Realms of Isceld: Book One: Hunt For Chrysalis

by AkumaKami64

Tense Diplomatic Start

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long. Lot of ups and downs in life at the moments, the holidays and changing seasons not helping much either. going to try to post these more regularly as the chapters are chorter than my usual fics.

"Cranky, Matilda!? Kevin?! Anyone here?!" Twilight called as she knocked on the door of Ponyville's resident donkey couple.

"Up here!" A voice called, making Twilight blink as she looked up and saw a Changeling looking down at her from the rooftop, "What, no guards?" he asked curiously.

"There are about six pegasus guards watching me," Twilight informed casually, tilting her head at him, "What are you doing up there?"

"Sleeping and house sitting for Cranky and Matilda while they're on their honeymoon," Kevin answered, popping his neck to relieve stiffness, "So, Your Highness, I take it you royals have made your decree?" he asked curiously.

Twilight cleared her throat and nodded, "Kevin Crustlar of the Entomian Hills, as a Princess and Representative of Equestria, I am here to inform you that we would indeed wish to open talks with your lord and your lands, and would appreciate his aid in dealing with the criminal known as Chrysalis Ceceen," She informed regally.

Kevin blinked before he opened his wings and buzzed down to the ground, "Then as Speaker of the High Lord, I am happy to say we can begin formal talks soon," He answered formally before smiling, "First time acting like that in an official capacity?" He asked sympathetically.

Twilight relaxed a bit at that, "Outside of an emergency or two, yes. How long do you think it'll take for your lord to send a representative? Or would that be you?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Representative?" Kevin asked before blinking and shaking his head, "Right, your people don't know much about Changelings. You'll be talking to High Lord Battle Shift himself," he explained.

Twilight went wide-eyed at that, "You mean he's coming here?" She asked in surprise.

Kevin waved his hoof in negative at that, "No, not in person. Due to our Hive Mind, we've been able to create a magic that allows one changeling to speak through another, essentially possessing the body temporarily," Kevin explained.

"Possession?! Isn't that dangerous?" Twilight asked in shock.

"More like exhausting, especially over long distance. But no, it's not dangerous if it's willing. Especially since my mental-self will be bunking in Battle Shift's body until he's done talking to you all," Kevin assured.

"Bunking? So...it's more like a mind switch?" Twilight inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yes," Kevlar confirmed, "Still, when would you want to have this meeting?" He asked curiously.

"Umm, when is he...available?" Twilight asked, a bit awkwardly.

Kevin hummed as he looked up briefly, "Would tomorrow work for you?" He asked curiously.

Twilight looked taken back by the short time but recovered quickly, "Umm, probably. Princesses Luna and Celestia can work around their schedules very easily when needed and Cadence doesn't have any duties here," Twilight mused thoughtfully, "And as you probably know, I'm the most recent Princess, so my workload is very limited for the moment," She added on, holding back a sheepish look. She raised an eyebrow as Kevin smirked, almost looking amused, "What? Something in my mane?"

"Sorry, I just...It just occurred to me that you, Your Highness, are in fact the current youngest Immortal in the world," Kevin revealed with a small chuckle.

"I am?" Twilight asked in surprise, shaking her head as she asked what she really wanted to know, "Wait, you mean, immortals are...common?" She asked curiously.

"Hmm, I don't know if common is the word for it, but there are well over a hundred immortals across the realms," He explained thoughtfully.

"Hundreds...?" Twilight asked in shock.

Kevin nodded, raising an eyebrow, "Did you princesses think you were all alone in eternity?" He asked curiously.

"W-well, no, but...I never knew there were so many," She answered, stunned, "K-Kevin? Can...can I ask you more about...everything?" She asked hopefully

Kevin blinked before he nodded with an amused look, "It'd be my pleasure, Your Highness. Though, perhaps we should take this elsewhere? After all, don't you still have to figure out a good time to meet with Lord Shift?" he reminded.

Twilight almost swallowed her tongue at that, "R-right," she agreed before her nervousness melted away with an almost sly smile, "Kevin, as the first real Changeling to visit Equestria, how about I be courteous and give you, Ambassador, a tour of Ponyville?" she offered.

Kevin smirked at that, "Only if you promise to keep the lynch mob at bay if they think I'm controlling your mind," He requested, only half joking. Twilight sweat-dropped at that, but nodded in agreement, "Then I will need but a minute," He said as he turned towards the forest, "STEVE! STEVE! STEVEN MAGNUM!" He yelled into the wilderness

"WHAT IS IT, LARS!?" Steven yelled back from a distance.

