Queens to Check, Dragon to Mate

Chapters

Prologue
New Beginnings and Starts
Violet Emerald
An Early Gift
Time to Start Getting Ready
Further Preparations
Here are the Queens, somepony pray for...well, everything
A Different Kind of Interlude, A
A Different Kind of Interlude, C
Disdains and Dissentions
You Can Fight Facts...But You Can't Change Them
A Spike of a Challenge
The Rule of Violet
Meeting's First Night
Meeting's First Night: N
Meeting's First Night: C
Early Next Morning: Spike
Early Morning: Luna
Morning: Before the Meeting
Chrysalis in a Different Sort of Meeting
Preparing for the Headache That's Coming
Some Happy Moments Before the Headache
Pointless Stalling

Prologue

Author's Note

And here's the sequel many of you have been waiting for. Drop me a line with suggestions and leave some comments when you can. Also, as always, you're free to use all the resources I provide so long as you keep me in the loop about them so I can assist you if need be.

Quick note, the tags, and rating will be subject to change with some of the coming updates.

Enjoy

Prologue

It was almost five years since she married Spike, and Chrysalis couldn't have been happier. She was on her way to Twilight's Castle, one of her recently hatched daughters in her arm. Chrysalis was very happy with her little Focus Crystal, for some reason this one daughter didn't like being separated from her mother if it was more than twenty feet (Chrysalis didn't really mind). The four-month-old changeling foal was the first of her new Spell Collector class workers. The changeling foal was a light violet color with a tint of blue, she also was pulling close to her mother's leaf green dress with mustard yellow highlights every time a new pony seemed to be getting closer.

Chrysalis had just dropped her her three eldest off at Ponyville's magical kindergarten. Light Novel, Dusk Sentinel, and Satin Care were the first of her children with Spike, the hive's primes, and each was given a name by somepony different. Satin was given her name by Rarity, the moment Satin heard her name she showed her delight, it seemed fitting name since Satin was the first of the nurse class workers Chrysalis begot; Dusk was named by Luna, and her name seemed fitting since she was the first the hive guard, unlike soldier class workers hive guard were more defensively oriented in their design and mindset, and were well within Chrysalis's way of thinking since she had always preferred to focus on keeping her hive (and now extended family and even Equestria itself) safe in any way possible; and Novel was given her name by Twilight Sparkle, she was the first of the knowledge keepers, she was also the oldest of the three. None of the three were very aggressive, in fact the three were quite submissive, much to the surprise of everyone. But given the nature of who their biological father was the surprise didn't last long, it was also theorized that the extended submissive aspect of their personalities might lessen after they matured to a certain point.

Instead of heading home, which would undoubtedly help relieve Spike of the twenty other four-month-old foals that had recently hatched, she headed to Twilight's palace to have a chat with the Princess of Friendship. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Dinky.

“Hello, Dinky,” said Chrysalis, “is Twilight in?”

The purple-gray mare seemed to think about it for a moment before saying in her usual professional tone, “Yes, she just returned a few minutes ago.”

“Is she busy,” said Chrysalis, “I don't want to intrude if she is.”

“No, actually she hasn't had to deal with anything other than her daughter the past few days, she'd probably welcome the break of inactivity you'll bring,” she then noticed the infant in Chrysalis's arm, “and who might this little cutie be?” The infant moved in closer to her mother for comfort.

“One of my recently born daughters, Focus Crystal,” said Chrysalis, “please get Twilight, and don't tell her about Focus Crystal, I want the experience to be a surprise for her.”

Dinky nodded and said, “Please come in, I'll go fetch the princess, you can go wait in the study.”

“Thank you very much,” said Chrysalis as she stepped inside and made her way to the study, “I'm sorry Spike hasn't been able to lessen your workload lately, he's been a little busy with the rest of our newly hatched brood.”

“That's quite alright,” said Dinky, “I've seen what parenthood does to someone, Twilight was in quite a tizzy her first year when the little filly was born.”

“Worried over every little thing for the infant?” Said Chrysalis, “I remember how she had to be calmed down at the foalshower.” They both shared a chuckle as Dinky closed the door behind them.

Chrysalis headed for the study, inside the study was a collection of tomes, scrolls, notebooks, empty ink wells, and even a few tablets. It was clear Twilight was using the study for what its name implied, she used her magic to move some books off the green couch and place them neatly at the side of the couch. After a few minutes Twilight entered the room, looking a bit frazzled, and flopped on the small 'nest' of books that was covering what should have been a high-backed chair with plush, blue upholstery that was adorned with her cutie mark, but was hidden under the 'mountain' of books the lavender mare had placed on it.

“Had the staff staying out of the study for a bit I see,” said Chrysalis, Twilight jumped in surprise at the sound of her guest.

“Oh, high Chrysalis,” said Twilight, “yeah, I guess, I just dropped Seeker off at the magical kindergarten an hour ago, and I guess I shouldn't have stayed up late on my research,” she gave a yawn, which was echoed by the infant in Chrysalis's arm, the sound snapped Twilight awake and she turned her attention to Chrysalis to see the four-month-old foal in her arm, “Oh my gosh,” she said with excitement, “the rest of your brood hatched! When did that happen?”

“Four months ago.”

“She's beautiful,” cooed Twilight, “mom's going to be ecstatic about this! What kind of changeling is she?”

“She's a Spell Collector, I named her Focus Crystal. As for the coming family events, I don't think your parents' abode could hold us all, and I don't think the private wings of Celestia and Luna are equipped to handle as many foals all that well either.”

Twilight groaned as she said, “My Castle probably can't handle an influx of that many young foals either, but your warning does offer an opportunity to start planning expansions for the educational sites in the Ponyville area.”

“Always planning the future of the town I see. You're probably going to have to work out the logistics before submitting the enhancements, I mean look at Pinkie's place, she and Cheese were so concerned with aesthetic of the complex they didn't even consider the logistics, they were just fortunate you and the Apples were looking out for them on that front.”

“You helped to solidify a few things on that project too, you reminded them it was better to go with a general appearance more than tear their manes out over types.”

“It was a practical suggestion, one I'm sure you or one of your other friends would have made.”

“I suppose, but it would have taken a bit longer, I don't think any of us would have thought to take certain elements out of the equation, you pointed out to them they were worrying about variables that didn't matter. They were building a place to work and live, not make a record-breaking dessert. I don't think any of us would have come to that conclusion that fast, we'd have probably stewed over it for a few years before tactlessly saying the type of cake didn't matter.”

“You're saying instead that massive building they had built a few years ago on the edge of town would still be in design stage? Twilight, I think you're selling you and your friends a little short. It's important to know your capabilities and limits, but helping someone with work on their home should be well within your limits,” Focus Crystal made a babbling noise that alerted her mother, Chrysalis bounced the filly few times causing her to giggle with joy before falling silent again.”

“She's adorable, may I hold her?”

“She doesn't like being separated from me, she'll wail when I get too far from her and she tries to make herself smaller when she thinks others want to take her away from me.”

“Now that's just silly, I'm her aunt, I would never do anything to endanger a foal, especially one that's family.”

“Doesn't stop her from treating her father with that sort of reaction.”

“Oh, right. Foals don't always go about things logically.”

“Almost never,” both mares gave a giggle, which in turn caused Focus Crystal to giggle.

“You mentioned that memory spell you taught me was acquired by a spell collector, what does that mean for the foal itself?”

“Spell collectors are the changelings that have excellent memories, their primary duty is to gather information on spells and figure out how to execute those spells. Standard changeling practice with spell collectors is once the knowledge is gained is ensure no one else can learn or use the spell, a practice I chose to disregard when I taught you that memory spell. Growing up I was told spell collectors have a natural ability to alter the memories of their targets, in the time before spells were numerous they were Memory Changers, but once an abundance of spells was discovered to exist to changelings we as a culture re-purposed them into spell collectors. Well, that's not entirely accurate, we've just been constantly told they can alter memories, truth be told, they just have a near perfect memory and are usually just taught mind alteration spells from very early on.”

“Why would anypony do that?”

“Because changelings are in a near constant state of war with each other, and our interlinked minds that exist within each hive make it nearly impossible to alter memories. It's kind of like having an archive of personal memoirs with each backup copy of memoirs equal to the total number of staff that looks after them, all you have to do is 'access' one of the redundant copies if you're doubting what you have written down. The mind alteration strategy doesn't work on changelings, but it can affect just about anything else, we had a discussion about that sort of thing at length shortly after Spike and I brought the triplets down for their first Hearth's Warming.”

“Oh yeah, but you didn't seem to properly explain how spells that target the mind have lessened effects on changelings.”

“That has more to do with being something you need experience with than talking,” she shifted the now sleeping Focus Crystal in her arm, “words used to describe are quite inaccurate in explaining it properly. Focus Crystal just has phenomenal memory, just like Light Novel, the main difference is that Novel is more structured towards safeguarding all information and Crystal is more oriented towards how to apply information in how to practice it, although it wasn't uncommon for knowledge keepers and spell collectors to share the same general territory within the hive.”

“Was?”

Chrysalis gave a deep sigh, “Knowledge keepers and spell collectors aren't seen in most of the hives these days, my own mother's hive had so few they made up a very small fraction of a percent of the hive's total population where I grew up. Add that the fact that fewer and fewer hives are allowing them to be born or survive after they hatch and you can see the dilemma. I'm proud to say that my hive has no soldiers, we're not interested in fighting anyone, but we will defend ourselves when push comes to shove, in fact to my recollection my new hive is the only one to be devoid of soldiers, that might change at some time in the future, but I hope they end up being a minority in the hive.”

“Since Focus Crystal is here with you I'm assuming the rest of the egg sacks hatched.”

“Yes, in collected bursts. Eleven two months ago and ten last month, Crystal's from the first burst of hatchings. I'm sorry I left Spike with twenty changeling infants, but he insisted I make today a leisurely one once I dropped off the girls at school, that was just a little while ago.”

“I take Crystal shied away from everyone there.”

“Lucky for her we didn't get that close.”

The changeling infant opened her green eyes and reached for Twilight making babbling noises, “Well, that's different, looks like she wants to know you better.” Twilight stretched out her arms and Chrysalis gently placed the infant within them.

Focus Crystal made sounds of delight, “Looks like she doesn't seem to mind me.”

“It seems so, I'm just wondering why she will let you hold her when she feels the need to cry when her own father gets too close.”

“I don't think we'll ever find the answer to that,” said Twilight as she bounced the giggling foal, “but at least it's nice to see the family growing a bit more. Mom and dad are going to have mixed feelings about all this.”

“Because their place doesn't have enough room for all the girls, I take it.”

“Pretty much, yeah, it's always been a sort of tradition for us all to spend Hearth's Warming at their place, but now that all twenty-four of your girls are hatched we probably won't have enough space for everypony, and the going through the Everfree in winter probably won't sit will with them either.”

“Doesn't sit will with me or Spike either, but that's how things seem to play out. We have thought about adding in an extra tunnel to Ponyville, but decided against it.”

“Why is that,” Twilight bounced the giggling foal a bit.

“Maintaining a tunnel that large would be troublesome, it would be far more work than maintaining the one to the castle.”

“But not as large as the colony proper.”

“That was built up by the remnants of my prior hive before I lost them,” she gave a mournful sigh, “it has special reinforcements known only to changelings, some of the magic reinforcements extend through the tunnels outward, but a tunnel of the length between the colony grounds and Ponyville would gradually have its reinforcements thin to the point they don't exist before the half way point is reached, not to mention a tunnel that size would be far more prone to collapsing than the other tunnels, although it may not look it the tunnel between the castle and colony proper has diminished reinforcement when compared to the colony proper. We are fortunate that both changelings and earth dragons have a passive magic that reinforces the tunnels they dig in order to ensure it doesn't collapse on us, but that sort of magic tends to dissipate quickly without us regularly moving around those same tunnels. It works well with a colony because it acts as our home, thus even if we don't use any rooms our ambient magics float through them to ensure they don't collapse, the reason it works so well is...”

“Because the chambers are in close proximity to each other, a large tunnel would only get a fraction of that benefit. I see now, you can't do it yet, once the rest of your girls are old enough it might be possible.”

“But as we both know, that takes years, the triplets physically mature at the rate of an average pony.”

“And mentally?”

“That's a bit trickier, since all basic knowledge like communication and locomotion are usually passively passed from the queen to her offspring from the point of birth and all capabilities become evident once they physically mature to a point that can properly make use of the information. It's why I didn't have to teach the girls how to talk, the moment they were born my link with them was established and I passively transmitted the entirety of my linguistic knowledge to them, it wasn't until they were physically mature enough that they started proper speaking. The only exceptions to this rule are queens, we have to learn in much the same way ponies do since a young queen is technically not a part of the hive.”

“That explains the lecture hall from your foalhood, your mother struck me as the kind to not want to spend her time doing something like that.”

“She didn't, as far as I can tell she only had queens so that she could experiment in making her version of the ideal changeling.”

Twilight blinked a few minutes before saying, “You and your sisters were experiments? You I can kind of understand, seeing your memories showed you weren't quite the way changelings normally should be, but your sisters as well?”

Chrysalis nodded, “Of course, its just a running theory right now, I also suspect that I might have a closer genetic relation to some queens than I initially believed.”

“How close are we talking?”

“After delving through all the relevant information available to me here, in my colony, in Canterlot, and even the Crystal Empire I think that Queen Arachne might in fact, be my grandmother, it would partially explain why she was so quick to accept me for an audience before she learned what I wanted to discuss with her before our 'alliance' was established.”

“You're going to have to elaborate on that one.”

“Even though queens are highly suspicious of each other, especially if they're 'family', in what little of our history is recorded it has been shown that queens that have a direct genetic link of some kind usually form alliances fastest, I think the changeling reasoning behind it is they figure since they're family they usually can have better knowledge of how to counterattack if they're turned on.”

“You don't have much of your history recorded?”

“We have next to no history recorded, in fact, changelings have very little in the way of official records.”

Twilight gave a rather strong gasp of surprise, “But you have knowledge keepers, your eldest is one, how could you have next to no cultural records?” She bounced a slightly squirming Focus Crystal, who gave a few delighted giggles as she calmed down.

“Little known fact, hives with knowledge keepers usually have them looking after information we've managed to pilfer or plunder. I'm one of the few that actually took the time to collect data that wasn't already recorded by another. It's so bad we don't really have anything resembling and official history, the closest we have is a collection of lores and stories that in all likelihood are more allegory than account.”

“So, they're a culture that doesn't learn the lessons of the past?”

“When I asked my mother why their was so little of a record of the past she gave me a sneer and said 'those of the past came to an end, we have no need to know about those that have failed to continue into the present', granted changelings do have long lifespans, but I was always of the mindset the failures of the past can help lead to the greatest of successes.”

“That's why you almost looked like you wanted to live in the history section of the library whenever you chose spend time in it, why didn't you tell me that before now.”

“How would you feel about a lack of knowing your own history despite being a self-proclaimed scholar?”

“Pretty embarrassed.”

“How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad, aside from the stories of the 'five original hives' we have no real idea regarding our origins, on top of that in spite of all my digging through what little we had on record in all the changeling hives I was allowed to 'visit peacefully' I was unable to find any record of who the first queens to form the first instance of 'an alliance' or why they did it. Twilight, changelings have a potentially rich culture, all demographics do, but all the potential records of where we came from and possible great works of art were shoved aside and forgotten in favor of the militaristic approach. I won't lie, that approach does seem to have kept the changelings as a whole from coming to an end, but if it keeps up we'll be responsible for our own extinction. The only things that seem to be keeping that from happening is our lack of any sort of population control and our naturally long lifespans. Conflict and conquest are the way of things for changelings, we haven't gotten down a proper bartering practice.”

“You use bits or some other kind of denominational currency, right?”

“More like a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' approach with the added bonus of death threats, backstabbing and various other politically questionable acts.”

“I remember Spike telling me about what you said passes as acceptable in a queen's throne room, I have to say that as fascinating as it is I also find it to be pretty horrible. With a lack of proper rules, it just doesn't seem right.”

“That's just it, the rest of the colony is all about keeping your decorum, but the throne room has a setting where only a small handful of rules are in place. Of course, none that will really matter for changelings on the warpath, seeing as they'll be out to destroy everything that calls the colony grounds home.”

“Which could pose a problem since your old hive is no longer around and the one you're growing is technically part of the royal family since all of them share Spike's genetic material.”

“Well there is that, but it won't happen without warning.”

“Come again?” Focus Crystal curled up closer Twilight and gave a cute, drowsy yawn while in the throws of her nap.

“They need to confirm the location of the colony if they're unfamiliar with it, and this being a colony ground that I've bee living in since a little bit before the girls were born it seems a safe bet they'll have scouts out looking for the colony entrance. Chances are also high that since my initial colony and I eluded our initial execution that another queen, most likely my mother or one of my sisters, has stated outright the 'honor' of either my execution or disposal of my hive should go to her. But as things stand now they still need to garner information regarding my whereabouts and locations I frequent.”

“Makes sense, they want to make this a surgical act, removing what they deem a problem while minimizing damage the surrounding areas.”

“I'm going to try and go have some 'me time', since Crystal likes you so much keeping her around for few hours while I attend to some things I've been meaning to in the past five years shouldn't be too much trouble, I'll see you both in a couple of hours.”

“Have fun. I have a quick question, how soon in their development can a spell collector learn spells?”

“I don't know, they're usually learning spells by the end of their first month, but when you take into account the maturation rate of the average changeling...”

“It's like a pony learning all their spells in your mid-teens. Well, looks like I'm going to see just how magically proficient she is when she wakes up.”

“Twilight, we've already learned that changeling/dragon hybrids develop at around the same rate as a pony, she's not even a year old. How old were you when you started learning basic spells?”

“Five or six, I think, but what if I had started learning earlier than that.”

“Just try not to ruin my daughter too much while I'm away,” said Chrysalis as she left the complex.

New Beginnings and Starts

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Violet Emerald

Author's Note

Warning: This chapter contains immense cuteness, it is advised before proceeding you have some sort of trained aid nearby in event you suffer anything akin to a heart attack.

Now that that is out of the way, enjoy the new chapter. As always, feel free to turn anything I provide you with into an art project, all I ask if for a heads up on it (and maybe a copy of the piece a link to it). Also, it looks like this is one of my longer pieces.

Violet Emerald

Chrysalis was holding a sleeping Focus Crystal in her arms when she trotted in to see five foals curled up on Spike; two on his shoulders, one on his chest and two in his lap; with the dragon himself looking like he was half way to nodding off next to a new small hole in the wall with another changeling foal curled up in it. The rest were scattered about the room also napping.

“So,” said Chrysalis as she came up next to Spike, “what did I miss?”

Spike shook himself from his groggy state to say, “Most of the usual, none want to leave the room without one of us still nearby. Although, there is this,” he handed her a green gem, “Emerald dug it up, she was able to sniff it out. It could be more than just gems or just gems, we'll know for sure in the coming months. How was your day?”

“Relaxing,” said Chrysalis, “and it seems Crystal really likes Twilight. We have a few hours until it's time to pick up the girls from school, I'll keep an eye on the foals while you're out. Besides, I need to work on getting Focus Crystal used to her sisters.”

“Got a new plan, again? Good luck, sweetheart,” said Spike as he carefully started removing the foals from his body and set them down in the most adorable bundle Chrysalis had ever seen, just beneath the hole with a sleeping foal in it.

“So, Emerald dug a little tunnel and came back with a gem,” she said while examining the green gem in her hold, “none of the girls were that proactive before today. Although, the fact that she gave you the gem instead trying to eat it probably says that she really wanted to impress you.”

“And I am, although her method will probably put me in the hospital if she does it for over an hour without stopping.”

“How sweet was it?”

“I could feel the sweetness in my veins.”

“I'll look after the foals while you go out and do something next week, you've been cooped in the colony grounds for a month. That might be considered acceptably healthy for earth dragons and changelings, but you still need to get out and touch base with Twilight and your friends. You can go and drop the girls off next week then spend as much of the day as you want doing whatever you want until it's time to pick them up.”

“When do you have to go pick them up?”

“Around noon, it's barely eight right now.”

“Crystal's still scared of me, you still can't leave her with me.”

“Hopefully, she'll grow out of it soon. I'll take Emerald out with me tomorrow, she needs to see more than these walls.”

“Most of the girls are that way, but maybe having her outside will help to better direct her energy in a manner that is a bit more productive.”

“She's only a few months old, but I see what you're getting at.”

****************************************

It was noon and Chrysalis, with Focus Crystal in her hold, was waiting outside the school building. In an effort to further the education of all foals, including her own, Twilight had established Ponyville's first official magical kindergarten. She had the project started months before her wedding, but it hadn't been finished until a few months after she discovered she was pregnant. Unlike other magical kindergartens, which typically focused on unicorn education with a few lessons about the magic of different pony tribes, Twilight's kindergarten project was founded with the aim of accepting all kinds of children and teaching every youngster there about the magics of every culture while helping to foster friendships no matter what the students happened to be. When she had been to the kindergarten to sign her eldest girls up for the experience almost five months ago she had made sure to be polite and had asked Twilight to remind the faculty what the intentions of the school were. Some of the instructors had actually been in Canterlot on the the day of the invasion, and as such were reasonably distrusting of Chrysalis regardless of the years she had been with Spike and had worked towards making Equestria safer for its citizens.

Chrysalis smiled when she saw her girls, and Seeker, heading towards her. Twilight was a very busy mare, so it would stand to reason that she would trust her daughter to be picked up and returned home by someone she had grown to trust over the years. It was also a good routine to get into, the girls could all spend more time together and the standing security concerns Chrysalis had for the colony grounds would have a practice ready for if she was certain her home and family were in danger.

“Hi girls, said Chrysalis, “did you girls have a good time at school?”

“Yeah,” said Light Novel in her intelligent voice, “we all introduced ourselves and told everyone in classes what we were. We got a mean look from the teacher, she felt a little mad towards us when we told her what we were.”

“I felt a lot of withheld aggression from the stare,” said Satin Care in her gentle voice.

“Nopony tried anything mean, so I guess it was okay,” said Dusk Sentinel in her usual safety conscious voice.

“The other foals didn't think much of it,” said Luminous Seeker, “some of them thought it was cool that non-ponies were in the class with them.”

“Those foals asked why we didn't want to have a snack when the teacher said it was snack time,” said Satin, “the teacher asked the same question.”

“The look on everypony's face was priceless when Dusk explained why they didn't need a snack,” said Seeker.

“The teacher then said something about us stealing the love the other foals from them before school got out,” said Novel, "I explained how that wouldn't be happening, she seemed relieved about it for some reason."

"Mommy was responsible for a bad thing Canterlot a few years before you girls were born, auntie Twilight can tell you bit more. Especially since she was there, of course so was auntie Cadance."

"Why can't you tell us? It would make more sense," said Seeker.

Chrysalis gestured for the girls to follow her, which they did, before saying, "It's part of a time in my life I don't want really remember or relive. I taught Twilight a spell for visiting memories, it's something that I'll be teaching Focus Crystal when she's older," she smiled down at the sleeping foal in her arms.

"She doesn't like us very much," said Dusk to Seeker.

"She only seems to feel safe around mom," said Satin.

As they continued toward the palace Chrysalis said, "Actually, that's not true anymore, girls. She seems to have a positive reaction around Twilight, I actually left Crystal in her care for a few hours."

"She likes mom," said Seeker, "does that mean she only likes moms?"

"No," said Chrysalis, "we passed a few ponies on the way to Twilight's for a visit today, some of them could have been parents or parental figures. She just did her best get physically closer to me as we got closer to them on our trot."

"Oh," said Seeker, "maybe she reacts differently to alicorns, we could ask my aunts to test the theory."

"I suppose it's progress," said Chrysalis, "and you'll be meeting another one of the girls tomorrow, along with your mom."

"Who else will you be bringing? I know all the others are friendly," said Satin.

"I'll be bringing Violet Emerald," said Chrysalis, she gave a smile, "your dad just learned what she can do."

Light Novel, Dusk Sentinel, and Satin Care blinked a bit at their mother while Luminous Seeker said, "I thought you always knew what your babies were capable of."

"While that is normally true," said Chrysalis, "the magic of a changeling queen allows her to know what kind changeling she has her attention on, the distinct magical signature of Violet Emerald is one my magic is unfamiliar with. It means she's a new kind of changeling," it was at this point they were near the castle, and Twilight happened to have started overhearing the conversation a little bit prior, "which means it will be up to us to decide what to call the kind of changeling she is. Once that happens my magic will always identify changelings with a similar magic signature to hers as that kind of changeling, other hives won't be able to identify the kind of of changeling she is for an indeterminate amount of time after that."

"Sounds like a fun project," came Twilight's voice.

"Mommy," called Seeker as she rushed over to hug her mother, "I thought you would be picking me up with auntie Chrys."

"Something came up while you were at school, sweetie," said Twilight, "we'll be entertaining some guests in a few weeks, I've been spending the time since I was notified researching them as best I can."

"Seeker, how about you show the girls the room you and your mom set up for your afterschool activities and any homework you have."

The unicorn filly gave a nod and all four of the foals went dashing with smiles on their faces into the castle. Twilight gave a chuckle and waited until the four were out earshot said, "Don't worry, the guests I spoke of weren't confirmed, changelings. You still think they're coming?"

"Could already be in Equestria," said Chrysalis, "even if I didn't have a standing execution order hanging over my head before the girls hatched, a lot of the things I've done for you, your friends and Equestria would result in me getting one. Changeling culture is so archaic, now that I've been able to look at it from an outside perspective, I just hope that it can change the way it needs to before it gets too late."

"You've crunched the numbers?"

"If the changelings keep along the course they are now they'll ensure they will die out before they can give themselves the proper amount of time to change the way they need to."

"You might not like some members of your family, but at least you put enough care into the future of the culture you come from," she and Chrysalis entered the castle and the doors shut behind them.

"Where'd your assistant go?" Inquired Chrysalis.

"I gave her the task of continuing the research for our guests, I need as much time with Seeker as I can get. Did the girls tell you about any problems at school?"

"They said the only ones to give them bad looks were some of the teachers but said teachers didn't try anything. I suspect that will continue as long as they hold disdain for me and don't want to send the wrong impression to the foals in their care."

"Well, it's nice to see the staff I had a hand in picking out show that much sense of professionalism, regardless I think I'll call a faculty meeting later this week to address any concerns that some of the staff might have."

"Well you did head the project for Ponyville's magical kindergarten, and the additions to the town's schoolhouse."

"Education is always important, and with the kindergarten following the philosophies of friendship I've learned over the years we can help make better strides towards lasting relationships. It's actually a good thing you enrolled the girls in the kindergarten, it's an unplanned test to see how well the teachers can follow through on what the school was founded on."

"A practice what you preach sort of thing, I get it. You can make all the declarations in the world, but if you don't follow through on what you are telling everyone it's effectively a lost cause, I know from experience on that sort of thing."

The two took some seats in the study, they could hear the girls enjoying themselves through the indistinct noises that were coming from one of the back rooms. "How so?"

"I said quite a few times that the changelings as a culture need to change themselves at quite a few of the hive meetings that are usually held once a decade or so, it's more a show of power sort of thing than anything political. However, queens are free to speak a piece and offer chances to support their arguments, at the meetings. I made a few declarations that the changelings themselves needed to change or we as a culture might end up in a situation we couldn't save ourselves from. I couldn't find any ways to change back then, and now my hive is all about change in regards to the changelings. I have twenty-four beautiful daughters, and not one of them is anything like the typical changeling worker. And now one of them is a new kind of changeling that we're just starting to learn about," Focus Crystal gave a cute yawn, this caused the two mares to giggle a bit, "and you should probably know, queens and some males are the only changelings known for having a sense of self."

"Those males were probably not used in the best of ways, were they?"

"They were only ever seen as useful for having a newborn queen take on the role of the old queen if her demise was not through that of another hive."

"Well, that a little morbid."

"That's changeling politics, if at least one assassination attempt hasn't been made you then you're doing something very wrong or very right, hard to tell the difference most of the time. When we manage to get whichever hives come our way to sit down at the negotiation table it would be wise for all present to remember that fact, that includes all the princesses that decide be part of the talks."

"I'll forward your reminder to everypony that it should concern. Although through his behavior some of us would probably hope Blueblood is the target of an assassination attempt."

"He's that full of himself?"

"Pretty much."

"Changelings tend to target oblivious narcissists, I've been told they make excellent puppets, I never followed through on that policy."

It at this point Focus Crystal gave another cute yawn as she seemed to wake up and turned her attention to her mother's face before looking around and found Twilight's face, she babbled the words, "Auntie, fun, fun," and reached with one arm while holding onto her mother."

"I guess earlier wasn't a one-time deal," said Twilight as she took the changeling foal, "although I am worried," she bounced the infant a bit before setting said filly on her lap, "from what you told me she doesn't feel safe around her siblings or Spike. Care to elaborate?"

Chrysalis gave a warm smile to the foal that was now in Twilight's lap, this earned her a short laughter of joy from the foal, "She's a spell collector, that means she's usually attracted to high magic creatures and individuals. Maybe her properties make it so that she's only comfortable with places and ponies that have a naturally high magical capability or potential. You're an alicorn, that means your natural magical capabilities are typically through the roof, I as a changeling queen am one of the most powerful sources of magic she'll encounter in the majority of her days."

"But dragons, like Spike, also have very powerful magical properties."

"That mostly goes towards maintaining their bodies and systems, what little she's picking up isn't enough for her senses to register as safe. I think she's identifying high magic sources as something safe, you and I are the two greatest sources of magic she's been able to pick up."

"That makes sense, we need to find a way that helps her feel more safe in the right situations. With this quirk of hers, she might decide to get comfortable near something potentially dangerous."

"You're right, but I'm having trouble finding how to do that. Ever since we became aware of her willingness to only be near me, which has been the case almost since she hatched, I've tried dozens of methods to get her more used to her siblings, none of them have worked. I have a new idea that I'll be implementing tonight, and tomorrow I'll introduce you to Violet Emerald."

"She has a nice name, any particular reason why?"

"Just gather up your best friends, I'll explain it to all of you."

*************************************

After a few hours, Chrysalis and her girls had to leave Twilight's, everyone had lunch there. When they got home Chryslis made dinner and made sure that all her girls ate it, some were more interested in turning their citrine laced fruit salads into art projects than eating it said food. Keeping twenty-four changeling foals in line at the dinner table was far more difficult than it sounded on some days. After dinner Chrysalis decided to retire to her room, it was time to execute her plan. She had whispered to Spike almost as soon as they had gotten home, he was always on board with her plans to help the girls grow closer to each other. The plan was quite simple, around half the girls would sleep with Chrysalis while the other half slept with Spike. The idea was that the girls would get so used to each other in their sleep that even Focus Crystal would feel safe around her sisters.

"Alright girls," said Chrysalis, "I'm headed to bed. Who wants to join me?"

All of the girls that were not in near her, Focus Crystal physically close to her mother. "Um," said Satin Care, "why did you say that, mom?"

"It's part of new plan," said Chrysalis, "some of you girls will join me for the night while the rest of you join your father, now I'm headed to bed," she scooped up Focus Crystal in her arms and snatched up Violet Emerald (with the gem that she had dug up and was now suckling, but not trying to eat) in her magic and headed to her room. Novel, Dusk and Satin scurried after her, along with several other foals. The rest rushed to their father's sleeping area, when they got their Spike was visibly surprised, but also quite happy that so many of his daughters wanted to join him. All in all only eleven foals were joining Chrysalis while thirteen were joining Spike.

Her small collection of foals ringed her on the bed, making a sort of nest about her, the only exceptions to this were Focus Crystal, who cuddled up her her mother's chest, and Violet Emerald, who was cuddling up on her mother's tummy. Spike found himself with a similar configuration. Before long, the sound of everyone sleeping filled the chambers.

****************************************

The next morning Chrysalis woke to a camera flash and the sensation of the two foals that had used her as an overly large pillow doing their best to get as close to their mother as possible for comfort. Chrysalis blinked the bright light away to see the image of Pinkie with the newest model of camera in Equestria in her hands and a big smile on her face, said mare was also in a circus themed dress with her daughter in a carnival themed dress next to her holding a clipboard that had Pinkie's cutie mark emblazoned on it.

"Pinkie," said Chrysalis, who then looked like she took a moment to think, "it's five in the morning on a school day, and you thought it would be a good idea to bring your daughter here this early so you could take pictures?"

"Oh, don't be silly," Pinkie giggled, "we just brought the cameras to take pictures of some of your chambers for a point of reference, some of the foals with birthdays coming up told us they wanted a cavern themed party, we thought some of your tunnels and chambers would make a great point of reference."

"But then when we saw you curled up with your foals on the bed mom just had to get a few pictures," said Cherri, "it was just too cute to not memorialize."

"Care to explain why you couldn't have waited for a more reasonable time to visit," said Chrysalis, "you just frightened the two foals I was going to go visit Twilight with. Crystal needs to develop a sense of security around several different ponies around town, and your behavior this morning didn't quite help to endear her to you. Actually, I think you just made it so all the girls in here might be a little afraid of you two."

"Well, I have to go to school at seven and mom really didn't want to all this stuff without me," said Cherri.

"And I really can't do this sort of thing in the afternoon, that's when things always seem to pick up," said Pinkie, "I really sorry, I'm usually a lot better with foals, I absolutely adore them."

"Well, you've just made it harder to connect with half of the girls. Novel, Dusk and Satin might have developed a resistance to your eccentricities, but the rest of the girls are only a few months old, they're still getting used to a lot of things. Add the fact that at least one of those foals has security issues and we just recently learned something important about another one of those foals, which I am planning to address to you and your friends later today, and you have a recipe for some possibly traumatized foals. It probably wouldn't have been as bad if you'd left out the flash."

Pinkie and Cherri both drooped their ears as the sobering realization fully dawned on them. "Oh no, they're going to hate me forever," cried Pinkie.

"They'll probably forget how scary it was by their first birthday," said Chrysalis, "besides they'll have to start getting used to new things eventually, they won't be spending their entire lives in these tunnels. Spike's a better digger than me, when he wakes up you can discuss with him on how to emulate the cavern look or when my meeting with you girls later today is over we can discuss making some 'Party Tunnels' near your place."

"I think we'll go with with both," said Cherri, "mister Spike might be the better digger, but you're more knowledgeable about underground networks. I mean, look at this place, it's incredible."

"I also had no input on it, my prior hive worked made this place without my knowledge and dropped me here with a certain ritual that also happened to drop Spike in the place as well. I oversaw the creation of the colony in the Badlands, which is now sealed off as a memorial tomb."

"Oh," said Cherri, "but the same changelings that made this place made that one too, but since this one's newer it's more refined, right?"

"In a way, yes," said Chrysalis, "but that one was made with the intent of holding a few thousand members, the most this one is meant to hold is a few hundred. So, it's actually much smaller than its predecessor, but more detail was put into its creation. The throne room, in particular, was actually more intricate than its appearance would let on."

"What throne room? I don't remember ever being to a chamber called that before," said Cherri.

Pinkie giggled a bit before saying, "Chrysi and Spike converted it into a family room after the triplets were born."

"Well, to be more accurate," said Chrysalis, "we did that after Luminous Seeker was born, after we got back home from Spending Hearth's Warming and the New Year celebration with Twilight's family we went about turning the throne room into a family room."

"Well, Cherri," said Pinkie, "we got all we needed to. Let's leave Chrysi to her day."

Chrysalis would have asked if they had given the same treatment to Spike, but she surmised she already knew the answer. She spent the next half hour calming her daughters down before making her way to the kitchen area, which amusingly was another converted chamber. While she couldn't actually cook anything in this kitchen she could still make some of the more chilled foods.

As she had done many times before she started getting out the ingredients for the meal she was making for her girls while humming a tune and doing a kitchen dance. The girls were all dancing along in their own distinct ways, her three oldest were showing how much they had improved over the years while the younger fillies had a much more adorably awkward way of dancing. Today's breakfast was a garden salad with a light sprinkling of star sapphire dust, the younger foals dove into it a bit too ravenously for the liking of some ponies while the three eldest were far more methodical in the consumption of their meal.

After making sure there was enough left over for the rest of the family, and further calming of her daughters, Chrysalis went to check on Spike and his half of the brood. Chrysalis and her portion of the brood didn't hear any sobbing, she figured that was a good start. When they all came up on Spike's room they found him trying to comfort the changeling foals. Who were apparently so scared they couldn't make a sound.

"I woke up to Pinkie and Cherri, I'm sure you heard it all," said Chrysalis.

Almost felt it," said Spike, "the party must be really close if they're pulling stunts like this. I don't mind helping out with making real underground chambers, it's just that..."

"With both of us preoccupied on such things you're worried about finding the right ponies to watch them all. Rarity's dealing with her two-year-old daughter, Applejack has her triplets that are around the same age as our first three, Fluttershy's been expecting a new one for a few months now, Rainbow's busy with her Wonderbolts career and I'm pretty sure Twilight doesn't have enough staff for that."

"The Apples love big families," said Spike, "they're used to that sort of thing, all we have to do is know enough days in advance and we can ask them have some of their extended family come down to help watch the little ones."

Chrysalis just shook her head, "If Focus Crystal hasn't broken free of her extreme attachment to me that might prove more difficult, not to mention how much of a little troublemaker Violet Emerald is." Emerald playfully stuck her tongue out for a few seconds.

"It's a good thing you're seeing the girls later today, it looks like you're going to be talking about a bit more than you anticipated."

"There's some salad with gem dust mixed in on the kitchen table, how about you take your share of the brood to go eat, I'm taking my share to the nursery."

"Thanks, hun. Alright time get some food, girls, you'll get some time with mommy later."

