Mirage

Chapters

Powder Keg
Suspicion
Spark
The Hunt
Stalemate
Negotiations
Return
Invitations
The Talk
Visit
Theory
Ignition
Consideration
Discussion

Powder Keg

Queen Illusion sat at the head of the table in her hive. As host of the conference, she was entitled to take one end, and also to decide who would get the other end.

Several of the queens who had asked for it had unresolved disputes with her. They would get short shrift.

Next, she considered who had the greatest claim against Chrysalis. Queen Phantasm had a large amount of territory in Canterlot, which was entirely ignored by Chrysalis (so did Queen Mandible, but several of her drones had been caught sneaking into an area claimed by Illusion, and an adequate explanation had yet to reach her). The only other claim worth looking at was Queen Imago, whose heir was put at risk.

Imago had a reputation for keeping excellent control over her territory, and for being an expert at farming love. Her hive was one of the strongest there was, but its location in the Everfree Forest instead of the badlands meant that its voice often struggled to be heard.

On the other hand, sending a princess out of hive territory without guards was just asking for trouble.

She decided to give the seat to Phantasm, but would seat Imago in the middle of one of the sides, where as many as possible would be able to see and hear her.

Decision made, she laid out the place markers, and placed the communication crystals that Imago and Lepidoptera (the changelings of the crystal mountains in the north had developed large wings which could be wrapped around themselves to keep warmer, giving them the appearance of giant butterfly wings) had sent onto their designated seats.

Sitting back down, she prepared for her guests to arrive.

Queen Imago closed her eyes, activating the spell which would make the crystal in the badlands project a 3d image of her into the meeting room, and allow her to see from the projection's point of view.

A bright green image of a changeling queen flickered into being on the chair in the conference room.

Queen Imago was pleasantly surprised to see that she had been given the second best seat other than the host's. Her claim was certainly weaker than Mandible's, yet Mandible had been given a very poor seat: near one end, but not at the head. She filed it away as information for the future; a dispute between Illusion and Mandible would certainly make things interesting.

The meeting was quick to get underway after everyling arrived, and Queen Illusion started proceedings with little exchange of pleasantries.

"Good day to you all," she said. "We are here to discuss the foolish and reckless actions of Queen Chrysalis, and what should be done about them. As you are probably aware, Chrysalis decided that the best thing she could do for her hive would be to overtly invade Canterlot, with the intention of eventually ruling Equestria.

"In the process, she not only revealed our existence to all of ponydom, something we knew would probably happen at some point, but she also destroyed any chance of peaceful diplomatic relations after the reveal. Something has to be done about this."

Queen Phantasm took over at this point. "Western Canterlot is my territory. Not only did Chrysalis' army enter without permission, they did so with no respect for who was or wasn't a changeling. They simply bound everypony, including disguised changelings. There wasn't even time to mount a defence, since Canterlot is so far from my hive. If she tried to rule all of Equestria, she would encroach on all of our territories, so clearly, Chrysalis has no respect for any of us."

Many faces around the table looked unsettled at that prospect. Changeling Queens were powerhouses when well fed, and one who didn't respect even her own people could do a lot of damage.

They were all pondering the danger that they could be in, when Queen Spectre spoke up. "I heard that an entire battalion of her drones were taken down by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. If she sees them as a threat, she may try to remove them, which I believe would involve entering your territory, Imago."

Imago frowned. "Let her try, Ponyville is within ten minutes flight of my hive, and I am certain that my drones could beat Chrysalis' drones any day. If she attacks, I will destroy her. That said, I may put a couple of guards near the bearers to make sure they don't get hurt, my daughter, for one, would be devastated."

Mandible was next. "I think we all get the idea. She's a threat to our way of life. We may not always agree with each other, but I think we can all agree on that. So what do we do about her?"

"Her mother, Queen Antenna was quite friendly with my hive. She may have enough respect for me that sending one of my drones to inform her of our displeasure would get some of her more destructive tendencies under control," said Queen Chitin, the oldest queen in attendance.

"Even then, we would need to keep a close eye on her activities," said Carapace. "Do we have the resources to spare for such an undertaking?"

"No," said Illusion, from the head of the table, "but war is not a desirable option either. Combined, we are far stronger than her, and yet anyling can get a lucky hit. By going to war, we put our very lives at risk. Anyling have any other comments?" Noling spoke. " Very well. Those in favour of Chitin's plan, to give her a final warning?"

Of the nineteen queens in attendance, eleven raised their hooves. "Motion passed."

Mandible and Phantasm looked angry, and Carapace didn't look too pleased either, but the decision had been made.

"Now," Queen Illusion said. "Does anyling else have any important matters to bring to our attention?"

There was a short pause, before the glowing projection of Lepidoptera spoke. "My drones have been reporting encounters with bursts of wild magic in the foothills of the crystal mountains. It seems to be concentrating in the area where the ancient Crystal City used to be. The empire of old may be returning."

Her statement was met with shock. In the days of the Crystal Empire, changelings had never gone hungry. During food shortages, a few drones would be sent north to feed on the emanations from the crystal heart, and bring back the excess.

And then a tyrant took over. Love turned to hate, and changelings fled the poison which radiated from the once shining city, until one day, it simply vanished.

