Honey Pie

Chapters

My Position is Tragic
You are Making me Crazy
Come and Show me the Magic
Won't You Please Come Home
Bonus stuff

My Position is Tragic

I should have died.

When the wave of magic swept my fellows from Canterlot, and the wall of the warehouse prevented me from going with them, I should have died.

Certainly the pain was great. I hit the wall with enough force to crack my carapace. But that pain was immediately followed by something worse. The shielding magic cut my connection to the hive, to my Queen. I was alone inside my head for the first time in my life.

I screamed and sobbed for a long time, begging for them to return.

There was no one to hear the sounds I made. I was in an empty warehouse. Just moments before I'd entered the warehouse, thinking that the pony I'd been chasing had ducked into the doorway, but I found no sign of her. Then the magic flung me across the whole of the building, into the far wall. And then my mind shattered.

When I finally was able to stop wailing, I dragged myself to my feet. I'd felt enough before my connection was cut to know we had lost. I needed get out of here, out from under the shield that kept me cut off, but the city was in pony hooves now. I couldn't go as I was. I concentrated, trying to change form. At first I couldn't do it at all. I'd known how because the hive knew. I'd never had to learn how to change for myself. I'd done it so often, though, that eventually I dragged a half-conscious memory of my past changes into light and managed a successful shift.

I was too weak for it to be ideal. The pony I shaped was still dark gray, his mane sparse, his wings tinted oddly green at the tips. For a moment he had a horn too, but with a vast effort of will I managed to make that go away. I tried to fix the wing color, but couldn't manage it. Finally I gave up. It would have to be good enough.

I staggered from the warehouse. Around me the streets were still chaotic. Ponies were picking themselves up, talking, sharing horror stories about what had just happened to them. Their voices were full of relief. They all knew that it was over. Their Princess must have saved them.

The first time I heard one of them say that I nearly went to my knees with grief. They had their Princess, but my Queen was gone.

They had begun celebrating by the time I finally reached the edge of the city. I could hear their laughter and music floating on the evening breeze.

I had expected to find the barrier shield at the city's edge, but there was nothing. I looked up. The bubble of magic was gone. A part of me started gibbering in horror. The shield that had cut my connection was gone. But the connection hadn't returned! I tried to reach out. I hunted frantically within my mind for some sense of the others, but found nothing. No trace of my hive-mates, and no trace of my Queen.

I screamed again then, a raw, ragged sound of pure loss. I was alone. I would be alone forever.

***

They had done this to me, the ponies. They and their Princess had broken me. Rage flashed through me, hot and bright, at that thought. I looked up. The mountain loomed over me, with the palace perched on its side. There I would find Princess Celestia, and no doubt any other ponies who had helped her do this to me would be at her side.

As twilight deepened into true night I took wing, soaring over the celebrating city, towards the palace.

Rage burned hot in me as I flew. But it began to falter. I was so tired. My side ached where my carapace had cracked. In pony form it seemed to have translated to cracked ribs. My mind was fuzzy. It was hard to think when no one else was there to help me do it. And I felt so tired. I hadn't fed in some time. There was supposed to be a grand feast after the invasion. Now there was nothing.

My wings beat more slowly. I began to sink lower in the sky.

No! I would not fail. I would go and spend my life attempting to avenge my Queen! Then I would be dead and I wouldn't feel this horrible emptiness anymore. I gritted my teeth. They were sharp again. My shape-shifting was slipping further.

I didn't care. I flew on. I was so close.

My eyes flickered shut and for a moment I tumbled. I recovered, pulling up in mid air. What was I doing? I couldn't remember. All I knew was the sense of despair that filled me. I was alone. My Queen. I had to avenge my Queen. I had to...

My wingbeats slowed again, and this time I did not recover in time. I crashed.

For a time the world was blissfully black and empty. When I woke and was forced to think again I found myself lying in a clump of bushes. Broken branches were all around me. I was broken too. In body as well as mind, for when I tried to rise I found a broken hind leg had been added to my cracked carapace. My pony form had vanished. I lacked the energy to summon it again.

For a time I struggled to get to my feet, then gave up. It was over. I had failed. My body had failed, and my mind had failed as well.

I sobbed. There were no tears, changelings cannot shed them. But I could cry and wail, letting out the helpless, hopeless despair I felt.

Eventually I ceased wailing once more. My throat was raw, making the crying painful, adding to the many other pains I felt. I lay still, waiting to die, as the moon slowly rose in the sky. I could still hear music and celebration, not all that distant, from the palace that I would never reach.

I wondered if those distant ponies could ever feel how I felt. They were so full of laughter and joy. I could taste the faintest possible hint of it, too far away to nourish me, but there all the same. Could any of them ever feel broken? Could a pony be shattered as I had been shattered?

I wanted to hate them again, but I didn't have enough energy to hate them anymore. I closed my eyes. I hoped I could die soon. No doubt when morning came the ponies would find me and kill me. Then I wouldn't be broken any more.

Hooves sounded not far away, drawing closer. No doubt it was a pony out walking in the garden into which I had fallen. Perhaps my blessed release from pain would come sooner than I had thought.

I opened my eyes again as the creature approached. In the moonlight the pony's color was hard to tell. Purple perhaps, or pink. She was a mare, young, of fairly average build. Her hair was a little darker than her coat, hanging long and straight around her face. She was walking along very slowly, her eyes down. Her ears were down as well. She looked sad.

I must have moved. I don't remember trying to move, but she must have heard some rustle of the bushes I lay in, for her head snapped up and her eyes were suddenly fixed on me. For an instant her expression was full of fear. I could taste it too, hanging on the air, bitter and unpalatable. Then it was gone, leaving nothing behind.

"A changeling. Well, I guess I don't have to look happy for you, mister changeling. I don't think I could cheer you up even if I wanted to. You look pretty bad." Her voice was curiously flat and toneless.

I blinked at her. "Aren't you going to kill me?" My voice sounded dreadful, raspy and half-dead. But I was half-dead, wasn't I? More than half dead, if you counted my mind as well as my body.

She cocked her head to the side, though her expression was dull, lifeless. "No, probably not. I've never killed anypony."

"I'm not a pony."

"I know. But I still don't want to kill you."

"You should. Somebody should."

"Why?" The question was still flat and toneless.

"I want to die," I whispered. "I am alone in my head. My Queen is gone. My hive is gone. I am broken. Please, pony. I want to die."

She stared at me. I tasted an upwelling of something on the air. Something sweet and nourishing, and startling. She felt sympathy. Sympathy for me. And more than sympathy, empathy, true shared feeling.

Then the realization hit me. I had tasted nothing from her before. I had not noticed the flavor of dark despair coming from her, because it was exactly what I myself had been feeling.

She was broken too.

***

We looked at each other in silence for a time. I felt a flicker of strength returning to me, from her empathy. It was not love, but it was something I could feed on all the same. "Do you want to die too, pony?" I finally said.

She looked away from me. "Not most days."

"But some days."

"Yes."

We were silent again. At last she said, "I know I shouldn't die. I know it would be wrong. I guess that means you shouldn't die either. I don't know if anypony can fix you. Nopony can fix me. But at least they can heal you. I'll go get help for you."

She trotted away. I lifted my head to watch her go until she was out of my sight. I let my head fall and my eyes slide shut again. Whatever she had said about getting help, I was certain that any ponies she fetched would kill me. I was the enemy. Defeated enemies weren't shown mercy.

I heard hoofsteps and opened my eyes again. A group of ponies was approaching. The one in the lead was like and yet unlike the pony I'd met before. She was still that probably-pink color, and her hair was still a little darker than her coat, but it was curly now, puffed up around her face. She walked with energy, a smile on her face. As she drew near I could taste a hint of happiness from her. It was only a hint though, and it tasted thin, brittle, as though it might snap and vanish in an instant. Beneath it was the bleak despair I knew all too well.

She was pretending to be happy, but she was still broken.

"There, see? I told you there was a poor little squished-bug changeling out here!"

"So you did, Pinkie." The unicorn next to her had a glowing light at the tip of her horn. She looked at me with narrowed eyes. I could taste the mix of chalky suspicion and tart curiosity radiating off of her easily. "And you're right, it does look in pretty bad shape. I guess we'd better get it to a doctor. Although I'm not sure what a pony doctor could do for a changeling."

"I'm sure they could do something for him. We can't just let him lie here and die."

The unicorn sighed. "You're right. All right then. Somepony get a stretcher. It doesn't look like it can walk. And guards? Let's get a magic-lock on it, so it can't cast any spells. I don't know much about changeling magic, but a magic-lock should still work."

A very large, white pony wearing armor stepped forward and slid something over my horn. The world immediately went a little bit flatter as my magic was cut out. That didn't matter to me, I had too little energy left to cast any sort of spell with anyway. Though I once again felt a little trickle of life flow into me from the pink pony's empathy as she stood by and watched.

The stretcher soon arrived. The purple unicorn lifted me up onto it with her magic. After that came a barrage of new events. Bright lights. Ponies examining me. Questions about what hurt and what didn't. Questions about who I was, about the hive, about the invasion. Questions about my Queen. There was also a terrifying interview with their Princess. Much of that night was an incoherent blur of pain, but I remember the Princess.

She was as large as the Queen, but white, and her flowing mane and tail made her seem even larger. She too asked me about the hive, and about my Queen. I gave few answers. In part because I did not wish to be a traitor, but mostly because I could not remember. The memories had been in the hive's mind; they were not in mine any more.

I sobbed again, towards the end, wishing I did know, wishing I could answer If I could, it would be because I was part of the hive again. The Princess left after that. I thought, as she went, that I tasted a hint of sympathy from her too.

There were more ponies asking about what hurt, and finally something that eased the pain in my body, if not in my mind. I was put in a bed, strange and soft, and slipped at last into wonderful, dreamless slumber.

***

I woke. The first thing I was aware of was the gaping emptiness in my mind. No hive. No Queen. I was still alone. I gave one soft, shuddering sob, before opening my eyes to face another day of being broken.

"Hey there, mister changeling." The broken pony was sitting next to my bed. In the morning sunlight I could see that she was indeed pink. A slightly dusty pink, with a darker, faded rose mane. She looked so strange. Like a changeling, yet not. Her legs were smooth. Her hide was covered in sleek fur. Her mane and tail were silky strands of hair. So very different, and yet she was shaped like a changeling, and her face was much like a changeling's face.

"I'm Pinkie Pie. Or maybe I'm Pinkamena. Some days I'm not sure. But either way I guess it's good to meet you. What's your name?" She didn't sound quite as flat this time, but she didn't sound bouncy and happy either.

"Changelings don't have names." My own voice sounded a little bit less raw. I still felt raw. Would I always?

"Maybe I should give you a name then. I can't keep calling you 'mister changeling'."

"No! Changelings don't have names! I don't want a name! The hive knows who I am. The hive knows who I am. We don't need names. I don't want a name!"

"Oh gosh. I'm sorry, mister changeling. I'll just keep calling you 'mister changeling'. You're the only changeling prisoner there is, so I won't get confused or anything."

I tried to calm myself, knowing that my outburst had been irrational. It didn't matter if the pony named me. I was already cut off from the hive no matter what happened. Just then the door swung open. In an instant the pony's mane puffed up again, her color brightened, and a smile leaped to her lips. "Hi, Twilight!"

"Hi, Pinkie. Thanks for keeping an eye on the changeling. How is it doing?"

The pink pony frowned. "He is doing better, the doctors said. He won't be up and around for a few more weeks though. I guess chitin takes time to mend, even with magic helping."

"Pinkie... this is a changeling we're talking about here. It said itself that it's just part of a hive, not really an individual."

"He said he didn't like being an individual, that doesn't mean he's not one. Come on Twi, you're the one who's doing all these friendship studies. Is it really right to call somepony 'it' even when they're not a pony? You wouldn't call Spike 'it' would you?"

The unicorn heaved a sigh. She looked over at me. I held very still, not sure what I should do. "All right. He. Uh, wait. How do you know that? Maybe it's a she?"

"Ooo, good question! Are you a mister changeling, or a missus changeling?"

I heaved a sigh of my own. "Mister will do." I was not capable of breeding, so the question was really rather absurd, but I'd taken mostly male forms while among ponies.

"Are you still alone in your head, Mister?"

I rolled away from her and didn't answer. I hated her for a moment for asking.

Then I felt her hoof touch my shoulder. A flood of empathy washed over me. It tasted so sweet. The reason for it was so very bitter. "I'm sorry, Mister Changeling. I know you don't want to think about it. It's easier to not. I know. But maybe it can be fixed."

"It can't," I said flatly.

"Twilight? Can't you just... I don't know, magic up something?"

"You're seriously asking me if I can restore a changeling drone's telepathic connection to his hive, while he's here in the palace itself? Pinkie, that's a little crazy even for you."

I could taste the bitter sorrow that hung around her growing stronger. Her brittle shell of happiness was on the verge of cracking. "I'm sorry Twi. I just don't like seeing him so sad."

"Oh, Pinkie. Trust you to want to cheer up even a changeling. I'm not sure this can be fixed, though. Maybe if he were physically reunited with the hive... But I'm not sure we can just let him go."

"I'm afraid we can't." That new voice was the Princess. I peeked at her. She was still huge and terrifying. And she was still sending out a thread of sweet sympathy. "He is our only chance to learn more about the changelings. Yet by the time we have learned what we can from him, I suspect he will know far too much about us."

"They would probably kill me," I said. "I wouldn't be one of them. They would think I was from an enemy hive. I can't go back." Unless I went back to die. I could escape the pain that way. But the pain of seeing my hive again when I couldn't be part of it was something I didn't want to face. I hadn't been able to face the idea of giving up by accepting a name only moments ago. Seeing my utter isolation like that would be too much, even if I wouldn't have to live with it for long. There were easier deaths than that, if I still wanted to die.

"There are other hives then?" asked the Princess.

Questions again. But I might as well answer them. "Yes. We are the biggest, the best, and the only one to dare act so boldly, but there are others."

"Can you tell me about them?"

"No. I was a pony infiltrator. I learned about you ponies. I never dealt with other hives."

"Do you know if they are near any other pony cities?"

"I think they have to be. We have to be able to feed."

"Ah yes. You feed on love."

"And on other positive emotions."

"Oh? Does that mean that you are gaining nourishment of some kind here?"

I glanced between her and Pinkie. "Yes."

"Do you require solid food as well?"

"Some, yes."

"Very well. I'll see to it that you're fed. Although if your diet is carnivorous there may be some difficulty."

"We are omnivores. Nearly any food will do." A vegetarian pony diet was bland, but the emotions had always made up for it, when I'd spied among them before.

"Good. Well, I must go. There is a great deal of work that needs doing in the wake of the attack. Pinkie?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia?"

"Do you mind staying with the changeling and keeping an eye on him? I'd like to have Twilight's help organizing the necessary disaster relief efforts."

"Sure thing!"

"Thank you. Twilight? Come, there is much to do."

The Princess and the unicorn left. Pinkie sat down next to the bed again. Her hair was still poofy, though maybe a little less so than it had been.

"So if you eat feelings, you can taste what ponies feel, right?"

"Yes."

She sighed, and her hair went limp all at once, like a popped balloon. "Then there's no point in pretending I feel something I don't around you, is there?"

I didn't answer that. I wasn't sure it needed an answer. We sat in silence for a long time. There was something almost pleasant about that. We understood each other. There was nothing we needed to say.

After a very long time, Pinkie said, "What do feelings taste like?"

"They're all different."

"Does sadness taste bad?"

"It's bitter. I can't feed on it."

"I'm sorry then."

"You have sympathy for me. That is sweet. It is enough to sustain me."

She gave me a pale smile. "I'm glad then. Is it... I dunno, is it sweet like cupcakes, or is it different?"

"I've never had a cupcake."

She blinked. "What, never?"

"There aren't any in the hive."

"But you've been here, pretending to be a pony before, haven't you?"

"Yes. But I was busy, and I didn't have any bits even if I'd had the time to try a cupcake."

"That's just not right!" She straightened, her face determined. The taste of her emotions had changed. The new feeling was subtle. I didn't quite have a word for it, but it was sweeter than her despair had been. I noticed that a few strands of her hair had begun curling. "You stay here, Mister Changeling. I mean, not that you can go, your leg is broken and there's a couple of guards outside the door anyway, but don't get out of bed or anything, I'll be right back!" She took a deep breath and her hair fluffed up again. Then she bounced out the door and was gone.

I stared after her. She was gone for perhaps fifteen minutes. When she came back she was carrying a cupcake. It was vivid pink, like she was now--a bright, candy color. "Here, Mister Changeling! You have to try this! Cupcakes are soooooo good!"

She held it out to me. I took it and peered at it curiously. I recognized it, I'd spent the last several years frequently among ponies, scouting and acquiring food for the hive. Those memories, at least, seemed to be with me still. But much of my knowledge was purely academic. I'd certainly never tasted a cupcake before. I took a cautious lick of the frosting that topped it.

