Of the Hive

by law abiding pony

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Changelings, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 78296

After the royal wedding, a new changeling hive makes its presence known and wishs to open diplomatic relations. Twilight decides to use this opprotunity to learn more about them, but ends up getting far more than she bargined for.

In the wake of Chrysalis' failed invasion, a different hive breaks tradition and steps into the light to open relations with Equestria. The ever eager scholar, Twilight Sparkle, uses this truce as the perfect opportunity to learn more about this enigmatic race. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she will learn all there is to know about what it means to be a changeling.

But will Twilight lose herself in the hive, or will she regain what she has lost? Only time will tell.

Featured on 9/24/13

My first featured story! You guys are awesome.

Story readings and cover art by Luminescent Skies: Click here for some audio novel treatment

My Editor in Chief: Cloud Hop

Published 2013-09-23 22:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-04 18:54:31 UTC

1: Stepping Out of the Shadows

A week had passed since the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Life for the average pony mostly returned to normal as Canterlot’s citizens repaired the damage left behind by Chrysalis and her swarm. While Ponyville had witnessed more crazy events than the capital in recent history, Canterlot demonstrated to its rulers that resiliency did not lie with Ponyville's citizens alone.

That provided Celestia just one more reason to protect her subjects. At present, the solar diarch was presiding over a newly formed committee to determine what should be done about the changeling threat.

Celestia found herself in a well-used conference room with an oval wooden table surrounded by fifteen seats. The princess sat in the center of the oval’s north side, with Twilight Sparkle sitting to her right. Various advisors from both the civilian and military sectors joined them to discuss changes to their foreign policy.

As the groups muttered amongst themselves, the lavender unicorn tapped her mentor. “Shouldn’t we wait for my brother to return from his honeymoon? He is the Captain of the Guard, after all,” she whispered.

Celestia fully understood her protégé’s concerns. “Normally, I would agree. However, he was directly manipulated by Chrysalis, and while I know Shining would do his best to stay objective in this matter, I fear he would take a less… diplomatic route.” She let a small smile show through. “Besides, he and his wife need time to recover from the ordeal, and I can't think of anypony better suited to the task than Cadance.”

After mulling it over, Twilight had to agree. “I just don’t see how he’ll be able to relax though. The changelings practically declared war on us.”

Celestia's smile disappeared. “Sadly, I agree. Nevertheless, we drove them from our lands and soundly defeated them. I’m hoping that will allow us to broker peace between us before this escalates into a full blown war.”

One of the mares on the other side of the table loudly cleared her throat. “Princess Celestia, could we start with what we know about changelings in general?”

“A prudent course of action,” agreed the diarch, before turning to the lavender mare at her side.

Twilight was rather comfortable in a committee setting. Her tutelage under the white alicorn taught her much in the ways of politics and how to speak the language. “I’m afraid our knowledge is quite lacking. We have only sporadic texts about changelings, and most of them are mythological, not historical. Everything we know is from firsthoof experience during the invasion. They appear to be insects and most likely have a rigid caste system, but that is merely conjecture.” Twilight suppressed a sigh of defeat. “Other than the fact that they derive power from love and can assume any form they wish, we have no concrete knowledge. Perhaps they can only assume the shape of other ponies - we just don't know.”

As Twilight ended her speech, one of the army captains spoke up. “Then the way I see it, we have two primary objectives. Find out everything we can about them, and prepare ourselves for armed conflict, should it come to that.”

The other military personnel and several civilians murmured in agreement. Celestia was against the second action. Our allies will see a military buildup as a sign of aggression and might do the same. The griffins and minotaurs get antsy when they have a large army at their command and no one to fight against. Since I’ve never heard of a changeling invasion before, I doubt they would stand hoof to hoof against another army in the field.

Before she could voice such concerns, rapid knocking on the heavy oak doors echoed through the chamber, and a frightened earth mare poked her head in. Celestia identified her as Bound Scroll, her chief secretary. The alicorn was troubled to see the mare in such a state. “Princess, we have a diplomat urgently wishing to speak with you.”

Celestia arched a curious eyebrow. “I thought I decreed that all audiences were canceled for the day. If it’s anything truly urgent, they will have to bring it up with my sister during the night court.”

“With all due respect, Princess. I don’t think you want to wait for this one. She claims to be a diplomat for a changeling queen by the name of Cadista.”

The news was met with stunned silence. Celestia, who had dealt with a thousand years of harrowing experiences, was the first to speak. “Where is this… diplomat?”

“She’s waiting just outside.”

An army captain balked at the declaration. “You let a potential enemy agent this far into the palace?”

The earth pony rubbed her left foreleg nervously. “Well, that’s just it. She’s been in the palace for over two years now as Ambassador Gloss. She just walked up to my desk, said she needed to speak on behalf of her queen, and then dropped her disguise right in front of me.”

I remember her, thought Celestia, Two years ago, she requested open borders between our nations to begin trade relations. Her bewilderment deepened. Now that I think about it, Gloss plays almost no role in our politics. She attends open parliament and public court sessions, but only acts to maintain the simple trade agreement between us and her kingdom.

The alicorn addressed Bound Scroll, “I would never turn away an attempt at diplomacy. Send her in.”

“At once, your majesty.”

A few tense moments later, an unusual being entered the chamber with the dignity and poise Celestia had come to expect from the enigmatic Gloss, telling her that she was not an imposter. Or a very skilled one. Her appearance took the room by surprise.

Gloss looked like a normal unicorn with several differences. She had a grey coat of fur and a vivid orange mane, like a normal pony. The most striking were the holes in her extremities - the largest were only the size of a bit.

Her horn was smooth ivory, with no spiral, and curved slightly up, ending in a sharp point. Her eyes had pupils, but they were almost completely hidden by a soft azure glow behind them. The ambassador had the trademark insectoid wings of a changeling, along with a pair of fairly intimidating fangs.

Celestia silenced the quiet murmuring that had filled the room with a rap of her hoof. “Ambassador Gloss,” she began slowly. “I must say you surprise me. You are no doubt aware of the invasion we suffered last week. So, why would you reveal yourself and endanger our treaty? You know that I cannot allow it to stand because it was made under a false pretense.”

Gloss spoke with the eloquence of a Canterlot noble, which further hid any nuances the room full of advisors might use to glean information about her race. “If I may, your majesty, the treaty we share was not written with malicious intent and my—people have made no actions against you. With only a scant few minor exceptions, everypony under Queen Cadista’s rule who has visited your lands has abided by your laws to the letter. Surely you cannot blame us for the actions of another.”

“And how are we supposed to know that?” one of the civilian advisors barked. “For all we know this Queen Cadista is just one of Chrysalis’ aliases.”

Gloss recognized the stallion as the minister of Public Safety. “Tell me, Kickback, who warned you of the invasion in the first place?”

The minister couldn’t answer, but Celestia could. “You did, and you requested no recompense after the fact. Why?”

Gloss inclined her head in thanks for her actions being remembered. “It is as I said - I represent Queen Cadista. My—people have been in armed conflict with Chrysalis’ nation for some time now. My queen required that I warn you of the attack.”

Twilight Sparkle was not yet convinced. “We only knew there was a threat against the capital. Couldn't you have told us more?”

“You must understand,” Gloss replied evenly. “It is not our way to reveal our true nature. If I had told you who you were up against, Chrysalis would have sent harsher reprisals against us. I have been authorized to tell you that my—people were in no shape to deepen Chrysalis’ ire.”

Both Twilight and Celestia caught onto the ambassador’s brief hesitation every time she said ‘people’. It was a quirk that Gloss had always possessed. The alicorn cast her pupil a knowing glance before returning her gaze to the ambassador. “You were hoping the warning would have been enough to force Chrysalis to abort the invasion, weren’t you?”

The room hung on the diplomat’s answer. “You are as perceptive as ever, your majesty,” she said with a nod of respect. “We had hoped that upon hearing of the warning she would back down and not reveal our kind to the world at large. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass.

“Her bid for power has endangered us all, and threatened to mark every changeling as enemies of the state. Chrysalis singlehoofedly destroyed our best and oldest defense. My queen has always harbored great respect for Equestria. She knew it would only be a matter of time before you learned how to counter our disguises and purge us from your realm. She does not blame you for that course of action - she would do the same in your place. In time, you would teach these methods to your allies and we would be cut off from our best source of love. As a result, my Queen has decided to break away from tradition, just as Chrysalis did. We, however, wish to extend the olive branch, rather than cross swords.”

Twilight whispered to the princess. “If this offer is legitimate, then we should take this opportunity. If we open relations with one changeling nation, we could eventually do so with all of them.”

Celestia took it as sound advice and addressed the ambassador. “Before we conduct any negotiations, I must speak with Queen Cadista directly. You may tell her a sign of good will would be the return of any abducted ponies you’ve taken.”

Gloss tilted her head to the side, and her eyes became distant, as if she was hearing someone speak to her. Eventually, her attention returned to the diarch. “While we would like to do what you ask, we cannot, since we never took anypony hostage, your majesty. We have no ponies to return, because we never replaced, nor foalnapped, any of your citizens."

Celestia wanted to believe her, but trust towards the changeling came slowly to the alicorn. “Pray that you speak the truth, ambassador. I will contact you by the end of the day as to when I can host your Queen’s arrival.”

Gloss bowed her head. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. I hope our two nations can continue to coexist peacefully.” After a nod from Celestia, Gloss left the chamber.

“We must consider this new development before we can reach a decision on how we handle future relations with her kind,” Celestia addressed the committee. “To that end, I call for a twenty-four hour recess.”

The gathered advisors agreed, and after the diarch rapped the table three times, they departed. Twilight, however, remained in her seat until the council left. “Princess, do you really think Cadista wants real peace between us?”

The alicorn recalled everything she knew about Gloss and the treaty Equestria had written with her. “I get the feeling that Cadista is a minor power in her part of the world. Immigrants from her lands are extremely few, but I don’t know if they stay in Equestria. Her kingdom has only two main exports: a gel-like healing agent that accelerates the recovery time of skin injuries, and advanced machinery. They’re the ones who sell us parts for our train engines that we can’t manufacture on our own. As far as I know, the only imports they take are steel and coal. Both their imports and exports are in small quantities, however, as the imports they ask per month could barely keep Manehattan afloat for the same length of time.”

Twilight assumed any actual trade was done within Equestrian borders while the changeling merchants returned alone back to their lands. Perhaps they are simply more self-sufficient. Her ears perked up at the thought of delving into a new culture. “We still know next to nothing about changelings, and if Gloss’ appearance tells us anything, it’s that they are far more diverse than what Chrysalis’ group would have us believe. I’d like to go to their lands and study how they live.”

The solar diarch gave a lopsided grin. “I commend your will to put aside your misgivings about changelings in light of the invasion, but they are a secretive people by their own volition. I doubt they will want anyone poking their noses too deeply into their society for some time.” Her tone shifted to that of a warning. “Plus, their lands lie to the distant south beyond the Cresnox Jungle. It’s a dangerous place for travelers of any kind.”

Twilight was not so easily dissuaded. “Well, the changelings manage to do it every time they come in to trade. I’m sure you can convince Cadista to let me tag along as a temporary liaison to gather cultural information for a more permanent ambassador later on.”

The white alicorn was intrigued. While half of Twilight’s tutelage during her time in Canterlot was in magic, the other half had been in politics. “That is an excellent suggestion, and I’m sure Cadista will agree as a show of good faith. Nevertheless, I still want to take my measure of their queen before I can let you go. If I sense any deception in her, I will send someone else in your place.” Twilight considered this a sound condition. “And if Cadista appears trustworthy enough to avoid harming you, then I also want an army detail to escort you. Five soldiers should be small enough to avoid threatening Cadista.”

Twilight grinned widely and nuzzled her teacher. “Thank you, Princess. I only hope I can build a bridge between our two peoples.”

The solar diarch returned the affection in a motherly manner. Even though Twilight was a young adult, the alicorn couldn’t help but to see the lavender mare as a surrogate daughter. It always went unsaid between them, but both knew how the other felt. “If anypony can get it started, it’ll be you.”

2: Rebirth

A mind nearly devoid of thought drifted through a sea of murky water. Time held no meaning in this empty, watery expanse that had occupied the mind's awareness for as long as it could remember. Every so often, a memory would flitter through its consciousness. Sometimes a face, or a name, or a long lost place. Whatever meaning they once held had been washed away by time.

Except for one. A great, formless beast that brought with it great pain. The mind was grateful that particular memory rarely showed itself. Yet, the featureless void was beginning to shift, and change. A concept began to form, a notion that the mind was female, though she did not know what this meant. The water had always been a soothing orange color. A part of her remembered that water shouldn't be orange, but she found no reason to concern herself with that. Even so, the orange hue was growing more intense with each passing moment.

Suddenly, a thousand voices echoed through her consciousness. At first, the mind recoiled, frightened by this new experience. It was like an unintelligible murmur, floating just beyond her awareness. She felt the voices calling to her, welcoming her, embracing her. Slowly, she relaxed, and slid into the background noise, letting it permeate around herself. The mind did not understand what the voices were saying, but they emanated warmth and safety. She belonged with the voices, and they belonged with her.

Slowly, an intelligible thought bubbled up through the chorus of voices. Wake up, they said. She was confused. Wake up. A jolt lanced through her mind, and the water became a bright, vivid orange.

Wake up, Twilight Sparkle.

The purple mare’s eyes shot open. She was suspended in an orange, viscous liquid. Instinctively, she tried to gasp for air, but was already breathing that same orange substance. Part of her was terrified of being encased in a chrysalis. She didn’t know how she knew she was encased in a chrysalis, but that didn’t concern her right now. Instinctively, her mind reached out to the chorus echoing through her subconscious, and found comfort in their warm embrace. Slowly, her fears were calmed by their soothing presence.

A single command rose up through the murmurs, a voice she felt absolutely compelled to obey.

Break free.

Twilight hesitated, trying to figure out how to do that.

A few seconds later, a second command emanated from the voice. Do not think. Act!

Compelled to obey, Twilight braced her back legs against one side of the chrysalis and thrust her head forward with all her might. She heard a loud crack as her horn tore through the outer lining of hardened wax, sending cracks through the chrysalis. Instinct took over, and she pulled her head back down and thrust it up again, smashing through the weakened shell. Instead of taking in a large gulp of air, her first act was to retch the orange liquid from her lungs. She slumped onto the side of the egg, heaving, until she was at last able to breathe freely.

Once she had recovered her strength, Twilight’s hooves broke down the rest of her chrysalis. She stumbled out of it, still disoriented, and collapsed on top of a growing pool of orange fluid, with her legs splayed outward.

A tall, grey figure stood several feet away, watching as Twilight freed herself from the egg. “Well done, Twilight Sparkle.” The purple hatchling turned towards the figure as it walked up to her. An unspoken feeling bubbled up from the chorus in her mind, telling her exactly who this was. “Do you know who I am?”

“You are my Queen - Queen Cadista,” she replied, with a hint of reverence. A part of her felt it was wrong to say that, but she didn’t know why.

The matriarch nodded with a warm smile as she bent down to help Twilight stand, lifting her with her forelegs. “Very good, my child. Are you feeling well?”

Twilight was captivated by her queen’s appearance. She was tall, as tall as one of the pearly white faces that kept dancing through her fractured memories. Cadista had grey fur, small holes in her extremities, and possessed a vivid orange mane and tail. Her baby blue eyes had reptilian slits, but they held a mix of compassion, sadness, and hope. The hatchling realized her queen was waiting for her to speak. “I am a little tired, but I believe I am whole.”

“That is perfectly natural and will fade shortly. Do you know what you are?” Cadista asked with gentle concern.

The question caught Twilight off guard, and her first answer died on her lips. She twisted her head around to look at herself. She possessed a familiar lavender coat, which had an abundance of sticky orange liquid stubbornly clinging to her fur. Her tail had a deeper shade of purple with a pink and orange stripe in it. Something about the orange color seemed off, but Twilight ignored it. She also had a pair of deep crimson, translucent, gossamer wings that buzzed lightly upon being regarded. Upon her flank was a six pointed purple starburst with five smaller orange starbursts surrounding it. She noticed it was the same shade of orange that Cadista possessed.

“I am a changeling, my queen,” she replied as though it were common sense.

“Good. Your connection with the hive mind is strong enough to grant basic knowledge. That is why you know these things.”

“Hive mind?” queried Twilight, “Is that what you call those voices I hear?”

Cadista turned towards the exit. “Walk with me, Twilight Sparkle. I will answer any questions you have, but we must get you cleaned up.”

Feeling strong enough to walk, the purple changeling obeyed. “Yes, my queen.”

As the pair started moving, Twilight studied the hatchery she was in more closely. Aside from the orange egg she had escaped from, there were twenty more, precisely positioned to maximize space in the medium-sized room. However, all of the other eggs were grey, and only half of them concealed an occupant.

Cadista could tell her charge was distracted by her surroundings and elevated her voice just enough to return Twilight’s attention back to her. “To answer your question, Twilight,” the young mare’s face whipped back to listen to her queen. “The answer is yes. All the changelings under my domain are connected to the hive mind.” Immense pride colored her voice as she spoke. “Our hive mind has been tailored over many generations to grant unity and improve cooperation without suffocating the listener’s personality. Seeing how countries outside of ours operate, I have found letting drones have individuality to be greatly beneficial.”

Through the intricate web of the hive mind, Cadista sensed Twilight accept her words as irrefutable fact. “What do you remember before your rebirth, Twilight?”

For several seconds, Twilight’s mind went blank. “Only… flashes. Faces I think I should know, but don’t. Places and names that mean nothing to me, but I know they should. And…”

She trailed off. The queen could sense her apprehension and adopted a motherly tone. “There is no question you cannot ask, Twilight Sparkle. Tell me what troubles you.”

The former unicorn looked up to her queen and took comfort in the feeling of patient compassion drifting off of her. “It’s only a shapeless beast really. A big one. Far bigger than even you, my queen. The only thing I remember is that it caused me terrible, horrible pain.”

Cadista smiled sadly. She actually remembers portions of the attack. It is a testament to her mental fortitude that she didn’t go insane while inside the chrysalis. The elder changeling brought them to a nearby shower room. “Have no fear, Twilight. You are safe here.”

Twilight relaxed considerably after hearing her queen’s reassurances. The hive mind impressed upon her that Cadista was to be implicitly trusted. With no reason to think otherwise, she did. Cadista guided Twilight to a shower, turning it on and scrubbing the orange substance from Twilight’s fur with a sponge, grasped in her orange telekinesis.

She did so with the care that a mother would bestow upon her child. Something felt off about having her queen bathe her, but Twilight was not about to protest. Normally a drone would have cleaned Twilight, but this was a critical period in her integration into the hive, and Cadista needed to make sure it went smoothly.

As the conversation lapsed into silence, Twilight contemplated all she had learned after freeing herself from the egg. She raised her left foreleg to inspect the three small holes that went straight from one end to the other. Why do these holes feel like they shouldn’t be here? She glanced at Cadista’s forelegs while the queen used her kinesis to cleanse the orange liquid off of the purple mare. My queen has holes in her legs. So it must be normal for a changeling to have holes. And I am a changeling, she thought with shaky conviction. ...Aren’t I?

As Cadista shut the water off and cast a drying spell, Twilight managed to get a good look at her back. I have wings like my queen, and— she licked her teeth and found two long fangs in the front of her mouth. …And I have fangs. So, I am definitely a changeling. But then, why do I feel like I should be something else?

“Come Twilight, you must learn what it means to be a changeling.”

The phrasing of the request struck a chord in Twilight. A cloudy memory brushed the forefront of her mind, reminding her that, somehow, she had always wanted to know about this. She didn't know where the memory came from, or what it meant, but it gave her a sense of eager anticipation nonetheless. “Gladly, my queen.”

Pleased to see such enthusiasm to learn, Cadista led the newborn changeling out into a short, well-guarded hallway that led to the hive proper. Several drones with bladed weapons and armor stood vigil over the hatchery. At worst, Cadista feared confusion and resistance, but the ecstatic look upon Twilight’s face let her relax. She may yet come to terms with this when her memories return. “Since you have only been reborn today, I want you to explore the major areas of the capital.”

A keen expression danced of Twilight's face before it soured a little. “Who will be my guide? Can it be you, please?”

Cadista chuckled lightly. “Why not? A Queen does not last long without the ability to multitask.” I can spare the day, at least. “Since it’ll be me taking you around, why don’t I show you one of my favorite places in the city? After that you can go wherever you wish, within reason.”

“Oh, thank you, my queen!” Twilight’s wings buzzed with excitement. Her superior's benevolence assuaged any misgivings she had about her body, for the moment.

Cadista stepped up to a bronze, iris like doorway that had no immediately identifiable handle. It must be opened by magic only. She did not see her queen’s horn light up, but after stepping onto a metal plate in front of the door, it quickly opened with a hiss of steam and the grinding of greased cogs, revealing a large city beyond the portal.

Twilight was transfixed by how the door had opened on its own, knowing only that it had something to do with the metal plate. The sudden absence of her queen drove her through the door, only to stop in wonder at the sight of the city.

Cadista stood off to the side with a proud smile on her face. Only her memories are suppressed. I knew Celestia’s protégé was an avid scholar, and it seems that has survived her amnesia. Without memories of any other city, our home must be mind boggling for her.

The hatchery was built low to the ground, so Twilight's field of vision was fairly small. Sunlight filtered down through a massive caldera, huge grey walls rising out of a faint fog, curling up around the city in sharp points. A faint, barely perceptible orange dome covered the ceiling. Homes and factories dotted the landscape, as changelings fluttered to and fro on both hooves and wings alike. As Twilight watched hundreds of grey figures going about their business, the hive mind imprinted two words into her mind: brothers, and sisters.

She felt her queen’s presence to her right and turned to face her. Something about that thought seemed off. I—believe I’ve always had brothers, or was it just one brother? She kept watching the grey figures flitter about as doubt clouded her thoughts. I need confirmation. She turned to the one source of knowledge she felt she had every reason to accept as truth. “Are they my brothers and sisters?” She waved a hoof at the sky for emphasis.

Cadista nodded sagely. “Yes Twilight, they are your siblings, and you are their newest sister.”

Again, Cadista’s phrasing bothered her. I… believe I’ve always been a sister. But to whom? To them? She studied the changelings again. The idea of being a sister felt comfortable to Twilight, like a warm blanket on a cold night. Yes, I am a sister. A smile crossed her face as she looked over the other members of the hive. “I am your sister,” she said both proudly and quietly.

The declaration was just loud enough for Cadista to hear. “Come along, Twilight, I have much to show you.”

Twilight watched her queen take to the air, and without a second thought, flew after her, as if she'd been flying her whole life. As she followed her queen to the central tower that dominated the city’s skyline, a troubled thought nagged at her.

Cadista, and any nearby changelings, could sense Twilight's increasing anxiety through the link. She slowed down to be parallel with the hive’s latest addition. “What troubles you, young one?”

Twilight examined the other changelings before facing her queen. “Why am I the only purple changeling? You also keep talking about my ‘rebirth’. Haven’t I always been a changeling?”

Cadista had not expected this question so early. I’ve underestimated you again, Twilight Sparkle. “I do not wish to hide things from you, Twilight. I am being truthful when I say rebirth. However, you hatched barely two hours ago. Give yourself time to adjust to this life, before delving into the past.”

Cadista landed on top of the large tower with a sweeping view of the entire city. At its peak, the tower housed a massive orange crystal that powered the shield dome.

Twilight almost forgot her question at the sight of the massive crystal. “But, I already remember things from…I guess my old self. My past is important, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is,” Cadista replied, reassuringly. “But the present and future are just as important.” Something I have learned only recently myself. She adopted a sympathetic expression. “The process of your rebirth suppressed much of your old memories, Twilight. They will return on their own, I promise. Once they do, you are free to do as you will - within reason, of course,” she added carefully.

Twilight paused, digesting the information. “Do all of my siblings go through rebirth as well?”

“Not in the same manner as you have. But, I will let the caretakers explain that to you later. For now,” she swept a hoof towards the grand view of the northern half of the city, “I wish to welcome you to the capital of our hive, Stripped Gear.”

Satisfied by her queen’s words, Twilight looked down to the city below. As before, her amnesia made the dense urban area seem magical in its own right. Stripped Gear had an alien aesthetic to it, with bronze machinery dominating the landscape. Factories along the eastern district all had fanciful architecture that was both practical and inventive. The commercial and residential districts used even more whimsical designs.

Cadista let Twilight bask in the view of the city for a few minutes. It gave her a chance to focus more of her cognitive efforts in making sure all was well within the hive mind. Twilight’s wings buzzed with amazement, so much that she drifted off the ground a few times before getting a hold of herself.

“So, this is my home.” The mare looked back to Cadista with a question on her tongue.

The orange haired queen sniffed Twilight’s as of yet unvoiced query through the hive mind. “You will be staying with me for the foreseeable future, young Twilight. I want to make sure your integration into the hive mind continues without complication.”

Twilight’s curiosity was only compounded by that statement. “Why do I get the feeling not every rebirthed changeling stays with you for that?”

Cadista was not used to anyone directly questioning her decrees, even if Twilight’s tone did not suggest she would disobey. This is the new way, Cadista. I have to foster such inquisitiveness in her, not suppress it. She took strength from the hive to remain warm and calm. “Because, you are not like other rebirthed changelings. You will still learn how the common drone lives, and what they desire. But, after your tasks for the day are over, you will return to my side at the palace. Do you understand?”

Cadista did not use a forced command like before. She wanted Twilight to remain loyal of her own volition. Twilight briefly mulled over the directive, before bowing her head. “As you wish, my queen.” She had dozens of questions to ask about so many things, but a hunger that had been growing ever since her hatching took precedence. “Is um—Is there any chance I could grab some food? I don’t think I’ve eaten since… I guess my last meal in my old life.”

Cadista smirked at Twilight’s feeble attempt at a joke. Yes, she might be able to inject some of that equestrian vitality into my drones. That’s exactly what my hive needs to continue mother’s dream. The real trick will be getting her to willingly stay as more and more of her memories return. “Since you will be spending much of your time outside of the palace, let me take you to—” Cadista’s warm demeanor evaporated as she looked to the west with a scowl.

Twilight’s ears flattened at the sudden shift in her queen’s mood. The hive mind reflected the change as well and she could feel her siblings’ mounting distress. “My queen?”

Cadista masked her anger on both her face and in the hive mind. “My apologies, Twilight, but an important matter has come to my attention.” One of the nearby engineer drones watching over the tower’s shield generator dropped his work and flew over to Cadista upon hearing her unspoken command to him.

“I am yours to command, my queen,” said the changeling, bowing. He was like every other male drone Twilight had seen so far; grey fur, azure glowing eyes with barely perceivable irises, and all business.

“Your tasks for the day are being shifted to palace duties. However, you will still be compensated for a full day’s engineering work. I want you to escort Twilight Sparkle to one of the food courts - I care not which. After that, you are to act as her guide to wherever she wants to go within Stripped Gear, as long as it isn't dangerous.” She cast a glance at Twilight. She didn't visibly react, but Cadista could feel her compliance with the indirect command.

The drone snapped a crisp salute. “It will be done.”

Satisfied, Cadista turned to Twilight. “I want you to return to the palace by sundown. I will be back by then.”

We’re in front of one of my brothers, so I should probably keep it formal, like he did. Twilight bowed her head. “As you wish, my queen.”

Cadista lingered for a moment as she considered Twilight’s response. Humility; she will need that for the coming months. Without further ado, she departed, leaving the grey and purple changelings on their own.

Twilight watched her depart with a thread of uncertainty. I’m just one sister among hundreds, if not thousands. I hope they don’t mind me being purple. She felt like an outsider. Why was my rebirth different from everypony else’s? Why am I purple when everypony, even Cadista is grey? She sat on her haunches while gazing upon the constantly busy city of Stripped Gear. Who did I used to be? Was I a changeling back then too? Or was I... something else?

Twilight raised a hoof to look at the holes in her legs. Why do these seem so out of place? Does my past even matter? A few faces flashed across her mind’s eye. Argh, I can’t even put names of any of them. The more she tried to focus, the more something stood out about them. They’re not grey. Nor do they have fangs or the eyes.

Suddenly, Twilight wanted a mirror. In her brief search for a reflective surface the engineer came into view. He had a distant look in his eyes as if his mind was a million miles away. Having no one else to turn to, the newborn changeling stepped over to him and politely cleared her throat. “Excuse me, brother.”

The grey drone snapped back to reality. “Yes? Are you ready to go?”

Twilight’s stomach growled in response, but she beat down her embarrassment. “Almost. Is there a mirror I can use? I haven’t had a chance to see what my face looks like yet.”

He was caught off guard by her casual mannerism, now that Cadista was gone. “Oh, sure,” he fumbled around his tool belt to retrieve a hoof-sized mirror on an iron stick. He sensed her curiosity and spoke while using his hooves to unscrew the mirror off the handle. “We engineers keep a mirror on hoof so we can see into nooks and crannies while conducting repairs and routine maintenance on the machinery.”

He used a cloth to wipe away some of the caked on oil and grime, but the rag barely made it any better. He presented the mirror to Twilight, who instinctively took it into her orange-colored telekinesis. She didn’t notice him sigh in relief for not being reprimanded about his mirror being dirty. She may not be a pain in the flank after all. ...Provided this is normal behavior for her. The drone, like the rest of the hive, had sensed Twilight’s entry into the Link. It's power had been subtle, but her strong mind still left echoes from its induction. Well, she did just come out of the pod today, so there’s no telling what she’ll be like later on.

Twilight ignored the stains on the mirror to look at herself. Her fangs were quite prominent, which briefly made her feel ill-at-ease before she dismissed it. We all have fangs, I’m just being silly thinking there’s something wrong with them. Her smooth upturned horn looked normal enough. Nothing else about her face struck her as being strange, except for her eyes. They were a rich shade of lavender; that much was familiar. What wasn’t familiar were the reptilian slits that looked back at her. They look like Cadista’s.

She stole a quick glance at the drone who was gazing off into space again. His irises were barely visible behind the gentle azure glow, but they were definitely circular. What does that mean? She asked herself worriedly. Why do I look more like Cadista than I do my own brother? She put the mirror down. Well, I’m sure my queen will tell me once I get to see her again.

The drone felt Twilight’s anxiety wafting off of her like a cold front. How do I address her? The queen never actually said anything about that. He sent Cadista a low priority query over the Link. He received a reply a few moments later. Like a normal sister, except that I can’t allow any harm to reach her, huh? Well, that makes things both simpler and more complicated at the same time. Especially since she’s a new hatchling. He cautiously stepped forward. “Twilight? Are you well?”

“Huh?” she whirled around to face him. His concerned expression made her feel apologetic. “Oh, I’m sorry, I never thought to ask for your name.”

He stuttered for a bit as his mirror flew back over so he could grab it. Wow, she’s actually asking for my name? “I-it’s, uh, Ratchet. Ratchet Altair.” He quickly grabbed the mirror in his hoof and replaced it on his belt. Twilight's cheeks flushed red as her stomach growled even louder. “Why don’t we follow the queen’s advice and get some grub?”

A sheepish smile found its way on her lips after seeing him ignore her different color. “That sounds great. Thanks.”

While being high above in the tower gave a grandiose view of Stripped Gear, Twilight missed all the little things that brought out the city’s splendor. Ratchet was leading Twilight over the various bakeries towards the food court of the southwestern district. It sat between the southern light industry mills and other assorted food processors.

Ratchet cleared a series of steam pipes to finally arrive at a large plaza. Over a hundred round tables with seating for three covered the bronze and brick plaza. Twilight made a conscious effort to stay close to Altair so she would not lose him in the sea of grey figures. It did not take long for him to dive down towards an empty table. Twilight was glad he landed as quickly as he did and barely managed to stay on her hooves upon reaching the ground. She breathed heavily while trying to ignore her wings burning from the prolonged flight.

“Sorry, I kept slowing us down Ratchet. I’m just not…” She trailed off as she just concentrated on keeping her composure while taking her seat.

He waved her apology off. “Don’t worry about it. You just hatched today, after all.” He reached under the table to grab a menu and indicated for Twilight to do the same. “So, do you remember having a preference or is it all still new to you?”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle at the illegible text. “I don’t–” Her confusion reached the hive mind, and it responded by granting her knowledge on how to read the language. Bit by bit, the letters started to make sense to her, and within half a minute she could read the menu. “Oh, well, I guess I can.”

“I don’t remember what kind of food I used to eat.” She searched the large assortment of options, but none of it sounded even remotely familiar. She glanced at him and saw he was ready to order. I don’t want him waiting on me. “Why don’t you pick something for both of us?”

“Alright then.” Altair replaced his menu under the table. “Do you know how to summon a server?”

Twilight fiddled with her hooves under the table. “No, sorry.”

Odd, most rebirths can recall that, at least. “Don’t worry about it. You sound really faint in the Link, but you still might be able to do it. Just read the ID number on the center of our table and yell both it and our meal selection over the Link. We're getting two orders of Venlady Stew. The shout won’t go past the court and serving area so you don’t need to worry about disrupting operations outside of it.”

Twilight craned her head forward to read the number on her table. “How do I speak over the hive mind? I’ve only been listening so far.”

She doesn’t even know that? I didn't realize she was so new at this. He hid his slight irritation well. “You can practice later; I’ll go ahead and place our order.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight replied, a little downtrodden. He’ll be able to place the order faster than I could, and I am super hungry right now…

To distract herself from her stomach, she looked around at all of her brothers and sisters eating around her. A barrage of delicious aromas tantalized her nose. “I’m surprised there’s such a wide selection of different foods on the menu.” She turned back to Ratchet. “I’d love to see how it's all prepared.”

Altair leaned back in his chair with a smug grin. “Yup. We’re lucky to be under Queen Cadista, she really makes our lives better than the average ‘Ling.”

Twilight tilted her head in curiosity. “What do you mean?”

“Our queen believes in quality over quantity when it comes to us drones. We have a superior standard of living over every other changeling hive there is. Thanks to her desire for technological advancement, our productivity is twenty times that of the next best hive. And with the individuality our hive mind allows, our creativity and inventiveness by far surpasses that of the others.”

“Fascinating,” the purple mare chirped with shared pride. “So, are we a major power?”

‘Um…” He trailed off as his pride all but vanished. “Well, we’re a really small hive. We barely number four thousand, and our higher standards end up costing more resources so other hives can support much larger populations than we can as a result.”

Before she could inquire further, a muscular grey mare arrived bearing a platter. “Order up.” Twilight pushed her forelegs off the tabletop as the table-sized platter was slid into place. The tableware was magnetically attached to the platter. The waitress removed the battery from the electromagnet in the center to allow the silverware and other items to be moved normally. “Enjoy.”

Twilight removed the cover on the bowl to find enticing stew. Two cups full of some alcoholic beverage sat behind the bowl and three pink glowing crystals. The purple mare looked at Ratchet’s food and saw he had the same thing, but only one crystal.

Confusion marred her face as she wrapped one of her gems in the orange glow of her telekinesis and brought it over to her face for inspection. “What are these for?”

Ratchet was continuously puzzled by her tendency to vocalize questions. Why doesn’t she just ask the hive mind? Is her connection really that weak? Or is it inconsistent? He sent out a request to the Link so it would give Twilight her answer. He watched as her confusion slowly turned to understanding.

Oh, so I feed on love, and these gems hold onto some so it can be accurately rationed. Makes sense, I guess. She wanted to know why feeding on love felt strange and why she received three crystals instead of one, but her hunger gnawed at her. She moved the crystal closer to her horn and with the knowledge the hive had given her, and began to feed. A bridge of orange light formed between her horn and the gem and the pink glow started flowing from the crystal and into her.

Her first taste of love was mind blowing. Twilight felt her magic and muscles fill with energy as her hunger demanded to be satiated. Soon, all three crystals were levitating adjacent to her horn as they all poured their contents into the famished changeling. She held her breath as if the bridges of magic were like straws and she was sucking the love through them as fast as possible. The crystals quickly lost their color and became lifeless in less than a minute.

As soon as all three were completely drained, Twilight let out a shuddering sigh, barely managing to place the three crystals back on the platter. Ratchet started eating his soup as he waited for her to catch her breath. “First feeding is always the most memorable.”

Twilight nodded dumbly as her eyes drifted towards Altair’s crystal. He watched her expression until she tore her eyes from it. No. That’s his love. I got three; it would be so unfair to even ask. The purple pony politely cleared her throat before focusing on her stew. “It was. Thanks for bringing me here.” she forwent the use of a spoon and simply levitated a bite size glob of stew. As soon as she tasted her first mouthful, her stomach finally stopped complaining. The heavy broth of vegetables and strips of meat tantalized her tongue with almost just as much satisfaction as the love crystals had. “You picked some great stuff, this stew is amazing.”

“Glad you like it. It’s a personal favorite of mine,” he replied warmly.

The meal lapsed into silence as the reborn changeling devoured her meal with less than ladylike manners. While it tasted superb, it felt increasingly strange to be eating meat. “Do changelings always eat meat?”

He shook his head. “We’re the only hive that does, as far as I know. Our previous queen discovered a way to increase our creativity through some genetic manipulation, but it required us to become omnivores to satisfy our altered nutritional requirements.”

A plethora of questions popped in her mind. “The queen can alter our genetics?”

“Only before we hatch.” He took a swig of beer before continuing. “I’m not privy to the exact science behind it. But I do know that every queen of every hive decides our place within the hive while we’re still in the egg. They use a sort of magical alchemy to mold us into the desired drone. Cadista and Queen Yumia, her predecessor, have always made much higher investments in each of us to maximize our potential contribution to the hive. That’s why on an individual basis, we’re far superior to drones of any other hive.”

Twilight mulled over the information as she ate her stew. “But, raising livestock requires a lot of land that could be more productive if it was given over to crops. Doesn’t that make our unique diet less efficient if resources are so scarce?”

Ratchet was genuinely impressed. The simple things she’s forgotten and yet she knows something about agriculture. “True. It means our overall food production is lower than other hives of comparable farmlands, but, as you can see,” he waved a hoof to encompass the city, “what we gain for it has proven to the queen that having smarter, more individualistic drones is well worth the additional overhead.”

Twilight had no idea how other hives lived, but what she kept inferring from Altair displeased her. Seems like other changelings have miserable lives. Why is there so much disparity between the hives? Wouldn’t the other queens see how intelligence is better than weight of numbers?

Ratchet noticed Twilight kept stealing glances at his as of yet untouched love crystal. He felt a twinge of sympathy and grabbed it with his hoof. After draining only half of it, he presented it to her. “Here sis, you have the rest.”

Her eyes dilated to the size of dinner plates before she shook her head and pushed the crystal back with a hoof. “I can’t take that from you. I already had three.”

Twilight’s display of compassion only spurred him on. He pushed back a little to bring the crystal closer to her. “Don’t worry about me. I'm already getting paid overtime, I'll be fine. Besides, you’re a new hatchling. You need all the love you can get.”

Twilight worked her jaw as she tried to resist the temptation to snatch it from his hoof. “Are you sure you aren’t going to go hungry, Ratchet? I wouldn’t want you to suffer on my account.”

“I had a big breakfast. Go on, take it, I’ll be fine.”

Twilight slowly took the crystal in her hoof and stared at it before looking at him with a grateful smile. “Thank you, Ratchet. I really appreciate it.”

He returned her smile. “Don’t mention it.”

Like the others, Twilight levitated the gem to horn and greedily sucked every last bit of love out of it. It wasn’t nearly as much as the others, but it tasted sweeter.

The rest of the meal passed quickly. The alcohol was not strong enough to give Twilight anything more than a mild buzz. When the server returned to take the platter away, Twilight held Ratchet’s crystal close to her chest. “Can I keep this one?”

The waitress gave her a puzzled look, but couldn't talk to Twilight on the Link, so she spoke aloud. “Why keep a dry crystal?”

She grinned sheepishly. “I just want a memento of my first meal.”

The grey mare shrugged. I’ve seen weirder quirks. “Suit yourself, sister.”

Altair found the request odd. Well, she forgot everything of her old self. She’s probably just trying to fill the gap by holding onto new memories.

As the waitress departed, Ratchet got out of his chair. “You still up for a tour of Stripped Gear?”

Twilight nodded happily. “I’ve been dying to see everything, but can we stay on the ground for a little while? My wings are still sore from earlier.”

“Not a problem. Why don’t we go see the manufactory first? There's this one spot I like, where you can see the assembly lines at work.”

Twilight’s eyes glittered at the prospect. “Sounds fun! Lead the way.”

Ratchet’s tour lasted for hours until the sun started to dip below the horizon. Twilight’s mind was racing with all of the sights and sounds she had witnessed. Every detail was memorized and cataloged into her memory. Her scholarly mindset had survived intact from her rebirth, and it drove the mare to learn everything she could about her new home and siblings.

As with all things, the day could not last forever, and with the setting of the sun, her eyes turned to the palace in the center of the city. “I should get back to the queen.”

“Seems like it's about that time,” he concurred.

After spending the past few hours on the ground, Twilight’s wings were fit enough to fly again. “I’ll see you later, won’t I?”

He tilted his head in contemplation. “Possibly. If you end up in engineering detail, you might.”

The idea was highly appealing. Those machines were so astounding. It’s amazing what my siblings have accomplished with such little magic use. The passing thought gave her a funny feeling. Why would the minimalistic approach to magic use seem so odd to me?

“You don’t want to keep the queen waiting,” Ratchet announced loudly enough to snap her out of her musings.

“Oh, you’re right, of course.” She buzzed into the air, flying towards the bronze and marble palace before turning around to wave a friendly hoof at him. “I know it was a command, but thanks for showing me around Stripped Gear.”

“Have a good one, Twilight,” he waved back as she turned to leave. I have to say, she’s not what I expected.

Twilight made her way to the palace. She could sense Cadista’s presence at the center, but had no idea how to get there. Her unspoken query reached the hive mind, and it wordlessly gave her the route she needed to take. Twilight scanned the palace perimeter, saw a doorway that felt like the right one, and flew over. The two guards stood aside without hesitation. Drones fluttered to and fro within its halls. The palace was undergoing renovations, so Twilight was unable to glean what the purpose was of the various rooms she passed by.

Whenever she needed to make a turn, or open a door, the purple changeling felt the choir of voices lead her in the right direction. This place is like a maze; I’d be totally lost without the hive guiding me.

The palace surrounded the central barrier tower, serving to protect the chambers below it. Consequently, Twilight's journey was rather short. Cadista’s chambers were guarded by a pair of solid bronze and steel doors, along with two burly looking male drones. Upon seeing Twilight’s approach, their horns lit up and activated the doors. The portal opened with a hiss of steam and clanking gears.

She even uses machines instead of just magic to guard her home, thought Twilight as she watched the doors open.

A familiar voice met her ears from within the chamber. “Ah, Twilight, you’ve returned.”

Twilight rushed inside to find Cadista sitting on a sofa, in deep communion with the hive mind. “Of course, my queen.”

Cadista stopped her communion to speak to the purple changeling directly. She was pleased to sense the purple changeling’s unquestioning loyalty. “Please, just Cadista. You have taken to your rebirth into the hive quite well, so there is no need for you to be so formal with me in private.”

“O-okay, Cadista.” She replied hesitantly.

The orange crowned matriarch gestured to her large, but plainly decorated bed. “You should get some rest. We have much to do, tomorrow.”

Twilight was a little nervous about the offer, and feared she might disturb her queen’s sleep. I don’t want to hit her if I toss and turn at night. “Wouldn’t it be better if I slept in my own bed?”

“You will, eventually. However, I'd planned to be with you all day to accelerate your induction into the hive mind. Since I had matters to attend to, you will sleep in my chambers until your connection is fully established.”

Twilight scratched her head in thought. “Well, you know more about this sort of thing than I do, so I trust you. May I ask what we’ll be doing tomorrow?”

Cadista stifled a yawn as she made her way over to the bed. “We’ll be receiving a very important ruler from a nation to the north, and I want you fully rested for the event.”