Most changelings these days believed it to be a myth, a story of happier times when noling wanted for anything. Too good to be true. Only those who had built their hive amongst the supposed empire's ruins still believed in it. And now they claimed it was coming back. If it was true, it would give the Crystal Hive a severe territorial advantage. Negotiations for entrance to their territory would become extremely one-sided.

Imago was no fool, and decided to place her bid early. Her offer had few downsides for either side even if the empire didn't return, so she hoped that Lepidoptera would accept. "I offer an unbalanced alliance with your hive. If you end up at war without the backing of the council, I will help you. In return, I ask for free access to your territory and unclaimed food sources." Lepidoptera was known to be a fairly peaceful queen, so there was little risk that she would go to war, and even the support of the Everfree Hive would deter others from attacking her.

A smirk crossed the projection's face. "A... generous offer. I will consider it."

With that, the meeting was concluded. It was considered bad form to make competing offers at the same time, though she suspected that Queen Lepidoptera would be getting a lot of communication crystals over the next few days.

She smiled, and sent a burst of power through the communication spell, burning out the crystal and ensuring neither side could use it to spy on the other.

Suspicion

Scootaloo walked out of the schoolhouse feeling bored. Again.

It wasn't so much the content that she found boring, but the fact that she had learned most of it from her mother, in preparation for one day ruling the hive. She often acted up in class to ease the boredom, but Cheerilee had put her on her last warning and she didn't want detention.

Still, she was glad her mother had sent her to pony school, or she would never have met her friends.

Speaking of her friends...

"Hey Scoots, Ah just had an idea. We all know the way to Zecora's hut really well, so why don't we try to map out the rest of the forest?"

This could only go badly. Scootaloo, as Mirage, was comfortable in the forest, and Zecora was an expert at keeping monsters away from the path, but the rest of the forest was dangerous to ponies, especially foals. The problem was that this persona was known for being reckless. 'Scootaloo' would jump at the chance to explore the forest.

Fortunately, Sweetie Belle spoke up. "I don't know, Applebloom, I don't think that's a good idea. You know if we survive the forest, our sisters will kill us."

"They don't hafta know."

Scootaloo groaned, and made a decision. She just hoped that it was the right one.

"I already have a map of the forest."

The other two looked like she'd grown a second head. "What?" "How?"

She sighed. "I'll explain at the clubhouse. For now, let's just say it's to do with the thing I keep trying to tell you and failing." She grabbed her scooter and the trailer. "Come on, let's go."

At top speed, it only took ten minutes to reach the clubhouse. That, added to the fact that she was nervous about what was going to happen meant that the journey seemed to be over in the blink of an eye for Scootaloo, and she soon found herself standing at the podium in the clubhouse, preparing to have the most terrifying discussion of her life.

"Well, I guess I should start as we always do and call this emergency meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to order."

The other two obviously recognised it as the delaying tactic it was. Neither looked impressed.

"C'mon, Scoots," Applebloom said. "This is obviously bothering you. Let us help."

"Only if you still want to help after what I have to say."

"You're our friend, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said softly. "Whatever you have to say can't be that bad."

"I... I..." She sighed. "My name isn't Scootaloo."

"What?!"

"It's just a name I use when I look like this."

"What do you mean?" asked Sweetie Belle. "How else could you look?"

"However I want, just like the rest of my kind. I wanted to tell you before, but the wedding fiasco just made it harder and more important."

"But that -" Sweetie Belle started before being interrupted by Applebloom.

"Y'all are a changelin'."

Scootaloo's head dropped. "Yeah," she admitted.

Sweetie Belle looked confused. "But I saw you at the wedding, you were as scared as the rest of us. Why were you scared of your own people."

"Ugh, that's another reason to hate that idiot. 'Queen of the Changelings'? Don't make me laugh. Sure, she rules the biggest hive, but that's still not more than about ten percent. With the numbers she lost in that ridiculous invasion it might be down to five-ish, which makes my hive bigger than hers.

"The other queens have put her on her last warning, if she starts something, they'll all step in to finish it. Nineteen against one leads to a very one-sided fight."

Sweetie Belle was shocked. "Nineteen?! And they're all as powerful as the one that attacked the wedding?"

Scootaloo nodded. "When they're well fed, yes."

The other two shivered.

It took Applebloom a few seconds to convince herself to ask her next question. "C'n we see it?"

Scootaloo was confused. "See what?"

"What you really look like."

"Oh. I g- guess." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

As her eyes opened, they flashed a bright green. A ring of green flames surrounded her, before erupting upwards into a pillar of green light, an effect unique to royals. She doubled in height as her pegasus wings were replaced by thin membranes, her body was covered in armour, and a jagged horn erupted from her forehead. The pupils of her purple eyes became slits, but the back plate was the same colour as her disguise's coat. The blue-green mane and tail, unlike any of the drones they had seen led Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to one conclusion.

"You're a queen?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

Mirage laughed. "Not while Mum's still alive, and hopefully not for a while yet. Queens are much bigger than this. Can I please change back now, being in this form around non-changelings is very uncomfortable."

Applebloom shrugged. "Go ahead."

More green light filled the tree house as Mirage became Scootaloo again.

"So what is your name?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Mirage, but don't call me that when I look like this. It's important to separate my identities."

