Author's Note

Today Ember is an experienced courtesan, confident in her knowledge of pony sexuality. But many years ago Ember knew nothing whatsoever about ponies, until one day her queen's rash decision to attempt to conquer Canterlot leaves her stranded among them...

In the Beginning part 1

Canterlot was in chaos. Ponies ran screaming through the cratered streets. Things were on fire. Guardsponies were helpless, glued to each other—or to anything nearby—with sticky green resin. Other ponies as well, bound and struggling, exuding a thick aura of terror into the air while beneath, above, and around it all the drum of thousands of insectile wings echoed down every street and into every house and shop and public facility.

Changelings owned the city now, and they liked it. They grinned and slavered, and sucked the fear from ponies, fueling their inequine appetites with it. They hunted down those who sought to flee one by one. In one part of the city a particular changeling infiltrator, who was not yet named Sweetcake, pursued a fleeing pony towards a warehouse...

In another part of the city entirely, a changeling who was a little different from most crawled deeper into a cellar and put her hooves over her ears, as if it would block out the hum of the hive in her mind. She was a little bit taller than the average changeling, and her mane-like crest and filmy tail were more colorful, while a hint of green iridescence touched her blue wing-cases.

It was silent in the cellar, the screams and the nigh-omnipresent sound of changeling wings didn't penetrate here, but the hive was everywhere. There was no escaping it; though the changeling who hid was desperate, she was not quite desperate enough to cut herself off from her hive, even if she had known how. She nearly wished she could, though. The gloating, horrible glee that filled the hive—oozing into her mind from Chrysalis herself and echoed further by nearly every other changeling present—made her almost sick, and the bitter taste of fear lingered on the back of her tongue, even though she had not drawn fear from any of Canterlot's ponies. So many changelings were out there, drinking the vile stuff down, that the taste echoed through the bond. Chrysalis might relish it almost as much as love; the nameless changeling found it utterly revolting.

She whimpered and stuffed herself a little bit more tightly against the wall. She hated everything about this. She hated the idea of conquering ponies. She hated the taste of fear. She hated being here, away from the safety of the hive. She was no infiltrator, she had never left her home before. Neither had most of the drones running wild in the streets, of course, but they were not under-queens, they hadn't been raised to think for themselves as she had. They were used to relying on the hive mind for nearly all their thoughts. She was used to having her own thoughts, and right now she was thinking that she really hoped this would be over soon. If she'd thought she could get away with it, she would already have left Canterlot and headed home, but her queen had ordered otherwise, so she was stuck here until Chrysalis decided her conquest was complete enough to let some of her subjects go home.

Her queen's feelings of triumph, though, suggested that the emotional looting and subjugating of Canterlot was going to continue for quite sometime.

Those feelings suddenly changed. There was annoyance, followed by shock, followed by greater shock that was combined with intense anger, and then suddenly the hiding changeling felt a wave of powerful magic slam into her. It threw her across the room, though thankfully that distance wasn't far. She slid down to the floor, feeling stunned and confused.

The hum in her mind had vanished.

The hive was gone.

She lay on the floor without moving for some time, trying to adjust to this strange new emptiness. It was disorienting, unnatural, and lonely almost to the point of pain. What was she supposed to do now? True, she hadn't relied on the hive mind for every thought, but she had always taken direction from it, and from Chrysalis. Now they were gone, and she had no idea what to do, or how to feel. A depressive lethargy crept over her, and she almost gave in to it and simply lay where she had fallen, but eventually her desperately scrabbling mind latched onto one motivating fact.

She was in the middle of a city of ponies. She was fairly certain her queen had just been defeated. The ponies were not going to be happy to see her, when one of them eventually found its way down here. She needed to disguise herself.

She had absolutely no idea how to do this. If she had still possessed her hive bond it would have been simple enough to gain instruction. Without it, she wasn't certain she could manage. Still, she'd taken pony form a hoof-full of times, mostly as a nymph, when playing with her classmates. If she could only remember how she'd done it...