Twilight joined her queen on the bed. “Who is it?”

“Princess Celestia,” she replied evenly.

Twilight tilted her head. “Who?”

Author's Note

Alternate title: The Hive Life Chose Me

3: Memories

The following morning Twilight was barely able to enjoy a rather fast breakfast before being led back to the queen’s chambers and having two of her sisters assault her with brushes while another two filed and polished her hooves. Cadista was having the same done to her, but was taking it with far less reservation than Twilight.

“I don’t see why I can’t groom myself,” she whined. “I have telekinesis after all.”

Cadista sent the antsy purple mare some calming stoicism via the hive mind. Twilight's wings stopped buzzing in irritation, but she couldn’t stop squirming every so often. “Normally I would let you do that Twilight, but Celestia will be here shortly and I want expert hooves to make sure you’re more than just ‘good enough’.”

Twilight didn’t have any reason to resist against the need for perfection, but a different question entirely sat in her mind. “I don’t understand why it’s so important that I meet this Celestia person though.”

“She has requested to see you, and I have no intention of denying her that right.”

Cadista’s phrasing sounded odd to the lavender mare. “The right? What do you mean?”

The orange haired matriarch smothered a sad sigh and instead her expression turned downtrodden. “I will not lie to you Twilight Sparkle. This meeting will not go easily for her, and I have a strong feeling it will not be easy for you either. From what my eyes and ears in Equestria tell me, you were her star protégé for most of your past life and she cared—cares,” she corrected, “for you greatly.”

Twilight’s shock was so profound she lost her voice for a few seconds. “Protégé? I used to be a personal student of a different country’s queen?!”

“She prefers the title Princess, but yes. By all accounts you two were close friends.”

Twilight stopped fidgeting against the groomers. I wish I could remember her. “If you don’t mind my asking, why did I go from being her student to yours? I can’t believe you would take me against my will if you’re allowing my old teacher to come here freely.”

Cadista was satisfied with how both Twilight and her own appearance turned out so she dismissed the groomers with a silent command via the Link. She waited until the drones left before climbing off her seat to stand next to Twilight. Cadista was horribly uncomfortable showing overt displays of affection. Not that the drones would have thought any less of her, but that Twilight was the first person outside of Yumia that was not only nearly her social equal, but an ally as well.

“Twilight,” she began sadly. “The truth is…” The matriarch couldn’t believe how difficult it was to speak. I can win shouting matches against other queens and can even stare down their armies to make them back off, but I can’t say a word to this poor mare.

She finally let go of that depressed sigh and pulled her chair over with her kinesis before sitting down next to Twilight. “Your name has always been Twilight Sparkle. That much hasn’t changed.” The lavender pony focused on her queen with trepidation and trust in equal measures. “You used to be a unicorn under Celestia’s rule. Our hive has had cordial relations with each other for years now and the hive has grown dependent on trade with Equestria. When one of the other changeling queens invaded Celestia’s capital city, she risked the whole changeling race by having the races of the world mark us as enemies. So in an attempt to salvage the situation I revealed our hive’s existence to Celestia and managed to keep our two nations at peace.”

Cadista could sense Twilight’s growing confusion as to where she fit into any of that. “Three weeks after the invasion you joined one of our trade caravans after Celestia and I agreed to let you come to Stripped Gear in order to help facilitate more open diplomacy than we had been practicing in the past.”

Twilight felt a spike of malice from her queen, and was grateful that it wasn’t directed at her. Nevertheless it still made her cringe as she caught a glimpse of the face that was the focus of her matriarch’s ire. “It was another queen wasn’t it?”

Cadista’s mouth became little more than a pressed line as she reigned her emotions back in. “If you were able to pick that up, then your connection to the hive must be strong enough for you to witness the collective memories. If you wish, I can show you what happened. I must warn you however that it will not be pleasant.”

Twilight remained silently contemplative. She couldn’t help but to pick at one of the larger holes in her right foreleg and her wings flickered every so often in agitation. The formless beast danced on the edge of her mind, trying to repel her from investigating. “I’m scared to see it. But—I need to know.” She looked up from her hooves to meet Cadista’s sad motherly gaze. She shuddered in apprehension before shaking it off and replacing it with determination. “Please, show me what happened.”

Cadista nodded and touched horns with Twilight. “The hive will attempt to push upon your mind. Do not resist or the memories will not form properly.”

Twilight closed her eyes and listened to the chorus in the back of her mind grow louder and surge forth to envelop her. She fought the urge to withdraw. I am part of the hive, and the hive is a part of me. I will not run from myself. Twilight's world collapsed and everything went black.

From the blackness, color started to return. A blue sky emerged along with sporadic clouds and dense trees, but the details were extremely fuzzy. Twilight felt greatly disoriented until Cadista’s voice spoke to her left. “Be at ease Twilight. The hive is not usually called upon to reconstruct memories like this; it will take a few seconds for everything to stabilize.” She didn’t want to add that the memories that were being rebuilt were all from dead changelings and thus were scattered across hundreds of different drones rather than the original witnesses.

True to her word, the landscape solidified and Twilight could see several dozen changelings along with a small contingent of Equestrian soldiers closely escorting a very familiar face. Eight large train car sized wagons loaded down with coal and steel were in a jagged line down the stretch of a wide, yet unfinished road. The wagons were being pulled by large steam engines that chugged along at a trotting pace upon six large bronze painted steel legs arrayed out like an ant. The engines were as large as train engines and the legs allowed them to navigate rough terrain and had the necessary strength to pull the wheel based wagons over the numerous rocky outcroppings. The road itself ran along a stretch of land that the jungle flora had difficulty claiming due to the rock being unnaturally toxic to plant life. What few boulders that the steam engines were unable to drive over had been moved to provide an inconsistent divider between the road and the jungle. It was a path that was designed to look uninviting and up until now, no Equestrians had risked venturing along the southbound road.

Twilight instantly noticed the figures were all frozen in time, but the biggest thing that confused her were the swaths of black emptiness. In many places only part of an object was visible while the rest of it was inky black space. “Why are some pieces missing?”

The orange crowned matriarch manifested fully into the waking dream. “This is a reconstruction of every changeling’s memory of the events leading up to the attack that nearly claimed your life. The Link is only able to build from what it has available, and as I said before the hive mind is not usually called upon to do this. As a result, only what the drones see and hear can be accurately recreated.”

Cadista brought Twilight towards one of the wagons and showed her the black emptiness up close. “Since none of the drones are looking at this spot the hive cannot render it.”

Realization dawned on Twilight and her scholarly curiosity roared its way to the forefront. “So that’s why we’re not assuming the place of one of the changelings? We can see from any angle we want thanks to the Link compiling everything at once.” She felt Cadista’s wordless affirmation. “Astounding!”

Twilight recalled seeing a purple mare towards the center of the convoy and flew over to see her. There, sitting upon one of the steel bearing wagons sat the unicorn Twilight Sparkle. Surrounding her were five Equestrian guards: two unicorns, two pegasi, and an earth pony stallion. By the look of their armor, rank, and stern faces, Twilight surmised they must have been veterans. The lavender changeling inspected the unicorn doppelganger intently.

The frozen mare had an amazed expression on her face as she watched the steam engine behind her wagon raise its leg to kick a loose boulder out of the path. The unicorn’s mood was not Twilight’s focus. Twilight looked at her old self with a haunted gaze. The lack of fangs, holes, wings, and that she had round irises, a straight spiraled horn, and no orange coloration made Twilight acutely aware of how different she was now.

Memories long dormant revealed themselves and shot to the forefront of her mind. She winced as a migraine started forming from the onslaught of more faces, sounds, and names. She pressed her hooves on her head to try and suppress the headache.

Cadista flew over to lay a comforting hoof on Twilight's withers. “If you are in pain Twilight, we can continue this another time.”

The migraine started to subside a bit. “No, no its okay.” A brief memory of a blue furred minotaur crossed her mind. “No pain, no gain right?”

Cadista was still concerned for her newest daughter’s wellbeing. No matter what she decides our relationship will be in the end, she still carries my blood in her veins. “I don’t wish for you to overextend yourself.”

“I remember why I was here,” Twilight muttered, inadvertently cutting her matriarch off. Cadista ignored the unintentional slight to let the mare speak. Twilight studied the frozen unicorn’s exuberant expression. “I was traveling with the changeling merchants to Stripped Gear. I was going to learn about you and your—our people.” She corrected herself after seeing the holes in her upraised forelegs.

Twilight shifted her gaze to the Equestrian soldiers. All of them were keeping constant watch over the changeling caravan guards as if they didn’t trust Twilight’s new brothers and sisters. By contrast, the guards paid the soldiers no mind, with only one directly looking in Twilight's direction. A couple of merchants were looking in the unicorn’s general direction so she was one of the few ponies that were completely rendered by the hive mind. The Link informed Twilight that the guards were worried about the lavender unicorn’s presence and didn’t want her there.

Twilight was stumped by the revelation. I can’t sense any malice in his desire for me, or the old me, at least to be elsewhere.

Being so deep in communion with the hive mind, Cadista was able to clearly pick up Twilight’s thoughts even if her connection was still incomplete. “You are an important pony Twilight. Both the unicorn you used to be, and the changeling you are now.” Twilight hung on her queen’s words like a lifeline. “We feared that if anything were to happen to you, our hive would suffer Celestia’s full wrath.”

“But something did happen to me.” The formless massive beast reared up in her mind, causing Twilight to feel ghostly pain all over her body. By strength of will she tried to push the memory and the haunting pain to the dark recesses of her mind.

Cadista had been prepared for that memory to surface after Twilight informed her of it yesterday. The queen redirected most of that perceived pain throughout the hive mind. With it being dispersed by thousands of minds, none of them felt more than a tickle, if that. “I’m afraid so.”

Twilight feared what she might see might cause the pain to become unbearable. If just seeing its outline is enough to hurt me, actually seeing it might cripple me. “I don’t want to see the attack right now. I—” She looked pleadingly to her matriarch. “Can I at least know if I chose to become what I am?”

Cadista frowned sadly. “You did. Your wounds were so great there was no other alternative to save your life.”

“May I see?”

The orange crowned queen did not respond with words, but by commanding the waking dream to shift. Twilight found herself back in the hatchery where it all began. The vision formed much faster this time as the memories came from living drones that witnessed the event. As before, the scene recreated in front of Twilight was frozen in time. An empty transparent pod was open on top and was filled with the familiar orange liquid Twilight remembered waking up in. The hatchery was crowded with three burly changeling soldiers off to the side, a frozen Cadista stood still as she weathered an extremely cold and seething fury of the pearly white alicorn in front of her. The frozen Cadista was extremely uncomfortable looking into Celestia’s frigid rage that was carefully concealed by the mask of someone who had seen many battles in her time.

Nevertheless, now was a situation the past version of Cadista was terrified could spiral out of control in a heartbeat. The queen knew her hive’s future rested on somehow placating Celestia, but the diarch didn’t act like how she was used to dealing with.

The other queens range from coy to flying rages when they are wronged, Cadista mused to herself as she once again looked death in the face, but Celestia tempers her indignation behind that frighteningly frigid mask of hers. The alicorn made it crystal clear she was angry, but also that she would never again let that fury cause her to make mistakes.

Lying suspended in the air and wrapped in the orange glow of a stasis spell was the achingly familiar, broken and bloody unicorn who was positioned between the two royals and the unoccupied chrysalis.

Cadista turned to Twilight who was at her side. “Prepare yourself, I will begin the memory momentarily.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how to do that, so she stood there to await the specters of the past to move. An instant later the memory started playing and both visiting changelings were chilled by Celestia’s ice cold tone of voice.

“I trusted you to protect her while she was in your lands and now her life hangs on the edge of a knife. If you had let me send a full battalion with her, this never would have happened.”

The Cadista of the past maintained a strong front, but she knew her small hive could never stand against the full might of Equestria with Celestia spearheading the fight. “Please be reasonable Princess. The other hives are still in uproar from Chrysalis's attack on your people and the revelation of our existence to those beyond the jungle. If you had sent even a small platoon the rest of the hives would have seen it as an act of war upon us all.”

The alicorn’s ear twitched as she used her profound willpower to keep anything but a frosty expression from showing. “You stated time and time again that the other hives would ignore her presence. I saw the battlefield on the way in. The assailants didn’t steal the cargo-“

“They came for Twilight Sparkle, yes I know,” Cadista interjected with a flash of emotion. “And every last one of my children in that convoy died to protect her!” Celestia’s frigid mask cracked as the orange crowned queen pressed her point. “My brood did everything in their power to keep Twilight safe, and it was through both their and your soldiers’ sacrifice that she emerged alive at all. Believe me Princess, this is the last thing I could have possibly wanted.”

A single tear escaped Celestia’s right eye, but a quick spell made it evaporate. She gathered her courage to look upon Twilight’s broken body. There was more blood on her fur than visible purple. Her horn was chipped and cracked down its length and her left eye was swollen. The lavender changeling felt her stomach churn at seeing the extent of her injuries. Only the unicorn’s left foreleg escaped having a broken bone or shattered hoof.

Changeling-Twilight could only guess what kind of internal injuries were present as well. Twilight absently touched her abdomen where she remembered the worst of the pain. Celestia’s ability to hold her fragile mask in place was weakening by the second. Cadista used the pause to speak again. “My stasis spell is imperfect, and the window of reviving her is shrinking every second we waste arguing who is at fault. I’ve already spoken with Twilight and she’s already agreed to go through with it.”

The alicorn gestured a wing at the four guardponies behind her and they left the hatchery without question. Cadista took the hint for desired privacy and told the nearby drones to depart as well. The alabaster mare inhaled sharply to keep her composure. “I want to speak with her.”

“Princess, time is-”

Celestia’s frosty tone raised hundreds of degrees but her volume never rose above a speaking voice. “I will speak with Twilight to see if she truly wants this or we are at war.”

Cadista ground her teeth but held her peace. “I can bridge your minds so I can keep the stasis spell active, but please be brief.”

An orange glow began at Cadista’s horn before two tendrils of magic split off to touch Twilight and Celestia’s horns. Celestia’s inner voice was much more emotional than her exterior one. Twilight, can you hear me?

The unicorn didn’t respond at first, and when she did it was faint. Celestia? Are you-

Casting decorum to the winds, the alicorn bent over her prized pupil and wanted to caress her mane, but feared that even the slightest touch could cause further harm. I’m here Twilight. I’m right beside you.

The unicorn couldn’t move her eyes to try and see, so she opted to speak only. I’m so sorry Princess. I should have listened to you.

Even through the stasis spell, the lavender mare cried at causing her second mother such anguish. Twilight's memory of this moment broke free of the fog of her amnesia and she cried too while her mouth silently parroted the unicorn’s words.

I wasn’t ready for this. I-

Celestia heard Twilight’s voice was getting weaker. The diarch in her pushed its way to the forefront. Twilight, listen to me. Cadista says she can heal you in one of her chrysalises. Did you agree to let her turn you into a changeling?

Twilight’s voice was wracked with fear and sobs. Y-yes. I’m scared Celestia. I don’t want to forget you, but I’m too afraid to die.

Celestia knew time was running short as Twilight’s voice continued to grow weaker. The lavender changeling’s returning memories became increasingly clouded and blurry as her past self came closer and closer to death’s door. Thankfully the waking dream remained clear.

Twilight’s confirmation was the last thing making Celestia hesitate in letting her go. She faced Cadista and shouldered the weight of her decision upon her withers. “Do it. Save my daughter.”

Cadista acted with great care and levitated the unicorn above the open egg and slid her through the top of the chrysalis and into the orange fluid below. A caretaker drone entered silently and applied a gel to seal the cocoon. Neither member of royalty uttered a word until the caretaker left.

The alabaster alicorn’s composure was hanging by a thread when she spoke to Cadista. “Please, leave us.” Cadista nodded her compliance and turned to leave. As the past version of Cadista departed, the hatchery turned black and was soon absent completely when the queen closed the door behind her.

Even though the room was visually gone, Cadista remained by the door. This left the lavender changeling in a black void with only the sound of a broken heart weeping in pain. Eventually that too faded as the morose queen moved further down the hall.

Twilight was silent for a long while. Cadista gave her time to brood before offering some words she hoped would sound comforting. “She came to visit you as often as she could. The moment you hatched I had my ambassador inform her of the news.”

Twilight listened silently. She finally spoke again a minute later. “We really cared for each other,” the lavender mare said sullenly without looking away from where Celestia’s ghost disappeared.

“She still does, Twilight Sparkle.”

This time she did face her matriarch. “Then why don’t I feel that way towards her? I feel pity and sympathy for Celestia, but none of the love that passed between them.”

Cadista sat down next to the young mare. “Love like that doesn’t come in an instant. You have only seen one memory of her and whatever fragments that have returned to you. I’m sure when you recover more memories of her, that love will return.”

Twilight kept playing the hatchery scene over and over in her head. “Was there really no other way to save me? It caused her so much pain to let me go.”

“I’m afraid so.” The queen’s tone grew bitter. “You were poisoned with venom of a ghast spider. It’s not overly lethal in of itself, but it prevents magical healing in the victim. This toxin was present in all but the lone earth pony who survived. Whoever perpetrated the attack wanted to make sure you stayed dead.” The queen detected Twilight’s confusion and elaborated. “The perpetrator was obviously not expecting Celestia to allow you to undergo rebirth into a changeling, it’s the only process we know that can counteract the venom if the victim is too far gone to survive their wounds until the poison passes.”

Twilight’s depressed mood shifted to righteous anger. “Someone or something wanted to make sure I was dead?”

Cadista nodded. “That is what the evidence tells me at least. As for who, I only have conjecture and a hunch to go by. All of the hives have easy access to ghast spiders because they are found all throughout the jungle to the north and east.”

Sensing that Twilight would not be able to emotionally handle any more memory projections, the orange crowned matriarch ended the waking dream and both changelings’ perceptions returned to the queen’s bedchambers.

Twilight’s expression softened as she accepted Cadista’s words as truth and took the shift in perception in stride. “I’d be dead if it weren’t for you. I can never thank you enough.”

Cadista’s mood fell at Twilight’s gratefulness. “I cannot accept your gratitude Twilight. It is, at the very least, partially my fault that your life nearly came to an end in the first place.”

The queen paused to pick her words carefully. “When I heard Celestia say you expressed a desire to visit my city to learn about the hive, I thought that was a perfect opportunity to show you our splendor. If I could convince you, Celestia’s star pupil, that not all changelings are like Chrysalis’ ilk then you would in turn convince Celestia of that fact as well.”

Confusion marred Twilight’s features. “But it was my idea to come here in the first place wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was. But I should have insisted somepony less important to the Equestrian crown come in your stead. The other hives need time to reconcile the aftermath of Chrysalis thrusting us into the global spotlight. But my ambition and need for Equestrian trade spurred me to hastily accept your offer to come here.”

Twilight stood up and gave Cadista a hard look coupled with a forceful tone that surprised the orange matriarch. “But I chose to come here! Seeing how much the Princess cares for me, I have no doubt she probably tried to stop me or at least gave me plenty of warning. I believe you did the same, even if you may have downplayed it a little just so I would come anyway. None of that changes the fact that I came here willingly, now does it?”

Cadista was stunned for several moments in the face of the lavender pony’s heated argument. She blinked after regaining her wits and chuckled lightly. “You surprise me yet again Twilight. I half believed you lived in your mentor’s shadow, but now I see you are your own mare.”

Before she could respond, Twilight heard something just barely unintelligible over the hive mind. Cadista on the other hand understood perfectly. “She’s here.”

Twilight was a bundle of nervous energy that had already started to fray her mane and made her right eye twitch every so often. She was flying through several corridors behind her queen as they made their way to the recently remodeled reception hall. Okay Twi, just try to stay calm. You’re only meeting the one pony whose mere whim could spell disaster for the hive. And you just happen to be her former student. She gulped nervously.

Cadista and the few drones they passed by could taste Twilight’s fretfulness, but there was little they could do to console her. Twilight kept running how she thought the meeting would happen and what she would say. What can I say to her? Sorry I’m a changeling now and my place is here? No, I still owe her much. Whether I remember it or not, Celestia was my teacher and close friend in my past life.

Cadista led her towards a pair of large brass doors and two flanking changeling guards’ horns lit up to start the mechanisms to open it. The chamber was a very spacious room with next to no furniture. The northern wall was actually a large open space with a balcony that allowed flying visitors to enter. A vastly complex set of blueprints made out in bronze relief decorated the floor. The schematics themselves were nonsense, only made by the artists who crafted it to look both scientific and pleasing to the eye. Cadista also made sure the commission was done that way so as to not give away any trade secrets to visitors. Standing in the center of the room with ten pegasi soldiers in gold colored skysteel armor behind her was an apprehensive Celestia.

Remembering that she used to be a unicorn, Twilight opted to stop flying before fully coming into view of the alabaster alicorn and walked inside. The moment the princess locked eyes with Twilight the purple mare hesitated at the intense look of recognition and distress from Celestia. The diarch passed a quick word to her escorts who turned about-face.

Cadista stepped aside as the alicorn tried to mix haste and composure into her race to stand before her protégé. This is between them, not me. Celestia bore two full saddlebags bearing Twilight’s cutie mark with the stars behind the purple starburst still being white.

Celestia and Twilight stopped three feet away from each other with Celestia doing everything in her power to keep from wrapping her forelegs and wings around Twilight in a crushing hug. “Do you remember me, Twilight?” Please, please remember something about me.

Twilight was rendered speechless as she stared intently at the alicorn’s face. Seeing Celestia through the eyes of someone else’s memories was one thing, but hearing that painfully familiar voice address her directly coupled with that pleading expression was another. Twilight could feel the alicorn’s hopefulness that she would be able to see even a faint spark of recognition.

Cadista stepped back a bit. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

The alicorn curtly nodded her gratitude while keeping her gaze on Twilight. With a silent command Cadista and her drones left the chamber.

Celestia risked breaking her regal image and sat down on her belly in front of Twilight so she would be eye level with her. “Do you remember anything at all about me?”

Twilight found her voice after seeing Celestia’s eyes mist over and hearing the emotional warble in her speech. “I- I saw a memory of you right before I was placed in the chrysalis. I-” she winced as pain lanced through her brain and she held a hoof to her temple.

In a vain hope that she could trigger Twilight’s memory, Celestia abandoned her usual regal posturing and unbuckled the saddlebags before running forward to embrace the young mare in a tight motherly hug. “Oh Twilight. I’m so sorry this happened. I should have never let you go.” She wept shuddering tears into the lavender changeling’s fur while constantly repeating her apologies over and over again.

Twilight knew she should have feelings for the princess currently trying to crush the life out of her. But outside of a few brief flashes and the scene in the hatchery, there simply wasn’t enough to spark what she once shared with Celestia.

Her analytical mind kicked in after recovering her wits from being bum rushed into a hug. She was my mentor. I probably owe my life to her at least once, and she must have provided for me greatly if she loves me this much. Twilight was nearly overwhelmed by the intense motherly love washing from the alicorn like a torrential river. She barely managed to remain lucid from the ecstasy of drinking in so much love. Until I remember what we once meant to each other, I can at least try to begin anew.

Casting aside her misgivings, Twilight attempted to hug her old mentor back and buried her muzzle into the alicorn’s neck. If for nothing else, the Princess is in pain, and maybe this will let that heal. A small part of Twilight was more than happy to greedily inhale as much freely given love as possible.

Slowly, over the course of several minutes, the elder mare’s tears dried up and she released Twilight from her embrace. As she pulled away, Celestia searched Twilight’s expression. She found sympathy, and a very faint twinge of recognition, but not the happy smiling face of her beloved student. “I know you don’t know me as I do you, but thank you Twilight. I- I needed that.”

We must have shared a deep personal relationship so she will probably prefer that I drop her title. “I wish I remembered more of my past, Celestia, but the memories just aren’t there yet.”

The admittance nearly crushed what was left of the alicorn’s hope. The inner pain was mirrored by her face as she was not yet able to summon the will to reform her typical, regal visage. “I knew coming so early after your—” she found it difficult to associate her beloved unicorn with the term that came to mind. “Your rebirth wouldn’t have given you much time to recover. But I had to see you. To know you were whole again.”

Twilight attempted to inject some humor to lift the mood and bonked herself in the head with a hoof. “Well I’m not whole quite yet, but I’m getting there.”

Celestia gave a much needed chuckle. “I see some of Pinkie’s sense of humor rubbed off on you.” As that touch of mirth returned to the diarch she finally took in Twilight’s new appearance. Behind the fangs and slitted eyes and stripe of orange hair, my little Twilight is still in there. Relief flooded her and eased her mind. I don’t care if she’s a changeling now, she’s still the Twilight Sparkle I know and love.

Pinkie’s name meant little to Twilight Sparkle, outside of assuming it was an old friend of hers. “I know this may sound weird, but my journey here wasn’t a total loss.” The princess’s mood began to fall again, and Twilight scrambled to elaborate. “What I mean is, I came here to learn all about changelings right? Well now that I am one, I can learn everything there is to know and I can tell you all about it.” She didn’t want to voice her fear that Cadista might object to that.

Celestia decided to count her blessings that Twilight was still willing to help her even if she didn’t fully remember their relationship. “I would appreciate that, thank you.” At least your metamorphosis will have meaning outside of preserving your life. “Are you being treated well here Twilight?”

The younger changeling nodded sincerely. “Yes of course. Cadista has been nothing but accommodating.” She cast her eyes downward to rattle off a list. “I’m not hungry, thirsty,” she remembered the love crystal Ratchet gave her, “everypony’s been very kind to me.” She looked back up to Celestia. “They’ve welcomed me as their sister. I have every reason to be happy here.”

Celestia hung on the term sister for a moment before pushing it aside for later. “I’m glad. I couldn’t bear the thought of you being treated poorly because of all this.”

Twilight placed a comforting hoof on her mentor’s right foreleg. “Believe me, Princess, I may have only been alive again for a day, but what I’ve seen of the hive so far is amazing. Surely you saw it all on your way here.”

“I did, several times when I came to visit you during your—convalescence.” The alicorn turned around to levitate the saddlebag she had left behind and placed it next to the two sitting mares. “I brought you some things I thought you might like to help jog your memory.”

Twilight noticed her cutie mark on the bags, and zeroed in on the fact that the background starbursts were white. The alicorn withdrew several books, scrolls, a few purple and green candles, and a photo album. Twilight eyed the books hungrily, and pouted slightly when Celestia started with the album that had the words ‘Over the Years’ written on its cover. She cracked it open to a bookmark. Two pictures dominated each page. The one on the left was a picture of a filly Twilight with her parents and brother all standing together, the scroll denoting Twilight's acceptance into the School for Gifted Unicorns was floating beside the exuberant young pony in a lavender glow.

The one on the right was of a much older Twilight with her six best friends crushing each other in a group hug. Twilight felt a stab of familiarity from it all and couldn’t decide which photo to focus on first. Knowing that Twilight’s most recent memories would be of her friends, the alicorn started with that photo. She pointed at the list of names at the bottom of the page. “Your friends and family went through your old photo album and put names and dates around the pictures.”

Twilight yipped at finally having names to put with the faces in her memory. “I’ve seen them before! Rarity, Applejack,” she had to keep looking between the faces on the picture and the legend below it to link the names. “Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Spike. I saw some of them in my dream last night, but I couldn’t tell who they were.”

“They were your best friends in Ponyville.” Celestia drifted her hoof to the other picture. “And this is your—” she hesitated before saying ‘family’ after recalling what Twilight had referred the hive as the same thing. “They are your first family. Shining Armor-”

The pair pored over the captured memories for hours. Every so often Twilight would remember a face, a name, or a place. Unfortunately she was never able to piece together whole events or grasp some people’s personalities. Sometimes what fragments she did have painted the event or person in the wrong light and Celestia tried to correct those she knew about.

They went over a fourth of the photo album before Celestia gave Twilight some of her old favorite books and several letters written by her friends and family. Yet time eventually forced the alicorn to end her visit. By now, both mares were sitting side by side with the unread scrolls sitting off to the side. There had simply been so much of a lost lifetime to share in just the photo album alone.

“Twilight. I know this is selfish of me to ask,” Celestia began. Her mind told her that she should wait for more of her old self to resurface, but her heart demanded that she at least try. “I can take you back to Canterlot or Ponyville. I know your friends and fellow Ponyvilleans would welcome you back.” She held back saying it would please her greatly if Twilight accepted. The alicorn felt guilt and hope in equal measure.

Twilight felt a friendship with the royal alicorn, unfortunately it was not the same one she used to have, but one built from scratch as they shared her lost memories. She mulled over the offer carefully. It's obvious I had or have a place back in Equestria. But- Twilight’s face turned grim. “I’m sorry Princess, but I can’t accept your offer. Going back now would make all of the pain and suffering you and my friends went through meaningless. Even worse, with me being a changeling, my very appearance will always remind you of that pain which would never have a chance to be vindicated. I came here to learn about changelings and that’s what I’m going to do with this second chance at life.”

Twilight’s words cut the alicorn deeply, and only her countless years of experience kept that new pain from showing. Twilight placed a caring hoof over Celestia’s foreleg. “For better for worse Celestia, I am a changeling now. And until I can figure out what that means to me, my place is here with my brothers and sisters.”

The diarch had suffered many goodbyes over her long life. The hardest of all had been the banishment of her sister. This was a close second. At least I know for certain that Twilight’s spirit remains intact. “Your life is your own Twilight. I will not take that from you, even if it pains me not to.” She paused to recollect herself. “There is one more thing I need to give you Twilight.”

The princess levitated one of the forgotten circular candles and placed it in front of Twilight. It was made of a light green wax three inches in diameter and half a foot long. “This candle was made from some of Spike’s donated scales. Instead of normal fire, it creates a small flame of dragon fire. If you ever wish to write me a letter, burn it with this candle and it will appear at my side. Any letters I write back to you will appear next to the candle.”

Twilight took the gift into her orange magic and floated it over to sit between her forelegs. “Thank you, Princess. I can’t remember our old relationship, and I know I probably will in time. But until that day comes, I would be honored to forge a new friendship with you. I’ll write at least once a week.”

The alicorn smiled weakly. “I would like that very much.” She stood up and stretched her wings to get the stiffness out of them. “I wish you well, Twilight Sparkle.”

The lavender mare got to her hooves as well. “And I wish you the same, Princess. Have a safe trip home.”

The white pony smiled warmly as she walked over to her escorts. After climbing into her waiting chariot, she waved farewell at Twilight who had followed her to the balcony and waved from the ground until the golden chariot passed through the shield dome and slowly vanished from sight.

Twilight took a deep breath, pressing a hoof to her chest and moving it forward at the exhale. “I think that went well.”

Buzzing wings behind the mare made her turn around to see a male drone had collected her gifts and presented the saddlebag. “I figured I’d save you some time while you watched her leave and repacked your things.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

He nodded while flying to her side to help put it on her back. “Mother will be glad you decided to stay, sis.”

Once it was secured Twilight turned to face him. “Well this is my home after all,” she said with a sense of finality. “But yes, I’m sure she will. Speaking of which, I better go see her.”

Without further preamble Twilight shakily climbed into the air with her burden and slowly started making her way towards Cadista’s chambers. The drone chided himself at seeing her struggle with the heavy weight. What was I thinking letting her carry that much? He summoned another nearby sibling for assistance and took to the air before quickly chasing her down. “That’s a really heavy load for a recent reborn. Why don’t we take some of the weight off your back?”

With her wings already feeling strained, Twilight dropped to the ground. “I could use the help, thanks.” She smiled at her siblings’ thoughtfulness.

The two drones hefted the books out of her saddlebags while the female drone spoke. “Like my work boss always tells me; nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”

Both of her siblings took the heavy tomes in their forelegs and followed Twilight all the way to the queen’s chamber. The doors were open so the trio entered without needing to announce themselves as Cadista felt their presence in the Link. She drifted back out of her communion to speak with the lavender mare more personally as the two drones dismissed themselves.

“Well the palace isn’t under siege by a furious alicorn so I take it your meeting went well,” she said with an attempt at humor.

Twilight removed her bags and levitated her belongings to the side of the door. “It did." She smiled a bit at the humor. "I believe we came to a reconciliation of sorts.” She started walking towards her queen who got up from her couch to be face to face with the purple mare. Twilight became a little apprehensive about what she was going to say next. “I know my place is here with my brothers and sisters, but I would like to reconnect with my old friends and family at some point and visit them in Equestria.”

Cadista smiled at the sentiment. “Family is paramount to every changeling my dear. Once your connection to the hive mind is complete, I think it would be a good thing if you visited your first parents.” She bent down to be eye level. “Let them know that you being a changeling, doesn’t change the fact that you are Twilight Sparkle.”

The lavender pony grinned happily. “Ratchet was right. We are lucky to have you as our queen.” She leaned forward and nuzzled her matriarch.

Cadista was caught off guard the physical display of affection and was unsure of how to reciprocate. After a few moments she opted to wrap a hesitant foreleg around Twilight and pat her mane. We may have changed your body Twilight, but I think you’ll end up changing us more than we ever did you.

Twilight separated from her elder with a slightly worried look. “I sort of promised Celestia that I would write her about changeling life. Is that okay?”

Cadista climbed back to her hooves. “I made the agreement to share my culture with Equestria before all of this happened, and I will certainly not go back on my word now. Just don’t share our engineering and alchemy secrets. You can tell her about our technology, just don’t go sharing schematics and formulas.”

Twilight was just happy that taking the initiative like that wasn’t met with a reprimand. The conversation lulled as Cadista let Twilight choose if she wanted to share any more of her talk with Celestia. Privacy was not a foreign concept in Cadista’s hive, and if Twilight wanted to keep her own counsel on the little details then she would leave the matter be.

Twilight spied Ratchet’s crystal sitting on the brass end table where she had left it last night. Oh that’s right! She focused on the hive mind and tried to announce a request to be heard by someone other than just her queen.

Cadista was halfway to her couch when she heard the request. The oddity of it made her turn around with bemusement written all over her. “Why would you want nineteen empty love crystals?”

Twilight wrapped the distant crystal in her orange magic and pulled it over to her. “I don’t know what it cost you to save my life. I mean besides worrying about potential war with Equestria. But I’m sure my rebirth was taxing. Especially considering what kind of changeling I am.”

The physical differences between herself and the average drone did not go unnoticed by Twilight. Most noticeable of all was that Cadista and Twilight’s eyes were unique among the hive. “I want to carry my own weight, and I want to start with this.”

Twilight was brimming with Celestia’s love and she held the empty crystal to her horn and carefully refilled it back to its original pink glowing luster. She felt herself grow weaker, but her body was so saturated with love that the effect was minimal.

Cadista was startled at Twilight’s willingness to part with freely given love. “Twilight, that’s not necessary. Our gatherers may be few, but they still more than exceed our monthly love requirements.”

Twilight sent the crystal to her saddlebags. I have to return the favor. “Cadista, how long was I in the chrysalis?”

The queen scowled at Twilight draining herself. “Almost two months.”

Twilight faced her matriarch with determination etched into her grimace. “And when did I start needing love?”

Cadista knew where this was going. “Barely over a month ago.”

“Then I have a lot of time to make up for.”

Cadista felt the need to draw the line and sent out a countermand to Twilight’s request. “If you want to contribute to the hive there are more productive ways for you to do that. Yes it’s true your transformation was greatly taxing on our love surplus, but that’s why I increased the number of gatherers right after you entered the chrysalis. Let them do their job so you can do yours.”

Twilight frowned but did not object after being given a way to repay the debt she felt she owed. “Yes, my queen.” Cadista had to give the young mare a notch of respect for knowing when formality was required of her. “Then can I get started on making my contributions today?”

Cadista glanced at the large clock on the wall by the large bronze and steel doors. “Your commitment is to be commended Twilight. I do not fault your enthusiasm, just your chosen method.” Twilight’s mood lifted at the praise, and a small smile returned to her. “Seeing that you have a strong affinity for scholarly pursuits I want you to apprentice under Chief Engineer Sprocket Altair. It is time for the midday meal, so go take a lunch and then find Sprocket.” Cadista recalled how Twilight just made a deliberate request via the hive mind. “I trust you know how.”

“I do.”

“Very well.” Cadista dismissed her with a gesture so Twilight made for the exit, but not before going over to Celestia’s gifts. Having no time to place them on any furniture, Twilight opted to leave them on the floor. The disarray of her belongings irked her so she used her kinesis to organize everything with the books in alphabetical order, the letters stacked behind them, and the candle on top. The photo album was propped up against the books. I'll take the time to read the letters after work.

Twilight eyed her saddlebags. I might be given books to study so I better bring that with me. After donning the burlap containers she flew off and out of the palace. She had one place she needed to visit before going to the closest food court. After a quick query amongst the Link she was directed to a small tailor store that was built for making modifications rather than new products. Twilight found two of her sisters gossiping while mending some protective jackets. Work amongst machines was not always safe and definitely not clean. It was much easier to wash clothing than it was to scrub stains out of one’s fur or wings.

They stopped chatting when they saw the lavender mare arrive. “Excuse me, can I get a quick alteration done?”

“Depends on what you need and how fast you want it,” the grey mare to right replied. Twilight exercised her voice through the Link to convey her wishes.

The other drone got out from behind her work bench. “That won’t take long at all, three minutes tops.”

Twilight levitated her saddlebags over to the mare’s waiting foreleg. “I appreciate it.”

It turned out to only take two and a half minutes for the tailor to return. “There you go, it's dry so you don’t have to worry about it running.”

Twilight brought the bags over in her magic so she could inspect them. The cutie marks that decorated the bags had the white starbursts dyed to a vibrant orange to match the marks that adorned her flanks. She smiled at the sight of it. “It’s perfect.”

4: Engineering

After eating a thoroughly enjoyable lunch, Twilight flew off to find Chief Engineer Sprocket Altair. The hive mind told her he was currently stationed in the Altair University. As she flew towards her destination, Twilight was confounded by the school’s very existence.

I don’t understand. Why would we need a university if the Link can tell us everything we need to know? She thought about asking the hive mind, but ultimately decided she could ask Sprocket himself. She was, however, still wondering why she got three love crystals for lunch. I know I can make general requests over the Link, but I don’t know how to send complex questions yet. I guess there’s no harm in trying, right?

Twilight focused on Cadista’s image and tried to send her a query. She got a reply back a few moments later, but couldn’t decipher it. Crud. This isn’t working. She was still ten minutes away from the university, so she decided to try something else.

Looking around, she spotted a drone flying parallel to her, and drifted over to him. “Excuse me, can you help me with something?”

He instantly recognized the purple coat and slitted eyes. “Of course, Twilight, what do you require?”

“I can’t seem to ask the queen a question over the Link, yet. Can you help me speak to her?”

“Absolutely,” he replied happily. “What did you want to know?”

“Well, the queen knows I was given an enormous amount of love from Celestia when she visited, but I still received three love crystals for lunch. Why couldn’t they be saved, since I’ve already fed so much today?”

“Give me a second,” he replied while relaying the message. “She says since you’re a royal changeling, you require at least three times as much love as us drones. The longer your body’s brimming with love, the faster your overall development will be.”

She cocked her head at the statement. “My… development?”

This time, the drone didn’t bother relaying the query. “Well, it’s not for nothing, sister, you’re still at the princess stage of development. You’re not going to stop growing until you're queen size, as it were.”

The thought of learning more about her physiology was enticing. “So, I’m still basically a larva as far as royal ‘Lings go?”

He gave a nonverbal sound of uncertainty. “I guess you could say that. Royal ‘Lings come in three flavors. A princess, what you are right now, is what every royal changeling starts off as. You’ll reach the proto-queen stage at some point, and that’s usually marked by your first laying. Full queens are like Cadista, and well, you know how they are.”

Twilight mulled over the information. “What do you mean, laying?”

He thought it was an obvious answer. I guess it’s our own fault for being so insular towards the other pony nations. “It’s short for when you lay eggs.”

“Oh.” She cringed a bit and pulled her hind legs closer together.

The drone felt sympathy for her. Twilight was already an adult mare before being reborn as a royal so she’ll probably learn about this stuff rather soon, but I might as well help her out now. “In the other hives, a proto-queen will stay with the old hive until she has about three hundred mature drones , giving her enough of a workforce to begin her own hive. That is, if she doesn’t try launch a coup against her mother.”

Twilight recoiled at the last bit of information. Sounds dreadful. “How does, um,” she tried to think of a tactful way to ask. “How does our hive work in that regard?”

“Well, that’s entirely between you and Cadista. I don’t know if it’ll make you feel better, but Cadista and Yumia decided this hive was far too important for that particular set of traditions. Cadista stayed on for four hundred years longer than she could have, because they wanted to make sure our hive survives. So, when Yumia was killed by Chrysalis two hundred years ago, Cadista was already here to make sure the hive didn’t collapse without a queen.”

“What happens when a hive collapses?”

“Depends on the drones, really. If the other hives had the ability to be independent like ours, we’d probably just be left queen-less, without a way to replenish our numbers. We’d still be very disorganized and frightened with the absence of her presence in the Link, but I don’t think we’d remain that way forever.”

The answer satisfied Twilight more than the drone could possibly know. At least if the unthinkable happens, my brothers and sisters would be able to carry on. “And the... less independent drones of the other hives?”

His even demeanor fell. “They’d likely go feral, or at least close to it.” Both changelings lapsed into a brief silence before he spoke up again with genuine gratitude. “I’m really glad you’re here, sis.” Twilight perked up at the statement. “With Cadista being alone on the throne for so long, I always worried that if something happened to her, everything we had accomplished here in Stripped Gear would be destroyed by the other hives.”

Twilight studied him for several long moments before answering, as a smile slowly spread over her face. “I’m glad I’m here too, brother.”

The drone noticed his destination was almost directly below him. “Hope to see you later, sis, bye!”

Twilight waved back at him until he flew away. The university was close by, and she descended towards it. For knowing I’m a princess and all, my siblings seem to be a lot more casual toward me than I thought they’d be. Well, I prefer it that way, rather than them walking on eggshells.

Twilight found she was being directed to a square, four-story building. The space was occupied by various student projects to demonstrate their prowess in the field of engineering.

Gleaming monuments of bronze and brass crowded the inner square, making it difficult to navigate by air. Twilight was captivated by them so much she whined about her predicament. “Ouuah, I want to study these so much! But... I can’t keep Sprocket waiting.”

The moment she entered the building’s halls, a deep sense of belonging washed over her. Memories of the smell of chalkboards, books, and the droning of lecturers behind classroom doors, all came rushing back to her in a garbled mess. She pressed a hoof to her temple to ward off a headache, but the pain didn’t really matter to her. This is a place of learning, and being here feels so right! I know I’m going to love it here.

Before she got very far, however, her thoughts drifted back to her saddlebags, and she descended to the ground and opened the left pouch. Inside were four filled love crystals, three of which she had received for lunch. She levitated the ones from lunchtime in front of her and sighed. Hasten my development. I don’t know how to feel about one day… laying… eggs, she brooded over the slightly unnerving thought. My siblings work on machines, as soldiers, even in the sewers. Am I not obligated to fulfill my purpose, just as they do? I don’t want this magnificent city to collapse if anything happens to Cadista just because I’m too scared to play my role.

With her mind made up, she brought the crystals to her horn and drained them. They barely registered amidst Celestia's love. “I’m still saving the last one for Ratchet.”

After depositing the empty crystals in her bag, Twilight made her way through the corridors to Sprocket’s office. Okay Twi, make a good first impression. Show him that you’re the perfect student, and this first meeting will be a cakewalk.

Before she could bang on the door, a gravelly voice yelled from within the office. “There’s no need to knock, Twilight Sparkle, I can sense you out there.”

With a sheepish grin, Twilight entered the office, and was met with an absolutely horrifying sight. Discarded papers, damaged scrolls, books in complete disarray, toppled inkwells, balled up pieces of paper on the floor, and a broken chalkboard met her eyes, and she had to fight every fiber in her being to keep herself from rushing forward to clean it up. How can he possibly work under these maddening conditions!?