It was amazing. Nearly as sweet as pure love.

"Is it good? Is it, is it, is it?" Pinkie was still fluffed up and bouncing eagerly. I tasted something from her too, a growing flow of sugary happiness. It was small still, but it wasn't brittle the way her pretense had been.

"It is good," I said. I took an actual bite of the pastry itself. That was even better than the frosting alone. "It's really good! It tastes almost like love does."

"Yay!" Pinkie bounced.

I smiled, and eagerly ate the entire cupcake. I also eagerly pulled in the happiness now radiating off of Pinkie. It tasted better than sympathy had. Though it was fluffy, insubstantial, a bit like frosting. Very sweet, but not as nourishing. It was a positive emotion, but it wasn't directed at me in quite the way sympathy, or friendship, or love would have been. Still, it was good.

"You liked the cupcake?"

"I did, yes." I gave her a smile. "I also like how your happiness tastes."

She blinked at me. "Oh. I am happy, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are."

"I like to make ponies happy. It's my special talent. I guess it includes changelings too. It's the only time I'm ever really happy, when I'm making somepony... somebody else happy. It's just so hard to be happy all the time." The bitter despair seeped back, and she sighed, fading a little bit. "It used to be easy, I didn't even have to try. But now it seems like it gets harder and harder every day. Every tiny little thing makes me sad. Things that used to never bother me at all hurt me so much now. I'm sad so much of the time. But I can't let ponies know. Then they'd be sad too, and I'd be failing at my special talent, which would be the saddest thing ever."

I nodded. I knew about cutie marks and special talents. As I understood it, the compulsion to perform one's special talent was very much like the compulsion to obey the Queen. I sighed. That was something I would never feel again.

"Aww, and now you look all sad again, Mister Changeling."

"I have no Queen now, and no hive. A changeling without a hive is like a pony who has lost their cutie mark. I will always be sad. Even with cupcakes."

She sat down next to the bed and reached out to put a hoof over mine, where it lay atop the blankets. "I wish I could fix it for you and make you happy."

"Some things can't be fixed."

***

Pinkie was by my side almost constantly as the days went by. I was glad of it. Especially since nearly all the other ponies I met regarded me with revulsion. Even the doctors who tended me were obviously doing so because their Princess commanded it, not because they wished to.

Pinkie Pie's friends felt a little less revulsion than most ponies. Apparently the fact that their friend accepted me was enough to temper their feelings for me. Still, when they'd been visiting us I always felt a little sick from the pressure of five ponies' worth of rotten-sour unease and distaste directed towards me. I didn't pull it in and feed on it--trying would have left me violently ill--but I couldn't keep from tasting it. It made me queasy in such quantities.

I told Pinkie about it. We had nothing to do but talk for most of the day. We soon knew everything about each other's lives. Though she had more stories to tell than I; life in the hive was often repetitive.

"Maybe you should turn into a pony? You do look really weird with the holes in you and the sharp fangs and all. Some ponies get weirded out by that kind of thing."

I considered this. "I could try. But they would have to take off the magic-lock from my horn first."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. I'll ask the Princess."

But the Princess, when asked, said no. "I'm sorry, Pinkie. I know you like him. But it's just too much of a risk."

Days passed and my chitin continued to mend. Eventually I was allowed out of bed on short, careful walks. My leg was in a splint, making it awkward, but I could soon walk across the room without help. There was a rising sense of tension from the ponies other than Pinkie as time passed. They didn't seem to know what to do with me.

One morning I woke to the sound of an argument. It was faint, the speakers were not inside the room with me, but I could hear everything all the same. I lay in bed, my eyes still shut, and listened.

"Pinkie, I know you think of him as a friend, but he is a changeling. Not a pony. A shape-shifting monster that feeds on ponies. We are their prey, Pinkie. Changelings can't be trusted!"

"It's not like that! Eating feelings isn't like eating food. He eats my feelings all the time and it doesn't hurt."

"How can you even say that, darling? It makes my skin crawl thinking about that... creature feeding on me."

"Mister is not a creature, he's a person! He's practically a pony."

"Pinks, he's not a pony. He's never going to be a pony. He's a changeling."

"If Princess Celestia would let him he could turn into a pony. You wouldn't even be able to tell."

"Ugh. That just gives me the willies. Thinkin' that anypony you meet could be some kind of bug in disguise, just waitin' around to have you for dinner."

"You don't understand. None of you understand! Mister isn't like that!" Pinkie slammed a door and ran out of the room. I frowned and opened my eyes, looking over at the door to my room. It was closed. Outside there was just a hallway. I couldn't hear Pinkie at all. And yet I could. I could hear her hooves on the floor as she ran away from her friends. Even though the hall outside was silent.

I was hearing her with something other than my ears.

I was hearing her with her ears.

A few minutes later I heard her with my own ears as well. Her hooves sounded in the hall and after a pause while the guards outside my door checked her, the door swung open and she came into the room.

"Hi, Mister Changeling."

Hello, Pinkie. I didn't say it out loud. I wasn't sure that this could be real. I wanted to test it.

"My friends are being meanies today. I wish they could understand how nice you are."

To be fair to them, if I still had my hive bond, and my Queen ordered me to attack them, I would.

"But you don't anymore."

Not with my Queen, no.

Pinkie suddenly looked at me. I could feel her startled surprise. "Wait. I didn't hear your voice. You aren't talking."

No, I'm not.

"Wow. But I can hear you. What's happening?"

We're forming a hive bond.

"We... we are? But that's wonderful! You can have a hive again!"

I looked away from her as a sudden stab of pain went through me.

"Oh. I felt that. I said something wrong, didn't I? I'm sorry, Mister."

I spoke out loud this time. "A hive is thousands and thousands of changelings, a hum of being that's like nothing else, all ruled over by the Queen, the heart of us all. A hive bond with one pony can never replace that." Despair welled out from that single, stabbing thought and filled me. "I'm still broken. I can't be fixed."

Suddenly she had climbed into the bed with me and wrapped her hooves around me. I felt her warmth, her soft fur against my carapace. She was crying as she held me, shedding the tears that I couldn't. "I'm so sorry, Mister. I really am. I made you sad and I'm supposed to make ponies happy. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."

I could feel her sadness. I wasn't just tasting it anymore, I felt it, like it was my own. I felt too her overwhelming need to fix it somehow, to make me happy, to make it all right. I wanted to make her happy suddenly. I wrapped my own hooves around her and hugged her back. "It's okay, Pinkie. It's okay. You don't have to fix me. You're here, with me, so I'm not so alone. That's enough. I'm here too. I know you're broken, like I am. We can be broken together."

She sobbed harder, clinging tightly to me. "I am broken. I pretended I wasn't and everything was okay, but it's not. It never will be."

"I know. I understand."

"You do. Nopony else does. But you do."

I stroked her hair, feeling the soft, limp strands of it, so unlike my own chitinous, filmy crest. I spoke silently to her. We will be broken together. Neither of us will be alone in our sorrow again.

I felt something different welling up in her as she clung to me. It was strong, and bright, and very sweet. I had tasted it before, gathered and fed on it through deception, but I had never before felt it directed at me by a pony who knew what I was. Thank you, I heard her say in the depths of my mind.

Then she kissed me.

***

I won't say that changelings do not kiss. I never paid any attention to the details of what the underqueens and the males did when they prepared to lay more eggs for the hive, but I think kissing might perhaps come into it. I had never been kissed, however. And I had never felt or tasted such love as Pinkie was suddenly pouring into me. I felt like I could fly without my wings. I felt like I could shatter the magic-lock and do anything. I felt wonderful.

"Pinkie Pie! What are you doing?!"

"Eep!" Pinkie broke off the kiss and nearly tumbled out of the bed, away from me. I could feel the mixture of surprise, embarrassment and sudden fear that flashed through her. "N-nothing, Twilight."

"Nothing?! You were kissing a changeling!" She rounded on me suddenly. Her horn was glowing and I felt myself picked up in her magic. "What have you been doing to her? You've been feeding on her, haven't you? Deceiving her? You've been using her, trying to make her love you, haven't you?"

I shook my head frantically. "No! I would never do that to her."

"Twilight, don't hurt him. Please. He was just trying to make me happy."

"Well it didn't work, did it! Just look at you! You look just horrible! Like you did before your surprise party last year, when you thought you'd lost all your friends. He isn't making you happy, he's draining all the happy out of you!"

Pinkie started to cry suddenly. "No he isn't. The happy was already gone. It's been gone for a long time. I can't pretend anymore."

"Pinkie..." I reached out to her without thinking, struggling in Twilight's magic. She felt so sad. I needed to make her happy somehow.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight's magic still held me up, but she wasn't looking at me anymore; she was looking at Pinkie Pie.

"I try so hard to be happy all the time, but I can't! I just can't. I want to make everypony smile. I want to always be happy and cheerful and cheer everypony up, but it gets harder and harder! I've been pretending, acting like I was cheery when I was really crying inside for a long time now. I guess I can't pretend anymore."

Twilight slowly set me back down on the bed. "Pinkie... you don't have to be happy all the time. Nopony is happy all the time."

Pinkie sniffled a little. "I'm the Element of Laughter though. Aren't I supposed to always be laughing?"

"If that's how it worked, I would never be able to stop casting spells. You don't have to be always laughing, Pinkie." Twilight hugged her. I stayed on the bed. I didn't know what to do. I could feel that Pinkie was feeling a little better. Hugs apparently helped. I still wanted to do more for her, somehow. But then Twilight let go of her and looked at me again. "That doesn't explain why you were kissing a changeling though!"

"Mister understands. I couldn't have pretended to be happy to him even if I wanted to, so I didn't have to. He's sad too, the way I'm sad. I'm supposed to be happy. He's supposed to be with his hive. We're both all messed up. So he understands."

"I... I'm not sure I understand. I'm not sure I can ever trust him, Pinkie. Changelings deceive ponies. That's what they do. How can you trust someone like that?"

Pinkie looked away from Twilight, her mane falling around her, hiding her face. "I deceived ponies. I lied to you all about being happy."

"That's different."

"Is it?"

"Yes it is! You're not trying to suck all the love out of us!"

"Oh, Twilight. It's not like that. You know Mister has been feeding from me all this time, and it's never hurt me. He doesn't suck anything out of me, he just... soaks up extra feelings, I guess. It doesn't hurt me."

"How can you know that, Pinkie? How can you be sure it isn't hurting you?"

Pinkie looked at me. She furrowed her brow thoughtfully. Should I tell her about you being in my head now, Mister?

I don't know.

Maybe not. It would explain how I can know, but it might scare her.

"Pinkie?"

Pinkie looked back at Twilight. "I just know. How do you know that somepony is your friend? How do you know if somepony is your special somepony? I just know."

Twilight sighed. "A changeling. Is your special somepony."

"Maybe. I know Mister is my friend, at least."

"Augh." Twilight rubbed her forehead. "This is making my head hurt. I'm going to go get Princess Celestia. You stay here. Please don't let us find you two kissing again when I get back." I could taste her disgust. It tasted foul and slimy and I wished she would stop feeling it so strongly at me.

"I won't," said Pinkie in a small, sad voice.

As soon as Twilight had gone I was at Pinkie's side. My leg was still splinted but I could walk and I didn't care that it was awkward. All I wanted was to make her feel better somehow. I hugged her tightly. She hugged me back, but didn't kiss me again.

I held her as we waited for her Princess. Maybe she was my Princess now too. Pinkie was my hive, after all. I wasn't sure of anything anymore. I felt afraid, lost and confused. Pinkie felt hurt and lost as well, I knew. But she was there. She was something to cling to. So we clung together and waited.

Eventually the door opened and the Princess came into the room. I felt for some connection to her in my mind, but there was nothing. Pinkie was my hive, but she wasn't connected to these other ponies at all.

How could they stand it, always being alone in their minds?

"Pinkie," said the Princess. I expected her to ask about the kissing, but instead she said, "Twilight tells me that you've been pretending to be happy."

Pinkie looked up from under her curtain of hair. "Yes."

The Princess sat down on Pinkie's other side, the one where I wasn't sitting, and folded a wing around her. The wing, of necessity, cupped around me as well. It was surprisingly pleasant. I could taste the edges of a gentle wave of love from the Princess. Not for me, but for Pinkie.

"Even the Element of Laughter is allowed to be sad some of the time, Pinkie."

"Really?"

"Really. I wielded laughter myself, once. But I am sometimes sad."

"But you're always so... so..."

"Serene? Composed? Perfect? Ponies say that of me, but I am not perfect, Pinkie. It is true that sometimes ponies don't need to see exactly how you feel. Screaming and wailing whenever you feel bad would be rather unproductive. But that doesn't mean you have to pretend to feel happy when you don't."

Pinkie started crying again, but it felt different this time. They were cleansing tears. Celestia held her, and so did I, until she stopped. The Princess rose and looked down at us again. I still wasn't going to let go of Pinkie. Pinkie sniffled a little bit and looked up. A few strands of her hair started to curl. I could feel that she was feeling better.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia."

Celestia smiled. "You are more than welcome, Pinkie Pie. I want my little ponies to be happy too, you know."

Then she looked at me. "Even if sometimes the things that make them happy might be strange. And difficult." She smiled a little wryly. "I am not sure I can ever trust you, Mister Changeling. But I'm also not sure it's right for me to keep you here, with your magic restrained, forever. I certainly can't ask Pinkie to stay here keeping an eye on you for me forever. All of her friends are returning home today. She should go with them."

I clung to Pinkie tighter, suddenly not merely wanting to comfort her, but wanting to somehow latch myself to her so I could never be removed. She was my hive now, all I had, and the Princess was going to send her away.

"It's okay, Mister," said Pinkie, hugging me back. I knew she could feel my sudden fear. "You can trust Celestia."

"You can, little changeling. The problem is, how can we trust you?"

Pinkie's brow furrowed in concentration again. I think we should tell her.

I hesitated. She was still huge and alien and terrifying. She was not my Queen. But she was Pinkie's Princess, and Pinkie was my hive. All right.

"You can trust him because he's in my head now, Princess."

Celestia's eyes narrowed, locked on mine. "Explain."

"She is my hive," I said. "The hive bond has formed between us. I cannot hurt her. I would never hurt her. And..." I swallowed. "You are her Princess. She is my hive. You... you are my Princess too now. Even if I can't feel you, like I could my Queen. I will obey your will."

She looked at me in silence for a long moment. Then her horn lit up. Magic flowed around me, and around Pinkie too. It tingled gently, but didn't seem to do anything. When it vanished the Princess nodded. "You do indeed have a bond between you. A bond I have never seen before. Fascinating."

"Does that mean you believe me that Mister Changeling doesn't want to hurt anypony?"

Celestia nodded regally. "I do, yes."

Pinkie's hair poofed up suddenly and I could feel the welling joy in her. "Yay! That means that I can go back to Ponyville and you can come with me, Mister Changeling!"

I knew I should have been afraid. I was about to be dragged out into a sudden, strange world. But she was so very happy. It felt wonderful to have made her so happy.

The Princess bent over me. Her horn touched the base of mine. An extra layer of life flooded back into the world as the magic-lock fell from my horn.

I bowed before her. She was my Princess now. "Thank you, Princess."

"You are welcome, my little changeling." She smiled wryly at me. What I tasted from her then was not quite like the love Pinkie had shared with me. But it was a warm, deep sort of affection that bordered on it. She meant it when she said I was hers.

It tasted delicious.

"Oh wow! You're right, love does taste sweet like cupcakes. Maybe even a little better than cupcakes," said Pinkie. She giggled. I couldn't help it, I giggled too.

"I'll go tell Twilight and the others that you will be accompanying them," said Celestia. "I think perhaps they'll take the news a little better coming from me. The train to Ponyville leaves at three this afternoon. I'm sure the doctors will want to take a look at your leg and make sure you're ready to travel, but none of them will be here until one. So you two will have a little time alone together." Celestia winked, then turned and walked out the door.

I was still staring in confusion at the shut door when Pinkie pounced on me and hugged me again. It didn't exactly surprise me, it is difficult for one hive-mate to surprise another, but it did snap me out of my confusion at what Celestia had done.

When she kissed me again, though, that did surprise me.

I felt her love once more, wrapped up in a bouncing brilliant joy, pouring into me. I didn't even have to try to pull it to me. I could feel it as she felt it, through our bond. I could taste it too, sweet and warm and strong. With it I felt something I'd never felt before. An echo of that same sweet, wonderful feeling, from my own mind, returning to her.

I loved her too.

I knew that her pain was still there, somewhere beneath the love and joy. So was mine. We had not stopped being broken. But neither of us was alone in our pain anymore, and for now that was enough.

Author's Note

Thanks very much to everyone who's read, faved, commented, etc. The unexpected popularity of this story has completely made my day!

