Illuminating Aegis: Tales of the Changeling King

Leo was walking around Whitetail woods the day after Spike’s ‘quest’ when she found an empty clearing. This would do nicely. She thought walking into the middle of the clearing. “Since I am somewhat responsible for all the Digimon in this world I might as well take up the mantle of a Digimon sovereign.” Leo said marking the area before the wind started to kick up and the sky grew dark. “This does not look good…” She said before taking a defencive stance.

A dark emerald glow lit up through some of the nearby clouds, concentrating in a spot just above the clearing as it began to condense into a relatively small sphere of green energy. With a deafening burst the sphere was launched into the clearing with several black spheres trailing behind it. The green one shifted into the form of a pony-like creature just before it skipped a few times across the ground and landed in front of Leo.

The other five darker spheres had a bit more generous of a landing as they condensed into shadow-creatures that were vaguely humanoid in shape with red glowing eyes being the only indication of a face.

“Ok, I have some kind of injured pony that just materialized at my feet and shadow monsters surrounding us… I can guess that I’m not going to be able to walk away from this am I?” Leo asked no one in particular.

The creatures, silent as they were, drew several small metal objects from what appeared to be cloaks made entirely of darkness. With several hisses the objects brought crimson blades of energy into existence.

“Ok… I feel like I walked into a Star Wars convention now…” Leo said before proceeding to poke the downed pony with a foot until he woke up.

The tough chitin on the pony’s exterior didn’t seem to do much in response for several seconds. “You’re… not entirely wrong there…” The pony-creature groaned as he slowly pulled himself up from the dirt. “I’d be happy to explain… but as you can see…” He panted a little as he stood to his full height of at least a good eight feet tall, “Five against one really hasn’t been easy on me.”

“Ouch, well what's your side? and who are they?” Leo said stepping out from behind him. “If you're a good guy then I might help you, if not I’m flying out of here.” she added teasingly.

“Well… they’re Sith Phantoms if that helps…” He replied as he drew his own saber hilt, lighting up a green energy blade while he got back into a battle stance.

“then I shall help you young jedi.” Leo said trying to imitate Yoda's voice before materializing a Fireball in each of her hands.

The tall pony-like creature dashed towards one of the closer phantoms, locking his blade against the crimson one the phantom brandished as it tried a vertical cut. The four other phantoms began their charge against the two fighters.

“Not so fast little shadows~” Leo sang before throwing her fireballs at the two furthest phantoms causing them to explode before charging the remaining two that were going after the pony-creature.

The two remaining phantoms turned their attention towards Leo, one raised its right hand as lightning began to arc away from it to give cover to the last phantom.

“Ooh! trying to use lightning on me? nice try!” Leo shouted flapping her wings and taking to the air causing the lightning to miss. “Now eat my Mach punch!” She shouted dive bombing the phantom that tried to use lightning on her while punching it in the face.

The other phantom that tried to use the lightning as cover brought its saber to bear as it swung the angrily-humming blade at her.

The pony-creature seemed a bit more confident now that it was fighting one-on-one against the phantom that he had clashed with. “So, I hope you don’t mind… but… uh… what are you?” He called to Leo as he brought his blade across the wrist of the phantom he was dueling.

Leo dived to the side to avoid being hit by the red Lightsaber before replying, “I’m a Coronadramon, a one of a kind digimon.” she said as the phantom that tried to strike her accidently destroyed its partner that Leo had knocked down moments before. “You could say I’m the first of my kind, as well as the unintentional creator of all the digimon on this world. Blame Discord.”

With a quick flourish an emerald blade emerged from the back of the phantom the pony-creature was dueling. “Who?” He asked as the phantom faded away.

“Discord, the spirit of chaos. be glad you haven't met him, he’s a jerk. Tried using his magic on me causing it to rain digi-eggs all over equestria.” Leo replied before jumping over the last phantom and kicking it in the back.

As the phantoms faded the strange, giant, bug-pony creature began to look around. “I get the feeling that I must not be in my Equestria then… do you happen to know what Changelings are?”

“Oh, another displaced then?” Leo stated, “No, I don't believe this is your Equestria, If it was I would have noticed giant bipedal ponies around and i know what a changeling is, but you don’t look like any changelings I have ever seen in the show.” she added.

“Show?” The changeling asked with a confused look.

“You didn't know? where I came from before coming here this world was a show called ‘My little pony: Friendship is magic’.” Leo said while shrugging.

“Wait a minute… that was the logo on the plush toy I bought for my sister’s birthday at the convention…” The changeling said as he looked over at the digimon. “So… this whole world is based off of that show?”

“Nope! Multiverse theory, I don't really know how to explain it. But dang you didn't notice? I wish Doctor Who was here this is hilarious!” Leo said, bursting out laughing.

“I’m familiar with Multiverse theory… but I’ve never seen an episode of the show, I saw the plush and thought my sister would like it.” He put a hand to his chin. “Then again, I’m not too surprised… the Celestia and Luna from my world are displaced as well…”

“They are? that’s interesting… at least you know you’re safe then. By the way what’s your name? I’m Leo by the way.” Leo said while extending a paw.

The changeling smiled a little. “My name is Namiro, I’m a Changeling King.” He explained as he completed the handshake. His eyes darted away a little as he let the handshake go a little early. “I’m actually a tad worried about my hive back home… I don’t even know what happened while I was trapped in that nightmare.” He cast a sidelong glance at the digimon. “How did you bring me here anyway? Wasn’t the whole thing about ‘displaced’ due to being summoned by a token? I haven’t sent one out… I know that much.”

“Yeah… I don’t know how you got here but I could help you if you want.” Leo offered. “After all, I could ask my dad to send us to your world.” She said before pulling out her digivice.

Namiro rubbed the back of his head a little bit. “Well… if what happens while I’m on other worlds stays roughly consistent… then I’m normally pulled away from my world when there isn’t a major event going on that I need to worry about. So I guess a little bit of a break wouldn’t hurt…”

“If you say so… but if you plan on hanging out here for a bit you might want to disguise yourself as something with four legs, unless you want to cause a panic. After all the only thing with two legs the ponies in this area would trust besides centaurs would probably be me.” Leo said while eyeing Namiro.

He seemed to think about it for a moment before his entire form was engulfed in emerald flames. Once the flames cleared a much shorter earth-pony stallion stood in the same stance. “I’m not used to quadrupeds… so I’d rather not re-learn to walk… Do the ponies of your world already know about Displaced as well?”

“No… and I hope they never do. I don't want to be swarmed by weirdos and Twilight is bad enough as it is… if she finds out I’m not simply some new species but also from another world… I don't think I could avoid getting dissected.” Leo said before shivering.

A near-sinister smile seemed to curl up on the disguised changeling’s muzzle. “How… uh… Oh how do I put this… How sensitive is your Twilight?”

“What kind of sensitive?” Leo asked nervously.

“On the Equestria that I’m from… I have an open relationship with my Twilight, nothing intimate on that yet but she’s working up her confidence, I was thinking as a special way to at least get these heroes to know about us without dissecting you… I could play up the fact that I think I’m still on my world with the Twilight I’m in a relationship with.” Namiro explained. “I wouldn’t be too vulgar or anything like that, just a bit of harmless fun if she gets really flustered when talking about more mature topics.”

“Well that would be hilarious, but I would rather not shatter what's left of the timeline thank you.” Leo said.

“Okay, well… There’s a few things I’m going to need explained then… Has the Crystal Empire already appeared on this world?”

“No, Cadance and Shining Armor haven’t even gotten married yet.” Leo said raising an eyebrow. “why do you ask?” Leo added out of curiosity.

“Mostly due to the last major event I remember being when Sombra invaded the Crystal Empire with… well… less than an army of Sith.”

“Okay… so your Sombra is a sith lord, never would’ve thought of that… at least my Sombra won’t have an army unless… yeah, not going to jinx it.” Leo said.

Namiro nodded. “So, did you need help with anything?” The brown earth stallion asked. “I did find out from one of my Mentors that the Displaced are typically summoned for assistance.”

“Unless my dad decided to call you without warning me, which he most likely did not. The only reason I would need help is finding most of the digi-eggs that are scattered around Equestria. that or the force wanted you to meet me for some reason so it sent you here somehow…” Leo said while scratching her head.

“Perhaps I was sent here to relax a bit… know any good places to do so?”

“Unless you tell me what you like to do to pass the time, I don't think so.” Leo said. “But if you want we could go to sugarcube corner.” Leo said before facepalming. “I forgot, you're a changeling, you eat emotions, not food…”

Namiro gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. “I can eat regular food just fine, it just gets converted differently than what normal beings are used to… so I don’t get any nutrition from it whatsoever… and uh… for what I usually do to pass the time… it tends to be voluntary harvesting of emotions for my Queen’s hive.”