*******************************************

A few hours later Chrysalis was taking her three eldest to school, with Focus Crystal and Violet Emerald in her hold. She was in a sky blue dress with a forest green hip pouch, her infants were in light green foal outfits while her three oldest were in magenta blouses with dark blue skirts. Crystal was showing discomfort at having to share her mother as a ride with her sister, but she seemed less discomforted than she normally did. This led Chrysalis to believe her plan was working, at least based on the first day after the plan was put into action, she figured Pinkie's less than enjoyable appearance had somehow played into it as well. After dropping the girls off at the school, and giving some greetings to some of the foals there, Chrysalis made here way to Twilight's palace, with Crystal and Emerald now riding on her shoulders with her hands supporting them.

Soon as they arrived at the castle she noticed Twilight was already outside, said purple mare waved a greeting to her. When they got closer Twilight said, "And who is our new little friend?" She took Focus Crystal in her arms shortly after saying this, said changeling foal giggled with delight when this happened.

"This is Violet Emerald," said Chrysalis with quick bounce of the infant, which induced a giggle from the foal, "she's a very special type of changeling, and what I want to hold meeting with you and your friends about. Pinkie kind of scared her, Crystal, and a few of the other foals this morning."

"Well, she means well. And the rest of the girls will be here in a bit, they just have some important stuff they need to take care of before coming over."

**************************

A couple of hours later everyone was sitting around a meeting table, Crystal was still in Twilight's hold while Emerald was still in Chrysalis's hold. Everyone of course had to gush over the cuteness of the visitors for a bit.

"So," said Rarity, "what is the purpose for this visit?"

Chrysalis gestured the foal in her hold, "This little darling, her name is Violet Emerald, and she's a very special kind of changeling."

"All o' yer girls meet that description," said Applejack

"We have to know," said Rainbow Dash, "why did you say it that way?"

"Because she just showed the first sign of what she's capable of yesterday," said Chrysalis as she reached into her bag and pulled up the green gem Emerald had unearthed, "she found and dug this up all on her own, and her father says if he has to watch her do that again he'll suffer a heart attack."

"It was that precious? Oh, now I want see for myself," said Fluttershy.

While they were saying all this Chrysalis set the gemstone down on the table, within arms reach of the infant, and said infant picked it up and started suckling on it.

"Augh, my heart," said Pinkie and Rarity at the same time as they clutched their chests and fell out of their chairs, in their own distinctive fashion.

"I have to admit the sight is adorable," said Twilight, "but you said she found it herself. We need to see what else she can find," while the lavender mare was saying all this Emerald gave her now drool covered gem back to her mother.

"I agree, but we need to find out how to test it. Also for some reason she refuses to even try eating this gem, in fact she goes out of her way to keep anyone from trying to eat it."

"Well, she can't divine where the gems are, unlike my gem finding spell," said Rarity, "can she?"

"No, she sniffs around for what she's looking for," said Chrysalis.

"If that's the case, then maybe we should go outside and have her show us," said Twilight, the other five mares nodded in unison.

They got up and headed outside, after they were outside Chrysalis set Violet Emerald on the ground and said, "Okay, Emerald, go find something for us," the changeling foal just blinked at her a bit then tilted her head a few degrees to the left before giving another blink. She then started sniffing around, Rarity clutched her chest again, this time Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed suit. Emerald trotted around a bit as she sniffed, she stopped a few feet in front of Fluttershy and started digging, after a few minutes she came back up with what looked like a wet clump of dirt, to give some sense of reference they weren't near any known large water sources and it was pretty dry morning.

"I think she just found water," said Fluttershy.

"In a sense she's like a dowsing rod," said Twilight.

"She can sniff out potentially vital resources," said Rainbow, "do you know how awesome that is?"

"Dragons like to eat gemstones," said Rarity, "so developing an ability to better find them with Spike as the father makes sense, but for it to go as far as being able to efficiently seek out other potentially vital resources as well is remarkable."

"Yeah," said Chrysalis, "she's a our little surprise miracle, my magic is unfamiliar with the kind of changeling she is, which means that she's a whole new kind of changeling. One with the ability to seek out resources. I brought her to you girls for two reasons, the first being giving Spike a break from her potentially cute acts."

"Yeah," said Rainbow, "we've only known her a few minutes and she's already threatened to stop our hearts."

"And the second being," continued Chrysalis, "to allow you girls to come up with a name for the kind of changeling she is, once the name is decided and I officially recognize it my magic will always identify changelings with her distinct magical identifier as what kind of changeling she is.

"I don't have an idea of what to call what she is, other than something awesome," said Rainbow.

"I don't know what to call her either," said Rarity, "but it should be something elegant."

"Seeker sounds good ta me," said Applejack, both foals just blinked at her.

"I'm letting her decide," said Chrysalis, "so ,if she doesn't go for it then it doesn't happen."

"Resource Hunter has a nice ring to it," said Twilight, "although that last part might have a bit of a bad connotation to it."

"I think it should be something cute," said Fluttershy, "like Cuddle Burrower," this caused Rainbow and Rarity to give her a deadpan stare, Applejack and Chrysalis facepalmed and everypony else just shook their heads while the foals just blinked at her.

"Twilight said it best," said Pinkie, "after all her abilities do make a bit like a 'dowsing rod', so how about we call what she is a Dowser."

"That sounds like a poorly named video game villain to me," said Rainbow.

Emerald on the other hand clapped her hands and giggled with delight."Well, I guess that settles it," said Chrysalis, "we'll call the kind of changeling she is a 'Dowser', after all, I did leave the decision up to her."

"Well," said Twilight since she found water in front of the castle I'll start a project bring it up for the town to enjoy, maybe a fountain or well. Rarity, you have a better sense of aesthetics than me, Applejack is usually the most practical among us. The three of us will work on drawing up ideas for the project, although I think it only be fair that Violet Emerald be involved in this project as well, after all she did find the water, so it's only fair that she have some involvement in the project. Besides, this for the whole town, and maybe having a foal decide on some of the drafts could help us, I'll see what books I can dig up on the subject."

"Tell us when you're starting your planning session," said Chrysalis, "but I should warn you, Emerald is bit of a troublemaker and is overly playful at times."

An Early Gift

It was getting to be Nightmare Night season. Thanks to the efforts Chrysalis, Spike, Twilight and her friends put into everything Focus Crystal was now not overly attached to the closest high magic sources and was now more than willing to let her father hold her and even was willing to actually interact with her sisters. Violet Emerald was being ever more adventurous as she got older, she also somehow managed to develop a friendly attachment to Pinkie's twins.

As per usual Fluttershy was making preparations for when Nightmare Night came. Twilight and Seeker were spending days prior to the event deciding the best outfits for the night, they always started with a debate over a group theme in their outfits or specific individual costumes (which usually somehow managed to drag any unfortunate soul that strayed too close into the debate, it was why Dinky had insisted she get this time off). The Apples were setting up for their various Nightmare Night traditions. Rarity and her family were busy gathering outfit orders so that costumes could be ready in advance, also the constant reminders every few days usually did the trick for the kind that waited 'til the last possible moment to go and get costumes. Rainbow and Rainboom had turned it into a bit of game, certain individuals were the theme of the outfit and all they had to find their target at the fastest possible pace for the costume they wanted while avoiding the ponies that represented the ones they didn't want, Sorin made sure to keep the score sheet and would usually let the rest of the town know who meant what. Pinkie was busy preparing sweets in advance while keeping her foals from gobbling all the sugary delights themselves. Spike and Chrysalis had developed their own traditions for the holiday as well, due to transformational properties that changelings possess they had the girls trying out different transformations for the night (within a set reason, the goal was to intentionally make their transformation look fake, which was actually much harder for changelings than most believed).

Since this season also meant that Novel, Dusk and Satin would be celebrating their birthday the three were also trying to think of what sort of pet they should get, Chrysalis had clearly stated they would all have to agree on one pet and would also be sharing it with the rest of the family. They all had different ideas over what their new pet would be like, but they all did agree it would have to be something they could have below and above ground. Novel was, predictably, going over every text they had on pets while taking notes; Dusk would most likely take a bit more of a unique approach, gathering statements from the other foals about their pets then after she got home cross out all of the pets that didn't meet the requirements for living in the colony's tunnels; chances were Satin would just go and ask Seeker and Fluttershy's family about the pets they had, Satin would probably also try asking about some of the lesser known properties of the pets she was told about. It was two weeks before Nightmare Night, so there were already holiday preparations beginning to be more noticeable.

Chrysalis chuckled to herself as she passed through the tunnels with Crystal and Emerald in tow, her primes were definitely making this out to be an interesting weekend, as what seemed like always Spike was watching over the bulk of the brood. Focus Crystal didn't like being very far from what she sensed as powerful sources of magic, thankfully Chrysalis's idea of having several members of the brood share her bed had made the filly more comfortable around her siblings. Violet Emerald was with Chrysalis due to the fact she always seemed to induce near cardiac problems in her father, it just seemed as time went on the first Dowser filly got even cuter.

Twilight and her friends had varying reactions to both fillies, which had more to do with personalities of the mares than anything else. When it came to Focus Crystal it seemed the one to try and take the most advantage of the situations the filly brought about was Pinkie Pie, to no one's real surprise and Twilight, more out of her interest to see just how far a spell collector changeling's development could be taken. When it came to Violet Emerald the two mares to take the most advantage of the situations she provided were Applejack, to the surprise of many, and Rarity, who would practically fuss over how to make outfits that would allow Emerald herself to take advantage of her natural charms.

Chrysalis, in a rather uncharacteristic move for the day, was in an orange blouse and forest green skirt. Spike had even given a comment about it, she had just hand-waved it away with saying she felt like it this day. She also had a feeling she would be dealing with an issue might have her leaving the tunnels.

Once again Chrysalis found herself staring guests in her library, this time, it was Rainbow Dash and Rainboom. “Is there a reason for you being here,” inquired Chrysalis.

“Yeah, I have the next couple of weeks off and Soarin probably won't be back 'til after Nightmare Night, that means our little group costume plan fell through. I was home with Rainboom and thought she could come see your girls, and maybe make some new friends,” she then turned her attention to the two young foals at Chrysalis's side. Focus Crystal was in a lavender nightgown with an image of a magical beam or ray striking some kind of crystal, Violet Emerald's nightgown was orange with the likeness of her favorite gem (which the changeling filly always seemed to have close at hand with each passing day). “Those two just keep on getting cuter, especially Emerald.” As if on cue Emerald started suckling her gem and stared at the two guests with eyes that were equally cute as they were worried and scared, this caused Rainbow and Rainboom to clutch at their chests to show they were experiencing heart troubles.

“Yeah, that's kind of why Spike doesn't want to be left alone with her,” said Chrysalis, “we're still working on the looks they want for Nightmare Night, these two are just barely three months old.” Focus crystal gave the two pegasi an inquisitive look, “Looks like you got Crystal thinking about something.”

“Do you really let her go off with Twilight when it comes time to take your girls to school,” inquired Rainbow.

“Yes, they both seem to enjoy it, I think Crystal more than Twilight.”
Rainbow gave a snicker before saying, “An egghead teaching an egghead.” Focus Crystal gave Rainbow an incredulous look, which was much cuter than any of Rarity's uses, for a moment before sticking her tongue out in the cutest display of disgust Rainbow had ever seen.

“I think mom just made Crystal, not like her,” said Rainboom.

“No, just thinks Rainbow insulted her and Twilight, it'll be a while before she picks up on playful banter and sarcasm. Truth be told, changelings usually have trouble picking up on that sort of thing too.”

“You're fine with it,” said Rainbow.

“Well, I've had a few decades to pick up on that sort of thing, and one of Spike's personality traits that crossed over to me is his sense of playful banter and understanding of snarking. The girls aren't quite old enough to be able to understand subtlety like we do.”

The two changeling foals blinked at their mother in confusion, Emerald had returned to sucking on her gem and Crystal was now clutching at her mother's clothing. “I guess you're right,” said Rainbow, “but why do all the cute ones have to be so clueless? It doesn't make sense.”

“That's just way things are,” said Chrysalis, “they'll pick up on the subtlety and nuance of things when they're older, but for for now they're just naively innocent fillies.”

“Shouldn't they already, I mean considering what they are.”

“If they were developing at the normal rate for changelings they'd have already fully developed and be able to pick up a bunch of nuances, but since they seem to be maturing at a rate closer to ponies it's a little different.”

“Oh,” said Rainboom, “mom said she and dad are working on giving me a new sibling, I'm excited.”

“You know what that means right,” said Chrysalis.

“Mom's going to look like she's taking on weight,” said Rainboom, who earned prompt head slap from her mother, “I deserved that.”

“Yes you did,” said Rainbow, “ So, Chrysalis, how are the girls?”

“Same as always,” said Chrysalis, “with their birthday coming up soon they've really dived into thinking about the pet they want, last I checked those three were working on lists of aspects they want in their pet.”

“Yeah, well Rainboom seems to really like Tank,” said Rainbow, “I'm actually discussing having another foal with Soarin, but we're still a bit unsure. So, Rainboom, if it does happen you might end up with a little brother or sister.”

“Let me guess,” said Chrysalis, “you made an agreement with your husband that will mean he comes up with the name when the baby comes along. That's all nice, Rainbow, but what is your reason visiting us at this time?”

“Oh, um, Rainboom was the first to spot the prize in our race this year, the target she spotted we designated as meaning a Leviathan Toad, and since you're the only one we know who's actually seen one

“I get it,” said Chrysalis, “will Soarin be in for the festivities this year?”

“Uh, yeah, we both made sure to get time off for Nightmare this year, why ya ask?”

“Because you're going need him to pull it off. A young Leviathan Toad is around the size of Rainboom standing on top of you while you're standing on top of Soarin while he's on all fours.”

“I'm starting to like this already,” said Rainbow with a grin.

“That said, I'm not sharing any information about them for your costume this year, in case you forgot those things happen to be a natural predator of my kind. That means if you make it too realistic you could end up scaring my babies more than you intend, it is a very good thing those creatures need a large body of water with a low salt content, around these parts I'm pretty sure there isn't anywhere moist enough to sustain them even there were a location large enough to sustain the eggs and tadpoles.”

“I get ya, well it's a good thing she said she spotted an alternate just in case this one didn't pan out. What did you say you found as the second marker, Rainboom?”

Rainboom looked at her mother and looked like she was thinking hard, Violet Emerald just slightly cocked her head and blinked. “Royal guard,” said Rainboom.”

“Oh,” said Rainbow, “Twilight had that outfit for Nightmare Night a few years before you were born, maybe she can tell us the best places to get materials for the outfits,” she turned her attention to Chrysalis, “sorry for the inconvenience.”

“No problem,” said Chrysalis, “give my regards to your friends if you see them before I do, and please let Fluttershy know that the girls and I will be dropping by soon to pick out a family pet.”

“Will do,” said Rainbow as she and Rainboom headed on out.

Once Rainbow and her daughter were gone Chrysalis turned to her two daughters and said, “Did you enjoy their visit?”

Focus Crystal looked like she was thinking it over for a few seconds before just nodding her head. Violet Emerald just continued to interact with her personal gem and blinked a few times at her mother.

“You two are so quiet, we really need to work on that. Some ponies might find it a little off-putting. Also, your father and I really want to hear your cute little voices more.”

******************************

It was the day before their birthday and Chrysalis's eldest were at Fluttershy's, along with their mother and Violet Emerald. They were all wearing complimentary autumn themed outfits. Thankfully Focus Crystal was secure enough around her father to no longer require her mother as buffer for when she started to feel uneasy. Fluttershy's cottage had grown, by quite a lot, over the years to account for her growing family and business. Among some of the new yard décor was what looked like a set of small stones that interconnected to form some kind of simple maze.

“Hello to all of you,” said Forest Flower as she came out of the tree cottage, she was in a black dress with fluffy looking ears, “mom should be out shortly, she's just preoccupied with health checks for for some of the birds right now. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“We're here to get a new family pet,” said Chrysalis, “I promised the girls they could pick one out for their birthday if they were well behaved, and they've been so good I thought we could do so a little early.”

“Do they know what they want?”

“They wrote up their own lists of what properties they want their pet to have. They insist the only one allowed to see the list is Fluttershy, I haven't seen a single letter of what's on their lists.”

“And they'll only show their lists to mom?”

“That is correct,” said Chrysalis.

“I Think that's really sweet, who's the tag along?”

“One of my newer hatched daughters, this is Violet Emerald,” she gave a bit of a grand gesture. Said filly was suckling her gem when introduced, Forest Flower found the filly to be quite adorable even when you took the gem out of the equation.

“She's very cute! I'm using all of my willpower to not break down into a gushing mess.”

“Why? There's no real need,” said Novel, “all the adults have pretty much done that already, also the main reason she's with us is because dad's heart stand the cuteness for long.”

“Yes, well,” Chrysalis gave a polite cough, “Rarity seems to enjoy quality time with her, and her daughter seems like she enjoyed Emerald's company on our last visit to the boutique.”

“Then again,” said Satin, “Ms Rarity seems to delight in dressing Violet up whenever she can, she also likes to gush about how she'll make a wonderful model some day.”

“Satin,” said Chrysalis, “just because your sisters have certain abilities doesn't mean they can't do things outside their specialization.”

“We know mom,” said Novel, “but she used to say the same thing about us when were her age, she just didn't gush as much as she does over Vi.”

“That's a new nickname for her,” said Chrysalis, “who called her that?”

“Last time we saw Rainboom she called Emerald that,” said Dusk, “and last week we heard Cherri call her Em.”

“Both are very cute nicknames,” came Fluttershy's voice, coming into view she said, “It's so nice to see you all again,” the three changeling fillies handed her their lists, which happened to be in old-fashioned envelopes with wax as their sealing implement, “Oh, it looks like you three have put some thought into what you want for a pet.”

“More of a case of them writing up lists of properties they want their pet to have,” said Chrysalis, “we're only getting one pet, so the girls need to agree on their pet.”

“They wouldn't let missus Chrysalis read their lists,” said Flower, “they were insistent that only you read them, I think it's pretty cute that they would do that.”

“Oh, let's go inside so I can look them over without something interrupting,” said Fluttershy. They all headed into the residence that Fluttershy shared with her family and animals. A few minutes everyone was sitting around the living room as Fluttershy looked through the three sealed notes. “Goodness, these are all so precious. Novel's writing is beautiful, Satin's is practically overflowing with care, and Dusk's is full of caution. I also like how Dusk broke it all down into parts, especially the section for bonus information. Looking over everything the girls have written, I'm going to be framing these and hanging them on the wall, there's only one creature that meets most of your criteria. Follow me.”

Fluttershy got up, in doing so leaving the notes on the table, and Chrysalis and her girls outside. Forest Flower took the opportunity to read the notes while they were all out. Once the two mares and three fillies were outside Fluttershy lead them over to a section of the stone tunnels. “I was wondering about this little tunnel maze,” said Chrysalis, “care to explain it?”

“Oh, yes,” said Fluttershy, “I worked with Twilight on these stone tunnels after one of my new arrivals a few months ago, half the tunnels are kept at a temperature that is a bit on the high side of warm, the other half are subject the basic warming and cooling trends of day to day life around here. The reason for this is because the creature I'm actually going to be showing you doesn't like a cool or cold environment.”

“That's good,” said Chrysalis, “our colony tunnels are always at warm or hot temperature, by pony standards, I'm sure you know why.”

“Oh, right, traditional changelings don't like the cold, it doesn't get along with their physiology all that well, the only time changelings can usually handle cold is when they're properly protected.”

“Yup,” said Chrysalis, “glad to see you were paying attention when we shared that little tidbit with you and the others.”

“Anyway, the little sweetheart I'm going be showing you tends to make its home in active or semi-active volcanoes, their bodies aren't designed to handle cooler temperatures all that well, so you're going to have to keep her warm on the trip home,” she gave a few gentle taps on one of the entrances to the stone maze and a salamander-like lizard with ashy white skin and literal burning patterns of fire that was of various colors (orange, green and blue to be precise) across its back poked half its body outside the tunnels. “This, is a salamandra, they're actually reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly hard to find, this little girl somehow ended up on one of Ponyville's trade roads a few months ago and was very close to not making it when it was brought to me, thankfully Twilight was with me at the time and we were able to work fast in creating a place she could feel comfortable. Salamandra tend to eat volcanic plants as a primary source of food, but they've also been known to eat volcanic rock from time to time. While they do tend to spend a lot of time around lava, especially pools, they can only handle being in it for a few minutes and they never drink that sort of thing. All the moisture they need they get from the plants they feed on. In fact they have a terrible fear of water, I found that out the first time I tried to feed the poor thing, she ran away from the bowl of water I had prepared for her, but the partially dried plant leaves I laid out for her were a decent substitute until I could get something more authentic to her diet.”

“Well,” said Chrysalis, “looks like we'll be sending off some notes on where to get seeds for growing some of those plants back home, it should be a simple matter to renovate one of our unused chambers for that purpose, one of our warmer ones anyway. Spike did say some of the warmer chambers were starting to feel more like the inside of a volcano, which is a bit odd. Maybe the heat regulation spells woven into the colony grounds have been trying to compensate for the fact a live dragon is roaming the tunnels for a few years now, some dragons have been known to seek out hot places in order to feel more comfortable.”

“Have you told Twilight about this? I think she deserves to know,” said Fluttershy.

“Actually, yes,” said Chrysalis, “she was actually over last week to study it all, I had to teach her how to find the heat regulation spells though. What do you think of her, girls?”

“She's exactly what we were looking for,” said all three simultaneously.

“She'll need name,” said Chrysalis as she lowered her hand and brought the small creature into her clothing, “I am really happy that Rarity takes the time to put a fireproofing spell on all our clothing right now,” she could feel the tiny creature snuggling up to her bosom, and in doing so crossed across the body of a sleeping Violet Emerald in way that caused the filly to giggle a bit, “let's get going girls, you can think of names for her on the way home.” With that, they all departed.

*********************************

After the trip home Chrysalis, and putting Violet to bed, decided let the Salamandra out in one of the warmer chambers, it gave a gecko-like bark of happiness and started wandering around the room. “So,” said Chrysalis, “have you three come up with a name for her?”

The three looked at each other and nodded, “We believe so,” said Novel, “we've decided to call her Naga Spark.”

Author's Note

And here it is, their new pet. I would like to thank everyone who gave suggestions, but I'm sorry to say most of your suggestions weren't going for the kind of special touch that was intended for the family pet. And I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up in the first place, when you hit a block finding the way around can be more time consuming than you want sometimes. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on Naga Spark. Her kind, the Salamandra, are based off the salamanders of lore which were tied to elemental fire. Also thanks to _Sky_, who gave a suggestion that is part of her name. Naga has multiple meanings, one of which is a type of cousin to the dragons. Amusingly, several weeks worth of inaction regarding this story were due in part to the fact the pet had no name.

As always feel free to use the resources I've provided, and if you want to use anything I've given give me a heads up so I can provide some assistance. Also if you plan turning anything in my work into an art piece please send me a copy or link for the work.

Time to Start Getting Ready

Nightmare Night came and went, the foals were a menagerie of different things, so much so that saying what they all dressed like would take way to long. The most notable outfits were Novel as a literary character (as to which one, the only ones that are entirely sure are Chrysalis herself and Twilight), Dusk as a stone armored guard, Satin as a doctor, and Violet as a jeweled violet. The rest of the girls were a variety of the kinds of outfits usually seen over the holiday. Rainbow and Rainboom, almost most predictably, at so much candy they went into what are commonly known as sugar comas the following day, the apple foals gorged themselves stuffed on a variety of candy covered apples (to the surprise of no one, not even their family), Flower spent half the night gathering sweets dressed as a bunny and the rest of the night with her mom in the tradition her mom had for the holiday. Twilight and Seeker spent time with Chrysalis and roughly half her girls gathering sweets for half the night before jumping over to join Spike and the rest of the girls in gathering sweets, when Twilight took the girls seemed really enjoy the haunted corn maize for some reason (to the joyous bewilderment of the Apple family). Pinkie's family turned their grounds into a haunted dance hall, with some hidden treats all over the complex, Emerald sniffed them out in a matter of minutes (much to Pinkie's delight, Emerald's method also made everyone happy a trained medical doctor was in the building, after said doctor had managed prevent their own potential heart problems from the sight). After providing all the ordered outfits Rarity closed down the shop and helped and ran something akin to a haunted gallery on the grounds around her business, her daughter and husband spent some time placating sweets with her friends' children for a few hours before returning to help out in any way they could.

Of course, Nightmare Night had ended days ago, and as expected all of Chrysalis's girls absolutely enjoyed it. An event like that is always a good chance for changelings to practice their natural ability to change their form. Chrysalis should have been feeling good about everything, but for some reason, she felt something was off. Most of the foals were with their father, as was usual by this point. The primes were at school, seems the meetings Twilight held over the years with the staff for Ponyville's schools was working out well. Emerald was with Rarity, said white mare had been very insistent on having the filly with her for this particular day. So now Chrysalis was enjoying a stroll through the park in her late autumn outfit, which happened to be a green fall dress with a lavender colored scarf and knee socks.

As she made her way through the park she felt a familiar presence, one she did not like. Chrysalis made sure to act like it had been an almost negligible thing and casually made her way to one of the more secluded parts of the park. Thankfully the place chose to head be devoid of anyone else when she arrived. She went over to the bench and waited.

A few minute the sound of a set of hooves could be heard approaching. Chrysalis knew it was just a proxy, a drone from the hive of her sister that would be used as a means of communication. She had always feared, and hoped against, the day she was found. It didn't matter that she probably knew the accords from memory better than this approaching queen, or that her caution against potential threats to her new home. All that mattered now was that two queens were about to enter into a conversation, Chrysalis couldn't help remembering all the times she had moved queens into check against her sisters.

“Well, it seems you chose a pretty poor disguise, Chrysalis,” came a maliciously attractive voice dripping with a condescending attitude, “it took us a while to find you, in truth, we should have probably started looking for you in these sorts of places.”

“Nymph, this a displeasure,” said Chrysalis from her perch, not even bothering to look in the direction of her conversational partner, “and this isn't a disguise, it's how I look now. I stopped going around that way years ago, it's an influence from my mate, we're building a family, it might be small now, but in the future, it could grow much greater.

“It's cute how you think of your drones as indispensable, but I guess the Defective Queen can't stop thinking of the castoffs she collected any other way.”

“That hive has been in the grave for years now, I'm growing my new hive. My mate has given quite a bit, and he's good with the foals too. Tell Vespa, Culicidae, and Cicada that I'm calling a meeting in Ponyville, the giant crystal castle that seems a bit like a tree, one of Equestria's rulers lives there and I'm on amicable terms with her these days. The rest of Equestria's rulers will likely be at the meeting as well. Chances are you won't be able to keep this meeting or the one I called for unknown to the other hives, so do as you please with how the information is shared, we'll likely have spies from numerous hives listening once they catch a whiff of a shadow of whispered rumor regarding the meeting. I'm done hiding, done running, it's time to actively shape the future as best I can on terms that none of you have considered before. If none of you want to come then I'll entice you by saying this coming meeting I've called will work towards deciding the future of the Changelings, that may not mean anything to you, but you can't take a chance that it's an idle boast either. I'll set terms, that are simple and straightforward, in regards to the meeting. You only bring two visible enforcers or guards with you to meeting, you come in true with no proxies to act as a decoy while at the meeting site, you do not involve any ponies that are not part of the meeting itself in any activities in or around any of Equestria's communities, you don't anyone off while they are speaking, you are to visibly show respect for everyone in the negotiations and its chamber regardless of your personal opinions, all changelings will adhere to the Accords and take time to genuinely verify claims in regards to the Accords.”

“A long list, but all seem simple enough. How much time to we have in regards to the meeting?”

“Two weeks should be enough time to get all affairs in order and make it to the designated the point.”

“You're lucky that accords prevent your death right now, I'll inform the other queens of our conversation.” The sound of buzzing arrived her ears shortly after, a few minutes later Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief, she'd dodged a big shot for the moment.

**********************************

It was a half hour later and Chrysalis was in Twilight's castle having tea with the lavender mare, she was waiting for the right moment to tell the lavender alicorn about what had occurred a few minutes earlier. After a few sips of her tea she realized there was no right time for something like this. Twilight was probably going to blow her top, and possibly Chrysalis into a wall, over this news.

“Twilight, I didn't just come here for social call,” said Chrysalis carefully.

“I'm kind of disappointed about that,” said Twilight, “what do you need?”

“My sided of the the family is finally coming to 'visit' us,” everything about Twilight froze, even her magic flickered erratically around what she grasped with it. “I found one my sister's drones wandering the park, I lead it to a secluded part of the park and laid down some ground rules for a meeting.”

“How long do we have?”

“I set for two weeks, but chances are they'll get her in disguise before then. I'm sorry, but I set your castle as the meeting site, I just kept thinking much of a bad impression it would be if the meeting was held in Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. You'll want to inform all the princesses about this, we're going to have serious issues no matter what. I always knew their arrival would be bad, but I thought at the very least we can mitigate the damage in a place that could have minimal impact across the nation, Ponyville has gotten a bit of a reputation over the years.”

“You have a point there,” said Twilight, “and honestly, a few not-so-friendly changelings popping up in town will practically be well within the norm for Ponyville's community at this point. Some ponies might think of it as an inevitability at this point on account of how friendly you've been over the past few years. My palace is probably the safest bet anyway, I'll send word on this development.”

********************************

It was a bit later back at the colony grounds, the castle to be specific since all the changeling foals in the colony proper were sleeping and Chrysalis was sure Spike would be having some very loud words with her over the news. A prediction she was very unhappy turned out to be true. His pacing in a circle around her during her entire explaining was also not a good sign, thankfully he waited until she finished talking before he began his very loud ranting response.

“I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS, I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST BEING PARANOID WHEN YOU SAID YOU FEARED THAT THEY WOULD FIND YOU HERE, THANKFULLY YOU WEREN'T HURT. YOU WARNED US ALL IT WAS LIKELY TO HAPPEN, IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS, AND WE THOUGHT AT THE VERY LEAST YOU WOULD BE IN THE CLEAR ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING. I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW STUPID I WAS TO DISCREDIT YOUR CONTINUED PRECAUTION AFTER THE GIRLS TURNED THREE, BUT YOU COULD HAVE POSSIBLY AGGRAVATED THE SITUATION WITH A CONFRONTATION, I'M GLAD YOU DIDN'T. WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THE DECISION YOU MADE WITHOUT CONSULTING ANY OF US, I'M GLAD YOU LET TWILIGHT AND I KNOW SO QUICKLY, BUT WHAT WERE YOU THINKING CALLING OUT FOR A MEETING WITH THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR PRACTICALLY TRAUMATIZING YOU WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG? EVEN IF THEY DO ACCEPT IT WITHIN THE ALLOTED TIMEFRAME WE'RE ALL PRETTY SURE IT COULD BE A TRAP THAT USES YOUR CHOICE OF LOCATIONS AS A VENUE SOMEHOW.”

“Feeling a little better? You know why I did it, and I'm sorry I made the decision without consulting any of you, I just wanted to mitigate the damage before things got the point where would likely spiral out of control.”

“I get all that, but it's still a bad idea. Thankfully we know the changeling playbook because of you. You've always been so cerebral, even I doubted what you said early on, but I was at least willing to give the benefit of a doubt to let you prove your honesty. I was sure you'd be like the rest of your family, just more willing to bide your time. Of course that all changed pretty quickly after you shared that memory spell with Twilight, a spell like that meant if you had a long-term plan anyone who saw that memory would have as much knowledge of it as you did.”

“That and I would have likely waited over a decade to execute it, but I genuinely had no interest in those sorts of plans when we met up in the colony grounds for the first time, and the distinct deviations the girls showed from other changelings in their development just seemed to wipe any lingering aspects of that line of thinking from my mind. I've said it before, but I like saying it again, if I had been your position I wouldn't have trusted me either.”

“And yeah, I'm feeling better now, just needed to get some stuff out of my system.”

“I thought so, hence why we are so far from our sleeping brood. It is time to return to them. Don't worry, I'll explain everything in detail before meeting is set to start. Besides, some of them will probably send proxies to barter the time to something soon or later than the initial time frame.”

Spike gave a nod and they both headed back to the colony proper, but still gave his mate some disapproving looks on the way home.

*****************************************

It was a few days later with Twilight and Princess Luna meeting with Chrysalis, who had Focus Crystal and Violet Emerald close by, at Canterlot Castle, Celestia would be joining them later after attending to her duties. The tension in the air wasn't very high, but it could still be felt by just about anyone that passed by the chamber being used as a meeting hall. Luna was not happy about the news when Twilight had passed it along, and Celestia gave an impassive look the entire time the letter was read and it's contents discussed.

“I am having trouble believing your 'kin' would be willing to have a meeting on your terms,” said Luna with a bit of growl to her voice, which for some reason caused Focus Crystal to giggle while Violet Emerald showed signs of being a bit distraught.

“It was not my intention to do something that would cause you any discomfort,” said Chrysalis as she passed Focus Crystal to Luna while doing her best to comfort Violet Emerald.

“Wasn't it Spike's turn to take the girls to school today,” said Twilight, “who is watching the rest of your brood?”

“Cherri volunteered,” said Chrysalis, “there's still a few weeks until school starts for the older foals, and they seem to respond well to her despite the frightening wake-up fiasco months ago.”

“Alright then, why did you call a meeting if you knew they would either twist the offer to their benefit or try to barter the time of its start in every direction?”

“It's more of a show of courtesy, at least by changeling standards, when a queen calls a meeting it's usually more like a demand of the other hives. They try to see how far they can push things for their favor before the time limit set has run its course. It was also my way of seeing just how many changelings are really in the Ponyville area, a call for a meeting tends to draw the out of the woodwork quite effectively. As of now, I've encountered ten different changeling proxies, two from each of my 'family's' hives that have made 'requests' for everything from a change in time and venue to the number of visible military drones permitted. Chances are there will be more than the visible number hiding in plain sight, maybe even as what appear to be Equestrian guard and military ponies. I know my assistance over the past few years have helped, but even the best detection systems can be circumvented.”

“True, we'll be as careful as we can,” said Twilight.

“How is it you were able to tell you were dealing with changelings? Maybe if we could find a way to duplicate it we could have a better chance,” said Luna as she entertained Focus Crystal.

“Changelings have a natural ability to sense each other, it's a carryover from the time before we developed the ability to see in complete darkness, it was probably kept because we can sense each other changelings through dense material concentrations or go out to forage for food, changelings have a policy of not feeding on other changelings, something about how getting emotions from another changeling tends to cut the strength of emotions we tend to feed on.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” said Twilight, “and since it's been part of your biology from before any of you can remember there's no way for you to really know much about it.”

“That and ability doesn't work for finding changelings that are no longer alive, which means the ability is probably lost when we pass on as well.”

“Even if it wasn't the case we would not condone such research,” said Luna, “no matter who or what they are, the dead deserve respect.”

“Question,” said Twilight, “why did Focus Crystal have a positive reaction to Luna's anger?”

“When ponies have their emotions run a bit higher than usual their ambient magic flares for a short period,” Chrysalis, “we've already established she has a strong attraction to the higher natural magic fields around her.”

“Which means she picks up on short-term increases in magic highly effectively, and since she has only come to identify high magic signatures as being safe she probably associates higher magic as something to be happy about. We really need to find a way to teach that's not always the case.”

“Unfortunately,” said Luna, “such lessons require her to truly experience such thing, we cannot create a lesson plan for one has their mind's development at a point that cannot properly discern the difference between a simulation and the genuine article.”

“That and her magic sensitivity would be able to tell if such things were no real danger,” said Chrysalis, “we'd have to have her experience it all without spells to ensure her safety.”

“Speaking of progress,” said Twilight, “have you made any towards determining the development rate of your foals?”

“Yes and no,” said Chrysalis, “Spike and I have determined that the changelings with more cognitive-oriented abilities, like Crystal, have their intellectual development progress at a rate that puts a five-month-old, much her now, have an intellectual equivalent on par to a one-year pony foal. That said her emotional development seems to still be on par with a pony infant half her age and physically she's developing at around the same rate as the average pony foal. That all, said the more physically oriented changelings, like Dusk, seem to be developing at a rate where their physical development is just a few months more matured than a pony of the same age, with their intellectual development being almost a full third slower than a that of a pony the same age and intellectual development equal to a pony infant their age. However, changelings that seem to be designed to have a higher sensitivity to emotion, like Satin, seem to have an emotional development that almost a full two years ahead of a pony of the same age, with the mental development of a pony of the same age and physical development considerably slower than that of a pony of the same age. Emerald seems to be a bit of an oddity in that regard since she's the only one of her known type thus far we can't really gauge her developments properly, or determine which basic classification she falls under.”

The other two mares blinked a bit, after regaining her composure Twilight said, “I honestly didn't expect that much data to be gathered over a five month period, but the fact that certain kinds of changelings have different types of development rates is fascinating.”

“And could prove useful in negotiations,” said Celestia as she entered the room, “of course the fact that most changelings have a development so accelerated that these sorts of observations would be next to impossible might not leave the impression we would like should this information be shared with the changeling hives.”

“Furthermore, the more academic queens, of which are very few from my last assessment, would probably say these sorts of observations only work in regards to my hive and thus have no real bearing on any other hives. Also, almost all, if not the entirety, of the queens observing and taking part in the delegation would most likely scoff at the idea of changelings having any sort of emotional development.”

“An excellent set of points there,” said Luna, “from what we do know about changelings as a whole, queens are unwilling to even entertain such concepts and will likely determine Chrysalis's hive has a further need for elimination, regardless of whatever contributions they might hold.”

“They'll also be in denial about a new kind of changeling if we just tell them, it's more probable of them to believe such claims with an example present, which means Emerald is going to have to be present during the meeting.”

“You want to subject your daughter to...” started Twilight.