The sun had set, and then come up again, while the changeling struggled to change. Finally she got it. The pony she created was a mare, with a perfectly average build. Her coat was blue, and her mane and tail were blue, and her eyes were blue too; the changeling hadn't been able to think of anything more creative. This would do for now.

That left the question of what to do next. With a strange feeling of both freedom and terror, she realized that she could do anything. Anything at all. She could seek out the hive and return to her former life. She could walk into the palace and surrender to Celestia. She could try to live as a pony somewhere. She could do literally anything she wanted. No queen was there in the back of her mind, telling her what her duty was.

She paused and considered that. Did she have a duty? If she did, it was surely to the hive. Did that mean her only choice was to return to it after all?

A wave of hunger reminded her that right now she had other priorities. She needed food, both ordinary food and emotional food. Beyond that, she needed to know more about what had happened. With a determined expression on her face, she started to climb the rickety wooden stairs leading up out of the basement. Time to take action.

The alarming creaking beneath her hooves suddenly became a high-pitched snap, and a board gave way as she put her weight on it. She scrambled, lurching, and managed to get her balance again, but a stab of pain went through her ankle. She limped to the top of the stairs and sat on the landing there, examining the ankle carefully. The surface wasn't broken, so it was probably only a sprain. Although she suddenly recalled that ponies had their skeletons on the inside. Maybe it was broken? She put a little weight on it. It hurt, but not that much. It was probably just a sprain, then. Surely even as a pony, a break would hurt more than that. The changeling muttered a few mild curses in annoyance. She'd come through all this without anything other than a few bruises where she'd hit the wall. To then twist her ankle climbing a set of stairs was ridiculous.

Still, there was nothing to be done about it now. She limped on down a dingy hall with a hoof-full of doors leading from it. She didn't know what was behind the doors, nor what lay up the sturdier stairs that led upwards from the hall, but at the far end was an open door that led out into Canterlot itself, and it was there that she must go. Out where ponies would be thronging the streets, no doubt full of suspicion and anger after having just been invaded. Alert ponies, eager to spot anything unusual, who would surely notice an untrained changeling trying to be an infiltrator... Her hooves moved more slowly as she approached the door. She was having second thoughts about this idea.

A creaking behind her made her spin and jump at the same time, with the end result that too much of her weight came down on her injured ankle and she fell in an ungainly sprawl.

"Here now, lass, those horrible things are gone, no need to be so jumpy. I'd think you were one of my cats, if you hadn't landed on your nose instead of your hooves." This peculiarly rough yet cheerful voice came from an elderly mare who was peering out of a now-opened door in the hall. She emerged, squinting at the changeling as she did so.

The changeling carefully untangled herself from her own feet and stood. "Uh..." she said cogently.

The old mare laughed. "Got a bit of a knock there, lass? I noticed you were limping. Do you need any help?"

The changeling tasted something from the pony. It was delicious. She pulled in a bit of whatever emotion it was, as if she were drawing on a feeding crystal. Feeding crystals were fairly bland, a jumble of energy from different sources, mostly stripped of its emotions, and thus mostly rather flavorless. It was like drinking water, refreshing when thirsty, but not particularly interesting. This, though, was much better. It was sweet, like honey, but somehow richer. She took more of it, her eyes glazing a bit as she savored it.

"Lass? Hello?"

The changeling started, almost falling again as the jolt made her put her weight on all four hooves.

The old mare laughed again. "You really are just like a cat."

"Uh... sorry."

"Mrs. Gleaming? Are you bothering the mailmare again?"

That voice came from the stairs, and was accompanied by a steady clopping sound as the owner descended.

"No, Far Gaze! Just talking to a young pony who seems a bit confused. I think those creatures yesterday have rattled the poor thing a bit."