Updated note about sequels: As most of you have noticed by now, I choose to simply add the sequel on to this story, since it's a direct continuation of what happened here. There will be three more chapters after this one, and then the tale will be complete.

You are Making me Crazy

Pinkie Pie's hooves were wrapped tightly around me. Her lips were pressed to mine. Her love was bright and sweet and strong, making me feel like I could do anything. This was one of the best moments of my entire life, even though it came after losing my Queen and my hive. I had a Princess now, and I had Pinkie Pie.

No moment can last forever, however, so eventually Pinkie Pie broke off the kiss. "I think that was the bestest kiss I've ever had! You taste good all over. Or maybe it's me that tastes good because I could taste you tasting how I feel and it was weird but really nice!"

I smiled and nodded. I didn't have words to describe how nice it had been.

"It was also kind of hard and pokey though." Pinkie tapped a hoof against my chitinous chest. "And if you're going to come with me to Ponyville you should maybe not look so scary."

She was right. I had enough energy now to shift shapes easily, so I immediately shaped the first thing I could think of, which was her.

"Ooo! Another Pinkie! Yay!" She suddenly frowned. "Except maybe not yay. The last time there was more than one Pinkie it didn't turn out so good."

I had no idea what that meant. It was true, however, that if I was going to live among ponies long term I needed to be a pony that didn't already exist. I went to change again, deciding to try a colt version of Pinkie, but had to halt before I could actually shift shape. The splint on my leg wouldn't let me. My natural form and Pinkie Pie were close enough to the same size that it hadn't been a problem, but colts were bigger.

"Are you thinking up a new pony to be, Mister Changeling? Oh! I can't really call you that either, can I, if I'm not telling ponies that you're a changeling. Only you said you didn't want to have a name and I don't know what else to do if I can't give you a name and I can't call you Mister Changeling and..."

"Pinkie."

"Huh?"

"You can give me a name." I hadn't wanted a name because changelings in the hive didn't have names, save for the Queen. Pinkie was the only hive I had now, though, and I was going to be a pony with her. Ponies had names.

"Awesome possum! I don't know what to call you though."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Meanwhile I'd figured out the solution to the splint problem. Not all colts were built the same way. I pictured a tall, slender sort of colt, whose leg would fit within the space available. A moment later the duplicate Pinkie was gone and a new pony stood there.

I'll admit I wasn't very creative. Especially not without the resources of a thousand other minds to draw on. My new form was still pink, like Pinkie. I'd made my mane and tail short and straight though, and I shaped a horn. Magic was useful. I would have liked to have kept my wings as well, but of course in a pony that would draw far too much attention. Also in the interests of avoiding attention I'd made my eyes green. That way their color would match my magic, which was something I'd learned about ponies while infiltrating them. Their magic very often matched their eye color. Finally, I used the image of that first cupcake Pinkie Pie had shared with me as the cutie mark.

"Oh! I'll call you Cupcake! No, wait, I can't call you Cupcake, Cup is Mrs. Cake's name and that would be very confusing. Let's see, how about Little Cupcake! Cupcake Junior! No, that means everypony will think you're Mrs. Cake's son or something. Let's see, Carrot Cupcake? Black Forest Cupcake? Oh, I know, Angelfood Cupcake! Except that's still putting 'cupcake' in it. How about saying it in fancy, Petit Four maybe? Although those aren't technically cupcakes. Hmm. I can't think of any other ways to say cupcake, can you?"

"Uh... Sugary Topped Miniature Snack Cake?" I was feeling suddenly overwhelmed with pastry related names.

"And I could call you Snack! He he he! I dunno though, that's kind of long. Plus you're the one who snacks on me, you aren't a snack!"

"I could just change my cutie mark to something else."

"I like cupcakes though. They are sweet and delicious and taste like love. Which I know is literally true now." Pinkie frowned, thinking hard. She peered at my cutie mark. Suddenly she bounced upright, grinning. "Oh, I know! Sweetcake! Is that okay? Can I call you that?"

"That's just fine," I said.

She pounced on me and kissed me again. I kissed back. I was getting used to kissing; it was very nice. Not just because of the taste of love from Pinkie either. The sensation of her lips against mine was good, as was the feel of her body pressed close to my now soft pony hide. As we kissed, I tasted something else mixed with her love. It was something spicy-sweet and new. I'd never tasted it before.

Somehow, it was faintly familiar. A spicy taste. What did that mean? I had a sudden flash of memory, of the under-queens and the males of the hive, and the heat of egg making. I'd never done so; I was just a drone. Still, when I'd been part of the hive I'd been peripherally aware of what they did.

Oh.

Oh no.

Spicy was the taste of lust. Oh no, no, no. I was a drone! I didn't know how to mate as a changeling, and I certainly didn't know what to do as a pony!

Pinkie immediately broke off the kiss. "What's wrong, Sweetcake?"

"I... you... uh... I don't..." I floundered, having no idea what to say to her.

It's okay. She spoke directly within my mind, through the hive bond we shared. I get it now. Kissing is okay, but thinking about more than kissing is too much.

I'm sorry.

I don't mind! You've only been my special somepony since this morning when Twilight walked in on us so there's lots of time for you to learn about how to buck, and gosh it was pretty embarrassing when she did that, and I bet if we had bucked now then the doctors would have walked right in on us, and that would be even more embarrassing, and I don't want to hear another round of "You did what with a changeling?" because honestly that's not very nice of ponies, I did it with you, Mister Changeling Sweetcake, and I wish more ponies understood that but it's okay because you understand and...

I kissed her again just to keep her rambling train of thought from eating my mind. The words dissolved away, leaving just her and her sweet love, flavored ever so faintly with spice.

***

The train station was crowded with ponies. None of them looked twice at Pinkie and I as we picked our way across the platform towards her friends. We'd no sooner reached them than a conductor shouted "Last call for Ponyville!" and we all piled aboard the train. Thankfully the doctors had replaced my awkward splint with a smaller brace. They said I needed to wear it for another two weeks and then it could be removed.

We found our seats as the train began to move. I sat beside Pinkie, between her and Twilight. Her other friends were sitting across from us.

"This is Sweetcake," said Pinkie. "He used to be Mister," she added in an exaggerated stage whisper. I waved a hoof to the others, amid a chorus of vague greetings, and tasted their reactions to my identity.

From Twilight there was nothing but curiosity. It tasted pleasantly tart, rather like lemonade. From the other four, though, I still sensed revulsion. In fact from two of them—Applejack and Rarity—it was even stronger than it had been previously. I wondered what exactly had changed.

Sweetcake? Something tastes really icky. What is it?

Perhaps ironically, revulsion tastes revolting, I replied.

You mean my friends are still grossed out by you?

Some of them.

Argh! Why are they being so mean? Pinkie folded her arms and shot the other ponies a glare.

"Uhm. Pinkie? Is something wrong?" asked Twilight.

"You all taste terrible!" snapped Pinkie. Suddenly she got up and stomped to the other end of the car. She flopped down in an empty seat there. I followed her. After a moment, so did Twilight.

"Pinkie... are you okay?"

Pinkie looked up at Twilight and sighed. "Well, at least you don't taste terrible. But why is everypony else being so mean to Mister Sweetcake?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"They all think he's gross. They think he's extra gross now, even."

"Oh. Uh. I might have mentioned that you kissed him." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, looking embarrassed.

"So?"

"So even with Princess Celestia saying we can trust him, it's still going to be hard for most ponies to accept that your special somepony is a changeling, Pinkie."

"It doesn't seem to be hard for you."

Twilight shrugged. "Princess Celestia said she thought it was okay. That's enough for me."

I found myself admiring Twilight's trust in her Princess. She couldn't even feel her in her mind, yet she trusted Celestia's word just as much as I'd ever trusted my Queen. I thought about that for a minute. I'd trusted my Queen completely when I'd joined the invasion of Canterlot. Yet she had proved untrustworthy, for her promises of sure success had been false. She had failed. Was Celestia then more worthy of my trust?

"Come back and join us, Pinkie. I know you don't like that the others don't trust Mister, uh, Sweetcake, but they'll come around eventually."

Pinkie shook her head. "They'll still be sitting there, tasting revolting."

"Pinkie... remember the parasprites, and how we could have fixed everything if you'd just explained what you meant? You're doing it again. I have no idea what you mean. You haven't been licking them, why are you talking about how they taste?"

"Oh. Right. Sweetcake tastes feelings." Pinkie leaned over and whispered in Twilight's ear, even though no other ponies were anywhere near us. "Because he's a changeling." She continued in a more normal voice. "And the way they're feeling all grossed out tastes gross too."

"But you keep talking like you can taste things, Pinkie."

"I sorta can. Not on my own, but Sweetcake tastes them, and then I taste what he's tasting, because I'm his hive now."

"What?!" The other four ponies all turned to look at us as Twilight shouted that.

"Celestia didn't tell you?"

"No." Twilight was staring at us both, looking shocked. Tasting shocked too, which was as tart as curiosity, but stronger and with more bitter notes, like a slightly unripe grapefruit. Something one could perhaps acquire a taste for, but not something I really enjoyed. It didn't last all that long though, curiosity came back to replace it almost immediately. "How does that even work?" She looked at me. "I thought you didn't have a hive bond any more?"

"I don't. Not with my old hive. Just with Pinkie now," I said.

"Well... I guess that explains why the Princess says you can be trusted."

"Yep! I'm keeping an eye on the inside of his head now!" said Pinkie.

"And you can really taste emotions, Pinkie? What do I taste like? I guess I'm feeling, uh, curiosity? Is that an emotion?"

"It is! It tastes like lemons! Or maybe like lemon drops, or lemonade, it's a little bit sweet."

"Wow. That's fascinating! Can you tell me what other things taste like?"

"Love kind of tastes like cupcakes, only more sort of solid and satisfying. Like if cupcakes were actually good for dinner and not just dessert."

"What about... no, wait. I need paper and a quill, I should be taking notes." Twilight took a step back to where her bags were sitting, then stopped. She put her hoof to her face. "Right, priorities. Pinkie... please come back and sit with us? And you too, Sweetcake. They'll stop tasting so terrible once they get used to you, I'm sure. If you avoid them, that won't happen."

"Well... okay," said Pinkie.

I nodded my agreement, and followed her and Twilight back to where the others sat.

"What was that all about?" asked Applejack, looking at Twilight.

"Uh..." Twilight looked at me, and then at Pinkie. Her face set in an expression of determination. "I just learned another reason why we can trust Sweetcake. There's no reason for you all to keep thinking he's some kind of spy. He isn't, I promise."

"Well... if you say so, Twilight." Applejack sounded dubious, and was still faintly radiating disgust.

"It's not his spying that bothers me," said Rarity. She shuddered. Her disgust was certainly the strongest I could taste. Rainbow Dash tasted of suspicion as much as of disgust, and Fluttershy's was tinted with fear. Rarity's though was pure, pungent distaste.

Pinkie scowled. "If you're going to say stuff about kissing changelings, don't! Sweetcake is my friend and my special somepony, and as far as I'm concerned he's as much a pony as any other pony here."

Rarity shuddered. "I cannot imagine having that as one's special somepony."

"Now, girls," said Twilight, "don't fight. Maybe we should talk about something else?"

"I know what we should talk about!" There was a flicker of sudden excitement in Pinkie Pie's mind. "A party! Sweetcake needs a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"

"Yer going to throw..." Applejack hesitated, then said, "...him a party?"

"I throw a party for every new pony in Ponyville. He's going to be a new pony in Ponyville, so he needs a party!"

"I hate to break this to you, Pinks," said Rainbow Dash, "but changelings are not ponies."

Pinkie glared at Rainbow Dash. I was a little shocked how suddenly angry she was. It tasted hot, less like a spice and more like a temperature on the tongue, like eating soup without letting it cool. It wasn't particularly pleasant.

"Girls, please. Change of topic!" said Twilight.

"Sorry," muttered Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie sighed. "Sorry." She started drooping a little. I felt the sadness well up in her. That deep, despairing sadness that I knew so well filled her. I felt too as she reached for a false smile and a fake shell of happiness to cover it.

Your Princess said you shouldn't pretend to be happy when you're not, I gently reminded her.

She looked up at me. Then she looked around at her friends. She heaved a sigh and her hair flattened itself, falling down to partially cover her face. I put my arm around her shoulders, offering her what comfort I could, physically and mentally.

"Pinkie..." That was Rainbow Dash. "You okay?"

Pinkie looked up. "Princess Celestia said I should stop trying to pretend I'm always happy. Sometimes I'm not. Sometimes I get sad. But it's okay. I'll feel better soon, I'm sure. I'm just feeling sad, because I want my best friends to like my special somepony, and you don't."

Dash looked at me for just an instant, still sitting by Pinkie with my arm around her, then shrugged, got off her seat, and came over and gave Pinkie a hug. "I'm sorry, Pinkie."

After only a moment's hesitation the other ponies were all there too, crowding around Pinkie Pie, hugging her, reassuring her that they were still her friends. I pulled away for a moment to let them. I could tell that she was touched that they'd overcome their distaste for me and hugged her even though I was there. Indeed, there was no more flavor of revulsion in the air. I didn't think they'd been magically cured of it, but right in this moment their friend obviously mattered more to them than their feelings about me.

That was startling. Changelings could put such differences aside at the orders of the Queen, or for the good of the hive, but for the sake of another changeling of no particular rank?

You see why they're my friends, Sweetcake? Pinkie felt a little happier now. I really hope they get over not liking you soon. I want them to be your friends too.

***

"I'm hoooooome!" Pinkie Pie bounced into Sugarcube Corner. I followed her a little more sedately. I felt nervous. She had told me about the Cakes, her landlords and employers. They were also her friends, and I wanted them to like me too.

"Hello, dear." That was a plump blue mare, who radiated a pleasantly flavored affection that reminded me a bit of how the Princess had felt. It didn't seem to be directed at me so much as at the world in general.

"Mrs. Cake, you will never guess what happened while I was in Canterlot!"

"It was in the papers, dear."

"What? Really? I wouldn't think they'd have written any articles about that!"

"Oh dear. We're having two different conversations again, Pinkie. What are you talking about?"

"I found my special somepony! This is Sweetcake!"

I waved a hoof hesitantly at her.

"Oh! Why that's wonderful, Pinkie. And he's a Cake!"

"Did I hear somepony say cake?" A tall, skinny yellow stallion emerged from the back of the store.

"Yes, dear. Pinkie says she's met her special somepony, and he's a Cake!"

"How nice. Are you one of the Fillydelphia Cakes? Or the Black Forest Cakes?"

"Uhm..." What do I say?

Say your parents were Neighponese!

Okay. "Well, my parents were Neighponese."

"Oh! So you're one of the Snack Cakes then! They're not really related to us, but I've met a few of them and they were all very nice." Mrs Cake beamed at me. I smiled back.

"He's going to be staying here with me."

Mr. And Mrs. Cake exchanged glances. "You know, Pinkie, since we converted the spare room to a nursery for the twins there isn't anywhere else to put a guest."

"I know. He can stay in my room."

They exchanged glances again, this time amused. "Ah. That's all right then, dear," said Mrs. Cake. "Just be sure to be safe. You're a little young to be having foals of your own."

Pinkie giggled. "No need to worry about that, Mr. And Mrs. Cake! We're probably not going to buck for a long time anyway." Can changelings and ponies even have foals together? If they did would they be called ponylings?

"Uhm. If you say so Pinkie," said Mrs. Cake, while Pinkie babbled on in my mind. She was clearly embarrassed, which tasted faintly of cinnamon. "Uh. I think I should go check on that batch of cookies. Excuse me."

Do changelings come from eggs? Would I lay eggs then? That would be weird! I pretended to lay an egg once as a joke, it was really funny. I was being a chicken! But I'm not sure if I'd like actually laying eggs or not and if I did lay eggs would that mean I'd have a whole ton of babies? Tending just two at a time is a lot of work, and I sometimes need help with it, so I don't know if I could be a mom to a whole litter of ponylings, or would you call them a clutch like with chickens, since they come from eggs?

"Oh yes, and I have plenty to do as well," said Mr. Cake.

"So do I!" said Pinkie, cutting off the mental torrent. "I need to throw party tomorrow night for Sweetcake! Can I have it here?"

"Of course, dear," said Mrs. Cake.

"Yay! Come on, Sweetcake, you can help me get ready for it!"

"Okay." I followed after her, curious what this party might entail. I'd never been to one. As we walked, though, my mind slid back to her babbling torrent about eggs and foals. We can't have foals, you know. Even if ponies and changelings were compatible, I'm a drone, drones don't lay or fertilize the eggs. Only Queens or under-queens lay eggs, and only breeding males fertilize them.

Well, that's probably good then. I'm not ready to have babies yet, that's for sure. Someday maybe, though I guess if you can never have foals at all, then we'll have to adopt.

I stopped walking for a moment. Pinkie Pie was thinking about having a pony-style family? With me?