“Ok… and now I’m worried for my chastity…” Leo said.

“You don’t need to be worried about that, I’m not into BDSM or anything like that.” Namiro explained as he leaned up against a nearby tree. “Aside from harvesting love though… I guess I just meditate and train with The Force… huh… I guess I really did lose a lot of my hobbies after coming to Equestria…”

“Well i'm up for training if you want to do that. I don't really have much to do around here yet, now that i think about it… the jedi had a council, why not start setting up a council of our own?” Leo asked excitedly.

“The Jedi Council was just made up of a small group of masters who tended to get the others to listen due to seniority than anything else… Though most of my organization on my Equestria is meant to follow the even older Je’Daii order.” He explained. “Yes, I understand they sound the same, but there’s actually an apostrophe after the ‘e’ and two ‘i’s on the end. It’s a different organization than the one most Star Wars fans know about.”

“Sounds interesting, i don’t know the difference but then again I wasn’t that hard core of a Star Wars fan. i spent most of my time watching Digimon.” Leo shrugged.

“Neither was I… I just happened to find out about the organization through a Wiki made specifically for Star Wars lore. The Jedi and the Je’Daii are different because the Jedi that were part of the decline of the Republic only believed that the Light side of the force was the way to live by… while the Je’Daii on the other hand believed that there was no light or dark side… just The Force.”

“These Je’Daii sound quite wise.” Said a voice from behind Namiro.

He nodded a little. “They were… had it not been for a splinter faction within their order that began to crave power then they would’ve likely achieved lasting peace in the galaxy.”

“I see, then I think my daughter would be a great ally to you then young one.” Said the voice.

Namiro shrugged. “Much of my world has actually learned to balance hedonism with temperance… or whatever word is required to mean that they practice in little bits… Anyway, I’d love to give her a tour sometime… when I know that I’m not just going to bring her into that nightmare I’m currently trapped in on my world.”

“You seem awfully calm young one… and I could send you back there and destroy that nightmare at the same time if you ask.” The voice said.

“Of course I’m calm… The Force rewards patience and understanding, now… if you would be so kind as to step out to where you can be seen, I can properly introduce myself to you.” Namiro replied.

“As you wish.” Said the voice before its presence vanished and a humanoid shaped being in a blue cloak materialized in front of Namiro. “My name is Crux, it’s nice to see you and my daughter are getting along.” He said.

“Well, I am a fairly amiable changeling. I tend to get along with those who don’t try to kill me.” Namiro replied with a broad smile. “What kind of things do you guys do for fun around here, I honestly could use a small vacation from the stress that has become ‘managing a hive’...”

“I would say I feel bad for you but I honestly don't… It’s nice to spend time with family… if only I could spend more time with the only member left of mine.” Crux said in a somber tone.

“Well, I’m here right now, we could find something to do that would give you guys time to spend together… hmm… now that I think about it I believe I want some of those toothsome delectables from the absolutely divine bakery in town.” Namiro explained as he began walking towards town.

“Why not, my other displaced should be fine for a while.” crux said before taking Leo’s hand and walking with her after Namiro.

“As a small note of importance…” Namiro started as he continued walking. “I have been cut off for the most part from The Force while I’m on other displaced worlds until a source that can tap into it can be established… so while I’m here there is a bit of feeding at some point that I’ll have to do.”

“Hahaha! You are too calm for your own good, have you not noticed the air around here? when you were dumped into this world a connection was forcibly established.” Crux said.

“I understand that, but the connection itself is too weak for me to either keep fed or semi-effectively use my Force abilities.”

“Well if you feed off of anyone at least make sure it’s not one of the main six, can’t change the timeline.” Leo said.

“I don’t need to be physically intimate with anyone in order to feed, Leo, it just tends to be easier that way since such a connection produces the most concentrated and sweetest of love. But trust me, the last time I fed on the energy Pinkie Pie gave off… I thought I was going to grow a cavity somehow.” The disguised changeling replied. “I’ll only have the sweets from Sugarcube corner…”

“Ok, since that has been cleared up let's go!” Leo said before spreading her wings and taking off.

Namiro sighed a little. “Earth stallion disguise, remember? Not able to fly without breaking disguise.” He muttered a little to himself afterward, “though perhaps she’s just flying ahead to let her friends know about the mutant pony who’s coming.”

“Don’t worry about that, I have it covered.” Crux said before teleporting them in front of Sugarcube Corner, and making a brown cloak materialize around Namiro before anypony could see him. “Don’t take off the cloak, it will make them think you’re one of leo’s friends by wearing it, and it comes with the extra feature of nobody being able to see what you look like on the inside.” He instructed.

“I do know a few digimon… I mean, I haven’t really tried to change into any since it hasn’t been something I needed to do… but I could turn into a Renamon or something like that…”

“Not a good idea, the only digimon they trust is me. seeing as all the other digimon are wild ones that try and attack them I can understand why.” Leo said having caught up on them.

He sighed a little. “Fine… I’ll be a bit slow about it but a feral pony won’t be too big of a deal then.” The changeling replied as he tried to keep the glow of his shifting flames to a very dim color.

“Now we just have to avoid Rarity and we should be fine.” Leo said before leading Namiro and Crux into Sugarcube corner. “Hey Pinkie! I brought a few friends that decided to stop by for a visit!” She said as soon as the three of them walked into the bakery.

Namiro brought the hood on his cloak back to reveal his brown earth pony visage and his dark green mane. “I’ve been travelling quite a bit and Leo was telling me this place is great for getting delicious food.”

“Indeed it is! But you already knew that didn't you?” Pinkie said appearing in front of Namiro.

“Well, hearsay and rumor.” He replied with a smile as he took a small step back. “Any open seats for a weary traveller?”

“Sure, I already knew you three were coming. Your private booth is over here.” Pinkie said leading them to a corner with a curtain. “And you need to talk more often when in town Crux, It's like you’re a ghost with how quiet you are!” She added before leaving.

Namiro sat down at the booth with a small sigh. “So frustrating on four hooves…” He muttered. “I’m still confused on how some worlds can deal with it.”

leo shrugged, “they manage, I don't know how either but they do.” she then turned to Crux “By the way, could you give Namiro a copy of my token?” she asked.

“Sure.” Crux said before handing Namiro a digivice.

The disguised changeling took the digivice which morphed into a lime green D-power digivice upon accepting its new owner. “...Second generation of the digivices, right?”

“No, thats a generation three digivice. It might work out, now we just have to get you a digimon!” Leo said before Pinkie delivered food to their booth.

The changeling’s eyes seemed to light up a little. “You mean like Renamon? I forget what the pre-digivolution stages are…”

“Eh, it's possible.” Leo said before chowing down on the pile of sugar cookies that was left in front of her.

Namiro took one of the sugar cookies as well, “What kinds of things went on since you got here then? Maybe we could swap stories.”

“Sure, and I can give you some information about the show to possibly help you in the future. unless the timeline is dead there…” Leo said before scarfing down the last of the cookies.

“I wouldn’t assume that my world follows a particular timeline… Chrysalis died on my world so I don’t know if that changed anything too much… let’s see… the queen of my hive is Shining Armor’s daughter…” He began.

“Shining has a daughter!?” Leo said.

“Yep, the last royal egg Chrysalis had lain before she died.” Namiro replied with a smile. “Fortunately Ponyville’s been keeping the hive fed ever since we moved out there.”

“So you made peace between the ponies and the changelings? yeah that and Chrysalis having a daughter are so far the only changes to the timeline i have noticed so far in your world.” Leo said.

“Well…” Namiro started hesitantly. “...Sombra’s still alive in my world…”

“A-and that is bad… that is VERY bad…” Leo stammered. “He was supposed to die in the original timeline…” She exclaimed in a very worried tone.

“He hasn’t resurfaced since he was defeated in the Crystal Empire on my world… but… I’d have to say I’m definitely a bit curious as to what he’s been up to ever since his master pulled him out of the line of fire when Rin helped defend the city.” Namiro replied pensively.

“Okay, PINKIE! check please!” Leo called before turning to Namiro. “We are going back to your world ASAP, I fear that something may be going on that you are unaware of and that’s never a good sign.” She told him before paying Pinkie and leading Namiro and Crux to the edge of ponyville.

“I was locked into a nightmare… how wouldn’t there be something going on that I didn’t know about? Something is obviously going on and the fact I was sent here instead of immediately woken up means it’s something that, for now, those in my world can handle.”

“Well good luck you two, and may the force always guide you Namiro.” Crux said before conjuring up a portal to Namiro’s world.

Namiro nodded. “And may you find light in even the deepest of darkness.”

Crux noded, a noticeable tear running down his hidden face. “Yes, and may the darkness never conquer your light…” He said before vanishing.

“Oh boy… I think you may have accidentally said something that upset him…” Leo said before jumping through the portal.