A gravelly voice from behind a pile of books directed her attention. “So you finally arrived? I must say, I’m not very impressed.”

Sprocket’s condescending tone broke Twilight from her stupor. “What makes you say that?”

“That you obviously don’t see the beauty of my filing system,” he said while sweeping a leg at his office. “Your distaste is palpable over the Link.”

“W-well, I— er, um, I’m sure it works for you,” she hastily replied to avoid further insult.

“Right,” he replied curtly. “I’ll be blunt, Miss Sparkle, I don’t really see why our queen would bother sending you to me. I only deal with those who know what the Pontoon effect is, how to work with Axiomatic design, and at the very least know how to reverse engineer another student’s work equal to or lower than their grade.”

She rubbed her foreleg nervously. “Isn’t that why I’m here? So I can learn those things?”

He scowled and sat down at his desk. “If you were here to enter the school as a normal student, then I’d say yes, but the queen’s got it in her head that she wants you to apprentice under me. Me!” He started grumbling more to himself than to her. “To think I have to dumb down my theories and concepts so an elementary student can grasp even one percent of my genius.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow. “To be honest, I don’t see the point of having a school. Research and development, I understand, but can’t the hive mind give me all the information I need?”

He harrumphed as he perused some of his notes. “You are a recent reborn, Miss Sparkle, and a former Equestrian at that, so I will forgive your ignorance.” He ignored a sour look from Twilight, and continued. “Tell me, if we carried such valuable information over the Link, made available to every brother and sister in the hive, what do you think would happen if another hive took one of ours hostage and ripped the information out of them?”

Twilight recoiled a hoof. “They do that?!”

“Of course they do.” He stopped looking over his notes to study the fledgling royal. “Most queens care nothing for the loss of a few hundred drones. To them, ripping apart another queen’s drone is like peeking into your neighbor’s window.” Sprocket didn’t seem to notice, or care about, the appalled look on Twilight’s face.

“So, you can imagine why such knowledge never leaves an individual drone’s mind. Except for when he’s working, then it’s shared with his fellow researchers, but only what’s relevant to the task at hoof.”

Twilight’s wings fidgeted uncomfortably. “Oh, makes sense I guess.”

The grizzled, old researcher wasn’t sure if Twilight was up to the task of being under his wing, but his orders demanded that he give her a chance. “You may be a princess in body, Miss Sparkle, but until Cadista says otherwise, you’re just like any other drone to me.” He leaned back in his chair to look over his disastrous filing system. “That being said, mother thinks you have potential, and I’ll abide by her judgment until proved wrong.”

Sprocket got up and started digging through his scattered books, pulling some out and placing them on the front end of his desk until he had a stack of twelve. “Read and memorize these texts and pass an exam about them. Then I’ll know that you can handle being my apprentice. If not, find something else to do with your time, or enter the school like any other student.”

As she walked over to the pile of books, primal joy erupted out of Twilight at the prospect of reading. “I have a feeling I’m going to love it here.”

He rolled his eyes as the mare tenderly placed each book in her saddlebags. “We’ll see.”

Two blocks away, Twilight walked into a three story library crammed with books. Rows upon rows of shelves left little room to walk between them. Only the top floor and the roof had any real open areas to read. Twilight made her way into the center of the first floor and took a deep slow breath as a profound sense of nostalgia and belongingness oozed out of every shelf and tome. This feels like I’ve finally come home. “Maybe I should move in here after my connection with the hive mind is complete,” she thought aloud with a giggle.

There were dozens of drones in the library, all of them either studying or searching for books. Not wanting to disturb them, Twilight opted to snatch a cushion and find an empty spot near one of the ground floor bookcases. She settled down near a window, and pulled out the first book on her list. Basic Engineering Principles. She had to suppress a squeal of delight. “This is going to be so much fun!”

Twilight was so engrossed in her studies, she didn’t notice the sun had set a while ago. Page after page, word after word was consumed by her ravenous hunger for knowledge. The former librarian had just opened her third book when a drone stopped by.

“Order up!”

Twilight’s head jolted away from the page to see a familiar face holding a small food tray on his back and giving her a warm smile. “Ratchet? Ratchet! Hey, how’ve you been?” She climbed to her hooves and gave him a friendly nuzzle.

She pulled away and spotted a faint blush on his cheeks. “Well enough. Mother heard you never took your dinner rations and figured you were busy, so I brought you some dinner.”

“That was thoughtful of her. Let me get my stuff packed, I wouldn’t want to potentially ruin any books with spilled food.”

Still not trusting her flying abilities under such a heavy load, Twilight opted to walk to one of the wooden and brass benches right outside of the library to eat. The mare found that her brother brought a different meal this time. “I thought you might like the supreme pizza. It’s a favorite among the alumni.”

Twilight set her saddlebags down and levitated the tray to be in front of her. The aroma that hit her after lifting the dish cover made her stomach protest being ignored for so long. “Its smells great, I seem to forget to eat when I study.” She saw him fidgeting in front of the bench. “Why don’t you join me? I could use some company.”

“Sure, sis,” he replied, enthusiastically taking a seat.

Twilight spied the trio of love crystals on her tray and yelped out of remembrance. “I’m glad it was you who brought me dinner, I have something to give you.” She lifted the tray above her so she could dig into her bags before withdrawing the crystal filled with Celestia’s love. Didn’t she say love is meant to be shared? She faced Ratchet and gave him the crystal. “Here, I still owe you from yesterday.”

He eyed it quizzically as she deposited it into his hoof. “You saved one from lunch just to give it to me?”

“Well no, that’s some of the love Celestia gave me. I don’t think I’ll go love starved for a whole week, thanks to her.”

He couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping. “I-I don’t know what to say. Do you know how powerful freely given love is to its intended recipient? It would do you far more good than it would ever do me.”

“But, Celestia said love is meaningless if it’s not shared. Of course, the Princess thinks love is more of an abstract concept, rather than a resource, but still, I want to share it with you.”

A ghost of a smile found its way on his face. “Well, thank you, really. But if you want to share your love, let me give this back and I’ll take one of the crystals on your tray, instead.”

She furrowed her brow at the suggestion. “Why does it matter which crystal you use? Isn’t it all the same?”

“For me, yes, but this love,” he handed the gift back, “was love given to you, for you. Because of that, you would receive at least five times as much nourishment from it than I ever could.”

Her ears dropped a little along with her voice. “Oh. Well… here then.” She placed Celestia’s love back on her plate and gave Ratchet two of her other crystals. “What you did still means a lot to me, and since I have six crystals worth here, giving you two shouldn’t be a problem then. If anything the second one can be for bringing me dinner.”

Ratchet knew she was just trying to be kind and accepted them without protest. “Thanks sis. I appreciate it.”

Her smile grew and she wrapped a foreleg around him and pulled him into a sidelong hug. “Hey, brothers and sisters look out for each other right?”

He chuckled at her expected casual demeanor and hugged her back. “Yeah, we most certainly do.”

A few hours after sundown, Twilight returned to the queen’s bedchambers. Her wings ached every time she tried to fly a long way with such a heavy load, so she walked most of the way. Twilight found Cadista had brought in an easel and canvas along with an assortment of paints. A collection of artwork had also been placed on pedestals around the room.

The queen spoke without looking away from her drawing of a verdant forest. “You left quite an impression on Sprocket today.”

“I did?” asked a bemused Twilight as she trotted over to inspect the painting.

“Oh yes, most students balk or tremble at the workload he gives them. A bit of an intimidation tactic he uses to separate the wannabes and the will-bes. I didn’t tell him you were Celestia’s star pupil, so he was refreshingly surprised to see your eagerness to learn.”

Twilight pulled one of her books out to read and breathed in the intoxicating aroma of knowledge. “There’s just so much to learn! Can I take the rest of today and tomorrow to study?”

Cadista put the finishing touches on a tree before facing Twilight. “Well that is what Sprocket asked of you, but before you do, there are still a few things you need to learn.”

Always eager for new knowledge, Twilight levitated her saddlebags and book over to lie next to the rest of her belongings before giving Cadista her undivided attention. The queen cleaned her brushes and prepared her other supplies to be left alone for a while.

“Now, what do you know about the trade agreement we have with Equestria?”

Twilight rubbed her head as she searched her randomly cobbled together memories. “I know we import steel and coal, and I believe we export machinery, but I can’t recall anything else.”

Cadista nodded while levitating a short knife from a chest of drawers. “The piece you’re missing, Twilight, is something we changelings call 'salve'. It’s a gel like substance that we produce that can repair skin, stop bleeding, prevent infection,” her tone shifted to be rather condescending, “and those hives that still wrap themselves in chitin can use it to repair that too.”

“Each hive has their own… brand as it were,” Cadista continued. “The salve we produce can’t repair chitin, as I have long since found its use in both queen and drone to be uncivilized. As a result, our salve has been tailored to work on skin to a much more effective degree.”

“Makes sense. But this sounds like medical stuff, why would this be considered basic knowledge?” Twilight asked while eyeing the knife floating next to her queen.

Cadista knew Twilight wouldn’t understand unless it was shown to her. “We make it within ourselves. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Cadista raised her left foreleg and used the knife to make a shallow cut a few inches above her fetlock. Twilight winced, but said nothing. Cadista raised the wound to her mouth and spat a wad of orange gel onto it before using her magic to smooth the substance across the wound. “It hardens shortly after being exposed to air, so it’s very useful in saving somepony’s life when medical aid is too far away. All you need is soapy water to clean it off later.”

Twilight studied the orange liquid on her queen’s leg. “So, I was submerged in salve while I was in the chrysalis?”

Cadista nodded. “That’s what gave the fluid its color yes, but this is not what turned you into a changeling. Salve is only designed for healing.”

The more Twilight looked at it, the closer and closer she felt to remembering something. “Wait a second, I-I…” She fell on her haunches and clutched her head as a flood of old memories came rushing back.

A cascade of images of a pink alicorn with reptilian eyes, green fire surrounding her in a throne room, dark crystal caverns, and fighting scores of black changelings while being side by side five ponies, and other memories tried to cram into her mind all at once.

Cadista was at her side and hesitated for only a moment before wrapping a leg around Twilight. “Hold on, I will ease your pain.” The queen deepened her mental connection with Twilight and spread her pain across the Link.

The young princess removed her hooves from her head as the pain abated. “Thank you. I remember parts of a wedding, when I saw a changeling for the first time in my life.”

“Chrysalis,” Cadista spat the word as if it was poison. “She did everything in her power to make us look like monsters.”

Twilight only barely listened as images of the attack came back to her. “Yeah, she did,” she muttered sullenly at now being associated with such beings.

“Chrysalis is not one for caring about the wellbeing of others,” Cadista spat, “A most telling attribute of her callousness is what she’s done to her hive’s salve.”

Twilight momentarily forgot the disturbing images of ponies being wrapped in cocoons against their will to look at her queen. “What do you mean?”

“You should know, Twilight, that even hives that care little for the common drone have always kept trying to improve their version of salve, if for nothing else than to allow their drones to recover from minor to medium injuries. Chrysalis, on the other hoof, reengineered her hive’s salve to be a grotesque method of restraining their captives. Instead of possessing any healing properties, it’s sticky to everything except chitin. It’s absolutely revolting,” she cursed the other queen’s name before seeing Twilight’s cowed face and softened her expression.

“I apologize, Twilight, I should not get so heated at the mere mention of her name.”

The lavender changeling nodded and resumed a more neutral posture again. “Did the other hives act against her for attacking Canterlot?”

Cadista’s face became unreadable. “In their own way. Nubile and Thereena suspected she would be weakened from the failed invasion and attempted to annex some of her lands. Yeelindrus and Jstrul are her younger sisters, so they have little choice but to remain allies with her. The rest, however, are unsure, and have called for a Summit of the Queens to decide what the hives should do about Chrysalis bringing us into the global spotlight.”

“The very last place we wanted to be,” Twilight mused aloud.

“Well,” Cadista replied wistfully. “I at least feel we’ll do better this way than hiding in the shadows, but mother and I never agreed with most changeling traditions.”

“When are you going to the summit?”

Cadista’s smile fell a little. “I’m afraid that’s going to be, when we are going the day after tomorrow.”

Twilight’s eyes dilated to the size of saucers. “W-wait, why am I going?”

“Outside of our personal relationship, Twilight, as far as the rest of my hive is concerned, you are an equal with your siblings. At least, until you decide you want to be more. However, general tradition states that you are my heir, and thus you must attend with me. It would be seen as a grievous insult to the other queens if you didn’t. There are many traditions I can cast aside, but this is not one of them.”

Twilight broke out in a cold sweat. “B-but I don’t know the first thing about traditions, or posturing, or politics, or any of that stuff. I’ve only been a changeling for two days!”

Well, technically, you could have been considered a changeling once I started feeding you love in the chrysalis. Cadista wrapped a leg around Twilight. “I know, and after hearing they were calling the summit, I had hoped you would not hatch until after it began. But alas, that was not meant to be.”

Several hairs started to frazzle out of Twilight’s mane and tail. “I don’t want to get you or the hive in trouble because I don’t know any better.”

Cadista had to put forth serious effort to not ease Twilight’s mind. She needs to recover from this on her own or she’ll never make a good leader. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to both protect and guide you. No pony would dare harm another during the summit.” Her tone grew sardonic. “A rare time of peace between us, to be sure.”

Twilight remembered a calming technique and slowed her breathing while moving her upraised hoof to her chest and back away on the exhale. Cadista watched with curiosity as her daughter centered herself. When she opened her eyes again, Twilight’s face was even and calm. “I think we got off our original topic about the salve.”

Cadista felt a lopsided grin crease her face. “That we did. Let me show you how to use it. After that we should call it a night.”

The Link was always present in Twilight’s mind. Twilight often mused that the line between her mind and the chorus of voices was blurring with each passing second, even if the Link was unintelligible most of the time. She could receive and give instructions when putting forth strong effort sometimes, while required information would be automatically given to her without even needing to voice a request.

Now, however, the voices, as quiet as they were, were finally understood. Twilight awoke the instant the line between the Link and her mind eroded away completely. She cracked her eyes open and sat up at the realization that she understood the voices. She saw Cadista sitting on a cushion in front of her easel with a few pieces of breakfast hovering nearby. Thus far, the queen was unaware of Twilight’s awakening, so the purple changeling used the opportunity to try speaking to her via the Link.

The matriarch turned to face Twilight and replied with a pleased note of satisfaction, but inwardly suppressed her alarm.

Cadista abandoned her artwork while Twilight climbed out of bed so they could close the distance. The matriarch stopped a foot away from Twilight and used her magical senses to inspect the purple changeling. Astounding. It should have taken at least another week for this to happen. Perhaps the freely given love of an alicorn is more potent than I realized. “This is good news indeed. Your merger with the hive mind is complete. It appears retaining Celestia’s love like I asked has greatly accelerated your development.”

Twilight mulled over her words. “Well, I’m sure Celestia would be happy to know her love helps me like that.”

“Undoubtedly.” She smiled at the young changeling. “How does it feel, now that you are truly one with the hive?”

Twilight looked to her recovered memories to piece together a reasonable comparison. “Before, I was alone with my thoughts. It never caused discomfort or loneliness because that’s how I had always been. Now though, it’s like I’m in a vast forum where everybody’s talking and I can understand them all at once. I am part of the whole, but I feel like I stand above them a little. Like I could direct the flow of conversation if I wanted to.”

“That’s your royal blood. A queen must be able to listen to all of her drones and direct the will of the hive.”

Twilight looked at the ground as a puzzling question came to mind. “Cadista, why did you make me a royal changeling instead of a drone?”

Her large purple eyes moved back up to search her matriarch for an answer. Cadista sighed while levitating some food over to Twilight. “The biggest reason was to maintain your ability to remain independent. By our nature, a royal changeling can survive with either a million drones or completely by herself. You do not need to be part of a hive mind, and you can recover from being severed from it if necessary. However the most important aspect of this independence is that another queen cannot subvert your will and force you into her hive like she could with a drone.”

Twilight cringed. “I didn’t think other queens could do that, or would want to.”

“It's mostly used for spying on each other,” The queen explained, “but the point is, if one of the other queens got ahold of you, they could forcibly induct you into their hive mind and rob you of your very identity, if they were so inclined. As a royal, however, that’s impossible.”

Geeze, I didn’t think life outside the hive was so ruthless.

Twilight’s thought was not broadcast over the Link, but Cadsita noticed Twilight nervously scuffing the ground. “Don’t worry about it, Twilight. Now that your connection to the Link is complete, I can guide you through all the ridiculous pomp and ceremony. Some might question your position at first, but none would dare harm you during the summit.”

Her words only had some of the effect she was hoping for. Time to switch topics. “How about I summon breakfast while I teach you more of your natural abilities?”

Twilight’s pout switched to a large smile while her wings buzzed in excitement. “That sounds fun!”

Brandishing a smile of her own, Cadista beckoned Twilight over to one of the walls of her chambers. As if to mirror the city’s shield above the hive, the queen’s bedchambers were a dome as well. “You’ve probably already seen several of your brothers and sisters doing this already, so stop me if you already know how to do this.”

Cadista propped herself up onto the incurving walls and started walking up towards the ceiling as if she was on the ground. Twilight’s eager grin never left her face. “I saw a few drones reading upside down in the library when all the tables were occupied. And I remember Chrysalis’ brood doing that during the wedding. I’ve just been so preoccupied that I never thought to ask how to do it myself.”

“Well, now is a good a time as any then. Wall walking is not very difficult to grasp. All you have to do is feel the interior of your hoof for a muscle and sort of…pull on it.”

Twilight had never taken the time to actually inspect the bottom of her hoof since hatching and looked down on it now. The front and side outer parts of her left forehoof were the same as before, but the frog had been replaced by a rough looking mass of muscle. Must be that way so I can walk on rough ground without being injured. Experimentally, she pressed the same hoof against the wall and pulled the muscle. She felt a twinge of her magic flow through the muscle which adhered itself to the wall.

Cadista nodded in praise. “Excellent. Now just start walking up. Once you begin with the first hoof, the rest will follow automatically after they make their next step. Just be sure to keep at least two hooves on the wall at all times or you’ll slip off.”

Following her matriarch’s advice, Twilight put both forelegs on the wall then leveraged their suction to kick her back hooves off the ground and onto the wall.

“Let instinct tell you how to walk. Your body will release and adhere as needed without additional thought on your part.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle as she walked up the wall to be at Casita’s side. “This is really neat. I could find all kinds of good reading spots now that I’m not restricted to the floor.”

Cadista smirked. “As good a use as any.”

After walking along the ceiling for a few minutes, a drone appeared with Twilight’s meal and departed after leaving it on a fold out table. The young royal got an idea and levitated the food over to her while still remaining on the ceiling. “Might be fun getting used to wall walking.”

Cadista shared the sentiment. “It can be disorienting when all the blood rushes to your head, so try to mix your training with rest time on the floor. It’ll take a while, but your body will acclimate eventually.”

“I will, thanks,” Twilight was exhilarated by the chance to try something new. Upside down dining, this should prove to be quite the experience. Cadista dropped off the ceiling and returned to her painting.

Twilight was only able to eat like that for a few minutes before a headache made her fly back down to the ground near Cadista to finish her meal. “So, when did you take up painting? Did you do all of the paintings in here? They’re really good.” She gestured a hoof to the five different works of art strategically placed across the room.

The matriarch glanced at her other pieces of art with pride. “I did, thank you. Mother said that a queen influences the hive in more ways than one. She believed that the demeanor of the queen is reflected in her drones, and I am in full agreement. As such, I try to keep my creativity strong so the hive can benefit from that.”

Twilight briefly studied the other paintings. Most depicted machinery, or Stripped Gear from multiple elevated angles. “Well, I think it's working. The hive has built a great city here.”

“I’m glad you agree. I know in time, you will make improvements I could only dream of.”

Twilight fell silent while gnawing on her food. I hope I can live up to those expectations.

The rest of the day and much of the next was entirely occupied by Twilight studying the fascinating world of engineering in the books Sprocket gave her. Most of that time was spent in the library on campus. The repository of books called to Twilight like an old friend. The structure resonated the same way with many of its patrons, and the purple changeling felt that collective mood echo within her. It served to only bolster her already insatiable hunger for knowledge.

Currently, she was hanging from the ceiling on the second floor of the library reading the last book assigned to her. Unlike most structures in Equestria, changeling architecture typically took wall-walking into account. Twilight found reading upside down both entertaining and useful for staying focused.

Twilight was so enthralled by her studies that she didn’t hear someone calling her name from below three times before they switched to speaking via the Link.

The purple mare’s ears perked up and she looked down to see a female drone she hadn’t seen before, but the hive mind quickly gave Twilight her name. She spotted the tray of food on the grey mare’s back.

Twilight kept her books in her orange kinesis and dropped off the ceiling and into powered flight before landing next to Flexi and speaking normally. “You really don’t have to go through all the trouble of bringing me meals all the time, I just need an alarm clock.”

Flexi smirked. “The librarian would chew your wings off.”

Both mares tittered at the humor before Twilight spoke. “Well, I’d better take this outside.” She leaned forward and gave Flexi an affectionate sisterly nuzzle. “Thanks for thinking of me.”

The grey drone knew of Twilight’s alien preference for physical displays of affection and smiled while returning the gesture in kind. “It was nothing, really, we all look out for our own.”

Twilight broke contact. “Well, perhaps one day we can expand our definition of 'our own'. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

Flexi frowned as she walked off to eat. What does she mean by that?

This time, Twilight found an actual table so she could both read and eat. Now I just need to finish the last chapter review before I compile my notes on everything. Then, I should be able to pass Sprocket’s test.

As her pony friends knew, Twilight’s version of passing was a perfect score, and that had not changed one bit since becoming a changeling. I should be ready a couple of days after the summit.

Twilight shuddered at the thought. “Don’t focus on that, Twi, Cadista will help you through it, and it’ll all turn out fine in the end.” Actually, now that I’m fully integrated into the hive mind, maybe she’ll let me visit Ponyville and see my old friends. I remember some bits and pieces of them, but if we got along back then, then I’m sure I can reforge old friendships.

Twilight was halfway through with her meal when Sprocket’s voice yelled at her through the Link.

Twilight jumped out of the chair at Sprocket's yelling. She groaned before responding.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh joy, he’s going to be one of those teachers.”

Twilight took the time to get back in her chair to look over her notes.

The old engineer balked before his tone became one of disbelief.

Twilight tilted her head.

He was silent for a few seconds to recompose himself.

Sprocket scoffed over the Link.

Twilight frantically started putting her notes and books away.

he interrupted,

Twilight sent an apologetic call for a server to clean up her food while she telekinetically wrapped her saddlebags on. “I think science waits just fine,” she grumbled while galloping off to the chief engineer’s office.

Twilight burst into Sprocket’s office on the fourth floor a half hour later, panting. I hate stairs so very much right now. I really need to get my wing strength up.

Sprocket was standing near the one of his drawing boards when he turned to face the winded mare. “Ah good, I like a student who believes in being early,” he said while completely ignoring her discomfort. He flew over to a high mounted line of shelves in the back of the room to fish through some papers. “I’ll have your test in a moment. Why don’t you place your belongings by the door, I want no temptations for cheating.”

Twilight would have been insulted if she hadn’t been out of breath. “I do not cheat.”

He found the paper he was looking for and grabbed it in his hoof. “Yes, yes, they all say that.” He landed on the ground next to her. “This way, if you please, we need to get to the testing room.”

Twilight followed wordlessly as they passed several rooms until they got to one with a heavy bronze iris door. Sprocket used a jolt of magic to activate the portal and it opened to reveal a small desk and chair with decent lighting. The walls were lined with dark orange resin.

“What is this place?” she inquired while looking around the spartan décor.

“This is the mute testing room. You’ll see why when I close the door. I’ll be kind and give you a warning: it can be quite jarring the first time.”

She was perplexed by the statement. “What do you—” As soon as the door sealed behind him, the hive mind went silent. All of the voices that welcomed her and embraced her as one of their own were shut off. She was alone in her thoughts for the first time since she hatched, and the sudden silence left her with a migraine, quivering in terror. Without the memories of her past, she would have been a gibbering mess on the floor.

Sprocket always felt a little guilty about doing that. “Don’t worry, this room only acts as a filter. You are still one with the Link, you simply can’t hear them.”

Twilight was rubbing her forelegs to get the chills out her of being so alone. “Do you really not trust me?” she growled indignantly.

“You simply don’t understand what the queen has done, forcing me to take on an apprentice. Your discomfort will pass, and if you can’t handle a little stress on the job, then you’re not cut out to be under my wing.”

I’m starting to think that might be rather unhealthy.

Sprocket dropped the test on the desk which already had an ink well and quill waiting for her. This room wouldn’t be necessary at all if I knew you didn’t have help. Nopony could possibly read and understand even those basic principles in two days. Those cliff notes of hers must have been given to her by somepony else. Possibly even mother. “Well, go on, get started. When you’re done, use this lever here to open the door and give your exam to me.”

Taking a deep calming breath, Twilight walked over and sat down at the desk. Sprocket pulled a lever next to the door and a sphere enclosed him and the exit to keep the Link filtered out when he opened the door and left. As soon as the door shut again, the sphere slid back into the floor.

She wrapped the quill in her orange magic and flipped the test over to the first problem. You can do this Twilight. You haven’t even spent a full week in the hive mind, you got through it back then just fine, you can handle an hour or two without it. Just focus, you need to focus!

For two hours the test picked and prodded at Twilight’s brain so much a throbbing headache threatened to make her pass out. Years under Celestia had shaped and molded Twilight’s very way of thinking to make her an excellent test taker, but Sprocket’s test was ruthless and the absence of the Link made it worse. The test picked through obscure methodologies and downright criminally obtuse requirements of solving calculations. The final question had been a short essay on why Twilight thought she could even dream of standing in Sprocket’s shadow as his apprentice.

It took a monumental effort to keep from using that as an excuse to vent her frustrations at Sprocket for rushing her testing and cutting off the Link. If he thinks I’m going to give him flowery praise , he can guess again.

With the test held firmly in her magic, Twilight bolted for the door and pulled the lever to open the door. She slumped in the empty hallway as the chorus of voices flowed back into her. I feel whole again.

It only took a few seconds for her mind to reacclimate to the Link. She was surprised to feel an extremely angry Cadista in the direction of Sprocket’s office. That can’t be good. Twilight tried to hide her presence from the hive mind as she crept towards his office. She could hear shouting coming through the closed door.

Cadista was staring needles through Sprocket. “What gave you the right to place her in a testing chamber? She’s barely out of the shell and you want to traumatize her by silencing the Link!?” He shrunk away from the irate queen. “I can’t believe this. I thought you were above that. After I free her from that torture chamber, you and I are going to have a long discussion about your career.”

As Cadista was about to head for the door, Sprocket held out a pleading hoof. “L-Let’s not jump to conclusions, my queen. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t taking this apprenticeship seriously!”

Cadista was almost at the door. “We’ll see about that, after I free her.”

She burst through the door to find Twilight waving at her with a sheepish grin. “Oh, hey! I finished.”

Cadista’s presence in the Link instantly shifted to apologetic concern. “Thank goodness you’re alright! After I noticed you weren’t responding to me, I had half the hive looking for you until this one,” she stabbed a hoof behind her to Sprocket, “came forward with his crimes. I had no idea he would go this far with you, or anypony for that matter.”

Twilight was just happy to see Cadista, but felt she should at least put on an air of strength in Sprocket’s presence. “It wasn’t fun, but I survived intact.” Her test flew over and landed on the engineer’s desk. “I think that should take care of my exam.” Even if I failed, at least I can prove to him that Twilight Sparkle doesn’t cheat.

Cadista sent Twilight accolades through the hive mind before addressing both of them. “Somepony else will have to grade that test, I’m afraid. The position for Chief Engineer has just been vacated.”

“My queen, I must protest!” Sprocket nearly shouted. “You decreed that Twilight was to be treated as any other sister. She simply could not have read twelve detailed textbooks in two days. She either got others to help her, or she doesn’t care enough to take it seriously.”

“I did read those books!” Twilight retorted, “but I told you I wasn’t ready for the exam yet, I wanted time to re-read them and go over my notes!”

Sprocket scoffed. “Please, you may have won mother over because of some nonsense with being a foreign diplomat or something, but I deal in cold facts. No pony reads and comprehends reference text that fast.”

Cadista had had enough and was going to reassign him to grunge duty when Twilight made a rebuttal. “Then why not grade my exam? You put me in that filter room; I couldn’t possibly have cheated, right?”

Twilight looked to Cadista. Alright, I’ll try it your way for the moment. The matriarch glared at Sprocket before flicking her head towards the waiting test. As he sulked over to look at it, she led Twilight out of the room to speak. “I must apologize for his actions against you, Twilight. I knew he prided himself on being one of my top researchers, but not to the extent that he would try to commit such an act against you just so he wouldn’t have to take on an apprentice.”

“It wasn’t that bad, I could almost ignore the silence towards the end of it. But, might I ask why we even have such a room?”

Cadista let out a long sigh. “It’s used for multiple reasons, but it’s mainly for students taking the higher graduate exams. The problem is that, at every other time in our lives, if we don’t know something, our instinct is to send a query through the hive mind. As you can imagine, that defeats the purpose of testing to see if you know the answers. Our hive’s drones are fully capable of surviving days, if not weeks of separation from the Link. Longer, if they undergo rigorous training. But even then, it is unpleasant.”

Cadista stopped near an open balcony and sat on her haunches, gazing at the city under the dim glow of the shield dome. Twilight used the opportunity to sit next to her and lean against her matriarch. “So, our hive’s natural resistance to isolation coupled with me being a royal helped keep me from having a mental breakdown?”

Cadista was starting to enjoy Twilight’s physical affection. “Correct. But, even then, I wanted you to remain within the hive mind for a minimum of two to four weeks before isolation training.”

Twilight had some ideas as to why Cadista would want to do that, but didn’t voice them so she could enjoy Cadista’s company, both in the physical world and within the hive mind. “Just promise me a heads up before you do that, please?”

Cadista took a lesson from the young mare and wrapped a foreleg around Twilight. The queen found the effect they had on each other fascinating. She has such an unusual influence. Perhaps there is more Equestrian in you than just your spirit. She inwardly chuckled at such an impossible idea.

Silence reigned for ten minutes before Sprocket made a low priority request for Cadista’s attention. Being what she was, it was trivial of her to keep Twilight company while casting a baleful shadow over the chief engineer.

Cadista detected more resentment in those words than submission.

The matriarch kept her thoughts to herself. You’re not useless yet, Sprocket. Don’t do anything stupid. She looked down at Twilight, cooing softly in her embrace. Perhaps I let my ambitions run away again by assigning her to Sprocket. She needs somepony who hasn’t let their ego grow bigger than their intelligence. Somepony who’s a skilled engineer, who’s familiar with her. Her focus shifted to another drone who was just now bedding down for the night.

Rachet nearly tripped.

It took a moment for him to put his thoughts together.

First class engineers were the lowest rank eligible to take an apprentice, but they typically didn’t receive one until the next promotion.

Cadista could tell he had been thrown off balance by the news.

He sighed in relief.

Cadista ended the conversation as her attention drifted to the mare at her side. “Come along, Twilight, we should get some rest for the summit tomorrow.”

Twilight reluctantly pulled away from her queen. “Alright, but can I ask a favor?”

“I owe you one for letting Sprocket put you in an isolation room. Name it.”

“After the summit, can I go to Equestria for a few days? I want to meet my old friends, and hopefully get some more of my memories back.”

Cadista smiled at the idea. “I don’t see why not. Your integration into the hive mind is complete, and another trade caravan will be leaving the day after the summit. I’ve quadrupled the guards since that unfortunate event, so it should be safe now. It’ll also be a good learning experience for you to see how our love collectors operate.”

Twilight’s wings buzzed out of happiness. “Oh, thank you! Ever since I read my friends' letters, I’ve been dying to see them. I’m sure we can all be friends again.”

Cadista started flying towards the palace with her heir in tow. “Knowing you, Twilight, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

Author's Note

Cloud Hop wants you to know that he spent four HOURS editing this thing SO YOU'D BETTER LIKE IT!

-His words not mine, but he really does a lot.

5: The Summit

A quill, gripped in orange telekinesis, hovered above a blank piece of paper. Its delicate tip trembled above the parchment, as though the quill itself were channeling Twilight Sparkle's excitement. Reading while hanging from the ceiling was one thing, but writing was an entirely different kind of difficulty.

Dear Princess Celestia,

You would not believe where I am right now. Cadista is taking me to the Summit of the Queens aboard a huge airship! The summit is an important political event, and in the interest of keeping open relations between our nations, Cadista has suggested I tell you all about it. I won’t be writing about it, though, because I’d rather tell you in person!

Tomorrow, when the Summit’s over, I’ll be joining the next trade caravan into Equestria to see you, my first family, and my friends in Ponyville. Every day, something helps me recover more of my old memories. I can only hope that I’ll get them all back in time, but I’ve prepared myself for the possibility that it might not happen. Then again, the future is just as important as the past. Even if I don’t get all of my memories back, I forge new ones every day, along with new friendships.

As for Stripped Gear’s technology, it’s absolutely amazing! A brother of mine, Ratchet Altair, told me the ship I'm on is just over a hundred meters in length, and is made of mostly steel. I’m not exactly sure why he was so proud of its steel construction, but the only other airships I’ve seen outside of Stripped Gear are two in Equestria, plus my old hot air balloon, so maybe wood construction is the norm outside of our hive.

Regardless, it’s time for my “changeling life” report. There are a lot of differences between what I remember, and how life is now. To be perfectly honest, I think I was very fortunate that I lost my memory before hatching. I’m not saying that because I want to forget my past, but because my amnesia sort of... helped me rebuild myself. Looking back on my old memories, how physically different I was, and the whole business with the hive mind; I just don’t think I could’ve handled my transformation if my memories had still been intact. My amnesia gave me the chance to rebuild the foundation of who and what I am, and for that, at least, I’m grateful.

Aside from you, I remember Shining Armor, and… most of what happened in the wedding. If I were still a unicorn, I’d probably have every right to despise changelings, but now that I’ve been one for almost a week, I can say that Chrysalis doesn’t define our species. I hope my visit can address any misunderstandings between our people.

I shouldn’t let such musings drag me down. Thinking about my life as a changeling, if I had to choose one thing that stood out above everything else, it’d have to be the hive mind.

I remember not being a part of one, so I can imagine how… unsettling it might be if you take anything out of context, but hear me out on this.

Being one with the hive mind is like being in a restaurant where everyone is having a conversation. Now expand that to encompass four thousand diners, where every one of them is audible to you. What’s fascinating is that, if I don’t wish to think about the Link, as we call it, then it fades into the background. It never distracts me from the task at hoof, and I find that it’s actually very soothing to just lay back, and immerse myself in listening to the hive mind.

Now I know you’ll think it’s probably maddening to listen to four thousand voices in your head, every waking moment, and it might be to a non-changeling mind. Perhaps that’s not the case for us because we’re simply built to work this way. Plus, because I’m a royal changeling, I can’t be forcibly commanded by the Link to do anything, so you don’t have to worry about me being coerced through it.

I’d like to go into more details, but I’d just turn this letter into an essay. Like I said, it’s complicated, and I’d rather just tell you face to face when I arrive. It looks like we’re nearly at our destination, so I better wrap this up. See you soon!

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight rolled up the scroll with her magic and detached herself from the ceiling, flying down to a desk where Spike's candle rested. She lit the dragon fire candle and burned the letter. A sigh escaped her lips as she watched the green flames eat through the parchment. It was a three hour flight from Stripped Gear to the Summit, and she was enjoying the accommodations the queen’s quarters provided. I’m kind of surprised a military ship would have such a spacious room. But, I suppose it lends credence to the idiom written above the door; “It’s good to be the queen.”

“Cadista said it was Yumia who put that plaque there, but…” Twilight smirked, “she never took it down.”

Well, if for nothing else, you might as well try to enjoy your lot in life.

Twilight got up and moved towards a porthole to gaze at the view. Despite the queen’s chambers being spacious, it did not have a very large window, something Twilight respected. If it’s going to be a warship, then having a large window for a target isn’t very sound.

Cadista called,

Twilight cleaned up her writing utensils.

A few minutes later, Twilight arrived on the bridge. She glanced at a plaque depicting the name of the ship: S.G.N. Deception.

Cadista was looking out the front of the bridge, which had the largest window on the ship. Twilight cantered over to her side and gazed down at the landscape below. While Stripped Gear rested in an extinct caldera, the vast stretches of land below used to be farmlands that had been reclaimed by the jungle centuries ago. Twilight could see sporadic ruins and old monuments proclaiming that civilization used to exist there.

Sitting above it were the ruins of a city on a plateau, with a castle cut from an ebony spire. Over the ages, only the castle had been maintained, and that was the Deception’s destination.

Twilight’s good mood fell as she laid eyes on the castle.

Cadista said while soothing her over the Link,

Twilight stopped fidgeting with her hooves. “I hope so,” she replied, lapsing into vocalizing her thoughts.

Cadista pulled the younger mare into a side hug while addressing the crew behind her.

Twilight gently nuzzled Cadista so she wouldn’t damage her mane style while watching the ship. The bridge sat on the upper hull, in the center, so she was able to see several orange crystals on steel booms. The crystals stood perpendicular to the hull and were constantly pulsing with maddeningly complex magical arrays to form a cloaking sphere around the Deception.

With the order given, the crystals stopped pulsing and the booms retracted. The ship’s cloaking field dropped, revealing itself to the castle.

Twilight scanned the skies around the plateau. The only things she could see were the distant figures of other changelings and white clouds.

Twilight furrowed her brow.

Twilight moved her head away from Cadista’s fur to see an enormous brown behemoth emerge from the dense cloud layer towards the south. At such a distance, all she could make out was the glint of what seemed like dragon scale, a swarm of brown figures around it, and its bloated body being propelled by no visible forces.

Twilight pressed her snout against the glass before seeing a telescope nearby and switching to it. “What in the world is it?”

Cadista cast a good humored smirk.

Twilight couldn’t help but to stare at her matriarch. “Fluffy? Is she serious? It’s covered in scales.”

I really wish she would get used to speaking solely within the hive mind, if only to safeguard our secrets.

“So, it’s like a living airship?”

Cadista barely suppressed a sigh; Twilight was still vocalizing everything.

Twilight scanned the skies as the Deception closed in on the castle and berthed with one of the northern docks.

The two royals were escorted out onto to the ebony stone by four drones - black changelings with jet black eyes. The tallest dipped his head in respect to them. “Queen Cadista, welcome to the summit.” He faced Twilight, who stood silently in a stoic pose. “Who is this?”

“This is my heir, Twilight Sparkle.”

The lead changeling eyed the purple mare for a few moments before nodding to her. “Very well. Half of the queens have already assembled. This way, if you please.”

He turned about-face, and started walking away. Twilight followed a step behind Cadista.

Cadista was glad she had the wits to stay in hive-speak while in the company of others.

Eventually, the pair arrived at a massive throne room, open to the sky above. It was designed like a circular amphitheater, with a small ebony spire towards the northern side with an empty black throne carved into it. Twilight saw only a scant few drones among the sixteen royals, four of whom were princesses.

The Home Guard captain yelled an announcement. “Assembled queens, I present Queen Cadista, and her heir, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

All eyes shifted first to Cadista, whom they expected, and then to Twilight, which drew far more attention than the purple changeling ever wished to have. Cadista soothed her over the Link.

Before Twilight could do so, a moss green queen jumped up from her seat. “What’s this Cadista? A former Equestrian? Is this just one more step towards ponifying your hive?”

Cadista narrowed her eyes. “Yeelindrus. What I do with my hive is none of your concern.” She sat down, with Twilight to her right. “You should spend less time drowning yourself in nectar and more time improving your alchemy.” She glanced at Yeelindrus’ escorts. “Their chitin looks rather fragile.”

A much older queen hovering over the abandoned throne spoke out before Yeelindrus could retort. “Enough, both of you,” she said in a grating voice, eroded by the passage of time. “You can bicker amongst yourselves after the summit.”

Cadista nodded in respect to her elder, while Yeelindrus scoffed. Twilight was enraptured by the exchange. I should get to know who I’ll be dealing with in the future.

Twilight remembered Chrysalis after her memories of the wedding returned in full. She scowled while casting her gaze to the black queen with acid green eyes. Chrysalis was studying Twilight in turn, but held her tongue. While Twilight glared at her, Chrysalis was finding it extremely difficult to hide her shock at the purple mare’s very existence, and her appearance only complicated the effort.

Cadista directed Twilight’s attention towards the elder queen with magenta eyes and a violet mane. she said while glancing at Yeelindrus.

Twilight balked.

Cadista informed Twilight of every queen in attendance, including those that trickled in as the meeting time drew nearer. It took nearly an hour and a half, and by then Twilight was getting rather hungry.

Cadista tried to search her fellow royals for any unusual glances at Twilight.

Silandrus called out as the last of the twenty queens sat down. “The Summit of the Queens is now in session.” She glared at the younger royals until they quieted down. “We are here to discuss a blatant violation of one of our most sacred principles and best defense. Not to mention the invalidation of my hive’s work for the past thousand years, and that of my predecessors since the times before Discord.”

She turned a baleful glare at Chrysalis. “What say you?”

The black queen hovered over the south side of the bowl. “I acted in everyone’s best interest with my assault on Canterlot. My plan was to capture the entirety of the city’s population and prevent any news of the attack from ever leaving the Equestrian capital. After making off with the ponies, I would detonate an anti-magic bomb to level Canterlot. Not a single soul would have caught wind of who caused it, if it wasn’t for a small miscalculation.”

Twilight growled, barely keeping her thoughts on the Link.

Silandrus shared Twilight’s anger, but not for the same reasons. “That doesn’t excuse your actions. The two princesses of Equestria know of us now. We can no longer slink into the shadows and let time wash away their memories. As punishment for this, I am severing the bonds you share with Yeelindrus and Jstrul.”

A collective murmur of alarm and shock resounded through the chamber before Silandrus silenced it with gesture. “Never would I have imagined that one of our own would be so foolish as to execute a large scale invasion on a national capital! Did you even have a contingency plan, or were you so drunk on stolen love that you never considered failure a possibility?”

Chrysalis smiled viciously. “Actually, the plan I just told you was the contingency plan. I wanted to thrust us into the spotlight.”

The surprise from before redoubled at Chrysalis’ conceited smirk. Silandrus’ tone grew caustic. “Explain yourself, before I have you and your hive declared rogue.”

Chrysalis’ smug grin fell at the threat. Twilight turned to Cadista, who was wearing a sly smile.

Chrysalis flew into the air. “How long have we shied away from prying eyes? We feed on the love of others like parasites rather than the predators we should be. Even in the short time I held Canterlot in my grasp I gathered enough love to satiate my hive for five months!”

She cast a scornful glare at her enemies in the room, including a particularly nasty one at Twilight and Cadista. “If the Equestrians have done one thing right, it’s raising livestock for their omnivorous neighbors. Why shouldn’t we do the same?”

Cadista flew into the air to challenge Chrysalis. “You would have us treat sentient life as cattle?”

Chrysalis sneered. “Don’t we already? The only difference is that our food is always let out to pasture, when we could be milking them dry for every scrap of love they’re worth!”

Cadista glared at the other queen, but Kreesus spoke up from the other side of the room. “You would reduce us to the very monsters they believe us to be!”

“Then we have nothing to lose,” Yeelindrus called out from the sidelines. “If we don’t act quickly, the nations of the world will start ousting our collectors, and then where will we be?”

“We do the same as we have always done,” called out another queen. “Fade into the shadows and pretend we never existed. Even the ageless alicorns will forget, now that they’ve submerged themselves in the commoners’ lives.”

It was the safest, most comfortable course of action, and most of the queens voiced their approval. Chrysalis let the others converse for a few minutes before throwing an accusatory hoof at Twilight. “A shame that won’t be possible, not with Celestia’s prized student posing as a princess changeling!”

