Author's Note

Sorry about the incredibly late update but I assure I'm not dead, anyway I'm not all too sure this chapter will be a good read but I'm posting it anyway to see what you guys think.

Warning and Plans

Ponyville Train Station

We managed to make back without incident though Lily was quiet the whole way back which of course had me and Chryssy greatly concerned. We were still thinking of something to do with her to get her to cheer up and back to her usual self but were coming up with duds and were thinking of just spending some time with her, letting her know that she was going to be safe. Though of course we also weren't expecting anyone to be waiting for us when we got off either but sure enough I spot Lacy not too long after we step of the train.

"Hey you three! How did things g-" She said cheerfully before she noticed our moods, especially Lily's. "What happened up there David?" She asked as we walked by her and she followed suit.

I sigh before looking over at her, "The damn ponies that call themselves 'Nobles' is what happened. They made it damn clear at dinner that they didn't want us and the changelings anywhere near Equestria while giving off so much hatred and disgust that it was starting to effect Lily and then this morning they decided to send an assassin after us and the bastard managed to get the jump on Lily before she screamed and I beat the absolute crap out of him. Now Lily is no doubt been traumatized, Chrysalis is beyond pissed, and I'm about to go fucking homicidal on just about every single one of those damn nobles for even thinking it was a good idea to pull that kind of stunt!" I finished ranting and was trying to catch my breath as Chrysalis nuzzled into my side while holding Lily close, and Lacy rubbed my back to help calm me down. After a moment or two I regain my breath and my composure.

"Thanks you two. I just had to get that out a bit." Both of them chuckle at that.

"I think it was more than just 'a bit' there David but you're welcome either way." Lacy said as she brought into a quick hug.

"Just remember that you've gotta put with my ranting later Love." Chrysalis said as she stood on her hind legs to give me a kiss on the cheek. I smile and lean down to give her a kiss of my own before moving beside her ear.

"Don't worry Dear, I'll always be an open ear for you to speak to." I whispered lovingly into her ear before pulling back to look her in those beautiful green pools that are the window to her soul. We stay like that for few minutes before we force ourselves to look away from the with minor blushes coating both our cheeks. Chryssy looked over to the side as I bring vision downwards and find myself looking into the eyes of my little filly, silently asking for something that she couldn't seemed to get the words to say it herself but I already knew exactly what she wanted and knelt down with open arms. She ran right into them as soon as I did and snuggled into me, her head resting in the crook of my neck. I stand up, deciding to carry her since she didn't seem to want to let go and looked back down at Chrysalis who gave me a sad smile before I saw her horn light up and her magical aura picked up her own luggage as Lacy grabbed mine and Lily's. I give them both a nod of thanks as we continue our way back towards the Hive.

It took a bit longer than it should have to get home since we were moving at a rather slow pace as well as having picked up the rest of the gang along the way. The three of us hadn't told them anything other than we would tell them what was wrong once we got back and put Lily to bed. Once we had reached the Hive, we were greeted by a squad of newly trained soldiers, all of them making sure to not cause too much of a racket doing so as if they already knew that not to, though of course that isn't surprising when one remembers the hivemind that's shared amongst the changelings.

As we walked through the corridors that made up the Hive's passageways various other changelings would stop for moment to look at us with worry before going back to their duties. We got to our room without distractions other than the looks and I put Lily down into the bed and tucked her in, giving her a kiss on the forehead and making room for Chryssy to do the same before moving towards the door, signaling everyone else to follow. After a few tense minutes of walking we made our way to the training hall and I made my way to my own personal corner of the immense room. Chrysalis stopped the others just behind the markings on the ground that marked this place as my area, the markings were runes that put up a powerful barrier to help contain the results of my usual training regiments from hurting anyone outside them.

"Uuuh, what's he doing?" Rainbow Dash asked as I walk over to a solid steel punching bag I made specifically for when I'm training my darker side. No one answered her as they just watched me stop in front of the thing and just stand there for a bit. When I did I noticed that everything seemed to have gone quite and whether it was me going into my own little world or just everyone having stopped what they were doing to see what would happen next, I don't know but what I do know is. . . . I. Was. PISSED!