You're my special somepony. And I'm your hive, right? I don't think either of those will ever stop being true. That makes us family. Hives are just big families, aren't they?

Well... yes.

Then we're a family now, just a really little one. When we're ready we can be a bigger one. Pinkie had stopped walking too. She smiled at me warmly. I felt love, sweet and rich, flowing from her again. At the moment it was also sprinkled with effervescent anticipation. "But right now it's time to plan a party. Come on!"

Planning a party turned out to mostly involve deciding what food to make for it and creating decorations. Pinkie painted a huge banner that read "Welcome to Ponyville Mister Sweetcake." She seemed to be highly amused by putting part of my old "name" up on it. "It's a joke that almost nopony will get, but my friends will, and so will you!" Her excitement faded a little bit then. "I hope they can start liking you soon..."

I hugged her, wanting to help her feel happier. "Twilight is okay with me already."

"Yeah, that's true. And I'm sure the others will come around."

***

The party was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. The food was, of course, delicious. I'd helped to make much of it earlier that day, which had been an experience in and of itself. But that was just the beginning. There was the music too, supplied by a gramophone and a collection of records. I'd heard music before, when passing among ponies as an infiltrator. I'd quite liked it, but had never actually seen a gramophone in action.

There were also games. Games were another thing that I knew of but had never actually done. Changelings did not play games. All activity was for a purpose. Engaging in frivolous tasks just for amusement seemed very strange. I only participated in one round of Pin the Tail on the Pony. I didn't dislike it, but I couldn't quite see the point.

Then there were the ponies. There were so many of them, feeling so many different things. The overall taste was light and sweet, the taste of happy ponies having fun. Yet a thousand other flavors, from a thousand other emotions, were mixed in with it.

Pinkie was very excited by the realization that she could, through me, taste how successful her parties were. She confused Mrs. Cake once again with a long ramble about how wonderful it was that happiness was like frosting, and now she knew if everypony at the party was frosting-flavored or not.

She seemed very pleased with this party, at least at first. I will admit I enjoyed it as well. Yet her happiness, and thus mine too, became somewhat tainted as the evening wore on by the fact that four of her friends were not speaking to me. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy avoided me entirely, I hardly caught sight of them at all. Rainbow Dash refused to speak to me either, but she followed me around constantly. Her earlier disgust had become less pungent, but now she tasted of suspicion, a chalky bitterness that made me very nervous. Suspicion was usually the taste of a failed infiltration, so I didn't like it at all.

Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof, practically cornered me and made me promise to help her catalog the flavor analogs of emotions. She tasted of curiosity again. I was beginning to suspect that she tasted of curiosity nearly all the time.

Towards the end of the evening I noticed the other four in a little huddle in one corner. Mrs. Cake seemed to notice them as well, for she marched over to them and began to lecture them. I was too far away to taste their reactions, but nopony in the room was too far away to hear at least part of what she said.

"Not a one of you has spoken to Sweetcake all night. At his very own party! I can't believe you would be so rude to Pinkie's special somepony!" When Applejack started to protest, she didn't pause, she just kept lecturing. "I don't care what reason you have to disapprove of him, there is no excuse for such behavior. I want you all to go over and apologize right now, do you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," said Applejack, sounding chastened.

Rarity sputtered. "He... I... Well, I never!"

Fluttershy just squeaked, but when Applejack started heading in my direction, she trailed along. Rarity wilted a little under Mrs. Cake's continuing glare and followed suit.

Rainbow Dash though took to the air. "No way. Nuh uh. I'm not going to let him be all wile-working on me. I'm jetting." A moment later she was gone, leaving a fading streak of rainbow color behind.

Applejack came up to me. "Sweetcake, Mrs. Cake is right. There's no excuse fer how rude I've been. I'm not sayin' I trust you none, cause I don't. You're livin' a lie and I can't approve. But that's no reason for me to be hurtin' Pinkie by refusin' to talk to you at your own party. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," squeaked out Fluttershy, from behind a curtain of hair. She tasted strongly, acridly, of fear.

"I suppose it was rather crass of me to snub you like that," said Rarity. "I'm sorry."

"I, uh..." What do I say, Pinkie?

She was on the far side of the room, and I didn't know how much attention she'd been paying to me, but apparently she'd been paying enough. Just say that it's okay, and you're not mad at them. I know you're not.

No, just sad that they're hurting you.

I'm okay too, Sweetcake. They'll come around eventually. I could tell that she wasn't entirely okay, she was still hurt by their rejection of me. But there was nothing else I could do about it right now but follow her advice.

"It's okay. I'm not angry at you."

"Well, that's good then." Applejack still tasted a bit of revulsion, with hints of resentment, which tasted a bit like overcooked broccoli. I felt like the resentment wasn't directed at me personally so much as at the world in general, though. She apparently didn't like being stuck between her friendship and her principles. I couldn't exactly blame her.

"I think it's time I retired." Rarity gave me a nod, her nose a bit higher in the air than usual. She still tasted very strongly of revulsion. Despite her polite words, nothing had changed there.

She and Applejack walked off, and when I looked around I realized that Fluttershy had scurried away at some point. I caught sight of her just as she slipped out the door, with Rarity and Applejack not far behind.

The party was already winding down, so quite a few other ponies were going out the doors with Pinkie's friends. Eventually it was just us and the Cakes. I helped them clean up, even though they all said I didn't have to. I wanted to help.

I was carrying a bag full of garbage to the bin behind Sugarcube Corner when something swooped down out the dark and slammed into me. I went sprawling, ending up pinned on my back with the thing sitting on me. My horn lit in preparation for an instinctively summoned combat spell, when by that faint, green light I saw that it was Rainbow Dash. I managed to cut off the potentially deadly spell I'd been about to unleash just in time.

"I'm on to you, buster. I don't know exactly what your plan is, but I know you're up to no good. You've weaseled Pinkie into liking you, but..."

She was cut off by the second spell I cast, this one a simple force application that pushed her off of me.

"Hey! I'm not finished! Listen, punk, I'm trying to tell you that if you do anything to hurt Pinkie, I'll beat you to a pulp! And I'm going to show you that I mean business!" She jumped on me again, but this time I rolled aside. She rolled too, coming up smoothly from her missed dive, and immediately took to the air.

I watched her, tensed and waiting. I had a flashback to my days training for infiltration. There were many things we didn't need to be taught, because whatever the hive knew, we knew. There were some things, however, that required not only mind, but body. When in combat, it's not enough to be aware of the moves—your body has to know them. So we practiced them. I had not been the best fighter in my class, but I'd done better than most. We had practiced hoof to hoof, magical combat, and combat on the wing. We took forms of differing shapes and sizes, becoming accustomed to any pony that we might possibly become.

We also learned to cut our direct tie to the opponent we faced, so that the hive bond wouldn't tell us their next move. So I was used to reacting to an enemy whose thoughts I didn't know, even though before the invasion I'd never actually fought a pony. Most of the time infiltration was more subtle, and combat meant that you'd failed.

So now I watched Rainbow Dash, judging her angle and momentum, trying to time things just right. She dove down at me. I waited until the last second, then dove forward, ducking too low for her to get, but moving in the same direction as she was. I reached out one hoof, tapping hard at one of hers as she went over my head. That turned her dive into a tumble and she crashed and rolled. I was already moving in that direction so it was easy to leap on top of her. She was strong, and for a moment we rolled around, each of us trying to get on top. She didn't know the moves I knew though, and eventually I managed to get just the right leverage to roll her over and pin her beneath me. Instinctively my hoof drew back in the first half of what would be a crippling or possibly even killing strike to her throat. Then I stopped, panting.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "You... you..."

I got up off of her immediately, feeling a little shaken. I'd come far too close to harming one of Pinkie's friends.

Rainbow lay there, still wide-eyed, and looked up at me. "You could have killed me," she whispered. Obviously she'd recognized the strike I'd nearly used. "Why didn't you?"

I shook my head, appalled at the idea. "You're Pinkie's friend. I would never hurt you! It would make her sad if I hurt you."

I tasted a flicker of something new from her, a rotten-garlic hint of guilt that warred with the bitter-chalk taste of suspicion. I held out a hoof to her, to pull her up. She hesitated a long moment, then took it and let me pull her to her feet.

We stood and looked at each other. She shuffled her feet. I went to pick up the garbage bag I'd dropped. When I finished tossing it in the trash, I found Rainbow Dash was still standing there, looking at me. The flavor of guilt had grown stronger. Finally she spoke. "Hey, Sweetcake. Look, you've been being a better friend to Pinkie than I have. You didn't hurt me, even when I attacked you, because that would make her sad. But I knew hurting you would make her sad and I was gonna do it anyway. I've been a lousy friend."

"Aww, no you haven't, Dashie!" Rainbow Dash squeaked and jumped. I didn't, I'd known that Pinkie Pie was approaching. Though I couldn't quite figure out how she'd gotten right next to Rainbow Dash that quickly at the last second. "I understand that it's hard to trust ponies who were attacking you just a little bit ago, the way the changelings were."

"Yeah, but this time it was me doing the attacking. I'm really sorry, Pinks. And I'm sorry to you too, Sweetcake."

I nodded an acceptance, not knowing what to say in response.

"Are you done being all suspicious and bad-tasting about Sweetcake now?"

"He's still a changeling, Pinkie. Are you sure you can trust him? Really, truly, absolutely sure?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," said Pinkie. Despite the apparently nonsensical nature of the words I could tell she was deadly serious about whatever she'd just said. Apparently Rainbow Dash understood it, for all at once her guilt evaporated, replaced by something else entirely. It took most of the chalky suspicion with it too, leaving only a faint hint of it behind.

"Then he's okay by me," said Rainbow Dash. She suddenly grinned over at me. "And changeling or not, those moves of yours! That was amazing! How come you're so much better than the changelings we fought in Canterlot?"

I shrugged. "Probably because the queen brought nearly the entire hive to Canterlot, including regular workers. So most of the changelings there weren't trained fighters at all. I was an infiltrator though, so I was taught how to fight."

"Well you are pretty awesome at it! It's too bad you can't fly!"

I decided now would be a bad time to remind her that actually I could, if I wanted to revert to my natural form. "Uhm. Thanks."

"Can you teach me to fight like that?"

"Well... I've never taught before. But I can try."

"Woo!" She pumped a hoof in the air and grinned. "Changeling kung-fu! I bet nopony else has ever learned it! This is going to be sweet. Hoofbump!" She held up one hoof.

I looked at it in puzzlement.

"Don't leave me hanging now."

You're supposed to bump it with your hoof, said Pinkie, and the mental words came with an image. I lifted my hoof and bumped it to Rainbow Dash's. She grinned at me and I couldn't help but grin back. I had won over two of Pinkie's friends now. Surely the rest would come around soon.

***

Rainbow Dash stuck around and helped us with the last of the party cleanup, then left to go sleep. I was feeling tired myself. It was quite late and it had been an eventful day, though not as eventful as yesterday.

I followed Pinkie up to her room. I'd slept there with her last night, but I'd been so exhausted after the day's tumultuous events that I'd fallen asleep the instant my head touched the pillow. Now as I climbed into the large bed I was very aware of Pinkie settling in beside me. I thought for a moment about beds, and the "bucking" that ponies did in them, which I knew nothing about. But the nervousness couldn't last in the face of what Pinkie was feeling. Her hair had gone limp again as sadness welled up in her heart. I turned to her and hugged her. She pressed into my embrace, clinging to me. I really hope my friends do all come around, Sweetcake. But what if some of them don't? What if they just hate you forever? What if they stop being my friends?

I had no answer to that. I wanted to promise her that her friends would learn to like me, but I didn't know if it was true. Everything I knew told me that ponies and changelings weren't really meant to get along. All I could do was say, Whatever else happens I'll always be here for you.

I know. I'm glad. Pinkie tucked her head against my chest and sighed. I stroked her mane softly, caressing the fine, straight strands of it. After a long time she lifted her head and kissed me. Even in her sadness there was a hint of spice in it, but she made no move to do anything else. So I gently kissed her back and continued to hold her close.

A yawn from Pinkie interrupted our kiss. I guess we should sleep.

We probably should. I kissed the tip of her muzzle softly. She smiled at me, then turned around and snuggled back into my embrace. I felt her soft sigh more than heard it. She was still sad, but it had gentled a little, from bitter despair to bitter-sweet melancholy. There was love tangled up in it too, and gratitude, warm and almost chocolaty, directed at me for being there to hold her. It felt just as good as it tasted.

I wondered at how one pony could feel so many things. But then I was feeling conflicting emotions as well. I did still miss my hive. There was an emptiness in me that could never be filled. Yet being here with Pinkie and tasting her love—real love for me as I was and not won by deception—was better than anything else I'd ever tasted before.

I wondered too, just as sleep started to claim me, what I would do if I were offered a chance to return to the hive. Would I rather this dichotomy of sadness and sweetness, or the safe, fulfilled life I'd had once known?

Come and Show me the Magic

I woke to find Pinkie Pie still asleep beside me. She had pulled all the blankets off of me and wrapped herself up in a tangled mess of them. Her mane and tail were a mess as well, knotted and disarrayed.

I propped myself up on my elbow and watched her sleep. Her mind was a fuzzy blur of nothing in particular. There wasn't much to sense during sleep, unless the sleeper was dreaming. Her mind began to slowly clear. A moment later she opened her eyes. She stared blankly into space, a dull, bitter sorrow wafting from her, then rolled over and closed them again with a heavy sigh.

"Good morning."

She sighed again. "Not that good."

I pulled her to me and hugged her.

"I wish I didn't have to get up today. I wish I could just lie here with you. Then I wouldn't have to talk to any other ponies. I know the Princess said I shouldn't hide being sad, but I'll make all the ponies I talk to sad. I'm supposed to make ponies happy. I wish I could be happy. I don't even know why I'm so sad, there's no good reason for it. I hate it."

I didn't know what to say in response to that, so I just held her. After a while she slowly pulled herself from my embrace. "I promised the Cakes I'd help with the shop today. I never break a promise, so I have to get up." She sighed again, but climbed from the bed.

She sat in front of her mirror, looking at her tangled hair, and picked up a brush. I had a sudden memory of my very first infiltration. I'd joined a group of teenage mares, posing as one of their number who wasn't present that day. They'd spent a great deal of time brushing each other's manes and tails. The hive memory had informed me at the time that mutual grooming was a very important social interaction among ponies. I'd gotten a very good haul of affection and friendship from the little group when I'd joined in.

It was funny, really, how much I knew, once I stopped always reaching for the hive's knowledge first and instead consulted my own memories.

I sat next to Pinkie and gently took the brush from her with my magic. Let me. I brushed her mane with care, and I felt some of the sadness in her ease as I worked. She leaned against my shoulder a bit. I smiled and kept brushing. Eventually her mane and tail both lay smooth. She gave me a wan smile. Thank you.

You're always welcome.

We went downstairs together. It was barely light outside, but the scent of baked goods already filled the air. Mrs. Cake was in the big kitchen, pulling muffins out of the oven.

"Morning, Pinkie. Morning, Sweetcake. Have a muffin. There's another half hour before we open."

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake. I was wondering though... I know I said I'd work the counter today, but would it be all right if I stayed in the kitchen and baked instead? I'm not really feeling like talking to ponies today."

Mrs. Cake looked up from her muffins, and I felt a flicker of grapefruit-tart surprise from her. "Is something wrong, Pinkie?"

She sighed, drooping a little more. "Nothing in particular. I'm just not feeling well today."

"If you're sick you could take the day off, dear. Shouldn't be baking if you're sick."

"No, I'm not sick."

"Just in the dumps, dear? Well, all right then. Why don't you pour out the next batch of muffins, and I'll go get the counter ready to open?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Cake. I appreciate it."

I spent the day with her in the kitchen, expanding my knowledge of baking. It was fairly pleasant. But even while I was sampling muffins or cookies or cinnamon rolls, I could taste the lingering bitterness of Pinkie's sadness. I couldn't help but dwell on my own sorrows as well. Being with Pinkie was good, but it still wasn't like being part of the hive. I was getting used to reaching for my own memories, yes. Yet I didn't think I could ever stop missing the hum of thousands of other changelings in the back of my mind.

When Pinkie was done working we both simply returned to her room without needing to discuss it. We climbed into the bed and lay there, holding each other, sharing our sorrow, as afternoon deepened to evening and eventually sleep claimed us both once more.

***

I trotted through the streets of Ponyville, towards the market square. I was on a mission from Pinkie Pie. She was going to be hosting a cuteceañera for one of the town's fillies this evening. She'd sent me to pick out streamers for the party. The past few days had been rough, Pinkie had been depressed, and I hadn't been exactly cheerful either. But throwing a party always improved her mood, and today she'd been pretty much her usual bouncy self.

I reached the streamer booth and started looking over the colors available. I could feel Pinkie's attention focused on me. She had closed her eyes and was looking through mine. There, that one, said Pinkie. I pointed a hoof at the streamer roll in question, then kept scanning the rack so Pinkie could see the rest as the shopkeeper set it on the counter.