“I think it was more a phrase to keep him motivated… it seemed like something that he could use.” Namiro replied as he stepped in behind her

-Namiro’s Equestria-

Whitetail woods seemed to be, quiet, for the most part as the portal deposited the pair of Displaced into the lush, scenic forest. “Huh… Not much seems to have changed… though… Assuming I’m not creating a paradox like this, I can only assume that my unconscious body has mysteriously vanished from our healing chambers.” The Namiro, now undisguised, observed.

“Probably, usually when you go to another dimension your body is brought with you unless you don't have one.” Leo replied. “And i think i know when in the timeline you are…” She added as a giant fishbowl seemed to appear around Ponyville.

“And when would that be?” Namiro asked.

“Magic duel, in the episode Trixie obtains an evil ancient artifact that gives her the power of an alicorn and tries to exact revenge on Twilight…” Leo said.

“Seeing as the Alicorns here are those who are actually trained in The Force… this could potentially be very dangerous…” Namiro sighed as his shoulders sagged a little. “Come on, there’s a secret hive entrance nearby.”

“OK. Oh and a warning, the only way to remove the amulet is to have the wearer take it off themselves. no one else can remove it, although a lightsaber may be another story.” Leo said.

“It’s too dangerous to use in close quarters without risking the life of the wearer… you’re talking about putting a beam of concentrated plasma next to someone’s skin…” He hummed a little as he levitated a large boulder out of the way to reveal a small cave. “There is the Mind Trick technique… It works well on those with weak wills, I can only assume that this Trixie has a weak will based on what Twilight did tell me.”

“You would be surprised at what time can change…” Leo said following Namiro into the cave. “Oh, while we are still out of any combat situation. Here, I decided on what egg would be best to give you.” she said handing him a yellow digi-egg.

He carefully took the egg. “Thank you… We’ll keep it safe in the incubation chambers until it hatches.” As they continue down a set of corridors that were lit by green crystals the changeling turned to Leo again.

“You obviously dont remember how to hatch a digi-egg!” Leo chuckled. “Just rub it.” she explained with a smirk.

The changeling was hesitant to do so. “We’re going to be getting into a very intense situation… wouldn’t it be better to keep the young digimon away from such danger until a bit later?”

“You can store it in your digivice.” Leo shrugged. “But it’s going to need to fight eventually, how else is it going to evolve?” she asked as they rounded another corner.

“I understand that…” He replied as he placed a hand on the egg. “It’s just… I don’t know… it feels like there’s some portion of all this that I’m missing.” the armored hand gently rubbed along the smooth surface of the egg. The egg began to glow, and then it cracked before shattering leaving a newly hatched Viximon in Namiro's arms. It took exactly three seconds before the large, bulky and rather intimidating-looking changeling let out a fangirly squee and hugged the adorable little ball of fluff.

“Well, i see someone got their favorite digimon. although you still need to name it, after all names have power.” Leo chimed in to snap Namiro out of his fangirling.

At that the changeling held the little fluffball out to arm’s length with a narrowed gaze. “I… am terrible at coming up with names, Patina’s told me several times… so is there one in particular that you want little one?”

“It's a baby it doesn't know how to talk yet, so I recommend having this Patina help you name it. although you might want to be careful, while newborn digimon can’t talk they sure can fight…” Leo said laughing weakly.

“What about the ones from the first gen TV show where they were all at about the same stage…?”

“They had been alive for a while before that point in their lives.” Leo replied.

He rolled his eyes. “We’ll have to figure out a name for you later then you adorable little ball of fluff.” He said as he nuzzled the Viximon. It happily chirped in response before wriggling out of his arms and crawling onto his head while leaning against the mohawk-like fin on his head and falling asleep. “She’s so adorable!” He squealed quietly.

“I honestly am going to laugh if anyone sees you acting like this.” Leo said smiling. “By the way… Who is that female changeling that is storming over in our direction?” She added pointing.

Namiro winced a little. “Uh oh…” Was all he said before the large female brought her hand up quickly to smack the Changeling king across the cheek.

“You idiot! Who said you could just go and get knocked out and make me worried for your safety!” She shouted.

“Then you probably should know that if i hadn't stepped in he might have been killed.” Leo said feeling bad for the female changeling. “But then again it's not every day someone dropped in from a parallel world surrounded by Sith.” She started laughing on the inside at the torment that her new friend was going to get because of her talking.

“I’m just happy he’s alive…” The large female replied as she turned to the digimon. “My name is Queen Patina, I am the leader of this hive.”

“Ah, so you're the queen loverboy here wouldn't stop blabbing about?” Leo said while smirking. “My name is leo by the way, it's nice to meet you Patina.” she said holding out her paw to Patina.

The changeling Queen nodded a little as she completed the handshake. “So, am I to believe you are another of the Displaced then?”

“Yes and no, I’m more of a ‘half’ displaced. you see my father is a void being and my displacer.” leo said after pulling her paw back after the greeting.

“Well, I believe it may also be safe to assume that you may know why this Trixie unicorn has paraded into town and banished Twilight?” Patina asked as she began guiding the group through the cavern.

“Yes, but if i say too much I may affect the timestream. so if you don't mind I’m going to keep this as vague as possible.” Leo said before turning to Namiro.

“Trixie’s being affected by an evil artifact.” Namiro stated bluntly.

“Don’t forget that question you had for her!~” Leo said slightly annoyed at his bluntness.

“Oh yeah! Leo here wants you to teach her how to appreciate the more carnal desires of life.” He replied with a smile.

“Don’t make me fry you…” Leo warned while glaring at Namiro.

“You’re just like Twilight… can’t take a joke.” Namiro replied as they got to a large chamber that was filled with a dim, green light. “...what was the question?”

“He needs your help coming up with a name for the gift I gave him.” Leo deadpanned.

“Yep, she gave me an egg… it hatched already, but I am terrible at coming up with names.”

“Oh… She did, did she…” Patina replied with a slight glare at the digimon. “So she approves of you having an affair then?”

“What!? I would never encourage cheating! and he isn't my type.” Leo said with her eyes bulging to the size of dinner plates. “I may have created the egg but I have never… you know…” Leo said blushing.

“Ah, so you proposed to my husband…” Patina replied as she turned towards the digimon. “Mates in our society share eggs after all.”

“What is it with Ponies and misunderstandings!?” Leo cried.

Namiro burst out laughing. “Leo, did you forget that I already told you earlier that I have an open relationship with Twilight? The ponies of this world tend to have more open relationships and marriage is only used to signify a deeper connection that has nothing to do with sex.”

“I will get even with you for this…” Leo said before turning to Patina. “No I have not formed any kind of relationship with your mate other than as friends and nothing more. if you want  to know how the egg was made…” Leo said before being interrupted.

Patina held up a hand to interrupt the explanation. “...It is fine, Changelings naturally have to have a bond with others in order to harvest love. Though what I said about a proposal of marriage was not a farce. I can preside over the proceedings myself if you would like. The exchange of nymphs is a tradition that harbors trust between two merging hives.”

“Interesting, but as I was saying. The egg is one of hundreds that appeared when Discord tried to use his magic on me when he escaped his stone prison.” Leo said while pouting.

“Hmm… you do work on a very large scale, not even I could produce that many at once, you must be incredibly virile to make so many at once.” The large queen said as she knelt down.

“Did I forget to mention my species are made of energy thus have no genitalia to speak of?” leo said trying to get Patina to drop the subject.

“But you clearly do… I’m surprised you haven’t commissioned Rarity for a pair of pants at least.” Patina explained. “While changelings have chitin to cover such private regions, you only appear to have fur.”

“I would get pants if my Rarity would let me but NO~ she has to try putting me in a dress every time she sees me!” Leo exclaimed before adding, “also the pants won't last long seeing as I can and eventually will change forms…”

“Well… once this mess with Trixie is finished I’m certain we can have our Rarity look into something, though you may want to have a bigger form… I’m not sure Namiro is interested in bedding such a small species.”

“I will never bed him. Plus my dad would never approve.” Leo said.

“Wow.. way to wound the pride there Leo…” Namiro huffed a bit. “It’s not like I’ve got more personality than just training and meditating or anything like that… but go ahead, insult me despite the wedding gift you gave.” He pretended to sniffle. “And here I was mentally preparing for which nymph I would give you in return.”

“Patina how do you like your kings? slightly roasted or char broiled?” Leo asked making a fireball appear in her hand.

“As long as he shares, I don’t mind if he has been given a proposal.” The Changeling Queen replied.

“Thats it… im out!” Leo said before flying away.

Namiro put a hand to his chin as he watched the little digimon fly away. “I do hope she doesn’t accidentally fly into the business sector… You did put more bouncers there, right luv?”