"So where -"

Applebloom was cut off by the door being slammed open by a panicked looking Rainbow Dash. "Don't worry girls, I'll... Huh?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo shouted excitedly. "You're here!" She paused. "What's wrong?"

"Er... Nothing," she replied nervously. "I just thought I saw something. Nothing to worry about. Good luck crusading. Bye." She flew off towards town at high speed.

"Well, that was weird," said Applebloom.

"You don't think she saw Scoots change, do you?" Sweetie Belle asked quietly.

Scootaloo's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "I need to go home. Now. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She galloped out of the tree house, over to the edge of the forest, and quickly disappeared into the dense foliage.

"I'm telling you, Twilight, I think the Crusaders have been replaced by changelings, or one has and is mind-controlling the other two."

"Really, Rainbow? You've been seeing changelings everywhere since the invasion. You even accused Pinkie of being one after she got distracted and didn't finish her ice cream."

"But I was flying over the clubhouse and I saw a bright green flash. It was the same colour as when that evil bug queen transformed. I took a look inside and they were the only ones there. How else do you explain it?"

"I admit that sounds a little suspicious, but if this turns out to be another wild goose chase... I'll go this evening, we should wait until they get home or we'll never find them."

"Twilight, darling, whatever brings you over at this hour?"

"Sorry, Rarity. It's Rainbow Dash and her crazy changeling hunt. Again."

Rarity sighed. "Who is she accusing this time? Honestly, I don't wear dresses the entire time, yet as soon as I turn up without one, off goes Rainbow."

"Yes, well, I think it comes with the Element of Loyalty, she just wants to make sure we're safe, and when a threat like that appears, it can be a very hard thing to be certain of." Twilight groaned. "She's been running me ragged, testing everypony. I've had to tell her that this is the last one. After this, I'm done with it."

"So, who is it?"

Another, deeper sigh. "The Crusaders. Can I see Sweetie Belle for a moment, please?"

"Sweetie Belle, can you come down here, please?" Rarity called.

Small hoofsteps were heard moving towards the stairs and down them, before Sweetie Belle became visible. "Oh, hello, Twilight. I didn't know you were visiting tonight."

Twilight smiled, Sweetie Belle always tried to imitate her sister's manners, making her a pleasure to interact with. "I wasn't. I'm just indulging Dash's paranoia. I just need to cast a couple of quick scanning spells on you."

"OK."

Twilight's horn lit up. She concentrated for a few seconds.

"Clear, and clear. Sorry about that, Rainbow Dash thought that one of you was replaced by a changeling. Sorry for interrupting your evening, Rarity."

"Why would she think that?" Sweetie Belle asked. Neither Twilight nor Rarity noticed the slight nervous twitch as she spoke.

"Because she's been suspicious of everypony since the wedding. I'm sorry I bothered you."

"It's fine, Twilight," Rarity said. "If Rainbow Dash is worried about us, the least we can do is assure her we're safe."

"Thanks for understanding, Rarity. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Twilight."

Meanwhile, as Mirage trotted through the forest, having decided to go for a walk to clear her head, she heard snoring coming from a nearby cave.

Spark

Copycat felt weak. He had been wandering the forest for days, ever since he had been thrown from Canterlot after the failed invasion.

He had been able to steal small amounts of emotions from forest creatures, but it wasn't enough to make it a viable source in the long term. Soon he would need a pony's love.

Last night, he had finally found the edge of the forest, near a small pony town.

He had thrown up a quick disguise and done some scouting. Love was everywhere in this town, and by this point, he could just choose a target at random.

His eyes had settled on a pair of mares who were clearly deeply in love with each other. They would make an excellent food source. One was a minty green unicorn , with white streaks in her mane, and the other was a cream-coloured earth pony with a pink and blue mane.

Now he lay in wait. He had watched them for hours, and while he would have preferred to do more preparation, he was running out of energy. He had to strike soon.

The unicorn, who was apparently called Lyra, walked out of their house, towards the market, probably to pick up some missing ingredients if the smell from the house was anything to go on. Easy prey for a changeling. Copycat followed.

He waited until she was on her way back home, before using more of his meagre reserves to cast a sleeping spell on her and hide her in a cave in the forest. Assuming Lyra's form, he returned to the house, carrying everything Lyra had bought.

"Bon Bon, I'm back!" he called, knowing that this was the name of his food supply.

"Great! Can you bring the stuff through here quickly, I'm just getting to the point where I'll need it." Copycat could feel the love in that response.

"Sure!" he called back enthusiastically. Lyra had looked like the lively sort.

He walked into the kitchen, where Bon Bon was cooking. "Did you get... everything?" Bon Bon asked.

With that small pause, the love had stopped. It started back up quickly, but in much smaller quantities. If he had had more reserves, he would have been suspicious and run after that, but beggars couldn't be choosers. The fact that he was getting any love was a good thing.

"Yep. No problem."

"Good. It'll be ready in five minutes, so just sit down." Bon Bon pulled out a chair at the table and went back to cooking.

Copycat was completely unprepared when the love cut out again and something hard hit him on the back of the head.

Bon Bon put the frying pan down. No changeling was allowed to foalnap Lyra. Especially not one serving an idiot like Chrysalis. What sort of moron was she, attacking Canterlot like that?