Far Gaze, when he appeared on the stairs, proved to be a dark purple unicorn, with an even darker indigo mane and tail. He looked at the changeling with interest, his eyes sweeping up and down her. He raised his eyebrows for a moment, then let them fall again. "Hello there, miss," he said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Uhm." The changeling's mind went completely blank. She'd come up here for food, and she had at least gotten emotional food, if not physical. She also wanted information, but how was she supposed to get it? The unicorn and the old mare were both staring at her, the mare still chuckling faintly, but the unicorn looking far too thoughtful. "Tell me what happened last night!" she finally blurted.

"Oh. You don't know?" asked Far Gaze.

She shook her head. "No. There were... creatures?" she ventured.

"Indeed. The paper this morning said they were called 'changelings' and had attempted an invasion under the leadership of their queen. They were repelled by the combined efforts of Princess Celestia's student Twilight, Princess Cadance, and her fiancee Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guard."

The changeling thought she knew those ponies. Cadance was the one her queen had been replacing. The captain was the one she'd been sucking the love from, and Celestia was the one who ruled here, who Chrysalis had wanted to best. "How?" she asked.

"The application of powerful love magic in the form of a particular sort of shield, apparently. Shining Armor is a shield specialist, he was the one creating that shield protecting the city these last few days."

"Ah." None of this actually told her anything. "What happened to the changelings, then?"

"They're all gone, so no need for you to walk about jumping at shadows like there's one lurking somewhere," said Mrs. Gleaming, still grinning.

"Yep. The shield caught them all and threw them out of the city, or so I was told." Far gave the changeling a little wink as he said that, which somehow made her even more nervous. She was, apparently, the only changeling in an entire city of ponies. This was not good news at all. "It looks like you're injured," said Far, interrupting her paranoid thoughts. "Would you like me to help you wrap that ankle up?"

"Uhm." The changeling realized she was probably saying that too much. "Yes, thank you?" Her stomach suddenly growled loudly, reminding her that she needed physical food as well as emotional food. "And maybe you can tell me where to get some food?"

"Are you hungry?"

She nodded.

"I'd be happy to let you have lunch with me. I have some fresh daisies, I was going to make sandwiches."

The changeling had only the vaguest of ideas what a daisy was—some kind of flower?—and no clue what a sandwich was, but food was definitely agreeable. "That would be good?"

"You say it like it's a question." Far laughed. "Yes, it would be good. Think you can make it up the stairs?"

"If the poor dear doesn't scare herself silly and fall down them," interjected Mrs Gleaming, with a laugh.

The changeling felt her cheeks heating, which was an odd sensation. "I can, I think."

"Well, then, I think we'll leave Mrs. Gleaming to lie in wait for the mailmare, and retire to my apartment, where I have a fairly well-stocked first aid kit and a tolerably stocked pantry." He gave the old mare a nod, and she smiled and nodded back.

"I'll do that, lad. You take care of the jumpy lass there." She retreated back into her apartment and shut the door, leaving the changeling alone with Far.

"Come on," he said, pointing to the stairs. "My apartment is on the second floor, so it's not far."

"That's good," said the changeling, limping her way toward the stairs. She started to climb, which was awkward on only three legs, but not really all that bad.

Coming up the stairs behind her, Far said, "So have you forgotten your special talent?"

The changeling halted for a moment, confusion making her ears flick around. She glanced back at Far. "What?"

"No cutie mark," he said, pointing a hoof at her flank.

Panic raced through her. She had forgotten a cutie mark! Far would figure out that she was a changeling any second now. He would attack her, or drag her off to the guard, or...

"Sorry, I shouldn't tease like that. I'm sure somepony who's a blank flank at your age is tired of hearing about it, right?"

"Yes, right, that is it, definitely, I am a blank flank and I am tired of hearing about it," babbled the changeling, her heart still pounding.

Far just chuckled in response and nudged her lightly with his hoof. "Almost to the top," he said, reminding her to start climbing again.

At the top of the stairs, he pointed the way to a particular door. Inside was a series of rooms, all connected, rather like the chambers in a hive. The changeling realized that this must be a pony hive. The whole building, probably, was more or less a hive, if all the doors led to places like this, where ponies lived. Though it seemed like quite a lot of space for just one pony.