Soon I'd picked out all I needed and had tucked them into my saddlebags. At Pinkie's suggestion I headed for Applejack's apple booth, to get two apples for our lunch.

"Hey there, Sweetcake." Applejack gave me a nod as I handed over my bits. I heard a sharp noise and looked down to see her dog, Winona, sniffing at my hooves intently. Applejack looked down at the creature, then up at me again. "Guess she can smell when a pony's hiding somethin'." Applejack tasted of irritation, rather like black pepper.

"Uh. Sorry?"

Applejack snorted. "If you were really sorry for lyin' to the whole dang town, you'd stop doin' it."

I looked around the crowded square. "Applejack... if I were to 'stop lyin'' as you put it, half the town would run away in panic and the other half would try to kill me."

"Maybe, maybe not. But the longer you keep lyin', the worse it'll be if they ever do find out. You oughta just come clean with it. My friends and I wouldn't let anypony hurt you. If fer no other reason than to keep Pinkie from bein' upset over it."

I shook my head. There was no way in the world I was going to reveal myself as a changeling to the town. It went against everything I knew, and against every bit of common sense I had as well. They would not react well at all.

Winona was still snuffling intently at my legs as Applejack continued. "Sweetcake, I know you ain't a bad pony..."

A racket drew my attention from her to a commotion a few yards away. Three fillies were barreling through the crowd, one on a scooter, the other two being towed behind it in a wagon. They were moving at a very rapid rate, headed right towards Applejack's booth. "Hey, sis!" yelled one of the fillies in the wagon.

"Woah, look out!" shouted the one on the scooter, veering around a pony in front of her. The scooter teetered, tipped, and suddenly the whole thing was sliding sideways, out of control, headed not for the booth itself but almost straight at me. Except that Winona was standing between the careening scooter and myself, still focused on sniffing my hooves.

I didn't even think about it, I just dove to scoop her up and roll aside. She yelped in frantic surprise and bit me. I winced but kept holding her until we'd rolled well clear of the scooter crash. I let go of the dog as soon as we stopped tumbling. She scrambled frantically free of my arms, but then turned, snarling, and flung herself at me, snapping furiously. I put my hooves up protectively, trying to figure out how to fend her off without hurting her.

"Winona! Down!"

Immediately the attack ceased.

"Ah, buck! Sweetcake, are you all right?" I lowered my hooves and inspected myself. She'd bitten me on the upper foreleg, nearly at the shoulder, and that one looked pretty bad. She'd also left several bites along my lower forelegs, though they were more superficial.

"Oh no! We need to get those cleaned out right away! If they get infected it will be very bad." I looked up to see that Fluttershy was suddenly standing over me. She tasted of concern and nothing else; there was no fear there at all.

I went to get up, but Fluttershy put a firm hoof on my chest. "You stay right there. You're bleeding and you shouldn't move." She inspected the bite marks, then pressed one hoof over the one on my shoulder, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

"Oh my gosh, Sweetcake! Are you okay? Is he okay?" Pinkie Pie was suddenly at my side too. I felt puzzled. Only a minute ago she'd been halfway across town. How did she do that?

"I think he'll be fine," said Fluttershy. "Somepony should go get a doctor though. He needs to have all these bites thoroughly cleaned."

"I'll go!" I could tell that Pinkie was worried almost to the point of panic. I reached out and reassured her. I'll be fine.

Not if you bleed to death! She raced towards the hospital, once again somehow covering the ground far faster than a pony should be able to.

I won't bleed to death. Fluttershy is here. You're getting a doctor for me. Everything will be fine.

"I am so sorry, Sweetcake. I really am. Winona should know better than to attack ponies, even if they are, uh, ponies that smell weird."

I blinked, drawn away from reassuring Pinkie by Applejack. "It's okay. She was just afraid. She didn't expect me to grab her like that."

"Well I'm mighty glad you did. She mighta' been crushed! Thank you. Looks like the girls are okay too. So I guess yer the only casualty of this little disaster."

"That was very brave of you, to risk yourself to save Winona." Fluttershy still had her hoof pressed over the bite mark. She gave me a shy little smile. I tasted admiration, both from her and from Applejack. That wasn't something I'd tasted often, though I'd gotten a good taste of it from Rainbow Dash a few days before. It was sweet too, a fruity kind of sweetness like peaches or apples. I had the thought that if I knew any healing spells I would probably be able to heal myself. I'd been getting enough positive emotions to feed half the hive, lately. I could probably out-magic any other drone in the world right now, with so much power to draw on.

"Here!" Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt next to me. A breathless white mare arrived close behind her.

"Let's have... a look... at him." She was panting, but immediately started examining me.

Fluttershy carefully took her hoof off of my foreleg. Blood immediately began to ooze slowly from the wound there. "He needs to have these cleaned out, otherwise they'll get infected."

"Yes, I see that. What happened? Pinkie didn't have time to tell me anything."

"He saved Winona from gettin' squashed by a crashin' scooter, but she didn't take kindly to bein' snatched up by a stranger and she bit him."

"Oh my! Yes, we definitely need to get the lacerations disinfected then. I'm going to need more disinfectant than I have in my kit." She gestured at the saddle bags she wore. "Do you think you can walk?"

I nodded and started to get slowly to my feet.

"Let's go to the hospital. No need to rush, take it slow so you don't start bleeding again."

"Yes, ma'am." I made my way at the white pony's side, with Pinkie and Fluttershy both hovering next to me. Pinkie was still deeply worried, though not quite as panicked as before.

"You're sure he's going to be okay?" she said softly to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nuzzled her. "I'm sure. They'll get him all cleaned up and bandaged, and soon he'll be as good as new."

An hour or so later I was indeed cleaned, bandaged, and feeling fine. I was even well enough to help Pinkie with the cuteceañera. Fluttershy was there, and she no longer tasted so strongly of fear when she came near me. Applejack was there too. Her emotions were a mix of fruity admiration and peppery irritation. It was a very odd combination.

Pinkie Pie, however, tasted of happiness, relief, and love, which seemed even stronger than ever. Just being near her made me feel like I could take on the world.

***

"Really, darling, I know you like him, and from what I've heard he's a nice enough pony, given... who he is. But I feel like you are missing out on so many things! You can hardly have a proper romance with that."

My eyes were closed, so I could see the spa tub where Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were soaking. She had been invited to join Rarity and Fluttershy's usual spa day, at Rarity's insistence. I was back at Sugarcube Corner, helping Mr. Cake bake a batch of cupcakes. It had been several days since the incident with Winona. Most of my bandages had been removed, only the one over the worst of the bites remained. The brace on my leg was finally gone as well.

Right now I was waiting until the cupcakes were cool enough to be frosted. Mr. Cake was busy with more batter, but I had nothing to do for the moment, so I listened in on Pinkie Pie. She had said she didn't mind, and I felt admittedly curious what her friends might say about me.

"He understands me. That's what's most important," said Pinkie.

"He is brave and kind too," said Fluttershy. "Risking himself like that for Winona took a lot of courage."

"But what about courtship? What about flowers and chocolates? What about flattering the color of your eyes? What about poetry, what about candlelit dinners? What about romance? Haven't you ever wanted to be wooed, Pinkie?"

"Not really! Anyway, there are other nice things about being with Sweetcake."

"What could possibly make up for a complete lack of romance, Pinkie, darling?"

"He always knows when I'm sad." Pinkie smiled.

Rarity shuddered. "Only because he's feeding on your emotions." I couldn't taste her revulsion at this distance, but I didn't really need to.

"Sshh," said Fluttershy. "Somepony might hear."

"Sorry, darling. I just cannot get over knowing, well... It makes my skin crawl."

"Rarity! You're being a meaniepants again." Pinkie Pie was glaring at Rarity now. I could feel her anger. I couldn't blame her either.

"Ready to mix up some frosting, Sweetcake?"

I snapped back to the kitchen and nodded. I knew how to do frosting. It was very simple. I rather thought I'd prefer doing frosting to listening through Pinkie's ears any further.

"Blue for these, I think. And set one aside to put gemstones on. Spike is very fond of them."

"Spike?"

"Twilight Sparkle's little dragon assistant."

"Ah." I nodded as if I understood, though I really didn't. But I'd long since learned the art of nodding and agreeing when I didn't have a clue. It was an essential skill for any changeling infiltrator.

There was a chime as somepony opened the door, and Mr. Cake left me to my frosting while he went to check on the new customer. I heard voices, then Mr. Cake called out, "Sweetcake? Can you please box up half a dozen of those cranberry muffins from the cooling rack? They should be cool enough."

"Yes, sir." I pulled out a box, then floated six of the muffins into it and folded it closed over them. Carrying it in my magic, I went into the front of the shop. Derpy Hooves was standing there, her slightly off-kilter eyes bright as she looked at the muffin box I carried. She was obviously anticipating them quite strongly. I floated the box to her and she took it with a chirp of thanks, then turned and trotted out. It was only after she'd gone out the door that I realized something.

She had looked as though she were anticipating the muffins, but she hadn't tasted like it. In fact she'd tasted like nothing at all, there had been no flavor of emotion from her whatsoever.

Pinkie!

Oh my gosh, what is it? Is something wrong? I could tell she was still at the spa, and I hated to interrupt her, but this was important.

Maybe, but maybe not. I need you to do something. You know Derpy Hooves, the pegasus?

Yep!

She's headed home from Sugarcube Corner right now. Do you think you can get to her house before she does?

Sure! She lives near the spa and she usually walks instead of flies when she's not delivering mail. Why?

You need to go there quickly, check her bedroom, and see if she's asleep in her bed.

Right! "Gotta go, girls! Be right back!" I heard her call, and then she was out of the spa and moving across town faster than she really should have been able to go. I still had no idea how she did that, no matter how many times I sensed her at it. She arrived at her destination only seconds later, and I looked through her eyes as she opened the thankfully unlocked door.

"Sweetcake?"

I opened my eyes, seeing Mr. Cake staring at me curiously.

"Sorry. Just lost in thought."

"Can you finish frosting those cupcakes?"

"Yes. sir." I went back into the kitchen, half my mind still occupied with following Pinkie through Derpy's house. She reached the bedroom just as I picked up the frosting decorator with its star-shaped tip. I wasn't really paying attention to that though, I was seeing what Pinkie saw.

The bedroom was dark, but soft snores came from the bed, and Pinkie's eyes swiftly adjusted enough for her to see the shape of Derpy, lying there asleep.

Thank goodness, I said. Better get out soon before she gets back.

But if she's here, how can she get back? How could she be out buying muffins while... oh! The one buying muffins is a changeling, isn't she?

Yes. And I'd rather not let her know that you know she's there.

Righty-o. Pinkie swiftly tip-hooved out of the house and bounced back towards the spa. You seemed really glad that Derpy was in her bed, she said as she went.

Oh yes. It means that this is just ordinary food gathering for the hive, and not another invasion. A changeling is just spending a day as Derpy. It happens all the time. It's probably happened to you at some point. Ever had a week when you could swear it should be one day, but somehow it's the next day already, and you don't remember anything from the day before?

Wow. I have! That's weird. So it's a changeling, being me for a day, while making me sleep?

Probably. Some infiltrators make up ponies that don't exist, and form long term relationships, but it's easier to just take the place of a pony for a day and use the relationships they already have. Long-term replacement of an existing pony doesn't normally happen. Not unless the hive is trying to actually take over a town, which isn't common.

"Sweetcake?"

"Oh!" I opened my eyes and realized I'd been holding the decorator and the cupcake in the air for some time without actually doing anything. Mr. Cake was peering in through the kitchen door at me. "Sorry, sir." I went back to work, only vaguely aware of Pinkie Pie returning to the spa.

I was shortly distracted again by the realization that she was discussing what we'd just discovered with her friends. It was proving harder to tune out one single pony than it had been to tune out the hum of several thousand other changelings.

"We should tell the Princesses, darling. Another changeling invasion..."

"It's not an invasion, Sweetcake said it was just normal food gathering for the hive."

"Still, I can't help but feel that you should tell somepony. Twilight, at least ought to know."

"Okie-dokie-lokie."

"Sweetcake? You seem very distracted."

I jumped. Mr. Cake was standing right next to me. I gave him a guilty smile. I'd only frosted one cupcake. "Sorry. I guess I am."

"Why don't you go and let me finish this then?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Sorry." I put down the frosting and trotted out of the kitchen. Pinkie was headed for Twilight's home, so I decided I might as well join her.

I met Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy just outside the library, and we all went inside together. Fortunately Twilight wasn't busy, so we were able to tell her what had happened immediately.

"You're absolutely certain this isn't another invasion, Sweetcake?"

"Fairly. Invasions aren't common, I've only, uh, participated in the one. But there's no point in putting a pony to sleep and replacing them for a day as part of an invasion, that's just normal food gathering. I can check on Derpy tomorrow to be certain she's fine, if you want."

"I would appreciate that. But I can't help but feel that we ought to be doing something to prepare just in case there ever is another invasion. You seem to be able to spot other changelings, but we can't depend on you alone for warning."

"I can only tell up close, anyway," I said. "And it's easy to miss if I'm not paying attention."

Twilight nodded absently, obviously deep in thought. "I need a changeling identification spell. Or at least a changeling revealing spell so I can check, if somepony seems suspicious. That would have saved so much trouble at the wedding!"

"You didn't know there was such a thing as a changeling at the time, darling," said Rarity.

"True. Still, it would be very useful. Let me see what I can come up with." She picked up a quill and a scroll. "Sweetcake, do you mind if I test it on you? That way I'll know for certain if it works."

"I don't mind," I said. Although I felt a little nervous. Having a pony test an unknown anti-changeling spell on me sounded a bit frightening. Still, Twilight had trusted me. I should trust her in return.

It's okay, Twilight is really good at magic, said Pinkie silently to me. She sat down next to me and we leaned together while Twilight scribbled out ideas on a long scroll.

"Uhm, I need to go feed my animals," said Fluttershy. "If that's all right with you."

"Hmm?" Twilight looked up from her work, blinking. "Oh, yes, of course, Fluttershy. Though I'd appreciate it if Rarity stayed. I think this spell will be one she could learn, once I get it figured out."

"Of course, darling," said Rarity.

The door shut behind Fluttershy, and then there was silence except for the scratching of Twilight's pen.

"So, Sweetcake," said Rarity, a little stiffly, "I hear that you are working at Sugarcube Corner as well now?" I could taste a hint of revulsion from her, but she was obviously making an effort to put it aside.

"Yes. Just part time, but I seem to be pretty good at it."

There was a long, somewhat uncomfortable pause. I started to wonder if I should say something else, but what? I heard Pinkie Pie draw breath, probably to start in on some random ramble or other.

"There!" said Twilight suddenly. "I think this will work." Twilight's horn lit up and before I had a chance to react she'd shot a beam of magic at me. I let out a rather undignified squeak of surprise as it hit. It didn't hurt, exactly, but there was a slightly uncomfortable wrenching sensation, and I found I had indeed reverted to my natural form.

"Aha! It works!" Twilight danced in place, radiating satisfied excitement, which tasted rather like a rootbeer float, creamy and effervescent. Rarity's distaste, on the other hoof, had suddenly gotten much, much stronger. So I wasn't really able to enjoy Twilight's satisfaction.

I got to experience the discomfort of the spell twice more when Twilight taught it to Rarity, and then had me learn to cast it on myself. It was an elegantly simple thing, and I couldn't help but admire the skill with which Twilight had constructed it.

The spell learned, Rarity, Pinkie and I said our goodbyes to Twilight and left. Though not before Twilight made me promise to return tomorrow to be quizzed about emotional flavors.

Pinkie walked sedately at my side as we made our way back towards Sugar Cube corner. I could taste a faint hint of worry though, like spoiled milk, wafting from her. What's wrong?

Nothing, she tried to say, but I could tell it was a lie.

You can tell me. It's okay.

I guess I still can't lie to you. Okay. I just keep thinking... If there are other changelings here, what if you get your hive bond back, and go away?

I couldn't pretend the thought hadn't crossed my mind already. But when I answered her I wasn't lying. I would never leave you, Pinkie. No matter what. Even if I somehow got my hive bond back, I would stay.

Promise?

I promise.

Pinkie Pie promise? She sent a flicker of information with that thought. I recognized the seemingly nonsensical oath that she'd sworn to Rainbow Dash.

I pulled in the images she'd sent and replied, pausing to make the appropriate motions. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.

Nopony breaks a Pinkie Pie promise, she said. I knew she meant it.

I won't.

***

"So the obvious place to start is with love." Twilight Sparkle's quill was poised over her paper. Her eyes were shining with bright eagerness. I could practically make a real meal of her curiosity and enthusiasm, even though such emotions were usually considered too weak to be worth collecting. "What does love taste like?"

"Cupcakes!" said Pinkie brightly.

"Really?"