“Of course not,” said Chrysalis, “but her presence is required so that they can confirm that she is a type of changeling they are unfamiliar with. Queens don't like having to teach anyone, especially their workforce. However, there is one thing queens have to teach other changelings regardless of the type of changeling they are.”

“What would that be?” Inquired Luna, thankful the five-month-old filly in her arms had finally nodded off.

“Masking their identity,” said Chrysalis, “and when I say that I mean to other changelings, queens will sometimes use their magic to make themselves appear to be some other kind of changeling in their hive as a hiding method when they become aware of an invasion int their primary colony, but the ruse doesn't work as well without another hive member making themselves appear to be the queen. That it's a common tactic for a number of queens to have one of their own hive act as a spy within another hive, and masquerading as a different kind changeling works well to that end. The main problem they have is having to actually teach their drones how to do it, that hand it has a tendency to take a minimum of twenty years for a drone to master the technique enough play infiltrator. On top of all that, some of the longer standing queens, like Arachne, can actually 'see' through the ruse and determine what kind of changeling they're actually dealing with.”

“None of your girls are that old,” said Twilight, “you've been hiding from them for the past seventeen years.”

“A fact I'm counting in this case,” said Chrysalis, “they'd think it was a bluff regardless, mostly on assuming that I have my prior hive to assist with this. With enough practice a queen can even tell the true age of the changeling she's dealing with. Even though I extended the invitation to my 'mother' and 'sisters' I'm pretty sure some of the other queens will find a way to be in the meeting area if not inviting themselves to session entirely.”

“If this is mainly hive politics why are we being involved in it? I mean I understand you wanting to have it in a location where no changeling queen has expressed power, and I'm happy to host it all given the other venue choices are far less viable currently, but I still can't quite understand why the princesses of Equestria need to be part of this 'summit' you have planned.”

“Officially your involvement is to act as neutral parties in the discussion, unofficially it's because you all have some vested interest in the outcome of this coming meeting, and I could really use the moral support. We're going to have decide where all the foals will be for this since can't keep most of them too far from us and it would probably be a good idea to have the older and more responsible foals looking after the younger. Focus Crystal and some of the other foals might be prone to wandering the halls despite being warned of the dangers, if that should happen I just hope they remain safe.”

“Care to elaborate on that one,” said Princess Celestia.

“As you know changelings naturally feed on emotions, mostly positive ones. However some of the queens, at least one of my sisters, have developed something akin to a high on feeding on some of the core emotions like fear and disgust, and will have some members of their hives go out of their way to collect them.”

“We'll tell the guards to be on high alert for that sort of thing,” said Twilight.

“While a sound plan that isn't entirely a good idea,” said Chrysalis, “the kind that give them the greatest kick, as it were, happen to be core emotionally energy collected from the very young, since the emotions of young foals tend to be the most pure.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” said Luna, “and a deplorable practice!”

“Which I never took part in, mostly on account of the logistical issues I calculated at the time. My line of reasoning is quite different now. They're also going to be assuming I'm putting on an act, mostly because sincerity and honesty are quite foreign concepts to changeling thing.”

“Don't worry,” said Celestia, “whatever may come of this you can at least be proud you did all you could for a better future for as many parties as possible.”

Author's Note

And here it is folks, the setup for Chrysalis's 'family' coming for a 'visit.' Feel free to suggest names for the remaining changeling foals, don't put name suggestions in the comments (I don't want any potential spoilers are that end, I also don't want any potential spoilers on that front.

Further Preparations

Author's Note

Yes, I finally finished this chapter. Initially I wanted to jump into the arrivals of Chrysalis's family half way into the chapter, but then I realized I needed to explain where the foals were during the proceedings and why it's not a good idea for them to be kept close during the event. I also finally decided on a name for Rarity's daughter, still not hinting who her husband is in this one though, although given Rarity's personality and the name she gave her daughter I'm sure some of you can determine what tribe she is most likely of.

While working on this chapter I got the idea for a spin-off story involving Dusk, Satin and Novel, which I might work on in the future. I intend for the next chapter to begin with everyone arriving for the actual meeting, I'm hoping I get the descriptions of their looks and personalities written close to how I have in my head.

Further Preparations

It was almost a full week after Chrysalis's announcement and Twilight had Chrysalis was hooked into a machine that had a helmet that was uncomfortably close to her horn. The helmet was also making Chrysalis feel a bit uncomfortable for other reasons as well. What was all the more confusing was the array of readout devices next to Twilight, who also happened to have a small collection clipboards on the table next to her, and Seeker seemed to be enjoying her play time with Violet Emerald in the corner of the room Twilight and Chrysalis had set up for them.

“Could you actually explain it to me this time, Twilight,” said Chrysalis as she gave a few apprehensive pokes at her helmet, “you never did explain what we're doing in here or what exactly we're going to be testing.”

“Well, I had to modify the unicorn magic readout device a bit to it make more compatible with changeling magic, then I had to make sure the modifications to the system were well within the margin for error and tolerances, all for this test. It all took much longer than I thought it would, and we are kind of cutting it close, but if this works out we'll be able to better understand the magic changelings naturally use for locating each other, and then just maybe we could devise more effective systems for locating and identifying them, maybe even have portable changeling detection units, when it comes to that Rainbow and Rarity are probably going to insist on some sort of name for it, or insist on using a name derived from whatever acronym I start using for it.”

“So, they're going to insist on calling the device CID,” said Chrysalis, “I'm pretty sure it will take more than a few months worth of testing, and this device is more than a little snug on me. How do you plan for this test to operate? Also, shouldn't Seeker be attending classes?”

“Simple, you use that detecting ability to locate your girls at increasing distances starting with Emerald and moving out further until you're reading their activities at your colony grounds. As for Seeker, I pulled her out so she can keep Emerald distracted, I didn't want your filly messing with the readings in some way, and she'll have all of today's homework waiting for her when we're done here.”

“She does seem to get excited about schoolwork and homework, even so, it will look like favoritism if you keep pulling out select foals that always seem to include your daughter. Maybe have a day every few months that allows parents to take their foals, and maybe some of that foal's friends, out for the day to show them what their jobs look like, you could even choose some other foals to spend the day with their parents and make the claim you started with Seeker because it was just you wanted to start test the idea right away and needed time to set things up with parents of said foals, it's not too late to actually do that.”

“You have a point, and it might help with what I intend for the school.” Twilight took another quick look at the readouts, “Looks like everything is in the green, use your locating ability to see where Emerald is in relation to you.”

Chrysalis gave the violet alicorn a skeptical look before complying, Twilight took a look at the readouts and took some notes down in her log book before gesturing for Chrysalis to extend her range, “Alright, I've extended the range of detection to the school grounds, I'm starting to feel a tingle at the base of my horn.”

“What does that mean?”

“One of three things. It could mean I'm near limit of my magical limits, which I'm pretty sure is far from true; I'm picking up on a strong magical presence in the range, which is likely when you consider what the population of Ponyville is like; I'm picking up on the presence of members of a hive outside my own, which is probably also likely.”

“I'm guessing it's somepony from another hive,” said Twilight as she checked the readouts, “the readings I'm getting are unfamiliar to me. Ugh, it's going to take weeks to go over all this data to just make a basic prototype. We can't have a go any further with your detection, doing so could alert the unknown changelings to the position of your colony grounds, and I'm pretty sure Spike isn't going to like having uninvited guests.”

“Well, none that aren't recognized family.”

Twilight gave a little smile as she looked over the readouts, as she did she started thinking about where to put the rest of the youngsters. “What about Pinkie's place, we can have its activities shut down 'til the meetings are concluded.”

“Easier said than done,” said Chrysalis, “Queens have a tendency hedge their odds. How could we really know any of the ponies that were there to look after them or sent to make checkups were who they claimed? After all, the girls are still learning about their abilities. My three eldest might be able to tell they're dealing with disguised changelings, but the younger ones have yet to properly manifest that ability, and chances are low that any one of the three will be present at any of the official meetings of the ponies sent for reports on what's going on during our meetings. Then you have to take into account most queens have notoriously short interest when comes to meetings and will make go for motions to end the meetings early or attempt to cause critical points of the meeting to be rushed. Then we have to take into account the nature of Pinkie's business, Spike and I ended up doing a bit of a rushed job on a tunnel network near her place for a party that happened a few days ago, and you know how finding proper supervision for all the girls was in regards to that. Even if all the older foals were supervising the younger ones how much success do you think they'd have keeping track of twenty-one changeling foals in addition to the rest of the younger foals? Spike and I are lucky our foals are mostly accommodating, but I think that has more to do with the general sense of safety they have in our home. So, even if all the foals not involved in the meeting were to spend their time in the colony proper we would have to find a way of checking up on them all without leading any potential threats to the colony grounds.”

“Oh, you're right. Not to mention, that's a lot to consider. What about the pet you got from Fluttershy? I'm sure she could be a handy security system.”

“Naga hasn't really grown much since she arrived, besides we really don't know much about salamandra beyond the fact they've evolved to be able to live in high-temperature environments. She could already be full size her kind or grow to a size that dwarf's Spike at his current development level, we just don't know enough about them. From what we've been able to learn from her thus far is that her kind actually seems to prefer a social dynamic of some kind, when we aren't leaving her to herself the girls tend to visit her chambers and she seems to get excited about interacting with them. But as a guard beast, she's not quite intimidating enough, and probably could never be.”

“Fair point, fortunately, your colony grounds are in one of the least hospitable places in Equestria, which is a little odd for anypony to really be saying.”

“Rule one of establishing a colony ground, have the environment work against all potential hostile threats.”

“Sound reasoning when you’re near constantly expecting to be attacked, I think we got some good base data,” she started powering down the device, “I will see you and Emerald in a few days to continue these tests. As for finding a safe place for the foals during this coming meeting period, I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement by the appointed time.”

***************************

Chrysalis and her eldest daughters were on their way from school, alongside Twilight and Seeker, it was eerily quiet for Twilight and Seeker. “Chrysalis, I know for you 'hive speak' is the most secure form of communication,” said Twilight, “but for those of us out of the loop it’s a little creepy.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Chrysalis, “had to tell the girls we won't be going back to our place for a while, and explain why that is. And it's not just the most secure means of communication, remember what else?”

Twilight's eyes went wide with realization, “It also allows you to provided far more detailed information than a verbal communication, you weren't just giving them a brief rundown of things.”

“That's right, I also had to relay this all to Spike, but since he's not part of the link I had to have one of the younger girls act as an intermediary, thankfully due to the way the girls talk there's no confusing anypony between me just using the link to have one of the girls be a messenger and me outright taking control. I would never do the latter to my girls, but most queens are known for doing so without putting much thought or effort into it.”

“Which is why when you called for the meeting you made it clear that no proxies were permitted to take their place during the meeting.”

“Wait,” said Seeker, “are saying Auntie Chrys could do that sort of thing to any of my cousins?”

“Could, but refuses to even entertain the notion,” said Novel, “the only time she'd even be willing to do such a thing is such an extremely low probability it's nearly nonexistent.”

“It's actually had the likelihood jump a bit,” said Chrysalis, “remember why?”

“There are scouts from hostile hives that are now more obviously in town, likely in preparation for your meeting with those other queens that is set to happen next week,” said Dusk.

“And likely also looking for a route to the colony grounds,” said Chrysalis, “it might be a while before we can go back home, so we might stick around with all of you a bit longer than usual, besides we need to work on some plans detecting changelings more effectively.”

“We're all ears,” said Twilight.

“Ahem,” said Chrysalis.

“Oh, right, out in the open with potential unfriendly changelings nearby, I'll call the girls and we hash this out in a more secure environment.”

****************************************

“Well, can't you just do the regular checkups the same way you relayed info to Spike?” Said Rarity.

“I only do that if the situation has a sense of urgency to it,” Chrysalis, “and I always make sure it's one of the more mentally oriented of our daughters, even so, do that as a regular checkup at fixed intervals might alert other hives. We can't really trace hive links, but if they have at least one member close enough to either point they can be made aware that hive based communication is happening, and at a meeting like this that can have dangerous implications.”

“It's too bad you can't share that sort of thing with others outside the hive,” said Fluttershy.

“Um, about that,” said Chrysalis, “I don't know if Spike has shared this or not, but it is possible for a non-changeling to be part of the link.”

The six mares stared at her, carefully Twilight said, “He hasn't shared that, probably thought you either deserved your privacy or didn't think it was important to the research I've been doing. How is that possible?”

“When a changeling first mates with their partner there is a period of a few hours where that partner is part of the hive's link, after that it goes out. I don't really know why that is, but that's just how it goes, I think it might be a system that makes it so the link establishes to ensure that the coming offspring are all tied to the proper psycho-magical frequency, or something to that effect. But it's been years since I first mated with Spike, any potential magical markers for detecting something like that would have broken down into his natural magic field by now.”

“I hate admitting something like that, but you're right. That would still be the case even if I had thought to check for something like that during the checkup he had with me after you two became mates, too much time has passed between the initial exposure and present. I'd probably only have been able to get proper read on that during the time period he was linked into your network. Augh,” Twilight pulled her hands down over her face, “now I'm going to try working on a formula to simulate a changeling hive link communication.”

“On the plus side, it'll probably take years, possibly decades or centuries, for somepony to find a way to listen in on everything, but when that happens they'll probably also end up developing a way to listen in on changeling communications. However, everything has its risks.”

“True enough,” she gave a little smile, “can you imagine what the Royal Guard would be like with equipment that allowed them to communicate at almost the same speed and effectiveness changelings do?”

“Twilight, it's a controlled thought process. That means emotions can travel freely over the link, do you realize the implications of something like that?”

“Yes,” said Fluttershy, “and we've gotten a little off track.”

“Ah agree wid Shy,” said Applejack, “wha’ can we expect from the 'visitin’ dignitaries' a’ this comin’ event?”

“They're going to assume all my genuine behaviors you've come to know are some sort of carefully cultivated act. In fact, they're going assume that all the genuine information we provide willingly is either altered or fabricated. All the news articles you have framed regarding my wedding with Spike, they'll honestly believe them to fake, and confirmation that we all have copies won't dissuade them from that sort of thinking. Even with them all personally confirming that nothing was done to hide the kind of changeling Emerald is they will still not believe the very information they confirmed themselves to be genuinely honest. Most of the meeting is going to be posturing, finger pointing, and several other forms of bluster that really have no place in a meeting of this nature.”

“When it's all over I still get to bust some changeling heads, right?” said Rainbow with genuine interest.

“Only if they step out of line, darling,” said Rarity.

“We're also going have all sorts of rules they have to adhere to when they're in Ponyville and the summit Chrysalis called,” said Pinkie in her usually cheery voice, “after all we don't want them ruining the party.”

“The other princesses will be in attendance,” said Twilight, “That should limit their options a bit.”

“We can only hope,” said Chrysalis who then turned her attention to Emerald, who had been sleeping in her lap the entire time. Looking back up at the other mares Chrysalis said, “Changeling meeting conventions are a bit different than you might expect, especially since they’ll doubt my current natural state is genuine. They will bring up subject matters that ponies find uncomfortable, and really won’t care that such matters are not talked about in the sort of setting the meeting is.”

**********************************************

“That seems like a reasonable plan,” said Celestia, she and Chrysalis were having some tea in Canterlot while Luna played with Emerald off to the side, “but what about a navigation plan?”

“I was thinking we let our passengers decide,” said Chrysalis, “we just need to have an airship big enough for all the foals not involved in the meeting, and those whose partners are not involved can also be on board an accompanying ship, but both ships will plot their own courses for where they’ll be going and docking during the meeting. I figured if we don’t know where they’re headed it will be harder for hostile infiltrators to find them, we’ll also keep communications to a minimum for security reasons. Also, the ships will be devoid of their crews and be completely operated by the passengers, it’ll have the added bonuses of both cutting out possible hostile infiltrators and giving the older foals something to do when they’re not on sitter duty.”

“Makes sense, but what about everypony else.”

“Those involved with the meeting will most likely be on high alert for changelings that are acting as influencers, subtle or otherwise. I wish there was more we could do for everypony else, but sadly, all we can really do is send out a citywide alert to Ponyville and let them know as much as we can, and hopefully not incite a panic in the process.”

“That shouldn’t be too much of an issue, over the time Twilight has lived in Ponyville the town has gained a bit of reputation for having some unusual happenings on a rather regular basis. Also, thanks for bringing Emerald, Luna just adores foals.”

“I was sort of counting on that, something about Emerald triggers the ‘cuteness’ response in others, so far the only ones that seem to have a resistance to it are Luna and myself. She nearly stopped her father’s heart with her first dig, and when she found the water source outside Twilight’s castle she and some of the girls almost had cardiac arrests themselves.”

“And to your knowledge, no changelings have had this distinctive quality before.”

“That is correct, Twilight has theorized that the type of changeling actually influences their natural defenses. Since Emerald is a changeling whose natural abilities mostly focus around locating and procuring resources it stands to reason she would have a natural defense that would be designed for affecting the widest possible number of potentially hostile forces. From what I’m told about the ‘cuteness effect’ it has the ability to quickly pacify most hostile forces, add to the fact she probably will develop to being a completely non-hostile changeling herself once fully matured and you have a near perfect new citizen for Equestria. Novel, Dusk, and Satin might be my most matured offspring, but I’m pretty sure I want the face of my new hive to be Emerald.”

“I would like to say that is a rather beautiful sentiment, and what are your thoughts on our husbands regarding meeting?”

“Spike’s presence at the meet will most likely be mandatory, for a variety of reasons; Flash will likely have to make his presence at the meeting known as well, seeing as he is both Twilight’s husband head of her security; Discord can feel free to pop in if he feels like it, besides putting him on schedule is beyond an exercise in futility.”

“True, and the other spouses?”

“The meeting shouldn’t have to interrupt their regular lives, if they can be part of the proceedings that would be appreciated, but they should probably keep out to their other duties. As for the foals going on their little air ride, it’s more of precaution to keep them from popping up during the proceedings or being forced put those in the meeting in a potentially compromising position.”

“Cadance will probably insist on Skyla being part of the proceedings, I will leave Lucent an open invitation for both events, it’ll be entirely up to her.”

“Given their personalities that seems prudent. Of course, now we have to teach some of the older foals how to operate an airship, that might prove more time consuming than we think.”

“Then we had best get started,” said Luna as she came up to the two with a sleeping Violet Emerald in her arms.

“Agreed,” said Celestia as she and Chrysalis got up from their places.

“The first part of all this will have to be finding an airship that is both big enough to house all the foals that won’t be at the proceedings that meets both the needs of them and their parents, and maybe some of their other ‘criteria’ for a…”

“Roadtrip,” said Celestia.

“Then let us begin with getting a list of every serviceable airship for the task,” said Luna, “after we have weeded out the ones that are not within the proper margin we can bring that list to the rest and have work on separating the wheat from the chaff.

***************************************

“I’m sorry you want to leave our foals under only the supervision of older, and hopefully more responsible, foals on what?” said Rarity in a very surprised voice.

“An airship,” said Chrysalis without changing her composure or having her voice remain even, “believe it or not this a legitimate safety measure.”

“Ah don’t see how,” said Applejack.

“Because of their abilities anypony we assign to join them could prove to be a changeling at an inopportune time,” said Twilight, but I don’t see why we can’t just send the foals to some distant location and have them remain supervised by somepony we trust.”

“Do you want to take the chance your ‘trusted associate’ turns out to some kind of changeling that’s been hiding on orders from another hive for years. In case you forgot, Twilight, ‘reconnaissance’ is still permitted in territories marked as off limits under the Changeling Accords, and each queen has her own ideas of what constitutes reconnaissance.”

“Oh yeah, forgot about that part,” said Rainbow Dash, “and even if they aren’t one of their neighbors or associates in the area might.”

“Changeling meetings are a headache,” said Pinkie, “none of them have fun surprises.”

“Why do think the queens meet once every few decades?” said Chrysalis.

“Well, I’m onboard with the airship idea,” said Rainbow, “of course I was the moment you mentioned it.”

“I’m not sure about it all,” said Fluttershy, “but if it will keep our foals safe I’m in as well.”

“Well, Fortune has been asking fer more responsibility, this mite serve as a good learnin’ experience. Ah’m in.”

“A place for the foals have lots of fun uninterrupted, you know I’m all for that,” said Pinkie Pie.

Rarity gave an exasperated sigh before saying, “Since I’m clearly outvoted, I’m in on this plan as well. But that doesn’t mean I like it, Palladium Nonpareil better not have anything bad happen to her.”

“Well, looks like everypony is behind this plan,” said Twilight, “Celestia, Luna and Chrysalis did some looking into suitable vessels, it’s up to us to decide on which wins out and work on putting anything it’s missing, as long as it isn’t superfluous or lacking some kind of practicality to it,” on instinct everyone’s attention drifted to Rarity.

“I admit, I’m not quite as much a victim of that mindset as I was in the past, but just to be on the safe side maybe Applejack, Twilight and Chrysalis could act as buffers, for both Pinkie and myself.”

“Maybe we should all act as buffers for each other,” said Chrysalis, “we all have tendencies to make design choices that might prove detrimental. And we have to do it all quickly, the meeting is just around the corner.” All the mares around the table gave a quick nod before Chrysalis and Twilight pulled out some files on over three dozen different ships and everpony got to work looking over their choices, a process that would ultimately lead so far into their activities that they would take two meals and reschedule everything else for that day and the next, while at the table.

Here are the Queens, somepony pray for...well, everything

Author's Note

Yes dear faithful, the chapter title said it is clearly time to meet the queens. I just hope I managed to write them all in a way that does all the build up justice. Just to reiterate, in case you forgot, they do not have nice personalities.

And let me just say this now, this is another of the longest chapters I have ever written. Although, I purposefully wanted this to be a long chapter because of all the stuff I needed to squeeze into it. Especially with how long ago the last update to the story was.

I'm also considering working on a spinoff story revolving around the foals on their little airship ride, but afraid of the problem that shifting focus like that during this story might ruin the quality it. If anyone wants to do that instead PM and we'll hammer out the details and I'll see about leaving some notes to help if needed.

Here are the Queens, somepony pray for...well, everything

“I can’t believe it took that long to make the necessary changes to the airship, did we have to go this far?” said Twilight.

“The airship was decided by majority rule,” said Chrysalis, “and on top of that it is in midst of being renamed for some reason.”

“Sorry about that,” said Luna as she held Emerald, something the night alicorn had insisted on, “it was part of a small set of vessels that were named after villains in Equestria’s past, the idea of the ponies responsible was to have the names of the villains become associated with the good deeds of the ships.”

“While I appreciate the thought,” said Twilight, “the execution needed much more work than they thought, also we need those same villains to help in the instruction of Equestria’s new generations.”

“It’s why I insisted they keep the records of the old me in the education system,” said Chrysalis, “and when I begin instructing any future queens I have their lesson plans that will also have heroes and villains, a lot of villains when I get to referring to changeling history.”
“What about the Accords? Surely those queens could be considered heroes,” said Twilight.

“The queens that founded the original Accords, which has undergone a few minor revisions over the past few centuries, were closer to being heroes than most other changelings, to be honest, no changeling queen has actually had the distinction of truly meeting the criteria for a hero,” said Chrysalis, “the original five that established the first Accords did so more out of desire to not come into conflict with hives they deemed unworthy and have a set of basic rules for those that were willing to cooperate with one another, that’s all really. I suppose you could say I came the closest, but I’m still far from having anything akin to hero status.”

“Even if their motives were obviously self-serving,” said Luna, “they may have been unintentional heroes for creating a set of guidelines that have allowed the changelings to continue into the modern era. And you for instigating on a massive reform of policies on a personal level might be seen as a hero for starting the foundations on which future generations of your kind can build. We might not be heroes or villains in our own time, but when others look back they might see something we never did in the present.”

“History will probably look back on this coming event with mixed views, as is the case with many events that can potentially shape the culture of nations,” said Chrysalis.

“You’re probably right,” said Twilight, “but in the meantime, this ship needs a new name. Any suggestions?”
The three mares sat in thought for a bit, with Emerald gently sleeping in Luna’s embrace, before Chrysalis said, “How about, Youthful Adventure. Since we’ll be putting most of our foals on the ship, and it has been modified for them.”

“Mostly,” said Twilight, “you insisted that the air heating apparatus be modified to house your pet salamandra.”

“She’s the girls’ pet, and I have a feeling leaving her alone for extended periods without the possibility of the girls coming to see her might prove detrimental to her health.”

“On the plus side,” Luna, “by merely using the chamber to house her and her food supply the ship will need less fuel or interference by unicorns with knowledge of heat based spells to keep it aloft, and potentially lighten the load by a notable margin.”

“Let’s get it to Ponyville, get the foals loaded up, provide the elder ones with instructions on how to operate the vessel, and send them on their way,” said Chrysalis, “I’m sure some of them will be happy they can make a go at being a bit like their moms from way back when.”

“Um, right, I almost forgot we’re forgoing the crew for the ship to cut down on possible changeling infiltrators,” said Twilight with a sheepish look on her face, “and Chrysalis will be there the whole time to let us know if she finds something a bit off.”

********************************************************************************

“Alright, that’s the last of our precious cargo loaded on the boat,” said Rarity, “Oh, how I wish we could join them on this voyage, it’s been ages since I was on a proper ship.”
Applejack gave an eyeroll before saying, “Work b’fer pleasure, ya know t‘at rule as much as Ah do. An’ we got a pretty hefty job ahead o’ us in a few hours, Ah just wish we weren’t cutting et so darn close.”

The main 6 and Chrysalis were gathered around the airship after making sure their foals were all settled in, as Chrysalis had anticipated her girls had requested Naga join them on the trip, so the room that now contained a salamandra in the heating torch house was also partially filled with partially dehydrated food in one half of the room and a small collection of volcanic plants that were mature enough to harvest that Chrysalis and Spike had been growing in some of the chambers that Naga spent the majority of her time. Also, as anticipated, the Apple foals wanted to bring a dog along for the ride, so one of the older pups that they had been raising on the farm was loaded up with a small supply of dog food in one of the rooms that the elder Apples had chosen to occupy. The younger foals were bunking at four to six to a room while the older ones, some of which were technically no longer foals, were given the option of bunking with another pony of similar age or having their own personal room on the ship. The ship’s storerooms had been loaded with enough provisions to last almost a month after you took into account the consumption rates of all the occupants.

After watching the ship take off, without knowing which of their offspring was at the helm, in a generally southeastern direction they all headed back into the castle. “Maybe next year,” said Rarity dreamily.

“Focus on what we’re here for before you start making plans,” said Twilight, “we don’t know which will be making their entrance first, and I would like to keep the surprised reactions on the low side of things.”
When they entered the palace Flash reported, “The entire town, and any known visitors, have been notified since this morning of what will soon be going down; the staff are sticking to the week long break you announced to them yesterday; all guards have been ordered to observe but not apprehend any individuals acting a bit off; all the town’s schools are having field trips for all the classes in lesser seen or known parts of the country; and Spike is by the table acting like a bit of a nervous wreck. Thankfully, he’s been with Emerald this entire time, so he’s not a complete wreck.”

“So, business as usual,” said Chrysalis as she made her her way over to Spike, “you don’t look so good, honey.”
“I was really hoping this day wouldn’t come,” said Spike hugging an oblivious looking Violet Emerald closer, “and that forty-page pamphlet on changeling diplomatic practices you gave everypony that has to be here on didn’t help much.”

“Well, at least you had company,” said Chrysalis before giving the changeling filly a tap on the head to alert her to her mother’s nearby presence. “I anticipate the event will begin its start shortly.”

No sooner had she said this than what looked like a model quality, sea green unicorn sauntered in with what looked like a pair of seafoam white pegasus personal guards in well-tailored, black business suits. Even from her stride, it was easy to tell she held nothing but contempt for all those around her.

Chrysalis let out a displeased groan as she turned to the unicorn, “Of course the first one to show up for this had to be her!” The ponies and dragon gave the violet colored changeling queen a look that asked her to expand on the statement. “Everypony, this is Nymph and her visible escort.”

The unicorn’s voice came out rather attractive, but dripping with contempt, “Ruining the fun for everyone, as always,” said the mare as dark blue tinted emerald flames engulfed her and her bodyguards to reveal a changeling queen with a surprisingly attractive figure that was a shade of blue so dark it almost verged on black and could only truly be defined as villainous, her guards revealed to be a similar sort of coloration. The contemptuous voice of the queen had the added bonus of sounding like like a partial gurgle within her reverberating echo-like voice, “This little farce of yours will be short lived, good call on getting a dragon in here, it’s a good intimidation tactic, and having multiple alicorns at the whole thing is also an effective show of power.” She didn’t see the young changeling in Spike’s grasp, mostly having to do with the angle at which she was in relation to him.
“Well, you were right, Chrys, she is a piece of work,” said, Spike, “and my assessment of her before making actual contact also proved to be more accurate than I suspected.”

“You warned them about us,” said Nymph with a bit more menace entering her contempt layered tone, “of course you did.”

“I didn’t think any of them would be making an entrance before Princess Celestia or Princess Luna,” said Rainbow Dash in her characteristic brash voice. The other mares remained quiet and resolute, aside from Fluttershy who was making a go at hiding behind Twilight and Applejack while maintaining her silence.

“You best drop your disguise now, failure,” said Nymph, “you maintaining a guise while all the other queens are forced to show their true states is a bad way to start this off.”

“This is my natural state,” said Chrysalis with an agitated buzz of her wings to emphasize things, “as for how long that’s been, you’ll have to wait until all the delegates arrive, I don’t want to have to repeat myself several times.”

Shortly later there was a flash of light from inside the castle’s library and Princess Luna walked into the room to behold the sight, “I see one of the visiting dignitaries is already here, I was hoping we’d have another hour or so before any of this.”

“Princess Luna, why are coming out of the library for the castle?” Twilight inquired, mostly in an attempt to diffuse what she saw as a coming volatile situation.

“You can thank my sister’s husband for that, he thought it would be amusing to ‘tweak’ my teleportation destination a bit.”
“That definitely sounds like him,” said Rarity with a huff, “at least his antics have toned down since the old days.” Looking over Luna’s fine dress, which was a light charcoal color, she said, “that’s a lovely dress, but are you sure it’s effective enough to convey your presence properly?”

“I suppose not,” said Luna, “but I wanted to wear something simple, yet elegant, to this event. Besides, my sister will likely be wearing enough overly ornate vestments for the both of us.” She then took quick stock of the outfits all those present were wearing. Twilight was in a regal pink, a nice nod to her extended family, dress and had her mane done up in a business bun; Applejack was in slightly nicer clothes than her usual attire, and had switched her trademark stetson for a bun that almost mirrored Twilight’s; Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind her friends, was in an ornate forest green dress with her mane done up in a pair of buns on either side of the back of her head; Rainbow Dash was in her Wonderbolts dress uniform, which looked like it had been freshly cleaned, and had her mane looking much more professional than her near-trademark messy head look; Rarity was in a dark violet dress that almost perfectly matched up with Violet Emerald’s natural color, just more evidence of the fashionista drawing inspiration from the changeling filly, and had her mane done up in a Prench braid that was held together by a massive, orange mane tie that also sported her mark in three different areas; Pinkie was dressed in a cherry red dress with her usual hairstyle, the dress also sported her mark on the abdominal region; Chrysalis was in a dark orange dress that had a green dragon flame emblazoned on the chest, her mane was done up in a style that looked like it was half business bun and half Prench braid; Spike was in an indigo business suit with a green shirt and tie that matched Chrysalis’s coloration. As for Violet Emerald, whom she could see quite well from her vantage point, the changeling filly was once again in an orange outfit that sported her favorite gem, which could be seen peeking out of a pocket on the right side of the waist. Luna then noticed that the visiting queen didn’t seem to have noticed the changeling filly yet, which was probably for the best at the moment.

Almost as soon as she was done she noticed the attire of Nymph and her guards, it was so simplistic she had almost thought the attire had been made in a hurry with no regard for who it was that would be wearing it, which from Chrysalis’s description of changeling clothing trends was fairly accurate. Chrysalis hadn’t started wearing more sophisticated attire until after she had found herself in the forced situation that had led to a more civil relation with everyone in Equestria, which some ponies were still getting used to.

Shortly after Luna had looked over Violet Emerald a flash announced Celestia as she gracefully entered the room from the outside, she was adorned from horn tip to hoof tip in her regal regalia that was set aside for “special” occasions. The platinum accentuated gold vestments were more akin to a sort of decorative armor than anything else. Her daughter followed close behind, her vestments that were a reverse scheme of her mother’s. Discord followed behind, floating upside down in a green stripe and polka dot gold business suit, complete with an overly ridiculous pompadour hat that was capped with a rainbow colored feather.

When Celestia entered she had her stride and visage did not betray her disdain for Nymph when she gazed upon the blue changeling queen. The fact one was present already did not bode well, thankfully she had been there when Twilight had hatched a game plan a few days prior should something like this arise. She wouldn’t deny that nymph had an attractive physical figure, but the contempt and disdain that practically radiated from her told the ivory alicorn all she needed to know.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Cadance, Shining Armor, and Skyla made their entrance. Cadance was in a set of pink diamond accented gold armor that bore her mark on the bosom; Shining was in his formal guard uniform and showing that he might be putting it through multiple washings in rapid succession when this event was over. Skyla was in a formal dress that was in Twilight’s colors.

*********************************************************

After waiting another solid hour the rest of the “delegates” began arriving. The approach to all of them, including Nymph, would take some finessing that even had Celestia doubting her political skills would be close to enough. Having multiple changeling queens, no matter what the reason, in the same complex, is an easy way to get more than a few recipes for disaster.

The next delegate waltzed in as a forest green unicorn accompanied by a pair of tree brown earth pony guards. Chrysalis didn’t even bother with a groan and just said, “For those of you haven’t yet had the distinction of meeting her, this is Queen Cicada.” Upon her name being announced Cicada and her guards dropped their guises. Cicada was pretty much how she was in Chrysalis’s memories, a dark green changeling Queen with a much more jagged looking horn. Her attire was a robe of dark brown, an aesthetic choice that had Rarity flinching involuntarily at the lack of proper color complementation.

“Nice to see your manners haven’t completely left you, Chrysalis,” said Cicada in her hive’s distinct reverberating murderous tone, one that had been surprisingly downplayed when Chrysalis’s memories had been viewed. “I take it we’re waiting for the rest, not that I see a need to hurry this along, the end result will be the same,” she ended with a snicker that indicated she was beyond confident, possibly even beyond prideful, that the way she envisioned the proceedings ending would be how they would ultimately go down. Cicada’s self-importance was far greater than Twilight, Celestia, and Luna had surmised up to that point. It seemed that in an effort to minimize her personal trauma’s impacts Chrysalis had subconsciously toned the personalities of her mother and sisters to a point that was far more manageable for her psyche to maintain, or perhaps it was a side effect of her bonding with Spike.
Almost twenty minutes after that a black coated pegasus mare with a pair of honey yellow unicorn guards entered. Once again Chrysalis didn’t bother to make her displeasure audible. “And now we have, Queen Vespa.” At the announcement, a deep wasp-colored changeling and her guards dropped their guises, a set of retractable stingers could be seen on the forearms of each.

“I see you’re playing a different game now, defect,” said Vespa with her hive’s reverberating buzz in her voice. The muddy yellow outfits of the outfits that adorned her and her guards were only slightly better aesthetically than the outfit adorned by those in Cicada’s hive. Vespa narrowed her eyes at Spike, who was doing an admirable job shielding Violet Emerald from the view of each of new changelings.

“We’re still waiting on some more...guests,” said Twilight tactfully, “once you’ve all arrived and assembled we’ll all make our way to the conference room that has been prepared for all of this.”

“I find this forethought to be acceptable,” said Cicada, “best keep private matters private.”
A few minutes later a crimson unicorn flanked by a scarlet pegasus and a cherry earth pony decided to cut in. Chrysalis suppressed another groan as she said, “For those who haven’t had the distinction of meeting her, Culicidae.”

“Giving introductions now,” said the blood colored changeling with a murderous tone to her voice as she and her guards dropped their guises.

“I suppose that’s all the participants,” said Cicada, “let’s get to it so tha…”
A regal looking silvery blue unicorn sashayed into the room with a steely blue earth pony and aurora blue pegasus as her guards. “I had a feeling you’d make an entrance,” said Chrysalis, “For those of you who haven’t had the...privilege of meeting her, Queen Arachne.”

“A lovely formal introduction,” said Arachne in her hive’s distinctive silky reverberation, “I look forward to your contributions before the inevitable.”

“As long as she hasn’t violated any of the major taboos I think we’ll be fine,” said Cicada.
The ponies and Spike just gave each other looks out of the corner of their eyes, that is until Arachne and her guards changed to their true forms. Smoky silk tinted flames flared up to reveal changelings who had their lower halves appear like that of a spider’s abdomen with eight, long, surprisingly thick, yet spindly, legs that ended in hoof-like protrusions. What almost caught The ponies and Spike a little off guard were the metallic stripes along their limbs. Her guards had bronze stripes going along their limbs. Arachne herself had platinum stripes that joined together into web patterns at key points on her body. She was beautiful, terrifying and mysterious all at the same time in that moment, much the way Chrysalis had been raised to believe were needed to be projected by Changeling queens.

“We should head for the meeting room,” said Twilight after coming out of her short trance, and in doing so breaking the others from theirs. The only ones not caught in the trance were Spike, who was paying more attention to keeping his daughter safe; Chrysalis, who had a natural immunity thanks to her properties as a changeling queen and Violet Emerald, who despite looking straight at the visiting queens while in her father’s protection seemed more interested in why the visitors insisted on either mocking her mother and those closest to her or putting on a mostly pointless show. With all that taken care of, they entered an extravagant meeting room, from the looks of it the room had been done up to look more in line with impressing Canterlot nobles than the simplistic approach that Twilight was more well-known for. Arachne gave a smirk as they began to follow Twilight. Spike, with Violet Emerald and Chrysalis, were bringing up the rear. Flash remained behind to close the doors and had no intention of hearing what was going in that meeting room. Once they were all in the room the ‘visiting’ queens finally noticed the infant changeling.