"Come on in, take a seat while I go get a bandage."

"Do you live here alone?" she asked, curious.

"Yup. I'm a bachelor, no wife or marefriend for me. At least not at the moment. How about you, do you have a special somepony?" He was grinning again, and the changeling concluded that the creamy-tart flavor she could taste from him was probably amusement.

"Uhm. N-no."

"That's surprising, you're pretty cute." He winked again at the confused changeling. "Now let's see about that ankle."

He examined the ankle, agreed with her conclusion that it was a sprain, and wrapped it snugly in an odd stretchy fabric. The changeling put her weight cautiously on it and found it did feel more secure, though a coating of resinous changeling spit would have been even more so. That done, the stallion set about making lunch. The changeling sat and watched curiously as he pulled various items from cupboards and from a large boxy thing that exuded cold when it was opened. Changeling food tended to be simple, mostly fungus supplemented occasionally with fish or cooked insects. It kept one fed, and that was generally sufficient. Ponies, she knew, were much more varied in their diets, despite not eating meat at all.

What Far eventually set in front of her was two square slices of something spongy, rather like certain fungi, but with an entirely different scent to it. Bright yellow and white flowers were layered between the slices, and there seemed to be some sort of paste spread on them as well. A single flower was set on top, as if it were a decoration. Far bit into his "sandwich" immediately, so the changeling tried to follow suit, and immediately ran into another problem. She was used to lifting her food with her magic, but she'd taken an earth pony shape. She had no horn, and couldn't cast any spells. Her innate shape-shifting magic was the only thing she could access like this. Far, despite being a unicorn, was holding his sandwich in his hooves, so she attempted to emulate him, only to have the whole thing fall apart and lie in a pile on her plate.

Far chuckled, the taste of amusement from him growing stronger. She scowed at him and just lowered her head to eat. It wasn't very dignified, and she was once again worried that the pony might see it as a sign that she was an impostor, but she was hungry, and the food smelled wonderful.

It tasted wonderful, too. She ate every crumb, and licked the plate clean. She looked up to see Far grinning at her again, but she didn't even mind, that had been worth it. Just because she could, she pulled a bit of his amusement from him, and ate that as well.

"So," said Far, still grinning, "I'm Far Gaze. What's your name?"

Her mind went utterly blank again, panic gripping her. She had forgotten to choose a name! Ponies had names! She needed to pick a name right now. But names usually had something to do with cutie marks, and she didn't have one of those either! Her mind raced around in terrified circles. "I... ah... uhm... I'm, er..."

Far laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm teasing you again. It's cruel of me, I shouldn't do it. You don't need to tell me your name, it's fine." He gentled his smile and added, "I also promise that I won't hurt you. I want to help you, in fact. You're very fascinating, and I want to know all about you. So please don't be afraid, okay?"

"I... o-okay," stammered the changeling, feeling very confused.

"I know you're a changeling," said Far, still smiling gently at her.

Her heart started pounding once more. "N-no I'm not!"

"It's okay. I promised that I wouldn't hurt you, didn't I? I know you don't mean me any harm. You are definitely a changeling though, I can tell."

The changeling sighed and slumped. Her disguise must be even worse than she'd thought it was. "I should have thought of a name. And a cutie mark. And something better than blue."

Far chuckled. "It might have helped, but those weren't what gave it away. I knew as soon as I saw you. It's my special talent, see?" He turned so she could clearly see his flank. The picture on it was of a stylized eye, the same dark, forest-green color as Far's actual eyes. "I see the unseen."

"Oh."

"That's also why I'm sure you're harmless, though your fellows last night didn't seem to be. I had several rather narrow scrapes with them."

The changeling nodded. She had found it traumatic enough on the attacking side.

"Can you explain why that's so?"

"They... the queen went mad. That's the only thing I can call it. The hive went mad with her. I didn't go mad entirely, because I'm an under-queen and I can think my own thoughts. The rest just think whatever the queen wants."

"Ah, I see. So you are communally-minded?"

She nodded.

"Interesting! You're in touch with them now, then?"

