said, getting more and more excited as she talked about it, now teleport-spamming from one shelf to the next looking for books...

[SteelEagle]

Applejack couldn't quite understand too much when it came to a discussion of powerful and intense magics. It just wasn't something she had within her, not that she hadn't tried. She had given Twilight the time and space in the past to say what she had to say on the subject and you couldn't ask for a better teacher, but Applejack simply couldn't wrap her mind around some of the nuances. Most ponies couldn't. More to the point, Applejack was a mare all about actionable information and without the ability to cast spells or really dig deep into magical minutia it became a topic of passion and it wasn't her passion at all. No problem though- she had still made time to listen and learn from Twilight, even if it really only hit upon the surface of the message.

But even just having it on the surface made a difference when it was combined with Applejack's own knowledge. She knew a fair bit about sociology, biology, and her breadth of experience on Sweet Apple Acres didn't hurt either. You couldn't change the nature of a beast or a pony and it likely went to reason that the same thing stood true for a changeling. If they could have been changed, then no doubt Celestia, having dealt with that particular race for generations and being a creature of boundless goodwill, would have tried to do something. Twilight was the greatest pony of all time regarding magic but if Celestia hadn't looked into this after the Canterlot fiasco or Nightmare Night then Applejack doubted such a spell existed or plan could be enacted.

Besides, it wouldn't even be a good idea and she didn't want Twilight to spend the next few weeks working on something that wouldn't work and even if it did, wouldn't help them a lick.

"Ah hate ta be tha fly in tha ointment, but Ah don't think it'd be a good idea. When Chrysalis attacked, 'er goal was ta take Equestria, Canterlot first. That is a whole lotta love, a whole lotta power. Sure, Ah think y'all could get some of tha meeker changelings ta fall in with such a plan, but Chrysalis and her hive? Pssh, we'd be lucky ta get a single one of 'em. 'Course, doesn't mean y'all shouldn't look- even one or two changelings gettin' fat off of our exports would be better than nothin', but if Ah'm bein' honest Ah doubt it exists," she laughed, slowly trotting over to some books about the Everfree, "y'all'd have more luck teaching a cockatrice to riverdance than you would change Chrysalis' mind."

[DerpRavener]

'Spring Breeze' jumped back a bit with a yelp, startled by Twilight's sudden teleporting around. Not having much experience dealing with the princess, she wasn't prepared for this display of excitement. After watching Twlight blink around for a few moments, she turned toward Applejack. “Is...is she often like this?”

Applejack for her part was much less optimistic about the possibility. She expressed some doubts that such a spell would exist, but her main criticism was that even if such a spell could be found and easily implemented it wouldn't solve the main problem: Chrysalis' ambition. It wouldn't matter how many accommodations one made or what could be offered in trade if the queen wouldn't come to negotiating table. She'd had her suspicions, but she had hope that the hive would be a reasonable entity. It took the idea being exposed to really make her doubt the capacity.

“Y-Yeah, you're probably right.” The realization left 'Spring Breeze' somewhat crestfallen. “Q- Chrysalis doesn't seem like she's much one for dimplomacy...” 'Spring Breeze' had to suppose that was the answer she was looking for, that even if it were theoretically possible it would never come to pass. “...I guess that's everything I wanted to know.” She began moving toward the door. The false pegasus stopped, and looked back at Twilight and Applejack and smiling although her ears were drooped. “I've got some things to think about. Thanks, for the help.”

[Ashton]

Twilight turned with a stern look "Applejack! Don't dwell on your friends faults, you know Fluttershy tried _Really_ hard with that cockatrice, but he had absolutely _no_ rhythm!" though her look softened, knowing AJ wasn't trying to insult flutter shy, and honestly, Twilight didn't know for sure if the yellow pegasus had actually tried such a thing, though she had mentioned something similar before, so...