“Your first future queen, pity she won’t make it much longer,” said Cicada with a sense of certainty as they all sat down at the table.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said Chrysalis, “but I haven’t had any potential new queens yet, besides my hive is too small to be worrying about that sort of thing.”

“Just how big is your hive,” said Vespa with no vested interest in her voice. Twilight and the other princesses, along with Spike and Shining Armor, noticed this almost instantly.

“Less than fifty, I would give the exact number but I’m sure you really don’t care that much. After all, you have no real interest in that answer, you are just asking those kinds of questions because at this point it’s just a tradition for a queen at royal meetings.”

“You’re right, we don’t care,” said Nymph indignantly, “this is all a massive waste of time, chances are before this little ‘meeting’ is done you’ll lie bleeding on the floor and then all we have to do is wipe your hive off the map.”

All the visiting queens blinked, “I assume one of you ‘princesses’ has something to do with this,” said Arachne, “so, what’s the criteria on the spell?”

“Something you are not likely to overpower,” said Twilight, “ with Applejack’s permission,” she gestured to the orange mare, “I tapped into the element of Honesty to create a ‘Sphere of Honest Truth’ around the entire town, it was activated the moment the door to the castle closed. Anytime one any of us here decides to lie the spell will make it so we say the truth of the matter and may also have to say what our intended lie was. There is no loophole to this particular spell you can exploit, none of us in attendance is omitted from the spell’s purview, and should you decide to leave the designated area of the spell you will find your return to it will have you once again unable to lie. I take it Nymph chose to use some sort of elaborate lie as an intimidation tactic. Honestly speaking, I’m glad you stumbled upon instead of asking for a demonstration after being told and likely not believing any of it, even when it was all proven true.”

“Chrysalis told us about how one queen would usually cast a powerful truth spell over the delegation area with the added ‘bonus’ of omitting herself from that very spell,” said Celestia.

“Twilight actually agreed with having a spell to keep everyone present honest, in word at the very least,” said Cadance, “so she worked out how to make sure that everyone, including the caster of the spell, was so at this meeting.”

“Because of our connection to the Elements of Harmony,” said Rainbow Dash, “we’re listed one of Equestria’s greatest groups of defenders, there are only six elements, but the element of Magic is a gateway unit to the others.”

“Which means if the one connected with Magic is in agreement with any of the other Element conectees,” said Pinkie with a bit a giggle at her use of wording, “they can temporarily take advantage that other element’s power, of course, we didn’t find that out until, like,” she did a quick check of her memory, which meant her comical thinking face, “four years after we formed our connections with the Elements. Twilight set it up so that we’d all be under the effects of the spell for the entirety of this event. And to make matters worse, you all seem to clearly hate parties.”

“Parties are mostly a waste of time,” said Culicidae, “they only serve to bring multiple targets into one place so we can take advantage of them.”

“Oh, now you’re definitely not getting a ‘Now You’re Leaving, but at Least we had Fun’ party,” said Pinkie, “but we’ll probably have a ‘Now the Meanies are Gone, Let’s Celebrate’ party.”

“Just don’t make it too loud, you have to remember quite a few in attendance to that party won’t even be a full year old yet,” said Chrysalis as she took Emerald from Spike’s hold.

“I see you decided to stunt the development of your offspring to make feel closer to raising ponies, Chrysalis,” said Cicada.

“I’ve done no such thing,” said Chrysalis, “it turns out when the aggressively fast maturation cycle of a changeling meets the aggressively slow maturation cycle of a dragon you end up with offspring that develop at a rate closer to ponies than anything else. And before you say anything else, she is six months old and part of what I want to discuss with you.”

“Your concerns are of little consequence to us,” said Cicada, “as far as we’re concerned they might as well not exist.”

“And that right there is your main problem,” said Chrysalis, “you are only concerned about your personal agendas and short-term gains. I, on the other hand, have been thinking in the long term,” she took a seat, with Emerald still in her hold, and gestured for those in attendance to do the same. Twilight, the princesses, and Shining armor were not surprised by her attempts to take command of the situation, she had shown quite an effective aptitude for it in the past.

“I can appreciate wanting to try thinking a few centuries ahead,” said Arachne as she and everyone else took their seats. All the visiting changelings made a visible show of choosing seat opposing the one Chrysalis was in, with their visible guards standing while flanking their respective queens. Spike and Twilight chose seats closest to Chrysalis with Twilight’s friends choosing seats on either side of the pair for a more concise show of solidarity. Celestia and Luna were sitting next to each other at one head of the table, while Shining Armor, Cadance, and Discord were seated at the other table head. Which left only a few empty seats for Lucent and Skyla on the side with the ponies, Spike and Chrysalis. They chose seats that were the closest possible seats to their respective mothers. “But you must understand this is how things have to be,” she continued.

“No,” said Chrysalis giving Emerald an affectionate nuzzle, which caused all the visibly visiting changelings to blanch at the act, “it’s how you think things should be. What happens when the changelings are down to the last two hives? Will the last ones still standing continue their struggle ignorant of impending mutual destruction? Or will things play out differently? It’s not something you can brazenly answer now, nor is something you should readily dismiss just because you think such mental exercises aren’t worth your time.”

“And really not something we should really concern ourselves with,” said Cicada.

“Actually, it is,” said Arachne, which caught almost all of the delegates off guard, “while we have experienced a period relative stability, when compared to the era that predates our current agreements, there is a good chance the current power structure will prove less viable as the total number of hives becomes noticeably fewer. Even if we hadn’t been...directed into this ‘meeting’, another of its kind would have been organized at a later date. At the very least, we should acknowledge that this attempt is being made, even if it is through a queen that is designated for termination by all hives that are not her own.”

“Fine,” said Nymph, “what role does that drone even have being here?”

“Just because she’s not a queen does not mean she is a drone,” said Chrysalis indignantly, “as far as I’m concerned, she’s my daughter. Also, every single member of my hive has a sense of self-awareness, she is no exception. As I said before when changeling and dragon genetics mix they can produce unusual results. This big, purple dork,” she gestured at Spike, “is an earth dragon, and as such all members of my hive possess the properties of a tunneler type changeling.”

“A useful feature to have,” said Cicada, “but ultimately useless when not optimized properly.”

“This little cutie is different from the other members of my hive thus far, she does not fall into any of the prior categories used to designate the different kinds of changelings within a hive. If you do not believe me then feel free to check for yourselves.”

“I’m still skeptical of your claims that your mate is a dragon, but we’ll leave that for later said,” Culicidae as he put her focus on Violet Emerald, along with the other queens. When they did they attempted to strip away any false identification the changeling filly might have, which has always been a common tactic among changeling queens to lower the guard of other changelings. What they found was the information Chrysalis had provided regarding the age and caste of the infant were completely factual with no attempts to hide anything, regardless they didn’t believe such confirmations until their twelfth go through in analyzing the infant.

“It has been ages since the emergence of a new caste,” said Arachne as she turned her attention to the rest of the delegation after the three-minute long analysis of Emerald’s natural magic field. “You can understand our ‘desire’ for confirmation, even the age you gave us was accurate. A...worker type changeling has no place in a hive if it progresses at such a slow rate.”

“That and, we doubt a changeling like this is worthy of having in any hive,” said Vespa with a bit of a sneer.

“Oh yes, because a changeling with the ability to naturally ‘sniff out’ potentially valuable resources such as gems and water is completely useless,” snarked Rainbow Dash, “seriously, she’s probably one of the most valuable progressions in the history of the changelings with just her ability, and that’s not even considering her natural defense system.”

“Defensive ability? I see none,” said Culicidae with indignation.

“It’s called the ‘cuteness factor,’ and it’s quite effective,” said Chrysalis, “allow me to explain. Mammals, a variety of birds, and even some varieties of dragon have an inborn physical trait that decreases their likeliness of being harmed, this is commonly referred as trait known as ‘cuteness’ and actually comes in a few levels, and usually dulls as they get on in years. This little cutie here,” she nuzzled Violet Emerald again, to the visible disdain of the visiting changeling rulers, “was born with an increased capacity for ‘cuteness’ and currently sits rather high on the level of cuteness known ‘adorable’ and with this natural defense she’s able to preemptively avoid intentional harm, in fact with entities that are rather high on among the cuteness levels a common reaction among those that unintentionally hurt something ‘cute’ is to take it somewhere safe and care for it until it has healed and then let it loose or continue to care for it.”

“I highly doubt anything could have such an effective defense through the portrayal of its own vulnerability,” said Cicada.

As if on cue Violet Emerald took out her gem and started suckling on it. To Chrysalis and the gathered Equestrian representatives, this had a reduced effect due to their increased exposure to such things. The visiting queens and their visible guard, on the other hand, were suddenly struck with what cuteness could do. Cicada, despite her viciously self-serving tendencies, was hit with the sudden urge to see that the young changeling filly was unharmed. Culicidae, despite her tendencies towards ruthlessly feeding on all vulnerable creatures, felt the strong urge to not do what she would normally do. Vespa, despite her ruthlessly callous nature, actually felt sympathy for the changeling filly that proved so overwhelming she dared not see her harmed, she didn’t like it but couldn’t control her reaction as much as she wanted. Nymph displayed a desire to comfort the young filly, which given her nature was completely out of character. Arachne surprised everyone with just looking content to watch the young filly in a safe environment. Their guard, all of them, just made a heart-clutching motion and fainted from the cuteness overload.

To the surprise of the visiting queens Chrysalis showed the same level of care for the filly she did earlier, “Looks like my little girl is feeling a little uncomfortable,” said Chrysalis in a motherly tone as she picked up the changeling filly, “do you want to go back to being with daddy?” Violet Emerald just nodded, while still suckling on her gemstone. Chrysalis handed Violet Emerald over to Spike and said, “since the impromptu demo is over, maybe you two should head outside for a bit, we’ll probably be joining in a few minutes anyway.” Spike nodded and stepped out of the room with Emerald, shutting the door as he did.

“You all had a reactionary response to her, we could all tell,” said Twilight.

“And most of you probably didn’t like it very much,” said Rarity, “none of this was planned, the only plan was to have you all sit down and actually have a conversation without any falsehoods was the only plan.”

“Regardless of whether that’s all true or not, I still don’t believe what you said regarding the truth spell,” said Cicada in her usual voice, “that little display was impressive, a defensive measure that triggers involuntary responses to ensure safety to the one imposing the sensation is impressive and useful.”

“That’s just her natural defenses doing what they’re designed to do,” said Chrysalis, “the real astounding part is her natural ability to locate potentially valuable resources. Her father observed the first case, that’s where she got the gem she goes everywhere with, and the second time was before Princess Twilight and her friends and led to the construction of the fountain out front of this building.”

“She also helped locate some water that enabled us to help Applejack’s family establish a few more wells,” said Rainbow Dash, “she’s quite the amazing little filly.”

“Eeyup,” said Applejack, “an' et doesn’t ‘urt tha’ she’s a real agreeable sort. She may bae a little rambunctious bu’ she’s alsa really friendly like.”

“Not to mention Photo Finish herself is working on how to bring Spike, Chrysalis and all their girls together in an upcoming family themed calendar,” said Rarity, “she’s still trying to decide what month the little cutie-pie,” this earned bit of a giggle from Pinkie, “will be the centerfold for, and that’s not to mention how her cuteness has helped my business and various others.”

“Yeah,” said Pinkie in an excited voice, “you would not believe how many folks change their travel and business plans when they see something adorable near or in a business. Why I bet something like her could easily…” the rest descended into an incoherent babble.

“Point is,” said Fluttershy, “her appearance and mannerisms are more than enough to garner our love. And Chrysalis reassures her almost daily about how much she’s cared about.”

“I suppose I do tell her how much mommy loves quite a bit,” Chrysalis with a little smirk, “that’s another thing I’ve found about my current state, a strong sensation of genuine emotions. Dragons have a rather intense emotion spectrum, especially after they reach certain points in their maturation cycles. I fully experience emotions far greater than before and have been told more so than most ponies as well. It’s a point of pride for me, maybe not you, and also part of the reason I’ve formed the relationship with Equestria that I have.”

“You really have fallen a long way,” said Cicada with a tone that was a mix of annoyed and disappointed, not even bothering to address what was said about the changeling filly.

“So, she’s brought a good harvest for a few months,” said Vespa, “that’s not very impressive.”

“Actually, I haven’t made a go at feeding off the emotions of Equestria's citizens for the past five years,” said Chrysalis, “my husband is more than enough to sustain me if I want to go that route. Of course, I haven’t really done anything like that in the past few years either. I’ve managed to sustain myself, and current hive members, on a diet modeled after that of Equestria’s citizens.”

“Speaking of models and citizenry,” said Twilight, “Chrysalis has displayed the properties of being a model citizen. She’s done quite a few helpful services for many of Equestria’s citizens.”

“Some of which were more than happy to provide her with compensations,” said Celestia.

“And her attempts to make her daughters,” said Luna, “and Equestria’s citizen’s comfortable with each other are highly appreciated. Of course, I’m quite insistent on forming connections with Equestria’s youth, I simply adore foals, Chrysalis’s are no exception. They’re all quite cute at very young ages, but the daughter she brought into this meeting seems to have a natural aspect to her that causes her to continue to be cute as she matures. It’s actually quite fascinating, in fact after this is all over… oh, I got a little off topic there for a moment. Point is, Chrysalis has made the extra effort to atone for her past deeds.”
The visiting queens all huffed before Cicada said, “Chrysalis may have been a failure, but at least she knew how to play the long game.”

“That seems almost comically accurate for you, Cicada,” said Chrysalis in a deadpan serious tone, “considering Nymph, Culicidae, Vespa and myself were all your little testing projects,” this of course caused the named queens and Arachne to turn their attention to Cicada with bit more interest than was usually shown, “five years ago, ironically the same day I began my reformation, I took an involuntary look at my memories and realized something. Something monumental, at least s far as I can tell. When you created new queens you altered the chemical composition of their egg sacks, that’s nothing new since to create a queen you add and thus alter their chemicals, but that’s not what I mean. I mean you adjusted the chemicals after you confirmed the Queen Chemical was part of the mix, in particular, altered the mix for each of us to amplify what you determined the ‘perfect’ changeling to have. Nymph was altered to be more effectively display seductive attributes, Vespa was altered to be more aggressive, Culicidae was altered to be more ruthless, and you altered me to possess more defined intellectual capabilities while we were still in the development stage when we were still getting ready to hatch. Nymph, Culicidae, and Vespa you deemed a success, but I was deemed a failure because of the unforeseen side effects that came with saturating my larval state with the chemical mix responsible for heightened intellectual capabilities. I get it, when it’s your hive then things are done your way, and since queens naturally don’t act or operate as drones or workers to do it properly it would be easier to have developing queens and observe their properties. But you didn’t think the same chemical mix for Intellectual traits would have a definitive effect on physical properties or capacity for empathy. You think I wouldn’t figure at some point, I will admit it took me longer than it probably should have to piece it all together but how else can you reasonably explain four queens that each exist at extremes of the spectrum all being born to the same hive. One or two, maybe even three, but after that, it starts to get suspicious. I will admit I primarily have my personal memories to go off, but there were just too many inconsistencies in what I knew about changelings for it too all be a bit too convenient.”

“I had wondered that myself,” said Nymph, “but I just thought it a minor trifle, but the fact that there were as many as we were couldn’t just be explained away as ‘competition’, and now I would like to get a straight answer, Cicada.”
“So what if you were all part of my experiment to create my vision of the perfect queen? After the reveal of unnecessary and detrimental traits in Chrysalis, I decided to scrap the project.”

“Callous as ever I see,” said Chrysalis. Spike and Emerald returned at around this time, “something wrong, honey?”

“Nah, she just wanted to be near mommy again,” said Spike as she took an empty seat near Chrysalis. At the same time Flash also entered the room and made a show of guarding the door, he wanted to at least give Twilight some moral support.

Sensing an opportunity to catch the Equestrian delegates off kilter Nymph said, “This a question for the males only,” all the mares in the room gave each other some uneasy looks, Chrysalis had mentioned on a few occasions it was common for changelings to try and catch other delegates at meetings off guard, “what is the sexiest thing you have ever seen?” Nymph wanted to turn the truth field to her advantage, even if the responses were rehearsed the truth field would prevent them from being an issue.

“Well, Tia pulling pranks of course,” said Discord. Lucent looked embarrassed for some reason, likely taking something out of context, and Celestia gave her husband a big smooch right on the lips. Luna just huffed, in all the time her sister had been married and started raising a family she had yet to find anyone with whom she had that special connection.

“Twilight’s awkward dancing,” said Flash, “sorry dear, but you just look so cute when you’re awkward.” Twilight just gave him a sexy wink, which likely said she didn’t take offense to what her husband said.

“I’ve seen a lot of sexy things from Cadance,” said Shining Armor, “but if I had to pick one it would have to be seeing my wife go on about foals, kind of makes me want to have a few myself.” Cadance gave her husband a peck on the cheek while Skyla just gave a little giggle.

“Chrysalis dancing in the kitchen,” said Spike, “easily the sexiest thing I’ll ever see. And when one or more of our girls join in it goes from sexy to just plain cute.” This earned ‘ah’s from the pony mares, blanching from the ‘visiting’ queens and a peck on the lips from Chrysalis.

“Not that I’m complaining,” said Chrysalis, “but what are you three doing in the meeting room?”

“She let us know something felt off, and she really wanted to be near mommy,” said Flash.

“Sometimes you’re just a hopeless s filly,” said Chrysalis playfully as she took Emerald from Spike and gave her a loving kiss at the base of the horn and an affectionate nuzzle, both actions triggered disgusted reactions in the ‘visiting’ queens, “I suppose now is a good time to give a little demo of her abilities then we can break for lunch. This opening segment seems to have run a bit longer than any of us would have really liked, this event could run for quite a while.”

A few minutes later they were halfway to the town hall when Chrysalis set Emerald down and told her to show everyone what she could do. As before Violet started sniffing around, once again causing the cuteness reaction in everyone watching, the reactions were not as severe for Twilight and her friends as they had been last time they had witnessed the act. The changeling filly halted half way between where Arachne and Celestia were standing and began to dig, “Well, at least the tunneling part of your claims are proven,” said Cicada with false interest.

“Just wait for it,” said Twilight with an eye roll. A few minutes later Emerald reappeared in a surprisingly clean outfit, Rarity had made sure to put anti-dirt enchantments on all of the filly’s attire after learning of her capabilities, with a small damp clawful of dirt. Chrysalis accepted the prize and carefully fingered through it to see if it contained anything else, a small indigo colored gem around the size of green gem the filly had a strong attachment towards was lifted from the damp soil. Chrysalis gave a curt nod and handed the gem to the filly, who promptly started suckling it and triggering another cuteness response.

“And that, ladies, is why we enjoy having her around so much,” said Discord, “as much as I like setting off random events, she takes the cake when it comes to getting some of the best responses.”

“How about we get ready for lunch,” said Twilight as Chrysalis picked up Emerald and held her lovingly next to her shoulder, “Rarity, I’m sure you have a few quick ideas you want to run through in your workshop, it might take some time to get meals for everyone ready to go.”

“Especially since mom banned dad and me from just magicking up something to eat,” said Lucent.

“At least until noon tomorrow,” said Discord, “we need to be reasonable after all.”

“Like how you took a piece of the gem embedded cake at the wedding for Chrys and I and changed it to something more edible for you? I’m on to your tricks, mister,” said Spike.

The other queens just stared at the filly with a more vested interest as they heard everything else play out.

A Different Kind of Interlude, A

Author's Note

This chapter is from Arachne's point of view and highlights a bit of her thinking process.

As always, you're free to use the resources I provide, just remember to drop me a line about what you're using so I can help out if needed. And if it's an art piece, please send me a link or copy.

A Different Kind of Interlude, A

The visiting queens weren’t sure what they were seeing, but like a train wreck they knew what they were seeing was a disaster and yet could not look away. They knew it wouldn’t be good when the dragon, they really didn’t bother to catch his name when it was said, responded to Nymph’s question with “Chrysalis dancing in the kitchen” but didn’t take the second part all that seriously. But here it was, Chrysalis in an orange dress dancing in the kitchen, to a gentle tune that she seemed to be producing all on her own, with what they confirmed but refused to admit was a new kind of drone that had far more applications than they had anticipated any non-queen could have. And the worst part was almost all the things the young drone did triggered this “cuteness” response in them.

As things stood the most tolerant towards this change was Arachne, not surprising given the rumors of just how long she had been around. Cicada wasn’t taking it well, given how she was grumbling about how The Accords basically made Chrysalis untouchable and she would rather experience thousands of things worse than death than assimilate any of Chrysalis’s offspring just to get this one new kind of changeling. Arachne didn’t mind, more members to the hive meant more she could do. No, what had her worried was the comments Chrysalis had made regarding all her hive members being fully self-aware. Queens need a sense of identity, it’s how they are able to manage the rest of their hive effectively and devise ways to outlive other queens. Cicada, Nymph, Vespa and Culicidae might have designs on terminating Chrysalis, but Arachne knew that afterward Chrysalis would be held up as an example of what a queen should not be. That was all fine, and well within the norms for education of young queens, but chances were some might get ideas about what Chrysalis did with her hive and try to emulate it all in some way, possibly more than could be removed without causing a power vacuum that could very well lead to the incident Chrysalis described.

Arachne hated to admit it but it was probably a better plan to try and contain Chrysalis and her hive within the borders of a single nation than purge the world of her only to have her influence somehow remain. There was a word for that, one she really hadn’t bothered to learn on account she hadn’t put much stock into it until events of the meeting transpired. Arachne also hated to admit it, but the idea of drones having some level of awareness beyond basic autonomy actually had some level of appeal to it, less time delegating and more time on putting the mind to work on more important matters. Of course, no other queens would go for this plan even if it were to be brought forth by one of the longest lasting ones. Changelings, and by that it means queens, are too entrenched in their plans and what they see as a tradition to really change if circumstances aren’t forcing them to. Chrysalis was right, it’s all how they think things should be. It seems her self-imposed exile, and various influences over the past few years had resulted in a far more assertive personality in regards to her.

But the absolute worst of it was that during the stroll back to the palace Chrysalis had said the words “happy” and “content” with how her life was now, Queens are never supposed to feel those for more than an instant and Chrysalis basically said that was usually most of her day to day mannerism. Arachne was willing to let the comments about Chrysalis not wanting to play conqueror slide, not all queens had it in them for proper conquest. The only reason Arachne really stopped was because she realized that she was starting to spread her influence thin, the last nation she had conquered had collapsed over nine centuries prior to the event Equestria often referred to as the “Return of Nightmare Moon” and she had no designs on doing such things another nation, it was much easier to harvest from a fully active nation without exerting yourself as a forced beloved individual. Arachne saw some of what she was like as a young queen when she looked at Chrysalis, barring her obvious problem of having an emotional connection to things. Both showed a level of intelligence, tact, luck and were clearly underestimated by most of the powers they interacted with on some level.

Chrysalis, and by extension her offspring, represented a dynamic change in Changeling perceptions, if her integration went any further chances were ponies would start acting like changelings were commonplace and try to make friends with them. While the notion made her fellow visiting queens gag or want vomit, in some capacity, Arachne saw it as an opportunity, with fewer ponies acting like scared prey changeling activities could go unimpeded more effectively. But that also meant there would like be laws and legislation put in place that could potentially hinder changeling activities as well, finding out the drones that were sent out to harvest were detained by law enforcement for some reason for an extended period of time because they failed to meet some sort of prerequisite would definitely cause issues to the plans of a great many changelings. While the diets of changelings could be supplemented by the primary dietary needs of their “mate” many queens, herself included, still preferred to harvest emotions of other races of the world, it would be a tragedy to not do what comes naturally after all. Which made Chrysalis’s comment about not feeding on emotions in years all the more problematic, Chrysalis was defying her very nature and didn’t act like she knew such a basic fact.

All the problems seemed to compound when it came to Chrysalis’s offspring, especially the sample she had brought to the table with her. Chrysalis didn’t act like a changeling should, she didn’t even act as a dragon, she acted as ponies do. Either the dragon was so far gone from pony influences that his draconic personality properties were suppressed, which seemed highly likely, or it was just the dragon’s nature, which seemed highly unlikely when you took into account everything she had compiled on dragons. Even in success, Chrysalis was a failure, the only reasons she was still alive were her resourcefulness and initial contribution to changeling clothing acquisition practices.

Arachne had been skeptical of Chrysalis’s proposal at first, but at the very least she was willing to entertain the plan on the foundations some manner of personal interest and a desire to gain some new means of leverage. It had paid off, instead of having to pilfer attire whenever possible she could now produce it whenever she wished. Chrysalis had been smart to hold onto the actual means of producing clothes while having Arachne be the supplier of the material, but her planning ahead for clothing production should she fall or become indisposed in some other way had backfired in Arachne’s favor. Chrysalis had been shrewd, savvy and efficient back then. Now she was a doting, empathic, bleeding hearted shell of a queen at best. She had become weak but Arachne wouldn’t make a move just yet, one of the younger and more impulsive queens like Culicidae or Vespa would be capable as the one who makes the first move. Based on her palpable disdain, it was likely Cicada would make the move herself. None of them would dare make a play on the ponies within pony territory, or the dragon for obvious reasons, but Chrysalis was another story and chances are the prediction that was made earlier would be realized in the near future and before the day was done.

The worst part, as long as Chrysalis had that new drone or the dragon in close proximity her safety was far more assured. Also, whoever attacked her would likely instigate a war contingency with not just the other hives but Equestria as well. Not that such a thing would matter, Equestria didn’t have much in the way a standing military. Yes, the army itself was sizeable, but most of the units themselves didn’t have the right mindset or were woefully inexperienced in genuine combat. Chrysalis, the dragon, and the ponies had clearly built up a tolerance to the drone’s natural defense, which meant repeated exposure could at least mean less vulnerability to that thing’s defenses. The dragon might not have been a wild card, but was definitely an unanticipated wrinkle in the plans of any queen. Dragons were well-known for being rather volatile when things they considered precious to be in danger, and this dragon had openly shown immense affection for Chrysalis in addition to both openly stating they had offspring together. Whether their statements were true or not was inconsequential, the fact the dragon showed great affection for Chrysalis and her offspring was enough to give pause.

Culicidae was at least willing to think things through, as was Nymph. The real problems now were Cicada and Vespa, both were a bit too impulsive for her liking, which was why it was such a surprise to Arachne that Cicada had been so meticulous in trying to cultivate the properties she had believed were best carried by a queen. What was even more of a surprise was that Chrysalis had been raised by Cicada in addition to among the other visiting queens at the table, if any queens with Chrysalis’s prior properties had been hatched and raised in any other hive chances are she would have been slain before she could even mature. Arachne supposed that Cicada had believed the other three would have already killed Chrysalis before she could even get a fraction of the way to where they were all now. This spoke volumes about Chrysalis’s intellectual capabilities, to survive so well in a hostile environment that assuredly wants you dead to any degree was an accomplish.

All that aside, a queen, even one in a not-so-sound mind, would never stoop so low as to do any sort of menial labor such as operating a kitchen of her own accord or act in such a superfluous manner in the presence of potential assassins. This was just further proof to her, and the other queens, any and all benefits Chrysalis had received from her mate, dragon or not, were outweighed by the unrequired aspects. If Chrysalis had followed in the scheme that other queens did this might not have been an issue, but she had openly stated that way of thinking was “counterproductive” and therefore was following a plan for changeling progress she had built from scratch. Her ideal was ambitious, but not in the way that a Changeling Queen should be. Changing the culture of changelings is a titanic feat in and of itself, and Chrysalis already contributed to the changelings with her introduction of clothing production. And now, she ended up the first mother to a whole new kind of drone. There was no way that the future of the changelings should hinge on this one queen, it was like saying the culture of an entire pony nation centered around a singular pony. In short, utter ridiculousness.

And yet, she and her fellow queens were watching the train wreck of a blissful Chrysalis, a queen, making “snacks” and performing a superfluous action, dancing in the kitchen, alongside a drone with a stunted development. And the worst part of it all was she was feeling a need to make sure nothing bad happened to the drone, queens are never supposed to show “concern” for drones.

A Different Kind of Interlude, C

Author's Note

Another POV chapter, this time it's Celestia. As always, you're free to use anything provided for your own work, just drop me a line about it. I just want to help, I would never presume to take over the work of another without permission.

A Different Kind of Interlude, C

It always amazed Celestia at how quickly Chrysalis had adapted to doing things the way she did now, especially after said changeling admitted to spending twenty plus years working on a way to invade and harvest Canterlot. It was that very admission that both relaxed and worried Celestia, even after Chrysalis’s admission of her three eldest to the magical kindergarten Twilight had established in Ponyville the Ivory alicorn kept expecting Chrysalis to have plans within plans swirling in her head. The worry had been so great that she had insisted that Luna not only enter the sanctity of the Changeling’s dreams but also use them as a gateway for seeing what might lie as far forward as decades. What Luna had come back with was heartwarming, and terrifying, Chrysalis gladly sacrificing herself to save innocent lives. In fact, Luna shared over a dozen scenarios that actually hinged on this meeting, in some she and the other princess were the targets of assassination attempts shortly after each of the “delegates” had made sure to kill Chrysalis. In the case of Violet Emerald, only Arachne didn’t slay the infant, the loss of the filly naturally sent all four alicorns into a much more enraged state, so much so that both Twilight and Celestia had their manes and tails replaced by fire while Cadance and Luna had their manes and tails replaced by glowing plasma that matched their colorations. Having more than one queen in the same complex was never a good idea, and Luna’s excursions into what might be were a good set of examples why. The alicorns that came out it alive, this varied in number based which queen was the last standing, were injured so seriously that they would likely not be able to manage their normal duties for days or weeks. Twilight’s friends weren’t in much better shape for the conflicts, which were often so bloody that one or more of said mares were either barely conscious or collapsed from blood loss.

Although, Celestia and Luna did take some solace in the fact that what was needed to kill Chrysalis was possibly more effort than the other queens were either willing to exert or thought they would actually need. Also, the death of Chrysalis or Emerald, or just intentional severe injury to them, would be enough to send Spike into a destructive rage that would make his greed fueled rampage look like a toddler throwing a tantrum in a sandbox. The prospects were not looking good should Chrysalis experience extreme danger or a life-threatening situation. And the same held true for her daughter.

Chrysalis’s admission that she preferred to play the long game, as opposed to the short game preferred by most Changeling queens, had worried Equestria’s princesses, all of them, even for some time after Chrysalis’s admission that all queens didn’t practice open affection outside of guises. Chrysalis herself, for several years now, had not only been openly affectionate in her natural state but also openly emotional overall. The scene of Chrysalis dancing with her foals in the kitchen was all the real proof they really needed, since based on what they knew and Chrysalis’s own admission as such changeling queens would rather delegate the task to one or more members of their hive, despite the age of the individuals in question, and would certainly do everything in their power to keep “frivolous” acts such as dancing and singing from occurring during this time. But here was Chrysalis in the kitchen, with one of her daughters, dancing and humming a wordless tune as she prepared meals for everyone, even shooing others out of the kitchen as she did so.

A quick look over at the visiting queens showed they were making no effort to hide the disdain at Chrysalis’s actions, when they could tear their gaze away from the dancing changeling filly for short moments to do so. In a sense, they had the look of individuals bearing witness to a train wreck. To Ponyville, and to a lesser extent the rest of Equestria, sights like this regarding Chrysalis were to be expected. But to these visiting queens, it was a disaster of unprecedented proportions and, to top it all off, Chrysalis wasn’t showing any sort of assertiveness or aggression in the negotiations, which were par for the course in changeling meetings. The Chrysalis of twenty some odd years ago would definitely have acted like that, but the current Chrysalis was more interested in maintaining a sense of balance with Equestria. In short, she was focused more on having a sense of harmony than control. This philosophy was well reflected in how she managed her hive, she allowed Spike to have an equal part in matters pertaining to the hive, even going as far to develop a flexible schedule with him so he could spend time doing things away from the hive while she mothered the members of the hive. This went even further with her allowing the offspring she had with Spike to act independently and make decisions on their own, within the limits that parents should try to reinforce on children of the age most of her hive was.

The oldest being what Chrysalis had described as the Primes, who were currently in their fifth year, and moderately integrated into Ponyville’s education system for foals within the same age range as them, and youngest being around Violet Emerald’s age. It was also counterproductive to share a possible means of circumventing claims, the memory spell Chrysalis had shared proved that but the unwillingness of Changeling queens to share more than they deem necessary means that the true originator of the spell might never be known, especially if Chrysalis’s admission that the memory of the pony it supposedly originated from their memories regarding the spell wiped from their mind.

What was most surprising to Celestia, even after all the time leading up to this event, was Chrysalis’s complete and total willingness to allow herself to be subject to the possible emotional abuse that more close-minded individuals were more than a will to pile their aggressions on her. The most notable, of course, being Blueblood and his narcissistic self-ego stroking behavior. Just two years into her very public relationship with Spike, Chrysalis was targeted by every information outlet Blueblood had some manner of pull with, all claiming that she had Spike and the Princesses under some manner of mind control, Chrysalis actually took the assault on her with far more grace than most Equestria’s nobility would ever have, as had Spike. But in order to fully get a grasp on the assault, Chrysalis had actually acquired copies from all those outlets and it was only when the assaults showed to be targeting her daughters that she decided to do something about it. In a rather tactful, and rather ingenious, retaliation she managed to uncover many lesser known facts about Blueblood that could potentially prove damaging and tricked those same outlets into publishing those facts in addition to many of Equestria’s outlets that had a well-known track for verifying the facts before releasing them, as opposed to the outlets Blueblood used which were more akin to publishing unsubstantiated slander. It was that approach that had helped Celestia to feel more at ease than ever, Spike and Chrysalis were more than capable of handling themselves but it took individuals of very little moral substance to target infants for acts of maliciousness.

But what really caused Celestia to feel the new Chrysalis and her complete level of cooperation with her and the other princesses was the fact she was willing to take whatever punishment was deemed necessary from Twilight and her friends, willingly took the retribution of Cadance and Shining Armor, and even took Celestia’s own “retribution” in surprisingly good spirits. Queen or not, Chrysalis would not have taken all of that with grace if she were still operating on the same set of rules as other changelings. The biggest tip off to Chrysalis preferring a different sort of approach from the classic one practiced by changeling queens was the very fact she was willing to share in the understanding of changelings as a whole with anyone who asked within Equestria, there was a reason anthropology and sociological journals and books that explored confirmed and theoretical aspects of changeling culture and norms dominated the academic world of Equestria for almost a full year but shortly a few months after Chrysalis had married Spike.

More of trying to understand changelings and less fear or hatred towards them was always the sort of steps Celestia wanted the populace of Equestria to work towards. Since her pairing with Spike Chrysalis had probably more fully made herself of an example of embracing Equestria’s philosophical practices than perhaps even Twilight herself, who in the years since ascension was held as a pinnacle of what Equestria’s philosophy can really mean when it is embraced in one's regular routines. But by far, the biggest show of Chrysalis’s decision to diverge from “traditional” changeling practices when it comes to hive building and interaction in general.

Disdains and Dissentions

It was clear to Chrysalis that the visiting queens were only here more for show than anything else, and the fact she had felt the presence of a dozen unseen changeling shortly after Violet Emerald’s return to the meeting hall didn’t help matters. Thankfully, she had warned everyone about this possibility. Just because they had a visible guard didn’t mean more were not brought along. However, the absence of staff in the castle meant the extra changelings had very few options in what they could masquerade as. That all said, there were still issues that could arise. She needed to make sure this whole thing turned in the favor of Equestria, if not herself. Even if she died here her daughters would at least have a few centuries of comparative safety, hopefully.

The fact that all the “invited guests” were watching her and her daughter dance as she prepped the meals did comfort her to some degree, it meant they were actually paying attention to her for one reason or another. She caught some movement in the corner of her eye and moved almost effortlessly to stop the intrusion, while still maintaining her dance. With her song fading out, which caused Emerald to change her choice of dance area within the kitchen, Chrysalis looked over to the perpetrator to find Shining Armor of all ponies trying to snatch a carrot that now floated in the mix of his and Chrysalis’s magics, “Is this what you do at home, Mr. Armor?” Chrysalis’s tone was even and only betrayed a sense of non-amusement.

Shining gave a guilty grin from his vantage point outside the kitchen before saying, “Sorry, but Spike’s a pretty good chef and he has made a passing mention of you being an amazing cook in your own right.”

“Yes well, my husband is also prone to a little exaggeration and embellishment,” Chrysalis said with a smirk, the sound of false gagging could be seen and heard from Vespa, Culicidae, and Nymph with Cicada just giving a look of disgust and Arachne a look of disapproval. “Not that I don’t mind, but I’m sure of the girls will easily top either of them in the kitchen by the time we know it.”

“I have no objections to that,” said Spike, “I actually look forward to that day, of course, I also look forward to going on some gem hunts with the bundle of adorableness sharing the kitchen with you.” The visiting queens made more shows of disapproval, with a light showing of minor interest in a microexpression.

It was around this time that Rarity returned with a “few” bags, which she set down near the door, “Sorry for the delay,” she said in her usual refined manner, “but a changeling tried to impersonate my husband on the way back here, didn’t seem to be aware of the truth field surrounding the town.”

“So, shoddy recon from a hive not directly involved in this event,” said Chrysalis with a pointed glare at Shining as she returned the pilfered vegetable back to the unfinished salad it had been taken from.

“I’m guessing the impersonation was not very good,” said Pinkie with disapproval.

“Simply awful,” said Rarity, “had the look down, but the voice and mannerisms were all wrong, and no sign of that adorable tic of his that prompted one of the memorable parts of our relationship.”