"I GOT TO TALK AND WALK WITH ROYALTY! WATCH THE HOUSE FOR ME!" Kevin answered.

"WILL DO, BE THERE IN A MOMENT!" The sea serpent answered.

Kevin turned back to Twilight and sighed, "No, I do not have Lars as another name. Steve just misheard me when we first met and it kind of stuck to him," Kevin answered before she could ask.

"Riiiight. So, shall we?" She asked, gesturing to towards town.

"I'd be delighted, Princess," Kevin said with a small grin as the trotted back to town.

"So...do I call you Kevin or Kevlar?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh, right, I never explained that," Kevin realized, "It's a custom of the Entomian Hills, having two names. One is your personal name; the other is your professional one. It's basically taking the idea of keeping your home life and your work life separate to the extreme. And since I'm on the job, Kevin would be more appropriate," He admitted, pausing as he heard a scratching noise, looking over at Twilight, "...You're taking notes?"

Twilight nodded, not at all shamed with the tablet and quill hovering near her, "Well, your country has clearly put forward the effort to understand us, even being able to correctly translate your written language to ours, so it only seems right I try to understand yours as well and make it easy for others as well," Twilight said proudly.

Kevin stared at her for a moment before smiling in amusement, "Glad to know you're a noble Sorb, Princess," He commented offhoofedly.

"Sorb?" Twilight repeated, the foreign tongue odd on her lips.

"It means "Self." It refers to an immortal that has, somehow, gained immortality on their own merits," Kevin explained with a thoughtful look, "It's one of the rarer origins for immortals, actually, and not very many people know the requirements. Some theorize that it's different for every race, others think its other immortals secretly granting immortality."

"Hmm, Princess Celestia guided me to being an Alicorn, so either the second is true or she just understands the...requirements, as you put it, for becoming an alicorn," Twilight mused, scribbling down a section details Sorbs, "What about the rest of the classifications?" She asked curiously.

Kevin chuckled at that, "Slow down, Princess. I haven't even put a frame up and you're already looking for the finer details of the picture," He joked.

Twilight blushed sheepishly, "Sorry, it's just..."

"Too much to think about?" He guessed, getting a nod.

"We always knew there had to be more out there, beyond Equestria, but...you being here proves just how much!" Twilight elaborated, practically brimming with excitement, before shaking her head clear, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine, it's fine," Kevin assured good naturedly, "So...if you don't mind me asking? What was with those weird night and day cycles that have been going on over the past year or so?" He asked cautiously.

Twilight blinked before looking sheepish, "Well, the first one, when the sun was late coming up, was when Luna came back, still possessed by Nightmare Moon," She explained.

"Eh, rogue Night-Terrors. Nasty, nasty things," Kevin commented with a shiver.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that but continued on, "The second was Discord before his reform," She explained.

"Discord?" Kevin repeated in confusion.

"The Spirit of Chaos," Twilight said with an awkward chuckle, "Don't worry, you'll meet him before long, knowing him."

Kevin nodded slowly to that, "And the wiggly-sun incident?" He asked curiously.

"That...was me. Long story short, I had to take over the sun and moon for a day due to an emergency," Twilight confessed with a small blush.

Kevin blinked, staring at her with wide eyes, "...You moved the sun and moon?" He asked, sounding impressed.

"Please don't read too much into it. I'll...I'll explain another time," Twilight assured.

Kevin tilted his head, wondering why that was embarrassing, but shrugged it off, "So...your brother runs the Crystal Empire?" He asked, trying to move the conversation along.

"Yes, with Princess Cadence. Have you been there before?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Promise not to tell?" Kevin asked sheepishly, getting a nod, "Yeah, once. I cloaked and went in to make sure I wasn't just imagining things. Not going to lie, I kind of wish it had been abandoned since it would have given the Entomian Hills a nice little place up in the north, like a city wide embassy or something."

Twilight chuckled in her throat, seeing his point, "By the way, why don't you cloak yourself?" She asked curiously as they drew close to the town.

Kevin tilted his head at that, looking at her oddly, "Why don't you fly or teleport?" He countered.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Just because I can do something that'd make things easier for me, doesn't mean I'll use it all the time," Kevin elaborated, "Especially when it'd probably make things worse in the long run."

Twilight frowned at that, having to give him that point. Finding out he was a cloaked changeling would just set too many ponies off. While seeing him plain as day might be alarming, it'd be more upfront and less likely to start a riot…a panic, maybe, but not a riot.