Patina nodded. “One of them will escort her to the meeting chamber if she wanders over that way, I’ve already got Jeeves preparing some tea.”

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Emerald-colored crystals lined the walls, which seemed to twist and turn like a maze, as Leo quickly dashed down one corridor after the next. “Great I’m lost…” She said before bumping into a changeling.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, I was on my way back to the surface to bring the next round of customers. Am I to assume that you are part of the next assigned group?” The changeling asked politely as she dusted herself off.

“Group of what?” Leo asked, slightly confused.

“Paying customers, it’s alright if you’re shy though, all of the changelings we have on staff know about being gentle. We do have an opening in the south wing of the business area if you would prefer a private room away from some of the other patrons.”

“What do you serve here? I’m honestly lost, and dang Namiro didn’t give me a map…” Leo fumed.

“Well, since Changelings feed on the energy from emotions, with love and lust being the two most potent of energies, we offer services of pleasure in order to escape from the stress of daily life.”

“Oh…” Leo said blushing slightly. “No I will not be asking of any of those kinds of services!” She said before turning around and starting to walk away.

“Either way it would be best if you were with an escort, since this area tends to have paying customers still here before they finish their sessions, we wouldn’t want you to accidentally run into one.”

leo quickly turned around and walked over to the changeling, “Ok, I will be staying with you for now then. I do NOT want to get ‘intimate’ with ANYONE.” She said before hopping on the changelings shoulder.

“Hmm… Then what brings you to have business with Queen Namiro?” The changeling asked as she tapped a pen on the clipboard.

“He is a platonic friend, nothing more. I was here to drop him off after finding him knocked out and am also here to help him with a small emergency and hang out for a while... or at least untill he wouldn't stop teasing me...“ Leo confessed.

“What would be so wrong with being more than platonic with Namiro though?” The changeling asked out of genuine curiosity. “Our race can take whatever form we desire, and being female yourself it wouldn’t be that difficult to understand that you would be attracted to a male in such a position of power.” ‘She’ explained. “After all, a stronger changeling is able to protect their hive easier.”

“I'm not in the market for a relationship. I'm not ready for one nor do I want one. I have too much going on as it is for that, as well as even if he is a shapeshifter he is not my type.” Leo explained.

“And what do you consider to be ‘your type’?” The changeling asked as she began to make a few notes on the clipboard.

“I know about your hivemind so all I will tell you is I am not into anyone who I see as a male, even if they take the appearance of a female.” Leo said while giving the changeling a pointed look.

“Would that not be alienating our entire race though? Changelings are naturally androgynous, as such we have neither gender…”

“I'm not really alienating your species, just Namiro. His personality makes him stand out as a male specifically in my opinion so it's mostly about personality with species that are multiple or non gender-oriented.” Leo said shrugging.

“But then what of queen Patina? If she were to act as Namiro does, would you consider her male as well?”

“I honestly don't know, it's mostly about First impressions with these kinds of things.” Leo said putting a hand to her chin.

“Interesting…” The changeling replied. “What was it that imprinted Namiro as male to you?”

“The fact that I know that before he was a changeling he was a male of a species I am all too familiar with…” Leo replied.

“So, a female of Namiro’s species couldn’t have possibly acted the same?” The changeling observed. “But even so, before now has no bearing on what is in the present, and now… he is a Royal Changeling in charge of maintaining the mental and physical safety of this hive.” The changeling did let out a small chuckle. “I believe he still hasn’t gotten as comfortable being in a female form when Patina decides to be King for a while.”

“...” Leo’s brain decided to die right then at the thought of what the changeling in front of her just suggested. “Well…” Was all she could say at the moment without bursting out laughing.

“Changelings can adapt to a wide variety of tastes… Queen patina absolutely adores the fact that Namiro is still shy when it comes to being in front of such a strong changeling as a Queen.” The waiter let out a small sigh. “It’ll be too bad once she does start to get comfortable with it though… they’re already getting over some of the taboos that had been on the world Namiro had originally been from.” At that particular moment the digimon noticed a distinct difference between Namiro and Patina compared to the other changelings… The non-royals seemed to have regular tails instead of the serpent-like ones that Namiro and Patina had.

“Huh, interesting. Well i know that if she finds him being embarrassed is a turn on for her, suggest to her mating in public. that will REALLY make him squirm. It’s one of the most taboo things from his old world.” Leo said with a smug grin.

“The taboo seems to be shared with our world then, as it is considered more than vulgar and disrespectful to do so, it’s why we have separate chambers for our clients unless they prefer to enjoy voyeurism.”

“Huh, so this world does have common sense when it comes to these things… you learn something new every day. To be honest you're the only person i have ever talked to about things like this…” Leo said trailing off.

The changeling nodded. “We are a very understanding race, since we prefer to keep those we feed on comfortable and content in order to stay fed we need to learn things like this. So what makes a female such as yourself so against males?”

“Um… this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but for a time I was a male…” Leo said nervously. “Mostly, I grew up disguised as a male to hide from some some guys that were trying to capture me and make me into a weapon…” She explained.

“Perhaps it would be best to spend time with our hive then to become comfortable with things you had once been uncomfortable with? Namiro is getting over similar… disinterests... The more time he spends with Patina.”

“I’m ok, after all my species does not require one to be of a specific gender to produce offspring should they choose. So all I have to worry about is finding someone who I like for who they are mentally.” Leo replied.

“Is that not hypocritical of what you explained earlier then? You said that you didn’t find Namiro attractive simply because you saw him as male… if gender doesn’t matter for offspring with your species, can it not be with anyone that you find close enough to be deeper than friends with?”

“Yeah, I see what you mean but I just don’t see him that way.” Leo shrugged. “After all his personality isn’t my type to begin with so… yeah this is getting confusing…” She said facepalming.

“You do not like caring and protective types?” The changeling clarified.

“I like caring people, I just… I don't know how to explain how my mind works…” Leo groaned.

The changeling waved a hand to the massive cathedral-like room they entered. “Namiro has given us the chance to survive from the brink of extinction, letting his emotion flow freely to us… Even now he seeks to lift our race to even greater heights because from the moment he shared eggs with our queen he has considered all of the changelings of this hive to be his children just as Patina does.”

“That’s nice. It must be nice to know your mom…” Leo said in a sad tone.

“It is almost all we ever know, drones have such a short lifespan that in the past our hive mothers have had to be very distant, or else risk losing more than just a simple drone at the time when they expire… under Namiro’s guidance though, our race is living longer… Perhaps you too would be able to find some measure of companionship, if not courtship, within him if you were so inclined… We know that he would not turn you away. He spoke the same to Master Rin, another Displaced who seemed to have much the similar mindset.”

“No its ok. I would prefer to be in a relationship where it's just me and one other. Especially if said other has as long of an lifespan as I.” Leo said

“Barring any tragic circumstances… such as death by battle… Royal caste changelings do not fall to the sands of time.”

“My species is almost immortal, we can live until we are killed. and once we do die we just turn back into eggs.” Leo pointed out.

“You do realize you almost quoted the entire lifestyle of a changeling… don’t you?” Namiro said as they entered a much smaller, more comfortably-decorated room. Several chairs seemed to have what looked like waterbed cushions as their seats while a green crystal table had both of the Royal changelings and several guards nearby.

“I do hope you enjoyed the tour Miss Leo, but I must get back to my duty, do be sure to think on what we spoke about, for your own sake more than Namiro’s.” The changeling waiter requested as he gently removed the digimon from his shoulder.

“Later mister!” Leo called to the changeling in a childish voice before he left.

“Aaron, Our queen seems to prefer names from Namiro’s world.” He replied.

“Ok, bye Aaron. it was nice meeting you!” Leo said.

“It was good meeting you as well.” Aaron replied.

“So, did you enjoy the tour?” Patina asked as he leaned back in his seat.

“Tour? I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings…” Leo replied meekly. “And when did you gender swap? wait… did you two… nevermind. I don’t want to know!” she said before jumping onto one of the chairs and curling up like a cat.

Namiro giggled a little as she leaned forward. “We can swap at any time, and we only requested to have some tea prepared… I’ve actually taken a preference towards white needle tea, would you like a cup?”

“To be honest, I prefer peppermint with cream…” Leo said. “I feel like we are forgetting something though…” She said before Viximon jumped up and snuggled in next to her.

Patina sighed as he took a cup. “... Trixie already defeated Twilight, Fluttershy left about an hour ago to warn Twilight about the Amulet.” Patina explained. “We have confidence that Twilight will succeed.”

“So everything is going to schedule then?” Leo asked.

“Schedule?” Patina asked before he took a sip of the tea. “Perhaps you should try some, you may find that you like it.”

“Whoops… did I say that out loud? anyway I don't feel like experimenting with tea right now. don't want to be too out of it if things don't go as they are supposed to…” leo said.