"RAAAAAAARRRGGGG!!!!!!!" Came the roar from me as I punched the metal slab off it's supports and plowing straight through the barrier and embedding into the wall with a huge crater forming upon impact. I was panting a bit since I had done that without using the strength of my darker half.

I felt a hoof rest on my shoulder. "You alright now?" Chrysalis asked as I turned around to face her.

"No but I'll be fine for now." She nodded at that before settling down onto all fours and we turn to face the others who seemed to be in awe at what just happened, expect for Fluttershy who was hiding at the back of the pack. I clear my throat to get their attention back on us. "Alright, now that I got that out of my system let's head over into that room," I point over towards the meeting room/ war room, whose entrance was right next to the edge of the newly created crater. "and we'll tell you about what happened while we were at Canterlot as well as how we're going to convince Mayor Mare to put up some extra security measures in town so that we can prevent what happened there from happening again here in Ponyville, assuming it hasn't already."

"What did happen over there David, and does it have anything to do with Lily?" Twilight asked with more than a little concern. I sigh before following Chrysalis who is already making her way into the meeting room with the others following close behind. Once we're all inside I lock the door and Chrysalis puts up a barrier over the door.

Chrysalis and I gives ourselves a moment to think before she starts things off. "Well as you all know Princess Celestia and Princess Luna invited Me, David, and Lily to attend a special dinner last night that was meant to help get some the so called 'Nobles' in Canterlot to understand that The Hive has come to Equestria as friends this time instead of foes."

"And let me guess, it didn't go as planned?" Twilight asked though she, and the others, already knew the answer.

"It was all doomed to fail from the moment we stepped off the train. Every pony we saw looked at us with disgust or hatred, the castle guards tried to be dicks and order us around but a good ol' death stare put them place real quick. Then came the actual dinner were all but a couple of the guests invited made it quite clear that we weren't welcomed and all right in front of the princesses too." The girls looked at us in shock and seemed to be hoping that we were joking but a simple shake of the head from Chrysalis told them otherwise.

"Oh dear, that is just awful but I'm curious as to who the two nobles you're referring to are." Rarity said and Chrysalis was quick to tell her.

"Well it actually the two ponies that you had once told us about Rarity, Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis.

"I knew my faith in them wasn't misplaced darling, and I can also imagine that they made sure those miscreants were made aware of the displeasure they felt when the rest of them no doubt started insulting you three." Rarity stated happily.

"We wouldn't know, we left the room before either of them had the chance to take care of Lily." And their looks of worry came back in full force.

"What did happen to Lily? We could all see that she was asleep when we saw you all had gotten back but it looked like she was. . . bothered by something and neither one of you looked all too happy either." Pinkie Pie asked the question that was more than likely on all of their minds.

Chrysalis sighed after I started to shake as I contained the rage I felt whenever thinking back to what happened a few hours ago. "Before I go into that I want to ask if any of you know why we changelings only eat love instead of going after other positive emotions like happiness and joy or any other similar emotions?" They all went to ponder that for a bit though not for long as a certain purple pony princess seemed to have already came up with something.

"Because of all of the positive emotions love is the strongest as it doesn't just come from special someponies but also forms between friends and family but now that leaves the question of how do negative emotions affect changelings?" Twilight asked as Lacy seemed to have a revelation.

"Because it's like a poison for them." And with that statement they seemed to all understand part of what happened.

"Yes, negative feelings are harmful to changelings, if we allow it into our bodies. All changelings from adolescents and older are taught how to filter these whenever harvesting love from a ponies but youngs one, like Lily, still have a hard time doing so which is why they are normally kept strictly in the Hive until they do. If a changeling absorbs enough of the negative emotions in can be lethal, something that could have became the case at the dinner party hadn't Celestia and Luna went the extra mile to create a meal from the extracted love that they had asked us to give them. The love from that meal was running through Lily's body, protecting her from the negative feelings being projected from the nobles for a short time but once that protection was gone the negativity in the air started to be unconsciously absorbed by her and slowly poisoning her. Luckily we noticed it right away and got out of there as soon as possible and into the room that was prepared for us where we showered her with all the love we had to give to expel those negative feelings from her body." I was running my right hand over her back as she explained what happened the night before. I scooted a couple of nearby cushions over for us to sit on and I had Chryssy lay her head on my lap as my left hand ran through her mane. I motioned for the others to do the same and wait for them to get comfortable before I started up with what happened this morning.