Changelings were supposed to be invisible. The best defence is not being known to exist. Still, she could play this to her advantage.

Bon Bon hated having to think like a stereotypical changeling. Sure, she was one, but she had lived among ponies for so long that it was easy to think like them. Lyra was far more than prey to her.

And now this foalish prat had taken her. She wanted answers. It was obvious the moment she hadn't felt any love from Lyra. The real Lyra loved her absolutely.

Copycat slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was still in the mares' kitchen.

The second was that he was in changeling form. Oh, and he was tied to a chair. This was not good.

Bon Bon walked slowly into view in front of him, giving him a deadly glare.

"You... are going to take me to Lyra, right now."

"And why is that?" he replied, trying to sound more confident than he actually was. "What possible reasons would I have to do that?"

"Simple," Bon Bon answered with a smirk. "Chrysalis attacked Canterlot and failed, not only severely weakening her hive, but exposing changelings to everypony. At this point, the other queens will take any excuse to wipe your hive out. I'm sure Queen Imago will be thrilled when she finds out you took my main food supply. With your hive in its current state, I doubt you'll last a month.

"Or, you could give Lyra back, get the hay out of Ponyville and never come back, and maybe Queen Imago doesn't need to hear of this. It's your call."

If changelings could go pale, Copycat would be white by now. Accidents occasionally happened where a changeling would try to feed on another's prey, and it often became a source of tension between the queens. If Bon Bon was reading the situation correctly, this time it could lead to a full scale extermination.

He really didn't have much of a choice. In a small town like this, there should be relatively few changelings, but all of them would be from the same hive. Another hive's presence in the area would not be tolerated. Only in a big city would you find more than one, and even then, each would have their own territory.

He was clearly deep in enemy territory here, if not by choice, and he had been caught by the locals. His best option was to do as requested. He would have protested having to leave without a quick feed in town first, but from what little he knew about Queen Imago, her drones topped up on love by being friendly, meaning that the entire town would be considered their prey. Nopony here was fair game.

Copycat nodded meekly. "I'll take you to her."

A bright green light shone in Lyra's eyes as she woke up. She raised a hoof to block it out, and it immediately died down, before cutting out completely.

She was lying on something hard, and her legs were laid out uncomfortably. She would never have fallen asleep like this naturally.

"Ugh," she groaned, having never been a morning pony. "What happened?"

"A rogue changeling took you," came a buzzing voice.

Lyra opened her eyes and screamed, scrambling backwards. The turquoise mane, slit pupils, and fanged visage instantly labeled the being in front of her as a changeling queen. The voice was wrong for Chrysalis, and as she stared at it from the back of what she now recognised as a cave, she saw a number of other differences.

This queen was far more complete than Chrysalis had been. She had none of the holes in her hooves, mane, and wings that Chrysalis had had, but she was also much smaller. Perhaps she was an adolescent. Her back plate was a bright orange as well.

Not that it really mattered. "No!" she shouted, lighting her horn. "Leave me alone!"

The queen gave her an unimpressed look. "Really, Lyra? I rescue you and you just run away?"

Lyra's eyes widened. "H- How do you know my name? And what do you mean, rescue?"

"First, hard not to, considering I spend most of my time in Ponyville. And second, Chrysalis is a moron who probably went mad with power. Most hives have no time for that nonsense. If she'd looked like succeeding, the other queens would've stepped in and smacked her down." A smirk crossed her face. "And since I was actually there, Mum would probably have been first."

"Who are you?"

"Call me Mirage. Now, we need to go, and I need to let Mum know that one of Queen Stupid's drones is in the area. I imagine she'll love having an excuse to take her down."

Mirage turned to leave, but Lyra didn't move. After a few steps, the changeling looked back. "You don't need to come if you don't want to, but this is the middle of the Everfree. There's worse than me out there."

Lyra's ears folded downwards and she shivered slightly, but she hesitantly followed the changeling who claimed to have rescued her.

"Where is she?!"

Copycat found himself facing an irate changeling drone in an empty cave. Bon Bon looked young, strong, and clearly very well fed. Of course, he could have guessed the last part from the fact that she had been pushing love back towards Lyra (theoretically it could earn more than it cost, but it required a far stronger bond than most changelings ever develop with their food, as well as large reserves), but the visual evidence made it obvious. This drone had never gone hungry, never suffered the pain of having its own body cannibalise itself for energy, permanently damaging itself in the process.

He sighed. This drone could beat him easily.

"She was right here," he protested, stomping his hoof on the floor. "I had her under a sleeping spell, she should still be here."

"Are you crazy?!" Bon Bon screeched. "You left a pony unconscious in the Everfree?"

Copycat's vision turned green as he was lifted up in a powerful telekinetic field. Some subtle probing with the little power he had left told him it was hopeless.

"I'm bringing the hive in on this, and if she isn't found, alive and well, you're dead meat."

Lyra was confused. Mirage had led her deep into the forest, before stopping at the bottom of a cliff. "We're here. Are you going to come in with me, or wait outside. This area of the forest is fairly safe, but monsters sometimes get through our patrols."

Deciding that a known danger was better than an unknown one, Lyra decided to come in. She was understandably surprised when she was lifted up by green magic as the changeling flew up the cliff face.