“Yes, you did say that out loud, and pointedly at two beings who are not familiar with this show you spoke of.” Namiro replied as she poured a cup as well. “White needle isn’t a relaxant… at least, not as much of a relaxant as Zebrican Red is.”

“You suck at keeping secrets you know that right?” Leo replied.

“It’s difficult to keep secrets in a home of one hundred and thirty-five.” Patina replied.

“I hope This information never gets to the ponies… who knows how they will react. And on that note, just a warning but don't try to learn too much of the future. Lest there be consequences…” Leo said cryptically.

“And what of Luna and Celestia? They claim to be from… at least a world similar to Namiro’s.”

“Then let's hope they never learn of anything I have mentioned no matter what. If Celestia and Luna are displaced like us, It would be a fatal blow to your world should they learn of what I know.” Leo said.

“They knew Rin before I did…” Namiro replied. “They also spoke highly of a Void-Wandering Ronin named Gilgamesh… I’m fairly certain that they already know.”

“I fear for your future then.” Leo said.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Luna glared at her sister as they sat at the table once more having dinner. “I still think you’re a bit of an asshat for just letting the situation in ponyville happen…”

“What situation this time…?” Celestia sighed.

“All of them…” Luna growled.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

“Why do I get the feeling I ‘just called it’ as one would say?” Leo asked as a chill ran down her spine.

“Likely because Luna and Celestia already know the general gist of how this world is meant to play out… considering there is a lot of lore that even I am still digging up in my race’s past… the timeline that you are so adamant about not breaking may not even exist here.” Patina replied.

“If that is so, I don't know how much help I would be besides combat…” Leo said sadly.

Namiro smiled as she held a cup out for the digimon. “We could always use more friends.”

Leo accepted the tea, “You can never have enough true friends, only reason people have so few is because they are hard to come by.” Leo said in a sagely tone.

“Being able to turn into anything you want doesn’t hurt either…” Namiro replied as she leaned back in her seat. “Shapeshifting powers are awesome.”

“Yeah… You might want to be careful though, some displaced you meet in the future will be jealous of you because of that ability. Although… Shape shifting isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.” leo said sipping the tea.

“Well… let me know if you want to be the first displaced to test if consuming a non-changeling will let them be reborn as a hybrid.” Namiro replied as she emphasized her tail. “I kinda wonder if there’s a Cell displaced now that I think about it…”

“If you can imagine it it’s guaranteed to exist… so is the nature of the multiverse.” Leo quoted.

“So far as I’ve seen… Changelings from this world are pretty close to the villain from DBZ.” Namiro chuckled.

“Don’t even joke about that… you do know you might jinx one of your offspring into turning out like that right?” leo asked.

“Only the Royal Caste changelings have tails like ours…” Patina replied. “After a similar event in the past required new infiltrators be born without such beautiful tails…” He sighed as he stroked his own tail.

“Wise choice.” leo said. “Something with that kind of power should not be simply thrown around. it would be the same as asking for a supervillain to come around…” She added.

“It was originally designed to help our infiltrators collect love seamlessly while causing no harm to pony society…”

“Interesting. So, who wants to go watch the duel?” Leo asked.

Namiro had a pensive look as she straightened. “It’ll be a while before Twilight gets back if Fluttershy hasn’t returned yet… Something about what’s going on in Ponyville has me… nervous…”

Patina nodded. “Trixie Lulamoon arrived two days ago, she’s been radiating an aura of the Dark Side similar to what Sombra felt like.”

“So the situation is worse than I thought. All the more reason to get front row seats before the festivities begin.” Leo said with a creepy smile.

Namiro nodded, emerald flames racing up her form to shift back into the more familiar Changeling King. “You’re right… the Je’Daii are peacemakers, here to protect the innocent. It would be against everything I stand for if I were to let Trixie hurt the citizens of ponyville.”

“Just don't jump in until you're needed. we want Trixie to reveal as many of her cards as possible before we fight her so we don't accidentally kill ourselves.” Leo said before standing up.

“Right…” Patina replied. “Namiro will give you his half of the proposal gift after we have dealt with Trixie.”

“I’m never going to live this misunderstanding down, am I?” Leo sighed.

Namiro shook his head with a small chuckle as he looked over to the pair of guards that were in the room, each one drew a metal hilt similar to the one Namiro had for his saber. “It’s amazing what happens when you have an entire race that is made entirely of The Force yet still needs a noble caste in order to actually be sensitive to it…”

“Well, at least it isn't as confusing as digimon hierarchy. it's total chaos!” Leo said with a laugh. “And you might want to disguise yourself in a new form for this little mission.” She added.

Patina shook her head once the emerald flames died down. “We’re going in a small group, Changelings are already difficult to detect, we four are the ones who have actively trained to hide our presence within The Force. As long as we don’t simply waltz up to her and start swinging weapons around we’ll be fine. I’ve already got changelings evacuating ponies into the Je’Daii temple that Namiro commissioned.”

“Good, then this will be easier than I thought at the same time. Quick question, how do sith react to monsters that they don’t sense attacking them from out of nowhere?” Leo asked.

Namiro let out a sigh. “Leo, we’re here not to interfere… even you spoke about not having a ‘timeline’ interrupted. We will be observing unless the fight would go in a way that would not benefit this world… which would likely be when Trixie begins to win.”

“But that's why I asked the question, in case that does happen.” Leo said sweetly while making a pouty face.

“They react the same way they react to everything else, ‘kill it because I have power’...” The male changeling sighed as he walked over and pet her on the head. “It’s something that you have to watch out for because Darksiders let their emotions control them, leading to rages that are deadly even for their so called ‘allies’...”

Leo pouted even more, “Darn I was hoping to scare the pants off them…” She said in a childish tone. “Well, at least I know that should we get involved that I won't have to worry about the timeline in this world anymore. after all, us having to get involved means it’s mostly beyond hope. except for key events some of which I could tell you just because it would be funny.” She added cheering up.

“It is preferred that we take her alive though…” Patina added.

“Who said anything about killing?” Leo asked while looking at Patina with her head tilted.

Namiro frowned as he began walking out. “Because when the Sith are involved… things rarely end without bloodshed.”

“Well, they should hope I don't catch them harming innocents that are important to the future of your world. I can't control myself when a friend's future is put in question, especially if they have family.” Leo said getting serious.

“We can only hope.” Namiro replied as they began making their way to a new corridor, it was surprisingly roomy… then again it could also be due to the eight foot tall behemoths that led the hive.

“So is there anything about the future you have questions about? I can give some answers to things, but they may come out as riddles.” Leo said flying after Namiro.

The male changeling shook his head. “The Force will guide us as it wishes. Should an event happen, then it is The Force’s will.” He explained reverently.

“If you say so, but since I overheard about you taking interest in a certain purple bookworm I feel I should warn you. A purple mare with wings will take a test causing chaos throughout Ponyville until the six are restored, after which she will be adorned with feathers and eventually a home with more space than she could ever know what to do with.” Leo said cryptically.

“So you’re saying Twilight’s going to become an Alicorn because of a test that likely Celestia gives her and it will mess up the bearers of Harmony…” Namiro replied. “I’m rather good at riddles…”

“Crap, you weren't supposed to figure that one out until the day of the events comes around…” Leo said while making a scrunchy face.

“Trust me… Celestia is a Displaced, it’s possible that she’s already planning it.” Namiro explained as they got to the entrance of the hive, it seemed to exit just on the inside of the town.

“Well where to you want to sit? we need to be able to see and get to town hall easily while at the same time not get seen.” Leo said looking at Namiro.

“We’ll sit near Lyra’s home… she has a covered side porch that we can use.” Namiro replied as he pointed out the musician’s home just off of the main square.

“Ok, see you when the fight starts!” Leo said before disappearing into a bush as the fishbowl over ponyville began to disappear.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Namiro sat quietly on what looked like a plastic lawn chair as he observed the magical rematch between Twilight and Trixie. “I don’t like this… Trixie’s losing on purpose…” he muttered. The queen next to him nodded.

“I can sense it as well, that amulet is doing far more than just what that book Fluttershy told me about said.” Patina sighed. “Are you sure that you’ll be able to handle her?”

The changeling king had a broad smile on his face as he looked out over the ‘aging’ spells that were being used. “I have no idea.” He explained honestly.

“Hey Namiro, can you hear me?” Came Leo’s voice from Namiro’s digivice.

“Yes, where are you?” Namiro replied as he held the Digivice up.

“Oh good, the communicator function works! I am currently hiding in a bush as close to the fight as I can get. give me the signal and I can provide backup.” Leo said.

“Good, what’s the signal?”

“Come up with something, preferably something that will throw Trixie off.” leo said as she returned to watching the ‘duel’ from the bushes for anything suspicious.