Arachne cocked her head at this while Twilight said, “It’s a good thing we were advised to anticipate these sorts of things,” prompting the rest of the visiting queens to cock their heads, “Chrys definitely went above and beyond her warning us of these sorts of things.”
The eyes of the queens narrowed on Chrysalis, their disdain managing to override the attention being stolen by the changeling filly. The scent of meat being cooked came from the kitchen, as did the sound of something sizzling in the oven. The sight, and sensation, of the ponies and Chrysalis being uncomfortable was an indicator what was being cooked was highly irregular or completely absent from their diets. This caused the queens to be very self-assured that things would loop around to their favor for a much greater period of time. In addition to all that, a pot of boiling water with pasta had been thrown onto the stove, it looked like Chrysalis was doing her best to diversify the choices.

About nine minutes after the sound of sizzling had come from the oven Chrysalis turned off the oven as she also flicked the off the stove. Shortly after she had flicked the stove off she took the pot holding the pasta and emptied into a large colander that had been placed there ahead of time. After she had emptied the pasta into the colander she emptied the pasta back into pot revealing angel hair pasta that had been cooked expertly cooked. Chrysalis then reached into cupboard next to the stove and brought out a couple jars of garlic marinara sauce and carefully mixed the sauce into the pasta and pulled out a pasta spoon and served surprisingly equal portions into seven bowls, and a smaller portion into an eighth bowl.

After checking to make sure the salads were all ready to go, and making some adjustments to a few, Chrysalis loaded up two serving trays with five of the bowls of pasta and all the salads, one of which seemed out of place with fact it didn’t seem to have any fruit or vegetables in it. “I know it’s proper etiquette to serve the guests first,” said Chrysalis, “but due to the current guest size I need to free up some counter space,” she set each of the dishes down before everyone that had now returned to their seats at the table. “For Nymph, a charming seafood salad,” the salad that had looked out of place was placed before Nymph, who just gave the dish a confused look, “Princess Cadance and Princess Skyla get a lovely pair of fruit salads,” this prompted a giggle from Skyla as the dishes were set before her and Cadance, “Shining Armor gets a classic salad with extra carrots and a ring of strawberries,” Shining gave Chrysalis a playfully annoyed look when he saw that said ‘ring’ in fact a heart, “Princess Twilight’s friends get al dente style angel hair spaghetti with garlic marinara sauce,” almost simultaneously Twilight’s closest friends received the five bowls of pasta, “and of course, Pinkie gets extra cheese,” Pinkie giggled as a sizeable package of grated parmesan cheese was set next to her, “I’m sorry, but the rest of you will have to wait for the next load. And none of you better start before everyone has been served, proper etiquette demands it.” This prompted Pinkie to halt her loading and mixing the parmesan and take a look at the bag to reveal she had emptied a quarter of the bag into her pasta, which was now looking more cheese than pasta, said Pink mare gave an apologetic grin and passed the bag of parmesan to the rest of her friends.

Chrysalis headed back to the kitchen, with Emerald following close behind, and took the meat that had been cooking in the oven out on a pan with her bare hands, to the surprise of Cicada and Vespa, but only the interest of the other queens. Arachne and Nymph reasoned that the pan had cooled enough for almost anything to hold it, what was of interest was the four steaks that had a light glaze of some kind of on them. The surprise for all the queens was when Chrysalis took two fist-sized gems and a gem around the size of her thumb and crushed them each over the pasta bowls she had set aside then picked the pasta up and thoroughly mixed the pasta with the gem pieces with her magic before returning it all to the bowls. Chrysalis then used her magic to place the steaks on the plates before expertly slicing the meat into more manageable, and socially acceptable, strips.

After looking over her handiwork Chrysalis returned to the sink and spent almost a full minute washing her hands with the soap and water. After loading the dishes on the trays she made her way back out. Three of the steaks were set before Cicada, Culicidae, and Vespa, the fourth was put before Arachne, who stared at it with an actual vested interest. The gem-filled pasta bowls were placed before Spike and the areas that were set aside for Chrysalis and Emerald to occupy.

“What are these,” said Vespa with a more vested interest than she intended.

“Manticore steaks,” said Spike as he carefully twirled his pasta around his fork a bit, and chuckled a little when he noticed Emerald mimicking the behavior.

“With a light honey glaze,” said Chrysalis, “I also made sure to cook them just enough to be medium rare and a little bloody so as to accommodate all your tastes. I wasn’t entirely sure which steak would go to whom, so I compromised with prepping them all the same way, there’s also a little garlic to hopefully enhance the flavor.”

“Those claws are quite handy for tearing into meat,” said Cicada, electing to leave her food alone until the rest of the visiting changelings had given their food a try.

“We mostly use them for digging tunnels and new chambers,” said Chrysalis, “I nearly dug through a gem in an untapped deposit a short time ago.” Also during this exchange, she set a bowl of stones before Discord, and three royal style salads before Celestia, Luna, and Lucent. Discord's bowl of rocks had a note saying he was free to use his powers on his dish, and only his dish, during the meal. Going through his options Discord turned his bowl of rocks into a pizza with red cheese, an indigo crust, blue mushrooms, green olives, purple strawberries and white anchovies.

“And I’m so glad you found it, darling,” said Rarity as she daintily sipped her beverage, “my reserves were starting to get a little too low for work.”

“And the main reason I cut your steaks was because if I hadn’t you would have torn into them in what the ponies, and dragon, here call socially inappropriate, especially for events such as this. You can feel free to eat your meals like rabid monsters when alone, but when you are guests or entertaining guests you must be a bit more dignified in your approach. To changelings, queens are free to do as they please due to the fact the bulk of their populace are barely a step above mindless. But in the case of ponies and several other cultures, the populace all have free will and operational higher brain functions. Not all the members of these cultures have the ability to utilize this, as is seen in the case of many fools over the course of Equestria’s history alone that showed their approach to things is rather lacking in any real substance. Fools and idiots are constant in these cultures, just as much as geniuses and wise ones,” this got a chuckle out of Spike and the ponies out of the table. “There is a belief among these cultures, that should also rightfully be held by Changelings, that those who rule reach their greatest effectiveness when they allow the potentials of the populace to thrive with a little guidance and almost no personal interference. Which is basically the exact opposite standing changeling philosophies. I have chosen to allow my hive to operate on a similar premise to this, made all the more important with the fact all the standing members of my hive are fully self-aware and have distinctive mental properties that set them apart as individuals more than just another one in a swarm.”

“You have chosen the path of weakness,” said Cicada she watched Vespa and Culicidae eat a strip from their plates, to the revulsion of the ponies and dragon which gave her some measure of belief she and the other visiting changelings would succeed in their goal of terminating everything to do with Chrysalis. The two showed a sense of enjoyment of the food, as did Nymph with her odd looking salad.

“This thing you did to the food, what exactly is it?” Inquired Arachne, with genuine interest.

“It’s called cooking,” said Spike before taking a careful bite of his food and giving a bit of smile, “Chrys picked it up from me, but she does it with a flair that’s all her own. If I had made any of this I would have made the food very differently.”

“Yes, you would have pan-seared the meat, but with it being so close to the pasta some seasonings could have cross-contaminated unintentionally, and by cooking it in the oven I could get more of the steaks cooked at around the same level of evenness at the same time.”
“Case and point,” said Spike, “cooking food allows for it to last longer and a little healthier by removing potentially dangerous microbes.”
“And prep work allows for additions that can influence the aspects of the food itself to for better or worse,” said Chrysalis, “dragons have a diet that includes gemstones, as such certain mineral compositions found gems and stones have their own distinct impressions on a dragon’s pallet. This big dork,” she gestured to Spike, “has a preference for emeralds and amethysts, while I prefer the consumption of aventurine quartz and iolite. As for dessert, the both of us will be working on it together.”

“After things have wound down a bit first,” said Spike. With that everyone ate in relative silence for several minutes. The queens were used to the silence, it was common among Changeling meetings if you omitted the ambient sound of buzzing wings and moving about, but everyone else it was an uneasy sort of silence. To changeling queens, silence has no real meaning beyond queens potentially speaking with their hives via their link, and was a bit of Chrysalis’s mindset for the first few months of her first year with Spike. For ponies, dragon and Discord different silences had different implications, even weights, and it was something Chrysalis had managed pick up on after it was explained to her.

Without a word, other than the subtle one made through the simple gesture of kissing the crown of Emerald’s head, Chrysalis got out of her seat and made a show of checking the door, making sure to steer clear of the other queens. On her way back she unintentionally passed by Cicada and Vespa, both took the opportunity to assault her. “This farce ends now,” said Cicada menacingly as she stabbed at Chrysalis gut at the waist while Vespa attacked Chrysalis's back just beneath the base of the neck with one of her stingers. To the surprise of everyone, Chrysalis didn’t respond beyond stopping to take the blows. The end result was… Chrysalis still standing like it wasn’t even an issue. All that was there to show that Chrysalis had been attacked was the needle sized hole in the back of her dress and gaping hole with torn fabric around it where Cicada had assaulted her.

In a surprisingly calm voice, Chrysalis said, “I was really hoping you’d make this sort of move later, I rather liked this dress and now require it to have a mending. Damaged attire is usually seen as poor form for a meeting, but for guests to cause it is just rude.” She then used her magic to remove the dress to another location to reveal that underneath she was wearing a peach blossom colored two-piece swimsuit that did a commendable job of covering her bosom and had its bottom that resembled beach shorts whose top stopped short four inches short of where from where she Cicada had attacked. In addition, the top was partially bare in the back with a rather large window that surrounded where Vespa had attacked. “As always, a parent should set an example for their children.”

The surprise was present on the faces of several individuals, including her two assailants, in the room. Spike and Rarity were just smirking, as were Luna and Discord. “Well,” said Celestia after coming out of her stupor a few seconds later, “It seems we have some dissenters, and early than anticipated. What do you want to do about it, Chrysalis?”

“Nothing much,” said Chrysalis, “just send them far away for an extended period of time. But honestly, I doubt I’m powerful enough to do so on my own. Besides, this is Princess Twilight’s domain, it is her final say that determines what happens next.”

“Oh, yes of course,” said Twilight, having just gotten over surprise during the exchange between Celestia and Chrysalis. “A believe they just committed multiple taboos, something extremely serious. The disdain shown is mostly forgivable, assault on guests and family is not. The same can be said about your casual disregard of the fact, but that is one fallacy I can’t hold as a crime no matter how much I want to. Chrysalis and Spike have been married for the past five years. All those articles aren’t something that were faked up, they are real. That you are unwilling to get outside of your own preconception is a terrible thing, culture advances with the advancements of ideals. I won’t say much in the way of your culture, on account of having little to no in-depth knowledge regarding your culture. Regardless, acts of malicious attempt and nature are not tolerated in Equestria, this especially true in my home. We do not believe condone or practice malicious behavior in this place, it is supposed to be somewhere that safety is encouraged and enforced. Your actions have made it clear you have little to no intent on working things out peacefully and instead have a very narrow mindset that had you come here with a singular goal in mind.” Twilight’s horn lit up and without a word, both Cicada and Vespa were hit a burst of energy, when the light died down the two were white and pink bracelets around their wrists.”

“Is this some sort of joke? Because I find very little humor in it,” said Cicada.

“Chrysalis has been more than gracious to work with Twilight,” said Luna, “those little accessories can only be removed by either an alicorn or Discord…”

“Which isn’t likely to happen,” said Discord, “as much as I enjoy making things less predictable and more fun I still have some lines I will not cross.”

“Your current accessories,” continued Luna, “which were developed with the aid of Chrysalis herself, immensely restrict your magical capabilities and even nullify all magic of a similar type around or aimed at them, in short, changeling magic has been removed as an option for you.”

“You’ll be serving time in the supermax prison in the Badlands that we established for the more...troublesome law breakers,” said Twilight, “and the facility itself has magic dampening technologies that operate on a similar premise to your bracelets. In fact, they are used as identifiers that you are convicted to serve time there. Thankfully for you, you will be serving a light sentence of three years at the facility, and as per protocol your transit to and from the facility will be blacked out from all your senses, magical variety included.”
“A little something we decided to work on,” said Discord, “it was actually my idea, Chrysalis actually suggested a few things that made into the finished product. Granted it only went up three years ago, and currently is housing one inmate but he’s a bad cookie that just refuses to reform.”

“I was against it at first,” said Twilight, “as were my fellow princesses. Chrysalis, interestingly enough, actually didn’t give any input until the final consensus was made on the facility. Probably a good choice on her part, but after a certain somepony made another return with a bit more substantial staying power we were pretty much forced into okaying the project to ensure the safety of everypony.”
“It’s hard to believe it took a little under two years for a facility of that scale to be built.”
“But that’s what happens when you have four alicorns, a changeling queen, Discord and a team of highly capable construction workers,” said Rainbow Dash, “we were pretty evenly split on the whole Super Maximum Security Penitentiary. The facility makes sure you stay in decent health, that’s about as far as it goes in a few ways. Granted, you will be getting professional help for some of your problems and issues, you can even file complaints if you like.”

“Just because you’re visiting dignitaries doesn’t mean you’re exempt from the entirety of the nation’s laws,” said Rarity, “the diplomatic matters banner can only cover so much. And it would be uncouth of us to allow you total immunity to our legal system. Since you are high profile individuals you will be given the right to a court case in the highest court in the nation, but seeing as literally all the judges of that particular court are present here and can mandate your case be bumped up to them if you request the case in a lower court I have my doubts it will do you much good.”

Author's Note

So yeah, conflict officially starting up now. Cicada has had a desire to see Chrysalis die the longest, and Vespa is the most impatient of them all. Not sure if I conveyed that properly up 'til now. Also, the Supermax prison thing was a sort of spur of the moment thing, tell your thoughts and I'll see what I can do.

You Can Fight Facts...But You Can't Change Them

“Rarity, could you handle the mending of the dress during the next interlude? I already took care of sending it to your shop,” said Chrysalis as she took her seat.

“Certainly, darling,” said Rarity, “I’m so glad you had an alternate attire ready. Although, I would be a little lost on why you chose beach attire if the prior incident hadn’t occurred.”

“It’ll be a while before the staff for the high-security facility arrive for pickup,” said Twilight, “might as well give a more detailed explanation...that’s acceptable for young foals to hear.”

“As you know, when changelings mate with creatures they take on several of that creature's properties, physically and mentally.” Chrysalis started, much to the annoyance of most of the other queens.

“So what? You gained the ability to make your exterior more durable at will, that’s something we’ve known about one of those pony variants,” said Cicada.

“Ah feel lahke Ah should bae insulted,” said Applejack.

“A few things,” said Chrysalis, “first of all, my mate is literally in the room and not a pony, the only reason he’s here in the first place is because he made the choice to of his own volition. Secondly, Spike, the dragon, is an earth dragon hence the reason he has no wings. I brought this up for a few simple reasons. The biggest one being, as I’ve stated a few times since your arrival, he is my mate,” she put extreme emphasis on last two words, “and as such, I have acquired several of his physiological and psychological properties. Among them are intense strength, immense durability, sharp claws with immense durability, sharper fangs that are tough enough to handle gemstones with a jaw to match, cooking skills, dance knowledge, etiquette rules, cleanliness rules, willing helpfulness, compassion, and a variety of other traits you have varying degrees of approval or disapproval for. For now, let’s focus on the durability of my exterior. I no longer have a hard, rigid, and fragile carapace. Instead, my exterior is more flexible and more pleasing to the touch. It’s more akin to a dragon’s hide than anything else, in particular, that of an earth dragon’s.”

“In case you weren’t aware,” said Spike, quickly handing Emerald to Luna, who was more than happy to hold the infant, “earth dragons, like myself, have some of the most durable hides found anywhere. They need to be, mostly because they are required protect our insides from pressure exerted on us from the earth around us when we dig deep or falling pieces of rock in the surprisingly numerous cavities within the earth. And Chrys was rather prolific in her acts of intimacy, not that I’m complaining.”

“I honestly don’t know why queens like to keep count with acts of intimacy,” said Chrysalis, “I did so during my first few bouts of intercourse with Spike, but stopped before the end of our first week together.”

“Considering how often we were at it, that was probably a good call,” said Spike, “I had no idea a mare could be so…” he noticed Emerald staring at him with vested interest, “Um, Chrys, how much of our intimate moments have you shared with our girls?”

“Pretty much all of it, but only with our first three. Is that a problem, dear,” the beginning of the banter caused Cicada, Culicidae, Vespa and Nymph to all blanch. Arachne seemed to get some level of amusement out of it.”

After giving a cough-like ‘Ahem’ Spike continued,“suffice to say, Chrys has taken numerous properties from me. Her hide is just as resistant as mine, which has taken high power blows from means magical and mundane and been completely unblemished. Her overall strength is almost a match for mine. Although her healing factor is more intense than mine, which isn’t all too surprising when you take into account how rapidly changelings tend to heal.”

“A likely story,” said Culicidae, “the defect always was a slow healer, it made ‘play’ time far more amusing.”

“I’m willing to let references to the more traumatic parts of my life slide,” said Chrysalis, for now, “but if you continue to refer to them with pride I’m not liable for what follows.”

“You or your pet dragon retaliating,” said Nymph, “you’ve pretty much proven how weak you are in refusing to fight us.”

“And the way you measure strength is painfully narrow,” said Pinkie, “so much so it’s almost funny.”

“But only ‘almost’, not that you’d really care,” said Rainbow.

“The point is,” said Chrysalis, “my changes were a bit more in-depth, in addition to being a bit more dramatic when compared to changes in other changelings. I didn’t just go at it with Spike on a single day, we’ve had several highly intimate moments over the course of our time together. And I don’t force him or try to ‘influence’ his decisions, our relationship is built on mutual trust and genuine willingness.”

“And to be fair,” said Spike, “that makes our moments of intimacy all the more enjoyable, neither of us wants to give the other up.”

“And definitely not without a fight,” said Chrysalis, “dragons have a tendency to be very territorial, especially when it comes to their mates and families.”

“It took pretty much all my willpower to just let Chrys handle that little stunt Cicada and Vespa pulled on her own,” said Spike.

“Also, the reason I said it all that way is because of how much I knew you would gag if I said it the way I really wanted to,” said Chrysalis, “This big, purple, dork of a dragon,” she said teasingly as she gestured to Spike, “is a massive teddybear. That is to say, he’s sweet, kind, supportive, gentle, and very cuddly. Some of those traits were passed on to me, in the best ways possible.” The visiting queens, except Arachne, blanched, “Dragons also happen to be quite virile, especially earth dragons like Spike. His virility translated into fertility for me, but I’m not taking advantage of it. Truth is, we only have twenty-four offspring right now, all girls by the way. However, none of them are aggressive, mean spirited or devoid thought. Every single one of our daughters is a complete sweetheart with free will and independent thoughts. We still have a hive link, it just operates a bit differently than how other hives do. It doesn’t matter if my hive has twenty-four or twenty million members, I will not abandon any of them, every single one of them has something to contribute.”

“I really wasn’t expecting Chrys to go into this speech, at least not until around dinner,” said Spike, “guess you really struck a nerve,” he knew full well the implications of his wording and had, in fact, chosen that wording for those very reasons.

“You’re an even bigger failure than initially thought,” said Vespa, “even in success you manage to fail beyond what any queen has achieved before.”

“Well now, that’s your opinion,” Chrysalis in an amazingly calm voice. “The only things you care about I have little to no care for. Why dominate when a mutual relationship can be formed? Why conquer when you can befriend? An alliance built on understanding and trust is more stable and long lasting than an alliance of convenience. I've embraced an entirely different approach and viewpoint than any queen prior. I genuinely care for my offspring, I let them go and do things they want to within the level of reason any parent should.” Throughout the entire speech, Chrysalis put emphasis on words like trust, understanding, befriend, embraced, care and parent. It was when she seemingly paused for dramatic emphasis that Vespa made another attempt on her, with her long spike-like stinger. Without even turning her head Chrysalis caught the stinger with a good foot and a half between Vespa’s intended target and the changeling in question. Almost effortlessly, Chrysalis flicked her wrist and snapped the stinger, “I was being courteous,” it was clear she was addressing the room, while not even looking, “but it seems the concept is going over the heads of some present here, for those who go this far,” she presented the stinger piece to the room, “my courtesy is rescinded, I’ll still be nice but will not be giving any courtesy.” She blew a burst of flame on the stinger piece in her grasp, turning it to a small pile's worth of dust-like ash. “Be thankful I’m being so nice, you’ll be regenerating your missing piece within a few hours, if memory serves correctly.”

“You just had to make another pass at Chrys, didn’t you,” said Spike with a shake of his head, “you’re already in deep trouble being marked for your own ‘accommodations’ at the supermax facility, this stunt just made things less hospitable for you. What did this just do for her, exactly?”

“Double her time at the facility and move her to one of the isolation cells for the first half of the stay,” said Celestia, “or am I missing something?”

“No, you’re completely right,” said Twilight, “standard protocol for pickup is to do just that if the offense is repeated during the waiting period for complete apprehension.”

“Now, if everyone is done trying to kill me,” said Chrysalis, who got some amusement out of seeing how the visiting queens were astonished at her display of abilities, “can we please get back to doing things in a civil manner? I don’t really know about the rest of you, but I want this wrapped up quickly so I can get back to my regular routine, we had to reschedule game night because of this.”

“And we were getting to a really good part too,” said Spike, “what, with the lady paladin about to render judgment on the evil cult and all.”

“What is that even a reference to? I feel like I have to know,” said Nymph.

“Ogres and Oubliettes,” said Chrysalis, “I’m the lady paladin he was talking about, or rather I play the lady paladin he was talking about. Role Playing Games, like Ogres and Oubliettes, offer up quite a satisfying feeling, for me anyway.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you getting high powered items that are beneficial to your choice of build has nothing to do with it,” snarked Discord.

“Oh, behave dear,” said Celestia, “you’re in the same boat, no need to complain about it.”

“Yes, well I did take the time improve my navigation skill,” said Discord, switching to an admiral’s attire that completely matched up with his pompadour hat.

Twenty minutes or so after Twilight had given Cicada and Vespa their new accessories, twelve guards in outfits that were colored like Discord’s main body (it’s usual color anyway), with sleeves that bore stripes in the coat colors of each of the princess and shoulder pads that had splotches that tastefully seemed to splatter together in the coat colors of Twilight's friends with boots and gloves colored like Spike and Chrysalis showed up to escort the two marked changeling queens. Everyone was aware of the hodgepodge look of the attire, especially Rarity, but since it had started as Discord’s idea he got to design the outfits, all of them, to Rarity’s dismay, she spent the first week of working on the attire with him downing several gallons of ice cream while twitching like a nervous wreck every twenty seconds or so. Rarity would have loved to block the memory of creating the ensembles but couldn’t because of how prolific Discord had been in displaying it all for the first four months after it was all done.

Standard protocol for these guards was six guards to each detainee, two of each tribe. Cicada and Vespa were led out to wagon designed for detaining problematic individuals, and while doing so Twilight informed Vespa’s guards of what she had done while they had been waiting.

“We really need to work on response time,” said Chrysalis as the two changeling queens were led out, “things could have been much worse.”

“We’ll be sure to bring it up at the next joint guard briefing,” said Celestia, “do any of our other ‘guests’ have any input on what just transpired?”

“It was bound to happen eventually,” said Arachne, “those two were some of the most impulsive queens I ever knew, frankly I’m almost surprised they made it this long without an incident like what we just saw. Since we have to be honest here, I rather like the idea of having a location for holding problematic individuals.”

“Not really,” said Nymph, “but honestly, I want to know how you seem to look more attractive than me.”

“It all comes down to what lies inside,” said Chrysalis, “as miss Rarity would likely say,” she gestured to the white mare, “it’s a case of wine and the bottle. You are a beverage with an attractive bottle but the drink within has something that ruins the vintage. I, on the other hand, was a vintage that was left in a nondescript bottle and not really touched, but my bottle’s placement worked wonders for my vintage when someone decided to finally come by sample me, and liked me so much they moved me to a more attractive bottle and decided to share. You were hoarded in a manner that worked against your maturation, to the point that the aspects that truly matter were compromised. To put it simply, your exterior might attract others but once they get a proper taste they are repulsed.”

“I rather like that analogy,” said Culicidae, “it teaches the importance of knowing the right time to claim your prize. Tell me more of this ‘wine’ of which you speak.”

“It’s a beverage created by fermenting the juice of grapes for months, sometimes years or decades, to get the best flavor and texture from the beverage,” said Twilight.

“The process of fermentation can be applied various other beverages and liquids to produce a similar effect,” said Chrysalis, “Spike prefers a kind of fermented dragon fruit juice we’ve taken to calling ‘Dragon’s Fang’ on account of the bite it has. I personally prefer the beverage known as sake, a sort of wine made from rice that was introduced to this region through trade with an eastern nation whose name I’m sure you don’t really care for.”

“Properly aging the drink for better taste, I like that concept,” said Culicidae.

“Yes, well beverages have to be chilled at the appropriate temperatures to prevent, or at least hinder, spoiling,” said Rarity, “and if memory serves correct, Chrysalis wasn’t shy about pointing out how changelings have an extreme aversion to cooler temperatures. Which means, you probably won’t like that sort of approach. Not to mention, from what I can tell, you all have the aspect of creatures that are not properly suited for operation in cooler environments.”

Arachne narrowed her eyes and looked closely at the assembled queens left present, “That is an accurate assessment, the closest is Culicidae, but even she has trouble operating in cooler temperate zones.”

“Like what’s supposed to be going on outside,” said Rainbow, “we set to pushing back preparations for fall and winter after Chrys shared the plan for this meeting, we were just in the beginnings for prep work for the seasonal change when she did share new regarding this meeting, so no real harm done.”

Author's Note

Leave your thoughts on the chapter in the comments, as always. And also, feel free to do some art pieces based on Queen Takes Dragon and Queens to Check, Dragon to Mate. While I personally don't mind not having any art for any of my stories, I would still appreciate seeing artistic pieces inspired by them. As always, contact me regarding the pieces so that I can assist when needed and send a link to or copy of the piece when done.

I foresee at least one comment on the uniforms described, I had a bit of fun coming up with them. It would be funny to see those outfits, but I have a feeling would be almost as infuriating as they are amusing, what with lack of any real cohesion.

A Spike of a Challenge

Author's Note

Sorry, it took so long for the update, work on this chapter went a bit slower than anticipated. I did start work on the next chapter, but I don't have an eta on when it will be finished. But I will tell you this about the next chapter, it'll be a bit different when compared to what has been posted so far.

A Spike of a Challenge

“As amusing as all this is,” said Culicidae, “I fail to see what we are even doing here. I don’t see any morsels wandering about, I doubt you could clear the area so thoroughly as to that end.”

“Let’s just say it was a team effort and leave it at that,” said Chrysalis.

“I did enjoy the display of power earlier,” said Nymph, “but I fail to see the purpose of this meeting in any meaningful capacity.”

“As things stand,” said Chrysalis, “I, and by extension, my offspring, are limited to the boundaries of Equestria. This meeting is to take care of a few things, and the fact you said all that means you weren’t really paying attention during the opening speech about the purpose of this meeting.”

“I was listening, I just don’t care about any of the emphasized points,” said Nymph.

“Besides, why should we care about something so far down the line? It has nothing to do with us,” said Culicidae, “our current system is amicable enough.”

“But lacks any real sense of stability,” said Chrysalis, “any queen could assert herself over another hive so long as someone has managed to remove that hive’s standing queen. This system is terrible! It encourages hostile behaviors while simultaneously discouraging other types of behavior. The Accords are basically adhered to solely because of how well they encourage the changeling definition of competition. These behavioral tendencies will eventually lead to the extinction of changelings as a whole. My current arrangements with Equestria encourage more constructive approaches that are as beneficial to my hive as they are to its neighboring nation. In short, it’s a model for Changeling approaches in the future, why take advantage of a culture when you can integrate into it? In short, the traditional changeling approach is best described as parasitic while my hive’s current approach is more akin to symbiotic.”

“I have heard these terms before,” said Arachne, “but I never bothered to learn their meaning, it was of little interest to me before now to learn what they are defined as.”

“A parasitic relationship is a reference to a type of entity known as a parasite,” said Chrysalis, “a parasite is a creature that takes on a host entity and takes what it needs from the host without offering anything in return. This sort of one-way relationship is known as a parasitic relationship.”

“As all hives should be,” said Culicidae, “why should we give anything to anyone.”

Chrysalis took a deep sigh and continued, “A symbiotic relationship is one where the entity that chooses a host and the host itself have a mutual relationship. That is to say, they provide assistance to each other in some capacity. For Equestria and myself, the nation provides me with a safe environment to mostly move about freely and feed without fear of being a target of aggression while I and my hive provide new means of protection from within and without. In the process, we’ve both gained something without having to put any real energy into combatting each other, which allows both parties to pursue other objectives.”

“An interesting approach,” said Arachne with a vested interest.

“Yes, but energy has to go into the forming of the relationship,” said Twilight, “Chrysalis put a large amount of energy and effort into the forming of our current relationship in the hopes that it would pay off. From what I understand about changelings, which mostly thanks to input from Chrysalis, most changeling queens are not willing to try for putting a lot of energy into a nonmilitary venture in hopes it will pay off in the long run. From what Chrysalis has shared changeling queens tend to focus on short-term objectives rather than long-term goals.”

“And it paid off more than I ever hoped,” said Chrysalis, “since I don’t have to put any energy into managing a facade, unless explicitly asked, I’m able to conserve far more energy than if I had been going about it the ‘traditional’ way. I might not have a hive that’s self-sufficient, yet, but it was a conscious decision based a number of factors, the two biggest being natural maturation cycles and a desire to not have my neighbors get the impression I’m trying for another invasion.”

“It also gives us time to prepare accordingly,” said Rarity, “Twilight’s excited about the possibility of educating new generations, along with the fact Chrysalis’s primes managed to integrate so well into the education system without having to resort to using their disguising ability, there is a time and place for everything.”

“Like Nightmare Night and hide-and-seek,” said Pinkie, “not to mention the kinds of pranks you can pull with an ability like that.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ve been pulling the girls into the pranks you and Rainbow like to pull,” said Chrysalis.

“Only the little ones,” said Pinkie, “the kind that are harmless fun.”

“It’s also fun playing which-one-is-the-real-one,” said Rainbow, “where we ask your girls to all actively pick the same pony to imitate then have everypony in town try to guess which isn’t the fake.”

Twilight facepalmed before saying, “That’s why every few weeks we see four of any given foal around town, you need to run activities by me or the city legislature so as to not potentially cause a panic.”

“But we did, a good three days before the first time it happened we dropped in on you and asked if it was okay,” said Rainbow.

“Was she busy at the time?” Said Chrysalis.

The cyan and pink mares gave nervous laughs before Pinkie said, “Oh, um, yeah. I guess we should have waited until she wasn’t preoccupied to drop something in on her like that.”

“A little extra warning wouldn’t have hurt either,” said Twilight.

“These sorts of interactions are rather amusing,” said Arachne, “but I’m having trouble seeing how most of this pertains to why we’re here.”

“Of course you do,” said Spike, “you’ve all either outright insulted Chrysalis or given her backhanded compliments. I’m going to put this as plainly as possible, you’re mocking my wife and while I would appreciate you stopping it I know that’s not going to happen. I was seeking retribution from friends and family after Chrys willingly allowed herself to be harmed as part of her atonement.” This caught the visiting queens off guard, no queen would willingly allow herself to be harmed without some sort of means of retaliation, “Of course she couldn’t have chosen a worse time, mostly on account she was still carrying. And while Chrys is more than capable of handling herself, especially in matters like this, if you continue to degrade her or make any attempts on lives of OUR girls I’ll be more than happy to show what passes for ‘diplomacy’ for most dragons.”

“Is that a threat?” said Culicidae.

“Spike stopped making threats ages ago,” said Chrysalis, “now when he says things like that it’s a promise.”

“I’ll put this in terms you can understand,” said Spike, “those blows that Chrysalis intentionally took will be the last she takes. Chrys insisted we be cordial with all of you, but if you’re preoccupied with seeing just how far you can push the hospitality we’ve extended then Cicada and Vespa got off light. And, for the record, I think what they got was a slap on the wrist. Of course, my opinion on the matter might be slanted a bit, on account they made an attempt on my mate’s life. This is the last you’ll hear of my words, next time I’ll just show my displeasure physically. And if any of you make a go at my daughter, I’ll be well within my rights to end you.” The word ‘end’ was given a strong emphasis.

Arachne just seemed to stare blankly. Yes, Cicada and Vespa were impulsive idiots, recent events proved that much. A dragon giving declarations, threat or not, was something to be wary of. Whether this offspring was genuinely his or not didn’t matter, what did was the paternal instincts that clearly stated that one wrong move would result in potentially fatal consequences regardless of who the offender was. Queens weren’t used to being fearful, some did enjoy being sources of fear, so much so that most had trouble even recognizing fear. To compound the issue, Chrysalis was being protective of her offspring.

“Coddling your drones will only lead to weakness,” stated Culicidae, who clearly tired of the display.

“I thought we covered this already,” Rainbow exclaimed with mild annoyance.

“We did,” said Chrysalis, “sometimes Queens like to loop conversations due to a desire to prevent things from progressing or intense disinterest in how things are going.”

“Wait, they actually actively make a go at hindering progress?” Rarity said with genuine surprise.

“Oh, indeed,” said Arachne, “most of us don’t really like to have things change beyond what fits a preconceived notion, I suppose Chrysalis told you about our arrangement before her failure.”

“Not in any real detail, for the most part,” said Rarity, “she probably shared the whole story, including the more minute aspects, with Twilight.”

“Guilty,” said Twilight, “it was around Hearth’s Warming that she did, I took quite a few notes during then, the rest of the family wasn't all too happy to hear how Changeling negotiations tend to go. She mentioned the negotiations taking days and going wildly off tangent a few times.”

“That is indeed accurate,” said Arachne, “and ever since her surrendering the secret to clothing production to me my hive has been doing far better than anticipated.”

“Pity you didn’t innovate,” said Rarity, “all the attire you produce is quite simplistic. Chrysalis moved everything in the right direction, with developing how to weave changeling silk into cloth and that cloth into clothing. But you, Arachne, seem to be content with things to take things to another step.” Rarity and the others in attendance were very well aware of the implications of calling a queen content in anything, Chrysalis was mostly an exception due mainly to Spike’s influence, and what it meant to call a queen out on anything.

Arachne blinked a few times in a mix of surprise and displeasure, “Well, I knew ponies could audacious, but to throw down a gauntlet at a meeting seems incredibly bold and stupid to me.”

Twilight wanted to keep things civil, so she stepped, “Rarity is the most fashionably conscious member among those in attendance here, she even operates her own fashion business.”

“Which is quite successful, I might add,” said Rarity, “the designs and colors of your attires are quite simplistic, so much so that something ‘plain’ would be an improvement over their bland aesthetic. Take a look around, everyone else is in an ensemble that has a bit of character to it, shows off a bit of who they are or their status in some way. While all of you have attire that barely deviates from any in your hive. Chrysalis told us about your choosing to wear attire to give a more impressive appearance, but the lack of any character to your attire just makes it look like you didn’t even want to put forth the effort to even play act any of it. No choice of a color palette to compliment your natural colors, no bold insignias to show just who you are, no cohesive attire throughout your entire realm, it all screams of your lack of anything resembling an understanding of basic aesthetics. At the very least you should have some understanding of that, considering you’re more than capable of altering your own physical aesthetic in a number of ways.”

Rarity hadn’t just thrown out a challenge, she’d effectively called out all the queens on something they lacked, another red flag Chrysalis had warned of before the whole meeting officially kicked off.

“And just to let you know,” said Spike, “you effectively threw down the gauntlet with me the moment you started mocking my family.”

The Rule of Violet

Author's Note

Believe it or not, this is a double reference. First of all, it's reference to a webcomic I like to read, which ironically led to my being aware of the other part of this meaning. The First page of the Comic, and here's the page the that informed me of the other.

I think you can guess why the chapter is written the way it is, feel free to try and get confirmation in the comments.

As always, if you want to use anything provided send me a heads up, also if you want to turn anything in any of the chapters into an art piece let me know and send me a copy or link of the art piece.

The Rule of Violet

Violet Emerald was very much aware of everything going on around her, she was far smarter than most would anticipate. She wasn’t staying quiet because her mother had asked her to, which she would if it had actually been asked of her, but rather due to the fact she just liked to absorb as much about everything as she could. Her mother and father had heard her speak once, it was back when she was around two months old, but for the most part, she didn’t really speak regardless of her personal comfort level or circumstances in the environment around her. She had been praised by her parents for her special ability, she could find anything she wanted if she focused on it hard enough. The first thing she ever dug up, the green stone that glitters and can fit in her mouth or pocket, and her parents had even told her what it was after she got a chance to see mommy after she got back. She was told it was called “emerald,” but it just didn’t sit well with her, she was called “Emerald” and told so by everyone she had met up ‘til the day the mean feeling mares came.

Violet was curious, thankfully daddy was there to keep her safe if anything went bad, daddy was a big and powerful dragon, that’s what he kept telling her. And mommy was powerful in her own right, but that had more to do with an unseen strength than one that could be known at a glance like daddy. These new visitors had a feeling that was like mommy but not, she didn’t know why that was. The ones that came along with the visitors felt hollow and almost lifeless, unlike her sisters who felt vibrant and full of life.

Violet wanted to know why her sisters weren’t here now, she always felt safer when family was near. “Aunty Twilight” and all of her friends did help make her feel safe, especially the white mare with a purple mane. Violet was terrible with names, she only knew “Aunty Twilight” because her sisters shared all that stuff over the link. She only knew her name because mommy and daddy kept using those words when they referred to her or talked to her. Words weren’t important to her right now, or at least permanent attachments to words did not have any real meaning to her. There was the white mare with many colors her mane, she radiated a feeling that was like mommy’s, same was true with the blue mare with stars in her mane, she really liked being with the starry maned mare, the feeling was shared with the starry maned mare.