"But what happened at dinner isn't why Lily seemed so, as Pinkie put it, bothered when you saw her." I started as everyone else got themselves seated. "The reason for that would be because of this morning." I stopped for a moment to gather myself.

"Those mean nobles didn't bother all of you again did they?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes and no."

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked this time.

I sighed before looking them all in the eyes with a serious look. "They decided to send an assassin after us and they decided that Lily was an easy target after she went into to use the little filly's room while me and Chryssy were talking to the princesses, Fancy, and Fleur." Everyone gasped upon hearing that.

"What about the castle guards, one of them should have seen the would be assassin and stopped them unless they were unconscious." Cadance asked as me and Chryssy looked towards her.

"Or the guards were told beforehand about the assassin and who the target was and turned the other way whenever they did spot said assassin. Something that honestly wouldn't surprise me considering who their captain was." Chryssy stated accusingly, not that I can blame her as I was going to do it myself.

"Come on you two, it's been months since then, don't you think it's time to let go of the grudge you got against Shining Armor?" Twilight asked us with a hint of pleading in her tone. I was about to say something but I was cutoff before said stallion.

"It's alright Twilight, I deserve it for the way I dishonored myself at that duel. I knew the terms and the rules but let my pride and need for revenge get to me and made a mistake that made me lose my credibility and prestige as a captain." Shining told his little sister while looking down towards the ground. Both Cadance and Twilight sighed at that knowing he was right though I felt Chrysalis nudge my arm and looked down at her. She made the gesture for me to come closer and I did to the best of my ability from the position I was in.

"So what will it take for him to lose your ire after that day?" Chrysalis whispered into my ear as I look at her in mild shock and surprise. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still mad at him but at the same time I'm really in no better position than him since I did take control of his mind and drained the love out of him as I posed as Cadance who I had locked away in the crystal mines that lay under Canterlot." I couldn't really argue with that, even if she did get pressured by her family to do it, and just like Chryssy had, Shining Armor had admitted to his wrong but I wouldn't let him out of this so easily.

"I'll let him off the hook once I see that our troops are ready to fight against your family's army because at least then I'll know that he put his all into training them and really wants to help but until then I guess I'll cut back on all the shit I give him and tell the others to cut him some slack too. Is that alright with you?" She leaned up to give me a peck on the lips before pulling back and letting me see that beautiful smile.

"Fine with me David but I believe the others are waiting for you to finish." She stated slyly as I looked up to noticed the others, expect Shining Armor, staring at us with various expressions. AJ and Rainbow were giving us smirks, Lacy, Cadance, and Twilight had genuine smiles, Pinkie seemed to be excited, Rarity was swooning, Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane trying to cover up her blush, but it was the expression of the two ponies that had been quite this whole time that had me raise an eyebrow at. They both seemed to sly expressions that were a bit worrying, more so once Bonbon opened her mouth to say something.

"Oh by all means keep going." And with that everyone's attention turned towards her as Lyra was by her side giving me an evil smirk.

"Oooh, now I see why you two haven't had sex yet, you've been planning on having a 'family reunion'." She said as everybody blushed and Chryssy's cheeks managed to turn green. I on the other hand felt my left eye twitching like mad as I reached for my blade. Before I could start pulling it out of its sheath though I felt something restrain my hand from moving and looked down to see Chrysalis's magical aura shrouding my hand.

"As much as I want to let you do it I don't think it'll look too good on our part if you start killing your friends." Chrysalis said as she managed to succeed to contain the bile that had risen up.

"Fiiiine!" I groaned out as I let go of the handle of my sword before Chryssy finally let it go. The moment she did however, I dashed towards Lyra and Bonbon and drew my blade before anyone could react. I turned my blade on it's side and brought it down on both their heads. Their cries of pain were enough for me as I walked back to standing next to Chryssy as the others were still in their positions they had taken in an attempt to stop me when they saw I had pulled out my weapon.

"Next time, just slap them aside the head with your hands so you don't give everypony a heart attack." Chryssy scolded me after having slapped in the back of the head, rather hard too.

"Okay, okay, using my blade to bring just punishment isn't the way to go." I said with my smirk as the two ponies who had received said punishment were somehow glaring and pouting at me at the same time as they nursed the new lumps on their heads.