Namiro let out a small chuckle as he stowed the digivice away once Trixie took the necklace that was around Twilight’s neck.

“You really thought you could have the most powerful magical artifact Twilight? That you thought this mere trinket could fool me?” Trixie laughed as she dropped the necklace and crushed it underhoof. “The amulet I have is a limiter…” She explained darkly. “...But it appears you sought to force my hand in this matter.” With one small, smooth motion she removed the darker amulet just before Rainbow Dash sped past and snatched it away.

“A bluff like that is what got your cart crushed the first time Trixie!” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Houston, the timeline has changed! I repeat... the. timeline. has. changed!” Leo cried through the digivice.

“A necessary sacrifice.” Namiro replied as he got to his hooves. “She wasn’t bluffing about the amulet being a limiter… I could sense her presence spike in The Force as soon as she removed it. I hate to say this but I doubt either of us will be able to walk away from this unscathed.”

“I fear you may be right. When timelines deviate, it usually doesn't end well. That’s why I try to prevent it when I can.” Leo said.

Trixie looked at the airborne pegasus with a malicious smirk as she raised her hands. The red from her eyes not fading in the least before lighting arcs from her hand to the pegasus, forcing a scream of pain out of her just before she begins plummeting to the ground. Namiro scowled as he began to move from his hiding spot. “Well, If you could save Dash that would be very helpful, I’ll draw Trixie’s attention away from you.” The large changeling was hard to miss now that he wasn’t actively concealing his presence in The Force and lit his blade.

“Well… Just the changeling I wanted to see.” Trixie chuckled as she drew a curved saber hilt and pressed the activation plate, letting a crimson blade of plasma spring to life. “As much as I would love to end you at the moment though, I already have plans with Miss Sparkle here.” The dark unicorn explained as she fortunately did not notice the digimon that was rescuing her latest victim.

“Twilight, I’m with Namiro. come with me if you wish to live.” Leo whispered to Namiro’s Twilight before whisking her away to somewhere safe.

Namiro tensed as his blade sprung to life. “I can’t let you do that Trixie… You’ve steeped yourself too far in the dark side. I give you this one chance to leave safely, use this chance wisely.”

Trixie frowned as she noticed that Twilight was no longer in the marketplace. “It seems that I’ll just have to kill you instead of her. Oh well, I was hoping just to get rid of her and be done with it.” With only a few seconds hesitation her form blurred as she rushed the larger changeling.

Namiro grit his teeth as he brought his saber into a horizontal block. “I’m sorry Trixie… I truly am.” He shifted his grip to use one hand with his saber and unleashed a Force Push attack to send her skidding back. He barely got more than a few seconds to recover before she was back into the fray, swinging her blade faster than any untrained warrior possibly could.

“That certainly was a dirty trick…” Trixie complimented as she brought her blade down in a diagonal slash that forced Namiro to step back and send a quick strike towards Trixie’s weapon arm. “I thought you Je’Daii preferred not to use the force during a fight to harm your opponents?”

“It’s not harming you… I made sure of that.” He replied with a slight growl as his blade singed her sleeve.

“You’d better be willing to kill me then, because I’m not leaving until I have someone’s head mounted on a pike.” Trixie laughed as she began swinging and flourishing her blade faster, each swing interrupted by a loud hiss and deflection by Namiro’s emerald-colored blade. He remained silent as he began to press the attack, his size actually giving him an advantage as the light blue unicorn’s expression shifted from confidence to slight worry. “Well, this is a little unexpected.” She stated as she quickly shifted herself to spring away and change to a one-handed combat style. “But that is the essence of battle…”

Namiro’s eyes widened just before he brought his saber up to block another arc of lightning that shot at him, forcing him to grit his teeth as several stray branches of lightning managed to flow around his saber and struck his chitin to leave a few glowing orange marks. “...shit…” He groaned as he noticed Trixie add her other hand to the attack to increase the damage.

Trixie raised a brow as she noticed the strange box-like object at Namiro’s waist. “Oh my… another of those pesky summon tokens eh? Rin’s token doesn’t look like Sombra said it would, but it would just be a nuisance if you brought her back in.” The unicorn scoffed as she shifted her hand a little to arc some lightning at the device on his waist, managing to catch his hip with the arc and forcing him to a knee as he felt his muscles spasm in his leg. As the lightning hit the digivice it began to beep before starting to float and fired a beam of light into the air, temporarily blinding Trixie before it returned to normal.

Trixie brought her hands up to shield her eyes as the beam connected, once the light faded though Trixie shifted an arm and peeked around with one eye. “Huh… For some reason I thought that would do something significant…” She said with a mild amount of surprise. “Okay, let’s be a bit honest here, who thought that would stop me from being a Sith?”

Namiro slowly lifted one hand as he noticed the twinge of his leg muscles recede. “I did…” he admitted.

“Well… you were wrong.” She said with a smile as she let another arc of lightning shoot towards the large changeling and strike him in the chest at full force. He let out a grunt of pain as he was knocked off of his feet and sent skidding across the ground. “Oh that was fun…” Trixie said with a pleased smile.

Namiro grit his teeth as he struggled just to prop himself up on an elbow. “I’m guessing you’re a virgin then?”

Trixie blushed a bit as she stopped her approach. “Actually… no…”

“Oh… because you seem like the type to never get so-... NOW LEO!” Namiro shouted as he extended a hand to let his own arc of electricity soar at the unicorn, due to how weak it was though the unicorn batted the attack aside.

“YOU SHALL NOT HARM MY FRIEND’S WORLD ANY LONGER SHADOW DWELLER!” Leo roared as she pounced on Trixie. Once she was on Trixie’s back she began to emit fire from her hands before firing multiple fireballs into the unicorn.

Trixie let out a pained yelp as she thrashed around to get the Digimon off of her. “Get off!” She shouted as she let lightning crackle from her hands.

“As you wish.” Leo said as she jumped off Trixie before lighting her clothing on fire.

The unicorn quickly used The Force to extinguish the flames. “You’re going to regret that…” The unicorn growled as she narrowed her gaze, a blood-red aura seemed to faintly glow around her. “...You won’t live to see the end of the day…” The ground cracked as she pushed into a sprint that blurred her form again while a flash of red light lanced towards the Digimon.

“I doubt that.” Leo said before turning into a blur herself and began flying loops around Trixie. “After all, you don’t know what I am, fleshbag.” The digimon taunted.

“I know that you’re nothing but an animal to be crushed underhoof!” Trixie shouted as she slammed a lightning-charged fist into the ground and created a sphere of electricity around her that moved as she did.

“Oh that's cute, you're going to try and ram me with a energy bubble? and second of all, I. AM. NO. ANIMAL.” Leo said darkly.

Trixie quickly made a diagonal slash against Leo with her saber as lightning sparked off of her shield angrily. The lightsaber connected with Leo and sent her flying through a window in a blur to fast to be seen. The light blue mare smirked, “Not so tough now, are you? If you’re lucky I might just be willing to make you my pet.”

“You want to know something?” Came Leo’s voice from the building. “YOU just managed to make me angry.” She said as she walked out of the building while burning a hole in the wall.

“Aww… Did I make the little parasprite angry? Should I get some insecticide? Or will lightning do just fine?” Trixie taunted as she brought her saber back to a ready position. “You and your changeling play toy can die here, I have no qualms with that.” She began to laugh as she brought her saber back up and pointed the tip at the digimon. “After all… that’s all anyone would use these changeling monsters as…”

“If you think changelings are monsters, then you should know my kind’s name is monster... and for your insult towards me and my platonic friend You have forfeited your life.” leo said before black flames started to seep from her mouth.

Namiro raised a hand that occasionally twitched. “platonic lovers… you said it wrong… Leo…” he half-chuckled before one of the chuckles caused him to wince.

“Be glad I’m still in control of myself Namiro, or you would end up sharing the same fate as Trixie is about to have.” leo warned before inhaling.

A swirling vortex of violet energy ripped through the air behind Trixie as another unicorn stepped out, his coat was charcoal black just like his mane. “Trixie… It is time to leave…” He said quickly before he pulled her into the portal, letting it disappear behind them.

Leo let loose a black flame upon the ground where Trixie was standing just before she disappeared turning the ground to ash and burning her hooves off before she and the portal vanished with the stallion. “You get away for now, Sith...” Leo said as she began to calm herself down.

Namiro let out a groan of pain as he tried to get his body to let him up from the dirt. “...nope…” He grunted. “...body’s refusing to move…” he observed as he panted hard. “That lightning definitely hurt a lot… you alright Leo?”

“The only injury I have is to my pride, you shure that was a lightsaber and not just a glow in the dark baseball bat?” Leo said walking over to Namiro to give him a hand.

“Welp… in the way of the De’Jaii… pride is a necessary sacrifice…” He grunted in a slight daze. “And yes… it was a real saber… had she connected with my body it would have only take un pequenyo more force to p-pierce my chitin…” He slurred.