"It is rather like pastry," I said, nodding. "And it's definitely sweet, but it has a solidity to it. It doesn't taste anything like meat, but..." I halted, as a flicker of surprise from Pinkie reminded me that ponies were vegetarians. "Uhm. You can't live off of cupcakes, while you can live off of love. It's not exactly savory, but it's hearty. And it does amazing things for your magical energies."

"I see." Twilight's quill scratched across the paper. "What about hate, then?"

"Hate is bitter. Though it's not like sadness, it's more complicated. It's this layered bitterness, like a really tannic red wine. It's not nourishing at all, but some changelings actually develop a taste for it."

"Sadness is bitter too?"

"Yes. It's a bit like bitter almond, tolerable but not really that pleasant."

"Interesting. And what about..."

A knock at the door interrupted Twilight. "Bother. I'll be right back." She set down her quill and trotted to the library door.

"Hey, Twi! The mayor asked me to put these up around town. Though you might want to post one in the library." It was Rainbow Dash, holding a stack of posters. I couldn't make out what was on them, but apparently Pinkie could. She was on the other side of the room so fast I'm not sure I even saw her move at all.

"Oh my gosh! An all-ages talent show! Eee!" She danced in place excitedly. I felt almost overwhelmed by her sudden enthusiasm. It was like drowning in a sea of sarsaparilla, but it wasn't just the taste, it was the feeling of it inside my head. She bounced back over to my side. "We are so competing, Sweetcake!"

"Uhm. What's a talent show?" I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"It's where ponies show off their talents in front of a big crowd of other ponies," said Rainbow Dash. "I don't usually compete, even though I have a ton of awesome talents, because they hold it at the town hall and my stuff doesn't really work indoors. Anyway, gotta jet. Lots more of these to put up." She turned and zoomed away. I tried to sort out what I should feel about her explanation. A public competition? I wasn't sure I liked the idea of drawing attention to myself like that, even with Pinkie's enthusiasm trying to make me feel excited too.

"Are you going to compete too, Twilight?" asked Pinkie.

"Oh, I suppose I could put on some kind of magic show. I'm not really much of a showpony though." She smiled. "I leave that sort of thing to Trixie. What about you? I know you'll enter, but what sort of act are you going to do?"

"A song! Or a comedy routine! Or a comedy song! Or maybe I can gargle Gershwin!"

"Uhm. Those all sound nice." Twilight seemed about as confused as I was. Confusion never tastes quite the same way twice, this one tasted like popcorn.

"Come on, Sweetcake! We have plans to make!"

"Uhm. Pinkie? I still haven't finished cataloging emotional flavors. In fact I've hardly started."

"Oh. Right. Sorry!" She plopped down next to me. I could hear her thinking about the talent show, a low mutter of ideas in the back of my head, but when Twilight started asking me about emotions again, I was thankfully able to mostly ignore it. Though every now and then the mental mutter would break out into actual muttering. "Tires maybe? Or there's always oatmeal, I could get a vat..."

Twilight ignored it with the ease of one well used to Pinkie. "So. We should really be organized about this. I have a list of emotional states, so we can go through them one by one."

"All right."

Twilight lifted her quill again. Then there was another knock on the door. She set it down with a sigh. "The price I pay for living in a library. I'll be right back."

This time the pony at the door proved to be Rarity. "Hello Twilight, darling. I just came by for a little light reading material. Do you happen to have anything new on the romance shelf?" Her eyes flicked past Twilight to Pinkie and me, and she frowned faintly. I was just close enough to taste the edges of her sudden distaste. She still didn't like me.

"Yes I do!" said Twilight with a smile. "Hold on a second, I'll get it for you."

While she trotted past us to her shelves, Pinkie bounced up to Rarity. "Are you going to enter the talent show?"

"I have never been one for that sort of performance, my dear," said Rarity. "I prefer to stay behind the scenes and create fabulous costumes instead."

"Ooo! You could make costumes for me and Sweetcake! That would be totally, awesomely, stupendously amazing!"

Rarity's eyes flicked to me again, and that little frown came back for a moment. "You? And Sweetcake?"

"Yes! We'll look so adorable in matching outfits when we demolish a carriage to the tune of the Anvil Chorus!"

"Uhm." Rarity's confusion tasted like fried rice. "Well..."

"Pretty please? I'll pay for it and everything!"

"Oh no, darling. You can pay for the materials, as usual, but my friends do not pay for my work! Don't worry, it will be a pleasure to make matching outfits for you." She smiled at me, even though I could taste that she still thought I was a disgusting bug. "It will be quite simple, really. You have the same colors, after all. That will make it almost too easy!"

"Here's the book you wanted, Rarity," said Twilight as she trotted up.

"Thank you, darling." She flashed Twilight a sincere smile, then turned back to Pinkie Pie. "Come over to my shop tomorrow so I can take Sweetcake's measurements and we can decide on a design."

***

I followed Pinkie into Rarity's boutique with a certain amount of resignation. I wasn't sure about this talent show, and I was also not sure about spending this much time around a pony who was actively disgusted by me.

"Welcome, darlings!" Rarity beamed at us both. The distaste was actually not that strong right now. Instead I mostly tasted effervescent anticipation, mixed with a generous dose of bright, metallic pride. Like sucking on a copper penny, it wasn't anything like food, but it was rather pleasant. "I've had several marvelous ideas for your outfits. I can hardly wait to show you, I know you will just love them! Come in, come in!"

Pinkie and I walked into the boutique. Rarity immediately chivvied us over to her drafting table and was soon flipping through half a dozen different sketches, her magic sending swatches of fabric flying about as she pointed out different possible color combinations, and held them against Pinkie's coat for comparison.

She and Pinkie discussed the designs for quite a while. I sat down out of the way and just listened. I couldn't think of anything to say.

I had ended up sitting aside and watching quite a bit since coming to Ponyville. For a moment I felt utterly isolated. I was an alien here, among these ponies. I didn't belong in their world. I never had belonged among ponies, but I'd belonged with my hive. Now I had lost them too.

Pinkie was there, though, bubbling happily in my mind. She was genuinely excited about this talent show, and about working with Rarity. She was happy. I couldn't stay sad for long when she was happy.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" said Pinkie cheerfully. "It's definitely this one!" Her hoof tapped on one of the sketches, with several swatches now pinned to it.

"You're quite certain?" asked Rarity.

"Yup!"

"You don't want to look at any more swatches?"

"Nope!"

"I could do a few more sketches, if you like. This one really isn't quite perfect..."

"It's good, I like it."

Rarity's eyes went to me. The pride and anticipation I'd tasted before were both entirely gone now. Revulsion was all I could taste from her. Pinkie could no doubt taste it too, she wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out, but she didn't say anything this time.

"Well. I suppose it's time to acquire some measurements, then. I already have yours, Pinkie. I just need to take Sweetcake's." Rarity picked up a cloth tape and looked at me. She gave a tiny little shudder. I felt a little queasy from how strong her distaste had become.

"Wow," said Pinkie, "You really do think he's an icky bug, don't you?" Pinkie Pie's earlier happiness began to fade, and her hair faded just a little bit too.

Rarity shot a look at Pinkie. "I thought we weren't speaking of that any further?"

"Oh. Yeah."

"He's... fine. Twilight trusts him. Rainbow Dash thinks he is 'awesome'. Fluttershy says he is kind. He is fine, and I will be fine." She lifted her head, her expression hardening into one of dogged determination. "Now, if you would be so kind as to stand, so that I can measure you?" she said to me.

I nodded and rose. Rarity didn't come any closer, but her tape measure flew over to me and started to measure. The wave of revulsion coming from her ebbed just a little as she worked.

"Thank you for doing this," I said after a few minutes.

"Think nothing of it, darling. I enjoy making things for my friends."

I didn't want to say that I could tell she wasn't enjoying it at all. I did want to say that I admired the way she was able to hide her feelings so well, but I suspected she might take it the wrong way, so I remained silent. I knew ponies generally didn't like being complimented on their skill at lying.

She had nearly finished when the bell over her door rang and a tan stallion stepped into the boutique.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique," began Rarity, then she stopped. "Oh! Mr. Davenport! Let me finish here and I shall be right with you!"

"No need, I just came to say that something has come up and I can't stay for my fitting."

"Oh. You're not going to the Sofa Summit then?"

"I am, and I will still need the suit, but you'll just have to make it without my measurements. Sorry! Very busy! Gotta run!" The stallion turned and left, leaving Rarity staring after him, her hoof raised as if to stop him.

She was radiating an intense, peppery frustration when she turned back to me, but all she did was take a deep breath and pick up her cloth tape again.

"Gosh, that was kind of rude!"

"The rudeness isn't what upsets me, darling," said Rarity. "The possibility of an ill-fitting suit upsets me. It will look horrid, and not reflect well on my work at all. But what else can I do? If he will not be fitted, I must make do as best I can. Perhaps I could find another stallion with a similar build..." She scribbled down a final measurement as she spoke, then let the tape fall. "In any case we are done. I'll have your outfits early next week."

"Okay." Pinkie smiled, her hair once more at full fluff. "Thank you Rarity."

I wasn't thinking about the outfits though, I was thinking about something that Rarity had said. "Rarity, if it's all right with you, I think I can help you."

"Help me?" She cocked her head to the side curiously.

"With Mr. Davenport's suit. I can be him for you, and you can take your measurements."

She blinked at me rather owlishly for a long moment. "Oh! You... I suppose you could. That... Why that would be marvelous!"

"First, can you close the shop? I wouldn't want somepony to come in and start wondering how Mr. Davenport is in here while he's also out there."

"Of course. Just a moment." Rarity went over to the door, flipped the sign on it over, and locked it. "There." She took a deep breath. "Do your thing."

I concentrated, remembering the pony I'd just seen. A moment later green fire flashed over me and I was him.

"Oh!" Rarity sounded delighted. "For some reason I thought you would change back into... well... your other form first. This is much nicer."

"Sheesh. You might as well just say that you're happy to not have to see an icky bug," said Pinkie grumpily.

"We're not talking about that, remember?" said Rarity archly.

Pinkie scowled. "Because I was getting all mad when you did talk about it, but not talking about it is making me all mad too! Why don't you like Sweetcake?"

Rarity's tape measure lifted towards me as she answered. "I do like him, Pinkie, dear. Or I want to like him. He does seem quite nice, and I appreciate how helpful he's being. I just can't help it. I don't like creepy crawly things; I never have. Spiders and bugs and things with far too many legs..." She shuddered. "I truly can't help it! It's even worse to see a bug that's pony-shaped. It's frightfully creepy. But that doesn't mean I don't like Sweetcake. I am just much more comfortable when he stays like this." She gave me a hesitant little smile. She was still radiating a faint revulsion, but also quite a lot of sincerity, which was sharp and pleasant, like feta cheese.

"I like you too, Rarity," I said, venturing a small smile in return.

Suddenly Pinkie was pulling me in for a hug with one arm, and Rarity with the other. "Yay! Oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever!" Rarity squeaked in surprise, and for a moment her revulsion flickered over into outright fear—acrid and sharp—but it almost immediately went away as Pinkie hugged us both.

There were tears in Pinkie's eye when she finally let us go, but I knew that they were happy tears, not sad ones. "I'll let you do your measuring now, Rarity. I'm just so happy. My friends don't hate my special somepony after all."

"Of course we don't, darling." Rarity might have had a hint of a happy tear in her eye as well as she lifted the tape measure. Certainly she tasted frosting-sweet. "Of course we don't."

Author's Note

I'm leaving town for a bit shortly after posting this chapter, so I'll be slower than usual on replying to comments, but I do appreciate every single comment I get. It is really wonderful and amazing to me that so many people like this story so much. Hopefully you all enjoyed this latest installation. One more chapter and it'll be all done!

Won't You Please Come Home

Pinkie was having a sad day again. She'd woken up this morning in a terrible funk, so once again she was in the kitchen doing the baking. I was at the register now; I'd had enough practice to work it unaided. I knew Pinkie's low mood wouldn't last. Tonight was the talent show and usually the very thought of it was enough to send her bouncing off the walls—sometimes literally.

I greeted ponies and made change without any real enthusiasm. Pinkie's depression was dragging me down as well. As the day passed though, she cheered up a bit, and so did I. Soon it was less than an hour until closing, after which we would dress in the matching outfits Rarity had made for us and head to the town hall to perform. I was still nervous about the idea of drawing attention to myself, but since Pinkie was looking forward to it so much, I was willing to do it for her sake. It would make her happy.

"Good afternoon!" The Mayor's cheerful voice rang through the bakery. She trotted up to the counter with a smile.

I smiled politely in return. "How can I help you?"

"One dozen assorted donuts, please. I wanted to treat the lovely ponies helping set up things for the talent show tonight. They've worked quite hard!" Her smile grew. I didn't smile back. In fact, it was all I could do to not gape at her in horror. I couldn't taste any emotion from her.

"I'll box those up for you," I managed, and turned away to fill a box with donuts.

When I turned back with the full box she had put her hooves on the counter. Leaning over it, her face far too close to mine, she whispered, "This is Chrysalis Hive territory. Whoever you are, you don't belong here."

I took a step back, but she merely took the donut box and walked off with it, leaving me to gape at her.

Sweetcake! I felt that. What happened? Are you okay?

We have to go to Twilight; now! I said silently to Pinkie. Turn off the oven and run!

What is it? What's wrong?

The Mayor has been replaced by a changeling.

And that's bad?

Yes!

But...

I'll explain it when we get there. There's no time to waste. I flipped the sign on the door over to the closed side and bolted outside, with Pinkie on my heels.

We raced to the Golden Oaks Library, and it was all I could do to not pound frantically on the door. I didn't want to alarm any strangers who might be at the library, but my insides were a knot of worry and fear.

Thankfully, Twilight opened the door almost immediately. "Sweetcake? Pinkie? What is it?"

"Bad news. Very bad news." I tried to look past her, to see if she was alone.

Her eyes went wide, and an acrid hint of alarm wafted from her. "Oh no! What is it?"

"I kind of don't want the whole town to overhear." I looked from side to side. Nopony was nearby, but still...

"Ah. Okay." She stepped back, letting Pinkie and me inside.

Once the door was shut I could see that the only other person with us was Rainbow Dash. She put down the book she'd been reading and trotted over. "So, what is this 'bad news'?" She made air quotes with her hooves, seeming unconcerned.

"I just saw the Mayor, and she's been replaced. That means there's a changeling invasion in progress right here in Ponyville."

"What?" Rainbow's casual expression vanished in a flash.

"But... couldn't it just be like Derpy, a changeling replacing her for a day to gather food?" asked Twilight.

I shook my head. "No. Especially not since it's my old hive doing it. They'd never replace anyone in power just for a day's feeding. It's not worth the increased risk of replacing a public figure. This is a full-on invasion, I'm sure of it."

Twilight frowned. "That's not good. Not good at all."

"I'll say!" said Pinkie Pie. "What about the real Mayor? What will they have done with her?"

"There will be a nest somewhere in town. They'll have the ponies they've replaced there, cocooned so they can be controlled and fed from."

"So if we could find it, we could free the Mayor, and whoever else they've replaced," said Rainbow.

I nodded. "Yes."

"But it could be anywhere," said Twilight.

"No, not anywhere. It'll be underground, almost certainly. And it has to be somewhere that the Mayor and the other replaced ponies would have an excuse to go frequently."

I could see Twilight's eyes tracking back and forth as she mentally flipped through the possibilities. "The town hall, it has to be. It has a basement, underneath the stage. It's used to store old records, and they also sometimes use the trap door in performances."

"Oh my gosh, that's it!" said Pinkie. "When we were there to rehearse yesterday they told Snails that he couldn't use the trap door for his magic act, because it was broken and unsafe! They had a lock on it and everything. It has to be there, that's why they wouldn't let him go down there."

"Then we have to go rescue the Mayor and the others," said Twilight, her face setting into an expression of firm determination. It tasted like aged cheddar, strong and sharp. "How many changelings are there likely to be in this nest?"

I shook my head. "I can't say for certain. Probably not that many. I saw the real Mayor only a few days ago, she wasn't replaced that long ago. So it's still early."

"Then let's get going, the sooner the better!" said Rainbow eagerly.

"We can't just run off," said Twilight. "We need a plan."

"What's to plan?" said Rainbow. "Go, kick changeling flank, rescue ponies, ta-da! We beat up a lot of them in Canterlot, if there's only a few here, it'll be easy."

"Not necessarily." Twilight frowned again. She started pacing back and forth, thinking. I watched her go, trying to think of some plan myself. I had a moment's wonder about the fact that I'd moved to help these ponies against my old hive without even thinking about it. But Pinkie was my hive now. The changeling replacing the Mayor had been right when she had recognized me as being from some other hive. I was. Ponyville wasn't Chrysalis Hive territory, it was my hive territory. The other changelings were the ones who didn't belong here.