"Hey, who says we need to worry about crysalis? She's locked up in that old castle, probably forever since no pony can understand how pinkie's mind works" said the alicorn "That also leaves a lot of changelings without a leader, they're probably desperate for some path ro follow, and this might be a way to save them and lead them into the light"

Finally she looked at the pegasus "I'm sorry" she said "Applejack has a bit of a prejudice against changelings, well, well all do to some extent considering they tried to murder us, destroy our friendship, and in my case use me as a pony-of-mass-destruction to take over the world..." she paused "but AJ's is more personal, they're after what's left of her family, and while I'm sure we can all agree that it doesn't mean every single one is like that, we can also understand how she feels" explained twilight

[SteelEagle]

Was Twilight going a bit daft in the head? Applejack had always subscribed to the comedic belief that anypony only ever had limited space in their head for information and as new information came in older information was forced out. Even for a pony as smart and unique as Twilight, Applejack assumed the same held true. That vast memory bank would reach its limit someday some way and what would be left would be only the information she chose to remain. What shocked Applejack was mostly what the Princess chose to remember or decided was important and she showed a clear path of thought that led to her deciding to completely forget the most recent with the changelings, Nightmare Night, that involved Chrysalis. Either she was doing so on purpose or her Princess had a taste of rice wine that spent her like a cheap card in a cheap game. Applejack shock her head, mostly out of disbelief.

"Twi, how tha hay did you forget Nightmare Night? That was more recent than tha castle. Heh, you sure you haven't been hittin' the rice wine? Yer memory may be selective, but mine sure isn't. Ah'd think you'd be especially angry with what happened on account of what that changelings that took your place did. Ah may have just saved a bunch of foals. but Ah know fer a fact that the ponies that went here for Nightmare Night left not entirely whole. Mah sister may have been broken physically, but tha ponies that came here carry all manner of emotional scars. Don't forget that. Don't forget that some good fer nothin' changeling took advantage of the trust and love ponies had in you to lure innocents into the worst place on the planet...or beyond, for that matter. Yer darn right Ah'm a bit prejudiced against 'em, and Ah have good cause. Ah'm sure there are some good'ns in their species, more willing to be honest and kind and working with us instead of against us, but those would be the exceptions that prove tha rule as they say. Spring, please stay and work with Twi some. If y'all wanna find a way to maybe get a few of those types to work with Equestria than go for it. But Ah don't wanna see either one of y'all work yerself ta the bone with some sort of high ideal that yer gonna change tha world. Now Twi, where the hay is 'oil Economics and the Magic of the Everfree'? Been lookin' for that one for a while now ta complete tha set."

[DerpRavener]

‘Spring Breeze’ couldn’t help but think that Twilight was being overly optimistic about the whole thing. If Chrysalis had been dealt with, the false Pegasus had to assume it wouldn’t have been a permanent solution or she would have expected some sign of it. That and the Nightmare Night attack, even though she had only heard about it second hoof, could only mean one of three things: Chrysalis had escaped her predicament, Chrysalis’ ability to lead the hive was unimpeded by her predicament, or another changeling had filled in the gap. Regardless of which one turned out to be true, the end result was that the hive was still a threat.

Prejudice seemed to be the most reasonable course of action in some ways, much as she hated to admit it. ‘Spring Breeze’ sat down, considering.

“I have to agree with you, Applejack,” ‘Spring Breeze’ said eventually, “At least in part. Changelings are…are dangerous. And generally just…harmful…” Her voice trailed off, and she ended up staring at the ground. It was somewhat difficult to make what amounted to a confession for her. “…I remember Canterlot.” A moment after getting that out, she composed herself and moved on. “Ponies will have to be careful around them anyways. But here's the thing. Anypony who’s capable is dangerous with the proper motivation. If that motivation were removed, maybe we could stop them from attacking at all. No more guardsponies would have to risk their lives defending towns…no more families hurt in the middle of it all…” ‘Spring Breeze’ grew quiet as she finished the sentence, feeling some guilt by association over what happened to Applejack’s family and Ponyville in general. She shook her head, and recovered. “And if nothing else, maybe we can find some way to sow confusion in the ranks.”

Her resolve restored, ‘Spring Breeze’ turned back to face the bookshelves once more. “Though, all that said I’m not really sure where to start with all this…” She waved a hoof toward the shelves as she spoke. Libraries were something she’d been introduced to only recently, and though she really liked them so far she still tended to get a little lost.