Twilight was already fuming at Chrysalis after her memories of the wedding had returned. She has some nerve! “I am not posing!” She barked while her wings buzzed just enough to pick her off the ground for a few seconds.

Cadista flew back to land next to Twilight. “She was reborn into my hive as my heir. She is as much of a changeling as any of us.”

Silandrus did not care for Chrysalis’ attempt to divert blame. “Cadista is known as one of the few who employs rebirthing, and the chamber’s demasking aura would have stripped her of any illusion magic. As such, I recognize Twilight Sparkle as Cadista’s legitimate heir.” Her tone soured. “She has demonstrated foresight you sorely lack, Chrysalis. There’s something to be said about Celestia withholding her military.”

Chrysalis scoffed. “Equestrian military; it’s laughable at best. I was about to conquer their capital with half an expeditionary force. We could crush Equestria before their griffin allies could set one claw in the jungle!”

Silandrus, along with most of the older queens, were unmoved as a tan royal shouted from the right of her. “You do realize that the Royal Guard is nothing more than a police force, don’t you? Their military forces have been honing themselves in constant skirmishes against the chaos spawn Discord unleashed upon our world. If your infiltrators had bothered to go a few dozen kilometers north of Manehatten, you’d see where the bulk of the pony forces have been. Equestria is not to be trifled with!”

Chrysalis sneered. “And what makes you think they would pull those forces away from the chaos spawn?”

“Just how far have you fallen,” Cadista glowered, “to think that enslaving the world in those barbaric cocoons of yours is justified?”

“I concur,” a light olive green queen named Thereena replied. “We take what we need from the other species, and leave them be otherwise. It never harms the other races to siphon love, and the longer our relationship with them remains symbiotic, the better for all of us. If you enslaved the entire pony race, there would be no love left to steal! Your cruelty would be your undoing, Chrysalis!”

“I, for one, am sick of being labeled as a parasite when we could be the predators,” one of Chrysalis’ supporters shouted back. “Stop being so sentimental; the ponies alone produce enough love for a hundred hives. With them under the lash, our race wouldn’t need to hide in the shadows.”

After three hours of listening to the queens bicker, Silandrus was too hungry to bear it any longer. She grabbed a large stone gavel in her magic and slammed it twice upon the ebony floor. “I am old and weary of this banter, and I will suffer it no longer. Chrysalis, for the crime of breaking our most ancient and sacred defense, you are to be stripped of half your lands and your hive is to be embargoed for no less than fifty years.” She surveyed the gathered royals. “All those in favor?”

Despite her vocal opponents, only half the queens voted in favor. The scant few princesses and proto-queens had no say in the matter, much to Twilight’s chagrin. Silandrus hid her displeasure behind a neutral mask. Just how far has our kin fallen to harbor such disregard for the lives of other species? “We are at an impasse.”

One of the dissenting queens spoke out. “I believe her methods were out of line, but she brings up critical flaws in our traditional stance towards other nations. A thirty year embargo is more just.”

Silandrus felt that was tantamount to a slap on the wrist, thanks to Chrysalis’ hive being self-sufficient. This was why she wanted to strip Chrysalis of her territory, but there was nothing she could do. “All in favor?”

More than half, Chrysalis included, voted for it. Silandrus barely kept her disgust in check. “Then it is decided.”

“As for our stance towards the other races, we must enact damage control. I will have my drones spread misinformation among the populous, and keep the identity of the real culprits from ever spreading beyond Equestrian borders.” She addressed Cadista next. “You and your heir already have the ear of the Equestrian Princesses. Let them know we police our own, and find some way to have them minimize our involvement with the Canterlot fiasco. I don’t care how, just make it happen.”

Cadista inclined her head. “I have no objections.”

“I do!” Yeelindrus shouted. “She’ll set up a nice treaty with Equestria for more power. She’s already got Celestia wrapped around her hoof after absconding with her former pupil.”

Cadista glowered. “Maybe if you hadn’t been stupid enough to attack her in the first place.”

Yeelindrus returned her hate-filled gaze. “You have no proof of that.”

Twilight noticed Chrysalis’ spiteful glare shift towards her younger sister. Interesting...

“Might I provide a solution?” Kreesus called out before flying into a hover on the south side of the room after Chrysalis returned to her seat. “Cadista’s brood already looks fairly pony-ish. I move that she be our public face to the alicorns. She can claim to be the real changelings, while Chrysalis and her ilk are degenerates that have long abandoned the true way. Then we can pass off any future sightings as part of Chrysalis’ feral brood. Given that she’ll be the only one placating the alicorns, I think it is only proper that she be able to sign whatever treaty is necessary to keep the peace.”

Twilight watched as the queens either silently brooded, or murmured to each other about the idea. Her gut churned as Chrysalis’ scowl slowly turned into a feral sneer. The ebony queen stood up. “I have no objections.”

Silandrus brooded for several seconds. If both of them are agreeing to this, then there’s no need for a vote. “Then it is decided. I call this summit to a close.”

The gathered royals departed quick, if for nothing else than to eat. Kreesus flew over to speak with Cadista. “Darling, it’s been far too long!”

Cadista smiled warmly. “That it has. Why don’t you join me on the Deception for lunch?”

Kreesus snickered. “Not a chance. You provided the last dinner date we had; now it’s my turn. We’ll speak again on Fluffy.” She leaned in and whispered, “I’d rather not catch up on old times with Sticky Spit’s posse still around.”

Cadista nodded in agreement. “We’ll join you now, then. I’ll have my ship brought alongside yours.” She turned to Twilight.

Cadista smiled at Twilight’s eagerness. “Then let’s go.”

Fluffy’s interior was about as strange of an experience as Twilight expected it to be. The floating giant had large gas bladders that were covered in resin to make it easier to walk. Twilight saw no trace of metals, glass, or cloth. In their place was nothing but bone, muscle, and rough scales. Twilight gasped at seeing a large blood vessel the size of her head as she followed the queens to their destination. I get the feeling that Kreesus doesn’t believe in non-organic technology.

The red queen led them into a dining room with chairs made of cartilage, covered in a thick coat of hair, while the table itself was milky white bone. Kreesus sat at the head of the table while her two guests sat across from each other.

“Now, you have to tell me all about yourself Twilight. Ever since I found out about you, I’ve been wondering how you were turned into a royal.”

Twilight paused in the middle of lifting a small bone cup. “Wait, you’re surprised I was turned into a royal, not a changeling?” She looked to Cadista, who shrugged, prompting Kreesus to elaborate.

“Well, it’s not uncommon for some hives to kidnap an affluent member of foreign society for various reasons, some good, some not. But you are the first to have ever been successfully converted into a royal changeling. Not that there have been many attempts, mind you.” She faced Cadista. “It was a complete transformation, right?”

“As far as I can tell, it is. Although, a few pieces of her old self remain: her coat, eyes, most of her hair, and her cutie mark, oddly enough.”

Twilight examined a plate of strange looking food that was placed in front of her. “So… I was supposed to look like you?”

Kreesus and her hive were herbivores, but she kept a small store of meat when she entertained Cadista, who dug into the blue steak with a knife. “Well, to be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure. Every royal appears exactly like their mother upon hatching. They can make changes later in life if they wish. Unlike drones, we can change a lot about our appearance and abilities, but only through alchemy. These changes happen as quickly as you desire, but chitin needs to be shed before a new color can take its place. The few ponies I know of that have been changed into drones became identical to every other drone in the hive, save for above average intelligence.” She cast a snooty glance at Kreesus.

“Pah, one of these days those smart drones will be the death of you. There’s a reason no one else uses highly intelligent drones.”

Cadista snorted playfully before addressing Twilight. “It’s entirely possible that your self-identity was strong enough to prevent all changes, save for the stripe of orange in your hair, and your cutie mark.”

Twilight held her tail in her hooves and levitated a lock of orange hair with her magic. So, the only part of the old me are my memories and my looks? Beneath all that, I’m just as much of a changeling as Cadista is. Is that going to be enough for my old friends and family, or would I have been better off letting my colors go grey and orange?

Cadista could sense Twilight’s dour mood. She needs time to think. She knows to ask if she needs advice.

The two queens gossiped about various politics while Twilight fretted over her trip to Equestria. By the time she finished her blue steak, she had come to a conclusion. Everything I remember of them makes me think they’d accept the new me, but will they be able to look past my changes? Well, there’s no way to find out until I see them.

“Twilight, dear,” Kreesus called out of the blue, causing her to snap to attention. “If you do decide to change your natural appearance, at least try to keep your cutie mark. I think it looks rather becoming on you.”

Twilight looked down at her flank, and a smile crossed her face. “To ponies, their mark represents their talent and self-identity. I think a purple starburst lying on top of orange is rather fitting. I won’t be changing it at all.”

Cadista smiled, while Kreesus scrunched her face in thought. “So, aside from keeping Celestia from warring with us, what do you bring to the table?”

Twilight furrowed her brow as she let go of her tail. “What do you mean?”

Cadista held her peace while Kreesus spoke. “What I mean, darling, is what improvements will you bring to our race? Keeping Celestia from attacking us is all well and good, but you could lounge on your flank all day and do that. What are you going to do to improve your hive?”

Twilight mulled over the question. She brings up a good point. What can I do? A studious look fell upon her face. “Play to my strengths, of course. My hive is already a center of learning and research, and I am no slouch in either respect. Right now, the best thing I can do for the hive is to learn.”

“An interesting answer,” Kreesus admitted, “but how will learning benefit your hive?”

I’m just going to assume she means outside of what’s necessary to perform my duties as queen. “As Cadista once told me, the demeanor of the queen is reflected by the hive, and I think there is no higher calling than the pursuit of knowledge and friendship.”

Kreesus acceded the first goal, but laughed at the second. “Friendship? Hardly a need for that when your drones are united under you anyway.”

“It doesn’t have to be with just drones, why can’t friendship be between queens like you and Cadista? I could even expand that to include Equestria as well.”

Kreesus leaned back in her chair with an amused grin. “My, don’t you have some lofty goals. Well, I would comment on it, but it’s not my place to raise another’s heir. Nevertheless,” she added with playful curiosity. “I will be watching you closely, young one. You ought to prove very interesting, very interesting indeed.”

“Uh, thanks?”

Cadista sought to give her a chance to escape Kreesus’ questions. “Twilight, why don’t you learn how to disguise yourself from one of Kreesus’ drones? It would be good for you to learn how another hive functions.” She turned to Kreesus. “Don’t you agree?”

“How long has she been out of the shell?” Kreesus stared at Cadista with faux indignation. “You’ve let your priorities become garbled, I’m afraid.” She faced Twilight and noticed she was mostly done eating, “Cadista and I have been allies for centuries, it is only fitting that I extend that friendship to you as well. I would be happy to have one of my children instruct you.”

Without a noticeable order, a drone with solid cyan eyes approached Twilight from Kreesus’ direction. Both its appearance and its voice seemed genderless. “This way, your highness.”

Twilight was caught off guard by the lack of self-introduction. “Um… Alright.”

The nameless drone guided Twilight through various corridors while she surveyed the interior of the craft. Everything was organic; the walls, the floor, even the doors were muscles that automatically moved by walking near them. The lighting was from bioluminescent pods casting everything in a bright yellow light. Twilight noticed the drones were quite different as well.

She saw massive chimera sized drones, some half her size, others had specialized appendages or spines grown in various places. The one thing she noticed above all else, was that they had no visible irises beneath the cyan glow of their eyes. It’s even brighter than the ones from my hive. “Why do you guys so vastly differ from each other?”

“We are all bred to specialize in a specific task. Most of the drones you see here live within Fluffy to keep it healthy.”

“I see. Like an immune system, of sorts.” The conversation lapsed into silence for a few minutes. “Do you have a name?”

“I do not,” it replied emotionlessly.

“Why?”

“Names are unnecessary to serve my queen.”

Twilight scowled. “Don’t you want a name?”

This time, the drone looked back at her with puzzled look. “How would having a name better serve my queen? If she has need of me, she knows how to find me.”

“Er— well, serving your queen is all well and good, but what about your personal time?”

The drone’s confusion only mounted. “Personal time?”

“You know, when you’re not working.”

Realization dawned on the drone’s face and it turned back around. “We sleep. Frivolous activity wastes energy.”

“Did Kreesus decree that?”

“She does not have to. We live only to serve the queen. All else is meaningless.”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “Sounds… empty.”

They arrived in a small chamber that had highly reflective resin on the walls and had been smoothened out to be an effective mirror. A single light hung from the ceiling, but the all-encompassing mirror made it more than enough to leave the chamber well lit.

The drone walked to the side before becoming rigid. A moment later, the glow of its eyed faded to reveal reptilian slits and it spoke in Kreesus’ voice. “Ah, my favorite mirror room, always a good place to test new disguises.”

Twilight jumped at hearing the high pitched voice. “Kreesus? But-”

The drone smirked playfully. “The look on your face is priceless, my dear, but you didn’t honestly think I would leave this lesson to a drone, did you?”

“Well, I thought you were busy talking with Cadista.”

The drone puppet smirked. “You are fresh from the shell aren’t you? A queen must know how to be in a thousand places at once, directing the hive as she sees fit.”

Surely she’s exaggerating. “How is it possible to do that?”

The puppet tilted its head in thought. “Well, I have some idea of how your hive mind operates, but with mine, each drone lends their mental facilities to me. With that, I am able to spread my influence across a very large space without being overwhelmed.” The puppet seemed to waver a bit before becoming a carbon copy of Twilight. “I believe we came here for instruction.”

Instead of the shocked look Kreesus was expecting, Twilight shot forward to inspect her doppelganger. “So that’s what I look like to the others.” She moved all around until a look of mock indignation crossed her face. “My flank is not that big!”

The puppet let out uproarious laughter, along with Twilight. “Oh, I haven’t laughed like that in years. I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight was enraptured by the control Kreesus had over the drone. “I didn’t know queens could take over a drone like this. The most I’ve been able to do is direct a group of arguing engineers into fixing the problem with port engine five instead of arguing over whose fault it was.”

Kreesus arched a curious eyebrow. “Well, I never have problems with bickering drones, but occasionally some of the smarter drones out there need some more… direct guidance from their queen. Personally, I prefer using simple minded drones to avoid the problem altogether. Now, back to the task at hoof. Go ahead and ask your Link how to formulate your disguise.”

“Right.” Twilight focused on the hive mind and made her request. The Link eagerly gifted her the information. “Okay, I got it.”

“Good. Now, jumping straight into a full body disguise is not recommended. You have the knowledge, but not the experience. As such, you should start your first disguise piecemeal. Begin with your coat.”

“Alright.” Twilight’s thoughts drifted to Flexi and her purple fur wavered before turning grey.

“Now, wait until you’re comfortable with maintaining each piece of your disguise before moving on to the next.”

Nodding, Twilight changed piece by piece. Her mane turned solid orange; she shrank two inches, and her eyes changed last. She looked at herself in the mirror, twisting and turning to see every facet of her temporary image. “So, this is what I would’ve looked like as a drone.”

“Well done,” the puppet praised, making a close inspection. “Utterly flawless. You truly do learn fast, but then again, wearing a disguise comes naturally to all changelings.” The drone dropped its disguise, prompting Twilight to do the same. “Now that you can craft and maintain it, try to disguise yourself faster this time. You need to be able to raise it in an instant.”

“Okay, here goes.” For the next hour, Twilight dropped and crafted the same disguise over a hundred times before the change was so fast it looked like an orange flame engulfed her from hoof to horn as the disguise took hold.

The puppet gave Twilight one last inspection. “Well done. Now it’s time to branch out. Try to appear as a pony.”

A cloud hung over Twilight. As a pony… Without needing to give it much thought, Twilight turned to the mirror and brought up her disguise. Gone were the holes, wings, and the orange stripe in her hair, while the rounded pupil and familiar spiraled horn returned. Twilight stared into her old pony self.

Pain lanced through her mind as flashes of old memories bubbled to the surface. Standing in front of a mirror while Rarity put the finishing touches on a dress, the simple act of brushing her mane and teeth, standing propped up against the glass of a candy store as a filly, giggling at a reflective golden trophy depicting her as the winner of a magic contest, and many more memories crammed themselves into her mind’s eye.

Twilight sat on her haunches to try and rub the migraine away as her disguise faded. The puppet had never seen such a reaction before. “Are you well?”

“Y-yes, I’m fine.” Twilight replied weakly as her highly organized mind quickly filed each memory away. “Just regaining... some of what I’ve lost.”

Kreesus could tell this was a sensitive subject. “Well, you’ve gotten the basics down, and all you need now is practice. I’ll leave the drone outside for when you wish to leave.”

“Thank you, Kreesus,” she replied flatly.

“Of course,” the drone’s eyes returned to normal and it departed, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts.

She looked up at her true reflection and grimaced. When I go to Equestria, I hope I’ll be able to walk around without wearing a disguise. This is who I am now. All I can do is hope my friends and family will accept me this way.

Author's Note

The best typo ever: "Stripper Gear"

This is the first chapter I had time to properly edit, so if I missed something you can all laugh at me.

-Cloud Hop

Maybe I should rename this editor's notes.

6: It's Complicated

It was a pleasant, if windy, evening on the northern edge of the jungle. The trade convoy from Stripped Gear took six days to reach the farthest outpost under Cadista’s domain, just south of the Macintosh Mountain range. It was a walled train yard and supply depot resting on the edge of a cliff, where a lone bridge spanned the five hundred meter chasm separating Equestria and the changelings' domain.

The rail yard was manned almost entirely by soldiers, as they had to watch out for both opportunistic attacks by other changelings, and various extremely deadly denizens of the jungle.

While the convoy’s goods were being loaded on the train, Twilight was elbow deep in the engine of one of the steam walkers that had broken down. The machinery glowed in an orange light emanating from Twilight’s horn.

Ratchet Altair’s snout was buried in the other end of the engine. “I’m telling you, it’s a faulty piston that let too much steam build up and ruptured the whole assembly.”

“No, no, the piston is only a symptom of the real issue. The pressure build up was caused by too much steam getting through in the first place. The seals can’t handle anything over three hundred PSI. The new boilers were installed without double checking the older construction first.”

Ratchet pulled his head out of the engine to get a look at the broken seals Twilight was inspecting. She pointed them out with a hoof. “See? The metal surrounding the seals flex too much, and I bet under working conditions they’re bulging out, letting too much steam through.”

Ratchet ran the numbers in his head and came to the same conclusion. “Well, I’ll be, good catch, Twilight. A few more days and I bet you’ll know these engines inside and out.”

Twilight blushed, but said nothing. Ratchet marked the faulty seals with bright red tape, while Twilight wrote the problem down on a scroll for the maintenance team to repair later. He sat back, idly pulling off his grease-stained work gloves. “You’ve really got a knack for this stuff, Twi— I mean, Twilight.”

“You can call me Twi’, if you want, it’s what my friends call me.” Twilight hesitated. “… What they used to call me, anyway.” She pulled her work gloves off, then flew over to the steam walker’s cockpit. “Now I’m wondering if I’ll be as close to them as I was before. The hive is like a second family to me… Will I have to choose between two worlds?”

Ratchet frowned while putting his tools away. “I don’t see why you would. What’s wrong with having two families?”

Twilight caught a glimpse of her reflection. To avoid risking a second attack, she was disguised as a normal drone, indistinguishable from her four-thousand siblings. “It’s just, things are so different now. Even with my memories coming back, I feel closer to you than my old friends. What if they don’t like me? What if I ruin everything?”

Ratchet flittered over to Twilight and put a hoof around her. “Don’t worry about it. If Celestia welcomed you back so easily, I’m sure your friends will too.”

“You’re probably right, I shouldn’t fret about this so much.” Twilight sighed, and nuzzled Ratchet. “Thanks for being here, Ratchet.”

For several minutes, the two changelings said nothing, content with each other’s company. Eventually, Twilight’s eyes drifted to two trailers from the caravan being refitted with train wheels. “Hey, Ratchet?”

“Yeah?”

“I thought the caravans only brought one supply car for the love crystals and other provisions. What’s the second car for?” She pointed a hoof towards the car in question.

“Oh, that’s the mobile incubator. Cadista always keeps one on hoof in case she ever needs to make a prolonged absence from the hive.”

Twilight scrunched up her snout. “Mobile incubator? But I don’t lay eggs yet.”

He shrugged. “That’s what was on the manifest. I thought you would have asked earlier if you had any questions.”

Twilight scratched her head, and sent a low priority query to her queen.

Cadista, however, placed high priority on any query from Twilight.

Twilight pressed her hind legs together.

Twilight relaxed.

Cadista’s tone warmed.

Twilight smiled.

Cadista send wordless acknowledgement, prompting Twilight to end the conversation. She did not have long to ponder about the incubation car when a call over the Link echoed in her mind.

Yikes, I’d better go. Twilight raced through the air to find the forward passenger cabins. The hive mind directed her to the third car where her cot was located. She landed on the roof of the car and jumped inside the trapdoor, into a cramped hallway. After finding her room in the center, she jumped inside and flopped on the bed, dropping her disguise. The windows are shuttered, so it should be fine as long as I stay here until we’re in the tunnel.

The train arrived in Ponyville three days later in the wee hours of the morning. It was right before sunrise, but Twilight was wide awake, her face plastered against the glass as the town came into view.

There it is, my old home. Familiar thatched houses and stores appeared before her in the distance while the train diverted towards the trade depot. Most of the town was still asleep, but a few lights peppered the townscape. I have so many friends to visit - who should I see first?

She anxiously wrung her hooves. Should I visit them in alphabetical order? That would mean skipping everypony to get to Applejack on the far end of town. What about the order I first met them when I came to Ponyville? Argh, I don’t remember the order. Maybe whoever’s the closest to the cargo train station? That would be Rarity, then Pinkie Pie, or would that be Rarity, then Rainbow Dash? Gah! I don’t even know where Dash’s house is!

Some of her mane started to jump out of place before an idea came to her. Rarity’s boutique should be the closest, so I’ll ask her where Rainbow Dash’s house is and then I can visit them all in order. She clapped her hooves in delight. “Excellent!”

Twilight heard Ratchet’s voice in the hive mind grow a little louder as he stirred from his sleep. He was having difficulty rousing from a drinking game he played with the other engineers last night. Twilight poured him a cup of water from a pitcher of water she’d laid out last night. “Here, this should help your hangover.”

He blearily took the glass in his hooves and downed all of it before gasping for air. “Thanks for that.”

Remembering all the times Cadista performed it, Twilight tried to spread some of Ratchet’s hangover through the Link, but could only push a little through the changelings nearby. “Happy to help! You may want to, ahh… get cleaned up before we go into town.”

He groaned painfully while trying to sit up. “This is what I get for betting against a sister who makes regular trips outside the hive. She had some seriously hard cider in storage, and a liver to match.”

Twilight refilled his glass and gave it back to him as he managed to sit on the side of the bed. “Ponies get into a lot of drinking games too. I remember Rainbow Dash and Applejack would drink themselves under the table at least once or twice a month.”

He downed half the glass before his bladder demanded attention. “I’ll be back,” he yelped while racing towards the lavatory.

Twilight snickered as she trotted towards the washroom. I should be presentable for my return.

The showers were busy, but Twilight was able to find an empty stall. As she used her telekinesis to scrub away at her back, a troubled thought struck her and she sent off a query to Cadista.

This time, it took a bit for the queen to reply.

Cadista considered the question for a moment.

Cadista hummed.

Twilight quickly finished showering and the rest of her morning hygienics.

A few minutes after making sure her mane was perfect, Twilight went to grab her saddlebags and found a scroll bearing Celestia’s seal lying on top. I’m glad I packed the candle near the top, or it might have appeared inside the bag.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for the hasty penmanship of this letter, but I have been debating with my sister about your visit. While I informed your friends and family about what has happened to you, I unfortunately found it best to keep your fate hidden from the populace. They only know that you were attacked on your way to Cadista’s hive and that you are recovering your health there.

They do not know you are a changeling yet, so I beg of you to not reveal yourself to the public. This situation is not only untenable, but also grievously unfair to you. It is with a heavy heart that I ask you to only reveal yourself to your friends, for now. My sister will arrive tomorrow. At that time, she will make a public statement in Ponyville, along with you and the rest of the Elements to illuminate the current situation to the citizenry.

With the backing of your friends and my sister, I fully believe that the public will accept you and your kin. It is my dearest wish to smoothen public relations between our peoples.

I hope that you will have time after the declaration to repeat it in Canterlot to clear the air, so to speak, and also so you can visit with your family. Shining Armor and Cadance will be arriving there in three days.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S. If the guards try to remove your disguise, show them the royal seal enclosed with this letter. My magical signature will dissuade any guardponies from unmasking you.

Twilight levitated the signet emblem of Celestia’s cutie mark away from the paper. Her old mentor’s magic clung to it and felt like a hot summer’s sun to her magical senses. It was a warm, familiar feeling that eased much of her troubled thoughts about Equestria’s political climate. Looks like I’ll have to wear a disguise after all. She sighed. “I’ve trusted you with my life before, Celestia, I see no reason to stop now.”

She pocketed the seal, and assumed her drone disguise. I’d better cloak the cutie mark on my bags too.

With her appearance taken care of, she departed the train car to find Ratchet waiting for her outside of the train car. “Mother says I’m off duty for the next few days.” He gave her a curious look. “You wouldn’t happen to be responsible for that, would you?

She nervously scuffed the ground. “I wanted someone who could lend support in case things didn’t go well.”

Ratchet’s gaze softened. “I doubt it’ll come to that, but I’ll always be here for you.”

“Thanks, Ratchet.” Before she could take off, a squad of royal guards entered the train yard. Twilight felt a brief warning broadcast spread throughout the local changelings. So, having the guard show up like this is unusual. She opened herself to her gathered kin.

Several changelings watched Twilight and Ratchet march up to the Guard, while most of them went back to work with the local pony yard workers. Twilight wasn’t sure if a smile with fangs would look friendly or not so she opted for a neutral expression and a warm tone. “Good morning, officers, can I help you?”

“We were not expecting a shipment until this afternoon. We need to verify that none of you are from Chrysalis’ swarm.”

Twilight remained cordial. “How do you plan on doing that?”

More guardponies arrived as the sergeant answered. “Standard procedure. All of you line up and submit to an illusion disruptor. If you stay grey, then you are free to enter town, as per the most recent decree by both Princesses.”

Twilight fished out Celestia’s seal. “My kin have no objections to that, but I’m afraid I am on business for the crown. I need to be going.” She levitated Celestia’s seal, and the sergeant’s brow arched. Evidently, it was not common for a changeling to possess one.

The unicorn scrutinized the seal with every method he knew of, and each one came back clean. He didn’t like it, but returned it without question. “Very well. I’ll still expect full cooperation from the rest of you.”

Twilight inclined her head. “Of course, good sir.”

The forty odd changelings responded instantly, and lined up on the west side of the train. By the time the Guards had started their sweep, Twilight was already in the air and headed towards Carousel Boutique.

Ponyville looks so different from the air. Fortunately, Rarity’s business stood out almost as much as Sugar Cube Corner, and Twilight found it easily. Ratchet landed next to her, near the front door. Here goes nothing.

The door chime rang upon Twilight’s entry, prompting a coy accented voice to call out from the back room. “Just a minute.”

Ratchet stayed by Twilight’s side while gazing at the multitude of dresses with an appraising eye. Such fascinating designs. The proprietor must have discovered a good aesthetics formula. He saw a rich blue dress with silky lace on the far end. I wonder how Twilight would look in that.

Twilight checked to see there were no other customers and dropped her disguise to wait out Rarity’s arrival. What do I say to her? Sorry I worried you? No, that’s too—

Her musings were interrupted by Rarity leaving the back room. “So sorry about that, dear, I was—”

Twilight grinned sheepishly while waving at her friend. “Um, hey Rarity… I’m back!”

“Twilight? Is that really you?” Rarity whispered while racing over to see her friend up close. She ignored Ratchet and tried not to flinch at the purple mare’s fangs, slitted eyes, and prominent butterfly-esque blood red wings. “Even with the Princess’s letters, I was beginning to think I’d never see you again.” She used her magic to quickly lock the door and flip the closed sign.

“Yes, Rarity, it’s really me.”

Rarity threw her hooves around Twilight and tried to squeeze the life out of her in a silent hug, as it was the only way for her to maintain her composure. Twilight didn’t need to hear any words, as the love she received from her friend was all that needed to be said. Twilight hugged her back, and both mares stayed that way for an entire minute.

Ratchet was rather interested in the exchange. Strange. Rarity’s mind is completely mute to me, and yet her care for her friend is obvious. No wonder Twilight uses physical displays of affection so much.

Rarity eventually pulled away, much to the love hungry Twilight’s disappointment, to carefully wipe away a few tears. “I’m so happy to see you’re alive and well Twilight, even if it cost you…” She trailed off before her mouth could get her in trouble.

“I’m happy to see you too. How have things been since I left?”

Rarity averted her eyes from Twilight. “Well, the town’s been relatively quiet. Spike took over as town librarian. Applejack has been rather distant lately, throwing herself into her work again.” She perked up and faced her friend. “But Rainbow Dash took it the hardest. Why don’t you visit her while I round up the girls in the library?”

I really wanted to spend some time one on one, but I guess grouping up would be faster. “Okay, Rarity. But you can’t tell anypony else I’m here yet. Luna’s coming over tomorrow to make a public declaration.”

Rarity scoffed and waved her hoof. “Oh, don’t worry darling, my lips are sealed.” She started pushing Twilight out of the door who barely had enough time to don her disguise before being tossed out. “Now, hurry up! You know how Pinkie can be if she’s stuck in one place for too long.”

Ratchet left the building after Rarity followed Twilight outside. “See you soon, dear.”

Ratchet saw Twilight was currently unable to speak and raised a hoof towards Rarity. “Could you point out Rainbow Dash’s home? Just so we know where to look.”

Rarity gave him a slightly chilly look. “It’s the cloud home just south of the park. You can’t miss it.”

His first reaction was to give thanks over the Link, but he quickly remembered she wasn’t part of it. “Thank you, Miss Rarity.”

“Of course,” she replied flatly before cantering off.

Ratchet stepped towards a perplexed Twilight. “I was under the impression she would have wanted to talk more.”

Twilight blinked as she regained her wits. “Y-yeah, I thought so too. Maybe she just doesn’t want to lose her composure.”

“In that case, should I stay outside while you speak with Rainbow Dash?”

One thing stood out about Rainbow Dash in Twilight’s memories, and that was the pegasus’ old friendship with Gilda. “No. I don’t think it’ll come to that.”

He glanced around at the morning crowd of ponies making their way through the streets. Some of them had semi regular contact with Cadista’s hive by virtue of the regular shipments in and out of Ponyville, and were largely unfazed by the two changelings in front of Rarity’s store. Others however, gave the pair a wide berth, but otherwise tried to ignore them. To have so many minds closed to you. It’s a wonder how they get along so well.

Twilight took to the air with Ratchet close behind.

Twilight spotted the cloud home quickly enough.

The pair alighted to the front steps. Never thought I’d be able to walk on clouds without a spell, Twilight mused as she knocked on the door. Several seconds passed with no response before she knocked a second, and then third time.

Twilight scrunched her face.

Twilight grumbled as she took flight and flew around the house until she found Rainbow’s bedroom window. Sure enough, the lamp was on with the cyan pegasus sprawled out on her bed with a book covering her face.

The disguised changeling poked her head through the open window. “Rainbow Dash.” No answer. “Rainbow Dash!” The only response was a loud snore, prompting Twilight to shout even louder. “Rainbow!”

Rainbow Dash jolted up at the noise, and blearily looked up at the changeling hanging in her window. “Uh, hi Rainbow.”

The cyan pony’s brain finally registered that there was a changeling trying to enter her house, and the sleepy fog over her mind was burned away by an adrenaline rush. She leapt up on all fours, flaring her wings menacingly. “Are you a thief, or one of Chrysalis’ assassins!?”

“Actually,” Twilight wiggled inside before dropping her disguise, “I’m here to turn your lamp off, and say hi.”

Rainbow remembered Celestia’s letter informing her of Twilight’s new appearance, and her arrival today. The pegasus’ snarl was replaced by a joyful smile. “Twilight!”

She raced forward and grabbed the changeling into the air and squeezed her even harder than Rarity, and the flowing love felt less forced. Twilight warred with her desire to breath and her hunger for more love. Eventually, Rainbow decided for her and let Twilight catch her breath, but the love kept flowing, although Rainbow’s expression and tone was that of anger. “Why didn’t you let me come with you! I could have protected you from those jerks and this whole thing wouldn’t have happened!”

Twilight didn’t remember the original reason, but she could guess. “Sorry, Rainbow, it was dangerous, as I found out all too well.”

“I know that! But I—” I should have tried harder to convince you to let me go. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. She wrapped Twilight in a softer hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Twilight.” Before Twilight could reciprocate, Rainbow pulled away. “You’re still you, right?”

Twilight averted her gaze while rubbing her foreleg. “Well… I still haven’t recovered most of my memories and… I am a changeling now.”

Rainbow moved her head to look Twilight in the eyes. “I don’t care about the changeling bit, all I care about is it is still you on the inside.” She poked Twilight’s nose for emphasis.

Twilight saw the lamp in the corner of her eye and idly used her magic to shut it off. “I think so.”

Rainbow heard her discarded book being closed, and laid neatly on the nightstand. She grinned and crushed her friend again. “That’s the egghead I know!”

How does my need to clean up have to—oh forget it. I’m just glad she accepts me. Rainbow let go and pulled Twilight to her hooves.

“I have to get a good look at your new duds.”

Twilight watched as the pegasus poked and prodded the changeling’s dark crimson wings, curved horn, fangs, and holes. “You really don’t care that I’m a changeling?”

“I don’t know, “ she said mockingly. “Depends on how well you can fly.”

Twilight giggled. “Well, I’ve barely had my wings for two weeks, so I don’t think I’m ‘on your level’, so to speak.”

Rainbow hovered in the air with a smug grin. “Maybe in a decade or three, but seeing as you're still the same purple egghead I know, I wouldn’t care if you were a hydra. ‘Course, that’d be kind of awesome, too. So, yeah, have you told the rest of the girls?”

“Rarity was the closest to the train yard. She’s rounding up everyone else, and we’re all meeting at the library soon.”

“Cool. Spike’s been running the place since you left. He isn’t half-bad, but he can’t get early copies of Daring Do books like you can, so I had to settle for something else.”

“Really?” Twilight arched an eyebrow and levitated a book lying on Rainbow Dash’s nightstand over to her.

“Hey! That’s private!” Rainbow tried to grab the book as it flew over her head, but it nimbly dodged the pegasus’ flailing hooves.

“Slammed?” Twilight was so confused by the title that Rainbow managed to snatch the book away and hide it under the bed. A brief moment later, Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Waaait a second, that’s a romance novel.” She gave Rainbow Dash a coy grin. “Somepony’s been branching out, I see.”

Rainbow’s cheeks burned bright crimson. “It’s just to tide me over, that’s all. Really!”

asked Ratchet, still hovering by the window.

Twilight balked. “You don’t know what romance is?” She started sending him the basic concepts behind romance via the Link.

Rainbow looked between both changelings. “Wait, where did he come from?”

Twilight waved Ratchet inside. “This is Ratchet. He’s my engineering guru.”

“Egghead. Got it.” Rainbow shook his hoof after he landed in front of her. “Wait, why are you shorter than she is? Actually, why are you taller than me?”

Twilight took stock of her height for the first time, now that Ratchet and Rainbow Dash were standing right next to each other. “I thought that drones were shorter than ponies.”

Rainbow looked at Ratchet who was roughly the same height she was. “No, you’re the tall one here. Almost as tall as Princess Luna.”

Twilight stumbled backwards at the revelation. “I…I never noticed. How did I not notice?”

“Perhaps you’ve been too stressed out about how your friends would react?” Ratchet offered.

“Yeah, that sounds like you, all right. Remember the ‘Want it Need it’ incident?” Rainbow teased.

Twilight groaned. “That’s one memory I could have done without.”

Rainbow Dash snickered. “I hear Big Mac kept Smarty Pants.”

“Oh, was that the name of my old doll?”

The cyan mare tilted her head. “You forget some random stuff, but yeah. Anyway, why don’t we head down to the library, Spike’s been dying to see you ever since we got word of your visit.”

Of them all, Twilight remembered Spike the least. “I’m sure he does,” she replied flatly. “Let’s get going.”

After replacing her disguise, Twilight and Ratchet followed Rainbow Dash to the Golden Oaks Library. As Rainbow lead the way, Twilight glanced around at the various hauntingly familiar sights and sounds of Ponyville.

Twilight hesitated in front of the large tree home. A powerful wave of nostalgia heralded a migraine and she fell back on her haunches. Rainbow and Ratchet quickly came to her side.

Years of memories surrounding this tree were finally recovered. “What’s wrong—” Rainbow remembered just in time not to say her name in public, yet.

“I-I’m fine.” Twilight got back on all fours and shook her head to clear her thoughts. “I always get headaches when memories come back.”

Rainbow’s eyes glinted with predatory delight. “Oh? So did you remember that one night stand with Lucky?”

Twilight wracked her recovered memories. “I-I didn’t do anything like that, did I?!”

She looked to Ratchet, who shrugged, then to Rainbow, who abruptly burst into uproarious laughter and fell on her back. “You should see the look on your face. Priceless!”

“So... I never did any of that?” Twilight asked cautiously.

Rainbow’s laughter died. “Ah, no you didn’t. I was just kidding.”

“So I don’t have to worry about anypony claiming to be my coltfriend?”

“Are you kidding? You were too busy sticking your snout in books to get a coltfriend.”

Rather than feel indignant, Twilight mulled sullenly over her friend’s words. I almost died not knowing what it’s like to fall in love. “I’d rather... avoid doing that again.”

Rainbow Dash watched her friend walk into the library. What does she mean by that?

Twilight entered the library only to be grabbed inside by a pair of pink hooves. “Twilight! You’re here, you’re actually here!” The purple changeling was being shaken so bad she could barely make out the pink blur in front of her. “You’re alive again, so that means you need a party for that, but you’re also a changeling, so I need a party for that too, oh, and you’re tall too!”

Applejack dragged Pinkie away from Twilight. “Simmer down Pinkie. Last I checked, changelings still need air.”

While Ratchet sensed no serious distress from Twilight as she flopped on the floor without a disguise, he felt compelled to at least ask.

Applejack studied Twilight’s appearance while Fluttershy and Pinkie did the same with more enthusiasm. The shy pegasus meekly pulled Twilight to her hooves. “It’s so nice to see you’re okay.”

Applejack frowned at Twilight’s fangs and slightly intimidating crimson gossamer wings, but it was Twilight’s altered cutie mark that turned it into a scowl. “So, Twi, how much of us do you remember?”

The purple changeling was a little put off by Applejack’s curt demeanor. “Well, I don’t know if I remember most or just a little bit of it all but—”

Scampering feet ran in from the basement and Spike plowed his way through the crowding mares to jump at the purple changeling. “Twilight!” He latched onto her and held on for dear life. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

I think I’m going to have some cracked ribs after this. Twilight cringed painfully while hugging him back. “I missed you too Spike.” She knew what to say, but couldn’t attach any real feelings behind it.

Spike looked pleadingly into her eyes. The fangs and reptilian slits meant nothing to a dragon. Hearing his voice and seeing his face almost made her drop Spike as a storm of memories nearly overwhelmed her. Twilight grimaced as she started hissing in pain.

The other mares forgot their misgivings immediately, and Fluttershy voiced a shared question. “What’s wrong? Did we hurt something?”

Ratchet moved in to try and comfort her, but Applejack intercepted him. “Who are you supposed to be? Did you do this to her?”

He tried to keep from matching her hostility. “Twilight has pain whenever she recovers more of her memories; it will fade shortly.”

“That still doesn’t explain who you are. You here to keep her on a leash?”

Rainbow forcibly separated Applejack from Ratchet. “Take it easy, AJ. Ratchet is like, Twi’s bodyguard, or something. He’s cool.”

When Twilight blinked away the spots in her eyes, she saw a fretful baby dragon waiting for her. This time, however, he was met with a sisterly smile. “Spike!” She squashed him in a hug and nuzzled him. “I can’t believe how much I’d forgotten about you.”

Pinkie Pie saw this as a great opportunity and pulled all of the mares into a big group hug. “We are so totally having a ‘Twilight’s back’ party!”

Applejack’s expression softened, and she slowly let herself get pulled into the hug.

Twilight was content to soak up every last drop of freely given love. She felt a few faint cramps in her gut, but ignored them. Pinkie Pie raced to the kitchen and pulled out all kinds of party streamers, a filled punch bowl, and several party games.

“Come on, everypony, we’ve got a reunion to celebrate!”

The hug broke up with everyone except Rarity and Fluttershy trying to pull Twilight towards a game. With Twilight being forcibly preoccupied by everyone, Ratchet stayed out of the way, and gave the six mares (and one dragon) a chance to catch up on lost time. The next two hours gave him a fascinating looking into Equestrians. Now I know where Twi gets that penchant for physical affection. It’s good to see her fears of rejection were unfounded.

However, he noticed that Rarity always kept her distance. Not too surprising, I guess. Mother’s report on Equestrians said they can be slow to adapt to new species.

One thing that took him by surprise was the sheer amount of love being directed at Twilight. There was so much, it was spilling over the Link. Astounding, they are clearly not romantically inclined, and yet their love seems just as potent.

He sent a query to the local love collectors. So, the collectors focus almost exclusively on romantic love. Perhaps we’ve been neglecting an entirely different flavor of love this whole time. I must tell the queen immediately.

While Ratchet shared his findings with Cadista, Twilight was in the middle of a game of truth or dare, and the bottle pointed at her. Applejack grinned. “Okay Twi, truth or dare?”

Twilight was scared by the farmer’s sinister grin, and the bloated feeling she was getting in her abdomen was only making it worse. “Truth.”

“What’s the deal with grey and silent over there?”

Ratchet suddenly found himself at the center of attention. Twilight sent him a good humored laugh over the Link. “He’s Ratchet, didn’t somepony tell you?”

“That’s not what I meant. Is he your bodyguard or just somepony who just likes to study us all night?”

“He’s my engineering instructor, and companion.”

“You do me too much honor, Twilight. I’m just a simple engineer.”

Twilight smirked and sent him all of the rules to the various games Pinkie had planned. “Nonsense, you’re a great instructor.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Pinkie Pie was up in a flash and dragged him into the circle of friends. “If you’re Twilight’s friend, you’re my friend too!”

Rainbow Dash placed the bottle in front of him. “Do changelings know how to play truth or dare?”

He glanced at a grinning Twilight. “I do, actually.”

He spun the bottle with his hoof and it landed on Rarity. “Truth or dare?”

She suppressed a shudder. “Truth, darling.”

“Why do you keep giving Twilight and I strange looks?” he asked evenly.

“I-I beg your pardon? I most certainly do not,” she hastily replied.

Twilight was about to give him a dirty look when Applejack spoke. “That’s the biggest lie I’ve heard all week. Spill it.”

Rarity was doing an admirable job keeping an insulted mask on her face while her friends bore down on her. Suddenly, Twilight felt something large shift in her gut and an urgent need for privacy. “Um, guys, I need to go to the little fillies’ room. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Twilight’s excursion gave Rarity only a brief moment of respite from the intense scrutiny of her friends. “W-well, you see…”

Twilight found the bathroom and locked herself inside. She felt cramps between her legs and started to panic. W-what’s happening to me?!

Something shifted inside a part of her anatomy she didn’t know existed, and she was overcome with the urge to push whatever had lodged itself in her abdomen out.

At that moment, after a short period of undignified grunting and whimpering, the object of her discomfort was expelled onto the washroom throw rug. <Oh Celestia it came out of my vagina WHAT IS GOING ON?!> Twilight’s distress was so extreme, every changeling in town could hear her frantic thoughts. Unfortunately, before she could see precisely what she had ejected from her nether regions, a second object started pushing against her abdomen, and then a third, and a fourth.