She shook her head. "No. The magic that threw the rest out cut the bond. I can't sense them anymore." The lack of the bond was still an ache at the back of her head, a lonely wrongness that refused to go away.

That must have shown in her voice, for Far asked, "That distresses you? Even though you think your queen was insane?"

"I've never been without the hive before." She paused, then added, "I've never even been outside of the hive before! I'm not an infiltrator, I don't know anything about ponies."

"Ah. That explains much. I wondered, if changelings were so clumsy as you and your queen seem to have been, why we'd never discovered them before. But your queen is not an infiltrator either, I take it?"

It was the changeling's turn to laugh at the very thought. "No, she's not."

"So what do under-queens do in the hive?"

"Carry out the queen's instructions. Watch over the nymphs. Mate with the males sometimes, when the hive needs more eggs or the queen doesn't want to lay."

"Nymphs?"

"Young changelings."

"Ah. So you basically make and rear babies, hmmm? Not terribly progressive!"

"What?"

"Never mind." The grin was back.

The changeling scowled. She wasn't sure she liked being laughed at so much.

"So, ah... What is your real name?"

"I have no name. Only ponies have names."

He blinked at her for a moment, surprised. "Then what do you call each other?"

"There is no need to call each other anything, when we speak through the bond."

"Heh. I guess that figures. I have to call you something, though."

"Oh. Uhm..." The changeling still couldn't think of a name.

Far chuckled. "Shall I pick one for you?"

"If you want."

"Well, if you're going to stay here among ponies, you'll need a name. Are you going to stay here?"

The changeling shifted uncertainly. The empty ache in the back of her mind urged her to return to the hive. The memory of the bitter taste of fear, and the queen's unnatural relish for it, urged her to stay far away. Yet staying away from the hive would mean learning to live on her own, and said life would have to be among ponies, else she would starve. She was rapidly realizing how little she knew about ponies, and how hard living among them would be.

"Hard decision, hmm?" said Far.

She nodded.

"Well, you can stay with me at least temporarily, while you decide, how is that?"

"Stay with you?"

"Sure. I don't think you'd do so well out there on your own," he said, tasting of amusement again, though his smile was gentle.

The changeling sighed. "No, I suppose I wouldn't."

"Then that's settled." Far grinned again. "Now I just have to come up with a name."

She stared at him, baffled. Why was he so pleased to have her stay? She was a changeling, he was a pony. Even if his sight let him know that she didn't want to attack him, that didn't explain his cheerful willingness to help her. He was not part of her hive, what reason could he possibly have for helping her?

There was a sudden spike of a strange emotional flavor, that the changeling had never tasted before, from Far. He jumped to his hooves. "Aha! Ember!"

The changeling tilted her head to the side, considering this strange outburst. "Ember?"

"Yes. It's a perfect name for you."

"Okay..."

"An ember is a potential. It can glow and shed warmth, or it can ignite a fire. It can be or become many things. I think you have a great deal of potential in you." He smiled at her, and this time it wasn't a mocking, amused smile, it was something warmer, more welcoming. "It's also quite old-fashioned. It's the kind of name that somepony who was a bit of a nut would name a filly. That's the story we'll tell ponies. Your parents were part of a cult, one of those ones that goes out and lives in a commune, so you grew up outside of normal pony society. There are even some documented cases of adult blank flanks in communities like that, since foals raised in isolation often have limited opportunities to try new things and find their special talent. So a story like that means that you wouldn't need to make up a cutie mark and pretend to have a talent you don't really have. Once you're a little more at home here, and have figured out something you could call your talent, you can 'gain' your cutie mark."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"It's brilliant, if I do say so myself. You, upon escaping from your family's commune, found yourself homeless on the streets of Canterlot, and I, soft touch that I am, took you in. It's even almost the truth, which is the best sort of lie."

The changeling—Ember now, she supposed—nodded slow agreement.

"Welcome to pony life, Ember," said Far, grinning.

Ember, still a little uncertain, but also a bit hopeful that she might like living among ponies, gave him a small smile in return.