A cave entrance, practically invisible from below, became visible, and Mirage carried her in.

Lyra looked past Mirage into the darkness of the cave, and was fairly certain that she could see a green glow coming from deep inside.

They walked in silence, Lyra's nerves building as it became apparent that she was right. She wasn't sure how far they had come when they took a sharp turn to the right and the cave opened up into a massive cavern.

It wasn't what she was expecting. To be honest, she didn't know what she had expected, but a city-like structure made of green crystal wasn't it.

Mirage glanced the side as they entered the cavern. Lyra tried to see what she was looking at, but only caught a glimpse of something blue and red before she had to continue on.

Mirage led her on a twisting path through the hive, and while Lyra was a bit nervous of the changelings they passed, those changelings seemed just as nervous of Mirage.

Finally, they reached a pair of ornate double doors, which Mirage immediately barged through. "Mum!" she yelled. "I found Lyra in the forest under a changeling sleeping spell. I think we have that excuse you were looking for to go after Chrysalis."

"Lyra?" came a much lower voice. "Isn't she Trance's -"

"Yep," Mirage interrupted. "I feel sorry for the poor guy."

Now that they had entered the room properly, Lyra could see a much larger changeling queen, about the size of Chrysalis but without the holes, sitting on a large green throne. Then Mirage's words registered. "Sorry for him? What about Bon Bon?"

Mirage laughed at this. "He'll fool her for about five seconds before she hammers him."

As if on cue, the doors slammed open and two changelings entered. One, with an extremely angry look on its face, was holding up the other in its magic.

"Queen Imago!" the walking one shouted. "This pile of dragon dung left Lyra unconscious in the forest and now she's missing! We have to find her!"

The queen, Imago apparently, sighed. "Relax, Trance."

"Relax?! How am I supposed to relax when Lyra's missing? And don't call me Trance, you know I don't use that name any more."

"Relax, because Mirage already found her."

"But she's... Oh." At that moment, the changeling's eyes landed on Lyra standing behind Mirage. "I'll... just... take this guy to the dungeon. Yes, the dungeon. Bye!" The changeling left at a gallop.

Lyra stood there with her mouth open. "Uhh, what just happened?"

The Hunt

"Sorry about that, Applebloom. Rainbow Dash thought that one of the Crusaders was replaced by a changeling."

"That's crazy. We're not changelings."

Applejack's head whipped around.

"I know, Applebloom, but if this makes her feel that she and her friends are safe... This is the last time though." She turned away to leave. "Sorry Applejack, I'll tell Rainbow to back off on the changeling thing."

"Hold on, Twi. You might not've noticed anythin', but Ah sure did. Just let me ask two questions." Applejack walked forward. "Applebloom, are the Crusaders changelings?"

"No," Applebloom replied, irritation in her voice.

Applejack's eyebrow raised. "Are any of the Crusaders changelings?"

"No!"

The eyebrow came back down as she shook her head and walked over to Twilight, pulling her out of the room and shutting the door. "Ah've known her long enough to know when she's lyin', Twi, and that there was a whopper."

"What? But I already checked her for mind control and she came back clean."

"Well that may be so. It don't change the fact that she just lied about none of the Crusaders bein' changelings."

"But that means..." She paused. "Applejack, do you know where Scootaloo lives?"

Applejack thought for a moment. "Uh... Actually, no, Ah don't. She always comes over here and leaves on her scooter, and Ah never asked."

"We need to speak to Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Come on."

Lyra was confused. As Mirage led her out of the forest, her mind kept jumping back to the incident in the throne room. None of the changelings had been willing to explain why this 'Trance' was so protective of her, but a suspicion was growing in her mind.

The anger was too familiar. She remembered one time she had made a mess of Bon Bon's oven, and her marefriend had gone ballistic. Lyra had sworn to herself that she would never get her that mad again. Bon Bon could be terrifying. She hadn't felt that same fear of angering anypony before or since.

Until today.

When that changeling had marched in, it had taken very little effort to overlay that image with one of a raging Bon Bon.

Too little.

The burning rage, the wild hoof gestures, even the word choice. It all matched up.

She was almost certain. The question was what she was supposed to do next.

Twilight hammered on the door of Carousel Boutique. "Rarity? Rarity!"

"Whatever is the matter, Twilight?" She paused. "And Applejack?"

"IwenttocheckonApplebloomandshecamebackcleanbutApplejackcaughtherlyingaboutachangelingintheCrusadersandIknowitisn'tSweetieBellesinceIalreadycheckedherbutApplejackdoesn'tknowwhereScootaloolivesandneitherdoIsoweneedtoknowsoIcancheckherandseeifoursuspicionsaremmmph -"

A white hoof was inserted into Twilight's mouth at this point. "Would you care to explain Applejack?"

"Applebloom said that there weren't no changelings in the CMC, and Ah know her enough to know she lied. If it ain't her, and it ain't Sweetie Belle, then that leaves Scootaloo. But neither of us know where she lives so we can check."

"Oh. Oh dear. It appears that I may have made the same oversight. I have no idea where she lives, and if you're right, Sweetie Belle may be a little uncooperative."

"Then how are we meant to find her?" Applejack asked.