Patina made her way over to the pair with a small sigh. “I think you both should use a healing pod for a while… just… to be sure you’re alright…” she stated as she lifted one of Namiro’s arms over her shoulders.

“Shure, but I don't have any physical injuries right now so all it will do is restore my energy.” Leo pointed out while grabbing Namiro’s lightsaber and following after Patina.

The changeling queen nodded a little. “Restoring your energy is just as good… better to be safe than sorry.” She explained. “Perhaps by then we’ll be able to look into getting you trained in The Force so that we could have yet another sparring partner…”

“Sure! oh, I know I suggested this earlier... but why don't we start our own Je’Daii council?” Leo asked as an idea began forming in her head.

Patina shrugged. “Likely because we don’t need one… at the moment it is just Namiro and I that have begun training as part of the order… we have three possible students, but even that isn’t a guarantee that all three will be able to use The Force.” She gave a look to the digimon. “We would have to see if you too have the sensitivity needed to be able to use The Force…”

“Sure, but keep the idea in mind. After all, should you make more friends across the multiverse it may become a good idea to form a council one day.” Leo pointed out as she described her idea.

“We will…” The changeling queen replied as she guided Namiro back to the hive.

|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|

Patina sat with her legs crossed as she sat on one of the squishy gel chairs that seemed to adorn the entirety of the hive. “It’s good to hear that your recovery was complete Leo…” She said with a quiet smile. “Have you thought about whether you will be calling off the proposal and taking back your nymph then?”

“It's not a nymph and I never made a proposal in the first place. Also, there is the fact that once a digimon bonds with a partner they can not bond with another so I can't take it back even if I wanted to.” Leo points out.

“By giving him an egg you proposed to him… even in his injured state the medical drones that I have tending to him have told me that he is producing his half of the proposal gift as well… You may not have known it at the time, but to refuse this kind of agreement without taking back the egg you gave to him is one of the greatest signs of disrespect that you can do to our race…” She sighed. “You don’t have to go through with any bonding or anything like that… but once he has given you his egg… you will both be considered ‘wed’ under our traditions. Changelings ‘marry’ for different reasons than normal creatures do, I don’t know what it was you did to earn his trust so fast… but… He will be as loyal to you as he is to me.”

“Out of respect I will accept the egg. And as long as this is referred to as an alliance and not a marriage thing I will not mind. If you want to know how I gained his trust, I think it has to do with me saving his life or something like that…” leo said trying to negotiate the situation.

“A wedding to us is an alliance, every member of our hive will consider you as much part of the family as their own broodmates.”

“Fine… trying to make this less embarrassing is not going to happen I see... so I give up… it would be easier to figure out how pinkie sense works than negotiate this…” Leo said as she resigned to her fate.

“It’s not that bad…” Patina replied as she sat back in her seat. “...There will always be an ear willing to listen should you ever need someone to confide in.”

“True, but it doesn't make this any less embarrassing. after all, what am i going to tell everyone back home? they don’t know about the multiverse thing, and Chrysalis hasn’t invaded canterlot yet…” Leo sighed.

Patina waved a hand. “Just tell them that while you disappeared you accidentally got married to an alien, one of their leaders educated you and now you have a new family who’s willing to help if they need to.”

“I guess that will work.” Leo said as Viximon waddled into the room. “So have you decided on a name for it yet?” She asked motioning towards the baby digimon.

Patina gently scritched behind its ears. “I haven’t the faintest idea… she is adorable though, so perhaps we’ll think of a name that fits along that train of thought.”

“Just remember it won’t stay cute forever... unless you consider bipedal fox things ‘cute’.” Leo said.

“I will admit it would be a tad easier to think of a name if it had a gender or preferred gender…” Patina replied. “I can name a changeling easily since we prefer simple names, but for non-changelings… names tend to be far more important.”

“If it helps, it resembles the gender of its partner if it has one. otherwise they are genderless.” Leo mentioned.

“A bit more difficult since changelings are every gender…” Patina chuckled. “Royals just tend to be more comfortable when disguised as a particular gender.”

“Then since Namiro’s base gender is Male it will most likely be male.” Leo guessed, not exactly sure how this will turn out. “But then again, its evolutions tend to look somewhat female… so I would go with a name that would work for either gender.” She added while shrugging.

“I will think of something by the time Namiro is healed…” The changeling queen closed her eyes for a moment before she looked back to Leo. “Miss Rarity is on her way here to take your measurements, it seems she wanted to work with a supposedly fireproof new material she obtained. Do you have any problems with getting a pair of pants so that you don’t advertize your genderless gender to everyone?” She chuckled.

“Yes please…” Leo said blushing as she covered her nethers as best she could out of just noticing they were showing. “And just so you know I’m the only digimon that is considered officially female. its confusing, but yeah…” She added as her blush grew.

“You don’t have to worry while you’re here… Changelings are very familiar with not using garments.” The queen smiled as she got up to kneel next to the digimon. “Technically I’m in the nude as well…” she explained impishly. “The chitin is actually part of our skin.”

Leo’s blush threatened to cover her entire body at this new information as she tried to hide her face. “I did not need to know that!” She said.

Patina gently began to rub her ears with a smile. “You’re in a hive where it’s okay not to worry… relax a little while you’re here, you may just realize that a lot of your problems are ones that you have no control over and thus waste energy worrying about.”

“I know I have no control over most of my problems… but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s embarrassing. After all, how would I be seen if I acted certain ways around others… URGH! this is so confusing!” Leo whined.

Patina hummed a little as she gently picked up Leo and cradled her against her chest plate. “Why is it embarrassing?” She asked gently as she sat down, Viximon decided that instead of being left out it would leap up to cuddle next to Leo.

Leo went rigid when she was placed against Patina’s chest but calmed down a bit when Viximon decided to jump up and cuddle. “So, what should we do to pass the time?” Leo asked nervously.

“Perhaps you could tell me why you feel embarrassed? I could help you get over this little… phobia… of yours.” Patina offered. “I promise I won’t judge…” She teased as she gently poked Leo’s stomach.

“Eek! That tickles! As for why I am embarrassed is because I’m not used to being noticed and it’s even more embarrassing to have something about myself be pointed out that is considered inappropriate for being in public.” Leo said as she tried in vain to avoid Patina’s poking.

Patina nodded. “A valid concern… some ponies in the top noble circles think that it’s rather indecent for the Princesses to be wearing nothing but their gilded regalia during court… seeing as those are simply their crowns, necklaces, a pair of bracelets and a pair of slippers…” The changeling chuckled. “I guess it’s just the nobles being their stuffy selves though since most of them don’t even wear pants.” Patina gently scratched Leo’s stomach as she looked down at the little Digimon. “...So here the only thing you would have to worry about is being noticed since most ponies still don’t wear clothes here unless it’s work-related…”

“It’s still embarrassing…” Leo said trying to wiggle out of Patina’s grip.

Patina looked across the room as her grip relaxed a little. “...I… There’s a lot of work that we have in our future Leo… I can almost guarantee that there will be a long, dark time ahead soon… With your training one of the things you will have to abandon will be your fears… it’s a very bitter emotion that is more like a poison than a food… do you think you have the strength to abandon your fears?”

“Its not that I’m afraid, I’m just… I dont know how to explain…” Leo said.

“Embarrassment is borne of fear… you fear being noticed, so you seek not to be… Namiro was afraid he would lose what he once was, but he knows that because of the power a changeling has he could look like his old self at any time… He doesn’t fear never becoming his old self again anymore, he does fear what it would mean if he were to change though.” Patina explained as she rubbed the digimon in her arms. “He believes that if he were to let himself look like his old human form… that it would be nothing more than a mask… a facade to let him trick himself and think that he’s still human… I believe that makes him far stronger than he gives himself credit for.”

“I don't fear changing, I just don't like giving anyone the wrong opinion… for example, what if someone thought I was a Baby manticore? or i encountered a displaced and they thought I was a tramp or something if i wore no clothes? it doesn't help that the ponies I spend most of my time around are more animal like...” Leo pointed out/asked.

Patina rolled her eyes. “Then that’s their fault, Namiro told Rin that he doesn’t normally wear clothes because of his chitin and she didn’t mind.” The changeling queen let her finger trail along one of Leo’s ears. “Then why would it bother you? If you’re living with a species that has no taboos like you are familiar with… isn’t it a chance to start over as you now are instead of what you used to be?” she asked. “Neither you or Namiro are human anymore… embrace it… you have more possibilities open to you when you don’t think about the things you fear and let your mind embrace what you enjoy.”

“There is a tiny detail I forgot to mention… I grew up among and looked like a human, but I never was one…” Leo chuckled dryly.