The pair sat for some time talking. Far was curious about changelings, and Ember was equally curious about ponies, so they had a great deal to talk about. Soon, though, Far started yawning. "Forgive me, but it's past my bedtime."

Ember blinked at him. It was daylight outside. Indeed it was still morning, the day hardly begun. "I thought ponies slept at night?"

"Most do, yes, but I have a job as a night watchpony at a warehouse complex, so I need to be awake during the dark. So I live a bit backwards and sleep during the day."

"I see." Far yawned again, and Ember found herself echoing it. She was tired too. Yesterday had been awful, and she hadn't slept last night at all. "I should sleep too."

"I don't have a spare bedroom, but I can sleep on the couch and let you have the bed."

Ember had no idea what the difference between a couch and a bed was, but she nodded her agreement and followed Far into the bedroom. The bed was quite different from the sleeping mats she was accustomed to, but she found the soft mattress to be fairly pleasant. She removed her pony disguised and curled herself up comfortably on top of the blankets. Far looked at her undisguised form curiously for a moment, but he merely bid her goodnight and went into the next room to find his own sleep.

Ember, exhausted in both mind and body, expected to fall asleep immediately, but rest refused to come. There was no comforting presence of her fellows, grooming each other in the dark of the hive caverns before curling themselves together to sleep. There was no dark at all, the curtains were drawn, but daylight still leaked in, making the room far too bright.

Most of all, though, there was no soothing hum of the hive in her mind.

She tossed and rolled in the bed, trying to find some position that would let her relax and sleep, but all she could do was think about how very alone she was. Finally she rose and crept out of the bedroom, into the living room where Far lay sleeping on a narrow couch. If there had been room, she would have simply curled up with him, but there wasn't. So, hesitantly, nervously, she touched him with a hoof. He didn't stir, so she poked him again, a bit harder.

"Wha?" He blinked up at her, still more than half asleep. She laid her ears flat back, ashamed at her weakness, and suddenly wishing she hadn't bothered him. Far rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Ember? What is it?"

"Sorry..." she looked away. "I just can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"The hive is gone..."

Far sighed. "I don't think I can do anything about that."

"I don't want to sleep alone. I always slept with others, in the hive."

"Oh. Well, I suppose I can do something after all." He yawned and climbed off the couch.

Ember, still feeling somewhat embarrassed, trailed after him back to the bedroom. Far climbed into the bed, which was big enough for two, and patted the mattress next to him. Ember climbed in as well. Far laid down and pulled the blanket over him. Ember wiggled under the blanket and pressed up against Far's side. He stiffened briefly, then relaxed. She sighed, relaxing as well, and started to groom his mane, nibbling gently at the strands of his hair. The texture of it was odd, but the familiar motions were reassuring.

"Uhm, Ember?"

"Hmm?" She'd already relaxed enough to be almost half asleep. She blinked herself awake and paused in her grooming, tasting something strange from Far. It was unlike any of the other flavors she'd encountered so far, a faint, warm, spicy sort of flavor.

"What are you doing?"

"Grooming you. Do ponies not groom each other?"

"Ah. Not exactly, no."

"Should I not, then?"

Far took a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh, and the odd flavor Ember had tasted faded somewhat. "No, you probably shouldn't. I... won't be able to sleep if you keep doing that."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Ember laid her head down. She still wanted to keep grooming Far, and she still missed the hum of the hive in her mind, but his warm presence next to her took the edge from her loneliness, and she was so tired, that soon she'd fallen asleep anyway.

Far, beside her, lay awake for some time, breathing carefully and deeply, and trying very hard to not think about the sudden flash of desire he'd felt as the strange yet somehow beautiful creature beside him had pressed close and nibbled his mane.

The next few weeks were terrifying, fascinating, and yet also incredibly boring for Ember. She stayed inside Far's apartment, unwilling to try to face other ponies yet, so there was little for her to do while he was away. He began to teach her to read immediately upon finding out she didn't know how, but that didn't help much when she was alone, she could barely remember the letters, so the books on his bookshelves were of no help to her. So the long nights while he was at work were boring, and lonely as well. The ache of the hive's absence in the back of her mind never quite faded away.