"May I suggest that you speak to Cheerilee? I'm sure that if you explain the situation she would allow you to check her at school tomorrow."

Given a reasonable course of action, Twilight calmed down a bit. Even if they couldn't find Scootaloo tonight, they knew where she would be tomorrow, so they could try then.

"Thanks, Rarity. I guess I was panicking over nothing again."

As Twilight and Applejack walked away, nopony noticed the open window above them. Sweetie Belle frowned. It sounded like they were onto Scootaloo. She would have to get up early and intercept her on the way to school. Quietly, she wound the alarm on her clock back by half an hour.

The next morning

Scootaloo flapped her wings as fast as she could and the scooter took off along the path leading from the Everfree into town.

She was just reaching top speed when a white unicorn jumped out of a bush in front of her.

She slammed on the brakes, coming to a halt just before impact. "Sweetie Belle? What are you doing?"

"They're onto you. Twilight and Applejack caught Applebloom lying last night. They know there's a changeling in the CMC and they know it's not Applebloom or me. They're planning to ambush you at school today."

"What?! What am I supposed to do now?"

"Head for the clubhouse, I'll find Applebloom and meet you there. Stay hidden. We don't want anypony to know we're there." She ran off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Scootaloo hopped off her scooter and moved behind the treeline, changing back into Mirage as she did so. She followed the edge of the forest around until she could see the clubhouse, before turning into a green earth pony for camouflage purposes, and galloping out of the forest and up the ramp.

She closed the door, and this time made sure that the curtains were shut before resuming her Scootaloo form.

Ten minutes later, the door burst open and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle fell through it. "We don't have much time!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "Applejack saw us running away! Once she finds her friends they'll all be looking for us!"

"Hunger rot!" Scootaloo cursed. "We can keep moving until they spot us, or stay here and try to hold them off, I'll leave the choice to you two."

"Let's stay," suggested Applebloom. "At least here we have the higher ground. If we keep moving we don't know what we'll get on our side."

"Agreed," said Sweetie Belle.

"Fine, we need defences then. Applebloom, you cut off the ramp. Sweetie, see what we have in here to work with. I'll change and prepare some changeling defensive magic."

"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash called from above, "we've got trouble. Meet at the school."

"Okie dokie lokie." The pink mare bounced off towards the school.

"Hello?" Fluttershy asked as she opened the door. "Oh, hello Rainbow. How are you today?"

"Not good, we're almost certain that Scootaloo's a changeling and the other Crusaders ran off to help her. We need everypony to look for them, meet at the school." Rainbow disappeared in a multicoloured blur.

"Oh my."

Twilight stood, surrounded by her five best friends and her number one assistant. "So, here's what we know so far.

"Yesterday, Dash spotted a flash of green light in the Crusaders' clubhouse, and alerted me to a possible changeling threat. I admit, given Rainbow's behaviour over the last few days, that I didn't take it very seriously.

"Still, I checked over Sweetie Belle, and found nothing, before heading over to check on Applebloom. I was just about to clear her as well when Applejack told me she was lying. No magical influence, but she did know that one of the Crusaders was a changeling.

"Having ruled out the other two, we realised that nopony knew where Scootaloo lived. We planned to find her at school today, but we think Sweetie Belle overheard us, since she disappeared early this morning, and was spotted running away from the school with Applebloom in tow. We think Sweetie Belle stopped Scootaloo from getting to school, and now the Crusaders have holed up somewhere they feel safe, possibly the clubhouse.

"We are going to head over there, and if they aren't there, we will split into two groups and search for them.

"Any questions?" Nopony spoke. "OK, then. Let's go."

Stalemate

Applebloom peeked through the curtains. "They're coming! Get ready."

The three of them rushed into their agreed battle formation (Applebloom at the door with a thrown together catapult and some old rotten apples they found under the table, Sweetie keeping watch at the window, and Mirage at the back of the tree house, using her spells.

An amplified version of Twilight's voice came through the walls. "Scootaloo, we know you're in there, and we know you're a changeling. Come out quietly and nopony has to get hurt."

Applebloom opened the door slightly and launched an apple. A squelching sound could be heard, followed by a scream. "Ew, ew, ew. Get it off, get it off!"

Twilight's voice returned. "Mature. You have a minute to come out, or we're coming in. We took down a massive group of changelings in Canterlot, so one on its own shouldn't take us long."

Mirage finally responded. "Good luck with that!" she called. "Chrysalis' drones were a bunch of starving pansies who couldn't understand friendship if it bit them on the flank. I have ten years of training in changeling magic, royal blood, and a pair of friends who love me for who I am. In tactical terms, an unlimited power supply.

"That means I can do this..." A sphere of green light formed around the clubhouse. "For as long as I want. I don't want to hurt anypony, Twilight. I just want to be allowed to live my life, and let everypony else live theirs."

Applejack sidled up to Twilight. "Uh, Twi? Did she just say royal blood?"

Twilight groaned. "Unfortunately."

Applejack looked at the green barrier. "Think she can maintain it?"

"If she's even half as strong as Chrysalis, then yes. Easily."

"Think she's tellin' the truth about not wantin' trouble?"

"I don't know, Applejack. She didn't have the Crusaders mind controlled, which means they're following her out of personal loyalty. If she wanted to cause trouble, I doubt they would stand by her like this."