The gel door to the room was pulled open by a pair of guard changelings as a white-coated unicorn mare walked into the room. “I’ll have to admit Patina… this place has undergone some rather nice improvements… then again anything better than Diamond dogs is an improvement.”

“I second that statement!” Leo said remembering that she looked like a cat even though she was a dragon, and we all know what happens when dogs see cats.

The mare looked towards the little digimon. “I take it that you are the Leo that I was informed about?”

“Hello Rarity. Its nice to meet another you, Just don't make me wear a dress please.” Leo said as she jumped out of Patina’s arms.

Rarity gave an appraising look to the digimon. “Honestly… I think that you may actually like one, no matter what outfits you do have you should have at least one…” She smiked a little as she knelt down to bring herself eye-to-eye with Leo. “I even had Namiro pay for one… so don’t be scared of just a bit of fabric.”

“Hehe… Yeah…” Leo replied as she started to slowly back away from Rarity.

“Anyway… The changeling that brought me informed me that you would also change the way you look so I’ll need measurements for those alternate forms as well in order to be sure you have something no matter what you change to.” Rarity said as she straightened up and levitated a measuring tape next to her.

“I cant turn into them yet, I just mentioned them because it will happen eventually.” Leo stated as she hid behind a chair.

Rarity pursed her lips as she debated about it. “I guess I can just set up the first pair then...“ she sighed as she also levitated up a notepad and pencil. “I’ll need you in a spot where I’ll be able to accurately see the tape against your fur though…”

“I’ll never wear a dress!” Leo cried as she began to run around the room randomly.

Rarity sighed a little as her magic reflexively reached out to catch the digimon. “Sweetie Belle… it is proper to have at least one… for now though we’re just taking the measurements for the pants and any undergarments you may want.”

“Ok...“ Leo said as she hung in Rarity's magic. The process itself was rather painless Rarity had been quite efficient in taking the measurements for her pants.

“Hmm… darling, what would you say about a dress that helped provide the illusion of being a bit taller while keeping your wings free?” She offered as she smiled.

“Why would I care about my height?” Leo asked before catching the second half of the sentence. “NO! I’LL NEVER WEAR A DRESS!” Leo cried as she struggled in vain.

“LEO! That is enough!” Patina said sternly. “Miss Rarity has taken some time away from other clients in order to give you something to help with your embarrassment regarding clothes… she does have a very keen eye for details so she does tend to have fairly good suggestions.” The changeling paused for a few seconds. “most of the time…”

“I’m sorry…” leo said as she went limp and made a pouty face.

“It’s alright dear… I’ve had to deal with plenty of children that believed a dress wouldn’t make them look good, but I have yet to have a design that I put together personally be a failure.” Rarity replied as she finished with the tape measure. “You’ve also got to be fitted for a robe anyway since Namiro has told me that’s what most of his order wears while at least training.” She let the magic holding Leo in place fade. “Trust me dear… I’ll make it look good.”

“Just make the robe blue please? I want it to resemble my dad's.” Leo whimpered.

Patina looked over to the door just as a changeling queen in a flowing emerald dress walked in. “You know Patina… I know that I didn’t want this at first… but… I look damn good in this…” Namiro replied as she struck an elegant pose as the lower half of the dress revealed her right leg and flowed much like a waterfall off of her form.

“...Namiro… Seeing you like that is just weird…” Leo said as she stared at her friend.

Namiro smirked as she brushed her willow-like hair back. “You’re just jealous.” She replied with a smirk.

“Why should I be jealous of you? eventually I will be able to turn into a monster that is larger than canterlot castle.” Leo said while rolling her eyes.

“Because… at least I look good in a dress.” Namiro replied with a smirk. “And you wish you could look this good.”

“Yes… that was a difficult design to get due to how much you can change your form… I’m just glad you settled on that look.” Rarity explained with an exhausted sigh.

“Someone remind me why I saved his life again?” Leo said as she facepalmed.

“Because you couldn’t wait to hook up with a dream gal like me.” Namiro replied as she walked over to Leo and gently pet her head.

Leo proceeded to punch namiro in the face causing him to fly across the room and get stuck in the wall. “I will let Patina tease me but I won't tolerate it from you, seeing as you're probably more durable being a Je’Daii and all.” Leo said.

She pulled herself from the wall. “You know… it’s incredibly rude to damage your host’s home…” Namiro explained as she straightened. “You know that Rarity spent a lot of time on this dress too, I don’t want it getting ruined.” Namiro scoffed a little. “Besides… I wasn’t teasing, I’m definitely that good looking…” she said as she slowly began to undress.

“Patina is better looking than you any day.” Leo deadpanned.

Namiro huffed. “And here I was getting all ready to train you in using The Force… I guess I’m not good enough to do that either.” She replied as she left the room.

“No I know you’re better than Patina at that. I’m just saying you can't beat someone who has been a shapeshifter than you in the looks department. she will constantly one up how you look.” Leo pointed out trying to make him see the logic to her opinion.

Patina chuckled a little. “I don’t know… Namiro got the hang of shapeshifting pretty quick… and everyone has different tastes, so it’s not all set in stone who is better.”

“Well… I must get back to my boutique, do you know how long you will be staying Leo?” Rarity asked.

“No, I don't know how long but I should be here long enough.” Leo told Rarity.

The mare nodded before she left, “I’ll have the pants done by the end of the week… any other articles you want?”

“Underwear, pants, blue cloak… That's all i can think of!” Leo told Rarity as she was leaving.

Patina looked over at Leo. “Well, Is there anything you would like to do before Namiro returns?” she asked with a small smile.

“I can't think of anything… what do you suggest we do?” leo said shrugging.

“Well… hmm… now that I actually have a guest I don’t know…” Patina said with slight surprise. “Being the queen of a hive tends to take up a lot of your time.” She put a finger to her chin. “With the services we provide to Ponyville we don’t need to harvest any love… and… well… most of the drones that aren’t working with our harvesting are working on expanding the hive.”

“So basically you have never thought about anything other than working on your hive and mating with Namiro before.” Leo said. “We will have to change that! We need to find something you can do that is fun and not related to working on your hive. After all, all work and no play makes life grow dull!” she chirped.

“Well...I wouldn’t say no play…” Patina smirked as she went back to petting Viximon.

Leo blushed at what Patina ment. “Ok… I-I don’t know what to think anymore…” She stuttered.

“Perhaps you’d be interested in seeing our hatchery… we’ve had quite a population boom since we moved to Ponyville.”

“Sure…” Leo said while trying to calm herself down but it didn't work.

“You know… if you want to, you could spend some time just with me so that you could relax… From what Namiro told me most of you displaced beings are more than of mature age where you’re originally from.” Patina offered. “I could help you get a bit more comfortable around here.”

“U-um… I don't know… I don't really know what species I was before I was displaced… let alone if I could pass as ‘mature’... I only looked human after all.” Leo stuttered as her blush spread across her whole body.

Patina chuckled a little as she pet the digimon. “Then come on… I’ll take you around the hive.” Viximon hopped up onto her shoulder and curled up into a fluffy ball.

Leo nodded as she slowly followed Patina out of the room. ‘Not now… this couldn't have possibly happened at a worse time…’ she thought as her body began to twitch and blush even more. Patina looked back at the digimon with a curious expression.

“Are you alright Leo?”

Leo froze when Patina noticed, “I-I dont think so…” She stuttered.

“Leo… what’s going on… do you need to see one of our medical drones again?” She asked as she quickly made her way to Leo’s side.

“I-It’s not a medical problem…” Leo said.

“We can’t help if we don’t know what’s wrong Leo…” Patina replied as she quickly picked up the digimon.

“I think i’m…” Leo whispered as she began to shake again. Patina leaned closer with a raised brow. “I think I’m going into…” Leo whispered again.

“Leo… you don’t have to be scared…” Patina explained as she gently rubbed Leo’s ear. As Patina rubbed Leo’s ear something in Leo was released as if it was being sealed and she crumpled to the floor.

“I-I just went into Heat…” Leo whimpered in horror.

“Hm… is that normally a biological function of your species?” Patina asked as she began carrying Leo to her chambers.

“Digimon can't go into heat!” Leo cried as her mind began to go numb.

“Your old species…” Patina corrected.

“That would require knowing what my dad is…” Leo said as she grasped to keep her mind in control of herself.

As they passed a pair of guards Patina knelt down to have one of them take Viximon. “Would you like to stay a while then and have some help getting through this?” Patina offered as they arrived at the royal chamber.

“Please, and don’t let anyone... Not even Namiro or my father know about it… I would never be able to look at them again…” Leo said.

“It would be best if you told your father about what happened, that way he could help find out what caused you to have such a biological change. Fortunately changelings aren’t able to get other species pregnant so you have nothing to fear here…”

“Lets hope your theory holds true…” Leo said.