The visitors on the other hand each had a feeling to them that indicated some kind of desire to steer clear of them, if Emerald could sum up the feeling in one of the words she seemed to instinctively know it would be ‘danger’, and the fact that these visitors each emanated a different feeling of danger didn’t sit well with Emerald. The idea of entities that each broadcast they were dangerous being anywhere near her or mommy scared her. Mommy had even told her that danger should be avoided whenever possible, that must be it then. These were dangers mommy felt couldn’t be avoided anymore, for Emerald that was very scary. Something mommy wanted to stay away from because it was too scary for her was now here in full view of Violet herself, she could see why mommy thought all these mean mares were scary.

One of the mares acted like she was the prettiest thing in the world, daddy acted like that same mare was a waste of time, Emerald agreed with daddy. Another one of the mares was just really aggressive, chances were she wouldn’t be here for long. One of the mares acted vicious, almost like nothing would be of consequence, she’d get a bit of a surprise there. The green was the worst, mommy acted like the green was the one to look out for, the green one was practically devoid of any caring in addition to being beyond mean, Emerald could see why mommy didn’t like the green one.

The mare with spider legs showed up later than the rest, she had a very attractive look and her spider legs were actually really pretty, she seemed to at least treat mommy with some kind of respect. She was scary, just not in the way the other visiting mares were. She seemed to have some aspect to revealing her real form that had every non-changeling staring in awe for a bit, Violet couldn’t see what it was that drew so much attention. Although, the extra loving hug daddy gave her that got a little tighter was still nice. Violet didn’t know exactly what was going on, she just knew mommy needed her to be there. As far as Violet was concerned, mommy just needed her there because of her relaxing effect on others.
To Violet this whole event didn’t mean anything, all that mattered was that mommy and daddy wanted her with them for this. Violet was always a quiet observer, she didn’t need to use words for what she wanted to say. She had the link to communicate with mommy and her sisters. Daddy and the ponies might not have the link but Auntie Twilight wanted to start a project that could fix that problem, of course, mommy mentioned some problems that would be involved with it all. Of course, daddy, mommy, Auntie Twilight and their friends, along with the white pony with wings and a horn and the dark blue pony with wings and a horn with a starry mane all were worried about Violet getting hurt. The visiting mares did feel like they might hurt her or mommy, something daddy would do his best to stop.
After all the visitors had been introduced mommy took Violet and everyone else out for a short walk and asked her to show what she could do. Emerald was happy, she found another sparkly stone that was indigo this time. Mommy was very proud of her, so was daddy. She put it in one of the pockets her clothes had, the white mare with a purple mane had made the outfit specially for Violet. Violet liked only one thing about clothes, the ability to carry more things than if you went without them. She did not enjoy being treated as an impromptu model, but the joy she felt radiating from the mare responsible was enough to keep her from tearing it off as quickly as possible and instead wait for it to be removed by the one responsible for placing it on her, to begin with. The only ones who know about this are Mommy, her sisters, and Daddy. Of course, they aren’t telling anyone.

Lunch was delicious, pasta with gem dust. Just like daddy, Emerald loved eating gems, the only exceptions being the ones she personally digs up, they’re so special that eating them just seems and feels wrong, which is why she also attacks anyone that tries to damage or eat her precious gemstones.
Everything seemed to be going well, until mommy was attacked by the mean yellow mare and the mean green mare. Mommy was okay, the ones that attacked her were taken away by the guards in funny outfits. While waiting for the funny dressed guards the yellow one attacked mommy again, mommy showed her why you don’t mess with mommy. The visiting mares showed surprise a moment that was so short mommy and everyone else missed it. Violet had a tendency to be more perceptive than she let on, this paired with her general silence and other abilities and mannerisms was something of interest to Auntie Twilight. Regardless of it all, Emerald had little to no real opinions on the matter. She would like for ponies to be able to communicate with her the way mommy and her sisters did with each other, plus the system would allow daddy to communicate that way too.
Emerald had heard Auntie Twilight wanted to emulate the special link all changelings have with their hive and queen, if she were more willing to communicate the way Auntie Twilight did then she would gladly volunteer. Amusingly enough, Auntie Twilight had been starting to study the link with mommy, always a good starting point. Emerald wanted to be able to talk with daddy the way she talked with mommy, mommy told her daddy had indeed talked with her that way for a short time before any of her elder sisters were hatched. There was one thing Emerald wanted more than anything else, to have her family genuinely happy without having issues that needed to be dealt with in events like this meeting. Emerald was thankful the visitors couldn’t “hear” anything over the link, she did hate that they could detect its presence in the same general area as them but was thankful she and mommy could do the same.

Emerald wanted to be able to talk with mommy without having her conversations being treated like something that could lead to problems. Auntie Twilight wanted to give Equestria’s citizens access to something like the link, which would be nice on account that Emerald could talk with them the way she wanted to. Her quietness was something not really seen among her siblings, or any foals within her age range. She had been told things that are quiet can sometimes be cute, some sounds could be considered cute and that she herself was cute. Emerald liked that there was a term that could be applied to her and other things, it meant she was special without being overly unique. Being the first changeling of her special designation made her feel like she really wouldn’t be seen for herself, just what she was. Mommy had told her about how she had similar experiences, it made Violet feel happy to know mommy had the same kind of experiences as her. Mommy was wise, brilliant, really smart, compassionate, thoughtful, caring, and a bunch of other things she had heard mommies should be. Violet knew that just because she was 7 months old she was going to not be taken seriously, something that her family and their friends almost never made mistake about because they knew some of the things she could do.

Violet wanted to go to the mysterious place called “School”, not because her eldest sisters were going there most days, but because of how Auntie Twilight talked about it. Auntie Twilight talked about this mysterious place like it was the best place in the world, more so than any of the other places she would talk about. Of course, she would excitedly talk about “books”, just like Light Novel. Mommy said she never really went to school, the closest she got was the mean spirited learning mommy’s mommy gave her. Mommy said she no longer was willing to think of that mare as her mommy, this meant it was possible to refuse someone as a mommy if they were mean enough. Mommy also told her that she was very different from her mommy, Emerald liked how mommy was nice and gentle.

The visiting mares were mean, the emotions they gave off felt almost dangerous. It was like being near them was like being close to poison, Emerald didn’t like it when they were so close to her. Daddy was very protective of Emerald and her sisters, she and her sisters also were like a comfortable blanket he liked to hold near when he felt he needed one. Emerald didn’t want to be here, but mommy said she was needed here. At the very least Violet would have something to tell her sisters, if mommy didn’t tell them first. Mommy gave them all one rule, no using the link to talk to her or Violet before this meeting was truly over.

Emerald didn’t quite understand what mommy meant by what she said, but her eldest sisters did and they explained to all the other changeling foals. Mommy explained it to Emerald that this meeting might take a few days, maybe even weeks. Violet didn’t like that she wouldn’t be able to “hear” the “voices” of her sisters for so long, she had never been placed in something like this before. Mommy told her it was better than what mommy had to go through before she ended up with daddy, Auntie Twilight and Auntie Twilight’s friends all said something similar.

Violet just wanted to go back to how things were before these mean mares showed up, the one with spider legs was the least mean of all them but still pretty scary. Violet blinked a few times and did her usual look around, not understanding why she got such extreme reactions from the visitors. Even the empty feeling changelings had that reaction. She didn't quite understand why they reacted that way.

For Violet, this whole thing was boring, which is why she was either sticking to the side of mommy or daddy. Auntie Twilight was nice to be around sometimes but with an event like this, it didn’t feel right to be at her side for some reason, the same was true with all of Auntie Twilight’s friends. The first day was coming to an end already and Violet was feeling uneasy, most of the whole thing was the mean mares putting on a show for no reason other than trying to seem more important than they were. Violet was not looking forward to the coming night. While it did mean spending the night at Auntie Twilight’s, which was nice, it also meant spending the night in the same place as the mean mares, which was far from nice. Emerald was afraid something bad would happen to her, daddy or mommy during the night.

Meeting's First Night

Author's Note

A few things before you go forth, I'll try to keep it brief. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all old and new readers that have made the choice to follow this series of stories.

Secondly, I had an idea for a spin-off story focusing on the foals that left before the meeting, but I couldn't decide how to start it so I came upon the idea to let the readers of the story write it with me acting as an editor and proofreader. I posted a blog concerning the idea back in May, found here.

With all that out of the way, you are now permitted to progress to the next chapter.

Meeting's First Night

After the agreed adjournment the remaining guests were shown to their rooms. For security’s sake, they were all put in the same hall, with several rooms between each other. Nymph and Arachne actually elected to wait outside their rooms and elected to wait outside the doors of their rooms until after their hosts left, Culicidae entered and quickly shut the door to her room without allowing anyone to follow. The less than cordial behavior of the queens was anticipated, the less than favorable remarks laced with dissent and often worded in a manner lacking in a family had Twilight and Flash glad they had the rest of the family elsewhere within the complex. Given her displayed nature Emerald was likely to try curling up with someone for comfort, the most likely candidates for this course of action were Spike and Chrysalis. Although, there was the very real chance Luna would insist on spending the night Violet, mostly because she adores children and would argue that she doesn’t really get to spend more time with any of them.

The fact the events were going so slow was a given, especially when you took the number of times the visiting queens “insisted” on looping the conversation. Frankly, all the princesses were surprised they even managed to get the business as far as they did up until then. The fact that after Spike suggested they get the queens situated in their respective rooms before dinner had two of said queens squabbling all through the journey to and up the stairs all the way to the stop at the designated hall, to the amusement of the third.

Twilight and Flash left their guests to get comfortable and headed back downstairs. The sight of Luna playing with Emerald was too cute for words, as they got closer the two heard Spike and Chrysalis comment about it being okay for Emerald to spend the night Luna. Celestia just stood to the side smiling at the whole thing, she waved Twilight and Flash over once she noticed them. Discord was off to the side, near Celestia, with a miniature “war room” in top-down view seemingly planning or reacting to some kind of conflict, Twilight rolled her eyes at Discord’s antics.

“So, what exactly did we miss?” Flash inquired.

“Not a whole lot,” said Celestia, “no more than the usual when my husband or foals of any kind are involved.”

“I’m kind of sorry our filly isn’t here,” said Twilight, “at the very least Violet would have a playmate. Although, she’s rather quiet for a foal her age.”

“Only if you go by pony standards,” said Chrysalis, “she’s just uncomfortable communicating verbally, she finds it too lacking.”

“Wait, she’s more talkative over the link? That’s something of note,” said Flash, already seeing Twilight writing down what they just heard in a pocket notebook with a purple cover.

“Not at the moment,” said Chrysalis, “she doesn’t like that she can’t communicate via the link, even though she knows why she’s not permitted during this time. She’s actually quite brilliant for her age, she just hasn’t gotten into the habit of sharing in a similar manner to some of her older sisters.”

“Why did you say it like that? There must be a reason,” said Twilight.

“According to Chrysalis,” said Spike, “while Emerald is physically silent, over the link she can be a bit of chatterbox with her genuine curiosity that is somehow properly tempered by her sense of caution.”

“Just last week she was babbling about what she thinks school must be like, I really don’t feel I’m the best one for talking about that. Also, her sisters have deliberately been withholding information regarding school from her. You may not realize this, Twilight, but the one she admires most outside of the hive is you. For some reason, she’s latched onto the excitement you have about learning, and school in particular, to the point she thinks it’s as magical a place as you make it out to be, it’s actually kind of adorable with how she’s been romanticizing a place she’s never actually been to. That said, she still doesn’t understand this fascination with books you and Novel seem to have.”

“You’re right, that is really cute,” said Twilight.

“Wait, why is she fixated on Twilight to such a degree?”

“Probably has something to do with the fact that Twilight is the greatest authority aside from Chrys she has regular contact with,” said Spike.

“Also the fact all of her older sisters insist on referring to Twilight by name,” said Chrysalis, “she just refers to the rest you by some overly simplified description.”

“Then what am I?” Discord inquired with curiosity, finally looking up from his playset.

“The silly looking thing with a funny voice,” said Chrysalis.

“Well, at least he’s memorable,” said Celestia.

“Celestia is the tall white mare with wings and a horn,” said Chrysalis, Discord and most of the assembled mares gave little giggles at that.

“Luna is the ‘dark blue mare with wings and a horn with a sparkly mane’, she thinks it’s pretty.” Luna just smiled at that while enjoying her time with the foal.

“Twilight's just called ‘Auntie Twilight’ and Cadance is just called ‘Auntie Cadance’ but she really hasn’t taken to learning the rest of your names.”

“So she hasn’t even learned any of our names, even mine,” said Rarity with mock indignation, “I probably spend more time with her than the rest of us, barring Chrys and Twilight that is.”

“Even so,” said Chrysalis, “for now you’ll just have to be content with being known as ‘the white mare with a pretty purple mane’ that likes dressing her up, which she’s indifferent about by the way.”

“Really,” said Rarity, “I make her look fabulous for a few minutes during our time together and she doesn’t even think of it as special.”

“Oh, she thinks of it as special. She just puts up with it because she knows it makes you happy, she just doesn’t want to ruin your fun.”

“It would be nice she would share that with me, I could make her an outfit we both enjoy.”

“Ooh, ooh, what about me?” Pinkie said with excitement.

“She calls you the ‘super happy pink mare’ and also wonders where you get all your energy,” said Chrysalis

“I’m not always happy,” said Pinkie in a more subdued voice.

“Even so, you are always seemingly happy when she sees you,” said Spike, “Chrys did mention that the identifiers Violet gives everyone are oversimplifications.”

“Rainbow Dash is just the ‘cyan mare with a rainbow mane’ and she wonders why you keep trying to get Dusk to do stuff.

“Hey,” said Rainbow, “she’s the most active of your primes, might as well have her get a bit more involved with some things because of that. Although, when I explained most pranks to her she came off as more than a bit of a buzzkill.”

Everyone just shook their heads before Chrysalis continued, “Fluttershy is the ‘nice yellow mare with wings and a pink mane’ she also wonders why you’re so jumpy.”

“Oh, well at least she thinks I’m nice.”

“The point Chrys is trying to make here is Emerald has very distinctive mindset, we don’t know if this will be present in all changelings with her classification or just an eccentricity she has for the time being.”

“We will once you two have some more foals,” said Twilight, “having more changelings with her classification will tell us for sure.”

“But that’s not for quite a ways off,” said Spike, “we still plan to wait a while longer before making a new brood.”

“It’s getting late, I suggest we take care of what we need to for the night and head to bed. Anyone who feels like it will feel a bit lonely under the current circumstances is free to take one of the empty rooms here at the castle.”

“Thank you for the invitation, darling,” said Rarity.

“I think I’ll be fine at my place, some of the animals are probably wondering why I wasn’t there to assist them for most of the day.”

“Et doesn’t feel lahke tha same widout tha rest o’ tha family aroun’,” said Applejack. The rest of Twilight’s friends voiced similar statements.

“I wish to spend the night with Violet Emerald,” said Luna, “I beseech her parents to permit this.”

“I don’t see any real issues with her spending the night with Luna,” said Chrysalis.

“Same here,” said Spike, “we know she’s going to remain safe in your care, Luna.”

“Well,” said Celestia, “I suppose with everything sorted out we should retire to our rooms.”

“We will,” said Twilight, “as soon as everyone who is going to be staying the night is sorted into their rooms.”

“Should only take a few minutes,” said Flash, “then we’re off to bed as well.” The task of getting everyone sorted into a room, minus Fluttershy, didn’t even take more than ten minutes, a little less than the time it took to run to Fluttershy’s. The only real issue, which was handled well enough by Celestia, was Discord’s parody of a nightly ritual.

Meeting's First Night: N

Nymph looked about the room that had been prepared for her, it was more spacious than she had thought the ponies would be willing to surrender to her. Her private restroom took up almost as much space, the spacious tub was very much appreciated. She also found a strange device sitting on her bed with a note attached to it, the note said the device was called a “humidifier” and was designed specifically to make the room it was in more humid or moist and even had a small list pamphlet that explained how to operate it. She herself had not anticipated such a thorough prep work regarding her personal comfort. She could care less if her drones were comfortable, but remaining optimal was a different story entirely.

The ponies seemed to have everything covered for her stay, she even had a little note on the bedside table telling her where all the best places to find “acceptable” marine-based food. The note also told her what creatures were to be considered off-limits during the entire time she was in the area, even going to go as far to explain why they were off limits. Nymph was not happy, as long as she was in Equestria’s defined territories she couldn’t act on her usual choices because of fear of the ramifications. The Accords didn’t state outright that while in another nation’s defined borders that one should follow the rules and laws of that area, all of that was implied. She had not anticipated actual retaliation and punishment for one disregarding the leniencies of the sociopolitical position she and the other queens were granted, that all changed when Cicada and Vespa had crossed the line and were to be placed in detainment facility for an extended period of time.

The foolishness of Cicada and Vespa meant the other queens had an opportunity to claim those hives, Nymph wasn’t usually the kind to just wait things out like this. She actually felt a sense of euphoria about it all, Chrysalis had shown her there was a way to provoke things in one’s favor by just sticking to the script and allowing others to deviate from it in unacceptable ways and just let the safeguards take care it all. A sound strategy that forces the target to waste its energy while you do not, Chrysalis always had been the most intellectual among them.

What Nymph didn’t know was that Chrysalis wasn’t adhering to any sort of script, merely allowing the visitors to believe she was and having their choices influenced by that perception. Nymph didn’t really grasp that kind of subtlety, the only one that really did was Arachne. Nymph wasn’t about to just go and ask anyone about anything, to queens those sorts of questions were akin to showing weakness. Chrysalis may have allowed herself to become corrupted by the ponies but that was only out of her desperate need for survival, with that same corruption practically permeating her hive, if the sample drone she brought along was any indication. To make matters worse, that drone had some strange ability Chrysalis stated was a term used by ponies, a drone that makes it so other drones or queens have no choice but do everything to keep it safe is a danger of the highest order. The fact Chrysalis was the first known queen to have one made things even more aggravating, that fact in and of itself would taint the historical shaming of Chrysalis, something that should not stand. Culicidae likely shared her views on this, Arachne was another story.

Arachne being one of, if not the, oldest established queens meant she had far more influence and power than most other queens. Arachne was also eying the drone as if she had plans to make it her own, which meant regardless of how this whole event played out Arachne would likely call a meeting of queens to bring all the knowledge regarding this new kind of drone to the attention of all assembled queens. If the queens doubted her claims, along with Nymph and Culicidae discrediting the claims, the very thought of this drone being potentially out in the world and not part of any of the hives in attendance to such a meeting would get some queens thinking and wanting to further investigate. Besides, the discredited plan had a slim chance of happening, given how many potential changeling spies were doing their best to listen in on the proceedings. Not to mention Chrysalis had the drone give a live demonstration of her resource finding abilities out in the open, the idea of such a drone having a natural defense to keep harm from itself in service of the hive wasn’t too far fetched. The drone having such a natural ability meant that the queen of its hive wouldn’t have to waste as much energy allocating military type drones to its protection.

No matter how she looked at it, Nymph could find no reason for terminating this drone that would be a suitable or reasonable excuse that would be considered acceptable. Nymph was many things, but reckless wasn’t one of them anymore. Chrysalis had been right about a few things, the biggest being preparation and waiting meant a much higher chance of success. Of course, that had been the proper Chrysalis, this new Chrysalis had allowed herself to be affected by the very emotions she should be dominating. The farce of a personality Chrysalis had was not something Nymph liked seeing, and the fact that said farce seemed to be genuine was another infuriation.

Nymph needed a soak, thankfully her tub was more than big enough to hold her form. When she closed the door, which was an act more about keeping moisture in the room than privacy concerns, she noticed an outfit that looked like a one piece version of what Chrysalis had been wearing under her dress when Cicada and Vespa had attacked her with a note, with a noticeably different color. The note said that Rarity, the white unicorn with mono-purple hair (it really did say which pony, mostly because Chrysalis and the princesses had very big feeling that the queens were highly likely to not pay attention to names of most of those in attendance), had made this outfit called a “bathing suit” for her and that the outfit was specifically designed for use in the water. Said outfit was seafoam green, which was a sharp contrast to her dark colored carapace, with a lighter shade of ocean blue acting as the bordering color. The note went on to further state if Nymph wished to have adjustments made to her existing choices in attire, including the new outfit she was now staring at, or desired to make an outfit order, Rarity would be more than happy to assist in that regard. The worst part of it all was Nymph actually liked the outfit, especially the fact it was tailored for aquatic use. That in and of itself made her desire to destroy Chrysalis and dismantle what remained of her feel like it was no longer viable. Next to the outfit was a fluffy item that looked like it was meant just over the torso and hangs down a bit called a “bathrobe”, which had its own note explaining what was for. The “bathrobe” struck Nymph as something she wasn’t likely to ever use at any point in the future, even if its dark green color with sea foam blue pearl pattern was pleasing to her eyes.

Chrysalis was literally in a self-imposed exile, she would never be safe outside of Equestria’s borders and showed no intentions of willingly leaving them. But the kill-on-sight protocol wouldn’t be extended to any queens she might produce, those potential queens in the nebulous future Nymph was thinking of could potentially contaminate any number of hives with their very interactions. It looked like Arachne was actually considering allowing the contamination into her own hive, willingly.

Nymph decided to take her mind off such things, she needed to stop thinking such things. She was afraid that continued thinking on such things might actually have her considering contaminating her own hive as well, a bit of time in the water should hopefully wash such thoughts away. Nymph filled the tub almost to the point of overflowing before shutting off the running water, such an odd convenience to have within one’s reach. Nymph felt quite relaxed in her tub, for a period of time that felt somewhere between relaxing hours and tense minutes, when her security drones, which were at the entrance to her room just by the hall where her room’s door was, informed her that Culicidae had appeared with no escort. Confused, intrigued and unsurprised Nymph had one of the drones escort the red queen to her.

When Culicidae entered the room, to see an unworried Nymph soaking in the tub, she said, “I see I’m not the only ‘guest’ to have trouble resting here. This place is too relaxed, not one assassination attempt from our hosts has been made.”

“That would be worrisome,” said Nymph, “if it weren’t for the fact that such things are a massively rare event in this nation’s culture. Politics in this nation are uninteresting and border on dull, while a surprising number of monthly and weekly occurrences prove more entertaining.”

“Don't tell me that you’re falling for this nation’s ‘charm’ as well.”

“Never,” said Nymph, “I just took the time to study up on the happenings of this nation over the past decade or so, it’s why I wasn’t surprised to see news articles pertaining to Chrysalis and the dragon being married. Chrysalis has entrenched herself in Equestria’s culture, much to the shame she should of had all this time.”

“All mildly interesting...but not why I’m here, we need to put an end to this farce quickly.”

“Agreed, but the fact Chrysalis is using The Accords to her favor is making that much more problematic. Their use to this sort of level has…”

“Been done all the time, it’s just the correlating circumstances that have not been seen before in regards to The Accords.”

“So you did review The Accords, that should make things easier on us. We got a demonstration on what happens if we manage to cross the line earlier today.”

“And a wonderful demonstration it was, not just of what happens if we step out of line while here.”

“Yes, Chrysalis does seem to have dragon inspired properties, which supports her claims that she is the dragon’s mate. But enough with the pleasantries, what sort of proposition have you come to me about?”

“I have yet to find a way under current...constraints, in regards to having her leave her supposed sanctuary.”

“As have I, she’s not foolish enough to just wander outside the boundaries of her supposed haven without weighing the costs. Her offspring, however, are not bound by the same rules. If she genuinely does care for them, as repulsive as that thought is, that means we can force her rational mind to the background with the proper approaches when her offspring are outside this nation’s boundaries.”

“I hate waiting, but right now it’s our best option. I will assist you in the endeavor when it becomes more feasible.”

“The aid is not fully wanted, but appreciated nonetheless. Have you propositioned Archne about this?”

“No, she seems to be too busy entertaining the ideas Chrysalis brought up earlier today.”

“I was just thinking the same thing, I suggest you head back to your designated quarters during this time. If you spend too much time here we might run into further undesired elements.”

Culicidae said nothing and departed, Nymph’s drone returning to its post and shutting the door as Culicidae headed down the hall. Nymph knew that she wasn’t alone her thoughts, Culicidae’s visit just reinforced that notion. It was good that Culicidae came and distracted her, otherwise, Nymph would have been focused on how incredibly comfortable her soak was and started thinking things she was “taught” a queen is better not thinking of.

This was going to be a long night, Nymph was not happy about that. She got out of the tub, not even bothering to make a go at drying herself off, and entered her main room and positioned the “humidifier” by the door before turning it to its highest setting and activating it, after making sure to check the operation manual again, before flopping her moistened body on the very clean and dry bed. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep, but being rested for the next day would be important. This wasn’t like a “traditional” changeling meeting where it was expected to have at least several attempts on your life in the first fifteen hours. All that was happening here was being watched by various parties for some sort of slip up, at least that’s how Nymph saw it. She had studied up extensively about how dealings in major cities such as Canterlot and Manehattan had a number of backroom deals going on, which were more in line with how changelings liked their meetings to go. Ponyville was just barely into its large town phase, such practices were seen as the exception rather than the norm.

The town was still growing, likely due to the fact that one of the nation’s rulers was a resident. The town had been built with the Town Hall as the central focal point of the location, it was obvious to see that focus was shifting to the castle with how the newer complexes in the community were being oriented. Nymph couldn’t believe she was even thinking about such things, there was clearly something about this region that caused one’s mind to become addled. If that were true, Chrysalis’s massive personality shift and the Dragon's distinctly less dragon properties could be explained away that way. The questions here were, how far did the influencing force extend? Where was its central distribution point? How could it be neutralized?

With so many questions and no hint in regards to where to find the answers, Nymph found herself in an unfamiliar position that was both undesired and uncomfortable. She knew this whole thing would be trouble, if not a complete waste of time. The worst part of it all was she was starting to find some aspects of this place endearing, a changeling queen should never have such thoughts.

Meeting's First Night: C

Culicidae didn’t know what to make of all this, after being shown to her room she had her drones play guard at her door while she went to see Nymph. The impromptu meeting with Nymph went as well as anticipated, so much so that she was actually hoping for something to go wrong on her way back to her room. No such luck in something less peaceful happening on her way back, all of this had started annoying her almost immediately. To her knowledge no queen had ever even attempted something like this, the worst part was that she was thinking back to a comment Chrysalis had given about historical records being skewed by the victorious in their favor. She hated admitting it, but Chrysalis had been right about that sort of thing with Queens were very quick to act as if all their arrangements were perfect up until the points they stopped being worthwhile, the unwillingness of queens to portray themselves as anything less than perfect and even the fact that she herself had designs on holding up Chrysalis as a complete failure despite her proven success at managing to survive this long.

Culicidae hated that she was having such thoughts, she had been taught that a queen must never doubt her thoughts or actions. That was just the problem though, she had been taught to think this way, not come to it on her own, not discover it through her own experiences, the fact of the matter was Cicada had taught her this was the way a queen is supposed to think. All this was contradicted by Cicada’s own teachings that a queen must not allow any force from outside herself dictate her aspects, minus the properties one acquires from her mate of course but those had entirely different rules.

That was another problem, she had only had two sessions with her mate then up and left, and that had been over a six-hour period. Chrysalis had made an offhanded comment about having multiple sessions with her mate over an extended period of time, Culicidae had never even considered that possibility, and from the looks of the other queens at the time Chrysalis had revealed this information neither had they. Culicidae loathed admitting her own mistakes, but in this case, she had no other choice. Chrysalis had successfully integrated into her surrounding society so thoroughly she could move about without a disguise, an undocumented achievement for a changeling queen. The fact she did this while in self-imposed exile, with a general execution agreement from all other hives, only made the feat more impressive.

Chrysalis even openly stated how big her current hive is, with an exact number. Chrysalis had basically decided to not follow in the “traditions” of the changelings. Culicidae could respect that, didn’t stop her from wanting to kill Chrysalis, but at least she could respect her on some level. And she hated all of it, things were bad enough with Chrysalis openly expressing her emotions. Culicidae wanted to gag at it all, to make matters worse she actually liked the meal Chrysalis had prepared.

The dragon had made a comment about how Chrysalis hadn’t just acquired that property from him, what she had gained had grown and altered to the point it was different than his and had him making claims that her skills in the kitchen were superior. Queens aren’t meant for menial labor such as working in a kitchen, they are meant to rule through delegation. Chrysalis probably didn’t even need to consume any of the foods she was, from what Culicidae gathered she had gathered enough emotional energy from the ponies to be sustained for an extended period of time. The fact Chrysalis was willingly partaking in such actions was another issue that bared addressing. She was even talking with the ponies about family gatherings like it was the most natural thing in the world to be involved in such things, and the reverie they conversed about it with stated such things were an overall pleasant affair with no fears of anyone trying to terminate anyone. Such things were never likely to happen amongst changelings, the contamination needed to stop at the borders of this nation, if it spread any further the entire changeling way of life would be ended.

Then it happened, in her room, after she closed the door behind her she saw two articles of clothing with notes calling them a “nightgown” and “bathrobe” and she found herself thinking of them as aesthetically pleasing. She was disgusted with herself, even as she slipped off the clothes she had been wearing all day to slip on the “nightgown” and admire herself in the lustrous dark sky blue color. The robe was a light forest green color, with her once again admiring the aesthetics. It was at this moment she realized she had been compromised by the contamination, maybe all the visiting queens had been. If that were true then Vespa and Cicada’s assault on Chrysalis taking longer than anticipated, in Chrysalis’s own words, was likely their attempts to assert dominance over the contamination.

That drone Chrysalis had brought with her to the event was definitely invaluable, wiping out Chrysalis’s extremely small hive would ensure it did not shift to the control of another queen. Just keeping Chrysalis’s drones after her termination would be acknowledging Chrysalis was no failure, an act that must not stand. The main problem was that the bulk of Chrysalis’s hive was not present, by her own admittance they were not at the colony grounds so as to prevent any hostile parties from properly locating it, made the hive’s extermination far more problematic than it had to be.

Culicidae didn’t like being here, the fact that imminent threats were few and far between meant that the residents were soft. Chrysalis had gone soft, so much so that she could no longer be rightfully be called a queen. Her insistence that the drone was not a drone, the act that was designed to simulate self-autonomy, and the way she got all the ponies to go along with the charade was all proof of her softness. The only way the drone could have remained at such a stunted development was Chrysalis deliberately stunting its development, the only problem was that when she and the other queens had inspected the drone there were no indicators that Chrysalis was manipulating the drone’s development in any way. If it was indeed true that the drone was developing at an unaltered rate that would mean that all of Chrysalis’s hive were not developed enough to put up a proper fight, an advantage that could easily be utilized by a queen with knowledge of the truth of that hive.

Culicidae didn’t like that she took the gifts offered so readily, even more so that she actually enjoyed the act of wearing what was offered her. Culicidae kept on thinking she was going to be in debt, immensely so, to this “Rarity” pony. This line of thinking only got worse when she inspected her closet, there were easily a dozen formal dresses and about half that in “casual” attire. Chances were the other queens had similar outfits in their closets as well. She wanted to shred all the outfits to ribbons, but something stopped her from doing so. She was growing even more infuriated with herself, so much so that the only thing she could think was to calm herself and try getting some sleep. She was in for another day of annoying displays, the coming day would let her know just how much damage was really being done.

The fact she was wearing this “nightgown” without even thinking it over beforehand told her that she was very much beginning to be contaminated as well. The outfits in the closet all looked appealing, much to her self-disdain, and made the outfit she had made for herself before coming here look like a tattered rag by comparison. They all had intricate, sometimes even ornate, decoration integrated into the outfit itself. To make matters worse, all the designs matched up with aesthetics she found herself approving of.

There was only one explanation to she could think that made sense for the odd behavior of the queens at this meeting, the ambient magic of this nation caused a shift in thinking for in line with the general thoughts of the bulk of the populace, with higher standing authority figures likely altering the course of things. And since the populace of the town was mostly gone, with the exceptions being the princesses and the consoles of one of the said princesses being the only real populace that would mean their ideological stances were influencing the area. Culicidae was not looking forward to the coming day.

Author's Note

Well, looks like she's not taking things well. I really feel like this story could use some art but I'm having too much trouble finding a fitting image for this story and/or Queen Takes Dragon; on top of that, I really don't have the kinds of funds on hand for any commissions just yet, most of my resources go toward necessities with the barely enough left for emergency spending.

I feel like I should give the readers that made it this far a chance to influence the main story, so we'll put things to a vote. First some ground rules, 1) be mindful of others who haven't made it this far yet and post your vote in a spoiler tag and 2) leave a brief summary that is also kept in the spoiler tag why you think the story should go that way. Vote A if you want to see things head into the next day at the meeting, vote B if want to see the goings on with the correctional facility and the 2 idiots that made a play on Chrysalis's life, vote C for a look at things from Spike's PoV, vote D for a look at things from Luna's PoV, vote E for personal suggestion (don't leave summary in comments for this and PM me the suggested summary regarding the suggestion)

Early Next Morning: Spike

Author's Note

From the looks of things the reader vote thing didn't go as well as expected. Regardless, a Spike chapter won out. If you want to do another vote for the next chapter I won't stop you, just remember that Spike is now omitted from the votes now. On another note, the "Pinkieism" I reference actually comes from a webcomic called Grrl Power, in particular the title of this page. Also I have a bit of a warning for everyone, some of you might consider this important. I have Spike making a certain breakfast type food, omelets, and while some of them adhere to what would likely be expected for those with pony diets (maybe even something you would have yourselves) and others adhere to other diets, there is one (the one made for Arachne) that might make you feel a little sick, it made me feel a little sick reading it right after I wrote it.

Now that I have all that out of the way enjoy and please follow the rules.

Early Next Morning: Spike

Spike woke up with Chrysalis next him and smiled, like he had every time he woke up like this for the past five years when he saw her nearby. He realized his crush on Rarity had been a bit more than childish, attempts to substitute her with ponies like Sweetie Bell had only proved how shallow his concept of a romantic partner was at the time. That surprising accident had been just what he needed to shake everything in the right ways, and practicing Twilight’s policies of listening and understanding didn’t hurt in the situation either. Chrysalis had become a conduit with which to view Changeling culture, a culture that was so alien to ponies that all the speculations were only partially accurate and woefully lacking in progress.

Spike would admit, after their first three hatched the likelihood of seeing Chrysalis dancing naked in the kitchen with an apron had gone down due to her desire to be more presentable when guests arrived. Spike had decided that seeing his wife, a thought that took some adjusting to, dancing in the kitchen would always be the sexiest thing he ever saw, no matter what. The absolute sexiest sight he would be Chrysalis dancing in the kitchen in nothing more than an apron with several of their daughters joining in the dance, a sight he was likely to not see at any time and would likely put him into cardiac arrest.

Spike was surprised that after her heat had died down, during which he experienced a kind of sexual intimacy he thought only possible in the pages of books for mature audiences. However, her genuine romantic aspects were the real surprise to him, even more so when he learned he was basically the source for most of the psychological changes. A surprise that was beyond pleasant, for more than just him.

Chrysalis’s maternal behaviors weren’t just an amusingly fun mix of dragon and pony early parental tendencies, which had as much do with Spike’s unique nurture as it did his biological heritage, but had actually used his ideal mother figure as a foundation. Chrysalis was the loving mother to their children that he had always envisioned his own maternal figures during his very early years. That all combined with her near draconic protective tendencies in regards to their offspring made her the kind of mother it would be best to not aggravate, which some ponies felt the need to do during her early times with him and his family. After the family managed to get their hostilities towards her out, some members taking a bit longer than others, it felt like she had always been a good fit for the family to begin with.

Chrys’s academic tendencies were compatible and comparable to those of Twilight. While her fashion sense wasn’t quite as comprehensive as Rarity’s it was actually surprisingly compatible. She had a more subdued approach to social interactions, which made her a delightfully fun contrast to Pinkie Pie. After taking on some of Spike’s tendencies, a few of which acted as foundations or baselines for her own new tendencies, she had the kind of loyalty and devotion that was almost complementary to that of Rainbow Dash. Her willingness to take any punishment unrestricted but within reason mirrored the values of the Apple family, especially those of Applejack herself. And on top of all that, she had a kindness to her that was quite similar to that of Fluttershy. In short, Spike had some managed to distill core aspects of all the element bearers into their base components and somehow pass on something that awakened similar tendencies in Chrysalis herself.

The biggest surprise, to him at least, was when Ember had dropped in just a year prior to say hi and learn what was new around Equestria. One look at Chrysalis and she felt a need to challenge the former changeling queen. That thankfully stopped when she met the girls, who were just barely four years old at the time. Fire Lord Ember, as she preferred to be called, liked the idea of playing ‘aunt’ with the trio. She found it especially fun and amusing when it came to Dusk Sentinel, she even made a comment about how dragon Dusk’s mindset seemed to be. Ember was willing to sit through and listen to all the events that had been going on since her last visit almost seven years prior. Ember’s visits had a tendency to be less planned beyond will be occurring during this time or that time, which actually infuriated Twilight to a small degree.

Spike wasn’t the best at coming up with names, much to the amusement of his wife, and thus most of his ideas for names their offspring could have were shot down almost immediately. The only real exception to that at the moment was the very filly that was with them at this meeting, Violet Emerald. Spike had developed a habit of using the girls as a sort of comfort blanket when he was feeling uneasy, since Violet was the only one of their girls within any potential arm’s reach she became his go-to comfort teddy. Violet’s ability was more akin to Rarity’s talent for finding gems than anything else. Her looks and mannerisms almost seemed tailored to hit all the right buttons with Rarity, much to his and everyone else’s surprise. Emerald wasn’t just a new kind of changeling, as Chrysalis liked to point out quite a few times during the meeting earlier that day, and he knew the only reason that was said was because Chrysalis felt the need to be careful with her words. Violet Emerald, along with their eldest three, was the face of the future Chrysalis hoped for among the changelings.