"We don't know for certain how many there are. I think what we need to do is scout the town hall basement and find out," said Twilight finally.

"Okay then! Let's go!"

Pinkie bounced in place. "Yeah! To the rescue!"

"Okay." Twilight nodded. Then she looked at me. "Sweetcake... You said this is your old hive. Are you sure you want to fight against them?"

"Yes," I said. "They're not my hive anymore."

"Hey, how can you doubt him? He's the one who ran straight here to warn us about the invasion!" said Pinkie.

"I'm not exactly doubting him, Pinkie. But if I understand how changeling hives work, he'll be fighting against his brothers and sisters. I know that if I had to fight against my family, even if it was to save my friends, I'd have some conflicting loyalties."

"Oh."

"Twilight is right," I said, nodding. "In fact... maybe I should stay behind. I can watch through Pinkie's eyes and tell you anything you need to know through her without needing to be there."

"Woah, cool!" said Rainbow. "Can you look through mine too?"

I chuckled. "No, only Pinkie's."

"Actually that's probably good. It would be pretty weird to have somepony else in my head."

"Well, we have a plan. And we have a backup in case anything goes wrong, too." Twilight smiled at me. "So let's go."

They went out the front door, Twilight locking it behind them. I settled myself on the floor and closed my eyes so that I could see through Pinkie's.

The trio cantered through town to the town hall. When they arrived it was deserted. It was after hours for the ordinary business of governing, but too early yet for anypony to be there for the talent show. Pinkie led the way to the stage, where the trap door was, near the back wall. Twilight's horn glowed for a moment, and the lock fell away. Her magic lifted the door. The three ponies stood for a moment, looking down into the blackness below. Rickety wooden stairs led down, but the light didn't reach to where they touched the bottom.

Pinkie went first, creeping silently down the stairs. She wasn't afraid at all. When she glanced back I saw Rainbow Dash hovering just behind her, looking confident and unafraid. I couldn't taste her at this distance. Twilight, as she followed after, looked a little more wary.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Twilight summoned a tiny spark to the tip of her horn. The light fell on what was unmistakably a changeling nest. Dark resin was plastered to the walls, hiding their original texture and shape, turning the basement into a series of smaller chambers. In most of those chambers hung green cocoons, cradling ponies.

There were no drones currently present, which made sense. There were no young to tend here, nor solid food to grow here; the main task would be to infiltrate the town and capture new ponies to replace.

The number of cocoons worried me though. I had thought, with the Mayor being replaced only a day or two past, that there would be at most a dozen of them. There were easily twice as many, maybe even three times.

Be careful, I said silently to Pinkie. There are more changeling replacements in town than I'd thought.

"Sweetcake says to be careful," whispered Pinkie. "There are a lot more replacements than he expected."

"More than I expected too," said Twilight. "I think I've seen enough. Let's-"

There was a thud, and the light coming down through the trap door above cut off. All three ponies whirled around to face the stairs. There were three ponies on the stairs. One was the Mayor. One was an earth pony stallion I didn't know. The last was a blue unicorn that I recognized as Minuette. I'd met her when I first started working in the bakery. She hadn't been back since, so she could have been a changeling for weeks.

Rainbow Dash immediately swooped towards them, but Minuette's horn glowed with green light and she swatted Rainbow from the air. Rainbow fell and didn't rise; the spell had knocked her out.

Pinkie's heart was pounding with fear, but she braced for combat courageously. I wished I could be there with her, I knew how to fight. She'd never been trained, and I couldn't pass my training through the bond. Knowing what the moves were wouldn't be enough. But surely Twilight's magic would be enough.

Twilight yelled and shot a beam of magenta power at Minuette.

She laughed, a scornful sound, and blocked it with a green-glowing shield. A swift beam of power licked out from the shield an instant later. Twilight cried out as it struck her. She fell.

"Twilight!" shouted Pinkie. Minuette looked at her with a malicious smile, and for a moment her eyes flashed green. I felt fear stab through me. Drone eyes were blue. Green meant an under-queen. No wonder she'd been able to best Twilight. Things were far worse than I'd feared. Your only hope is to get around her somehow, you can't fight her, Pinkie!

I can't leave Twilight and Rainbow! If she gets me, have Spike send for the Princess. She leaped at Minuette, but another green beam of power reached out to her, and sudden blackness claimed her.

My eyes snapped open, seeing the library around me without really registering it. I could still sense Pinkie, she was alive. She was unconscious now, though. Soon she'd be encased in a cocoon and replaced with a drone. I couldn't just leave her to that fate.

She'd told me to have Spike send for Princess Celestia. I'd finally met the little dragon who was Twilight's assistant last week. Was he here in the library somewhere? I got to my feet and went in search of him. He wasn't hard to find, he was upstairs, napping in a basket.

I nudged him with one hoof. "Spike?"

"Huhwha?" He opened his eyes and blinked up at me.

"Pinkie told me to have you contact the Princess. It's very important."

He shot upright. "It is? What happened? Where's Twilight?"

"She's been captured by changelings. They've invaded Ponyville."

"Holy cow, really?

"Yes, really. You need to tell Celestia."

"Right away!" He scurried off, down the stairs. By the time I reached him he had a paper and quill in his claws and was scribbling away frantically. He rolled the result up and then set it on fire, which was not at all what I'd expected. "There," he said. "She should reply any minute now."

There was a long silence.

"Any minute now," repeated Spike.

"How long does it usually take?"

"Oh, well, sometimes it takes hours for her to reply, but when it's something important she usually sends a response right away. I don't know what could be taking so long."

"I can't just sit here and wait. I have to go do something."

"Like what? If it's a whole changeling invasion, it took Shining Armor, Cadance, and a super-strong spell that I don't think anypony else could cast, to kick them all out last time."

"I still can't just sit here." I started pacing back and forth. I couldn't. Pinkie was everything I had. Sitting and waiting while she was in danger just wasn't an option.

I couldn't just charge to the rescue by myself though. I would be facing an under-queen. I was only a drone. Her power was an order of magnitude at least beyond mine. I needed help. I thought of Pinkie Pie's friends. Rarity was no warrior. Neither was Fluttershy. Applejack, perhaps, might be. And she might perhaps know some other pony who could fight with us.

"I'm going to go get Applejack," I said.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

I looked down at the tiny dragon. He was obviously just a nymph, nowhere near full grown even for a pony, let alone a dragon. I couldn't take him into danger. "Why don't you wait here for Princess Celestia's reply? There are some details she will probably want to know. The changelings have a nest underneath town hall, and there is an under-queen here who's quite powerful, though not as powerful as the queen herself."

"Okay. I'll write her another letter, and tell her to hurry while I'm at it." He picked up the quill and paper again.

I didn't wait around while he wrote, I sprinted out the door. Heedless of any attention it might draw, I shaped a pair of wings and shot into the air as soon as I was outside. The sun was touching the horizon in the distance as I zoomed away from town, towards Sweet Apple Acres.

I landed next to the farmhouse in a flurry of dust. "Applejack! Applejack!"

Her head poked out the farmhouse door. "Sweetcake?" She looked at my wings in bafflement. "What's wrong?"

"My old hive is invading the town, they've made a nest in the basement under the town hall. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash have all been captured. We have to rescue them! But there's an under-queen there, I can't fight her alone. She's too strong. I need help."

Applejack's eyes had gotten wider and wider as I poured out my frantic story. There was a hint of acrid fear from her, but mostly she tasted of surprise. "Holy buckin' horseapples. You sure about this, Sweetcake?"

"Yes."

"Alrighty then. Guess I better call the cavalry." She turned back into the house. "Hey! Big Mac! Get yer flank out here!"

A moment later a truly gigantic earth pony stallion trotted up next to her. He regarded me with a look of mild curiosity. I could taste an intense interest, as citrus-bright and strong as Twilight's had been, behind the bland expression.

"This here is Sweetcake, he's Pinkie Pie's special somepony, and I guess I can probably tell ya that he's also a changeling, since I figure he ain't tryin' too hard to hide just now, what with the wings and all."

I felt vaguely embarrassed by that, and made the wings vanish, returning to the ordinary unicorn form I'd grown accustomed to.

"Anyhow, he says there's a passel o' other changelings tryin' to invade the town, and they've got Twilight an' Pinkie an' Dash at the town hall, along with some kind of... what did you call it?"

"An under-queen. Like Queen Chrysalis, but not as strong. Stronger than I am, though."

"Right. There's gonna' be a whole crowd o' ponies at the town hall by the time we get there, seein' as how the talent show is tonight. So they'll be outnumbered pretty badly. I reckon all we got to do is get to the basement and show ponies that there's an invasion, and the changelings'll turn tail."

I'd nearly forgotten about the talent show, but Applejack was right. There would be hundreds of ponies in the audience. The changelings would run, rather than fight, faced with odds like that. Just so long as the whole audience didn't turn out to be changelings. But no, that wasn't possible. There had been maybe three dozen pods in the basement, at most. There couldn't be any more than that, and they probably wouldn't all be present. At least I hoped they wouldn't be. I realized that panic was making my mind wander. I corralled my thoughts and nodded at Applejack. "Yes. We can fight if we have to, but a revealed changeling's first instinct is to flee."

"Good. Then let's go."

Her brother nodded, still without having said a word, and followed Applejack as she headed towards town at a gallop. I went after them.

Applejack could really run. Surprisingly for a pony his size, so could Big Mac. I had to work to keep up with them. Still, it seemed to take forever to reach the town. I was panting hard, but not feeling as tired as I had expected, when we finally arrived at the town hall.

The doors stood open, pouring golden light out into the twilit town. Ponies were still arriving and there was plenty of empty space remaining, but a good sized crowd had already gathered. The curtains were drawn aside from the stage. I caught a glimpse of the Mayor, standing behind a podium that was set to one side of the stage. My attention was on the stage itself, though. The trap door was there, and Pinkie Pie was beneath it.

Applejack and Big Mac hesitated once we were inside, but I didn't. I ran straight for the stage and jumped up on it. A murmur of confusion ran through the crowd. I ignored it. I didn't care about anything but reaching Pinkie Pie.

Suddenly a figure stepped out from behind a piece of scenery set there in preparation for some act or other. It was Minuette. Or rather the changeling under-queen who had taken Minuette's place.

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me. "You are making a huge mistake," she hissed in a low voice. "No one challenges Chrysalis Hive." Her horn lit with green light.

I summoned my own magic. "Just let me past and I won't have to hurt you," I said.

"I think not." Power shot at me from her horn. I blocked it, and to my shock, my shield held. With a sudden feeling of hope I countered with a blast of my own. She blocked it, but I felt her shield shudder.

I was stronger than she was.

My heart soared. Of course! Pinkie Pie's love! I'd been feeding on enough to power half the hive. With that to draw on I could beat any changeling save perhaps the queen herself. I poured more power into my attack.

The crowd of ponies behind me was growing noisier. I still didn't care. I just had to get past Minuette, that was all.

A yell and a thud behind me broke my concentration for a moment. I glanced over to see Applejack fighting with the Mayor, while Big Mac was facing off against the earth pony I'd seen in the basement. Several more ponies were moving through the crowd towards the fight. A burst of power struck me and I swayed, returning my attention to the battle before me. Minuette snarled at me and left off her attack, raising a stronger shield instead. I poured more power into my attack, beginning to realize the full extent of the reservoir of power I had at my disposal now.

Minuette screamed suddenly, a sound of pure rage, and flung herself at me. For just an instant, her horn touched mine.

And our minds joined.

I nearly went to my knees. The hum of the hive poured into me. I could sense Minuette in front of me, frozen in shock at what had just happened. I could sense the Mayor and several more changelings behind me. I could sense several working in the basement below me, finishing the pods holding my friends. I could sense the others scattered around Ponyville. And I could sense those who waited back at the hive itself. Hundreds and hundreds of minds touched mine. I felt tears gathering in my eyes. My hive was back.

One mind, powerful beyond measure, reached out to me. What is this? A new changeling? How can that be? Ah no, I see. A little lost lamb, returning to us. How interesting.

The Queen's mind grasped mine. I felt her rifling through my memories like the pages of a book. My! You will make the best double agent possible. A changeling, known to be a changeling, yet welcomed by ponies. You even have the trust of their pretty little Princess. Amazing!

The crowd was still murmuring behind me. Applejack had stopped fighting when the Mayor had. I barely knew they were there, all I knew was the touch of my Queen's mind against mine, filling the aching emptiness that I had almost forgotten. Tears trickled down my cheeks.

But what's this? A bond with a pony? Oh no, that will never do. She will cause far too much trouble. I felt the Queen reach deeper into my mind, seeking a way through it, to the bond that tied me to Pinkie Pie. She was going to cut it.

No!

Do not defy me, drone. You belong to me.

No! I belong to her. I am her special somepony!

What? Don't be ridiculous! The Queen laughed in my mind and reached again for the bond that tied me to Pinkie Pie.

I hissed defiance, my horn lighting once more. I remembered my training, and the trick I'd learned so that I could fight without knowing what my opponent intended. Even as she was still feeling about for the bond that tied me to Pinkie, I reached out with my magic and cut the bond between the Queen and I.

I felt her snarl of anger at my defiance, not through the bond that I'd cut, but through a thousand other bonds with my hive-mates. I felt her reach again, this time through them, seeking to grasp me once more.

I summoned every scrap of power I had and reached for every one of those hundreds and hundreds of bonds. My horn blazed as I strained to grasp them all. The queen was close now, her will trickling into my mind. "No!" I shouted, aloud and in my mind as well. My horn so bright that I could see it through my closed eyelids, I finally cut the bonds, all of them, that tied me to the hive.

Just like that, I was alone again in my mind, save for one small, sleeping voice. Pinkie was once more all I had.

I heard cries and shouts erupt around me. I opened my eyes to see Minuette still standing in front of me, looking utterly shocked. Her shock was suddenly replaced by a wicked grin. "It's a changeling!" she cried. "Kill it!"

I looked down at myself. I had drawn on my power too hard, and had reverted to my natural shape. Already the cries of alarm behind me began to take on notes of anger. I turned, to see a crowd of ponies that were rapidly headed towards becoming a mob.

Well, if I was going to go down, I wouldn't go down alone. My horn lit, and I had just enough power left to cast the changeling reveal spell that Twilight had taught me on Minuette.

"She is a changeling too," I said. "And I only came here to make friends. She came here to replace your friends and take over the town."

Minuette hissed at me in rage. When she spoke I could hear an echo of the queen herself in her voice. "Very well. You win for the moment. But this is not over, traitor! We will return. Never trust anyone again, little one. Anypony you meet could be me, slipping back to take my revenge!" Then in a flash of green light she was gone. I turned away to see several more flashes as the rest of the changelings followed her.

I was left alone, standing on a stage, in front of half the town of Ponyville. Dozens of eyes fixed on me. The air was full of the taste of emotions, ranging from confusion, to fear, to rage. Any minute now rage would win, and they would attack. I couldn't run, however much I wanted to. Pinkie Pie was still there, beneath my hooves. I couldn't just leave her.

The muttering of the crowd grew louder. A voice shouted, "Kill the changeling!" A growl of agreement swept through the crowed. I took a step back, cringing before all those angry faces.

Suddenly something jumped between me and the angry mob. "Now hold on just a minute!" It was Applejack. She tasted strongly of determination. I nearly could have made a meal of it. "I know y'all don't like changelings none. Heck, I don't like 'em much either. But Sweetcake here ain't like the rest of 'em. He ain't replaced any pony, and he ain't here to invade us. He's here 'cause he's Pinkie's friend. I reckon he's my friend too, and I ain't going to stand by and let y'all hurt him. So if any of you want him, yer goin' to hafta' go through me first."

"An' me," said Big Mac, stepping up beside her.

The tone of the muttering changed instantly. I couldn't hear any individual words, but I could tell that not a one of them wanted to tangle with Applejack and her brother.

Applejack nodded firmly. "That's more like it. Now Sweetcake came to warn us that there was a nest o' changelings right under our hooves here. He's goin' to show us where they are, and we're goin' to set free all the ponies they caught. Right, Sweetcake?"

"Yes ma'am," I said. I went over to the now-unguarded trap door.

Before I could open it there was an explosion of soft light that poured down all around me. I looked up to see Princess Celestia hovering over the stage. Ponies gasped and bowed throughout the room. I bowed as well as the Princess landed next to me on the stage.

"Sweetcake," she said, smiling. "Spike has told me how you came to warn Twilight of danger. I see that you have done even more than that. You have saved Ponyville. You have done very well, my little changeling."

"Th-thank you," I stammered. Then I looked at the trapdoor again. "All I wanted to do was to save Pinkie though."

"Then let us do so," she said. She bent her head and touched her horn to the lock. It dissolved into smoke. The door swung open in the grip of her golden magic. She stepped back, the door itself obviously too small to easily admit her. I didn't hesitate, I dashed forward.