"Well now that that little fiasco is over with, tell us darlings, what are you going to do now?" Rarity asked as everything seemed to calm down.

"Now we make certain that security measures are taken to make sure our hive is safe from becoming the victims of such heinous acts. Now that there's proof that there are ponies that are willing to go that far and that the fact that we have all of the princess' approval doesn't do anything to derail them, we need to make sure the rest of the Hive is prepared for such encounters." She went to say before I cut in.

"And no one can say anything it since, as Chrysalis already said, we have the full approval of the princesses to do what we need to to make sure our changelings are safe." I stated seriously though it seemed for naught as all I got were raised brows and a smirking Chrysalis, Lacy, and Bonbon. "What?"

" 'Our Changelings' ?" And it was with that I felt my cheeks heat up a bit and turn my head to the side, knowing that it was pointless to try and hide it, and scratched at my cheek.

"Okay so maybe I'm starting to like the idea of becoming king of the Hive, what about it?" I asked embarrassedly as I looked everywhere but at the group before me until I heard buzzing and soon after two hooves grabbed ahold of my cheeks and I was guided to look directly at Chrysalis's lovely green eyes.

"Nothing about it all, my king." Chrysalis says lovingly with a gleam in her eyes before pulling me into a passionate kiss. The kiss lasts for a few minutes before we seperate.

"W-what was that for, not that I'm complaining." I said as I was panting, trying to catch my breath from the sudden, yet intense, kiss.

"I'm sorry dear, but every time I hear you say something that implies that not only will we be together but that we'll be together for a long time just warms my heart and keeps reminding me that I really have found love for myself." She states dreamily as she cuddles up to me, I already had ahold of her form after she had grabbed my face. I smiled lovingly at her before facing the rest of the group, my expression turning slightly serious as I addressed them. "Well we told you all what we needed to and ask that if there's anything you can do to help protect our changelings we would greatly appreciate it. I can't stand to think who else is plotting our downfall and the last thing we need is to be fighting a war from inside Equestria's borders while preparing to fight a massive army."

"Don't you worry bout a thing David, we'll all help out and spread the word around Ponyville and get the everyone's help and support." Lacy replied immediately with a fierce look in her eyes that I remember seeing when we were kids whenever she wanted to do something and was determined to do anything and everything she could to accomplish whatever goal she has set in her mind.

"Hahaha, thanks Lace, I knew I could count on you." She pouted a bit at hearing my chuckle but her smile soon returns and nods at me. It isn't long before the others are doing the same, including Shining Armor which doesn't surprise me and leaves me skeptical as always when it comes to this bastard. Chrysalis may have convinced me to give him a chance but I won't let my guard down around him, especially around Chryssy and Lily, but I did trust Cadance and Twilight so as long as they're around him when I'm not I don't bother freaking out, otherwise I have already informed the rest of the Hive to keep and eye on him and report anything he may do that could be considered threatening to me.

"David?" Twilight's voice brought me out of my thoughts and I focused my attention on her.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"We were wondering what you wanted to do to try and cheer Lily up and help her forget about it."

I sigh at that as I still have no idea what we should do and I'm guessing neither has Chryssy, at least judging from the sigh I heard come from her. "No we haven't and it's actually pissing me off. I know that there are probably some special event happening somewhere in Equestria but as long as there's that fear and prejudice of the changelings still around anything we can do would be overshadowed but all those hateful stares and comments. I'm seriously at a loss of what to do, can you think of anything Chryssy?"

"I'm in the same boat as you. I have no idea what we could possibly do for Lily after she's experienced something so traumatic." Chryssy replied solemnly.

"Well we have an idea that may not only help Lily forget what happened but also help build up better relations between ponies and changelings." Twilight said with a big grin that was shared with the rest of her friends.

"Oh, and what would that be Princess Twilight?" Chrysalis asked with an amused expression at hearing Twilight groan from having her title used.

"We're going to throw a huuuuuge 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and inviting the whole town!" Pinkie Pie shouted out as she stood up on her hind legs with her forelegs extended towards the sky with confetti being shot everywhere from some party cannons that she somehow had gotten set up. Chrysalis and I exchange looks before turning to Pinkie.

"It sounds like a great idea Pinkie."