Probably the most infuriating part of the entire meeting was when those two, who shall remain nameless for the sake of calm, “queens” actually attacked Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself barely reacted, a sign she was confident in her body’s ability to resist physical damage. Chrysalis had survived the assault but her dress hadn’t, she thankfully halted the following attack. Spike admitted that he had a bit of an outfit fetish, probably a result of his extended crush on Rarity from his early years, and Chrys’s swimsuit that had been under the dress the entire time had sort of hit the right buttons for him. However, what came off as even hotter, likely due to his draconic heritage, was the moment Chrysalis demonstrated that there would be no more free attacks on her.

But probably the biggest surprise of all was just how much of an impact Violet Emerald had on the visiting queens. All of the visiting queens actually showed an extreme vulnerability to Emerald’s cuteness, something none of the Equestrian representatives had expected. Spike suspected that Celestia, Luna, and Chrysalis had anticipated the reaction, chances were Celestia and Luna had more than anticipated the reactions when you considered their abilities.

Of all the ‘visitors’ Arachne seemed to be the most accommodating, that wasn’t saying much when considered how outright hostile the rest were. Spike had promised to be on his best behavior and let Chrysalis handle things that concerned her, had come very close to breaking that promise when Chrysalis had been assaulted the first time. Spike could almost sense Chrysalis’s response in regards to the second attempt on her life, something he wasn’t entirely sure how to describe. Spike found himself wanting to be able to hear voices of the “link” like he had gotten an experience in when he and Chrysalis had first mated. Spike wanted to experience that special way of communicating again, mostly so he could be that “little voice” in the heads of his daughters inspiring them to do the right thing. Chances are Chrys would probably not condone that sort of thing, or she would find great amusement in “seeing” him flounder around in regards to the link.

Spike always had this feeling that the link’s connection within him wasn’t entirely gone, Chrysalis’s statement about how its magic basically deteriorated after a few hours didn’t really help to ease the feeling. Spike kept on having this feeling that the link was still there, just not accessible for some reason. Twilight’s research, with some helpful input from Chrysalis, really didn’t find anything conclusive, of course, that could just be a byproduct of the naturally high magic resistance dragons possess. Ember had originally found the prospect fascinating, even going as far as to have some members of the Dragonlands do their own research into the matter. It wasn’t entirely clear how much of that resistance translated over to Chrysalis and their daughters.

Some of their daughters had some rather familiar feeling tendencies, especially when it came to using Twilight and her friends as a point of comparison. Light Novel and Focus Crystal both had tendencies that were reminiscent of Twilight, for slightly different reasons; Satin Care was starting to develop some similar tendencies to Pinkie and Fluttershy, much to Rarity’s amusement and dismay; and Dusk Sentinel was showing signs of having similar aspects to that of were similar Rainbow Dash, and Rarity to a lesser extent, granted with a bit less brashness and a bit more stoicism.

Spike was in agreement with Chrysalis, this meeting had to happen. He just wished it wasn’t so soon, most of their girls weren’t even a full year old yet. As per Chrysalis’s request, he was letting most of the insults of the visiting queens slide, he would stop doing that if they went too far. He said he was holding himself back when she was physically assaulted but that wasn’t entirely accurate, he could sense that she wasn’t in any serious danger and thus let it happen. If the attack had potentially endangered their daughter then he would have rushed in without hesitation, political ramifications be damned.

In fact, from what he and everyone else had been told beforehand his actions would be seen as par for the course in Changeling politics. But Chrys didn’t want that, she desired a shift in the cultural norm for the changelings that was quite far away from such actions. Even if for whatever reason all the queens in question were somehow killed by him, thus granting Chrysalis the changeling right of claim by conquest, Chrysalis would actually outright reject that, an act to her knowledge was unprecedented in changeling history, one of the lesser known queens would claim one of those hives.

Chrysalis had changed greatly from how she was when she was first made known to Equestria, with such a great change many still had trouble believing the Chrysalis of now was the Chrysalis of then back just a short number of years. If you had told Spike just twenty-nine years ago he would be married he would have made a comment about being married to Rarity and if it had been just seventeen years ago he would have scoffed at the idea of actually finding a significant other, mostly because he would be bitter over the fact that his crush on Rarity had actually crushed him more than anything else. Now he was married, quite happily, with twenty-four daughters. He still had trouble at times wrapping his mind around the fact they had that many and were actually planning on having more in a few years. Spike hadn’t thought himself as being the dad with the most children because his partner wanted it that way, but here he was being completely cool with it. At most, before all this started happening, the most he wanted was maybe six or seven. But here he was wondering if they could really come up with names for all of them, they’d barely been able to name the ones they have now. That was partially because he was mostly terrible at coming up with names and Chrysalis didn’t want to go the traditional changeling naming route, naming offspring in regards to bugs in some manner.

Spike agreed that naming convention needed to stop, or at least take a backseat to some other potential naming conventions for a while. Of course, almost the moment she told him this he realized that the entirety of her prior hive had been named in accordance to insects. The only one among the visiting queens that didn’t have an insect-inspired name was Arachne, her name was actually where the word arachnid originated. When he realized the truth of Arachne’s name, in addition to how long the word arachnid had been used by ponies, he came to the very realization that she was either far older than anyone he knew of, elder dragons included, or the name itself was passed on. If it was indeed the latter case then that meant that almost, if not, all changeling queen names were actually passed on to a new queen or potential queen when the prior holder of the name kicked the bucket.

That line of thinking got Spike wondering just how many changeling queens had carried the name Chrysalis, he took a look at the still sleeping form of his wife, an event that was surprisingly sparse in their time together, and smiled. He was glad she was able to find some sense of peace, that he was the main contributing factor was just a bonus to him. He honestly didn’t care if they only had twenty-four daughters or twenty-thousand daughters, he would still love them all with all he had. Although, the logistics of feeding that many mouths was a daunting prospect, thankfully changelings tended to primarily draw their energy and nutrients from the mystic properties of the emotional spectrum and in doing so didn’t have as many requirements in regards to needs as a result. That all said, Chrysalis and the girls were more than happy to go about feeding like any other creature, they seemed to have a preference towards it most of the time. Spike was led to believe it might have something to do with the contributions of a changeling’s mate, a theory he had bounced off both Twilight and Chrysalis. The two were actually excited at the prospect of such a theory, because that could mean changeling and mannerisms could actually be more greatly influenced by the biology of their sexual partners than initially believed. Spike did not take the conversation happening around him very well when that happened, made all the more uncomfortable by the fact this discussion started a full week before their first girls had hatched and continued up until about two days beforehand.

In short, Spike realized he had effectively married a version of Twilight with a healthy dose of Celestia’s tendencies and a hint of Rarity’s elegance. When he had come to that realization he had practically rushed to have an impromptu therapy session with Luna, much to the midnight mare’s amusement. The session itself had gone quite awkward, but quite to the level of talk regarding changeling sexual relations he had been caught in the middle of that had led him to be there in the first place. Luna still teased him about the session from time to time, especially when talking about how she was the one who officiated his wedding.

And now, here he was, on the second day of such an aggravating meeting with several so-called leaders for what were effectively independent nations built on very different principles than he was used to seeing in a nation. Of course, if he had been told seven years ago he would have a hard time believing in anything similar to this situation he would have probably blown it all of, even if it had been his future self telling him all that. It was a rarity for him to be up before Chrysalis, she was usually the earlier riser among them. Spike didn’t mind that she was the one who was up before him, he usually preferred it, because it meant he got to see her in the kitchen enjoying her time with some of their daughters. The fact she was so good in the kitchen was a surprise for him at first, even when you took into account a changeling’s ability to take aspects and properties from their mate. Even more of a surprise was how she somehow managed to catch up then surpass him in terms of the kitchen, not that he was complaining. His favorite thing to see at home was Chrysalis in the kitchen, usually doing a dance.

Spike figured that was enough musing and got out of bed and headed to take an early morning shower and get dressed. After his shower, which seemed to have not woken Chrysalis, headed to the closet for the room and threw on some semi-formal attire before heading down the kitchen. A quick look at the clocks and windows confirmed it would still be a few hours before the sun was up. It had been a while since Spike had done any real work in the kitchen, especially the palace. As he made his way down to the kitchen he thought about what to make. Brewing some coffee and tea would be some good starts, he and everyone else could just warm the drinks up in time. Coming up with the dishes for breakfast would be hard, then it hit him that omelets would be a good choice since it would be easy to personalize each one and stick their names on it all, with each set made he placed them at the table with a plate and silverware. Starting with him, Chrysalis and Violet Emerald he made a citrine and sapphire omelet properly scaled for each and wrote their names on top with ketchup. After making sure the pan was clear of unwanted material he got to work on mushroom and spinach omelets for Twilight and Flash which he then topped with their names written in ketchup. Next were Cadance, Shining Armor, and Skyla, he decided on mushroom and lettuce omelets for them which he topped with their names in ketchup. After that, he made cabbage and orange-lime omelets for Celestia and her family which he then topped with barbecue spelling their names. He made a night bloom water lily and moonflower omelet for Luna which he then topped with a viscous night themed pizza sauce spelling her name.

After that is on to the visiting queens. For Nymph a shrimp omelet topped with shrimp sauce spelling her name, it figured might as well keep things simple. For Arachne, he made cricket omelet with her name topping the dish in ketchup, after setting the dish in her place he made a quick run to the nearest bathroom to help release the part of his stomach that was unsettled by what he did. After making sure to wash up in the restroom he got to making Culicidae’s omelet. Since he clearly couldn’t put blood in the omelet, which is just as gross as it sounds, he just decided to cut some of the bloodied manticore meat from the night before and throw that in the omelet with some crushed willow bark to help keep the blood from coagulating during the cooking process.

After getting all the omelets done, with the temptation of just diving right into his food being pushed from the back of his mind, he got to work brewing the coffee and the tea. Thinking back on everything now seemed a bit odd, but not unwelcome. It would be some time before everyone came to join, knowing that he placed serving tops that had been enchanted to keep food from spoiling while also keeping them at the optimal eating temperature. Granted, some of the dishes did turn his stomach thinking about them and would likely do the same for those who actually dined, Spike had his suspicions that one or more of their less than cordial guests would choose to take a morning meal in their rooms since the actual meeting portion wouldn’t start until a few hours to noon, this had more to do with a desire for everyone to not be groggy or sleepy during the proceedings than anything else.

Doing everything he was made Spike feel happy, it allowed him to reminisce on everything that had happened since he and Chrysalis had started their relationship, the most surprising part for him during those really early days was her willingness to go from being the dominant one in their relationship to the submissive one. He chuckled a bit to himself as he tasted the coffee he had brewed, the “visiting” queens were likely to be very uncivil with both of them if they were aware Chrys’s natural willingness to cede authority to him in some of the most intimate moments she shared with him.

Chrys had claimed to be progressive by changeling standards, but even she had been unsure of dramatically changing one of the existing chambers into a kitchen. She was perfectly on board with turning a room, preferably one near her small library, into a mailing room of sorts. To her knowledge, no colony had a kitchen within itself, upon or near the grounds it was likely the inhabitants had a few, but inside the colony itself, she didn’t rightfully know if it was practiced. What had made it even more amusing was how Celestia and Luna had insisted on assisting with that. The facilities at Castle of the Two Sisters at the time were still a bit too dated to just move into the changeling chambers and meet the needs of Spike, Chrysalis and their growing family. Luna assisted the the shopping portion, even going as far as to make an offer of splitting the costs with a few dips into her personal funds, because both she and Celestia agreed Luna had a much better eye for aesthetics, not to mention she had been to visit the colony grounds more than Celestia before the girls had even been hatched. Celestia, with her better logistical knowledge, had looked into appliance stores and individual appliances that were likely to more easily meet the demands of Spike’s little family in the foreseeable future.

The looks of surprised store patrons to a cordial Chrysalis who was more than willing to defer to those more knowledgeable about such things was one of Spike’s best shopping experience, which he had a lot of from being the near-default one Twilight and/or her friends needed a shopping assistant in the early days. Of course, Chrysalis still got a lot of mean and/or dirty looks. Celestia and Luna decided to cut out the issue of the two just shopping around after a few excursions to appliance stores. They decided it would be best just commission the creation of the appliances from somepony very technologically inclined and just asked the couple what they required then just had the appliances custom made for the two and then just personally deliver the items themselves.

Celestia was more than happy with the arrangement, mostly because she got to see Chrysalis and the girls in their home environment. Luna was happy with the arrangement because she got to spend quality time with multiple foals, all of whom were just as happy to spend time with her as she was with them.

For Spike, it just meant more family time in those early days, back when they were expecting the eggs to hatch and later just their first three girls. Times were easier, but not simpler, back then. To Spike the very fact he was was spending family time was enough, those intimate family moments would always be among his most treasured memory. The whole family just out and enjoying their time together, Chrysalis’s seemingly paranoid anticipations even seemed to diminish during family outings and get-togethers. Of course, now that paranoia was well founded.

The worst part about all this, Chrysalis was putting genuine effort the proceedings while the “guests” were going about in various states of disinterest or lack of care. From what Spike could tell, they all expected the worst and were always anticipating some sort of deception on all sides, even their own. From what he could see, Changeling society was so thoroughly infected with distrust that they were actually unwilling to accept facts or take a chance on faith about something beyond the will of the queen. To make matters worse, queens saw it as a tradition to keep their workforce as something automatons and condition all queens to only see other queens born from the same queen as their siblings despite the fact the bulk of the hive usually was begot by the queen herself. Chrysalis had outright admitted as much when explaining changeling dynamics. As far as any of them really knew, Chrysalis was the only changeling queen to not have that mindset, mostly due to aspects of herself. At the time it was a mindset that had been very much influenced by her upbringing and surroundings, after she was mated with Spike that mindset had tweaked to the point it was similar but still very different with her now believing all members of every hive are their own individuals at the core.

Part of the reasoning for this meeting was to show there was a better way for everyone, not just those in power. Generations of cultural stagnation and philosophy were extremely difficult to overcome without an immensely powerful force behind it. Chrysalis explained and showed that biology can inform on psychology, for changelings the greatest force for actual change was the very set of adaptations that allowed for quick adaptation to new environments. Chrys and Twilight had both come to a consensus, along with the princesses and of Equestria’s top minds in the fields of genetics and biology, that the particular ability to become genetically compatible with other species while taking on physical and mental traits was likely a means of developing a way to accelerate adaptations to new environments. Also, queen production was likely designed in such a way it would allow for bypassing genetic dilution.

The fact that Chrysalis has some traits similar to those of Twilight is something Spike found himself thinking both adorable and terrifying. Or as Pinkie would likely say, ‘adorifying.’ The fact Chrysalis was in a genuine relationship still surprised him, especially since his opinion of committed relationships at the time was at an all-time low. Ember had explained to him that while some dragons mated for life others did not. She had also gone on to explain harems weren’t all that uncommon, especially among male Dragonlords. The fact Chrysalis seemed to have mid-point between the extremes mentally regarding relationships didn’t help matters, she had even gone record stating she didn’t even know where that line of thinking came from when Spike told her it wasn’t part of his psychology.

Early Morning: Luna

Author's Note

Felt Luna needed some more screen time, I also really wanted to show something that really hasn't been seen yet.

Some of this is an idea and concept I was kicking around since providing the concept of the Changeling Link.

As always, feel free to use the material I provided for your own works, just give me heads up so I can help or send me copy or link regarding the piece if it's art.

Early Morning: Luna

Luna was having a wonderful night, there were no overly dramatic problems she had to contend with. By far the best part of her night was Violet Emerald, through what might as well have well amounted to sheer happenstance, Luna had one of the most refreshingly innocent interactions she had ever had over her time. While the following morning threatened to ruin it all, Emerald’s presence on the dream plane was a bit surprising. At first, Luna didn’t recognize her, with the infant changeling actually emitting an aura similar to that of truly innocent pony foals. Emerald’s wide-eyed curiosity and genuine interest in everything said to her and in her environment really helped drive home how much of a true sense of individuality she had.

It seemed Chrysalis’s comment about Emerald being a chatterbox was a bit more accurate than she had been led to believe. Within the realm of dreams one’s limits were similar to those of the mind, she had also commented about how the memory spell Chrysalis had initially shared with Twilight had some similarities to her own spell for entering the dream realm and she had suspected the unique link changelings possessed could possibly allow one to cross into the dream realm if the right conditions were met. Emerald had managed to do so of her own accord, likely due to Luna’s own insistence on being in close proximity to her whenever possible had allowed the changeling filly to subconsciously find a way to piggyback her to the dream realm's nexus when Luna chose to enter that world. It was the only explanation Luna could come up with that made sense when you considered how they had learned the way the offspring of Chrysalis and Spike developed. The main problem was discerning if the type of changeling Emerald was had to have its axis be mental, physical or emotional; something made all the more difficult by her natural abilities. Her detection ability was clearly physical but required quite a bit of mental capability for proper execution, while her natural defense drew on several aspects of the emotional spectrum quite strongly, then when you took into account her personality as defined by Chrysalis along with the little nicknames she gave everyone she had decided to not know the name of for whatever reason it all boiled down to having strong notes of all three.

Nurses, like Satin Care, needed to be able to be more mature with their emotions due to the fact they were in charge of managing and distributing emotions gathered by the hive so they could give the appropriate shares of emotions necessary for changeling growth to all newly hatched members while also tending to the hatched and unhatched members. Physical type changelings, like Dusk Sentinel, needed their bodies to develop at a much more accelerated rate because of the need to interact with potential external threats to their home. And mental type changelings, like Light Novel, needed all a much more developed mind so as better work with the materials before them or newly presented to them in the most effective manner. But Emerald was the first of a new class of changeling, and apparently, the first to have all of the traits expressed individually by the other changeling classes in a bit more of an even distribution. The fact that all three of these traits had a near even rate of development with each other, or at least seemed to, almost seemed unnatural, to her knowledge no being in existence outside the realms of fantasy had such a distinctly odd maturation rate.

Every being has their physical, mental, social and emotional aspects mature at different rates, but so far they couldn’t find any ways to gauge how Violet’s aspects were progressing. Her physical maturation should have been the easiest to gauge, but at some rather erratic looking intervals she would experience something that could be best described as the Changeling equivalent of “growth spurts”, which was a rather inaccurate term seeing as about half the time her growth would actually reverse itself, Twilight had dubbed these “regression oozes” as a way to define what seemed to be happening. Of course, this only covered her physical development and did nothing to account for the developments that were harder to observe.

But Luna finally got to see how Violet Emerald was developing in the less observable ways, with said changeling filly appearing with her within the dream realm. Luna had spent a great deal of time learning to regulate her personal emotional and mental states to ensure she did not contaminate the dreams of others or was influenced by the dreams of others, Emerald had no such training. Changelings are exceedingly receptive to emotions, especially at very early stages in their development. Something that Twilight had worked with Chrysalis on learning more about, which was made very apparent after the first of the girls had hatched. So, a changeling as young as Emerald in place dramatically influenced by the mental state of those within it was a typically bad idea.

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any nightmares within Equestria’s subjects this night that required her attention. Since pulling Emerald out of the dream realm while Luna herself still remained within didn’t seem like a feasible option, seeing as Luna only had suspicions about how the filly had gotten there and yet to find anything to point her the right direction, Luna decided to create a space within the dream realm and use it for interacting with Emerald until said filly either left on her own somehow or it was time for Luna herself to leave and hopefully have minimal consequences. The fact that Violet was talking at a mile a minute with questions and wide-eyed wonder was actually rather amusing to Luna, it showed that said filly was curious and didn’t quite have the mental focus she seemed to show outwardly. If her dream self was a reflection of Emerald’s mind, which Luna highly suspected, then that would mean that her mind was only able to really focus with assistance from the link that is usually ever present in the changeling psyche.

It was only after Luna ventured to actually say something that Emerald’s mind managed magically focus, gone were the thousands about thousands of questions flying at high speed, with the changeling filly asking much slower and more deliberate questions directed at Luna. It was at that moment realized what she was seeing before was Emerald’s inquisitive thought process, what she got after directing attention on her was a highly intelligent mind that was interested in the formation and identification of connections and relations. Her mental growth was incredible, with her emotional growth being a bit slower due to her intellectual side trying to make sense of her very emotions. It was at this moment that Luna came to a realization, the reason Emerald subconsciously used her shifting abilities to physically regress just so she could physically mature again was due to her inability to understand the very ability that had managed to keep her safe anymore. She had no firm grasp of concepts at her young age, especially the concept of cute.

Luna used this time to form a better connection with Emerald, even going as far as to insist she be called “Auntie Luna” from that point onward, and explain some basic concepts to aid in said changeling’s development. The fact that Chrysalis could actually make sense of the almost jumbled series of thoughts that Emerald had was impressive in and of itself, more so to Luna now that she’d gotten a glimpse of what Emerald is like mentally. It still bugged her that Emerald had somehow followed her into the dream realm, even more so than she usually would let on due to the fact Emerald was too young to offer any theories of her own.

When it came time leave the dream realm, something Luna usually did a couple of hours before sunrise, she left the dream realm and hoped for the best. What she found was her first theory had been correct to some degree, when she had left the dream realm Emerald had come along as well. Almost as soon as they were out of the dream realm Violet fell asleep, it looked like she had nothing resembling rest while in the dream realm. Luna gave a light chuckle as she picked up the sleeping filly and headed down the stairs. The scent of coffee leading her way to the dining area.

The sight of meals already prepared and set on the table was a charming thing to see, not to mention the sight of Spike in the kitchen gave her some idea of why Chrysalis got a great deal of enjoyment out the kitchen. Chrysalis in the kitchen had been such a common sight over the years that Spike in the kitchen by himself almost felt off, much to the surprise of those watching.

Luna wasn’t sure if she should get Spike’s attention or let him come to the realization she and Emerald were there on his own. Hopefully, her time with Emerald in the dream realm had improved conditions for her, and everyone else. Of course, explaining how different forms of communication are viable was almost amusingly aggravating. Hopefully, Emerald would be more willing to communicate verbally, especially after Luna had explained a few things to her.

Morning: Before the Meeting

Predictably, all the visiting changelings elected to have breakfast in their rooms. Spike and Chrysalis acted as a unit taking the meals to the individuals they needed to go to, with the only semblance of courtesy provided by Arachne but in a rather condescending manner. All the queens were informed of the time the meeting would resume, a few minutes past nine in the morning. Everyone started having their morning meal at a little after six in the morning, that gave them roughly three hours before the unpleasantness of the meeting started again. Spike and Chrysalis were a little concerned with the fact that Violet Emerald was so groggy that morning, she was barely awake long enough for taking a few bites of her food. Usually, the changeling filly would be making a go at shoveling her food in a manner that would likely cause Rarity to chastise her but she barely got in three or four bites, with almost no chewing, before unceremoniously nearly having her sleeping face meet her plate. Thankfully, Pinkie’s absurdly fast reflexes got the food away from its position and somehow placed a pillow where the plate had once been.

“So, why is she so tired?” Twilight inquired, “It’s not often you see a foal her age this tired,” she took a small bite of her meal at the end of her statement.

“She followed me into the dream realm,” said Luna with a light giggle and smile, “it seems like she somehow managed to hitch a ride on my spell, same holds true with the return trip. As such, her consciousness was with me at the place between all dreams. I got a glimpse of what her spirit and mind are like.”

“Well, I hope she wasn’t too distracting,” said Chrysalis.

“Not at all,” said Luna, “last night was rather devoid of potentially malicious dreams. Although, how Chrysalis manages to make sense of the sheer volume of content coming out of Emerald’s mind is impressive, as is her ability to determine the thoughts with the highest priority.”

“Changeling queens are used to having a lot of chatter, it just usually comes from multiple sources,” said Chrysalis, “as to how I’m able to make sense of what her mind has to say to me or determine priority in regards to Emerald, it seems to be an extension of my maternal instincts. It’s not such that I actually know, it’s more a case of instinctually feeling it all.”

“I suppose if we ever get the helmets that have the spell that mimics the changeling link up and running the ponies wearing them would have to learn how to do something similar, even the most disciplined mind can inadvertently let things leak. The more I think about it the more problems keep popping up.”

“What was that expression you used a while back,” said Chrysalis with amusement, “ah yes, ‘innovation is progress that happens in response to obstructions’, or did I quote you wrong?”

“Eh, sounds close enough to something Twi would say, ta me,” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight gave the cyan pegasus a look of mock anger before saying, “I probably would have tried to make a go at the project, or at least made a series of notes on it, without Chrysalis’s influence. Chances are, I probably would have taken a bit longer without her providing an example of a template to utilize. But enough about that, what can we expect from the rest of our ‘guests’?”

“In all likelihood,” said Chrysalis, “the only one not considering killing me is Arachne, I could see it in her behavior during the events of yesterday. But chances are things still won’t go well.”

“What surprises me,” said Celestia, “is the potential ability of your offspring to latch onto the magic of others.”

“Likely a side effect the changeling ability to share memories over their link,” said Twilight, “they probably just need to be used to the magic to the point they can synchronize, Princess Luna has been spending a lot of time with Emerald.”

“I actually didn’t realize it was her at first,” said Luna, “her presence on the dream plane was very similar to pony a foal of similar age. It was quite a bit of a surprise to me.”

“That just further confirms everything we’ve come to know,” said Cadance, “I haven’t gotten a chance to spend as much extended time with any of the girls as the rest of you, you know how much I adore foals.”

“Well,” said Spike, “to be fair, you do reside a bit further than most of us would call a casual trip. It takes almost a full day to travel to the Crystal Empire on a specialty train that only stops at the bare minimum of locations while in transit, which means catching a regular train there can easily take a few days. You know how restless young foals are, most of our girls aren’t even a year old yet. Emerald is barely seven months old, and she’s one of the younger foals in our brood. The majority of the girls are in the range of seven to eight months, the only real exceptions are our first three. And even they tend to get a bit restless on extended trips, especially Dusk.”

“She does have an issue with being in some state of idle,” said Chrysalis, “she can barely make it through a day of class without being called out for leaving her seat without permission most times.”

“Every pony, and by extension every foal, has their own needs,” said Celestia, “ your girls are in what many ponies like to refer refer to as ‘the age of innocence’ and Emerald proved just how innocent she is by the happenstance of her first trip to the dream realm with my sister.”

“But why did it take some time for Princess Luna to notice she had a tagalong last night? Surely, she should have noticed quickly that she had a passenger on the trip,” said Cadance.

“That just speaks more to her innocence and unique quirks of changeling magic,” said Shining Armor, in a way surprising everyone else as he made to eat some more of his breakfast, “if we think back to when we first met Focus Crystal, what was the most obvious character trait she showed?”

“A strong attachment to anypony with a powerful magic flow,” said Skyla, treating the situation more like a sort of thinking game, “she also showed a sense of insecurity around lower magic level individuals, her own natural magic levels were akin to a unicorn gifted with an unusually high natural magic level. Satin Care has also shown a sense of uneasiness around ponies that have high levels of unwelcoming emotions running through them, even if it’s not openly obvious. But Emerald is a little rambunctious with a pension for curiosity.”

“Exactly,” said Shining Armor, “and I appreciate you’re going the extra mile. When we first encountered Crystal she was drawn to the most powerful magic forces in the area, which is why we arranged the venue the way have now. We’ve trouble nailing down Emerald’s magic axis due to the unique nature of her abilities, but what if her magical axis is in a state of pseudo-flux.”

“Come again,” said Twilight, “since when are you big on magic theory?”

“Since my appointment to the higher echelons of the Royal Guard, ended up having a magic obsessed baby sister and decided to date then ultimately marry an alicorn, in a way learning advanced magic theory became an occupational hazard for me,” said Shining Armor with a tinge of amusement, “all ponies have a magic axis, its what helps channel the natural magic of their tribe in addition to that connected to their personal talents, alicorns are a bit of an oddball in this equation because they actually seem to have three magic axes. Regardless, pony axes tend to be quite varied and dependent on a number of variable factors. We’ve learned through Chrysalis and her girls that changeling axes are a bit more confined, with the trade off being their axes actually influence how they develop. What if due to the fact her changeling type is so different her natural magic is trying to find the axis that it best synergizes with? It could potentially explain why her development is so erratic, her magic doesn’t actually know which axis best synergizes with it. Her natural defense takes advantage of an emotional axis while her natural abilities take advantage of both the physical and mental axes. Her system literally doesn’t know which axis to put its primary focus on, which probably could lead to stunted development in the future. Her magic probably wants to find a template to more or less act as a balancing force, so in a sense, her magic is reaching out in a more proactive manner to gauge other magic forces.”

“Oh, I get it,” said Pinkie, “because the axes her magic has made contact with are either a kind that doesn’t exist for changelings or is one of the types that is but is too spread out between examples her magic can’t come to a decision on what its own axis should be.”

“And since Chrysalis wants each of her girls to develop in their own unique way she can’t bring herself to tell Violet’s magic which axis to lock in on,” said Rarity, “that’s probably why she ended up going for a ride with Princess Luna, but once she got to the dream realm her magic ended up finding an overabundance of possible templates to the point it confused her for a short time.”

“That sounds about accurate,” said Chrysalis, “the only thing I can’t understand is why this is persisting. If that theory is accurate, which I suspect it might, why hasn’t her magic set on a template already? She’s literally encountered the magic of Twilight and myself in very short order, both of us seem to have mental based axes. Not to mention, she spends a lot of time around Rarity, but I suspect Rarity’s axis isn’t similar to that of any changelings. I just want my little girl to have a healthy development.”

“For ponies, a fluctuating magic axis is normal during early development at very young ages,” said Skyla, “it’s a way for them to help develop their abilities in the time before they acquire their cutie mark. But for changelings, this is likely not anything particularly healthy. Although, there is the possibility her system could end up creating a whole new axis as a focus for her magic.”

“Every creature has a magical axis,” said Celestia, smiling as the sun slowly rose under her power, “it is just more evident in entities like ponies, changelings and a few others out there. Here’s a thought, what if her magic is trying to gain a similar focal point to that of her father? Due to their high natural resistance to magic dragons are usually able to block out most magical forces directed their way.”

“But she’s spent an extended period of time with me looking over her and the other younger fillies,” said Spike, “I even spent most of the day with her a few times over the past month or so. Since she’s technically part dragon her natural magic should have some sort of natural workaround for enough of my natural defense in regards to magic to at least pick up on the aspects of my own natural magic field.”

“Sound reasoning,” said Discord, “but did it ever occur to you that her own magic is confused?” Everyone took a look at him with interest and surprise, aside from the still sleeping infant, “Chances are very high her magic wants to have a healthy medium between her mother’s natural magic and that of her father, much the way Lucent’s magic is in regards to Tia and myself. Lucent’s magic is a mesh of draconequus and alicorn magic. Up until now all of your girls have had clear changeling magic with a hint of dragon tendencies, but due to the fact the sleeping bundle of cuteness here has personality tendencies that lean a bit more on the dragon side of things chances are her magic wants to be a bit more draconic as well.”

“Which explains the sporadic and contradictory development she’s had,” said Lucent, picking up on what Discord was implying, “changeling development is dictated by magical axis, but since Emerald’s axis hasn’t really cemented due to its own confusion that could explain some of her developmental problems.”

It was at this point Violet Emerald woke up for a short while, she seemed completely uninterested in the food that was once again under the cover to keep it fresh. Something about the conversation gave Chrysalis an idea, a thought she hadn’t considered before then. Chrysalis turned to the changeling filly and said, “Good morning, my special filly. Mommy wants to know, who do you want to be like? Please use physical words so everyone at the table can hear it.”

Violet Emerald blinked a few times before seeming to come awake for a few minutes, in her adorable foalish voice that only Spike and Chrysalis had really heard prior she said, “My wanna be wike mommy and daddy, my wanna be wike my aunties.” After saying all that she gave a cute yawn, showing off her mouth’s internal structure in the process.

“You can be like anyone you want,” said Chrysalis as she nuzzled the filly. "But no matter what, your magic will always be you and no one else. No matter who you’re like, your magic will always be you, but right now it can’t seem to decide how you will be you.”

“What makes my little gem of a filly who she is?” said Spike, “Tell everyone at this table so we can all know.”

“My am smart, my am loved, my wike to dig fwore shinies, my wike to share what my find, my wike sweeing ponies happy. My wike it when daddy uses his funny names fwore mwee, my wike it when mommy cuddles mwee. My wike it when mwy aunties are happy.”

“All those are you, none them is more or less important than the others,” said Chrysalis, “no matter what, your magic will still be you just like you will always be you.” As if on cue Emerald’s eyes and horn slightly pulsated before calming down.

Emerald, now a bit more articulate said, “Mommy, what just happened?”

Chrysalis smiled and nuzzled her daughter and said, “We gave your magic a few hints on where it needed to go, and it was you who decided where. We were all a little worried about that, your magic seemed confused on where it needed to go before now. We’re so proud of you, you showed your magic where it needed to go all by yourself. Do you know why?”

“No,” said Emerald with confusion.

“Mommy will tell you when you’re older,” said Chrysalis as she passed the infant to her father, “but for now, just know everyone here, at this table and will be home when this event is over, is very proud of you.”

Emerald gave a bit of a giggle, the first time she had done something like that audibly. It was almost as if she was getting out all the opportunities to be like any other filly her age she had passed on. It seemed her silence had been mostly a product of her magic’s confusion about how she should develop.

“Nice to my precious gem is having an enjoyable time,” said Spike, “do you know who is with you at the table?” He was looking forward to hearing her say her names for everyone in her own words, not Chrysalis acting as a mediator.

Emerald tilted her head in a way that was an adorable mesh of Twilight’s inquisitive head cock, Rarity’s elegant, Luna's amused head tilt, and Chrysalis’s interested head tilt in what seemed to be her thinking look, everyone at the table gave the impression they nearly had a cardiac arrest. Several months of building up a tolerance to the cuteness that was the behavioral patterns and actions of Violet Emerald and one simple movement not seen before by anyone before then managed to threaten everyone present with a trip to the emergency room, their visitors would likely have actually suffered some sort of medical problem related to either heart issues or blood sugar levels or possibly both if they had been present. Emerald had the ability to weaponize her cuteness, but only unknowingly as things were now.

Spike had nothing but pity and sympathy for anyone she decided to mess with once she figured out how to do such things of her own volition. The thought of any of the girls dating, especially during their teens, caused him some mental annoyance and anguish with a hint of overprotectiveness, but chances were once Emerald was that age things take a straight turn into medical issues. He gave a quick whisper of the matter to Chrysalis, who gave a little chuckle at the thought.

After coming out the cutest thinking look any of them had seen, Emerald said, in her adorable voice, as she gestured to everyone in something shy of actually pointing, “Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Twilight,” Twilight gave something between a giggle and a coo at hearing that along with being gestured at, “Uncie Flash,” Flash nearly collapsed from the nickname he hadn’t been told about, “Auntie Cadance, Uncie Shiny,” Shining armor literally dropped from the cute nickname while Cadance just giggled, “coozie Skyla,” said young Alicorn nearly followed her father before following her mother’s example, “Auntie Luna,” Luna just swelled with adoration at the fact her insistence had been followed up on, Chrysalis blinked a bit from being caught off guard in regards to the nickname Luna now had, “the pretty mare with a horn and purple mane,” she gestured at Rarity.

“Well,” said Rarity, “it’s nice to see she thinks that.”

Emerald gave Rarity a blink before continuing, everyone showed some measure of amusement for their nicknames, Discord actually liked being called “Mr. Discoed,” to the point he literally turned the whole meeting room into a disco hall, complete with everyone being put into disco inspired attire, Twilight was not amused while Celestia just laughed in good-natured fun. Discord himself was in a gaudy disco dancer suit colored orange and green with an afro that might as well have been a disco ball on his head and elevated pump shoes. Luna was less than pleased, especially given Discord had seen fit to put Emerald in a green disco ball outfit. Chrysalis was not happy for the same reason as Luna. Everyone else had amusing little nicknames, with Applejack joking that she should name her next daughter the nickname that Emerald had given her. Rainbow wasn’t happy with her designation because she felt it didn’t define her awesomeness in the right way. Everyone else chuckled good-naturedly when they heard their nicknames according to Violet Emerald.

Author's Note

Now, I wonder what kind of axis her magic could have. I'm thinking things over on what it could be. We know that the known axes are Mental, Physical, and Emotional. What could the core of her magic be centered around?

As always, you know my policies.

Chrysalis in a Different Sort of Meeting

After Emerald’s adorable statement of who is who Chrysalis told Spike he was in charge of Emerald for the time being, perfectly timed with said filly snuggling up into her father, while she went out for a morning stroll for some fresh air. Chrysalis hadn’t really spent some time to herself in the past few years, she actually enjoyed the family time she had with everyone but the previous day’s activities made her feel like she needed some time to herself. The cool autumn air would hopefully wake her up a bit if failed to refresh her. She was usually surrounded by her girls, interacting with Twilight’s friends and/or family, spending time talking with one of the royal sisters, or spending quality time with some of her girls and their friends.

The outside weather was warm for the season, she decided to just sit and take in it all on a bench at the park. When she made to the park and parked herself on a bench she thought back with some amusement at how she would have been so openly approachable before the events that led to her close family. For the past five years, she had never really had time to just herself, it was either her immediate family with the girls and/or Spike to some capacity or her incredibly supportive extended family, one that included friends of her new family members. However, with her siblings and mother, and to a lesser extent Arachne, showing arriving and interacting with her new family Chrysalis was reminded just how much of a pain it was to deal with them in short bursts. For the first time, in as long as she could remember, Chrysalis felt a need for some genuine personal time.