"So, what do we do now?"

Twilight sighed. "If she's telling the truth, and she really doesn't want to hurt anypony, she might be willing to negotiate." She looked back up at the tree house and reactivated the amplification spell. "If you want to talk peacefully, step out onto the balcony. You can keep the shield up if you want, but I'd like to see who I'm talking with."

There was silence for a moment.

Slowly the door opened, and out stepped Applebloom. Sweetie Belle quickly followed, and behind her was the being they assumed to be Scootaloo. The comparison to Chrysalis was unnerving.

This changeling had none of the holes which had covered Chrysalis and her army, making her just as imposing, despite her smaller stature.

The changeling spoke in a voice similar to Scootaloo's, but with the same buzzing undertone as Chrysalis had. "You want to talk. Let's talk."

"Scootaloo -" Twilight started before being interrupted.

"Mirage. My name is Princess Mirage."

"Princess? Then your mother is -"

"Queen Imago of Everfree Hive."

"Who?"

Mirage sighed, "Another queen, duh."

"How are you related to Chrysalis?"

Mirage stared at her. "I'm not.

"Don't lump all changelings together just because one queen went mad with power. Chrysalis only ruled about a tenth of us, the rest of us think she was insane. Claiming that all changelings agree with Chrysalis is like us suggesting that all ponies think eternal night would be a great idea."

Several eyes widened with that comment.

"So, if you want to base your opinions on us on our version of Nightmare Moon, go right ahead. I'll stay right here until my mother sends someling to rescue me." She sat down for emphasis.

Twilight looked at Applejack. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"Ah dunno, Twi. Ah wanna believe her, but changelings are natural born liars."

She looked up at the changeling sitting on the balcony. "Mirage," she called. "If you don't want trouble, why all this?"

"You expect me to just let you arrest me when I haven't done anything? You wish. I've heard the way ponies have talked about changelings this past week, and I know that there's no way in Tartarus I'd get a fair trial. So no, I won't let you arrest me. I'm staying right here."

Twilight couldn't deny Mirage's words. Ponies everywhere were terrified of changelings, simply because they could be anypony. Even an innocent changeling would be condemned by an Equestrian court at the moment.

"What do you want, Mirage?"

"You obviously don't have the authority to decide not to arrest me; I am a changeling after all. I want to speak to somepony who does."

Applebloom was seen to jump up and whisper in Mirage's ear. The changeling laughed before continuing. "We also want three bags of Bon Bon's best bon bons, two packs of sugar-coated daisies, four of chocolate swirls since I don't like the daisies and three bags of deluxe toffees."

Twilight sighed yet again. This was going to be a long day.

Applebloom looked at Mirage curiously. "Why didn't you ask for strawberry delights?"

The changeling smirked. "You'll see. One way or another, we'll be out of here sooner, rather than later."

Lyra looked at Bon Bon suspiciously. The confectioner was behaving as she always did. Bubbly and cheerful, and just a little bit flirtatious when nopony was around, she was Bon Bon through and through.

Or was she?

Was the Bon Bon she knew just a mask? If she was the changeling from last night, she had done an incredible job of hiding the truth.

But other details suddenly made sense. Bon Bon had claimed that her parents died when she was young, but she never spoke of an orphanage or of foster parents. Lyra had written it off as not wanting to talk about a bad experience, but now she wondered if it was just conservation of detail. The less she said, the less likely she would be caught in a lie.

Lyra was just making the decision to test her suspicion when Pinkie Pie appeared from behind one of the sweet stands. She hadn't seen Pinkie come in, but given that this was a mare who broke all known laws of physics and magic on a regular basis, that didn't mean much.

"Hi Bon Bon!"

Bon Bon smiled. "Hi, Pinkie. What can I get you today?"

"I need lots of packs of sweets. Three of deluxe toffees and premium bon bons, two of sugared daisies and four of chocolate swirls."

Lyra knew Bon Bon better than anypony, which was why she noticed the slight change in her expression. It wasn't much, just a minor narrowing of her eyes which meant she was suddenly taking this conversation seriously.

"OK, Pinkie." She started pulling boxes of sweets out from under the counter. "How's your day going, anyway?"

"Great, but it got a little scary for a bit."

"How so?"

"Oh, Scootaloo's a changeling princess and all three Crusaders have sealed themselves in the clubhouse."

"What?!" Bon Bon shouted, but Lyra was no longer listening. She thought back to the previous night, and had to admit that it added up. Mirage had told her that she spent most of her time in Ponyville, and several of her mannerisms had been vaguely familiar. Now that she had a specific pony to compare with, it made sense. She was certain that Mirage was the changeling they had cornered.

Now she just had to decide how she felt about that. So lost in thought was she, that she hardly noticed Bon Bon close up the shop and run upstairs.

Dear Princess Celestia,

You may remember, from previous letters, a young filly named Scootaloo, a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and one of the flower fillies at Cadence's wedding.

It was last night discovered that 'Scootaloo' is, and in fact always has been, a changeling, but when we prepared to confront her about this, the other Crusaders alerted her to our intentions. All three of them are now sealed in their tree house behind a powerful shield.