It was a tense walk through town, as they tried to ignore the eyes of every pony watching the pair with either curiosity or fear and the occasional whispers as several parents rushed their fillies inside.

"Well, no incident yet," Kevin noted dryly as they sat in the outdoor café.

"Don't talk like that," Twilight scolded lightly as the waiter arrived.

Savoir Fare cleared his throat, looking as professional as possible, only giving a slight glance of caution to the changeling before nodding in respect to the alicorn, "Princess, would you and your...friend like to order?" He asked in his French accent.

"I'll take a daffodil sandwich," She requested with a smile, "Kevin?"

"I'll take whatever sandwich has the most vegetables in it," Kevin answered with a small smirk.

Savoir blinked before writing down the order, "One veggie-lover-on-the-go it is then," He noted curiously as he headed back inside.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as well at the choice, something Kevin didn't miss, "You were expecting me to order meat, right?" He asked, not sounding offended in the slightest.

"...Maybe?" She answered sheepishly.

"It's fine. In fairness we're sansivores, emotion-eaters, but we are also technically omnivores. Our bodies just prefer emotions over meats and plants," He explained as they waited for the meals.

With some ponies not-so-subtle disapproving of the changeling in their midst.

"What is Princess Twilight thinking?"

"Look at it, such a terrifying form."

"Is she being mind-controlled?"

"If you're going to talk behind my back, please be quiet enough not to disturb our meal," Kevin called over his shoulder, making everypony tense and clam up.

Twilight sighed with an apologetic look, "Sorry about that. It...takes some ponies a while to warm up to new creatures."

"Especially ones your kind has only bad experiences with," Kevin mused as their food arrived.

"Here you are, Princess, Monsieur...Kevin, I believe?" Savoir said as he placed the food down.

"Thank you, my good stallion. I'd give you a tip, but I doubt you take combs or stongs here," Kevin complimented, eyeing his thick sandwich hungrily.

"Thank you, Savoir Fare," Twilight said with a smile as she paid for the bill, plus a sizable tip for treating Kevin well. The stallion gave another look to Kevin before leaving, but that might have been with the predatory look in his eyes while staring at the food, "...You okay?" Twilight asked in concern to her companion.

"...I'll explain after I have a bite," Kevin said after a brief pause and immediately sunk his fangs into the sandwich, taking a large chunk of it as he slowly chewed and savored it with a pleased look, "Ahh, you ponies really do grow things with love here...," he said with something between a purr, a hiss, and a sigh; either way, it sounded pleased.

"You can taste that?" Twilight asked in interest, her food untouched.

Kevin nodded with a smile, "It's one thing we have trouble getting and why we like knowing where our food comes from," He admitted, his expression turning flat as she started writing something down.

"...food grown with love..." she muttered under her breath before looking back at him, blinking at his look, "What? Something on my face?"

Kevin just shook his head in amusement, "No, just wondering if you forgot your sandwich," He asked, nodding to it.

"Oh, right," She remembered with a blush as she started eating.

"So, anything you'd like to ask before we get this tour going, Princess?" He asked idly.

"...Well, I suppose I should ask the most prominent question: What is Lord Battle Shift like?" Twilight asked curiously.

Kevin shook his head at that, "Could you explain Princess Celestia to me if I just suddenly asked?" He counter-questioned wryly.

Twilight opened and closed her mouth before answering, "No, I suppose not," She answered apologetically.

"That said, you don't have a thing to worry about in terms of behavior on his or your part," Kevin assured as he took a quick, small bite, "Lord Battle Shift is older than the Entomian Hills and he's good at shifting between every level of formality and informality. So unless you're trying, you're probably not going to offend him."

"Well, that's something less to worry about, I suppose," Twilight admitted with some relief before smiling widely as a thought came to mind.

"...Why do you look like Kewmas just came early?" Kevin asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. It just clicked in my mind, with you enjoying stuff made with love, how much you're going to enjoy this tour," Twilight answered cryptically.

"What is it with you immortals being mysterious with half-answers?" Kevin grumbled to Twilight's amusement.

Apparently Celestia had rubbed off on her more than she thought.

Comments

[Cross Lament]

Kevin and Twi seem to be hitting it off pretty well.

Now you've got me curious as to the etymology of the word "sansivore".

[AkumaKami64]

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I got Sansi from Sensi, a form of the latin word sentiō, meaning to feel or perceive. My original plan was to use the latin word for emotion, but that originally referred to removing something, strangely enough. For that and other reasons, I used the latin word for sense and found sentio. After that I changed sensi to sansi to give the impression of the language evolving/changing over time. Thus, Sansivore