The changelings that had been working here were gone as well, vanished along with the under-queen. All that remained were the pods, with their cargo of sleeping ponies. I didn't have to search to find Pinkie's, I went straight to it. Behind me Applejack started looking at the other pods. "What're we supposed to do now?"

"Cut open the pods," I said. "Let the ponies out." I lit my horn and tore open the one holding Pinkie. The green liquid drained from around her. Her eyes snapped open. She coughed, spewing green out. I helped her to her feet, where she coughed again and again, until her lungs were finally free of the stuff.

Around me other ponies were moving, tearing open other pods. I had no eyes for them, all my attention was on Pinkie Pie. Her eyes opened and she immediately wrapped her hooves around me tightly.

I hugged her back, clinging to her with something like desperation. My mind clung to hers too, holding on to that single bond with desperate strength. I had come so close to losing her. The queen had nearly cut my bond with her. And I... Suddenly I realized what I'd done. I had cut my bond with the hive. I'd gotten back the thing I wanted most of all, and without even thinking about it I'd tossed it aside to be with Pinkie.

I started to shake. Pinkie just held me tighter. "It's okay," she whispered in my ear. "It's okay. I'm here." I'll always be here. Always. I know what you did for me. I know you love me. I love you too, my Mister Sweetcake Changeling. I'll always love you.

***

Pinkie's "Mister Sweetcake Changeling Saved The Town" party had drawn the biggest crowd I'd ever seen in my life. I think every single pony in town attended it. She held it outdoors, because it was too big to fit in any structure in town. Though I suspected that Princess Celestia's presence at the party was the reason for most of the crowd. Certainly ponies crowded more eagerly around her than they did around me. I didn't mind. I'd never liked being the center of attention.

Still, I tasted far less apprehension in the air than I'd feared, given that I was myself again, wearing my true form. Applejack hadn't wanted me to hide, and to be honest I felt odd about going back to being a pony. The whole town had seen me. What would be the point? I had, however, changed one thing about my appearance. I'd taken a small page from the ponies themselves. The moment when a pony discovered their destiny was marked on their flanks. I'd marked it on my own by using my talent to shape a cutie mark.

So although my hide was chitinous again, and I had a stiff crest rather than a mane, my cupcake cutie mark declared that I had aligned myself with the ponies. Though in truth I'd mostly aligned myself with one pony in particular; the pony who had first shared the taste of a cupcake with me. The pony who was my special somepony. The pony who came bounding through the crowd towards me and tackled me in an enthusiastic hug.

"Isn't this a great party, Sweetcake?"

I laughed. "It is, yes."

"Howdy there, y'all," said Applejack, walking over to us with a smile. Fluttershy was with her, though she seemed to be half-hiding from the crowd behind Applejack. "Enjoyin' yer party?" Applejack tasted of friendship, pure and sweet and almost as good as love.

"I am, yes. Though I'm not entirely comfortable with such a large crowd of ponies all paying attention to me."

"I know just how you feel," said Fluttershy. She smiled at me. Friendship was radiating from her too. I pulled in a little of it, though I didn't really need to. It was just nice to not taste fear of me from her. There was a thread of unease directed at the crowd, but I understood that.

"Hello, darlings." Rarity beamed at all of us. I beamed back. There was still an edge of revulsion to her feelings, but there was a strong thread of friendship from her as well. She might not like how I looked, but she liked me.

"It's a shame the talent show had to be canceled. Do you know if they'll hold another one? I may have to make you new outfits for it, the color scheme doesn't suit you at all any more, Sweetcake darling."

"Hey there!" Rainbow Dash dropped down out of the sky next to me. "Put 'er there!" She held out a hoof and I hoof-bumped it. Friendship flowed from her as well, flavored with fruity admiration. "Awesome party, Pinks!"

"Thanks!" Pinkie bounced happily in place next to me.

"Hello, everypony." Twilight trotted up, with Spike seated on her back. He had a gemstone-topped cupcake in his claws. "This is a really terrific party, Pinkie! How did you ever bake so much in just one day?" The friendship from her somehow made what I tasted from the others even stronger. All together it was as good as love. I felt like could have fought a dozen under-queens in that moment.

Pinkie looked around, then said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Don't tell anypony, but Princess Celestia's pastry chef baked about half of it."

"Do I hear my name being whispered conspiratorially?" said a mellow voice from next to me. I nearly jumped.

"Princess Celestia!" I bowed, and so did the others.

"Rise, my little ponies. And changeling." She smiled benevolently at me. Friendship came from her too, tinged with a maternal care that was practically love. With Pinkie beside me too, sending me pure love, I felt positively giddy with it.

"I wanted to thank you again, Sweetcake, for what you've done for my ponies, and for me. The spellcasting project I was working on delayed me unforgivably, but you saved the day before I even arrived. You were very courageous." I shifted, not knowing how to respond. The queen had never praised me. I wasn't used to praise. But Celestia continued. "I was... lax in following up on Chrysalis' invasion as well. Obviously she began working to invade Ponyville almost as soon as she was cast out of Canterlot. I cannot help but suspect that she wished to gain revenge against those who aided in her defeat." She looked around the little group significantly, before returning her gaze to me.

"She swore revenge against me too," I said. "After I cut my bond with her. She said that I would never be able to trust anypony, because anypony could be her, coming after me."

Celestia nodded solemnly. "Obviously steps will have to be taken. I was willing to allow Chrysalis to simply go her own way, but if she will not leave us in peace then something must be done."

"What, exactly, are you going to do?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know yet. There is so much we don't know about Chrysalis and the changelings."

"I can probably tell you more than I did before. Now that I'm not in shock from losing the hive I remember more than I did. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"Even if it means war against your queen and your family?"

I shook my head. "She is not my queen any more. The hive is not my family anymore. Ponies are. My friends are. Pinkie is. I don't want to let the changelings harm them."

"Once again I must thank you, Sweetcake. We will speak again of these matters." Celestia nodded regally to me. "And Twilight, I would speak with you as well. But for now I believe I will go and have another cupcake." With one more regal nod she was gone, striding gracefully through the crowd.

"War with the changelings. That's a scary thought," said Twilight.

"I think we can take 'em," said Rainbow Dash.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," I said.

"Well, if she's all bent on revenge, it might," said Rainbow Dash.

I shivered a bit at that. Having the queen herself coming after me was a frightening thought.

"It's okay, Sweetcake." Pinkie put an arm over me and hugged me. "We won't let her hurt you."

"Yeah, she'll have to come through us!" said Rainbow Dash.

The others were all nodding and agreeing, crowding close around me, pouring their friendship and care into me. I smiled, my worry easing. They were there for me. They weren't going to leave. Maybe I didn't have a hive bond with the others, but they were my hive too. They were closer, even than my hive had been. They were not just an impersonal hum in the back of my mind, they were my friends, who cared for me.

With their friendship and Pinkie's love I could do anything, maybe even challenge the queen herself.

Author's Note

And that's it! It's all finished.

Thank you all for reading. Thank you to everyone who's left a comment. Thank you to the people who faved and upvoted it and helped it become the most popular pony story I've ever written. Thank you to those who proof-read this for me and helped me make it better. Thank you to Kyoshyu for the awesome cover art. Thank you to Jordanis for letting me babble on endlessly about this, and helping me iron out quite a few various plot points. (This final chapter in particular owes a lot to him.) Couldn't have done it without you all!

Now that the story is over, I know that at least a few of you are going to ask me about a sequel. You'll be pleased to know that yes, there is one! I'm still working on it, but I have already made quite a lot of progress, and I expect to start publishing it within the next couple of weeks! So keep your eyes peeled for Honey Pie II: The Wrath of Chrysalis, coming soon.

Meanwhile, I urge you to check out some of my other stories. None of them are exactly like this one, I've written a pretty wide variety of things, but that just means that there will probably be at least one more story in my small library of equine tales that you'll enjoy.

Thanks again!

Bonus stuff

Changeling Q and A
(Prepare to fire the head-canons!)

Q: How does the chain of command work with the under-queens? Does Chrysalis control the under-queens, who then control the lesser changelings(Chrysalis -> under-queens -> drones), or does Chrysalis control them all equally and the under-queens are just stronger changelings(Chrysalis -> under-queens and drones)?

A: Chrysalis has the ability to directly control/give orders to any given drone, but tends to not bother. She is obsessed with conquest and ponies, and considers drones to be a bit beneath her notice, so she lets the under-queens direct them. Even in a healthy hive, however, the queen tends to delegate quite a lot of the running of the hive to the under-queens.

Q: Since changelings have a hive mind, does that make them able to know what the other is thinking at all times?

A: Any given changeling within a hive can see what any other changeling is thinking if they want to, and many drones (Sweetcake among them, before losing his bond) are a little lazy and like let the hive do all their thinking for them, so they hardly have thoughts of their own. Others, however, tend to be a little bit more individualistic, and will only "check in" with the hive when they run into something they can't figure out for themselves. Either way, most changelings seldom bother to see what any other changeling is thinking, they're busy with their own lives and duties. The real effect of the hive bond has more to do with mood, emotion, and the spreading of emergency information, such as when the hive is under attack.

Q: Have the other hives have any contact with Equestria? Have they tried to engage in diplomacy?

A: The other hives lie within Equestria, so they've definitely had some contact! Chrysalis Hive's territory is Canterlot itself and the small towns that lie nearby it, including Ponyville, and stretching out into the badlands to include Appleoosa and Doge as well. This is a little bit unusual, though. Most hives are actually quite urban. They feed on ponies, so they go where the ponies are. There are hives hidden in or near every major urban center in Equestra. (Manehattan has two.) Chrysalis Hive is also a bit unusual in the hive proper being a long away away from any pony habitations, but the original founding queen did not want to build a hive right under Celestia's nose, so it was located well away from Canterlot, even though that's where they do most of their feeding.

The other hives have not, however, tried any sort of diplomacy with ponies. It is the Prime Directive of changeling life that ponies should never know changelings exist. None of the other hives/queens would approve of what Chrysalis has done in letting ponies see changelings moving openly at all.

Q: Are your changelings distinctly male/female, hermaphrodites, or neither?

A: 95+% of them are infertile females. That's what the term "drone" is used to mean in my stories, even though it's technically a bit inaccurate (drones in bees are males, not females.) A small percentage in a given hive (around one in a hundred) will be fertile females, aka. under-queens, and an even smaller percentage fertile males. (The males are incredibly protected, though it varies from hive to hive whether they are pampered princes or near-slaves, but they absolutely never leave the hive and a pony would never be allowed in to see them.) The single queen is also, of course, fertile and female.

That's strictly physiologically speaking, though. As far as gender roles and gendered personalities the way we (and ponies) tend to think of them, most changelings would consider themselves to have no gender at all. Infiltrators, who spend a lot of time around/as ponies do tend to settle into a particular gender and stick with it, since learning how to comfortably fit both gender roles is difficult, it's easier to stick to taking just one gender. This is why Sweetcake feels comfortable with "Mister", and doesn't bother to explain that it's not physically accurate. Technically he's actually female, but he doesn't think of himself that way.

Q: Do they sing when they work?

A: Yes! They are probably not as prone to bursting into song as ponies are, but they do sing.

Q: Are they prone to any form of 'sibling rivalry?

A: Generally not, no. All changelings feel a strong loyalty to the hive which tends to prevent that kind of thing. The exception is under-queens, some of whom tend to constantly try to one up each other in various ways in hopes of ending up queen eventually.

Q: Are there holidays of any kind?

A: No, changelings are not prone to "wasting" time and effort on things like that.

Q: Do Changelings play tricks on each other for fun, if and when they have free time? Is that even possible, due to hive connection?

A: It would be incredibly rare for a changeling to do so. An individual who liked surprising and pranking others would be regarded by the hive as borderline insane, but it's within the realm of possibility. Some pranks would be easier than others. The hive bond would prevent things like sneaking up behind someone, but though all changelings within a hive can sense each other, they are not actively reading each other's minds at all times, so tricks and pranks would be possible.

Q: Do different hives have slightly varied looks between the Changelings from each hive such as different spines, eye colors, or carapace patterns?

A: Yes! Most of the variations are subtle, but differing hives have distinctly different "accent colors" ie. their eyes and the things I've been calling "wing cases" since that's the nearest insect analog I can come up with for wtf they are.

Q: What location is this hive in?

A: Chrysalis Hive is in the badlands, on the far side of the Everfree from Ponyville.

Q: Do they prefer dirt or rock for the beginnings of their hive, IE: open field vs. mountain terrain?

A: Rock. Especially soft sandstone which is easy to work. Urban changelings will tend to take advantage of any old, unused pony structures underground too, such as abandoned sewer lines or subway tunnels.

Q: Do Changeling queens gather at any point to discuss matters of territory or other subjects?

A: Changeling queens almost never leave the hive (Chrysalis is once again atypical.) They do "gather" by means of drones, as the queen can use the bond to speak through a drone.

Q: Do they like toast or tea?

A: Only the infiltrators would have had the opportunity to try either, and it would depend on their personal taste.

Q: Do changelings potty? We know all changelings feed on love, but only some versions eat food, others just pretend, and some find a way to avoid the situation altogether

A: As mentioned in the story itself, my version of changelings do require solid food. They are omnivores, but live on a diet that primarily consists of mushrooms. Fish and cooked insects such as locusts/grasshoppers tend to be used to add variety to that rather boring diet.

Q: Would that make "hate" a way to sicken a changeling? Or is [directed strong negative feelings] just an emotion they cannot feed on leaving them starving but otherwise unharmed?

A: Hate would sicken a changeling if the changeling tried to eat it, but feeding is an at least partially voluntary act (it can be done subconsciously too, while sleeping, but not unwillingly.) You can't force-feed a changeling. So yes hate would make them sick if they actively fed on it, but they wouldn't.

Q: Can polymorphing be used to cheat injuries?

A: No. Injuries translate across when a changeling shifts forms.

Q: How deep does the polymorphic ability go? Does it merely change the wrapper but not the insides?

A: It makes macro changes, but not micro changes. Ie. it does go more than skin deep, you could x-ray a changeling and it would look like a pony, but if you drew a little blood or tested their DNA, it would not be pony-like at all.

Q: If it goes deeper, could that be used to shapeshift into a restored changeling after suffering a broken limb? What about loosing an entire limb?

A: I suppose with a good supply of love energy, the shift could be used as a kind of healing spell, but it wouldn't be something the average changeling could do.

Q: Do changelings get sick?

A: Absolutely. I haven't put a lot of thought into changeling-specific maladies, though, as they don't come up in any of the stories I've told so far.

Q: Can a drone become a fertilizer by sheer will? I know there are species that can change sex at will if necessary, so I guess the same can go to actual reproduction.

A: No, simply wishing it were so is not enough to change sex for a changeling.

Q: Also, when they take a pony form, do they become physically fully functional?

A: This is kind of a "yes and no" question. In pony form they do have functional genitals, but as it is a macro (structural) change rather than a micro (biochemistry) change, they don't have the hormonal responses for arousal.

Q: Are they limited to ponies-only, or can they shape-shift with other species? If so, is there a size limit (like breezies or buffalos for example).

A: No, they're not limited to ponies only, but there is a size limit. It's a fairly flexible one though. Chrysalis seems to be about the size of Celestia, and yet easily takes the form of Cadance, who is quite a bit smaller than Celestia, after all. And of course Sweetcake's stallion form is a good bit larger than his natural changeling form.

Misc. Q and A

Q: Will Sweetcake form a hive bond with the rest of the Mane 6?

A: No. Sweetcake's bond with Pinkie was a very unusual thing. It happened because of the dual factors of him being completely cut off from all mental contact (and thus being subconsciously and consciously desperate to somehow establish some sort of bond) and the fact that he and Pinkie were feeling very similar emotions and were in very close contact for some time. Other changelings could conceivably form bonds with other ponies under similar circumstances, but for Sweetcake to form a bond with any other pony, he would have to first lose his bond with Pinkie Pie.

Q: Will Twilicorn be in the sequel?

A: No. The sequel only jumps forward a month or two in time, and is still before Twilight's ascension. As I am enjoying writing in this universe, it's entirely possible that eventually alicorn Twilight may turn up, but for now I have no specific plans to include her.

Q: Is it okay to use ideas from this story in stories of my own?

A: Absolutely! It would be hypocritical of me to steal my setting and most of my characters from Hasbro and then turn around and demand that nobody else use any of the things I invented. (And if you do, I want a link!)

Artwork!

(All art is by me, since I haven't gotten any by anybody else.)

Larger version here.

I had never felt or tasted such love as Pinke was suddenly pouring into me.
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My new form was still pink, like Pinkie. I'd made my mane and tail short and straight though, and I shaped a horn.
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Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed these sketches, and the various world-building material about changelings.

If you want to read even more about changelings (and about Sweetcake and Honey Pie), please check out Honey Pie II: The Wrath of Chrysalis.

P.S. If you'd like to support me in making more stories like this, consider becoming a patron.