Chrysalis’s few minutes of relaxation were disrupted by the sensation of feeling the presence of an unfamiliar changeling. With a heavy sigh, Chrysalis said, “You might as well show yourself, your presence is pretty obvious.” With her statement what appeared to be a forest green unicorn with a rosy blue mane and tail in an orange track, outfit came out sit beside her.

“And I thought I was doing so well to keep hidden too,” said the mare in voice and tone that sounded concise, “you’re certainly making a stir, not all of us disapprove of that. I actually like it, makes things easier for me. I also approve of what you’re saying about the future of changelings as a whole, of course, my hive is so small it’s escaped notice for the time being, or at least it looks that way at the moment. My darling Indigo changelings have been needing a change, you showed me one. Do you know how long I’ve been watching you?”

“I’m guessing a few years,” said Chrysalis, giving the ‘unicorn’ a look that said she wanted this queen to get to the point.

“You’ve probably already surmised you’re communicating with me via proxy, which is accurate. I’ve actually been watching this nation since a few months after your botched invasion.”

“That was seventeen years ago,” said Chrysalis, “I’m guessing you were waiting for an opportunity to make a move on Equestria.”

“Yes, but then you came back in your self-imposed exile, I was curious. I knew where your colony in the Badlands was, even have a general idea of the region your new colony grounds occupy, but I have not once hinted at the idea I knew. My hive is far too small for the kinds of campaigns a purge tends to imply, but then I started to see your new hive and started being a little skeptical,” the mare gave a mockery of a disarming smile, “but as time went on I noticed a lack of your will on any the members of your hive that were made visible to me, the kind of self-autonomy they had fascinated me. I suddenly found myself wondering how effective that would really be. My hive is more designed in the more subtle ways of our kind, something the current power dynamic among hives is less inclined towards.”

“You know my name, but I don’t know yours,” said Chrysalis, “do you at least have an alias I can refer to you as?”

The mare gave a look of thinking before saying, “Shade should do, for now, I’m sure you’ll recall me in time. After all,” she gave a smile she thought was assuring but just came off as a little unnerving, “you did meet me at length thirty years ago, ironically with me propositioning some reforms and an alliance. I’ve already set things in motion to have members of my hive be a bit more autonomous than usual, not quite to the level your hive is but closer than any other queen thus far. We both know the major hives are likely to kill each other, taking many of their affiliated hives with them along the path of self-destruction, but the smaller hives that have little to no affiliation are more likely to survive that conflict. When the dust settles we will need a new power structure to have some semblance of stability, your current plan seems to one of the better templates.”

“I’m sure you are aware of the fact we are likely being listened in on,” said Chrysalis, “but I’m guessing you’re past the point of caring about that sort of thing. So, what are you really after?”

“I want to know how your hive’s members have their own autonomy while still being some level of dependent on you.”

“That’s it, you think it’s some big secret,” Chrysalis laughed out loud, “you’ve been watching me my family for years and you’re asking that question. It’s simple, I allow them to develop naturally, I don’t force their development, I give them the kind of love a mother is meant to give her children, treat them like the family they are, allow influences outside myself to have a hand in shaping them, give them guidance when I’m sure they need it, respect their sense of individuality, and let them know they’re loved and respected no matter what their choices. That all said, I’m still their mother and sometimes have to keep them from doing anything that could potentially be harmful. Will they scrape themselves running about the woods or park? Potentially, but that’s part of letting them learn from their environment more than me. It’s not my job to keep them from getting some minor damage, that would be potentially damaging to their development. It’s my job to make sure they don’t do anything too stupid or foolish, like try to take on manticores with just a stick and little courage. It’s a fine balance, one that’s not always easy to gauge. Do I dote on my girls? Occasionally, but that’s a mother’s prerogative. It’s my job to mother my children, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to coddle any of my children. As I said, it’s a balancing act.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“To change your hive, you must first change yourself. So far, no queens have been willing to do that other than me. I was already on the path to changing when I found myself with the one who is now my mate, I just didn’t realize it until our children started to come along. I didn’t leave him, I willingly invited him to stay and later formed meaningful connections with his extended family. The so-called traditional Changeling policies are in just as much need of reform as many of the other aspects of changeling culture at this time. If you’re unwilling to do something a bit dramatic then you’re not willing for any real change.”

“I’m not entirely sure I could follow all of that.”

Chrysalis sighed, “As you know, changelings take on physical and mental properties of their mates.”

“Yes, my mate was an entity I came across by happenstance, he was actually pretty close to death when I found him. I figured I might as well give something like a last hurrah, turns out he was a Shadow Stalker. I know because of the abilities I found myself with shortly after the encounter.”

“Yes, well,” Chrysalis said with a diplomatic cough, “my mate’s traits have permeated me a bit more thoroughly than most queens, as a result, my abilities and behaviors are a bit different. What you probably were unaware of is that while taking on their mate’s mental properties changelings also take on the properties of their mate’s idealized partner.” The disguised changeling gave Chrysalis a confused look, “some of my mental traits are actually more in line with aspects of individuals my mate respects and would like to see as traits in his partner. Spike actually tried to have a few therapy sessions when he realized I have some mental traits of the pony he sees an older sister, the pony he sees as a mother-figure and pony he had a bit of a crush on when he was younger. My maternal traits come from the pony he sees as more of a mother than anything else, I have academic tendencies reminiscent of the pony he sees as more of a sister and my sense of aesthetics is something reminiscent of the pony he had a crush on in his younger days. In short, your mind has just as much of your mate’s idealized mate as it does their own mental aspects.”

“So, you’re saying that our understanding of changeling breeding is incomplete? That’s a rather large assertion.”

“Tell me, are you aware of any queen actually taking the time to learn about the quirks of their mate? Other than me.”

“No,” said the disguised changeling, surprise evident on her guise, “I don’t even think it’s policy to do research on entities one is considering for a mate, most queens just go for something violent or deadly with little regard to any information pertaining to it beyond that which is readily known or available. But if I took on aspects an idealized mate, that would mean to some extent my hive would as well.”

“You would think so,” said Chrysalis with amusement, “but so far that hasn’t been the case for Spike and me, the girls all have aspects that are varying blends of our own. Of course, they also have taken on aspects of other individuals they’ve had some measure of contact with, their natural magics seem to see certain personalities as templates that are compatible with the kind of changeling they are and thus have some aspects about themselves tweak a little. For instance, both Knowledge Keepers and Spell Collectors see aspects of the alicorn known as Princess Twilight as being highly compatible with their own magic’s functions and as such those sorts of changelings in my hive have begun taking on some of her quirks. The same holds true with several other ponies and their interactions with some of my girls.”

“I can feel a vibrancy to your energy, one that I’ve never felt from any queen.”

“It’s because the love that I have is given freely, without tricks or coercion. It’s pure, untainted, given in genuine earnesty with no deception on my part. My mate is a dragon, their emotions run intense, and he was merely the first to give love freely to me without me doing anything to deceive him. After him, his family and friends gave unto me freely, after some of them had gotten their need to exact retribution for my actions in the past,” Chrysalis gave a giggle, “Princess Celestia’s was as amusing as it was unexpected in terms of action. Some were more than willing to just forgive and let the past be the past. Before I knew it, almost the whole town was freely sharing their love with me, and many were even willingly directing it at me. And I got it all by being upfront with no deceptions regarding myself towards them. I know I’m known to try and play the long game, you probably even respect me for that, but my only long game now is a beneficial relationship with Equestria. I am working towards a mutual relationship with Equestria and my hive for the purposes of having a safe place where my offspring can freely roam without fear, showing changelings can change on almost every level and ensure my hive is well cared for should the worst come to pass in regards to myself.”

“That was rather ranty, but I think I get the gist of it all. What is this I hear of a new drone type being born to your hive?”

Chrysalis gave a disapproving look at the disguised changeling before saying, “Firstly, she’s not a drone, she is my daughter. Secondly, her abilities have never been seen in any hive before now. She’s unique in that she is currently the only changeling of her kind there is, that will hopefully change in the coming years, and her abilities are something that can change everything. That’s all you’re going to get before all this is over, but I can assure you that after this all ends you’ll know exactly what she’s capable of.”

“You do realize what you’re doing, right?”

“Sparking the flames of change, one possibility on the wind as it spreads the embers is a revolution. Revolutions are neither good or bad, they are merely what occurs when a new system of relation to a power structure is chosen in favor over an older one. Changelings have been working with an antiquated system for a long time just because they don’t want to change the system, despite the fact should they follow the current system to its logical conclusion all that awaits them is an undignified end. No matter how you slice it, extinction is not a charming prospect.”

“Your act is better than I thought, it sounds like you’re really committed to it all.”

Chrysalis gave a heavy sigh, she figured this would be a response, “You are aware of the honesty field around the town, I presume?”

“A ploy to discourage deception,” the disguised changeling said offhandedly.

“If that’s what you think, then test it,” said Chrysalis, “try a deception here and one abroad, as long as at least one member of your hive is here the effects of the field should filter on to you, and through you the rest of the hive. I can wait, but not too long on account of the fact I still have a meeting in few hours.”

“This is too easy,” said the disguised changeling, “I have exactly twelve hive members in this nation, three of which are currently in this very town,” she stopped, Chrysalis took the blank staring to mean the queen that was commanding her was blinking in surprise, almost a minute later the disguised changeling started talking again, her speaking was less natural in feel and had the feeling of being very stilted, “I see I was mistaken, I meant to give the impression I had more agents in Equestria and had no intention of giving the exact number for how many are in the current location.”

“Seems your ability to make it all seem natural is waning by the moment,” said Chrysalis, “before I head back I’ll leave you with a little something,” she stood up and made ready to leave, “mate has a much deeper and intimate meaning than most queens use. I use that rather than the one preferred by the bulk of changelings, you included. For changelings the term mate merely means one with whom sexual relations were engaged, it’s actually quite clinical in its execution. But for many creatures, dragons and ponies among them, the term mate means a long-term partner with whom you share a great deal of intimacy, in most cases it even means a life partner,” she brushed off her skirt, “for me, and by extension all members of the next generation I beget, the term mate means a life partner that can not be matched by any other regardless of how much time has passed. Mates share their lives on the most deeply intimate level, it is as if our very essences feel so completed by each other that being apart from each other for extended periods of time hurts us on the deepest level, the loss of one meaning a sense of never being whole again. I know you, and whoever else is listening, won’t act on any of that because you respect the rules that are abided by all changeling queens. I respect those rules as well, it’s just I’ve found a way of working with them that’s unfamiliar and foreign to you.”

“A little wordy there, aren’t you. No matter what comes of this, Fallen Queen, you must know the ultimate outcome.”

“I have no intention of leaving the confines I chose of my own accord, the only way that will happen is if some force or manages to bring outside the boundaries I set upon myself by force or without my knowledge.” With that, she made her way back to the castle. Chrysalis had always had a feeling something like this would happen, she just hoped a speech like that would be enough to get some to consider changing things for the better.

After arriving back at the castle Chrysalis gave Emerald a kiss at the base of the horn and Spike a playful nibble at his Spines, Emerald gave a giggle at the show of affection and Spike returned the gesture with a playful nibble upon her neck. While she didn’t see them when she arrived, Chrysalis felt the presence of the other queens just as she was moving toward her playful interactions with Spike. It felt like ages since they’d done something like this, to her anyway.

Author's Note

I've had everything basically contained with little reference to things going on outside the castle that I thought it would be a good idea to have a glimpse of things outside, it also gave an opportunity to show just how skeptical other characters outside those that are named are of everything.

I haven't come up with a name for the Indigo queen, just a general outline for what she like, which you got in the chapter here. If you have any suggestions for names either put them in spoilers to keep them hidden from those who have yet to read the chapter or PM them directly to me to keep it a secret from the readers. I didn't just come up with the name Shadow Stalker, it comes from and old animated series (bonus points to anyone who can correctly guess the name of the series, your hint is that it's the name of a supporting cast character). If you have any suggestions on what a Shadow Stalker's abilities are PM them to me. Please don't put Shadow Stalker suggestions in the comments, even if you are using the Spoiler block, I would prefer to not have anyone peek at that sort of thing just yet.

If any of creatures that I introduced as part of the universe over the course of this story and its predecessor interest you feel free to use them in your own works feel to use them, even expand on them a bit from the general info I've given on them. As always, you know my policy.

Preparing for the Headache That's Coming

Author's Note

Once again, I'm doing things a little different for this chapter. Normally I have a chapter focusing on a single character, this chapter jumps through 3 characters.

Preparing for the Headache That's Coming

The first thing Arachne, Nymph, and Culicidae saw when they came down the stairs after finishing the morning meal offered unto them was the sight of Chrysalis showing affection to the dragon, with him showing it back. Nymph felt a need to put a few holes in Chrysalis, how dare she be shameless in a show open affection! Arachne actually felt a bit queasy, but also intrigued by this display of relationship status. Culicidae was not amused by the display of affection, the only thing stopping her from draining them all and being done with was her commitment to the Accords and professionalism.

Despite the demeanor she chooses to project, Culicidae had always felt a need to have a level of what ponies would call professionalism in her work. She wanted to put a stop to it all, and she had a few ideas on how to set up for just that. First step, get Chrysalis and the ponies off balance. Discord was another matter, getting him off balance would take far more work and cooperation with the other queens than she was willing to put in. Culicidae still had her pride as a Changeling Queen, she was just in the process of reevaluating and reorienting what Cicada had managed to beat into her, sometimes literally.

Culicidae respected Chrysalis’s ability to break free from the way of thinking Cicada had forced upon them all, but she still very much wanted to kill Chrysalis. She wanted to drink Chrysalis dry, the dragon she called her mate, all their offspring and all ponies gathered around this table. Sadly, she could only do such things in the confines of her own mind, for now.

Nothing could satiate her hunger for life fluids, that fluffy substance she hadn’t bothered to learn the proper name for with meat that was still bloody was a good start but ultimately a failure in sate her craving for blood. Culicidae had known what she was getting into when she selected her mating partner, she hadn’t realized how intense the cravings would really be like. And Chrysalis was only digging herself a deeper grave, flaunting her partner about publicly and showing open affection for a drone.

The sight before her made was one of the first times Nymph was intensely considering the direct approach, this sensation was so bad she was actually holding herself back from clearly causing some sort of property damage. Not once had Nymph been required to restrain herself in such a manner, the sensation just made her feel more destructive. It was as if Chrysalis was mocking her, to think that a Queen could fall so far and find enjoyment in her own confinement was infuriating.

To Nymph, Chrysalis’s self-imposed exile wasn’t of much concern. What was of annoyance to her was Chrysalis’s seemingly “happy” interactions, she had admitted to having an exact number that was immensely smaller than a hundred but was in no rush to expand the hive’s numbers. This likely meant she already had another brood incubating, but she also had admitted to not having another brood in the works because of something pointless sounding. What kind of queen was more concerned with the maturation of her hive than growing the hive, if all the drones were stunted in their maturation all she had to do was accelerate that maturation.

Chrysalis was in defiance of everything she had been raised to believe should be important to a proper Queen, it was infuriating. Then it hit her, Nymph came to the sudden realization she was acting as Cicada had intended her to. A queen wasn’t supposed to act as another queen intended, it showed they were being influenced by that queen. That all said, changeling queens were all self-serving, egocentric, rulers with delusions of grandeur. Chrysalis had been like that when she last saw her, twenty-plus years ago, but now her behaviors were the complete opposite. Chrysalis was on a friendly, practically intimate, basis with Equestria’s rulers, she was content with being relegated to a domain that had its boundaries dictated by an outside force, and was seemingly devoid of the narcissistic tendencies that defined changeling queens.

Changeling queens were supposed to either leave their chosen sexual partners after a brief stint, kill them or both. Chrysalis had done none of those, she actually had her sexual partner living with her and was clearly displaying open intimacy with him. Calling her “Fallen” was an understatement, she was allowing the ponies and dragon to corrupt her hive on a scale never seen before. If she had somehow managed to be the one corrupting it would impressive, but she had allowed herself to be corrupted.

Looking at Chrysalis Arachne could see the changes that were both subtle and obvious. Changeling queens in their natural state, even after taking on a mate’s qualities, were a subtle mockery of pony beauty standards. But Chrysalis had always been closer in appearance to actual pony beauty standards than a mockery of them, with her now effectively sitting there as an example of a beauty standard for some ponies to strive for. She would probably not be as aggravating in terms of personality if the dragon was removed from the equation, probably even going as far as to act like a real Queen again. But it was actually worse when she thought about it, Chrysalis’s entire hive acted as a mobile foundation for her state of mind. In order to drive a queen from her mindset, and into the realms of insanity, she would have to destroy the bulk of the hive.

A quick cursory view let her know all the major players were there, she noticed something blink out and blinked her eyes a few times to confirm her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Discord was blinking in and out at short and erratic intervals, then whispering something into Celestia’s ear. He probably knew where the rest of the hive was and decided now was the best time to do a quick checkup on them.

Discord blinked out again, but when he didn’t reappear near the conference table she wondered where he had gone. He had to have gone somewhere, “Trying to figure things out, are we? I do like to give credit where credit is due,” came Discord’s voice, right next to her ear, “I suppose you were wondering why I haven’t done anything erratic until now, that would be due to a little deal I made with Celly. And I wasn’t checking up on the foals, that would be a violation of an agreement I have with Spike and Chrysalis. I was, however, looking into the future of these proceedings, looks like we’ll be here for another three or four days. I must say, it was a bit of a shock that only two of you did something to warrant being sent to a penitentiary so far, looks like I lost that bet with Luna, now I’m out a hundred bits and a favor to be called in at her leisure. Celly’s not gonna let me live that one down, not for a few years at least.”

“For one who taps into chaos so flippantly I was wondering about your restraint of use regarding your magic, still am,” said Arachne.

“Oh, that’s an easy one,” said Discord, “I promised to only do little things that could easily be attributed to ‘change blindness’, such as altering my attire all meeting. You all didn’t seem to notice, those that have been around me for extended periods of time have trained themselves to do so. I’ve been using my chaos powers all through the meetings and meals, just a bit more subtle than usual. Celly wanted to know how long these proceeding might last, I checked for her. Luna wanted to know when the foals would be able to return, she adores the young, so I checked on that for her as well, you’re not learning the timetable for the foals returning though. Oh, if you think all the spies you and the other hives have stationed around town and the nation are well hidden, you’re wrong. Chrys has been helping us in the development of new Changeling detection equipment and methods, we’ve had a good idea of where to find all the voyeurs you have stationed across the nation. And it’s only going to get harder for you, mostly because we now have access to changelings that are willing, and very glad, to help with the endeavor.”

“She’s an even bigger traitor than I thought,” said Arachne with no pity to be found in her voice.

“To be a traitor you have to have some sense of loyalty or obligation before their act of defiance,” said Discord, “Chrysalis trusted you with the knowledge of clothing production before her botched invasion, the only reason she didn’t share before then was fear of destruction. You betrayed her long before any of the events that led to this point, she felt no obligations to you before you even got here. She can’t be a traitor, she abandoned almost everything the rest of you hold in high regard years ago. I will admit, she still holds onto the Accords but that’s more of a case of feeling a need for a formal code of conduct and going with the best she has at her disposal. Chrysalis is actually working on a new code of conduct, that uses the Accords as a template. She’s shared the knowledge of such with all of Equestria’s princesses, she has yet to come to anyone for assistance of any kind on that front. Although, several here think it is rather big of her to admit she’s working on that sort of project.”

The other queens gave Chrysalis and the ponies an intensely disapproving look, as did Arachne. Chrysalis was being very unlike any queen any of them could remember. Arachne wanted to call her out on being very unchangeling, but Chrysalis had nipped that argument in the bud already with her declaration that she was incorporating more aspects of her mate, which was clearly a very changeling thing to do. But what was frustrating Arachne the most was the fact that Chrysalis’s vibrancy was so great that its presence actually made Arachne herself feel inadequate, the oldest standing queen feeling inadequate was not something she would ever openly admit to or allow to be broadcast.

While Nymph was definitely attractive looking, it had still been Arachne’s natural attractiveness that had the ponies in awe of her for a few seconds. But things were different for Chrysalis, she had never held a candle to the physical beauty and capabilities of her siblings before this point. Now, she had a beauty that mad Nymph feel threatened, physical abilities that put every other changeling to shame, and seemed completely oblivious to the fact she could probably destroy a decently sized hive on her own. The jump in power Chrysalis had was unprecedented, enough to make every queen at this meeting feel insecure about something they had come to the table with on the belief that Chrysalis would never be able to touch their claimed forte.

Chrysalis’s carapace, if it could still be called that, was far more durable than Culicidae’s. Culicidae hadn’t shared a little secret but Arachne had found it out, that the hide of her mate could withstand having large boulders dropped on it repeatedly for an extended period of time, of course, Culicidae and her mate would be a little dizzy afterward but that was the price one has to pay sometimes. But even with that defense a sharp object, like Vespa’s stinger or Cicada’s claws, would still leave noticeable wounds on her. Chrysalis took an attack from both and didn’t even have a blemish on her exterior. Chrysalis’s beauty was surprisingly more impressive than that of Nymph, the queen refuted as the most beautiful of all changelings. Cicada and Vespa both had a strong natural offensive power that was considered among the most dangerous among changelings, with Vespa even being refuted as having natural weapons that were only capable of being damaged by rock or metal. Chrysalis had taken both of their attacks and not even budged, only made a comment about her attire being ruined. She then broke one of Vespa’s stingers like it was a twig and showed she was even more dangerous by spitting fire on it and turning it into real ash, before then Arachne had reasoned that any fire displays by Chrysalis would be merely illusion magic.

If Chrysalis didn’t have a kill order on her head, never been in exile and had a hive that numbered in the hundreds she would definitely be a major power player among the changeling queens as was now. Then the thing ponies called “irony” hit Arachne, Chrysalis would not be in the state of nearly being a potential power player should she somehow manage to return, and not be killed, if the very things that led to her state of exile had never occurred. A single failed invasion was grounds for all other queens to execute you, Arachne started thinking that if this rule was a bit more lenient with permitting a small handful of failures instead of just one big one then maybe they wouldn’t be in this position.

Chrysalis was smart, smarter than even Arachne herself. Chrysalis didn’t quite have Arachne’s cunning, but she surpassed the cunning with anticipation and preparedness. Chrysalis had managed to read the personalities of other queens and develop countermeasures for almost all of them, considering she was publicly known for having personally encountered over three dozen queens, this was so impressive that Arachne had actually chosen to emulate some of those countermeasures. Chrysalis was one who liked to think ahead, literally beating all her opponents in games of strategy before she was even a full century old, no other changeling had come close to her in terms of mental abilities.

No matter what would come next, the changelings and Equestrians all knew there was a headache coming. Chances are the headache would be pretty bad, depending on how things went. These queens were used to long meetings that were roundabout, often even going as lasting over a week. They were not used to meetings that got right to the point and made no attempts to prolong the proceedings, like this one. None of Equestria’s representatives, including Chrysalis, made such moves, it was if they wanted to get things out of the way as quickly as possible with as little inconvenience to all parties as possible. All the plays to extend and prolong the event as much as possible came from the “visiting” queens, much to their annoyance and disdain. The whole thing hadn’t even officially started for the day and all three queens could already feel a headache approaching, not that any of them would openly admit it.

Some Happy Moments Before the Headache

Author's Note

I felt like the story needed a slight tone shift for a bit, and due to the holiday season I felt a desire to do something Christmas themed. For those you who read the bonus chapter from Queen Takes Dragon you will recognize the scenes which are mentioned quite briefly.

As always, enjoy and you know my policies.

Some Happy Moments Before the Headache

Things were simultaneously more interesting and boring than Lucent thought they would be. Her father, Discord, had managed to build up a much better tolerance than her in terms of boredom but he had had also been keeping busy messing with all the hidden changelings around the castle. These queens were all massive headaches, which they would still have to deal with for a few more days. Things would have definitely been more amusing on the airship with the younger foals, Lucent was seriously regretting her decision to turn down the opportunities to avoid this whole meeting.

Why couldn’t it be fun like they used to? Lucent thought back to the first time she met Chrysalis’s girls, they were all so cute in their adorably oversized nightgowns. The dancing, the laughing, the shared time around gifts and family. That made her think back to Chrysalis’s wedding to Spike, that was a nightmarish media frenzy that even her parents had reservations getting involved with. Lucent herself had stirred up a controversy when she came along, being the daughter of a former member of Equestria’s least liked and one of Equestria’s beloved rulers did that, but it all died down after the third week of her being in the world. The wedding of her parents was talked about up to four months after the event, they even kept framed copies of all the papers they liked most that also had the event as a front page story in the throne room and their private quarters. Chrysalis’s wedding with Spike was talked about much more in the papers, most of which were making a go at trying to make it all some sinister plot from the mind of Chrysalis, and their time in the papers was much longer. The worst of it came when the girls, which there were only three at the time, were the target of slander when they were only a few months old, a few of the extremely fictional articles had even managed to come close to tainting the Hearth’s Warming season with the very opposites sentiments the season usually did its best to cultivate.

Lucent really wished to back to those days, they were happier and more stimulating to her. Lucent blinked a bit, she looked around and found herself floating in Velvet’s kitchen. She wanted to say something but it all stopped in her throat before sound could even form, she was watching Chrysalis dance and hum some sort of tune in the kitchen. She quickly realized she couldn’t hear anything, turning her attention to elsewhere in the room she spotted the Chrys’s oldest three at the age they had been when she first met them. The three fillies were dancing in the adorably awkward way she remembered, she really wished she had a camera (preferably without something that makes a flash, just because they couldn’t hear or see her didn’t mean they would notice a bright flash from seemingly nowhere) and suddenly she was holding what looked and felt like a really light brick in her hands. Looking down at the item it said “Sparkle Industries Disposable Magic Camera V. 4.6”, a further look at it showed the device had a feature that made the flash optional or varying intensities. She flicked the tab to “no flash” mode and took three pictures, making sure to show they were all when the three were facing here (usually independent of each other) at different times, they were utterly adorable in how they were dancing as they ate. She was so caught up in enjoying seeing images on the small screen-like crystal on the back of the camera she didn’t notice she had missed a lot. When she looked up she saw the adorable sight of Novel stopping mid-chew to think, she knew it would be a waste to not get a few shots of that with her new camera and quickly took five shots of the scene. She wanted to get more but felt herself get pulled back into the present, with the image crystal on the back of the camera but not the camera itself.

Blinking a few times to reacclimate herself to her surroundings Lucent silent pulled her parents and Twilight to her. She quickly, and silently, explained her experience to all of them, omitting the part about the camera’s manufacturer and design with just a statement about how it was smaller than current cameras and had some extra features. All of them were surprised when she showed them the imaging crystal, none of them had any idea what to do with it. Discord decided to just magic up something read it from the future, Celestia stopped that immediately with a statement about ruining how the course of events is supposed to flow. Twilight suggested just magically pulling the images out of the crystal, a very delicate process, and placing them blank sheets of paper. Discord magicked up the paper with Twilight and Celestia working together to transfer the images onto said paper.

It took a moment for the images to come into focus on the paper, something to work on, with Chrysalis, Cadance, and Skyla coming over to see what the congregation was about. When the images came into focus Chrysalis, along with Cadance and Skyla, gasped at what they were seeing. It was literally seeing images out of the past, perfectly captured in photos, from that first Hearth’s Warming five years ago. The girls were just as cute as remembered, possibly more so.

Then the moment was ruined, by Arachne of all ponies, “And what are you looking at? One of you just stares off into the abyss for few seconds and the next you start doing some sort of pointless crafting project that has you all acting like idiots.”

“I’m still getting used to some of my magic,” said Lucent, “my mind literally took me back to a time I was thinking about from a few years ago, the ‘crafting project’ as you put it was us pulling images from a storage crystal I brought back on my return trip.”

“This is my oldest from that time,” said Chrysalis, holding up one of the images of Novel doing her adorable thinking with a sandwich in her mouth, “her name is Light Novel, she’s a Knowledge Keeper. She looks more like this now,” she pulled out an image of the girls from a week before she called for the meeting that Pinkie had insisted on, “she’s the one with a dark purple carapace, the one with a dusky look is Dusk Sentinel and the one with a pinkish tint to her is Satin Care. Dusk is a Hive Guard and Satin is a Nurse.”

“Who is the orange unicorn filly?” Nymph asked, disinterest dripping from her voice, she just wanted to prolong the meeting’s start and thought getting one of the mares to gush about their foals would do just that.

“Luminous Seeker, she’s my daughter,” said Twilight, “she sees Chrys’s girls as cousins, they even refer to each other as such.”

“Twilight is technically Spike’s sister, but Celestia is technically his mother. At least, that’s how it is legally speaking.”

“So, he’s technically my adoptive big brother,” said Lucent with a bit of excitement, “why wasn’t I told about this?”

“Mostly the drastic difference in our ages,” said Spike, “you were eight when Chrys and I got married, I was twenty-one. That means I was in my early teens when you came along. That and it’s not publicly known I’m technically your mom’s son, only a very small circle knows that. If you were told too early the discretion your mom wanted regarding the information would be ruined with you running around about how cool your ‘big brother’ is to the whole world.”

“I guess that makes sense, and also explains why mom insists on calling me her oldest daughter and not oldest in general. Still a little annoying, but now we have several changeling queens that are in all that.”

“If they didn’t know that before now then their information gathering network was atrocious,” said Chrysalis, “Your aunt Luna referred to Spike in full name in the first press release that managed to wrangle her after our wedding, his full name tells of who he is related to.”

“Not to mention I kind of signed a few official documents three years ago with my full name,” said Spike, “just the beginnings of a little business venture Chrys and I thought of working on, it’s on hold until most of our girls are a little older.”

“How much older?” Inquired Culicidae with the same disinterest as the other queens.

“We decided to not say in front of some company,” said Chrysalis diplomatically, “I guess your spies will have to let you in on that one.”

“Which is easier said than done,” said Celestia, “we knew that you would bring more than requested, this was driven home when Chrysalis made that statement about ‘visible’ members of your hive, so my husband,” she gestured to Discord, “has been subtly using his abilities to keep all non-visible changelings from learning anything of relevance to anything in the past four years.”

“They’re coming up on the wedding of Spike and Chrysalis,” said Discord with some amusement, now in a blue and indigo mock-up of Royal Guard formal attire, “They passed our wedding a short while back. No worries, everything they’re learning is factual, but none of it is stuff that was extremely private, none of us want you all knowing the exact things we do behind closed doors.”

“Except some of our hobbies,” said Spike, “did some of them come up on the ‘Guys’ Night’ activities we all did a while ago?”

“The one we had when Celly was pregnant, yep! Oh how they thought they’d come across something scandalous at the time,” said Discord with a chuckle.

Arachne, Nymph, and Culicidae all just stared unbelieving at the ponies, Discord, and Chrysalis. Lucent figured that they’d thought they would unearth some new intel, but to have it somehow have the past four years blocked from anyone not present in a genuine official capacity was both impressive and terrifying to them. When they were done with this whole thing they were likely to be determined to find a workaround such things. Lucent didn't blame them, finding workarounds her dad's magic were more likely to drive them crazy for who knows how long.

Pointless Stalling

It was decided to skip lunch and dinner this time around, mostly as a means showing the queens how their obstructive behaviors were a detriment. The only one who got anything to eat was Violet Emerald, on account she was young and still needed regular feedings. The sight of Spike and Chrysalis in the kitchen was not one usually seen, made all the more adorable by Emerald dancing about the kitchen as her parents prepared her meal. Arachne, Nymph, and Culicidae were not able to hide their frustration.

The changeling queens were used to being catered to, if not given some modicum of respect. The fact an infant, and one they showed varying measures of disdain for at that, was the only one permitted to feed was seriously rubbing them the wrong way. The complete lack of progress in the series of events was something that Chrysalis and the Equestrians were finding increasingly frustrating. Although, the sight of Violet Emerald enjoying her lunch and dinner was rather relieving for most of the other visible attendants. The queens that were left did not have such symptoms. If anything, they were more on edge with the restrictions being forced on them.

The obstinate behavior of the queens was the main reason this act had been forced out; Chrysalis had warned that such a measure might be required during the prep work. The only one of the queens that didn’t seem to have some level of disdain for the current predicament was Arachne. If anything, the spider-like changeling queen was showing some degree of amusement, in all her time as a queen not once had she seen a hosting delegation refuse service to their guests because of ill manners, she rather enjoyed the approach, even if she was being punished as well. At least that was the way it looked to Chrysalis.

“Tell me, Chrysalis,” said Arachne as she steepled her digits at her section of the table, “just what are your intentions for your hive?”

“Peaceful, genuine coexistence with neighboring powers,” said Chrysalis succinctly as she held the infant changeling in her lap, “You have nothing to worry about, I have no intentions of expanding my hive beyond Equestrian borders.”

“But what about any queens you produce,” inquired Nymph, “can you vouch for them following this claim?”

“While they are still young and under my protection during their time of early development, yes,” said Chrysalis, “after that, I have no say in the matter, they will be entrusted to make proper, informed decisions. Where my children choose to go after they have matured enough is their choice, I will not force my will upon my offspring. I will raise them with my ideals and expose them to other ideas and let them develop their own philosophy. It is the duty of the parents to guide their children, not force our worldviews upon them for the sake of our own pride.”

All the visiting queens, especially Nymph, felt the need to repress a gag when told this, which they were all barely able to hide. Chrysalis wasn’t talking like a changeling, or a dragon for that matter, she was talking like a pony, with absolute sincerity to boot. Even with her progressive views, Arachne felt Chrysalis was just trying to play some kind of game with her.”

“Alright, listen,” said Spike, “as Chrysalis said, she got a lot of her new aspects from me, and some were unpredictable side effects of her unique properties mingling with mine through the changeling mating system. Point is, she is not the same individual you knew a hundred years, but you still insist on acting like she hasn’t had any significant non-physical changes, such as her sense of priorities, while acknowledging she has experienced a physical change. We have twenty-four beautiful daughters, each with their own individual strengths and weakness. And I, for one, am happy Chrysalis has been such an amazingly cooperative neighbor to Equestria. She knows a larger population isn’t sustainable currently, and has chosen to go a route that will ensure she remains a good neighbor to Equestria. Our girls are intelligent, thoughtful, and a little rambunctious at times, but Chrysalis always is working on a way to make sure they stay healthy and stimulated. We let them be bored, make mistakes, and find their own interests. Admittedly, our oldest seems to take after Twilight than anyone else we know, much to my adoptive sister’s delight, but just because they have similar tendencies doesn’t mean they aren’t their own individuals.”

“Just had to give a speech on the matter, I see,” said Culicidae.

“It’s a personal failing he picked up from a few of us,” said Twilight, “mostly me. But he only gave that speech because he felt it needed to be said. We all want this meeting to get over as quickly possible, on that I’m sure we can agree. But consider this, when you actively go out of your way to sabotage others, something we’ve been informed is all too common among changelings during their gatherings, you make everything longer and more difficult. Yes, there are those that will waste our time if we do not have someone intervene; I’m sure it’s a universal constant at this point. But regardless, a system that promotes hindering of other parties over progressing things needs to reevaluate its priorities.”

“Why should we?” Nymph asked haughtily, “it’s worked out fine for us so far.”

“From what we’ve been told about the system, which isn’t much mind you,” said Celestia, “your system has made it so that your society deliberately stagnates itself, all for the benefit of those holding the highest power to maintain it for the most shallow and detrimental reasons.”

“Princess Celestia managed to keep her power base while allowing Equestria to experience many new systems and technology being born,” said Twilight, “all without having to resort to hindering the progress of others.”

“While I appreciate the vote of confidence, Twilight,” said Celestia, “that was a bit of an oversimplification. It worked out as well as it did because I invested in research for each new idea and technology and continued such research for the philosophies and technologies I saw as having the most benefit for the populous moving forward.”

“That...is actually an excellent policy,” said Arachne, “but we, as queens, prioritize what is of greatest benefit to us.”

“What improves lives for the populous usually ensures easier work for the rulers,” said Rarity, “sometimes potentially beneficial innovations can be used to the exact opposite of their intended use. For example, when industrial sewing machines were introduced they made it easier to produce attire en mass for lower costs but the tradeoff was many of the populous lost their sense of personal expression with clothing and not many who make attire put much attention it quality because it just means they won’t be selling clothing as frequently.”

“She’s still a bit bitter about that,” said Twilight, “but the point she made still stands, every innovation has its tradeoffs. And not all of them are beneficial in the same ways to those affected by them. Innovations, the good ones, and some of the bad ones, shake up the status quo. Prioritizing your wants and desires over the need you and your...subjects is shown to have a negative impact individual as much as the group. If you prioritize the needs of the many over those of the few you’ll have fewer long term problems. The problem with you system, and it is a big one, is that its approach means a focus on the short term, which often is to the detriment the long term. Either way, you’re going to have those not particularly happy with the approach, that’s the nature of the beast, no matter which you choose but as leaders, you must always be willing to way the consequences.”

“From what we’ve been able to gather,” said Shining, “despite your apparent long lives, the only one who seems to be weighing consequences is Arachne, and even then she’s only doing so with what she considers potentially favorable.”

“True weighing of consequences,” said Spike, “is weighing of pros and cons of every option you can foresee, especially if they seem unfavorable.”

“Projecting the idea you are infallible is a fool’s errand,” said Chrysalis with a serious tone, giving a firm stare to the visiting queens, “there are always variables for which you will likely not take into account or outright dismiss out of the misconception they are inconsequential.”

The only queen that didn’t balk at this was Arachne, she had enough life experience to see where Chrysalis was going, that didn’t mean she was above pushing things to be heavily in her favor.

Author's Note

And a reminder, I have things set up for a spinoff story that is written by those of you reading this story, the blog discussing all that is found here