“… you have to let me explain. I was simply trying to see what kind of alterations I would need to make to Twilight’s wardrobe, that’s all.”

Rainbow Dash saw disbelief in Applejack’s eyes, and turned back to the fashionista. “It’s called Truth or Dare, Rarity, fess up!”

Ratchet’s concentration was broken as he sensed a sharp spike of distress emanating from Twilight. Trying to stay calm, he excused himself from the group and flew towards the bathroom.

Naturally, the moment Ratchet left the room, all it took was a silent nod from Rainbow Dash for the rest of her friends to follow suit.

Ratchet followed Twilight’s presence in the Link, and was about to knock and ask if she was all right, when he heard her screaming over the Link: <... it came out of my vagina WHAT IS GOING ON?!>

The implications of that phrase hit Ratchet like a lightning bolt. Twilight’s going through her first laying! Not knowing what to do, he decided it would best for everyone to leave her alone until she finished. Bolting back to the stairs, he nearly collided with Rainbow Dash. “Where are you going in such a hurry, huh?”

He was a second too slow in responding. “I-I just thought that Twilight was distressed about something, but she assured me it was nothing serious.”

“Is that right? Then why don’t we go check on her, huh?”

Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash back to the ground. “Dash, do you really want to walk in on her while she’s taking care of business?”

Rarity stepped up before the pegasus could respond. “Honestly darling, let the poor girl have some privacy.”

“Okay, okay, gosh! I just wanted to make sure she was all right.”

Fluttershy came forward and started leading Rainbow Dash back down stairs. “Don’t be upset, Rainbow, we’re all still getting used to Twilight being back.”

Twilight bent forward to catch her breath, having finally rid herself of the four objects that had caused her so much distress. Please no, please please please don’t be what I think this is. She slowly turned around to find four grapefruit-sized semi-transparent purple eggs resting on the formally off-white rug. A primal fear coursed through her veins as she finally realized what she was looking at.

The drone fell over, the intensity of the summons catching him off guard. The group had trotted back into the living room, and had nearly sat down when Ratchet abruptly reversed course. He sped back towards the bathroom and collided with Pinkie Pie at the foot of the stairs. Scrambling to his hooves, he raced back upstairs.

Pinkie rubbed her sore flank while yelling at him. “Hey! What was that for?”

Applejack scowled. “Okay, something weird’s going on. Come on y'all, we’re gettin’ some answers.”

He burst into the bathroom to find Twilight frozen, staring at four purple eggs resting next to her hooves. Her mouth hung slightly agape, as though she was having trouble processing what had just happened.

Bloody Tartarus, how do I speak to her after she just transitioned into a proto-queen? “Twilight? Are you okay?”

She slowly looked up at him with bewildered eyes. “I… I laid eggs, Ratchet. Wh—what do I do?”

Before he could reply, a chorus of voices called out behind him. “She did what?!”

Pinkie arrived last, but couldn’t see anything from behind the wall of bodies. "Why do I get the feeling Twilight needs a second party?"

Author's Note

"50 shades of hay'. GOODNIGHT EVERYONE!"

-Cloud Hop

-Final version from Tulip It should be noted that the artwork should be taken with symbolism in mind, rather than a literal interpretation.

7: Friendship

Twilight’s mind was frozen from sensory overload. Between the shock of laying four eggs, her friends clamoring to see what had happened, and every last local drone sending her queries to see if she was alright made it impossible for her to think. Wild hairs were popping out of her mane and tail so quickly she looked like an electrocution victim as her panic spun out of control.

I can’t—I can’t do this… no no no no!

Twilight’s downward spiral continued until Cadista’s powerful voice silenced the alarm across the hive mind, and jolted Twilight back to her senses.

At the same time, Rainbow Dash pushed her way past Ratchet and stopped dead at the four purple eggs. “Twilight, what the hay are those!?”

Twilight’s burgeoning ability to hold two conversations at once kicked in. “M-my eggs.”

Rainbow Dash was bowled over by Fluttershy as she rushed in to inspect the eggs. “Oh my, so I wasn’t imagining things. You really were about to lay eggs. Isn’t nature just marvelous?”

Twilight went slack jawed. “Wait, you knew I was going to lay eggs?!”

The same question was mirrored by the others outside of the bathroom, making Fluttershy cower under the scrutiny. “W-well, I take care of a lot of oviparous animals. I’m just not used to seeing the signs in a pony.”

Cadista soothed Twilight as much as possible through the Link.

Twilight’s thoughts slowed down, and her hyperventilation returned to normal. This is big, really big, I have to get the girls to not freak out about this. She raised her voice a little to stop all of her friends’ frenzied chatter. “Girls! Please. I just laid four eggs, I’m sticky, I don’t know what to do, please just give me some time to think.”

Fluttershy squeaked, and started pushing Rainbow Dash out of the cramped bathroom. “Come on, Rainbow, you wouldn’t want a bunch of gawkers staring at you if you laid eggs, would you?”

Rainbow blushed. “Well… no. Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

Twilight sighed in relief as Ratchet closed the door.

he replied.

With her privacy finally obtained, Twilight promptly fell onto her haunches, erected a sonic barrier around her head, and screamed for a whole minute. Believing that wasn’t enough, she screamed for another two minutes before she expelled enough emotional chaos to think clearly again. Okay, Twilight Sparkle. Keep it together. Keep. It. Together! Marshaling up her courage, she faced the eggs.

Cadista was glad to hear Twilight was much more collected.

Now Twilight was even more confused.

Twilight grabbed a towel and cleaned her eggs with warm water, then dried them off and wrapped them in another towel, before tending to her own needs.

During her shower, Cadista continued.

Cadista paused,

Twilight ended her shower and unwrapped the towel around her eggs, looking at them with trepidation. This is really it. My first clutch of eggs.

The implications hit Twilight like a truck as she laid down to get a closer look at her eggs. The future changelings within were barely a lump of cells, but to Twilight, they represented a point of no return.

Twilight tried to lick her lips, but her tongue was just as dry. I… I… She swallowed the lump in her throat. I’m not going to let them starve just because I’m scared.

Steeling her nerves, she bent her head down to point her horn at the eggs, dipped into her exorbitant reserves of love, and poured a large amount into each one. As the transfer progressed, the eggs started glowing with a pale lavender light. The orange-colored magical bridge between her horn and the eggs developed faint flickers of purple, but it went unnoticed to Twilight.

Slowly, the glow intensified, and Twilight stopped after she felt the love was no longer being absorbed. Each egg radiated a gentle purple light.

Twilight didn’t understand.

Twilight had barely finished asking the question when Cadista gave her the answer over the Link. Armed with this new knowledge, Twilight quickly found four empty holes within the hive mind.

Cadista was pleased with Twilight’s rapid comprehension of new information.

Twilight had calmed down considerably, and her maternal instincts began to take hold. She smiled weakly at her eggs, and carefully rubbed one with a fetlock.

Twilight stood up and wrapped the eggs back in the towel, and levitated them between her wings as she left the bathroom.

Twilight felt a much more familiar grumble in her gut. She cantered towards the stairs with a little spring in her step.

Twilight’s canter slowed into a walk.

Cadista was hesitant to answer.

Twilight froze halfway down the stairs.

Twilight groaned. Ok, whatever, that’ll be future Twilight’s problem. Right now I have to make sure my friends stay my friends.

Twilight took four slow, deep breaths after Cadista severed communications. I have tons of questions, but I can’t make my friends wait anymore. After making sure her eggs were secure on her withers, she ventured downstairs.

Twilight heard Ratchet speaking as she made her way to the ground floor. “…And that’s why Twilight is a proto-queen.”

Rainbow Dash spotted Twilight first, and flew over. “So it’s true? You’re like a bug queen?”

Bug queen? Twilight frowned. “I am a changeling proto-queen, yes. I was hoping we could just drop this whole egg thing. I haven’t seen you guys in months, and I just want us to be normal friends again.”

Rarity tittered at the thought. “Darling, we’ve been anything but normal since we became the Elements of Harmony, but I’m willing to ignore this… unpleasantness, for your sake.”

Twilight wasn’t sure of Rarity’s wording. I’ll take what I can get, and build from there.

Applejack gave Rarity a critical eye before turning back to her friend. “Well shoot, Twi, this is all a bit over my head, but I can appreciate you and Ratchet being honest rather than trying t’ hide everything from us. I don’t see any reason we can’t still be friends.”

Pinkie barely managed to let her friends speak their minds before exploding from her seat to try and peek at the eggs as Twilight made it to the ground floor. “Ohh ohh ooohhhhh! If you need a foalsitter I can totally do that!” Pinkie frowned, and then sat on her haunches. “Wait, they’re eggs, not foals. Would that make me an eggsitter? Do I have to sit on the eggs to keep them warm? Is that the only way to be an eggsitter?”

Twilight took a step back from Pinkie while flaring her wings. “We don’t sit on our eggs, but thanks for the thought, Pinkie.”

Twilight spied Fluttershy whispering with Ratchet before she ran out of the library. The purple changeling wanted to ask Ratchet what was going on, but Rainbow Dash got in her face again. “How can you be so okay with laying eggs?”

Twilight frowned again. “I’m trying to be okay with it, and you aren’t helping.”

“Yeah. Well, you seem awfully protective of a bunch of eggs you never knew were coming. How do we know you’re not being brainwashed into some super bug mom or… something?!”

“I am not being brainwashed, Rainbow Dash!” protested Twilight, “how would you feel if you had a foal, huh? Would you just leave her on the side of the street?!”

“That’s different! At least I’d know if I had a foal coming. You were waaaay too shocked to have known you were gonna lay eggs.”

Twilight was almost against the wall. “I was told, Rainbow, repeatedly. Practically every day since I hatched; I just didn’t want to think about it! I thought it might be years, or at least a few months, but no, it happened today, okay?!” Twilight’s eyes watered as her voice cracked. “So now I have to deal with it, because that’s what I am. I’m a changeling queen! I lay eggs! If that’s such a problem for you, Rainbow Dash, then I’ll just leave you alone!”

She pushed past the mortified pegasus, and was briefly surrounded by orange flames as she donned her drone disguise before turning back to the group. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the train yard.” Twilight sent a command to the nearby caretakers to return to the mobile incubator as she left her friends behind.

Applejack glowered at the sullen pegasus. “Expected or not, Rainbow Dash, those eggs are her family. I would have thought you’d know better than to attack somepony’s family like that.” Rainbow Dash stood there, silently, and AJ turned to the others. “Come on, y'all, we need to show Twilight that most of us are more understanding.”

Rarity lingered long enough to speak to Rainbow where the others couldn’t hear. “You bring up a good point, Dash, but you need to learn some tact.”

She angrily kicked at the ground. “Yeah, I’ll work on that, right after I learn how to keep my hoof out of my mouth.”

Rarity opened her mouth, but thought better of it, and chased after Applejack.

Spike rode on Applejack’s back as they chased after Twilight. Even with her drone disguise, she was easy to spot with the towel on her back. Before long, spike spotted the purple changeling. “She’s over there, AJ.”

Applejack bolted towards Twilight, who was trotting along on the ground at a slow pace. Her wings were flared to keep her eggs from falling. “Hey, sugar cube, wait up a sec’.”

Applejack had half expected Twilight to lash out, but all she got was a depressed look. “Hey, AJ.”

“Listen, you know how Dash can get, she’s just looking out for you.”

“Yeah,” Spike chimed in, “Dash is too dense for her own good, sometimes.” Applejack shot him a sour glance.

“Thanks guys. I was really hoping to spend some time with you, but then this happened, and now you guys think I’m weird.”

Rarity moved to Twilight’s other side. “I’ll admit I was… put off by the whole thing, and for that I must apologize. I told myself after that catastrophe with Zecora that I wouldn’t let such preconceptions color my actions, but there I was, doing precisely that. Can you ever forgive me?”

Twilight gave a weak smile, and nuzzled her alabaster friend. “Of course, Rarity. I’m just glad to have my friends back.”

Pinkie leapt forward to start bouncing backwards in front of Twilight. “And we really need to throw you a ‘New Mommy’ party. It’ll be even better than the one I threw for Mister and Missus Cake because you have four instead of two!”

Twilight inwardly cringed. Yeah… four, for now. No, think about it later. Right now I need to spend time with my friends, I don’t know when I’ll get another chance to come back to Ponyville.

interjected Ratchet.

Twilight spent the long walk to the train yard catching up with her friends. Most of the townsfolk cast the mixed group a curious eye, but largely left them alone. The six mares were known to have unusual acquaintances. The scant few changelings kept a respectful distance as well.

Fluttershy returned around the same time the group arrived at the first set of tracks. “So sorry about that, but I needed to do a bit of grocery shopping.”

Spike voiced the shared question. “Kind of an odd time, don’t you think?”

“Well, it’s just that, I thought it would be difficult to-”

Pinkie interrupted by pointing at the train car they were closing in on. “Oh, oh! Is that it?”

Two female caretakers approached the group. The one on the left felt it would be rude to speak via the Link with so many non-changelings around. “I can take your eggs off your hooves for you, Twilight.”

She waved her off. “I’d rather do it myself, for the first clutch, at least.”

Her friends, save Ratchet and Fluttershy, raised an eyebrow at the word ‘first’. The lead caretaker nodded her compliance, and gestured towards the incubator. “I must ask that everypony else remain outside.”

Twilight’s friends looked miffed as Fluttershy cautiously walked up to Twilight’s side. “Um, I can be really gentle and out of the way. Could I please see? B-but if you don’t want to, that’s okay…”

Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her canary yellow friend. “Fluttershy is one of the best caretakers I know. I think it would be a great idea if she could tag along.”

The female drones were wary. “Twilight, an incubator is sensitive technology. Only caretakers and royals are ever allowed in.”

Fluttershy squirmed under the pressure. “Oh, okay then.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I trust Fluttershy with my life, and the life of my children. Is that not enough?”

The second caretaker sent her companion a request to be silent as she took over. “Of course, Twilight. We’re just not used to letting anypony see an incubator from the inside.”

Twilight followed after the second caretaker. “I understand, but we are trying to become stronger allies with Equestria, are we not?”

“Absolutely,” the second caretaker agreed.

The interior of the mobile incubator was clean and well lit. The entire front third of the compartment was composed of machinery while the rest of the car was filled with empty glass tubes that had more than enough room for an egg. The first four tubes were being filled with an orange liquid solution. Fluttershy was surprised by the complexity of it all.

The first caretaker pointed towards the machinery. “This is the primary environmental control suite that takes care of temperature and supplies nutrients via pipes along the floor and ceiling. This model even allows mass love feeding by either crystal, or through your horn, if you wish.” The second caretaker manipulated several levers and dials to make the machine stop filling the four tubes.

“Each egg will remain here until it is ready to hatch, or can be moved to the hatchery in Stripped Gear. During which time you can employ alchemy to change the drone to your liking.”

Fluttershy gave a quizzical hum while Twilight spoke. “Is that necessary for every egg?”

“I don’t believe so, but it is not my place to say. Regardless, your first clutch will be very capable as they are,” the second caretaker explained while she removed the lid on the filled incubator tubes. “Everything looks to be in order. All that’s left now is to place each egg in a tube.”

Twilight craned her head around, cradled her four eggs in her magic, and gave one to each mare present while keeping one for herself. “Fluttershy, would you like to place one?”

Fluttershy gently grasped the small purple egg. “I’d love to, Twilight, but I think you should be the first to place an egg.”

Nodding, Twilight carefully levitated her egg and placed it inside the incubator. The painstakingly tailored solution suspended the egg right in the center of the liquid. Twilight was barely aware of the others doing the same as she glanced around the rest of the room. There are over two hundred incubators in here. I can’t believe Cadista thinks I’m going to lay every day. She gazed back over all of the glass incubators with renewed panic. Then again, there wouldn’t be so many incubators if it wasn’t true.

It was in that moment, when the ramifications of there being four thousand drones within the hive struck her. By Celestia, Cadista laid that many, plus no telling how many more since her first time. I-I’m going to be like her one day… A mother to thousands, tens of thousands.

The caretakers could feel Twilight’s distress, and Fluttershy noticed it too. She rested a comforting hoof on Twilight’s withers. “I have a feeling you’re going to make a great queen, Twilight.”

“You… really don’t mind? Even if I’m so… alien, now?”

The caretakers backed away to let them have some space while Fluttershy wrapped her friend in a hug. “Oh, Twilight, your body may be different, but you’re still you where it counts. You’re still a good pony. It doesn’t matter if you’re a changeling, or a parasprite, or a mule. I’ll always be your friend.”

Twilight’s eyes misted over and she returned the hug. “Thank you, Fluttershy, I… I needed that.”

Fluttershy let Twilight cry away the stress and anxiety while gently patting her purple friend on the back. While silent, the two caretakers watched on with bemusement.

As the younger caretaker began to work, she kept stealing glances at the two friends embracing each other. These Equestrians have such a strange power, and they don’t even seem to realize it.

Twilight sobbed into Fluttershy’s fur for five minutes before her stomach growled loudly enough to startle the pegasus. Twilight’s cheeks flushed and she rubbed the back of her neck while glancing at her eggs. “Sorry, I guess I worked up an appetite.”

“Oh, I understand. In fact,” She started rooting around in her saddlebags and withdrew a lumpy mound wrapped in brown wax paper. “Ratchet told me your hive are omnivores, so I went down to the local griffin merchant, and bought some choice cuts for you and Ratchet. I was going to cook my mother’s famous De’ Magnavious recipe, to celebrate.”

“I didn’t know you knew how to cook griffin dishes.”

Fluttershy put the meat back in her bags. “Well, Rainbow Dash’s mom and my mother always got along with the griffins who came to visit Cloudsdale, and… they’re carnivores, so she learned how to cook for them. She taught me some basic recipes.”

Twilight smiled. “I’m sure it’ll taste wonderful.”

They hugged one last time before departing, and found Rainbow Dash standing outside, alone. Were it not for the apologetic look on the pegasus’ face, Twilight would have brushed past her.

“I’m sorry for jumping on you Twilight,” blurted out Rainbow Dash before Twilight could speak, “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”

Twilight pointed towards a nearby passenger car. “Why don’t we talk in there so I don’t need my disguise.” Rainbow nodded slowly, and flew over while Twilight told the nearby drones to give them some space. “Fluttershy, I’ll see you at the library later okay?”

“Okay, I need to get some spices from home, anyway. See you later, Twilight.”

Twilight followed Rainbow Dash inside before dropping her disguise. “Look Twilight, I’m sorry I called you a bug, and razzed on you for the whole egg thing. It just weirds me out to see you laying eggs and all, you know?”

Twilight’s face fell, and she pawed at the floor. “It’s alright, Dash. It’s not easy for me to accept, either. But, brainwashed or not… those eggs came from me, and I’m responsible for them.”

Get to the point Rainbow! she growled at herself. “No, it’s not alright! I’m better than this! I was friends with all kinds of non-ponies before moving to Ponyville, this shouldn’t work me up so much.”

“Rainbow,” Twilight said cautiously, but the pegasus was beginning to rant.

“All that should matter is that you’re still you, but…” She hung her head in defeat. “It isn’t. I can’t just look past it.” Twilight bit her lip as tears started falling from Rainbow, as she looked at her with steel in her eyes. “That’s why I’m going with you.”

Twilight’s plummeting mood halted in an instant. “W-what do you mean, going with me?”

“You’re my friend Twilight, and I can’t stand having… prejudice towards you just because you’re a changeling.”

“Rainbow, you can’t help that—”

She ignored Twilight’s justifications. “No, you’re wrong. Just because you’re different on the outside, and what Chrysalis did doesn’t excuse it. Not to me. That’s why I’m going with you, when you return to the hive.”

“Y-you would really come back with me?”

Rainbow puffed her chest out at seeing Twilight’s hopeful expression. “Of course I would. I’m the Element of Loyalty, remember?”

“What about everypony else in town?”

Rainbow’s ego flattened a little. “Twi, when I heard about what happened to you, and how the only way to save your life was to turn you into a changeling, it made me realize something. My dream to become a Wonderbolt would take me on tours all over Equestria. I might not see you guys for weeks or months. Rarity always wanted to open a shop in Canterlot one day, and she’ll be gone for most of the time when that happens. Even if you were still a unicorn, there’s no telling where your studies with Celestia would have taken you.”

“What are trying to say Rainbow?”

“I don’t know!” Dash replied, frustrated. “All I know is, at some point, you’re going back to with the rest of the changelings, aren’t you?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I’m a proto-queen now, and I won’t be able to stop laying eggs until I’ve fully matured, and I can’t care for hatchlings in Equestria.”

“Then that’s just another reason for me to go. I need to get over my prejudice, and you need somepony around to let you know you always have a home back in Equestria. It’s win-win!”

“You would really do that for me?” With a huge smile and tears of joy, Twilight wrapped her friend in a tight hug. “Thank you, Rainbow, thank you.”

Rainbow felt this was a time she could indulge in a sentimental moment, and hugged her friend in return. For a little bit, anyway. “Yeah, yeah, enough of the sappiness already. I need to tell the weather team I’ll be leaving for a while and all that. I’ll see you at dinner, right?”

Twilight wiped a stubborn tear away. “Yeah, Fluttershy’s going to be cooking dinner tonight at the library.”

“Awesome! I’ll help her out if she’s dishing up something good. See you then.”

Twilight sat on her haunches as Rainbow left. “They’re…” She let out a shuddering deep sigh. “They’re still my friends. Thank Celestia.”

Twilight gave herself some time to calm down while a drone brought her lunch. She returned the love crystals, having fed far more than she needed.

I still have a few hours before dinner gets started, so I might as well visit one of the love collectors. She sent out a general query.

Over twenty replies answered her, but one stood out above the rest.

The hive mind gave Twilight the identity of the speaker.

The drone gave a weak laugh.

Twilight scowled as she conjured up a green furred pegasus disguise. That shouldn’t be necessary, but I won’t put one of my sisters in the spotlight.

Twilight found Rose’s home easily enough. Rose ushered her inside as if she were an old friend. The house was much like any other in Ponyville. Now I know why she used mirrored windows.

Rose dropped her disguise. “Would you like some tea, or a snack?”

Twilight was transfixed by Rose’s appearance. “You look just like your pony self, only with-”

The pseudo earth mare possessed the multitude of changeling attributes: holes, wings, horn, and the eyes. What gave Twilight pause was that her mane, coat, and cutie mark remained. “Oh, did mother not tell you?”

Twilight followed Rose into the kitchen. “Tell me what?”

“The collectors of our hive live most of our lives as a pony of our creation. As a result, our disguise ends up permanently marking our fur and hair. This has been my normal appearance for years, now.”

“Have you tried different disguises to keep that from happening?”

Rose started boiling some water. “That becomes impossible for us collectors. During our training, we condition ourselves to be able to maintain our disguise around the clock for potentially years at a time. It reaches a point where my pony guise feels as natural to me as my true form. A side effect of that conditioning is that it is impossible for me to assume any other disguise, which makes escape quite difficult if I’m discovered.”

Twilight mulled over the information when a stallion’s voice called out from the lounge. “Honey? I didn’t know you were bringing guests.”

Twilight frantically gestured for Rose to put her disguise back on, but Lucky trotted inside too quickly. Twilight was stunned to see he was completely unfazed by Rose’s appearance. The drone smiled, and pecked him on the lips. “Well it was sort of a last minute thing. Twilight wanted to see how I did my second job.”

Lucky turned to the disguised proto-queen. “Twilight? You don’t mean the Twilight Sparkle, do you?”

Trusting her sister, Twilight flared orange, and revealed herself. Lucky whistled in surprise. “Well, I’ll be a hydra’s uncle. Who would’a thought the Princess’s star pupil had been a queen all along.”

Twilight nervously tapped her hooves together and sunk in her seat. “Actually, I’ve only been a changeling for two weeks.”

His face fell. “Oh… Oh. Well… huh. So wait, that’s what the Princesses meant by you convalescing at the hive?” Twilight nodded weakly, making him glance between both mares. “This isn’t the culmination of a ten year plot to have a three way with me, is it?”

Everyone burst out laughing, and it took several minutes for Rose to catch her breath. “You scoundrel!” she protested.

“Come on, you can’t tell me she’s really Twilight Sparkle,” he mocked playfully before looking back at Twilight. “You must be one of the other changelings in town.”

She averted her gaze with a frown. “Afraid not.”

His playful grin quickly fell into a frown. “I…see. Do the Princesses know?”

“They do,” Twilight replied reassuringly, “Luna’s going to reveal what happened to me tomorrow morning.”

Lucky’s tension eased up. “Well if the Princesses are okay with it, I see no reason not to be.”

The three of them settled down as Rose brought the teapot over. She was about to grab the cups when the front door slammed shut. “Mom, I’m home!”

Rose gave Twilight a reassuring look before yelling out. “We’re in the kitchen, Scootaloo!”

Twilight watched the familiar orange filly race over, and happily tackle Rose. “You gotta hear what-” She stopped talking as she noticed Twilight in the room and stared at her for several seconds as her brain froze.

Twilight waved a hole riddled hoof at the filly. “Hello Scootaloo.”

The filly’s face scrunched. “Wait a second, you’ve been a changeling all this time!?” She turned to Rose. “I thought you already told me about all of the local changelings from your hive.”

“I did, Gumdrop,” Rose said while tousling the filly’s mane. “Twilight became a changeling two weeks ago.”

Scootaloo studied Twilight. “The Princesses couldn’t have been very happy about that.”

Twilight was too distracted by the filly still cuddling with her undisguised mother. “They weren’t, but we’ll get over it. I didn’t know non-royals could have foals.”

Rose lovingly squeezed Scootaloo. “We can’t. Lucky and I adopted my little gumdrop here last year.”

Scootaloo nuzzled her adopted mother. “I’ve got the coolest mom ever! ‘Course, I’m just glad to have parents.”

Twilight felt a surge of hope as Lucky held his wife’s hoof in his own with a caring smile on his lips. So it really is possible. My hive and Equestria might be able to be not just allies, but close friends. If a filly and stallion can love a changeling, anypony can. “Thank you for having me over for tea, Rose. This has been most enlightening, but I must say I’m surprised. Scootaloo, isn’t it hard to not tell anypony you have a changeling mother?”

The orange filly’s ears flattened. “Sometimes. I find it easier if I just don’t bring her up, but I’m glad she trusted me with her secret. And I’ll keep it forever.”

Rose stroked her adopted daughter’s mane. “You’re a wonderful little filly, Scoot. Why don’t you go ahead and grab your spare crusader cape,” she said with a knowing grin, “I know that’s why you came home so early.”

Scootaloo’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t go through that many.”

Rose raised an amused eyebrow. “Sure you don’t. I left your cape on the bed, try not to get so much tree sap on it this time.”

“No promises,” the filly replied teasingly as she nuzzled her mother, before bolting for her room.

Lucky chuckled, and checked the clock. “I better get down to the shop. The guys will give me grief if I make them wait any longer.” He kissed her before leaving.

Rose was practically glowing from his affection, a fact Twilight noticed quickly, but she didn’t speak of it until Lucky left. “You’re really lucky to have such a great family.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I’m so glad mother allowed me to be a collector. Stripped Gear will always be in my heart, along with my brothers and sisters; but my home is here with my second family. I risked a lot with Scootaloo,” she shed a few tears of joy, “and she’s proven herself to be a wonderfully loving and understanding child. I can’t express how guilty I felt about hiding my true self from her, but she hasn’t told a soul.”

Twilight sipped from her tea. “Kids aren’t known for their discretion. That’s why so many don’t adopt, right?”

Rose nodded while staring at her reflection in the still liquid. “Yes. Adoption is the only way we drones can have children, and not every collector has been as lucky as I have. I can’t tell you how much I worry that it might slip one day. I am ashamed to admit that the first few months after I revealed my true self to her, I was terrified that she might use it as blackmail if I didn’t let her have her way. Over half of our collectors are too scared to reveal themselves to their partner, let alone a child.”

Twilight reached over to hold her sister’s hoof. “Scootaloo seems to be happy just having a mother at all. I don’t think she’d ever do that.”

Rose jittered with her teacup. “I know. She’s such a great little filly. Gets into trouble, and comes home with bruises and sores from crusading all day, but I wouldn’t change a thing about her. Even with her dedication to keeping my secret, that fear is always in the back of my mind. We’ve hidden in the shadows for so long; it’s difficult to be so open with non-changelings.”

Twilight got up and gave Rose a sisterly hug. “I want you to know I’m going to fix that. I don’t want us to have to hide what we are from Equestrians anymore.”

“If anypony can do that, it’ll be you, sis.” Rose felt Twilight’s sincerity over the Link, and returned the hug. “I’m so glad you’re one of us now, Twilight.”

“Yeah, me too.”

It was dark out by the time Twilight headed back to the library. The moment she opened the door, the drone of conversation filled the air, along with the tantalizing scent of Fluttershy’s cooking.

Rarity was trying to get Ratchet to open up more about Stripped Gear while the rest of her friends, minus the two pegasi, swapped banter. Pinkie saw Twilight close the door, and drop her drone disguise. “Heya Twilight, you’re just in time for the party!”

“Party for wh-” was all she could say before a party cannon blasted her with confetti and pastries. She was barely visible under all of the brightly colored paper falling all around her when she noticed the banner on the far wall.

Happy New Momma Twilight Party!

Were it not for the cake plastering her face, Twilight might have chuckled at it. “Pinkie…! Why do I even bother?”

The party pony ignored Twilight glowering at her as she pulled her over to the dinner table where cakes and a punch bowl were located. Yet it was the dark sapphire blue alicorn standing on the other side of the table that caught her attention. Twilight jumped out of Pinkie’s grasp. “P-princess Luna!”

The alicorn gave Twilight an appraising glance. “Twilight Sparkle. It seems you have need of a bib.”

Twilight hastily bowed before her princess. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

Ratchet watched the exchange with interest as Luna weaved a spell to cleanse Twilight of frosting. “Rise, Twilight Sparkle. I would not have you, of all ponies, bow to me, when I owe you so much.” Twilight climbed back to her hooves to find a humored expression on Luna. “Especially when you technically outrank my title, proto-queen.”

“Ugh,” Twilight groaned while rubbing her head. “Don’t remind me. I may be one in body, but I hardly feel that way in spirit.”

Luna guided Twilight towards the stairs with a wing so they could have some privacy. “Give it time, Twilight. I too was ill prepared for my role in things when Tia and I assumed the throne.”

Twilight stepped fully into the study with Luna right behind her. “You’re taking my new look better than I imagined.”

Luna gave the younger mare a haunted weak smile. “It may surprise you, Twilight, but I was friends with a few queens before my… episode with the Nightmare.”

“Really!? What were we like back then?”

Luna picked up on Twilight’s acceptance of no longer being an Equestrian. “They certainly did not look as pony-like as you, or Ratchet, and I find that rather peculiar. They were more akin to Chrysalis’ brood, but not in their actions. At the time, my night guard were extremely adept at sniffing out their infiltrators. After three months of inadvertently starving the hives, their queens came forth and offered a deal after explaining the purpose of their infiltrators, which is when I found out they were love collectors.

“I struck a deal, without Tia’s knowledge, that allowed them to harvest the love they needed in complete secret, provided no harm came to our subjects, and they would guard Equestria's borders from the great many external threats we had at the time. Most notably the chaos spawn, which still exist today, much to my dismay. Unfortunately, that all fell apart after I was consumed by the Nightmare. All of my old contacts either no longer answer, or are long dead.”

Twilight scuffed the ground. “Oh, sorry to hear that.”

Luna was able to keep a weak smile on her lips. “It was my mistake, not yours. In any event, I am glad that you are well. I feared the worst when I heard of the attack upon you, but in the end, your transformation will provide a great boon to both of our peoples, don’t you think?”

Twilight perked up in an instant. “You really think so?”

“I do. I was greatly troubled by Chrysalis’ actions during the wedding. I feared my lost allies had fallen in the same manner I had all those years ago, but between you and Cadista, I have hope that Equestrians and changelings can coexist, perhaps more openly this time.”

Twilight grinned awkwardly. “I don’t think we can hide anymore, thanks to Chrysalis.”

“Nor should you have to.” Luna’s horn lit up with magic. “Now, I might have a gift for you,” she said with a stern expression, “but that depends on how this gift reacts towards you.”

Twilight arch an eyebrow. “Reacts?” A dark blue mist materialized and swirled beside Luna until it solidified into a jeweled box. “Why does that look so familiar?”

Luna tilted her head in amusement. “It should.” She opened it to reveal the Elements of Harmony.

As Luna took the Element of Magic out of the box, Twilight’s perception of the world around her vanished with only the golden tiara remaining, even the voices of the hive mind dimmed to be nearly imperceivable. Luna’s voice was little more than a muffled echo as the changeling stood transfixed by her Element. She raised a trembling hoof towards it, causing Luna to stop talking as she felt Twilight’s magic instinctively attempt to wrestle the Element out of her telekinesis.

The princess let the artifact go, where it was quickly enveloped by Twilight’s aura and dragged into her hooves. While there was no visible trace of magic between the artifact and its bearer, Twilight could feel the Element resonate with her very being.

Twilight found her voice as the world around her came back into focus. “W-what is this?” She looked to Luna while clutching the Element tightly to her chest.

“That is the Element of Magic.” Luna carefully probed both the artifact and Twilight with her magic. “It seems the Element still recognizes you as its bearer.”

Twilight tore her eyes from the princess to stare at the tiara. “It feels like it’s part of me. Just as much as the hive mind is.”

Luna recalled reading Twilight’s letters about the Link. “I believe you are correct. Only, the Element is tied to your strong natural affinity towards magic and friendship. Rather than being one with your mind, it is one with your spirit. To put it poetically, you and the Element are one and the same. It is for that reason my sister and I have agreed that it should stay with you.”

Twilight held on to the golden tiara as memories of standing against Nightmare Moon with her friends, and the short-lived return of Discord returned to her. The Element protected Twilight from the usual pain that accompanied her bouts of memory recovery.

Luna watched with interest as the changeling stared off into space for well over a minute before snapping back into focus. “Luna… I can’t take this back with me. This belongs with Equestria.”

Luna shook her head. “Nearly all of the artifact’s power rests with you, just as the other Elements’ power resides in your friends. The physical embodiments of the Elements simply act as foci for the power gifted to each of you.”

Twilight kept the tiara close to her chest. “I promise you, Princess Luna, should Equestria ever have need of me and my Element, I’ll stand to defend it.”

Luna smiled to hide her uncertainty. She is a pony of two worlds, and she wants to remain part of ours. May nopony give her cause to leave it. “Glad to hear it. Now,” she swept a wing towards the loud chatter spilling out from behind the door, “I believe we’re missing a party downstairs. An event I do not get to attend often.”

Twilight placed the Element of Magic upon her brow. “I wouldn’t want to miss it either.”

Twilight awoke late the following morning to the sound of birds chirping outside her window, and the thunderous snores of Rainbow Dash who was sleeping on a cloud she had dragged inside last night. She flattened her ears, but that did little to save her from Ponyville’s champion snorer.

Twilight was struggling to work up enough cognitive willpower to erect a sound dampener spell when she felt an egg shift in her abdomen. She sat bolt upright as the familiar need to push returned. So early!? At least this didn’t happen during the speech today. With the library filled with her sleeping friends, Twilight groggily made her way to the bathroom, and went about laying her second clutch of eggs with only slightly less difficulty than the day before.

Afterwards, she cleaned herself up and scowled at the poor rug. If I’m going to stay here much longer I’m going to need something I can lay on that won’t get stained.

Twilight’s magic enveloped the four purple eggs so she could clean them in the sink before feeding them all the love they could handle. The orange bridge between her horn and the eggs flickered with slightly larger traces of lavender as Twilight felt the Link grow to accommodate the four new eggs.

Twilight levitated the purple orbs in front of her. To think I’m going to be doing this for the next seventy three days… She turned to her reflection above the sink. Who am I kidding, I’m not going to stop laying after I become a full queen, it just won’t be every day anymore.

She cradled the eggs in her hooves with a faint smile. Still, I can’t wait for you to hatch. I’ll do my best to be a good mother to all of you like Cadista is to the rest of us. She wordlessly summoned the caretakers while wrapping her eggs in a towel. If the three tribes could unite under one banner despite generations of animosity, perhaps my hive can be the fourth.

Twilight crept past her sleeping friends and cracked the front door open to find one of the caretakers already waiting for her. she said, ushering the drone inside and levitating the towel bound eggs to the caretaker’s possession.

Twilight nodded.

The drone made sure each egg was tied down inside her specially modified saddlebags before stepping outside again.

She watched the caretaker fly off with her progeny, and slowly closed the door.

Yeah, me too.

Author's Note

Not featured: a 2 hour argument about the reproductive cycle and genetic structure of changelings.

8: Public Relations

An undisguised Twilight chewed on her lip as she paced back and forth behind the main doors of the town hall. She could hear Princess Luna making her opening statement. All of her friends stood off to the side with their respective Elements.

“Do you think wearing the Elements is a bit much? I mean, they’re basically the symbol of Equestria.”

“That’s the point, darling,” Rarity answered with measured poise. “You want your hive and Equestria to be allies, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” And hopefully a single nation, one day. “But wouldn’t the Elements make it seem like we’re pushing too fast?”

“Shoot, Twi, hidin’ the fact that you’re still the Element of Magic wouldn’t sit right with me. Besides, ain’t nopony going to argue with the six of us and the Princess.”

Twilight stopped pacing to give Applejack a weak smile. “I hope so.”

Twilight tried to take several calming breaths, but her growling stomach made it somewhat difficult. “Anypony have any snacks?”

“I do!” Fluttershy announced meekly while she flew over to rummage around in her saddlebags.

Spike gave Twilight a sardonic look. “How can you possibly be hungry? You ate a whole day’s worth of food for breakfast.”

“Sorry,” Twilight whined, “It’s just that my appetite’s been huge ever since I started laying.”

Ratchet began,

She rolled her eyes.

Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight reacting to a silent speaker as she hovered above the group. How can she stand having somepony else’s voice in her head? Rainbow was about to ask her what she was talking about when Mayor Mare poked her head through the doors.

She did an admirable job not visibly reacting to Twilight’s appearance. “Five minutes, Miss Sparkle.”

With the doors cracked open, Luna’s voice carried into the chamber. “Twilight Sparkle has been healed, and has returned to Ponyville. Show your fellow citizen of Ponyville that Equestrian ideals are more than just words.”

Luna glanced behind her to the slightly open door, prompting Twilight to emerge with a nervous canter to the princess’ side. Ratchet stayed behind the door as everyone else followed Twilight. The Element of Magic rocked slightly on the quaking mare.

Twilight walked out to find the crowd watching her intently. Their faces ranged from curious to pensive. Well, no pony’s booing me off the stage, so that’s a start.

She stepped up to the podium as Luna stepped aside. “Greetings, Ponyville, I want to thank you all for coming. As you can see, I am not quite what I used to be.

"I know many of you have heard rumors about who almost claimed my life nearly three months ago on that fateful day. Many claim that it was changelings who attacked me.” She singled out those who faced her with mistrustful faces and narrowed eyes and matched their gaze with graceful poise. “It’s completely true.”

Twilight saw many whisper and gasp. You didn’t think I would lie, did you? “It was changelings that attacked Canterlot with malicious intent, and it was changelings who tried to claim my life.”

She surveyed the crowd, seeing uncertainty in their eyes. “And yet, it was changelings that saved my life. I asked myself: why would a race capable of such horrid actions, spare me from death? The moment that question left my lips, I already had the answer.”

Twilight’s heart raced as her passionate words continued. “Changelings are not the monsters Chrysalis would have you believe. They are scholars, bakers, farmers, teachers, and factory workers. The changelings I have seen, spoken, and dined with, are just like anypony else. Everypony is capable of good, evil, and everything in between.

"Mistrust and fear has been allowed to fester in our hearts because of Chrysalis’ unconscionable actions. I know that all of you have it within you to show historians for generations to come, that Equestrian ideals are more than just pretty words we tell ourselves to feel better.”

As Twilight spoke the next words, her friends stepped forward one by one. “Kindness, honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, and friendship. These have always been Equestria’s watchwords. The true changelings of my hive live by these very same virtues.” Her gaze swept across the crowd. “Those of my hive wish to extend the hoof of friendship. It’s up to you to accept it.”

It was slow at first, with a few individuals needing to prod the others, but soon the crowd started cheering and stomping their hooves with a fervor Twilight didn’t expect. Her relief, and that of the collectors in attendance, reverberated throughout the local changelings who expressed their gratitude over the Link.

Luna grinned at the display. It still amazes me how accepting the ponies of this era can be, once they get over their initial fear of the unknown. As much as they wanted to bombard Twilight with questions, most of the townsfolk regrettably returned to their livelihoods with only the scant few news reporters remaining behind.

Luna paid close attention to the reporters as their questions ranged from innocent to conspiratorial. Few piqued her interest, until a slick-maned, violet unicorn stallion stepped forwards.

“Miss Sparkle, you claim that you were attacked by feral changelings, correct?”

“Calling them changelings is a bit generous, but yes.”

“Yet you were supposedly saved by the changeling hive you are currently a part of, correct?”

Luna glanced at Twilight who had a slightly raised eyebrow. “Yes, that’s right.”

“So tell me, why was it necessary to convert you into a changeling to save your life? Doesn’t that sound rather suspicious to you?”

Twilight’s tone remained definitive. “The feral brood used poison from a ghast spider, a denizen of the jungles around changeling territory. That poison makes magic based healing impossible. Even if I had been brought to the best medical minds Equestria has to offer, I was too badly injured to survive.”

“I understand the changelings had a method to heal you, but my question is: did it necessitate you becoming one of them?”

Twilight’s mouth hung slightly agape, and she broke eye contact with the questioner. “I—I,” Her eyes hardened and faced the reporter with steel in her voice. “Yes. The method was designed to repair a changeling’s life that was near death. It worked in the only way it could, by remaking me into a changeling. Could the process have been redesigned so that I remained a unicorn? Possibly, but not in time to save my life.” She shifted her eyes to the rest of the reporters. “Now is not the time to pass blame or fabricate conspiracies when none exist. The changelings of my hive are not Equestria’s enemies, and as long as I draw breath,” her determined eyes centered on the original reporter, “we never shall be.”

A scowl pulled at the edges of the stallion’s neutral expression. “Thank you,” he replied coolly. He tilted his head towards Luna. “Your Highness,” he said respectfully before leaving.

Luna watched him go out of the corner of her eye. She let the reporters have a few more minutes before stepping forward. “I believe that will suffice for now. There will be time for more questions in Canterlot.”

She gestured for Twilight to re-enter the town hall, an act she was all too eager to obey. Twilight leaned against one of the pillars while trying to rub a headache away. “That could have gone better.”

“Canterlot will be difficult on you,” Luna warned. “Tia’s words carry a lot of weight, but the invasion is still fresh in people’s minds.”

Twilight looked around to find no one was within earshot. “I wish I didn’t have to lie to them.”

Luna’s brow furrowed and she drew closer while casting a spell to keep their voices from carrying. “About what?”

Twilight stared at the wooden floor for several seconds with pensive expression. “I don’t honestly know if rebirth was necessary, or that it had to change me to work.”

Luna hummed contemplatively, and a long silence echoed through the hall. “Celestia said you were fully aware of what would happen to you if you underwent rebirth, and of what it would cost you.”

Twilight nodded, but couldn’t look away from the floor. “I remember…”

“For what it’s worth, Twilight, the fact that you are capable of questioning this is a good sign. Find out more about the rebirthing process if you can. I assume Cadista is grooming you as her heir, so I doubt she would hide the specifics about rebirth.”

Twilight gave Luna a weak smile. “I really hope my lie is the truth.”

“As do I. For now, spend the day as you wish. The train for Canterlot leaves this evening. We need to be there before the tabloids have too much time to paint a bad image.”