On top of that, every little noise outside made her certain that someone had found out about her, that there would be guards outside the door, come to drag her away. She had nightmares, too, about Chrysalis returning, finding her, and dragging her back to the hive to live on the bitter taste of fear forever. In her waking life she knew that was probably not going to happen, but that didn't keep her from starting awake, her heart pounding, after such dreams.

Yet when Far was home, their long conversations were captivating. Ember learned a great deal about pony life, and told Far a great deal about changelings in return. And though the lessons in reading were frustrating, she was still happy to have them. Far was a good teacher. "I used to teach foals, actually, before I had this warehouse job. But I burned out on that pretty quickly. My talent has its drawbacks, unfortunately."

"Hmm?" Ember tilted her head quizzically, always happy to learn more, especially about Far himself, who was even more interesting to her than ponies in general.

"Being able to see auras means that I always know when a pony has a serious, deep problem. Passing issues don't tend to show up, but real, ongoing ones do. And with foals, I just couldn't leave those problems alone. So I was trying to not only teach them, but fix all of their home lives, and social lives, and it was just too much for me. I learned that all good teachers do this—go the extra mile to help students—but most teachers never find out about the majority of their students' problems. I knew about all of them, and so I was trying to fix the issues of a dozen foals at once, every year. And so many of them were tied up in the lives of the adults around them, who weren't always terribly amenable to my intervention. So I couldn't help a lot of the worst cases. It was incredibly stressful for me. I sometimes think about going into adult education of some kind, I think I'd handle it better. But for now," he shrugged, "I have a job where I hardly see a single pony all night, and then I sleep all day, and for the time being it's restful. Eventually I'll go back to teaching and helping ponies if I can. For now, though, I get to teach and help you." He smiled at Ember. "So, let's go back to reviewing the letter sounds."

Ember smiled back and returned her attention to the book, which she now knew must be one of Far's teaching materials from before, since it was obviously aimed at foals. It was reassuring to realize that he helped ponies in general, and wasn't making some kind of exception for her.

As her learning progressed, she swiftly realized that where changelings stored their collective knowledge in the hive bond, ponies kept theirs in books, and if she knew how to read she could learn anything about anything. She liked that idea. As her nervousness faded—at least around Far—her curiosity grew and grew.

Her closeness to Far grew too. She spent the nights with him still, and he did eventually agree to groom her a little, and let her groom him in return. She found it pleasant, and the energy she got from him while doing so was pleasant as well. He seemed more than able to supply enough for her needs, she never felt truly hungry. It was like living at a perpetual banquet of different tastes. The varied flavors she got as they spoke together were mostly delicious. She had started, lately, to taste one now and then that was particularly good; a sweet, rich flavor that was better than all the others. It came at odd moments. Sometimes it happened while they were sitting together, talking about nothing in particular. Sometimes she would wake up and find him looking at her, tasting faintly of it. Sometimes it happened when she asked some innocent question of him, and he would laugh, and she would taste this new, rich flavor mixed with the light, sweet taste that she'd identified as amusement.

She didn't know what this flavor was, but she liked it, and it seemed that whatever it was made Far feel good, for he was always smiling and seemed happy when he tasted of it. So she started to try to think of ways to make him feel it. She wanted him to feel good. He'd done so much to help her, for no reason that she could find.

One evening, after a comfortable day's sleep—free of nightmares—Ember woke and once more saw Far already awake, smiling down at her with an oddly gentle smile. He was tasting again of that rich, sweet, captivating flavor. It was faint, it always was, yet even that hint of emotion was more filling, somehow, than any other emotion he'd felt. She blinked drowsily up at him, drawing in the sweetness of it, wondering what he was thinking of that made him smile so, and taste so; and, still half-asleep, she reached out to him as she would to any hivemate. They had, after all, been living together as a kind of hive.