Twilight gazed through the walls towards the train yard and stifled a yawn. “I’ll ask her when I’m in Canterlot. In the meantime, I think I’ll just take a breather. I don’t think I’ll get a chance to do that much in the near future.”

Luna nodded slightly. “Such is the life of those in power.”

And those that give birth to an entire hive, Twilight brooded. “Are you going to be riding with the rest of us?”

“I will, actually, I felt it was best to arrive with you so the public knows you have the trust of the crowns.”

“Thanks, Luna.”

“Naturally.” She paused to watch as Twilight’s friends started breaking up to tend to their jobs. “Twilight, this may come across as rather opportunistic, but I’m looking forward to reconnecting with the changelings on a more personal level.”

The proto-queen tittered at the sentiment. “I was hoping we could do more than just reconnect.”

Luna’s reply was interrupted by Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Twilight, Princess, the rest aren’t going to be able to go to Canterlot, but I’m still coming with you. What time does the train leave?”

“Seven PM. What about Spike?”

“Come on, Twilight, everypony can tell Canterlot’s going to be two things: a reunion with your family, and a media circus. None of us want to intrude on the reunion, or be anywhere near the paparazzi.”

Luna let a playful smirk break through her regal poise. “So, why are you going then?”

Rainbow flexed her forelegs. “Because somepony needs to represent the Elements who are still ponies. Uh, no offense, Twi.”

She waved off any insult. “Just admit it, Dash, you’d do anything to get your name in the paper.”

Rainbow grinned. “Hey, if I can support one of my best friends, and get in the paper at the same time, then why not? Anyway, I better get ready. See ya later Twilight, Princess Luna.”

Twilight couldn’t help but snicker as Rainbow Dash departed. Eventually she turned to Ratchet, who was staring off into space.

As Ratchet flew off, Twilight’s stomach growled. “Princess, I need to head down to the train yard as well.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it… Actually, there is one thing I’d like to ask before you go. What do you mean by more than reconnect?”

Twilight pawed the ground as she searched for the right words. “Luna… I know what I am, and I know that my place is with the hive now. However, I don’t want the hive to be mutually exclusive from Equestria.”

“What do you mean?”

Twilight sighed. “Luna, Equestria was founded by the three pony tribes. Do you think there’s room for a fourth?”

A sly grin crept over the lunar alicorn. “There is if I have anything to say about it. Although,” she said with a short titter. “You would technically be the fifth behind my bat ponies.”

Twilight giggled. “How could I forget them?”

“The fault lies with both of us. Like myself, they are nocturnal, and a bit reclusive. Much of that was from my prolonged absence.”

A smile crossed Twilight’s face. “Then that’ll give us some common ground.”

“Aye, that’s always a good first step.”

After talking with Luna for a few hours, Twilight traveled to the mobile incubator. She announced herself over the Link before entering with five steaming shish kabobs hovering by her face as she bit one of the pieces of smoked meat. The Element of Magic swayed back and forth as its bearer tore through her meal. “I have to say, being an omnivore has opened up so many wondrous foods.”

The nearest caretaker sighed in relief that Twilight had the presence of mind to keep a plate under her dripping lunch. “I see you found Hot Spice’s kitchen. I’m sure he gets rather busy in herbivore lands.”

Twilight hungrily took two more bites before answering. “He isn’t the only place around here that serves meat. Servin’s Galley caters to all sorts of patrons. The restaurant’s only a block away from Sugar Cube Corner.”

The second caretaker wrote a mental note to make sure to mop up any juice that dripped off Twilight’s plate. “The traders don’t normally venture far from the train yard. Less likely to spook the ponies that way.”

Twilight polished off her first skewer and started on the second. “I think that needs to change. We would be stronger allies if we were friends as well.” The caretakers could only shrug in response. Fine, I’ll bring it up with Cadista later. “Anyway, I’m here to check on my eggs, and start learning alchemy.”

The caretakers’ cheered before scrambling to work. “Ah! I wish you had told us ahead of time, we would have had everything ready to go when you got here.”

Twilight waved her hoof. “I need to learn the basics before I go anywhere near one of my eggs with this.” Speaking of which, she thought while gnawing on her food,

Cadista replied.

Twilight swallowed the last of the second kabob, and lowered the plate down to the floor.

Cadista’s closely guarded secrets of alchemy poured into Twilight’s mind, but the Element of Magic eliminated most of the pain that Cadista had warned about. Cadista took the lack of distress from Twilight as a sign that she could handle a faster influx.

She asked after passing a week’s worth of study material.

The purple mare’s mind was buzzing with ideas and possibilities.

Why did she experience no pain? Am I underestimating her again, or am I missing something? Knowing her, I better focus on the task at hoof for now before she accidently over-engineers an egg.

Twilight’s rampant train of thoughts slowed a little.

Twilight sat down, and started gnawing on her still hot food.

Twilight walked over to the eight purple eggs suspended roughly at shoulder height. Magic flowed out of her horn as she swept the eggs for defects, the act coming to her as naturally as breathing. She didn’t notice faint traces of lavender weaving through the stream.

Cadista hummed approvingly.

Twilight wasn’t sure how to take that.

Twilight was only able to focus half of her thoughts to her eggs as a twinge of loss struck her.

Twilight balked at the profound difficulty after reviewing her modest knowledge of alchemy.

Cadista replied with a hint of playful mockery.

Twilight stopped scanning her eggs entirely.

Twilight remembered Celestia’s actions on the day she was placed inside the chrysalis. Yes…we would be.

Twilight weaved her spell again to triple check.

Twilight grimaced as she stared at the eggs.

Cadista asked with genuine surprise.

Twilight’s wings buzzed every so often as her mind raced with new possibilities.

<…That… might be possible. Although the complexity of such an ability hinges greatly on how you would implement it.>

The hours melted away as Cadista gave away her knowledge of alchemy bit by bit. With the Element of Magic protecting Twilight against what would have been crippling pain, she absorbed it all with ravenous hunger for knowledge. Twilight was oblivious to the mobile incubator being moved and hitched up to the train leaving for Canterlot.

In fact, she was so engrossed into her theorycrafting that it took one of the caretakers placing dinner beside her, along with the aroma to bring her back to the present. “Dinner? Is it that late already?”

The younger caretaker nodded. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Twilight started politely gorging herself on the rotisserie. “To think there’s an entire branch of scientific magic exclusive to changeling queens! I could spend a lifetime delving into this and never unlock all of alchemy’s secrets.”

“Such is the way of any science, no?”

Twilight chuckled, and nearly choked on a piece of food in the process. The caretaker patted her back until Twilight stopped coughing, only for her to fall back in laughter. “Thanks. Truer words have never been spoken.”

“It would be rather ignoble to die to a piece of meat after surviving that attack a couple months back.”

Twilight nodded in agreement while continuing to eat.

“Ratchet told us you might get carried away with your work and forget to eat.”

“Are you going to make any changes to your brood?”

The caretaker nodded approvingly. “I’ll close down the alchemy section then. You should get some rest sister, I’m sure you’ll be busy quite a bit in Canterlot.”

Twilight downed a fruity beverage.

Twilight used the Link to locate her room and stifled a yawn before entering. She was pleasantly surprised to find Ratchet reading a technical manual. “Ratchet? I didn’t know you’d be here.”

He looked up in time to receive a friendly nuzzle, to which he eagerly reciprocated. “Booking put us together. Rainbow Dash is two cabins over while Luna got a whole car to herself.”

“Such are the perks of being a princess.”

Ratchet closed his book. “If you want some peace, I can find another place.”

Twilight smirked. “Peace? That’s hard to obtain with the Link.” She sat down next to him and leaned against him. “I’d rather spend time with you, if that’s okay.”

“Well, sure, if you like, but I must admit I’m a bit distracted at the moment.” He sheepishly held up a twine bound tome filled with both normal and drafting paper that was half a hoof thick.

“Ohhhh, what is it?”

“It’s the latest design manual for the new Spider Walkers R&D put together. They handed them out to first class engineers so we can spot any flaws before a prototype is built.”

Twilight cooed as her eyes dilated. “Sounds fun.” The page had a dizzyingly complex schematic with formulas covering every square centimeter of space. “That’s a multi-tiered planetary gear assembly using… an aluminum alloy?”

“Good eye, the land surrounding the outpost between Equestria and Stripped Gear is rich in aluminum. Metallurgy thinks they found something else that can be used as a substitute for steel. Personally I don’t think it should be used in a ground vehicle, but it would make larger airships more feasible.”

Twilight scooted next to Ratchet and nuzzled the top of his head. “Mmmm-hmmm?”

The night flew by as the two changelings read the design manual together, debating various aspects of mechanical engineering. It was well past midnight when Twilight was interrupted by a large yawn.

“—Oh, my, I’m sorry.”

Ratchet smirked. “Maybe we should call it a night.”

Twilight tipped over and flopped on to the bed, her only response being a vague noise of approval. As Ratchet put the book away, he suddenly realized just how small the bed was when he was sharing it with a proto-queen.

“Um, these beds are intended for drones, so I’ll just sleep on the floor tonight and let you have the bed to yourself.”

A whine emanated from the proto-queen. “Nooooooo~ I don’t mind sharing the bed with you, Ratchet.” She scooted backwards and patted the mattress next to her.

Ratchet paused. Well, a bed beats the floor any day of the week. He rolled on to the bed next to her, and she wrapped her hooves around him. He had to admit, he enjoyed spending time with Twilight. He didn’t understand why Equestrians were so physically affectionate, but it was a nice feeling. He felt warm, wanted, and at peace. It didn’t take long for low rumble of the train to lull him into a deep slumber.

Between them flowed a faint whisper of love, a strand too tiny to be noticed by any changeling.

Twilight awoke to the sound of a blowing train whistle and screeching wheels as Canterlot Station rolled into view. She barely registered Hot Spice give a last call over the Link for breakfast as she slid off the bed to stretch in a catlike fashion.

Ratchet yawned and sat upright. “Morning, Twilight.”

She flapped her wings a few times to get the blood pumping. “Good morn—” she hesitated when an egg shifted in her abdomen and her breath quickened. “Ratchet, can you find that blanket Rarity gave me yesterday? It should be above you.”

“Not a problem.” He took to the air and found the item in question before handing it over.

Twilight coiled the cloth into a puffy mound on the floor. “Thanks, I’ll summon the caretakers.”

Oh! That’s why she wanted the blanket. “I’ll, ah, go guard the door and make sure nopony else bothers you.”

“I appreciate it, Ratchet.” After he left, she whirled around assumed the position over the cloth.

Ratchet ignored the faint grunts from behind the door as he waited for the caretaker. I don’t know if I could handle being a queen. Laying eggs everyday, and this is what? Twice now that she’s done this right after waking up? I’d rather stick with coffee as my personal wake up button, thank you very much. Speaking of waking up, I better ask a brother to bring us some food.

Right as he sent the request, Rainbow Dash cantered up to him. “Hey Ratchet, is Twilight up yet?”

“She is,” he answered simply.

Rainbow tilted her head. “Are you going to stand in front of the door all day, or can I see her?”

“She’s, uh—” he was interrupted by a caretaker signaling her arrival through the hive mind and he stepped aside to let her inside.

Rainbow arched a scowling eyebrow. “What is this, changeling only morning or something?”

“She’s laying right now,” he deadpanned.

“Again!? Well whatever, just tell her Luna said she doesn’t need a disguise to walk around town.”

“Certainly, Miss Dash.”

Rainbow slinked off a few minutes before Twilight and the caretaker emerged with the glowing purple eggs wrapped in cloth. “I’ll be sure to have the blanket washed for tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you very much,” Twilight replied happily as she faced Ratchet. “You wouldn’t mind packing our things while I get cleaned up would you?”

“Not at all.”

The train lingered at the station for half an hour as the overnight passengers slowly woke up and departed. That gave Twilight just enough time to make herself presentable before stepping off the train as the conductor gave a final boarding call for the next stop. Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna were waiting for her, along with more paparazzi than Twilight knew existed.

All of them wanted to confirm the rumors surrounding Twilight Sparkle’s return. Luna’s Night Guard provided a cordon keeping them at bay. Twilight thought.

Ratchet felt the breakfast in his saddlebag starting to cool.

He didn’t have a chance to say more as Luna stepped up to her. “Twilight, as a symbolic declaration of trust between us, I will escort you personally to the castle.”

Twilight nodded. “I appreciate it.”

Luna guided the purple changeling through the station as she was bombarded with flashing camera lights and constant questions. Most of them directed about her transformation, and why she possessed the Element of Magic.

Thankfully, the contingent of bat ponies and the princesses kept even the most reckless reporters from crossing the cordon. As they passed into the main street, Twilight could see an open chariot and the signs of active reconstruction off in the distance. A few scattered pegasi hovered above the bustling crowd as some ponies were too preoccupied with their own lives and deadlines to give Twilight anything more than a passing glance.

She craned her head back to see Ratchet was starting to hyperventilate under such intense scrutiny while Rainbow Dash basked in the attention. She hovered just behind Twilight while waving at the crowd. “That’s right! Element of Loyalty and future Wonderbolt captain right here!”

Luna weaved a spell that would keep outside noise from interfering with conversation as rest of them boarded. “As you might have guessed from our method of arrival, Twilight, Celestia is catering to the aristocracy with this archaic ritual of accepting a friendly foreign dignitary.”

Twilight watched the streets of Canterlot slowly pass by as the carriage took the scenic route so every citizen could see them. Ratchet took the opportunity to give Twilight her much needed breakfast. “I remember Celestia doing this for Kavir Maranjab from Camelu. They’re sticklers for ancient traditions.”

Rainbow fidgeted in her seat. “Hey, Princess, do I have sit here the whole time too?”

“You agreed to represent the Elements of Harmony, those who are still ponies, when you came with us. The public must see that both the crowns, and the rest of the Elements recognize Twilight for who she is.”

Twilight reached across the carriage to grab Rainbow’s hoof. “I know it’s boring Dash, and I really appreciate you coming with me.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I still owe you for that manure talk yesterday.”

Twilight smiled. “It still means a lot to me. Why don’t we go flying later? I’ve never seen Canterlot from above outside of chariots and tower windows.”

“Sightseeing? No offense Twilight, but that’s not my speed. Now if you want a free airshow, I’m the mare to talk to.”

Twilight giggled and pulled Ratchet into a sidelong hug. “You’ve never seen an Equestrian airshow before, have you?”

“I’ve never even heard of an airshow. What happens in them?”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped, much to Luna’s silent amusement. “You’ve never even heard of an airshow!?”

Luna saw a choice opportunity. “You know, Rainbow, the western castle courtyard is going to be hosting one of the nobility’s social gatherings tomorrow evening, and several prominent Wonderbolts have been dragged into attending. They could use some entertainment in that depressingly empty patch of sky above them.”

“Princess, you had me at Wonderbolts.” She turned to her friend to seal the deal.

Twilight wrinkled her nose at the idea. “Personally, I’d rather avoid any prolonged contact with the nobility. I had a miserable rapport with them even when I was still a unicorn, and I’d rather not listen to veiled insults all day. But…” She flapped her wings a couple times. “I—” she leaned against Ratchet, “we can watch you from a rooftop.”

Rainbow pumped a hoof. “I get to show off to the Wonderbolts and educate the ‘Lings on what an airshow is? Best night ever!”

Twilight giggled at her friend’s enthusiasm.

The carriage ride lasted well past lunch, and by the time it finally arrived at the castle gates, everyone was hungry and Luna was seconds away from passing out in her seat. Just stay awake a bit longer, old girl. Wave goodbye to Twilight, pass her over to Tia, and then that sweet, warm sun-forsaken bed will be all mine.

The long stairs between the carriage and the open front doors of the castle were lined with royal guards with Celestia standing at the top. Several dozen nobles stood behind the Guard and observed the changeling queen that dared to claim to be Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic upon her brow caused many of them to erupt into furious gossip.

Ratchet glanced about, doing everything in his power to keep from fleeing. Can’t run, too many guards. Can’t hide, too many eyes. How can Twilight be so at ease?

Twilight easily picked up on his nervousness over the Link, and followed Cadista’s example by sending him calming thoughts.

He gulped as Luna stepped to Celestia’s side as the group reached the top.

Celestia wore both a smile, and a slightly curious glint in her eyes. She spoke in a loud but gentle voice that carried its way throughout the gathered nobles. “On behalf of Equestria, I welcome you back to Canterlot Castle, Twilight Sparkle.”

“It’s great to see you again, Princess.”

Celestia was pleased to see Twilight’s overly eager face. “As am I,” she said while gesturing a wing inside. “I must apologize for the city tour, but the nobility are insistent that you be considered a foreign dignitary. There is only so much I can ignore from them before they become passive aggressive for a few decades.”

“Really, it’s not a problem, Princess. It was good to see my old hometown.”

Rainbow Dash was stretching to get the cricks out of her joints from sitting for so long. “Well, it was for me, no offense, Princess.”

Celestia shared a chuckle with her sister. “None taken, Miss Rainbow Dash.”

“So, uh, Twilight, I bet you want some personal time with your folks, and all that jazz. You mind if I take off for a while?”

Twilight snickered and gave Rainbow a brief nuzzle. “Sure. I’ll see you at that garden party, right?”

Rainbow groaned at the physical display of affection, but didn’t pull away. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. ‘Later!”

Luna stifled a yawn. “I fear I must take my leave as well. Until we meet again, Twilight Sparkle.”

Celestia watched her sister disappear in a puff of swirling maroon smoke before facing Ratchet. “You must be Ratchet Altair.”

He quaked a little under her partially stern gaze. “I—I am, your majesty.”

Twilight shot Celestia a pleading look, but she only responded by studying him more closely. “Twilight writes good things about you in her letters.”

“Princess!” Twilight hissed under her breath.

Celestia’s lip curled up a bit as confusion washed over Ratchet. “She does?”

“Oh yes, in fact—”

Twilight flushed while interposing herself between the pair. “It’s really wonderful to see you again Princess, but I was hoping to see my parents and B.B.B.F.F.”

“As much as I would like to keep you to myself, I won’t keep your family from a much needed reunion. Shining Armor wanted to be the one to escort you to the family estate. He’s waiting for you in the west courtyard.” She started walking in that direction, prompting the two changelings to follow.

Ratchet worked up the courage to ask a question as the conversation fell into a brief lull. “I heard Twilight say you were heading a public relations campaign for our hive.”

Celestia’s weak smile faltered. “I am, although I have had nothing but setbacks. It was going to be hard work to begin with thanks to the invasion. While your… hive possessing fur makes you easier for the public to accept, the discovery and removal of numerous infiltrators from other, less pony-like hives, is making it difficult for the public to differentiate you. Even more so since all of you are called changelings.”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaking them for love collectors?” Twilight inquired.

Celestia gave Twilight a troubled look. “Cadista, through Ambassador Gloss, informed me that her collectors stay out of government positions with one exception being a mayor and several low level administrators. I have allowed her to keep her position because of her long dutiful service, and quite frankly, her surprisingly efficient administration. However, Luna’s Night Guard has discovered a number unmarried government and military officials who turned out to be changelings, and the majority of them were in no position to gather love. Based on their appearance, they are obviously not from your hive, and the sensationalized newspapers have drawn the same conclusion.”

“So they think we’re trying to take over Equestria.” Twilight replied with a downtrodden tone.

“You see my dilemma. Thankfully, Cadista has made it clear that the other queens will not act against us for cleaning house, as the saying goes.”

Twilight scowled. “The Summit basically said we’re the only one who will have open relations with the outside, and most queens care little for the individual lives of their drones. As to why they’re there, I believe many of them are for information control.”

Ratchet shot Twilight a startled glance.

Celestia’s frown deepened. “What form of information control do you mean, Twilight?”

Ratchet sweated with his ears folded back as he glanced between both mares.

She faced the princess with an apologetic look. “Sorry about the silent conversation. As I was saying, one of the other queens’ main job was information control. She made sure our race remained a secret from the outside world. It’s likely that she couldn’t just pull those infiltrators back out because they had been in their positions for so long that it would have raised suspicion.”

Celestia closed her eyes briefly and sighed slowly. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear you say that. There are many who think Gloss has been… filtering what we need to know. Thank you Twilight, for putting my fears to rest.”

Twilight sent Ratchet a jolt of smug satisfaction over the Link while nodding at Celestia. “Cadista only wants peace between us, Princess. As do most of the other hives. I’m sure Gloss has already told you the appearance of the drones that still have hostile intent towards Equestria.”

“She has. She also knows that I will not stop cleaning out the actual infiltrators, friendly or not. Although I would prefer that they leave of their own accord.”

“I don’t know if they’ll do that. The only thing Cadista can do is ask, she holds no authority over them, just as no other queen holds any over her. The only exception is the Summit, and I can tell you already, the vote for that would be vetoed in a heartbeat.”

“Which only makes my position all the more difficult.”

Twilight hummed as her thoughts turned to Rose. “It would be easier for ponies to accept us if they knew all the good we’ve done for them.”

“The good?”

“The collectors of my hive don’t just sit around absorbing love. They live just as any other pony does. They’re bakers, farmers, school teachers, mothers, and fathers.” She looked at her former mentor with a weak smile. “And they genuinely love the ponies around them. Just as their spouses and adopted children love them back, even though they might have no idea they’re in love with a changeling.”

Celestia halted by the doors with a fetlock rubbing her chin. “Acceptance for your hive would come easier if such individuals revealed themselves in a controlled event. That would make the public aware that changelings are not the enemies Chrysalis would have us believe them to be.”

“I can only ask them to volunteer. We need love to survive, Princess, and if their pony families or neighbors drive them out, we all lose.”

This is still rather odd, if the changelings are capable of love, as she says, then why do they need the love of other species to survive? “Very well, Twilight. I will bring these matters up with Gloss so she can speak with Cadista on this directly. I don’t want to distract you from your family reunion.” She opened the door with her magic to reveal Shining Armor standing near a covered carriage. “I’ll leave you to it. Contact me, should you have need.”

Twilight couldn’t look away from the pensive Captain of the Guard. “I will.” She tripped on her hooves as she galloped to close the distance.

Shining Armor choked up at seeing his sister bearing a haunting resemblance to Chrysalis, albeit with fur. Twilight stopped in front of Shining, afraid to touch him. Ratchet wisely stayed back and out of sight.

Glad I told the guards to turn away, he thought as he used every ounce of his training to keep from breaking down at seeing his sister become the very thing that haunted his nightmares for months. That was made all the more difficult as he could see his sister behind the fangs and slitted eyes. The way her ears were partially drooped, biting the left side of her lower lip, and that he could see her debating on what to say first; all of it screamed that the changeling queen in front of him was Twilight Sparkle.

Shining quickly discovered he had the same problem and bulled his way through his emotion-induced silence. “Twily?” She held her tongue while briskly nodding her head. “It’s really you?”

She struggled to find her voice. “Yes big brother. I’m still your L.S.B.F.F.”

He pushed past his misgivings, and locked her into a hug to which she instantly returned. His voice didn’t crack, but he shed a few tears nonetheless. “I thought I had lost you twice over. First you go galloping off into dangerous territory without a proper escort, get hurt, and now you come back as—as…”

She pulled away with a frown. “As one of the beings that ruined your wedding?”

“Hey, hey I didn’t say that. You saved my wedding, and all of Canterlot.”

A flicker of hope lit in her. “I failed to get the Elements. It was you and Cadance who saved us.”

A smile started to worm its way onto his face. “I wasn’t the one who found the real Cadance. I’d still be under Chrysalis’ spell if you hadn’t found her.”

She poked him in the chest. “You were still the one to save us in the end.”

In that moment he could almost see the changeling as her old unicorn self. She’s really still my little sister after all. “You never could take credit when credit was due.” He waved a hoof at the carriage. “Come on, mom and dad want to see you.”

Twilight was about to step aboard when she remembered someone.

he replied hesitantly.

Shining Armor helped his sister into the carriage when he spotted Ratchet making his way over. The Captain managed to contain a snarl. “Need something?”

“I, ah, she—” Ratchet stuttered out at the imposing unicorn.

Twilight stuck her head out and shot her older brother an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. This is Ratchet Altair. Ratchet, Shining Armor.”

Not willing to snap at his sister’s friend, Shining reigned in his suspicion a little. “I see.”

He glanced at Twilight whose gaze shifted to one of admonishment. Brother and sister shared a silent debate, one that made Ratchet forget his fear over the Guard Captain. Slowly, Shining yielded to her, and shrugged off much of his hostile demeanor with a sigh. Twilight beamed in victory while waving a hoof at her fellow changeling. “Ratchet’s a really good friend of mine, and my engineering guru.”

“I’m hardly a guru,” he squeaked out. “Just an en—gin—eer,” Ratchet’s voice petered off into a squeak.

The captain saw no threat in the shaking drone, and could feel his sister’s eyes boring a hole into the side of his skull. “I trust you will keep Twilight safe when I cannot.”

Ratchet nodded quickly. “I would do that anyway.”

“Good.” He jerked his head to the carriage and climbed in, prompting Ratchet to do the same.

Ratchet sat next to Twilight who gave him a reassuring look and patted his hoof. “Don’t worry. Shiny’s a big softy once he gets to know you.”

He stole a glance at the unicorn only to see him raise an unamused eyebrow at Twilight. “Have you been treated well, Twilight?”

“Of course, Shiny. Do you really think Cadista would allow me to return to Equestria if she had any malicious intent?”

Shining Armor glanced at Ratchet. Not if she put a leash on you, but then again, he’s not much of a leash if he’s this easily cowed. “I suppose not. I’m glad to see you Twily; mom nearly had a heart attack when she found out what happened.”

Twilight glanced out of the window while rubbing the side of her foreleg. “She always was overprotective of me.”

“Can you really blame her?” Shining glanced at Ratchet before facing his sister again. “Sure, you’re alive and I’m truly glad you are Twilight; but look what it cost you, what it cost Equestria. Somepony else should have gone in your place.”

Twilight scowled. “I know I put you, my family, friends, and the Princesses through emotional pain because I was too eager to learn about changelings, and I’m sorry about that. Really I am. However, I think I’m in the perfect position to aid both Equestria and my hive to even greater prosperity than if somepony else had gone in my place.”

“We nearly went to war because of all this, Twily.”

“We were already at war Shining Armor,” Twilight chided. “In case you forgot, Shining, I was Celestia’s protégé. I know the Army was planning an expeditionary force into the Cresnox Jungle. They still are, aren’t they?”

Shining Armor was torn. My orders are to keep that knowledge out of changeling hooves, but this is Twilight! I can’t, and won’t treat her like the enemy. He worked his jaw as he debated what to say. “…Stripped Gear is not on the target list.”

Ratchet expressed his alarm over the Link, but Twilight made him keep it quiet. “Tell them to call it off, I’ll speak—”

“Twily. Does Cadista speak for the other queens?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Can she guarantee that Chrysalis won’t try to attack again? Or guarantee that all of our foalnapped citizens will be returned, unharmed?”

“We don’t foalnap, Shining,” Twilight insisted.

“Can you say that about the other hives Twilight? You would know better than any of us.”

Twilight’s face fell and she fidgeted with her hooves. “I-I don’t know who exactly, because I didn’t want to know, but—” She recalled how so many queens thought of non-changelings as little more than cattle. “I’m sure some still do.”

“You need to stay on your hooves Twilight. Your hive may be friendly to ponykind, and… I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but you know Equestria will not stand for this kind of behavior. Especially not when Ambassador Gloss has told us that not only is foalnapping unnecessary to harvest the love your kind needs to survive, but that it is generally found to be abhorrent by your own people. We must take action.”

“Shining, please, let diplomacy have a chance first. Equestria doesn’t need to go to war. How do you expect the Princess to be successful in her PR campaign if you send soldiers off to fight changelings?”

Her older brother studied Twilight’s face, finding only sincere concern. “You really don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“The Princesses and Cadista have been in talks for weeks. They’ve already come to the conclusion that there is no other alternative. We must use force to retrieve our citizens. As for the PR campaign, your hive has already agreed to give us guides so we can find our people, and Celestia will be playing that hand to show your hive stands apart and above the others. In the end, it’ll all wrap up quite nicely. The crowns get to show we’re acting in the public’s interests, and your hive gets to demonstrate that you’re not our enemy.”

Twilight hung her head in defeat as her thoughts drifted towards Chrysalis during the Summit. “There has to be a better way.”

The carriage came to a halt shortly thereafter. The Sparkle Manor was just as she remembered it, albeit with vines covering more of the red brick walls. The lawn was carefully manicured and as pristine as always, a testament to her father’s dedication to perfect landscaping.

“Shiny, can we leave the politics at the door? I just want a day where we can be a family again.”

“I was about to propose the same thing. Cadance should be inside too.”

Twilight stepped out of the carriage and onto the marble porch. Shining Armor saw her teeth were chattering slightly as he walked up alongside her. “Come on, Twily, we have to save my wife from mother’s small talk, you know how she can get.”

She cringed, but never turned away from the doors as the family butler exited the house to greet them. To the old brown earth stallion’s credit, he was completely unfazed by the two changelings as he bowed his head. “Shining Armor, you simply must visit more often. The Mistress has expressed concerns over the danger of your occupation constantly as of late.” The unicorn suppressed a groan before the butler faced the lone mare. “And you Miss Sparkle, for shame. Galloping off to the wilds only to nearly die in the process? ‘Bout gave your mother a stroke it did.”

After all these years, I still can’t tell if he’s joking or being serious. “Mister Pranceston, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Twilight replied indignantly. She glanced back and forth as both stallions gave her a mocking look. “You can’t blame me for getting ambushed while on a trade convoy. That would be like blaming you for the chandelier that nearly dropped on Miss Information.”

Pranceston nodded the point to her. “That still didn’t stop the harlot from trying. That old nag was as pleasant as an infected cracked hoof, Celestia rest her soul.” He cleared his throat. “Well it’s good to see your mind is still intact, Luna knows it couldn’t get any stranger up there.” Twilight’s face twisted into a pout, but Pranceston turned about face before she could think of a scathing rebuke. “Come along now, your parents want to see you, posthaste.”

Shining Armor hesitated as Twilight cantered after the butler. Before Ratchet could slip past him to remain near Twilight, Shining held out a hoof to block him. “This is a private affair. I suggest you remain out here.”

“Oh, um, sure, okay.”

“And disguise yourself. I don’t want anyone seeing a changeling around the house, my sister excluded.”

“W-whatever you say, s-sir.” Ratchet flared orange and was replaced by a charcoal pegasus with an orange mane.

Satisfied, Shining’s scowl eased up slightly. “Don’t wander out of the yard.”

Am I a dog to you? “Yes, sir,” he replied tersely. He watched the unicorn follow his sister inside with a frustrated grimace. Do they really have to treat us like dirt just because of Chrysalis?

He kicked a rock and started pacing around the various shrubberies over the front lawn. If Twi wants me, she knows I’m just a thought away. Despite his foul mood, he couldn’t help but to give a curious look at the surrounding area. Sparkle Manor sat on a hill near the edge of the mountain face so he had a fantastic view of the noble district.

Why are they using carriages pulled by other ponies? I can understand the other hives not bothering with technology, but surely these Equestrians would have invented a self-propelled civilian transport by now. I mean, they have magic more advanced than us, right? Shouldn’t that have done the trick?

Twenty minutes passed until he decided to go over his latest designs in his head. Ratchet sat down heavily on a wooden bench in the front garden. The prolonged boredom and unfriendly atmosphere left Ratchet in a jittery mood. I don’t really see what mother sees in these ponies to model us so closely after them. Sure, they’re successful, but also stagnant, just like the other queens. Then again, mother knows what she’s doing. I could be missing something about these odd ponies.

He studied the architecture of the surrounding buildings, and of the castle in the distance. “Still, there’s a certain elegance to the place. Mother paints a lot. Maybe she wants us to adopt some of Canterlot’s architecture. There’s got to be something here that would improve the hive.”

When a quick survey of the nearby houses revealed little of interest, he kicked a pebble out of place on the shrubbery border. “I had a nice set up back home. Moving up the career path, mother was pleased with my work, I was a few weeks away from making my proposal to the chief engineers, and…”

His short-lived rant faltered at the thought of Twilight. “…and I… I don’t know what to make of her.” He scanned the skies and nearby street, and found nothing that stood out as strange. “She’s dedicated to—” He looked around to make sure no one was within earshot. “—To the hive, but also Equestria. She learns scary fast, like she was built to study.” A chuckling grin crossed his face. “And she has a nice laugh… she’s had this really peculiar aura as of late.”

His brow furrowed in concentration. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was—”

Movement in the air above the manor’s fence caught his eye as three pegasi landed in the street to join two unicorns and four earth ponies. All of them were wearing baggy clothes and stealing glances at the manor as they talked to one another.

Ratchet raised an eyebrow at them. Odd, they aren’t dressed like everypony else around here, but then, what do I know about pony fashion?

Ratchet lost interest in the group, and looked around to find three more groups gathering around the area. Why do they keep looking at Twilight’s home? They don’t seem to care about the other houses around here. Hmm, weren’t there like five guardsponies nearby? He tried to find the golden armored warriors, but none were forthcoming. Something’s not right here.

He was suddenly glad the bench he was sitting on was behind thick shrubbery, and slowly slid around to stand behind it. He watched as one of the groups broke up and started walking towards the manor’s lone gate guard. An earth pony talked to him while a pale brown unicorn mare zapped the distracted guard with a spell.

Ratchet fumbled back towards the house as the same mare galloped over to the incapacitated guard and cast a second, longer spell on him. Ratchet was unable to determine the purpose for it when all four groups vaulted the fence.

Oh, horseapples! He started running to the nearest window with a bolt of magic growing on his obscured horn.

9: Paths

Pranceston led brother and sister through the short entry hall and into the lounge at a miserable pace; just long enough to make Twilight apprehensive, but not enough to give her time to think of a proper greeting. Oohhh, that’s the last straw. Next time I’m making a checklist on reunion greetings. First—hoh boy we’re at the door.

Pranceston placed a hoof on the door, and spoke before pushing it open. “You two should have cleaned up better before coming over, both of you look scraggly.” He gave the siblings a disapproving look.

Shining Armor’s only reply was to slightly dust off one of his lapels. “There.”

The butler glowered at him, and noticed Twilight was fretting over the orange stripe in her bangs. “It’s not frizzy is it? Tell me it’s not frizzy!”

“Enormously so. Come along.”

Twilight squeaked while trying to run a fetlock through her bangs right as Pranceston pushed the doors open to reveal the middle aged unicorn couple sitting by the lit fireplace. The lounge was always kept very chilly so family and guests would congregate around the central fireplace. Twilight stopped fidgeting with her hair the moment her eyes locked onto her parents.

Night Light was the first to stand up from the sofa with his wife not far behind, neither one of them wasted words before roping Twilight into a crushing embrace. Twilight nuzzled her father with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry papa—”

He shushed her while rubbing her mane. “I’ll hear none of that. You’re alive and whole, that’s all that matters.”

Twilight Velvet wiped away her daughter’s tears. “That’s right. You’re still my little filly.”

Twilight let out a choked half-sob, half-laugh. “I’m not so little anymore.”

Velvet tsked. “You will always be my little filly.” She pulled back to pull her son into the group hug. The four of them remained in each other’s embrace for a long, quiet minute. A small part of Twilight was stunned by how much love her family flooded her with, but she pushed that aside to focus on them.

The embrace would have lasted longer if a pink alicorn had not come into Twilight’s field of vision. “You’re Cadance, right? I remember you from the wedding.”

If Shining Armor had nightmares about changelings, Cadance was caught between fearful hope and revulsion. The body may heal, but the mind was not always so resilient. “Do you not remember anything else?” she asked while raising a hoof to touch Twilight’s withers, but stopped short upon spying the red translucent wings on her back.

Twilight didn’t see the cause of Cadance’s hesitation, but she saw it nonetheless. “I’m sorry, I had hoped all of my memory would have come back by now.”

A dozen thoughts raced through Cadance’s mind, but one in particular stood out. “Do… Do you remember this?” she said, her voice trembling. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and—”

Twilight’s eye dilated to the size of dinner plates as she finished the final verse with her old foalsitter. “do a little shake.”

The Element of Magic let off a faint pulse as a cascade of memories flashed before Twilight’s eyes. Her family and foalsitter glanced between each other as Twilight was zoned out as years of memories surrounding Cadance returned to her. Towards the end of it, Twilight’s neutral expressing slowly grew into a beaming smile. “Cadance!”

The alicorn was bowled over by Twilight as she wrapped her in a bear hug. “Cadance! I remember it, all of it!” Her smile faltered a little. “At least, I think I remember everything.”

Cadance smirked. “I could help you catalogue it all later.”

Twilight giggled. "I’ve been meaning to do just that. Ever since I got back to Ponyville, all of my recovered memories are coming back in an annoying jumbled mess.”

Velvet pulled her daughter off Cadance and dragged her towards the fireplace. “You can do that later, Twilight, I just want you to know that I’ve been in constant contact with the academy. We’ll have this whole thing sorted out soon enough.”

Twilight was momentarily distracted by Pranceston arriving with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “I don’t think I understand. Sort out what?”

Night Light sat behind his daughter to hide the grimace directed at his wife who continued on. “Turning you back to normal, of course. Once the mages at the academy get a chance to see what kind of black magic was done to you, they can start working on a cure.”

“I—I don’t know what to say…”

Velvet interpreted Twilight averting her gaze as a sign of shocked joy. “There’s no need for words, my dear. It was kind enough for the changelings to save you, but you shouldn’t have to suffer as one of them any longer than you have to.”

Suffer? Twilight glanced around the room. “I don’t think that would be… wise.”

Shining Armor’s lips twitched upward and nodded slightly in approval, while Cadance remained neutral. Twilight couldn’t see her father’s reaction, but her mother’s was one of understanding. “I realize that hive of yours might have issues with you no longer being one of them, but they must understand you don’t belong with them. You’re an Equestrian, for Celestia’s sake!”

“Mother, I don’t want to talk about this right now. Can’t we spend the day catching up?”

“Certainly, but only after we visit the academy. What kind of mother would I be if I let you remain in that miserable form for a second longer?”

Twilight gritted her teeth, which made her fangs seem far more menacing than they used to. “I am perfectly comfortable with my body, mother. There’s nothing that needs to be fixed.”

Velvet shook her head and pulled one of Twilight’s hole riddled forelegs up for all to see, but kept her gaze focused on her daughter’s face. “Twilight, look at yourself. This isn’t normal. Come down to the academy with me.”

Shining saw Twilight’s ear twitching along with her eyes narrowing. This won’t end well. “Twily, mom, why don’t we sit down for din—”

Twilight shot him a glare before gently pulling her hoof out of her mother’s grasp. Her tone held an edge of steel. “Mother, we cannot afford to be so selfish. If there is anypony who is going to be able to bring lasting peace between Equestria and the hives, it’s going to rest on my withers to do so. I will not burn that bridge just to be a unicorn again.” Velvet’s mouth was little more than a pressed line as Twilight continued. “And these,” she said while pointing at the holes in her leg, “are normal for me.”

Night Light moved to interpose himself between the two mares. “Now, now, let’s not ruin the day with such talk. Let’s just settle down for a nice round of tea?” Before either mare could speak he looked up to find the butler hovering nearby. “Pranceston, a pot of Earl Grey if you please.”

Velvet shot her husband a scathing glare, but did not argue with him. Night Light took the opportunity to lead Twilight over to the couch and coffee table. “Why don’t you tell us about the hive? It must be a fascinating place if you’re so willing to call it home.”

Glad to see papa is still open minded. Twilight waited until everyone sat down to speak. “Despite what the name implies, my home resembles Canterlot far more than a bee hive. It has shops, factories, homes, and a palace as large as Canterlot’s own.”

Twilight regaled at length about the technological prowess and architectural ingenuity of Stripped Gear with a passion that made Velvet increasingly concerned. Towards the end of her tale, Shining Armor had to interrupt. “Sorry to butt in like this sis, but you never got around to mentioning what that central shield tower was for. Do attacks between the hives happen often?”

Twilight used a sip of tea to buy time to think. “I have not personally seen any hives attack one another, but they do happen. As for the attack on me, I still don’t have any memories of the event itself. The shield’s primary purpose is the removal of air pollution so it won’t give away our location.”

Cadance had lost most of her discomfort and had a genuine fascination growing about Stripped Gear. “So your hive doesn’t foalnap or anything?”

Twilight gave her a reassuring smile. “Cadista never has, and never will. Our love collectors are more than adequate for our needs.”

Being the Alicorn of Love, Cadance leaned forward in rapt attention. “How exactly do they collect love?”

Twilight remembered Rose from Ponyville. “For us, love freely given is more powerful than any other. As such, our collectors immigrate to Equestria and try to find a spouse or adopt a foal. They remain in Equestria for the rest of their lives… or until they’re run out of town.”

Night Light tried to ignore his wife’s directionless scowl. “Are they allowed to return home?”

“Of course. It’s just that they love their pony family just as much as their changeling one. So long as they can keep sending love back to the hive, they can do whatever they want with themselves.”

Cadance’s visage was marred by confusion. “So changelings are capable of feeling love? Not just feeding on it?”

“That’s right. Why do you ask?”

“Can’t you just love each other?”

Twilight fiddled with her cup. “It’s been tried in the past, countless times. Cadista and her mother were very close.” She glanced at Velvet who let her scowl soften. “But for some reason, the love they shared couldn’t satiate them. We require love from other species, it seems.”

Cadance completely forgot her reservations about Twilight’s new species. “I’d like to help with that, if at all possible. Would some of your collectors mind visiting me so I can see why changelings loving one another doesn’t feed them?”

“I could certainly ask for volunteers. I doubt Cadista would refuse an opportunity like this.”

Cadance’s reply was drowned out by Ratchet yelling over the link.

With Ratchet's broadcast ringing in her ears, Gloss galloped towards Celestia's study. “Guards! I must see Celestia!”

“I’m sorry, miss, but—”

“Twilight Sparkle is in mortal danger! I must inform Celestia immediately!”

The two guards looked suspicious. "Last I heard, she’s in Canterlot. Nopony would attack us here… Twice, anyway.”

“Listen to me you obtuse ferus caballus! If you don’t get out of my way, Twilight Sparkle is going to die. Do you really think the Princess would want you to ignore a potential threat rather than raise a false alarm? After she almost lost Twilight just three months ago? Do you have any idea what she will do to the two guards who indirectly caused the death of her star pupil? Now, let me through!”

The guards hesitated and looked at each other. Without another word, they stepped aside, and Gloss burst into Celestia’s study.

”Princess Celestia!”

Ratchet heard Twilight’s confusion over the link as he shattered one of the front windows and jumped through.

Ratchet made an emergency broadcast over the hive mind as he flew up and over the second-story banister overlooking the entry hall. He froze as he saw several earth ponies galloping down the hallway in front of him, until they turned a corner. A pair of unicorns weren’t far behind. He was outnumbered.

Waiting until they were out of sight, he carefully crept across the hallway and peeked around the corner, but nopony was there. Realizing he had no idea where to go, he sent a request to the hive mind, and a fuzzy outline of Twilight appeared in his vision. He ran down the twisting hallways, left, right, left, until he almost ran straight into a unicorn that looked ready to blast the room Twilight was in.

“Assassins!” Twilight shouted.

“What?!”

“Ratchet just told me assassins have broken into the house!”

Shining Armor reacted instantly. "We have to assume we’re surrounded.” He beckoned them to the wall opposite the fireplace. "I’ll raise a shield, Twilight and Cadance, take up defensive positions around me. Did Ratchet raise the alarm?”

“Ambassador Gloss already knows.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow.

“Hive mind,” Twilight explained. She might have said more, but the muffled clopping of hooves had reached their ears, and a few moments later, four earth ponies crashed through the doors, a pair on either side of the room. They immediately charged towards the Sparkles, protected under Shining Armor’s impenetrable shield.

Twilight held a spell at the ready, and kept expecting the earth ponies to slow down, rather than run straight into a magical barrier. It wasn’t until they were nearly on top of them that Twilight felt a familiar numbing sensation in her horn.