So strangely beautiful, still. You wouldn't think that something half-insect would be so beautiful...

She was shocked fully awake by the realization that she'd heard what Far was thinking. What?!

Far jerked back, the shock running through him as well. What the hell was that?

Ember threw her hooves around Far, clinging to him as her shock was followed by a profound relief that flooded through her. She wasn't alone any more. It's a hive bond. It's me, us, we're here. You're here. Thank the First you're here.

He blinked at her, his hoof coming up to stroke her instinctively, without conscious awareness. Ember?

Yes.

I have no idea what's going on. This is really weird.

We have bonded, as if you were my hivemate.

How is that possible? I'm a pony!

I don't know. I don't care. I am glad, so glad. I didn't want to be alone. She buried her muzzle against Far's neck, clinging closely to him. Emotion shuddered through her as she let go of all the fear and loneliness she hadn't even realized she was holding back.

He nuzzled her, soothing her, his own hooves coming up to hold her against him. Ssh, it's all right, I am here, he said gently to her.

Don't ever leave, she said silently, trembling.

I won't, I promise. He nuzzled her, holding her tightly, and when she lifted her head he bent his and kissed her gently. She'd been kissed before, but not often. She'd visited the males of the hive only a few times, Queen Chrysalis mostly reserved them for herself, and laid most of the eggs in the hive. But kisses were familiar enough. What came with them, though, was new, for she felt and tasted a flood of things she could hardly sort out. That rich, wonderful, sweet flavor was there, and the feeling flowing from Far through the bond that matched it was warm and welcoming and wonderful. She couldn't find a word for it, nothing in her experience was anything like it. She couldn't consult the hive bond about it, and found herself reluctant to ask Far what it was. The feeling, and the new connection between them, both seemed fragile. They were new and delicate and she found herself terrified that anything she did might somehow break them both.

Still, whatever the strange feeling was, she wanted more of it. And since the kiss had seemed to intensify it, she kissed Far back. Though it wasn't just the sweet taste she wanted, she liked Far. She trusted him. She wanted to be close to him. So she kissed him with fervent enthusiasm, which he matched readily. She tasted a spicy flavor, then, and could at least guess at what that might be, given what she felt from him and what she herself felt in turn.

She knew it would be so easy to just give in to what she felt. But the thought of mating with a pony came with a shiver of uncertainty. Did she want that? What would happen if she did? Surely she couldn't become with egg from it, but if she did, what would she do with the egg? The thought of raising a nymph on her own, without the resources of the hive, was terrifying. She'd laid a few eggs, but she'd never really liked tending the nymphs and she'd liked watching over the grubs even less. And what would Far think about it? What did mating mean to ponies? She knew they had strange mating habits, but without the knowledge of the entire hive to draw on, all she could remember was vague rumors. They pair bonded, didn't they? Did she want to pair bond with Far? Surely since she was already bonded to him now it would be fine to pair bond as well, but maybe not, maybe Far would be upset if she tried.

All those thoughts raced through her mind in a few brief instants. The heat she'd felt faded in the face of uncertainty that bordered on terror and she broke off the kiss, finding she was once again trembling.

"Ember?" Far muzzled her gently. "Are you okay?"

"I..." she couldn't find words for her fears, but as Far held her she couldn't help but send a jumbled confusion of thoughts through their newly forged bond. Afraidofponymatingwhatwillhappendoyouwanttowillyouhatemeifwedonthelp!

"Shh, shh, it's okay," he said softly. There's nothing to fear. Of course I won't hate you. Yes I find you attractive. But it doesn't need to go any further than that, unless you want it to. I care about you a lot. Maybe even love you a little. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you.

Ember's relief as he said he wouldn't hate her was immediately eclipsed by a startled wonder. You love me?

I think so. What is love, anyway?

It's... it's a flavor, she said, suddenly realizing what it was that she had been tasting from him lately. It's a feeling. You do love me. And, she added, knowing that the thing he felt was very like the way she felt about him, I think I love you too.