She knew what that feeling was. It was a void stone. She opened her mouth to warn Shining, but it was too late.

*Shunk*

As the earth ponies leapt towards the shield, it imploded in on itself. A null magic field multiplied the ambient magical resistance by a thousand-fold, and an entire augmented repulsion barrier spell was forced back into Shining’s horn. He dropped like a lead weight, unconscious before he hit the ground.

Cadance, unfortunately, was immediately forced to put her recent combat training to good use, and didn’t have time to worry about Shining Armor. One of the earth ponies, who happened to be carrying a void stone, found herself on the receiving end of an alicorn’s buck. Had she not been an earth pony, she probably would have been dead. Instead, her muzzle was smashed to pieces, and she was flung halfway across the room.

Twilight, on the other hand, had barely any formal combat training. However, she did remember her nullification lessons, which involved a very simple credo: get as far away from a null magic field as quickly as possible. So, dodging an earth pony’s short sword, Twilight turned around and ran straight up the wall.

Hanging from the ceiling, Twilight had a few precious seconds to reorient herself. Shining Armor was down. Her parents were too deep in the null magic field to do anything but hold their heads in pain. Cadance, on the other hand, was displaying an almost unnerving degree of combat ability, holding her own against the three remaining earth ponies. Twilight was about to tackle one of them when the distinct sound of beating wings reached her ears.

Two pegasi shot through the door on her right, and hesitated for the briefest of moments after seeing Twilight hanging from the ceiling instead of standing on the ground. That hesitation was all she needed to gain the upper hand, as the two pegasi launched themselves towards her.

Twilight galloped towards the oncoming pegasi, and abruptly grabbed both of them in a telekinetic grip as soon as she was far enough away from the void stone. Twilight slammed the two pegasi into each other as she jumped off of the ceiling and twisted around. Landing on her hooves, two pegasi crashed into the ground behind her with enough force to leave a sizable dent in the floor.

Twilight turned her head just in time to see a flash of blue light. A thick, angry bolt of liquid lightning ripped through the air as an orange shield flared to life at the same moment. With a fraction of a second to spare, the spell ricocheted off the shield, fracturing into several fragments that whizzed over Twilight’s head and detonated against the ceiling.

The battle had only just begun.

Gloss was mortified to discover that she had shouted into an empty study. Celestia wasn’t here. She was about to turn around and demand an explanation from the guardponies when she saw an open door on the other side of the room, leading to a path through the garden.

A walk. Twilight is about to get assassinated and the Princess is on a walk?!

Gloss galloped into the garden, knowing her only hope of finding the princess in the dense maze of foliage was to follow the cobblestone trail. “Princess Celestia! Celestiaaaaaa! Twilight’s in danger! Twilight’s in danger!”

The unicorn had noticed him. Ratchet was lying on the ground below a large dent in the wall, where he had been tossed away like a used rag. Picking himself up, he decided a direct attack wasn’t going to work. Were there more of them? Deciding to take a chance, Ratchet disguised himself as one of the earth ponies he’d seen galloping down the hallway. An explosion almost threw him off his hooves, and he abruptly found himself looking at a cloud of smoke instead of a unicorn.

Seizing the opportunity, he galloped through the door. Twilight was by the fireplace, looking very angry and very dangerous. Cadance was under attack by three earth ponies, and was starting to lose ground. She seemed to be aiming for one of them in particular, so Ratchet charged at them and leaped through the air.

He felt a strange numbing sensation on his horn before something tore his disguise clean off. Void stones. They’ve got a void stone. The changeling smashed into the earth pony, but succeeded only in knocking her off balance. He scrambled to his hooves, only to get kicked in the side for his troubles. Winded, he stumbled backwards, barely managing to dodge a punch to the face.

Suddenly, an orange glow enveloped the room as the magical showdown behind him grew more intense. He needed to get that void stone out of Cadance’s range. Flying into the air, he dove straight into the face of the earth pony mare carrying the stone, and spit in her face.

“Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuugggggghhhh!” She screamed as the salve almost instantly solidified, blinding her. Ratchet was thrown into the nearby wall, but he wasn’t done yet. He kicked off, and with a loud crunch, smashed into one of the other earth ponies with enough force to knock her over. As he tumbled to the ground, wondering how many bones he had just cracked, Cadance had the opening she needed. A powerful blow to the head sent the third earth pony sprawling, as Cadance charged at the blinded, void stone carrying mare and bucked her into a corner.

Cadance was back in action.

Twilight let out a low growl. Now near the fireplace, she was far enough away from the void stones to regain full use of her magic. This is my world, she thought, as she effortlessly diffused another deadly spell lancing through the air.

Now we play by my rules.

A orange-purple bolt of magic shot towards her opponent, splitting into a hundred tiny shards that rained down on his shield before detonating.

Blue lightning zigzagged towards Twilight, only to be harmlessly deflected into a nearby chandelier. Spinning around, Twilight dodged a second bolt of electricity. The third bolt never made it that far. It smashed into a telekinetic field that sucked it into a pulsating orb of electricity and flung it right back at the unicorn, detonating in a flash of blue magic.

Without warning, a bright orange glow enveloped the room, as the unearthly cry of a fire serpent summoned from the depths of Tartarus lunged out of the smoke that had obscured the first unicorn. Liquid fire dripped from its underside, igniting the floor below it, as its gaping maw tried to swallow Twilight whole.

Twilight jumped into the air and flew over the flaming reptile, landing on the ceiling. A purple energy whip shimmered into existence, and Twilight snapped it at the rampaging elemental. A thin cord wrapped itself around the beast’s neck and slammed it into the floor, half of which was now covered in flames. Without warning, a yellow energy bolt exploded next to her, and another bounced off her hastily erected shield. She lost her grip on the elemental as she deflected another magical assault.

Suddenly, Twilight saw a cyan blur rocket across the room as a massive burst of cyan energy smashed into her attacker. Cadance had escaped from the void stone, and was now pummeling one of the unicorns. Seizing the opportunity, Twilight focused her energies, and a bright light began to emanate from her horn.

A clap of thunder echoed through the room as the purple changeling unleashed a massive white nova from her horn, covering everything in a fine layer of frost and banishing the fire serpent back to the black abyss it came from. Turning her attention to the fire serpent’s summoner, she picked up a nearby coffee table and hurled it at him.

The coffee table froze in midair, as two telekinetic grips fought against each other. The unicorn was powerful, Twilight had to give him that. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t strong enough. The table let out a tormented screech as its metal frame imploded under the titanic magical forces, shattering its glass surface. It inched closer and closer to the unicorn, its metal frame now nothing more than a slab of iron.

Realizing this was not a battle he could win, the unicorn yelped and tried to jump out of the way. What remained of the table, unfortunately, abruptly found itself free of the unicorn’s grasp, and smashed into the wall, taking the unicorn with it.

Twilight’s sigh of relief was cut short as she heard the unmistakable sound of thundering hooves in the hallway. A second wave of attackers were barreling down on them. Cadance looked up, now tending to a groggy Shining Armor, then looked over to Twilight’s parents, who nodded. Twilight was joined by her old foalsitter in the middle of the room as her parents took up defensive positions around her older brother.

Another group of earth ponies stampeded into the room, followed by several pegasi. Twilight flipped gravity for two of them, and the ponies suddenly found themselves on the ceiling. Dodging around a pegasus trying to skewer her, she bucked him in the side and sent him spinning out of control. Another pegasus abruptly found his sword frozen mid-swing by an orange-purple glow. The blade was torn from his grasp and spun around, gutting him with enough force to throw him across the room, his own blade protruding from his stomach.

Cadance had grabbed a sword from one of the fallen pegasi and was now engaged in a vicious aerial swordfight with the remaining pegasus. Twilight tried to yank her adversary away, only to realize with mounting horror that Cadance had flown so close to the northeast corner she was back in range of the void stones. All of a sudden, an explosion announced the arrival of two more unicorns, distracting the pegasus for a split second and giving Cadance the opening she needed to end him.

“Cadance!” shouted Twilight. Cadance flew over to Twilight as she pointed towards one of the unicorns. Nodding, Cadance unleashed a concentrated beam of cyan energy that slammed into the unicorn's shield. Twilight’s horn glowed a menacing magenta color, and launched a deadly ball of volatile energy at the unicorn. Already cracking under the strain of Cadance’s attack, the unicorn didn’t stand a chance as the energy ball smashed through her shield and exploded. The only thing that remained was a charred husk.

Deflecting an energy blast aimed at the back of her head, Twilight turned towards the remaining unicorn, only to hear the sound of more hooves. A third wave was upon them, this time with several more unicorns, all of which started hurling energy bolts at her. Magic missiles flew across the room in both directions as several pegasi flew through the air towards Cadance and Twilight.

Everything was happening all at once. Twilight suddenly realized there was nothing between her family and the attackers. While they seemed to be largely aiming for her, she didn’t want to end up with a hostage situation. She flew down and planted herself between the assassins and Shining Armor. Dissolving several more energy bolts in midair, she saw a glint in the corner of her eye, and was immediately faced with a razor sharp blade flying through the air, aimed straight at her heart. She attempted to push it aside, but her telekinetic grip simply slid off. Her blood turned to ice as she realized what was going on; in the hilt of the dagger sat a void stone, and it was almost on top of her.

Everything seemed to slow to a crawl as the blade inched closer and closer. There was no time to jump out of the way, or duck, or do anything other than register the fact that she was about to die. A thought floated through her mind, overtaking everything else, as she watched the instrument of her demise creep ever closer.

I’m sorry, Celestia.

And then something blocked her vision. Something grey and furry, with gossamer wings. She heard something through the hive mind. It was nothing more than a feeling, a vague notion, not a coherent thought. But she knew what that feeling was.

It was Ratchet saying goodbye.

Ratchet had barely caught his breath when a frost nova erupted from Twilight’s horn. Wincing, he cast a simple warming spell on himself before limping over to the wall. He was pretty sure he did something to his right foreleg. Looking around, he noticed that Twilight’s parents had recovered from the effects of the void stone, and were attempting to revive Shining Armor. Twilight herself had just smashed a unicorn with the crumpled remains of a coffee table. As Shining Armor started to groan, Cadance galloped over, after finishing off the other unicorn, only to perk up at the sound of hooves echoing through the hallway outside.

Ok, this is bad. Ratchet was injured and couldn’t assist them in his current state. However, now that he was out of range of the void stones, he could disguise himself as a defeated earth pony.

The battle raged around Ratchet as he sat as a silent observer, watching Twilight fend off foe after foe. As the third wave came barreling in, he abruptly found himself just a few feet from Twilight as she planted herself between the assassins and her family. Not knowing whether Twilight would need his help again, he discarded his disguise and lifted himself to his hooves.

That’s when he saw the pegasus on the far side of the room, as she was about to throw a very sharp object at Twilight. Without thinking, he tried to pry it from her hooves, but his grip wouldn’t hold. A void stone. The blade left the pegasus’ hoof and began its deadly journey across the room. In less than a second, it would plunge into Twilight’s heart and kill her instantly.

Ratchet knew what he had to do. His duty as a drone was to ensure the continued survival of his queen at all costs, up to and including his own life. Time seemed to slow to a halt as he leapt off his back legs and flung himself in front of Twilight.

He closed his eyes.

Ratchet’s body fell to Twilight’s side as a pool of red blood appeared below his unmoving form. The sounds of battle fell away as Twilight stared at her fallen friend. Her eyes began to water, and a tear trickled down her face. A foolish pegasus lunged at her, only to get flung away like a rag doll.

The fabric of reality began to warp around Twilight’s horn as powerful energies rippled around her.

“No,” she whispered. Her lips trembled, and she said it again. "No!”

She remembered all the times Ratchet had been there for her, leading her through her new life, and now her faithful guardian had paid the ultimate price. Something deep inside her snapped, and she let out an ear-shattering scream.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

A magical shockwave of unbridled power was unleashed from the changeling’s horn, obliterating the wooden floor and smashing the ceiling to bits. The walls were torn asunder as everyone in the room was flung clear across the house. Amidst the devastation, only a solitary pink sphere stood upright, as wreckage rained down around Twilight, as though it were coronating her as the Angel of Destruction.

Then, everything stopped.

Shining Armor had a headache. Being subjected to a void stone was never a pleasant experience, and it was even worse if you were sustaining a spell at the same time. He was only vaguely aware of the chaos that raged around him. He found himself under the protective shadows of his parents, as Twilight planted herself several meters in front of them.

Then, something happened. Something that was impossible, but it happened anyway. The changeling that Twilight had spoken so highly of threw himself in front of his sister, and as he fell to the ground, Shining saw a blade protruding from his chest.

Shining Armor had lived with his little sister for a long time, and back in the days of stressful tests and barely controlled magical power, he learned very quickly what she looked like right before she exploded. It had saved her bedroom from being annihilated many times. It was also what gave him the sense to use what little magic he had left to throw up a shield around his parents, right before his sister let out an explosion of magic more violent than anything he could remember.

As jagged bits of wood rained down around him, his pink shield flickered and died, his magic all but exhausted. Suddenly, everyone on the grounds of the Sparkle manor found themselves floating a few inches off the ground, surrounded by a familiar golden aura, unable to move a muscle. For a brief moment, everything was quiet again. It was a calm that would not last.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” bellowed an enraged solar diarch. Three unicorns foolishly attempted to teleport to safety, only to discover that the Sun Goddess was entirely capable of ripping them out of an extra-dimensional manifold mid-teleport. They also learned that getting ripped out of a teleport was extremely painful.

“Nopony is going anywhere,” Celestia hissed, slowly lowering herself to the ground as everyone inside what remained of the house was levitated into the front garden. The Princess of the Sun glowered at the assemblage of ponies, before gently lowering Twilight to the ground and releasing her.

“Twilight, please tell me which ponies here aren’t going to be executed for treason.”

A lone pegasus watched from the mountain face as Celestia restrained the captured assassins. She lowered the telescope from her reptilian eyes after seeing Celestia ripping the fleeing unicorns from their teleports. The rune encrusted spy glass recorded the entire event, including Celestia’s spell.

My, my, isn’t that an interesting spell. The pegasus chuckled darkly as she gathered her equipment together. The reptilian slits faded away to be replaced by solid blue glowing eyes. Once her equipment was in place, a ring of green fire encircled her. The flames surged up to encase her in a dome of fire before both she and the dome fell through the ground and vanished with only a thin layer of ash marking her passage.

As Celestia finished restraining the prisoners, Cadance galloped over to Twilight who was sitting next to a bleeding Ratchet. “Twilight, if you can carefully remove the blade, I can close his wounds.”

Twilight nodded to her before facing Ratchet and started stroking his mane. “You’re going to be okay, Ratchet. Cadance has great healing magic, but I need to remove the blade.”

He nodded curtly, but couldn’t suck in a breath as the blade had lodged itself in his right lung. Twilight used every ounce of willpower to keep her fear for his life in check as she carefully bit down on the hilt and pulled it out.

Ratchet coughed up blood speckled foam as Cadance began working her magic to repair the damage. Twilight sighed in relief as his breathing eased up. Cadance probed the wound with her magic. “There, that should be enough to stabilize him.”

He kept coughing up blood, but his breathing was much easier. Cadance sat back as Twilight wrapped her hooves around him. “You’ll be fine in a few hours, once you clear the blood from your lungs.”

Twilight helped him roll over onto his stomach so he could cough easier. “That knife nearly killed me.”

His breathing eased up, but between the battle and rapid healing, Ratchet was too exhausted to remain conscious. Twilight freaked as his head fell forward, only to be caught in her hooves. “Ratchet!”

Cadance placed a reassuring hoof on her withers. “It’s okay, rapid healing saps the body’s energy. He just needs some sleep.”

Twilight wrapped him in her magic and hefted him onto her back at the same time as Celestia flew over to them. “Twilight, does anypony need medical attention?”

Night Light and Velvet dusted themselves off after bowing to the princess. “We’re fine, your majesty,” Night replied, “but our home is another matter.”

Twilight folded her ears back. "Sorry about that, I just… he wasn’t moving, and I thought—”

“Honey, don’t worry about it,” interrupted Night Light, with a reassuring smile. "At least you didn’t turn us into potted plants this time.”

Twilight muttered something incoherent, then looked at the drone on her back. “Ratchet’ll be okay, but I’d like to get him somewhere safe.”

Celestia nodded before turning to see Cadance help Shining Armor groggily climbing to his hooves. “I should have expected void crystals,” he grumbled loud enough for all to hear as he was lead towards the group. “No pony would be dumb enough to attack the Sparkle family without them.”

Twilight could still hear Ratchet’s voice over the Link, but it was as though he was asleep.

Cadista’s relief was so strong Twilight could taste it.

If it was only me, I’d stay, but I won’t risk my eggs… or Ratchet.

Cadista sent her heartfelt acknowledgements, and left Twilight to speak with those around her. She returned to the present to find Celestia and Shining Armor looking at her. “You blanked out there, Twily, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Sorry, I was just speaking with Cadista. As for me, I got away with a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious.”

Celestia heaved a sigh. “Thank goodness. A platoon of Guardponies should be here shortly, but I do not want to risk any of these…” she looks at the remaining assassins with distaste, “assailants from fleeing. I will take them to the dungeons myself. I’ll return within the hour.”

The princess gathered all of the assassins, both living and dead, and teleported all of them back to the castle. Velvet fretted over her son and daughter’s injuries. “Just look at this. Shining, you’re lucky your horn didn’t fracture after suffering feedback like that!”

“I’ll be fine, mother. A few bottles of ether and I’ll be back on my hooves in a day.”

Velvet scowled at him, but Shining was ultimately not her biggest concern, so she turned to the mare who was. “Young filly, I hope this makes you realize the danger you’re in. Maybe now you’ll give my offer serious consideration this time.”

Twilight nuzzled her father as he utilized the first aid kit Pranceston procured to mend a shallow cut on her neck. “Mother, can we not talk about me being a changeling right now? The house is a wreck, Shining’s hurt, we all could have died, and I’m really not in the mood for this right now!”

Velvet stomped a hoof. “The house can always be rebuilt, Shining Armor will recover, but you don’t seem to see reason. It doesn’t take a genius to know those assassins were real ponies, and that means they were here because of you; or to be more precise, because of your condition. Ponies are running scared that the changelings are taking over, and this attack wasn’t some peasant rebellion.”

Twilight grumbled at her mother’s ranting and started heading towards the kitchen for some water. “Not now mother, please?”

Cadance saw where Twilight was going. They might keep ether in the pantry, or at least some fresh tea would help his migraine. She pulled Shining Armor so that she could shoulder a foreleg. “Come on; let’s see if I can’t cure that headache of yours.”

He tried to hide his pain, but Cadance could see through the tough guy act, and he knew it. “Thanks honey.”

Twilight and Velvet argued long after she arrived at the sink and pulled a cup down to fill, yet the only thing on her mind was Velvet’s constant nagging. “Mother, I told you, I can’t go back to being a unicorn!”

“You’re not thinking clearly, Twilight. You barely got a chance to see your own home again before this horrendous attack happened. You’ll never have peace if you stay this way.”

Twilight downed the first glass of water on one go. “What do you want me to do? Burn the best bridge we have to ever make changelings and Equestria allies? That’s what I want mother, to unify our races.”

Velvet harrumphed. “If that is your wish, I will not stop you from trying, but you don’t need be a changeling to do that!”

Twilight’s nerves were already frayed, and her mother wasn’t helping. She whipped her head around and snapped at her. “And I think I do! Did it ever occur to you that maybe I want to stay this way?!”

Velvet recoiled from Twilight’s venom laced words, while Shining Armor and Cadance looked on in silence. “Y-you can’t mean that,” she stammered. "No, I know what this is. Fine, I’ll not speak of this again until you can think of rational arguments instead of resorting to immature shock tactics.”

Twilight watched her mother strut off into the living room to help Pranceston with the arriving Royal Guard. Shining Armor shared a worried glance with his wife. “Twilight, was there any truth to that?”

The proto-queen set Ratchet down, and hovered a glass of water nearby while tapping him to try and wake him up. “Not you too, Shining…”

Cadance rested a restraining hoof on her husband. “Twilight, we’re your family. We’ll love you no matter who or what you are. Your mother’s just worried for you, that’s all.”

Twilight’s mood fell as her thoughts drifted to her eggs. “It’s a mother’s nature to worry about her children.”

“I know it’s difficult to understand her position Twilight,” said Cadance. “Even I won’t be able to fully understand a mother’s love until I experience for myself one day, but she’s doing this for you.”

I’m starting to. Twilight sighed and looked over to her brother and sister-in-law. “I need to show you something.”

The Canterlot train yard was much smaller than Ponyville’s, space was at a premium after all. By the time they arrived, Celestia was waiting for them. A small gathering of Royal Guard patrolled the skies, but the princess was focused on Twilight’s carriage as it pulled up.

She watched the purple changeling disembark along with Cadance, Shining Armor, and Night Light. “Twilight, why did you want me to meet you here instead of at home or the castle?”

“I have to show you something. You may not like it, but you deserve to know.”

The ponies shared worried glances as Twilight strode purposefully towards an isolated train car. Twilight announced her intentions to the caretakers to give them a minute to prepare themselves.

The older caretaker was horrified.

Twilight retorted.

There was a short pause before the caretaker replied.

Twilight felt Cadista’s gentle touch through the hive mind, sensing her acceptance as she strode towards the incubator.

Both caretakers exited the train car as Twilight arrived. “Welcome back sister,” said the younger one, with a bow.

“Thank you.” She turned around to face her pony family. “What lies inside is… precious to me. Please be careful.”

Before fear of rejection could take hold, Twilight stepped purposefully into to the train car, with Ratchet and the caretakers close behind her. Celestia made a show that she trusted Twilight implicitly, waving off her escort and entering without hesitation. The rest followed her.

Celestia noticed the caretakers standing at attention inside a control compartment that dominated the first third of the car, but Twilight was further inside with Ratchet at her side. Curiosity urged her onward and she found herself in a room filled with empty glass incubators, save for the twelve that Twilight was staring at.

“Twilight, what is all this?”

Twilight forcibly kept her breathing slow so she wouldn’t hyperventilate. “Princess. Would you take the chance to turn me back into a unicorn, if it meant that hundreds of thousands of changelings would never exist?”

Cadance and Shining Armor heard the question, but left Celestia to give an answer. The alicorn followed Twilight’s gaze to the twelve purple objects within the incubators. Those can’t possibly… “Twilight. Those are eggs, aren’t they?”

The rest of the ponies shot the princess a fearful look before turning to Twilight. Her wings fidgeted as sweat covered her face and neck, but her eyes never left the purple items. “Yes. My eggs.”

No one spoke a word as Twilight’s words sank in, that was until Shining Armor took a closer look. “Twily, I—ah, I get that you’re not a pony anymore, and I can… see you lay eggs and all, but just because you lay them doesn’t mean they’ll hatch… right?”

Twilight faced her bother with drooped ears and downcast eyes. “They will hatch in less than a month, and I lay a clutch every day.”

Shining’s gaze instantly shifted to Ratchet. Temporarily lost memories, vulnerable state, and a way to make her feel obligated to stay with them. “You.” He shoved his muzzle in Ratchet’s face. “Did you take advantage of my sister!?”

Before Twilight could react, Ratchet was pushing himself against the wall in an effort to avoid everypony’s venomous glares, save for Celestia. Having read Luna’s complete recounting of her dealings the queens of the past; she knew Ratchet was not the wolf the others believed him to be. She watched Twilight teleport to interpose herself between her family and Ratchet.

The group was forcibly pushed back by the spell as the proto-queen glowered at them. “Ratchet didn’t do anything like that!”

Shining Armor glanced back at the two female caretakers before turning back to Twilight. “If those eggs are viable, then he must have done something. What about when you were asleep?”

Twilight’s face twisted in both horror and indignation at the same time as she slapped him. “He would never do that!” Cadance and Night Light backed off as Shining Armor did his best to not rub his pained cheek. “Maybe instead of jumping to conclusions, you should have asked how!”

She tore her gaze away from her older brother. “And for the record…” She inhaled deeply to bring her tone of voice under control. “I fertilize the eggs myself as I lay them.”

Celestia moved to stand behind Shining. “Why are you showing us this Twilight?”

The proto-queen’s posture eased up at Celestia’s calm exterior. “I remember a lot of your lessons Princess. ‘The more you know, the less you fear.’ You told me that countless times.”

Celestia gave her former student a nod of respect. “Queen Cadista has been reluctant to release such information. Understanding is the first step to acceptance.”

“Exactly,” Twilight replied. I knew the Princess would understand. “That’s the other reason I wish to remain a changeling. I want our people to be united, and as long as I remain a queen, I can work towards that goal.”

Cadance glanced at her husband. “I don’t like to hate, loathe, fear, or revile. Twilight, I want you to know that I’ll do everything I can to make sure the PR campaign succeeds. I won’t have my sister-in-law be afraid to visit because of more assassination attempts.”

Night Light nuzzled Twilight before pulling her into a strong hug. “No matter what you are, Twilight. You are always going to be my daughter, and my doors are always open to you.”

Tears fell down her cheeks as she wrapped him in her hooves. “Thanks, daddy. I promise to make you proud.”

“You say that as if you haven’t already,” he replied derisively.

She giggled for a bit until Shining Armor entered her field of vision, and she pulled away from her father. “Twily, I’m—”

She muted him with a hoof gently placed over his mouth. A weak smile played across her lips. “I know, B.B.B.F.F. you don’t need to say it because there’s nothing to forgive.”

“Maybe not to you,” he replied before turning to Ratchet. He sidestepped Twilight to face the cowed drone. “I acted out of haste and ignorance. The former out of habit of my profession, the latter I hope the coming months will rectify. My apologies.”

I can’t really blame him. I’d be probably be that painfully overprotective if I was a warrior as well. Bolstered by Twilight’s reassurance over the hive mind, Ratchet stood up and took Shining’s hoof and shook. “No harm done.”

The Guard Captain moved to lightly pat him on the back. “If you ever break her heart, you’re a dead drone. Got it? Good,” he whispered.

Ratchet froze in place as Shining’s neutral face came back into his field of vision. “I’d love to stay around, but I have duties to tend to.” He pecked Cadance on the muzzle before bowing to Celestia. “Your Highness.” Celestia returned the gesture with a slight nod of her head, which brought him to his sister. “I want you to promise me to watch yourself out there. This is twice now in the past three months somepony’s tried to kill you.”

“I will, big brother.” They hugged one last time before Shining Armor broke contact and departed the incubator.

Cadance moved to join her husband. “I’m afraid I have matters of state to tend to before I can return to the Crystal Empire. Good luck Twilight.”

Night Light watched his daughter-in-law depart with a yawn. “I’m afraid this is too much excitement in one day for these old bones. I wish you all the luck and love in the world Twilight. Let me see what I can do about your mother, she’ll come around eventually.”

“Thanks, daddy.”

Twilight always knew her father loved her, but could never fully appreciate just how much until now when he radiated so much love for her that it made what her friends had given her pale by comparison. “You’ve become a fine mare, my darling. Don’t ever let go of that compassion and love for your fellow ponies.”

She nuzzled him, enjoying his presence as if she was a little filly wrapped in his hooves again. “You’re the best father I could have ever hoped for.”

He pulled back to look her in the eye. Night Light took in her reptilian eyes, fangs, orange stripe, and accepted it all. “You are my daughter Twilight. No matter what you look like, or what you become, remember that I will always love and protect you if you need me.”

Twilight couldn’t speak without her voice cracking, so she opted to hug him again. He silently rubbed her mane as tears of joy sank into his fur.

Celestia spied the three changelings watching the scene with intense curiosity. Surely they must be used to Twilight’s behavior by now.

Night Light patted Twilight on the head before making his way to the eggs. “I trust I raised you right to be a good mother.”

She joined him to stare at her progeny. “I hope so.”

Night Light sighed and headed for the door. “I’d better get home. Farewell, young one.”

Twilight waved goodbye as the older unicorn departed, leaving Twilight with Celestia and Ratchet. The drone started slinking towards the exit. “Why don’t I go find Rainbow Dash so you two can catch up?”

Celestia watched him scurry off with an amused expression. He’s rather observant. Twilight huffed at Ratchet running off and was about to speak to him over the Link when Celestia called out. “May we speak somewhere else? It’s getting late. Perhaps you could join me for dinner?”

Canterlot Castle had countless rooms, both grand and majestic; but Celestia chose her personal dining room, barely half the size of her bed chambers. It was well decorated, and it had been used many times with Twilight.

The room gave the proto-queen an intense sense of nostalgia. “I remember taking so many lessons and impromptu tests in this room.”

Celestia grinned. “Do you recall the time you tried to pass your advanced telekinesis test by making your soup swirl around in the air?”

Twilight’s cheeks flushed. “Yes, and that the waiter entering the room broke my concentration and the soup splashed all over me. I had garlic stink in my mane for three days after that.”

Her embarrassment grew with Celestia tittering. A well groomed pegasus entered carrying two platters of food. Both mares used their magic to lift their covered meals over. The waiter was joined by a second carrying a bottle of wine. “Your Highness?”

Celestia nodded for a glass while Twilight declined. “I don’t think I can for the next couple of months.”

Celestia waited for the servants to leave before speaking. “It must be difficult having to completely refrain from wine.”

Twilight begrudgingly accepted plain water. “Egg laying has its benefits. I may not stop laying for a while, but once I do, it only takes three days to make an egg. Pregnancy as a pony would take ten months. All in all, I think I came out on top.”

Celestia hummed in approval and the meal lapsed into a brief silence until she noticed what Twilight’s meal was. “I was not aware changelings were carnivores.”

“Omnivores, actually,” Twilight corrected. “As far as I know, all other hives are herbivores like ponies.”

“Did you find it odd to eat meat the first time?”

“A little, but that was only during my first meal after hatching. To be honest, I love eating meat now, except for breakfast,” she added with an amused snort.

“I remember the first time I entertained a griffin ambassador over five hundred years ago. Chipped Beak the Greater as he liked to be called. He made it a point that he would never eat a fruit or vegetable while he was in Equestria. He always ate in the grisliest manner possible to instill fear. It took two hundred more years before I found out they can eat fruit, but it’s like junk food for them more than anything else.”

Twilight thoughtfully chewed on a bite. “I think Gilda did the same thing during her visit. Rainbow said it was griffin custom to eat that way, but you taught me to know better.”

Celestia watched Twilight dig further into her steak, seeing she was completely at ease in the act. “So what do you plan to do when you return to Stripped Gear?”

“I’d like to continue my education into engineering, and learn what I need to be a good queen.”

“Will you find time to visit us?”

“Of course, but with Canterlot being so anti-changeling right now, I’d rather wait until I can stop laying before I return.”

“You seem rather comfortable with the idea of laying eggs.”

Twilight twitted with her fork as her wings buzzed with agitation. She knows me far too well. “I’m terrified, princess.” Her fork clattered noisily on the plate as she hugged herself. “It’s all happened so fast. I didn’t even get a month out of the shell to adjust before I started maturing into a queen.”

Celestia got up to cradle her former student as she continued pouring her heart out. “And now I’m going to be the mother of hundreds of thousands of changelings, build my own hive, and try to find some way to unite ponies and changelings. I can’t do it all,” she wailed.

Celestia said nothing, but continued to embrace Twilight as she expelled all the stress and tension that had built up ever since she had taken her first step out of the chrysalis. The young queen rambled on about other minor stresses and events, while Celestia listened to it all with quiet care. I have no right to harbor ill will towards Cadista when I had similarly high expectations of Twilight.

Cadista sensed her distress as well, and sent Twilight as many soothing thoughts as she thought appropriate. I want to ease her troubles, not bury them.

Slowly, Twilight’s tears and sniffles slowed and dried up as she had no more to shed.

Cadista did not want to intrude any further on Twilight’s privacy.

The midnight train out of Canterlot blew its whistle to announce its departure. Twilight and Rainbow Dash rocked slightly as the engine started pulling them along. The two mares watched the city move away from the windows of Rainbow’s cabin.

She lightly slapped Twilight. “I can’t believe you got into a fight without me! If I had been there, I’d have kicked the plot off those assassins so hard I’d have scored a field goal all the way to Cloudsdale.”

Twilight huffed and tapped Rainbow on the back of the head with a wing. “I would have, but I had no idea where you were, and had no way to contact you.”

Rainbow scowled at the ground after the train passed into the tunnel. “Those changelings did a good job in saving you; Ratchet and Gloss, I mean.”

Twilight turned away from the window to lounge on the bench. “Well, that was mostly because of the hive mind. Gloss was able to try and warn Celestia about the attack the instant Ratchet saw it coming.”

“And where was I that whole time? Napping on the roof of the gym, useless.”

Twilight cast a worried glance at Rainbow as she flopped on the bed. “There’s no way you could have known there would be an attack. We were in the middle of Canterlot, for Celestia’s sake.” Rainbow flicked a wing at the excuse. “It wouldn’t be healthy to stay at my side all the time either. Once we get to Stripped Gear, I’ll be perfectly safe.”

Rainbow had been facing away from the proto-queen, but now she flipped over to look at her. “And what if you get attacked there too, and I’m not around to help you?”

“Dash,” Twilight sighed, “it’s my hive. It’s the safest place for me to be.”

“Coulda said the same thing about Canterlot.”

“Well, what do you suggest, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight replied with growing exasperation.

“I don’t know, just grumbling aloud, that’s all.”

Twilight scrunched her muzzle while patting her friend on the back. “I don’t blame you for not being there, if that’s what’s troubling you.”

“I know,” Dash mumbled.

“Well, you’re in for a big treat when we finally get to the hive. Stripped Gear is an amazing town, just you wait and see.”

Rainbow’s mind was filled by an image of a gigantic beehive. “I hope so.”

“Good night Rainbow, and… thanks for coming back with me. I know this is difficult for you.”

Rainbow Dash craned her neck around. “You’re my friend Twi, I’m not going to let my misgivings towards changelings ever stop me from calling you that.”

I hope after you’ve seen what we’re like, you’ll forget about those misgivings. “Sleep well, Rainbow, we’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”

The pegasus was too morose to do more than flap a wing in acknowledgement. Twilight left her to her thoughts and cantered over to her quarters. The lamp was on, and Ratchet looked up from his spider walker manual.

“Hey Ratchet, how are you feeling?”

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, rapid healing can be an exhausting process.” She glanced at the book in his hooves. "Still going over that manual?”

Twilight hesitated. "I was… actually hoping to talk to you about something.”

Ratchet closed the book and yawned. "It’s about today, isn’t it? I knew you cared about drones much more than Cadista, but I didn’t think you’d blow up a house over me.” He gave her a weak smile.

She let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, uh, about that…”

“I have to say, I’m flattered, but really, you don’t need to do all that on my behalf.”

Twilight sat down next to him and sighed. "I just… I don’t want to lose you, Ratchet. You’ve been the guiding light of my new life, and I can’t imagine living in it without you.”

Ratchet fell silent. Only after a long silence did he speak up. "Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… why don’t you just get another drone? Plenty can do my job just as well, and they would all give their lives for you.”

Twilight was taken aback. "Because they wouldn’t be you. Maybe the other hives have it differently, but there's not another drone in this entire hive who is you. Sure, they do the same things, they’re even willing to… to die for me, but they still wouldn’t be you. They’d talk just a little bit differently. They’d act in a slightly different way. They wouldn’t have had the same experiences with me that you’ve had.”

Ratchet abruptly found himself smothered in a hug from the proto-queen, and tried his best to return it. He wasn’t sure what to say, but perhaps there was simply nothing to be said.

Twilight tried in vain to choke back her tears. "Please, please don’t ever leave me, Ratchet.”

“Of course not.” He nuzzled her back, in that same affectionate way she had often nuzzled him. They stayed like that for a while, locked in each other’s embrace, until Ratchet yawned again.

Twilight giggled. "I suppose we should hit the hay, now.”

The two of them slipped under the covers, and Twilight turned out the light, before snuggling up next to Ratchet. It wasn’t long before the soft rumble of the train lulled the two changelings to sleep. Perhaps if Ratchet hadn’t been so exhausted, he would have noticed Twilight’s love flowing over him like an extra blanket.

The next morning, Ratchet woke up, wrapped up in Twilight’s warm embrace. Her breath tickled his bangs ever so lightly, and the warmth that permeated his being begged him not to leave her.

He might have simply stayed there, were it not for Hot Spice broadcasting the morning menu. He’s actually making Valdect omelets today? I’ve got to get one for Twi, and myself.

With the greatest of care, Ratchet pried Twilight’s limbs off of him, and slid out of bed. He made sure the proto-queen was not disturbed before stretching in a cat-like fashion. What surprised him, now that he was on his hooves, was how fully awake he was. Wow, I might not even need coffee today. I haven’t woken up like this since…

His train of thoughts slowly ground to a halt when he realized he still felt warmth emanating from Twilight’s direction. He scrunched his muzzle while raising an eyebrow. There’s no way I could feel her body heat from here. If I it didn’t know any better I’d say this feels like… love?

Ratchet immediately scoffed at the thought. I guess she’s probably saturated with it after her time in Canterlot, but… wait, she has to be conscious to feed love to another changeling. He scratched the back of his head. Maybe she’s so bloated with love that she’s leaking it to me? I’ve never heard of that, but then I’ve never seen anypony receive the amount of love she has.

Ratchet was about to shake her when he realized who the love was meant for.

No… that’s impossible!

Author's Note

Cloud Hop wrote the fight scene and most of the ending romance scene.

10: Homecoming

Ratchet’s brain locked up as his mind smashed into a fatal logic error. She’s producing love like a pony, but she’s a changeling. This… this can’t be happening! With breakfast forgotten, he closed his eyes to make sure his senses weren’t lying. No, that’s definitely love... h-holy Mother of Burrel that’s actually love! It’s gotta be leaking love—yeah, yeah that’s it. She’s just bloated, that’s all.

But it’s much warmer than any crystal I’ve ever fed off… could it be? I know! One of the collectors might be able to explain what it feels like. This… this is just a misunderstanding!

Unfortunately, the inquiry left Ratchet even more confused. So it is directed love! Ratchet was forced to conclude that he was delusional.

There was only one recourse left.

she replied with a disturbing lack of concern.

Cadista was silent for several seconds.

Ratchet gently shook the drowsy proto-queen, which only made her wrap her pillow even tighter.

“Five more minutes, Spike.”

“Twilight, mother wants to speak to you.”

Twilight cracked her eyes open. “You’ve gotten awfully furry, Spike,” she groaned while smacking her lips.

Cadista broadened her speech to both changelings.

Twilight blearily blinked as she watched Ratchet leave.

Twilight stretched and yawned. <Bluuuuuuuuh. You normally don’t wake me like this. Is something wrong?>

That pushed some of the morning fog from Twilight’s mind.

Twilight sat bolt upright, as if someone had just read from her diary. She paused. Wordless affirmation emanated from Cadista.

A ghost of a laugh drifted over the Link.

Twilight started rocking back and forth, clutching her tail.

A short and mildly uncomfortable breakfast later, Twilight was sitting on the bed, watching the passing scenery through the window, but her mind was a million miles away.

<…Twilight, I engineered you to be capable of this.>

O-of course. I-It’s our way for each queen to tailor her children to the finest degree, but…

Twilight’s paranoia redoubled.

Cadista quickly replied.

Twilight reluctantly accepted Cadista’s placating thoughts, if only so she could think clearly. Cadista sent her wordless acknowledgement.

My nature? Twilight’s eyes drifted towards the rear of the train where the incubator was located. It called to her, striking a chord deep within her psyche that she was all too willing to heed.

Twilight’s almost calm demeanor fell apart in an instant.

Twilight stopped biting her hooves.

She could almost feel Cadista’s facehoof.

A knock on the door and a familiar presence in the hive mind grabbed the proto-queen’s attention as Ratchet entered with a platter on his back. “Oh, um. I brought some extra coffee for you.”

Cadista withdrew to let Twilight have her privacy. The proto-queen grabbed the platter with her magic and set it off to the side. “Ratchet… about earlier. I, ah...”

He averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. “Um, I really don’t know what to say. I was never trained to be a collector, so I don’t know any courtship rituals or mating habits.” Twilight’s drooping ears made him speak hastily. “But, I’m willing to learn—if you don’t mind me being so ignorant about this whole earning love thing…” He paused. “That came out wrong.”

A warm smile crossed Twilight’s lips as she sat down in front of him. “For somepony so ignorant of love, you didn’t do so bad earning mine,” she teased.

Ratchet felt the warmth of Twilight’s love swell. “Well, I just, uh, do whatever, ya know?”

Twilight’s smile grew as she leaned in close. “So do I.” She closed her eyes, and ever so lightly, kissed him on the lips.

Ratchet blinked. “What was that?”

Twilight giggled. “A kiss, Ratchet. It’s what ponies do when they love each other.”

“Oh.” Of course it means that, you blockhead, why else would she do that?! “Um, it was good— I mean, nice.”

Twilight cocked her head a little. “This sort of thing really isn’t understood outside of the collectors, is it?”

Ratchet shook his head. “It never seemed important.”

“Well, I read this book once on pony mating rituals, and it’s theorized that kissing arose from the fact that our lips are some of the most sensitive parts of our body. In fact—”

<Twilight,> Cadista interrupted,

Twilight blushed, and Ratchet looked confused.

Oh, Ratchet…

Twilight left the incubator after personally dropping off the day’s clutch of eggs. Being so far removed from the rest of the train, she found the adjoining freight car to be empty, save for the shipment of steel bars. She paused, and contentment washed over her as she thought about the eggs. Her eggs. Was it trepidation? Joy? Or perhaps it was desire that danced through her mind.

Desire for what?

Power? No, Twilight had more than she cared for. Conquest? Hardly. A home? I already have a home, she told herself, but at the same time, it wasn’t quite true.

Twilight traced a hoof along the steel ingots. The more she thought, the more her answers seemed to slip out of reach. Frowning, Twilight took her leave. I’ll find out what I really want later, I promised Rainbow Dash I’d meet her today.

Twilight barely took one step out of the last freight car when she found Rainbow Dash waiting for her with a pained expression. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, I didn’t keep you waiting too long, did I?” she said casually, seeing if the pegasus would be forthcoming.

Rainbow Dash played it casual and started walking with Twilight. “Nah, it’s cool, ya do what ya gotta do, right?” She started leading Twilight further up the train. “Say, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?

Twilight’s stomach growled, much to her displeasure. “I did, actually, but I could definitely eat again.”

“Geez, Twi, how many meals do you eat every day?”

Twilight huffed at her cyan friend. “Enough. You try laying four eggs a day, and see how much you eat.” Rainbow only shrugged with indifference. “…Whatever, I’ll tell the staff to grab us some pancakes.”

Rainbow Dash gave her a deeply condescending look. “Really? Pancakes?”

“What’s wrong with pancakes?”

“A mare as awesome as me doesn’t do pancakes. Only the might of waffles will suffice.”

Twilight chuckled as she sent the request to Hot Spice. “Sure.”

Rainbow stopped puffing her chest out as she remembered something. “Say Twi, the ‘Lings around here are in a buzz like something huge happened. Should I be worried?”

Twilight rocked on her hooves as the train took a sharp turn. “It, ah…” She’s my friend, she deserves to know. “It’s about me. Apparently I’m capable of producing love.”

Rainbow's condescending look returned in full force. “I may not be an egghead, Twilight, but even I know you don’t produce emotions, you feel them.”

Twilight grumbled while pinching her brow. There’s no way she’s that dense. “You know exactly what I mean. Chrysalis was practically getting off on all the love she was stealing from Canterlot.”

Rainbow Dash snickered. “She was sounding a bit… husky during that monologue of hers.”

They reached a dining car filled to the brim with changelings. Twilight heard the drone of a dozen of conversations waft over her as she found an empty table. Rainbow on the other hand, heard nothing more than deathly silence, broken only by the clinking of tableware, moving chairs, and the grinding wheels of the train car. The pegasus cringed at the scene. Okay, this is just freaky.

Rainbow’s discomfort was not helped by finding the waiter placing their order on the table barely a second after taking their seats. Twilight eyed her ten-stack of pancakes like she hadn’t eaten in days, and spoke while drenching it in syrup. “So how’s Ponyville been since I’ve been gone?”

“Girl, you’re asking the wrong mare for gossip,” Rainbow replied while digging into her waffles. “You should’ve gotten Rarity to come along if you wanted that.”

“Surely you know of something.”

“Well, there was this bit with the Foal Free Press going around recently. Some writer named Gabby Gums was putting up a tell-all gossip column.”

Twilight smirked at her. “I thought you said you don’t like gossip.”

“Hey, hey, there’s gossip, and then there’s gossip.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rainbow waved a waffle laden fork at her fanged friend. “You know, for somepony who spends more time reading than sleeping, you’re not really in on that sort of thing, are you?” Twilight opened her mouth to rebuke, but Rainbow moaned with pleasure at her next bite. “Ahh, I still can’t get over how Hot Spice can make a mean waffle; buck this is good.”

Ah, forget it. “I’ll pass your compliments,” Twilight offered.

“So Twi, what’s the deal with you ‘Lings feeding on love, anyway?”

Rainbow could not have asked a worse question because Twilight instantly fell into lecture mode. “I’m glad you asked. For us, love is critically important for our nervous system, higher cognitive functions, and telepathy, to operate. Without love, we’d fall into a coma, and eventually go brain dead.”

Rainbow Dash’s raised an eyebrow. “Wow, what a bummer.”

Twilight hummed in agreement. “Well, I prefer not to think about it.”

“So…” Rainbow led on with mocking bedroom eyes, “you’re a love factory now?” Rainbow smirked as she polished off another waffle to give Twilight time to understand her meaning. “Sounds like a name from one of the fellas from the stable back home.”

Twilight bristled. “At least I didn’t spend a month’s pay there every week!”

“That doesn’t even make sense, love factory. So hey, are we going to be stopping in Ponyville? I want to grab some stuff from home.”

Twilight had the perfect rebuttal on the tip of her tongue, but forgot it in lieu of Rainbow’s topic shift. That, but, oh I give up. She groaned and didn’t answer until she had another bite. “The conductor won’t stop until we reach Appleloosa, where we have to take on supplies for the final leg of the journey. Cadista doesn’t want to risk the train being attacked while sitting in the station.”

Rainbow freaked. “Ah, pickle nuts! I better book it back home before the train passes by Ponyville, be back later!”

Twilight watched her friend leave with a patronizing smirk. Five bits she’s going to grab her trashy romance novels.

Her fork clattered against an empty, syrup covered plate, and her eyes slowly shifted to Rainbow’s half-finished meal. No sense in letting good waffles go to waste.

A week later, Twilight was enjoying Ratchet and Rainbow Dash’s company over drinks in a lounge. The partially darkened train car gently rocked its occupants as it raced through a tunnel. A glass of rum sat mostly undisturbed in front of Rainbow Dash, who kept flexing her stiff wings. “How much longer are we going to be stuck in this train? I can feel myself wasting away in here.”

“Should only be for a few more minutes,” Twilight said between sips of lemonade. “The last station is just beyond the mountains themselves.”

Ratchet was too absorbed in the last several pages of the spider walker manual to pay the mares any mind. That changed when Twilight’s tail brushed against his own, eliciting a mild jump out of him. Twilight’s snickering served to identify the culprit. “Sorry, did you need something?”

She blushed while her hooves fiddled with her drink. “Find anything else of interest?”

“Nothing we didn’t go over already. Except for—”

Ratchet, along with every other changeling in the car looked towards the windows, leaving Rainbow Dash at a loss. She glanced around to see them looking out at the passing rock of the tunnel. “What’s going on?”

No sooner had the words left her month that the mid-day sun blared through the windows as the train left the tunnel behind. The gorge between the mountain and cliff based train station stretched out as far as the eye could see, as if the continent was trying to tear itself away from the fetid jungle. The setting sun coupled with the multicolored rock face of the gorge filled Twilight’s heart with wonder. “Isn’t nature beautiful?”

Rainbow mumbled to herself as the two changelings discussed the scenery. That hive brain of theirs is really creepy.

The whistle wailed as the train slid noisily into station. The trio carried their baggage towards the street where a small shuttle airship awaited them. Rainbow Dash eyed the craft suspiciously, but did not hesitate to follow Twilight inside. “I thought you said we would be traveling back to your hive on one of those big ant walkers or whatever.”

Twilight watched a series of crates being unloaded from the mobile incubator and carted to the shuttle. “Normally we would, but due to the circumstances, we’ll be traveling in that.”

Twilight waved a hoof at what seemed to be empty air. Or it was, until a huge, ninety meter airship decloaked. Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open as the shuttle brought them over into a hover above the steel behemoth.

“What in blazes is that!?”

“That,” Twilight replied with pride and she shooed a fly away from Rainbow’s mouth, “is the S.G.N. Column of Spring. It’s a q-ship.”

Rainbow stared in awe as the faux transport opened its top mounted doors to reveal a cramped cargo bay, barely large enough to accommodate the shuttle. The cyan pegasus fervently studied the craft. “Wait a sec, where’s the gas bag? Every airship has a gas bag right?”

Ratchet cleared his throat. “Actually, our navy uses an artificial recreation of pegasus magic. With that, even a ship as large as this can stay aloft for weeks without refueling.”

The shuttle came to a halt and Rainbow watched the cargo bay doors slide closed behind them. “Okay, that was cool.”

Rainbow Dash stuck close to Twilight as the proto-queen walked through the halls towards her cabin. “Hey Twi, how do you know where you’re going? Nopony’s told us where we’re bunking.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Hive mind, but we’re not going to be staying long enough to need a cabin, just a place to store our luggage.”

“Oh, right.”

Twilight stopped walking and studied her friend. “Are you really that bothered by our Link?”

“...Not really, I just can’t stand being out of the loop, ya know? I’ve seen a dozen ‘Lings go by us without a single word being said, but I can still tell they were talking to each other. It’s creepy to see a dining car full of ponies without a single word being said… out loud, anyway.”

Twilight started back towards the cabin. “I don’t know what to tell you, Rainbow Dash, we use the Link almost exclusively in the hive.” Well, aside from me, I guess. “Tell you what, why don’t I assign somepony to be your guide while I’m busy? You don’t need to guard me while we’re in Stripped Gear.”

“You are the official diplomat, Rainbow Dash,” Ratchet offered, “you should get to know the town better for a while.”

Rainbow stroked her chin in an attempt to look conniving. “A personal guide, huh? He’d better not slow me down.”

“Heaven forbid,” Twilight replied. “He’ll be waiting for you when we get to the palace.”

“How are you going to manage that?”

“Hive mind, remember?”

Bah, you can’t use it for everything. “What about your big queen? Does she hold court like Celestia?”

“Over the hive mind.”

“Training soldiers?”

“Hive mind.”

“Call the Fire Dep—?”

“Hive mind.”

“Pay your taxes?”

“Hive mind.”

“What about—”

“Hive mind!”

“Do you use it to go to the bathroom, too?”

“Guuuuuuuuuh!”

True to her prediction, the q-ship made the trip in good time. The trio stood in a lone observation bubble suspended below the belly of the ship. A jungle covered caldera stretched out below them, illuminated by the glow of Luna’s moon, seemingly devoid of all life.

Rainbow was finally getting a chance to fly, or at least hover, above Twilight. It did much to improve her mood, but it wasn’t enough to hide her sour expression. “Okay, what gives? Where’s that glowing city you raved about? There’s nothing here but a weird mountain. This better not be more brain cloud crap.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Actually, Rainbow, we can’t see the town yet either. We won’t for another minute or so.”

Rainbow Dash plopped on the metal floor next to her friend. “Give it to me straight, Twilight. How can you handle being in that think link of yours? It’s like hearing a ton of different voices all at once, right?”

“It’s really not the terror you keep making it out to be, Rainbow Dash. Yes, I hear thousands of voices all the time, but the Link doesn’t drown you in a sea of noise. If I really wanted to, I could tune them out.”

“But you don’t, do you?” Twilight shook her head. “How can you think with all that noise in your head? I mean, they tell you to be quiet in a library for a reason.”

Twilight huffed. “That never stopped you from yelling in my library.”

Rainbow snorted, but said nothing. She sulked until Ratchet pointed at the bottom of the ship. “There, that’s the edge of the masking barrier.”

They passed through a faint orange forcefield, revealing Stripped Gear in all its glory. Factories churned out smoke, food plazas were lit up in decorative color palettes, shops flaunted experimental neon advertisements, and all the buildings had warning lights. The sight left Rainbow Dash dumbstruck.

Small tugboats moved in to guide the massive beast towards the hatchery. While a second shuttle went about moving the eggs to their final destination below, the original shuttle headed straight for the palace.

Rainbow’s muzzle was plastered against the glass as she drank in the sights. Never before had she bore witness to such a spectacle of color at night, and the bewildering artistry left her speechless. Twilight joined her at the window. “A lot different than Ponyville, isn’t it?”

“You’re not kidding. I haven’t seen a town that’s this lively at night! Canterlot would if it wasn’t for the stuffy nobles.”

The shuttle passed by a sign extolling the virtues of Twist Berry Beer. “I thought you guys had that cloud brain for everything. Why bother with advertisement?” Twilight glared at her while tapping her hoof. “What?”

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer.”

“What did I say?”

Eventually, the shuttle landed on a palace platform. The lights on the platform and palace wall cast the area in an almost daytime ambience. Cadista stood near the boarding ramp.

Twilight squeezed out of the door, and launched herself at the hive queen. Cadista braced herself as Twilight collided with her in a bear hug. “I missed you so much!”

Cadista was briefly overwhelmed by the sensation of receiving intended love. So it’s really true. Praise the First Mother! She half chuckled, half snorted at Twilight’s excessive enthusiasm. “How can you miss me so much if our minds are linked?”

Twilight nuzzled her. “There’s a big difference between being able to talk to you, and being able to hug you.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she conceded before hugging her back.

Twilight jumped back to point at her nonplussed pegasus companion. “This is Rainbow Dash, longtime friend, and slowest flyer in Equestria.”

Rainbow Dash snapped to attention. “Slowest!? Them’s fightin’ words!” she playfully growled in a mock Applejack accent.

Cadista let the two mares toss banter back and forth for a minute before clearing her throat. “Ambassador Rainbow Dash, it is an honor to finally meet you.”

The pegasus had Twilight on the ground in a headlock. “Huh?” She looked up at the bemused queen before bolted up to her hooves and standing at attention. “Oh right,” Crud, how did it go again? “I, Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, thank you for your hospitality.”

Cadista nodded slightly. “And I, Queen Cadista, welcome you to Stripped Gear. The hour is late, why don’t I show you to your accommodations?”

Twilight stood up.

Rainbow Dash followed the changelings deeper into the palace and couldn’t peel her eyes off the multitude of lights brightening the hallways and aesthetically pleasing gear systems near the doors. The sound of clanking gears and hissing steam was faint, but omnipresent within the large hallways of the palace.

“Here we are,” Cadista said, breaking Rainbow from her reverie as they came to a queen sized brass door. She stepped on the metal plate for the door to slip open and show Rainbow Dash a large room with a massive adjoining balcony. She pointed at a drone standing off to the side. “This is Brass Excursor, he will be your guide and assistant during your stay.”

Rainbow Dash ignored the room and zipped over to inspect Brass. He was a little shorter than Ratchet, but with much larger wings. “Assistant, huh? You think your scout’s going to be able to keep up with me?”

The drone sent a query to Cadista to see if he could speak freely. “I’m an Excursor for my speed and agility, not my charm and good looks, that’s just a bonus,” he added with a smirk.

Twilight wrapped a hoof around her friend. “Why don’t we let you get settled in, Rainbow Dash. Cadista and I have a few matters to discuss.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. See ya for breakfast or lunch tomorrow?”

Twilight briefly nuzzled her friend. “Sounds great.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Thanks for coming Rainbow; you don’t know how much this means to me.”

Rainbow fidgeted, but didn’t push her off. “Yeah, yeah, I know, enough with the mushy stuff already.”

Twilight lost all of her mirth. “Rainbow Dash, I know it’s going to be hard for you to stay here, but I meant it. Thank you for coming.”

Rainbow groaned and gently pushed the clingy proto-queen off. “What are friends for right?”

Twilight snickered. She never could take a hug for long. “See you later, Rainbow Dash.”

“Laters.” Rainbow watched the two queens depart before turning back to Brass. “So, you think you can keep up with me huh?”

Brass buzzed his wings to limber up. “We’ve heard of your competitiveness. It’s why I was chosen.”

“Is that right?” She eyed the open door to the balcony. “Well, then you’d better prove it!”

Without another word, Rainbow Dash bolted out of the room in a prismatic blur.

Brass was only barely able to track her movement. Why didn’t I see this coming?! Brass vaulted into the air, intent on winning this little contest.

Twilight and Ratchet followed after Cadista towards the royal chambers deeper in the palace. “I made arrangements for your chambers to be prepared in your absence and all of your personal effects moved in as well.”

“Can Ratchet stay with me?” Twilight blushed. “I mean— that is, if you want to.”

Ratchet glanced between the two royals. “I, ahh…”

“Given the nature of recent events, I will leave the matter entirely between the two of you.”

He turned to see Twilight’s warm smile. “If that’s what you want, I would be honored.”

They came at last to a sizable bedchamber with a personal library on the second story. However, the room was lacking furniture of any kind, save for a plain queen sized bed and a simple dresser with various personal hygiene implements on it.

Cadista remained near the door as Twilight and Ratchet slowly stepped inside. Twilight surveyed the mostly empty chamber with confusion. “It’s a little… bare, don’t you think?”

“Well, it would at least provide plenty of room for designing and building prototypes,” Ratchet offered, “and the skylight’s big enough to airlift supplies, so they don’t need to be brought through the palace.”

Twilight surveyed the area. “That’s all well and good, but this feels more like a workshop than living quarters.”

Cadista walked over to the balcony. “This used to be Yumia’s room—she was always the tinkerer. Aside from some basic amenities, I’ve stripped everything out of here so that you can remodel your quarters as you wish.”

“Oh,” Twilight’s ears fell. I’m sure she just put it all in storage somewhere.

Ratchet sensed Twilight’s desire for privacy. “Why don’t I start packing my things so I can bring them over?” He bowed once to each royal. “My queen, Twilight.”

Cadista watched him leave before speaking.

Twilight sat on her haunches while rubbing her foreleg. “I know it’s been a very long time since Yumia’s death, but there isn’t even a portrait of her anywhere. Not your room, or this one, or… well anywhere.”

Cadista’s gaze slowly fell away from the light of Stripped Gear towards Twilight.

Twilight leaned her head against Cadista’s foreleg.

Cadista’s eyes never left the proto-queen leaning on her.

The gears in Twilight’s head churned away. The future is important, but it seems like the past is forgotten. Maybe that’s what I can do.

The elder queen felt Twilight’s gratitude, but her troubled thoughts remained.

Twilight cast the older queen a searching gaze. “Why do you never call Yumia ‘mother?’”

Cadista’s visage stiffened. “Because I do not know if she is.”

“What do you mean? She birthed your egg, didn’t she?”

“She designed the alchemy that made me, but… I did the same for her in my previous life.”

Twilight cocked her head. “Previous life? Wait, I thought that it was Yumia’s idea that our hive’s new queens didn’t break off to form their own Link.”

“It might have been,” Cadista replied at length as she tried to search her memories. “Yumia and I have played and reversed the roles of mother and daughter so many times through rebirth that I’ve forgotten who the first queen was.”

“Then who was she to you, exactly?”

Cadista sat down so she could wrap a tentative hoof around Twilight. “It’s… difficult to explain. I don’t think it would be accurate to call her mother or daughter, nor a wife or life partner as it was never a romantic relationship… as far as I know, anyway. Again, the events of the life previous to this one are lost to me, and Yumia left such things in the past. I suppose it might be safer to call Yumia and myself as one being of two bodies, always in a state of decay and renewal.”

Twilight watched the tears start falling off her mother’s cheeks. “Until Chrysalis killed her.”

A tidal wave of fury washed over Twilight. “Yes,” she replied between clenched teeth. “That wretched creature thinks she only killed my mother, when she really murdered my other half.” Her fury dissipated into resignation as she struggled to hold herself in check. “And, now… once my body fails me, through injury or age, I will die for good.”

“What!?” Twilight shouted as she leapt into the air out of shock. “Why can’t you go through rebirth again?”

Cadista gently pulled Twilight back to the floor. “Because I don’t wish to. Our dream has been realized in you, Twilight Sparkle. My time on this world is passing, and I have long since accepted that.”

Tears dripped down Twilight’s face as she hugged Cadista. “Don’t talk like that! I can’t lead the hive without you!”

The elder queen nuzzled Twilight. “Don’t fear, Twilight, just because I have resigned to leave this world does not mean I will rush to meet my fate. As long as I draw breath, I will aid you for as long as I can.” She tilted Twilight’s head up with a hoof and flashed a reassuring, but weak, smile. “And that will be for a long time yet.”

With her spirits recovering, Twilight yawned deeply. “I’m glad. For a minute there it sounded like you wanted to…”

Cadista nodded solemnly. “I apologize, thinking too much about Yumia often robs me of my good humor. You should get some rest, I have a feeling you will want the entirely of tomorrow to redecorate.”

Twilight chuckled briefly. “Well, that’ll be a joint effort between me and Ratchet, but there is something else I want to do this week.” Cadista hummed inquisitively. “I want to see just how much useable love I produce, and who can feel it.”

“I thought you might. I will make arrangements for the day after tomorrow.”

“Great! For now, I’d better go help Ratchet move. Bye!”

Why doesn’t she just ask some drones to do that? Cadista was about to ask as Twilight flew through the skylight, but something stayed her hoof. Oh, let her go, it’s probably a custom among ponies.

The next week and a half flew by as Twilight settled back into hive life. It was a nippy autumn morning as Twilight flew over the city. She took in the brief stillness in the skies before the hive exploded with activity. Firmly clasped in her magic was an object that had the distinct honor of being both embarrassing and precious to her. It was a steel container shaped exactly like the egg cartons she used to buy from Applejack.

Despite having used the thing every day since her return, Twilight still blushed at the sight of it. I’m never going to be able to look at chicken eggs the same way again. The longer she looked at the carton, the more it soured her memories of scrambled eggs. That does it, my first act as queen is redesigning this thing.

Twilight wrenched her eyes from the egg carton to spy the hatchery off in the distance, but a prismatic blur off to the side caught her attention. Rainbow Dash was about to pass her by, but Twilight’s distinctive red wings were hard to miss against the brass and bronze of the city. “‘Sup, ‘Ling Queen.”

Twilight yelped in surprise, and the egg crate in her magic wavered for a moment until she restabilized it. She let a sigh of relief before facing Rainbow Dash’s smug grin. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, I almost dropped them!”

Rainbow waved off Twilight’s exasperation. “I would’ve caught ‘em.”

Twilight pulled a checklist and quill out of her saddlebags and started writing on the back of it. Note to self: beware of Rainbow Dash while transporting eggs.

Rainbow performed aileron rolls around Twilight until she took closer scrutiny of her friend’s magic. “Hey Twi, did you notice your magic’s nearly all purple again?”

The proto-queen took a moment to hold the checklist and quill away from her face to inspect the aura. “Yeah, it started changing back a while ago, but my magic stopped short of turning all the way back. I don’t think I’ll ever be rid of the orange flicker that dances through it all the time.”

“Can’t you like, make it go away?”

Twilight put her checklist and quill away. “It takes a while and constant effort to change one’s magic color, but the orange flicker’s kind of growing on me. I think I’ll keep it.”

“It does look pretty rad. I haven’t seen anypony with multicolored magic before.” She glanced away from Twilight. “Well, aside from King Smoke with Eyes anyway.”

As they neared the hatchery, Rainbow was about to fly off when something occurred to her. “So, uh, do you always deliver the eggs yourself?”

Twilight fidgeted with her hooves, but managed to keep her voice level. “I, ah, no, I haven’t done it myself since we were on the train.”

“So what makes this batch so special?”

Twilight looked insulted. “Rainbow Dash, I would think that you of all ponies would know that every child is special to their mother, even if all you see is an egg.”

Rainbow Dash was not so easily dismissed. “You wouldn’t be trying to hide something from me, would you?”

“I—uh—buh—No! Of course not!”

Twilight cringed and started to back away from Rainbow’s reproachful glare. “I may not have AJ’s lie detector magic, but I know you’re not telling me something.”

“It’s… personal.”

Rainbow’s scowl was replaced by pleading clasped hooves. “Oh come oooon, Twilight. I’m your friend, how personal could it be?”

Twilight worked her jaw as she debated on if she should anything at all. She’s going to make me regret this. “You have to promise not to tell anypony.”

“Who’s ta’ tell? I’m always the last to know anything around here, with that group think you all have.”

I guess she’s right. “They’re… Ratchet’s eggs.”

“Him? I thought only queens laid eggs.” Twilight shot her a sardonic look before understanding fell over Rainbow’s visage. “Oh, oh! Well, well, well, so you finally got around to that, huh?”

Twilight landed in front of the hatchery and kept the egg carton close. “Yes, well, unlike you, I wanted my first time to be something special.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “So, if you two break up, does that mean he has to pay egg support?”

“Rainbow!” The cyan pegasus rolled in the air, laughing, until she saw a familiar drone flying towards them.

“Uh oh, gotta jet!”

Rainbow Dash bolted away as Brass landed right next to where the pegasus had been. “Confound that pony! Stay still for once!” he yelled after her.

Twilight watched him take a moment to catch his breath before flying off after Rainbow. The proto-queen couldn’t stop a mirthful snort from escaping her. Well, it’s not like I wanted to keep it a secret, anyway.

Unlike the mobile incubator, the hatchery was a cavernous chamber under the palace, with heavily reinforced support columns covered in disused alcoves of a bygone era. The floor, however, was a maze of pipework that criss-crossed underneath catwalks leading to rows upon rows of glass incubators.

The hatchery smelled like cleaning chemicals and ancient alchemical magic that tickled the nose of anyone who remained for very long. Luckily, Twilight was headed for the central control room, where the caretakers from the mobile incubator awaited her, along with a dozen other drones starting their morning shift.

The senior caretaker dipped her head in respect.

Twilight landed carefully on the small landing platform in front of the control center and levitated the egg crate onto the floor between them. “Because of this.” Using her magic to open the crate, Twilight revealed five, not four, glowing purple eggs.

The two drones moved over to inspect them carefully for flaws. After a minute the caretaker gave Twilight an approving nod. “They are in excellent condition, a good sign that your maturation is progressing without complication. I know it must be difficult to have a consistently high appetite.”

Twilight watched as other caretakers removed the eggs to be placed in the larger incubators below. “Not so much anymore, it just took a few days or so to remind myself that all of the calories are going into the eggs, not my flank.”

The elder caretaker moved over to Twilight with a tape measure, starting with her legs, while the younger one stood nearby with a clipboard and quill. “Well, in a manner of speaking, it is.”

The proto-queen looked at her forelegs while the caretaker measured her hind ones. “Do we really have to do this every day?”

“Yes,” the drone declared as she probed Twilight’s skeleton with her magic. “Otherwise your development and egg health might be in jeopardy. By the way, your bone density is starting to drop.”

Twilight pulled out her checklist and amended her previous personal note. “I’ll start drinking more milk,” she mumbled.

The drone made several other measurements and passed on a few other recommendations until she arrived at Twilight’s head. “I don’t understand it,” she said after removing the Element of Magic from atop Twilight’s brow and inspecting the top of her head. “There should be at least some sign of your crown growing in.”

Twilight nearly knocked the older mare in the muzzle as she looked up. “Wait, that’s what you’ve been inspecting my head for, for the past two weeks? We grow that?!”

The elder changeling tactfully pulled Twilight’s head back down to continue her inspection. “Yes, every royal since our race began starts growing their crown in at the proto-queen stage.”

“But I’ve seen mother take hers off. She hardly wears it at all around the palace.”

Having no luck, the caretaker released Twilight’s head so she could stand normally. “They’ve always been removable after fully growing in, and for other hives they are critical to the queen’s ability to command her swarm without being overwhelmed by the weight of their hive mind.”

“You make it seem like our hive doesn’t.”

“That’s because we don’t,” the younger caretaker replied, “due to us drones being far more intelligent than the average, we don’t require such intensive micromanagement.”

“Not to mention that those same drone improvements were incorporated into Cadista and you as well. You could support a hive mind of half a million without your crown’s amplification, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re not growing one. Mother never said anything about removing that from the alchemy that remade you.”

Twilight was about to replace the Element of Magic when a thought occurred to her, and she pulled the tiara in front of her face. “Maybe this is why.” Both caretakers shot her quizzical looks. “The Element and I are one and the same. What if it replaced my crown?”

The two drones blinked. “It’s… possible,” the younger one offered. “The crown grows in when you start forming your own hive mind, but maybe only if you don’t already possess an amplifier.”

The trio of mares were jarred out of their debate when Twilight froze. Of the one hundred and thirteen silent slots in the hive mind forming under her, four of them were waking up. Twilight’s ears turned towards the northern section of the hatchery.

“Twilight?”

“They’re hatching!” Without another word, Twilight raced through the air as the two caretakers tried to keep up. She arrived at a padded dais, where her first twelve eggs were resting. The eggs themselves had grown to the size of a watermelon, but Twilight was focused on four of them in particular.

A lone caretaker jumped as Twilight approached. “Sister! I was just about to call you.”

“I know, I can hear them.” The first two caretakers arrived and, with the help of the third, they moved the other eight eggs away so the first four would have room to hatch.

Twilight knelt down until she was at eye level with the quartet of eggs as they started quivering. Bit by bit, the changeling infants became more restless as the hardened wax shells started to fracture. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as one changeling's horn managed to breach her shell, and her three siblings quickly followed suit.

She didn’t know if they could understand her yet, but she encouraged them anyway.

After a minute of slowly wearing down her shell, the first hatchling freed her head from the egg and slumped over, trying to catch her breath. What she got was a full view of Twilight’s face. The purple hatchling chirped inquisitively as the proto-queen smiled and used her magic to help pry off the rest of the egg.

She turned to the other three hatchlings as they freed themselves. Twilight helped each in turn while one of the caretakers brought over a heating unit to keep the hatchlings warm.

Twilight’s heart melted at seeing the four purple hatchlings, each bearing her mane colors of purple and orange, but they lacked her cutie mark. The proto-queen’s love poured into her hatchlings, as they stumbled towards her. She looked into their azure glowing eyes with a few tears of joy dampening her fur.

Sitting on her haunches, she wrapped all four hatchlings in her forelegs and held them tightly. Sensing her as both their queen, and as a strong source of love, the four purple changelings feebly hugged her back. My darling little foals.

Twilight and her first four drones remained in the embrace for a few precious minutes before the elder caretaker rested a hoof on the proto-queen’s withers. “Sister, we should take them to nymph care.”

Twilight looked first to the caretaker, then to her hatchlings. The azure glow in their eyes was slightly dimmer than Cadista’s drones, making their irises more visible, but not enough to see their color. “Don’t worry, little ones. Your aunts will take good care of you.”

The four nymphs clung to their mother, and only source of love. Twilight kissed each one on the forehead. “It’s okay, mama can always hear you.”

Sending as many reassuring thoughts as possible, Twilight calmed her nymphs down and levitated them to the waiting hooves of the caretakers. The younger caretaker stayed behind and watched as Twilight bit her hoof as the hatchlings were taken to the western section of the hatchery. “I should go help.”

“Sister, wait!” the drone called out before the proto-queen could take off. “Twilight, you can trust your brood in our care. This is what we’ve been trained for.”

“I-I know, but, they’re my children. I need to care for them.”

“Sister, I read up on how mammals care for their young, but you can’t give that… style of care to your young ones.”

Twilight wrestled between logic and her maternal instinct. “But… they’re precious to me.”

The caretakers sat next to the proto-queen and pulled her head towards the ground floor incubators. “Aren’t they as well?”

“Of course they are,” Twilight replied definitively. “I just… I don’t want the most they ever see of me is an occasional passing glance.”

The drone hugged her royal sister. “They are linked to you, Twilight. If they ever want to feel your love for them, all they have to do is think of you.”

Twilight watched over the active incubators and thought of Cadista. She was rewarded by the elder queen’s caressing touch upon her mind. “Thank you, sis, I may not be able to be a part of their day to day lives, but I want to be there when they hatch. From both the egg and the chrysalis.”

The caretaker nodded and flew off after sensing Twilight no longer needed her. The proto-queen’s gaze remained on her eggs. My children, I promise you that I will be the best mother I can possibly be to you. After all, a queen is incomplete without her drones.

The moon was high in the night sky by the time Ratchet returned to the workshop he called home. The walls were aglow with the flickering light of a scented candle, beating back the smell of grease. Next to the candle sat a pile of books, and the only mare in Equestria who would willingly subject herself to them. Twilight was so absorbed in her studies, she didn’t notice the door opening.

Grey hooves softly clopped along the floor as Ratchet let the door swing shut behind him. He wiggled out of his saddlebags and softly fluttered over to Twilight’s side, his gossamer wings creating the slightest of breezes in the still air of the room.

“Sorry I was out so late.”

Twilight tore her eyes from the musty old tome. The light of the candle cast shadows that danced across her face. “It’s okay, I was distracted myself.” They shared a long kiss before she turned back to her studies. “I’ll go to sleep in a few hours, I don’t want to start laying first thing in the morning again.”

“Ah, it wasn’t that bad. It gave me an excuse to test out my newest washing machine improvements.” They snickered as Ratchet brought over some spare cushions next to her. “So, what are you studying?”

Twilight rubbed her tired eyes. “I need to contribute something to our race if I’m to earn the right to found my own hive. So, I’ve been digging through our history, but I can't find anything before the ebony castle's first queen.”

Ratchet started massaging her wing shoulders from behind her, eliciting a moan of relief. “I take it mother didn’t have any answers, either?”

Twilight gave up on the book and leaned back into the massage with a blissful expression. “No, she seems completely disinterested in any past beyond her own. Oh Celestia, that feels good.”

Ratchet adjusted his treatment towards the base of Twilight’s neck, making her melt into the cushions. “Maybe that could be your contribution, if you find some long lost alchemy or something? I’m sure that would be acceptable by the summit. How does this feel?”

He gently pulled Twilight onto her back so he had easier access to her left foreleg and kneaded her muscles. Twilight’s body went limp under his caring touch. “That feels wonderful. I’m suddenly really happy that we don’t have chitin.”

Ratchet betrayed none of his mounting sadness as he slowly moved on to her other foreleg. “I thought you were going to stay with Stripped Gear.”

“I am, in a sort,” Twilight replied lazily. “I won’t be severing the Link with mother. We’re going to try a new thing where multiple hives will remain united in a singular hive mind.”

He slowly worked his magic up her neck before coming face to face with Twilight. “Glad to hear it. If our minds were ever separated…”

Twilight pulled him in close for a tight hug. “Ratchet, my love, I would never leave you, nor Stripped Gear. I want my future hive and Stripped to be united as one nation. That…” She gave him a long, lasting kiss. “…will be our legacy. United queens under one Link,” and to join Equestria as a single nation.

Ratchet nuzzled her face in slow movements. “I would be honored to help you achieve such a goal,” he kissed her on the cheek, “my queen.”

Twilight’s laugh echoed through the room. “You’ve become quite the Romeo.”

“I’ve been taking a few love collector classes Rose recommended.”

Twilight nibbled one of Ratchet’s ears. “Is that right?”

Ratchet felt Twilight’s love swirling around and through him like a furnace. “It’s helped, but I think I can do better.” He planted a long, passionate kiss upon her lips. Twilight wrapped her hooves around the drone that had unwittingly stolen her heart, and they fell back on the cushions, giggling.

Author's Note

Transcript posted on request.

Cloud Hop: you are terrible with your it's. They're almost all its, which is possessive, it's is a contraction

LAP: its not my fault

Cloud Hop: everything is your fault

LAP: even the pretzel getting stale?

Cloud Hop: YES

Cloud Hop: because YOU DIDN'T EAT IT FAST ENOUGH

LAP: BUT I WASN'T HUNGRY ENOUGH

Cloud Hop: THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT IT, YOU FOOL

LAP: but i was partily hungry

Cloud Hop: THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING SMALLERRRRRRRRRRRR

LAP: BUT IT WAS A COMBO!!!!

Cloud Hop: ONLY HITLER BUYS COMBOS

Epilogue

A phonograph spilled forth a downbeat tune as a lavender-orange glowing quill moved to the song’s rhythm. A collection of rolled up scrolls sat in a pyramid as Twilight Sparkle signed another.

She inspected the letter before rolling it up with a ribbon, and levitated an enchanted stamp with Rarity’s cutie mark over. She carefully spat a globule of salve on the tie of the ribbon and stamped it. “There, that’s the last of them.”

With a flick of magic, Twilight lit the dragon scale candle and burned the letters to her pony friends and family. She had barely finished sending the letters when it flared up once again, and another letter fell onto the table. Excitement coursed through her until she saw the seal bore Velvet Sparkle’s cutie mark. Her smile sunk into a grimace as she broke the seal.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I, Open Source, Chief of Thaumatology, of Canterlot Academy Research Department, have been informed that you are suffering from a malady that has stricken your body. Upon your request, I am gathering a team, and will be traveling to Stripped Gear within a fortnight—

“I never asked for this!” Twilight angrily crumpled up the letter and flung it in the waste bin. The force of it sent the flimsy trash can flying a few meters before slapping against Ratchet’s workbench, spilling its contents everywhere.

The drone looked down from his work on a clockwork pony head to see the mangled remains of the battered bin, and the dozens of scattered paper before peering up at a morose Twilight Sparkle slouching over her desk. “Something wrong?”

He knew exactly what was wrong, but Twilight always dismissed it as nerves. She attempted to rub the sudden fatigue out of her face, to little effect. She idly cleaned up her mess without looking away from her desk. With silence being her only answer, Ratchet abandoned his work, and flittered over to the brooding queen. “You know you can talk to me about anything, Twilight.”

A brief ghost of a smile passed over her as Ratchet laid a comforting hoof on her withers. Slowly, she turned her slightly bloodshot eyes at him. “Ratchet… am I doing the right thing?”

“With what, honey?” He nuzzled her briefly.

“…Deciding to stay this way? As a changeling queen, that is.”

He paused. “I can’t really answer that, Twilight. It’s not my place to judge what you do with your life,” he pecked her on the cheek, “only to catch you if you fall. Changeling or pony, I’ll be here for you.”

It was a cheesy line, but it still produced a smile, frail though it was. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about Velvet. Dad says she’s completely obsessed over this.”

“Well, what are your reasons to remain a queen?”

“I want peace between ponies and—” she answered automatically.

Ratchet held up a silencing hoof. “Twilight, you know that’s not what I meant, why do you want to stay this way?”

Twilight’s ears fell flat, and she slumped on her cushion, while averting her gaze. “I love what I am… does this make me selfish?”

Ratchet lightly lifted her chin with his hoof. “Not at all. You have a right to be happy, Twilight.”

Laughter fought to escape her depression, and eventually won out, filling the room with warmth. Twilight blinked away a tear, and hugged Ratchet as if her life depended it. Despite all of her magical prowess, she felt safe wrapped in Ratchet’s hooves. She wished that moment could last forever.

Yet it was not to be, as a loud rapping on the door shattered the moment.

Twilight twisted around at the clock above her desk. “They’re here already?!” Twilight bounced up, and hastily gathered all of the room’s cushions into a mound.

A caretaker barely managed to open the door before four purple nymphs barged their way in, and made a beeline straight for Twilight shouting in unison. “Mama!”

Twilight braced herself as a wave of giggling purple fur slammed into her. Sixteen hooves clung to the proto-queen while four faces stared up at her with a child’s love. Chuckling, Twilight flew over to the mound of cushions so she could sit down and shake the squealing nymphs off. “How are my little ones today?”

With their mother at ground level, the nymphs swarmed over her, with one of them latching onto Twilight’s face. The little drone stared into her mother’s comparatively massive eyes with the biggest smile her tiny face could produce. “Mama, mama!”

Twilight’s heart melted into a puddle of goo as she pulled the squirming nymph off her face, and cradled her in her forelegs. She felt the love of her nymphs flow into her as they in turn fed off her love for them. The caretaker trotted over with a perplexed expression. “I have to say, sister, you don’t have the same... reaction as I would expect out of a queen, nor the nymphs, for that matter.”

Twilight flicked her tail back and forth as one of the nymphs tried to bite the end of it, while a second nymph clung to Twilight’s hoof as she gently tried to shake her off. “When I’m not on official business, I want some time to just be a mother. I don’t care how many children I end up having.”

“They certainly seem to be enjoying themselves,” Ratchet offered with a shrug.

One of the nymphs caught sight of the half-finished clockwork pony head Twilight had mistakenly brought into the cushion pile, and jumped over to confront it. Twilight noticed the young changeling positioned herself to stand between the head and her mother while growling at it.

A mischievous grin crept over Twilight and she wrapped the metallic head in her magic and made it slowly float towards the challenging nymph. Instead of being cowed or frightened, the filly growled louder at it and kept moving so that she was always between Twilight and the ghostly robot head.

Twilight leaned her head down to whisper in the nymph’s ear. “Uh oh, the big scary monster’s going to eat you.”

The nymph stiffened and, in what ended up being more adorable than intimidating, rushed forwards, jumping on top of the floating head and biting its brass ear, while trying to simultaneously hold on and punch the robot. Twilight used a bit a magic to throw her voice to be inside the metal head. “Oh no, I have been defeated, blaaaaarg!”

The nymph jumped off as the head fell to the cushions, and ended up on its side before Twilight released it from her magic. The nymph instantly repositioned herself between the fallen head and Twilight. With the head on its side, and unmoving, the nymph cocked her head and poked it with an investigative hoof. She bounced back in case the head attacked her, but it remained motionless.

Nodding with satisfaction with her victory over the monster, the nymph turned to Twilight and reared up to hug her mother. Twilight rubbed her daughter’s head, as she cooed in response. “My triumphant little protector.” The nymph buried her head deeper into Twilight’s fur before looking up into her mother’s eyes, her stubby little wings quivered with wonder. “Aegis, I think I’ll name you Aegis.”

Aegis chirped in appreciation and hugged her mother even tighter.

Later that day, in the deepest bowels of the palace, Twilight was assailed by a cloud of dust as she opened a pair of ancient doors. Cadista cleared the air with a gust of wind. “I forgot this place even existed.”

Twilight was sent into a fit of coughing, and took a swig from her canteen to ease her lungs. “Not surprising, the architecture here looks organic, like a primitive insect hive… almost like the ebony castle’s interior… Just how old is Stripped Gear, anyway?”

Cadista floated her horn light into the chamber as the two changelings entered, finding books, dust, primitive alchemy tools, more dust, a few rotten wax pods on the ceiling, even more dust, and a shelf crammed with scrolls. And also, dust.

“After all those rebirths, I’ve forgotten the hive’s true age, or even my own.” She inspected some of the cobweb covered tools. “These are shaped chitin; perhaps it’s almost as old as the First Queen herself.”

Twilight scanned the myriad of tomes, carefully blowing dust off their spines. “The markings are reminiscent of modern Vespid, so I can probably work up a translation easily enough.”

Cadista looked at the forgotten chamber with disinterest. “I still don’t understand why you wish to delve into the past.”

“Because the past shapes our present and future. There might even be something on our origins.”

Cadista’s gaze fell upon the decayed pods, and their distinctive cigar shape churned her stomach. “Ugh, to think Yumia, or I, used to resort to kidnapping for love.”

Twilight hmm’ed at seeing a promising book and carefully removed it from the pile. “All the more reason to investigate the past. One of you might have written a journal. Wouldn’t it be just fascinating to see just how far you’ve come?”

The elder queen failed to find anything of interest. “I suppose, if you can shorten it to five bullet points.”

Twilight dusted off a chair and sat down with her treasure. “This one should be good, it’s a journal from…” she methodically translated the cover as Cadista cantered over. “Kwiːn Ge’tua’vat, founder of the nation, Gur. Sound familiar?”

Cadista arched an eyebrow. “Not in the slightest.”

Twilight opened the book with a creak, as its ancient bindings struggled to hold together. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to study this for a while.”

“Be my guest. If you think this is of importance, then do it for as long as you wish.”

As the hours passed, a collection of empty glasses and several plates of food piled up on the table next to Twilight. A pair of drones dusted the old archive as Twilight worked through her translations. A few electric lamps and fans had been brought in, with wires snaking outside to a mobile generator.

Twilight put the finishing touch on the first entry’s translation. “Let’s see, alchemical projects, logistics entries of the hive’s founding, and a mortality report. Strange how advanced alchemy was, compared to their technological or magical knowledge…” Twilight’s eyes drifted down the page to a bit of informal text written in the margins.

“Ah, the personal notes of Ge’tua’vat. Too bad there’s so little of it…”

Oʊ.vɚ Kwiːn Tia’vil’yet says this land will suit us nicely, our exodus was—

“Exodus?” Twilight frowned. “Exodus from what?”

She turned the page, and a small gasp escaped her lips.

Deep in the bowels of a buzzing hive, an ebony queen with acidic magic slaved over a magical array. A piece of charcoal darted in and out, making minor adjustments. Chrysalis studied her work before turning back to the crystal ball displaying Celestia ripping the unicorn assassins from their teleports. She wrapped the ball in her magic, changing the display to reveal the mana manipulation of the spell itself.

Taking several glances between the array and the crystal ball, Chrysalis nodded at her work. “There, that’s should do it.”

She turned to face the five hypnotised unicorns standing to the side with green glowing eyes. All of them still wore their academy faculty uniforms. “Prisoner one, step into the array!”

“Yes... my love,” a mustard yellow stallion replied in an absent unfocused tone.

“And don’t scuff the pattern,” she commanded.

The elderly unicorn assumed the position in the center of the array, prompting the callous queen to empower the array. “Now, teleport back to your cell.”

Without a word, the unicorn’s horn lit up and a flash of light enveloped him, only for the magical reaction between spell and array to explode, along with him with it. Chrysalis shielded herself as bits of flaming pony flew in all directions, leaving nothing more than smoldering hooves and bloody chunks all over the room. Chrysalis kicked the bucket of charcoal over in a rage. “Damn it all! Even in the midst of battle she masks her spellwork.”

The array was ruined, but it was a failure anyway. “At least it’s not a total loss.” She faced the other charmed prisoners. “Clean this mess up, then return to your cells.”

“At once... my love,” they replied in unison.

Chrysalis ignored the ponies as she paced in front of her smoldering workspace. “The subspace disruption matrix was delayed for too long.” She stopped to collect the crystal ball that had been knocked onto the floor, its image stuttering before it stabilized. “No matter, I’ll unravel her secrets soon enough.”

She sauntered over to a defaced portrait of Celestia, and picked up a dart with her magic. “And when they are…” The dart flew across the room, nailing the base of Celestia’s horn. “You, and all the love you have for your subjects, will be mine!”

Author's Note

The Q&A chapter was never meant to last long. Just enough to get word out to the readers who missed the sequel updates. However, i've moved it to this A/N.

This will be for any lore questions up to the end of the current book this chapter is posted in, and to let people know of the sequels in case they slipped through the cracks of fimfic’s story update service.

I've thrown together a timeline for book 1. The rest will be added in later books.

As for one question from the blog:

I can't decern how much time has passed between the 2nd 3rd book or how old everyone is now

The way i see it, each season in the show accounts for 1 year. Since book 2 (For the Hive) occurs 4 years after book 1, all of the show's episodes have already occurred before book 2 starts. At least those episodes that don't conflict with the AU too much. I dont know if i will be able/willing to retroactively include anything that will happen in season 5. If i do, i'll probably write it as season five's troubles happen during Culling.

To be continued...

Right now! For the Hive