Scootaloo, or Princess Mirage as she calls herself claims to be the daughter of another queen, unrelated to Chrysalis. She also claimed that Chrysalis only ruled approximately one tenth of the total population of changelings, and that most others believe she went mad with power and will step in if she acts out again.

Princess Mirage wishes to speak with somepony who can overturn the order for her arrest for being a changeling. I do not have such an authority, so I request that you please send somepony who does.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

Queen Imago,

Your daughter has been exposed. She and her friends are at the clubhouse with the Elements surrounding them.

Bon Bon

Negotiations

Imago and Celestia stood for a few seconds, each sizing the other up.

For Celestia, what stood out was the sheer presence Imago seemed to exude. The queen was clearly and visibly much healthier than Chrysalis.

For Imago, it was the raw power. It was clear now how Chrysalis had beaten her: she had been holding back to avoid collateral damage. The power behind the emotions which she could detect indicated that even a small fraction of Celestia's power would be enough to raze the Canterhorn to the ground. How Chrysalis honestly thought she had defeated Celestia's full power she had no clue. It only served to demonstrate how delusional the crazy bitch was.

Celestia started things off. "I am Princess Celestia, Bringer of Dawn, Guide of the Sun, Guardian of the Day, and one of the ruling diarchs of Equestria. And you are?"

"Queen Imago, queen of the Everfree Hive, and mother of Princess Mirage, also known as Scootaloo. I believe we have a lot to discuss."

Celestia spoke carefully and formally as she replied. "Indeed. I have spoken to Princess Mirage, and I admit that my introduction to your race may have been a poor example. I would like to think that if it is truly a misunderstanding, that I would be able to form peaceful relations with at least some of your species.

"I should also warn you that I am extending you a level of trust, based on your daughter's actions. Should that trust be breached..."

"Understood," the queen smirked. "Given the power I sensed from your emotions alone, I can tell who would win in a fight, and it wouldn't be me. Especially since there is far less to break around here than in Canterlot."

Celestia matched the queen's smirk with one of her own. The queen's message was understood, loud and clear.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat on the balcony of the clubhouse, looking down at the two leaders talking.

"Hey, Scoots," Applebloom whispered. "How'd yer ma know to come here?"

"The sweets order," Mirage replied. "It's an emergency code. It means that something important is happening and the queen needs to hear about it."

Sweetie looked confused. "But how? The only one guaranteed to hear it is Bon Bon... Wait. Bon Bon's a changeling?"

"Er... Forget I said that."

"But-"

"Forget it. Trance would kill me if he found out about this, princess or not. Revealing myself is one thing, but revealing someling else? Big no no."

Lyra marched down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. She had made her decision. Mirage had saved her, and she hadn't noticed anything bad happening. A part of her still suspected an ulterior motive, but if that was the case she could get Twilight Sparkle to check for mental influence. Hay, with what she was about to do, Twilight would probably check her anyway.

As she followed the side road around the back, next to the Everfree, she steeled herself. She was about to make a case for a changeling against six of the most powerful ponies in the world.

As the tree house came into view, she could clearly see an acid green sphere around it, along with several ponies surrounding it.

Despite her mental preparation, her mouth grew dry as she saw not only the Elements, but also the queen she had met last night and Princess Celestia.

Lyra was not usually one to mince her words, she said what she meant, but the idea of getting into a possible argument with those powerhouses around... Maybe she should just-

"Hi Lyra! What are you doing all this way out of town?"

She mentally slapped herself. Of course Pinkie would notice her.

"I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. I had a... situation involving changelings last night, and I think... I think Scootaloo was the one who saved me. Actually, forget that, if that queen's here, I know it was Scootaloo."

Pinkie gasped, hanging impossibly long in the air. "How did you know she was in trouble? Do you have a Pinkie sense too? Does it have a friend in trouble twitch? Tell me, tell me!"

"What? No. I just heard you telling Bon Bon."

Pinkie's bouncing calmed down slightly, and she looked a little (but not very) embarrassed. "Oh." She perked up again almost instantly. "Follow me, then. We don't bite."

Nervously, Lyra followed the bouncing mare.

"As I believe my daughter has already explained, feeding on love isn't inherently dangerous. It's only when love is forced that it becomes so. While I admit that Chrysalis is far from the only queen to use replacements, most do it temporarily, and most of the queens who do, train their drones to be good enough actors that magic is not necessary within the short time their act lasts.

"I, on the other hoof, consider myself an expert at love farming. My drones take on an invented form, and work hard to make sure that form becomes well liked in the town. Platonic love, while weaker than romantic, is still easily enough to feed the hive when coming from so many sources. Again, no damage done, and you get several extra productive citizens in the process."

Celestia nodded, "I see. And what of romantic attachments?"

"If any of my drones end up in relationships, that's their business. Likewise, if they wish to tell their partner the truth, that is their decision, although I can overrule that if I believe it would lead to too great a security risk. I generally insist they be together for at least a year before taking that step, but not always. I refuse to step in regarding my daughter, though. She needs to make her own mistakes and learn through them. Incidentally, I do not consider telling the Crusaders to be a mistake, despite its leading to this situation.

"Princess?!" Twilight's voice shouted. "Lyra has some information you need to know."

"Excuse me for a moment, Your Majesty, I doubt that this will take long."

"Of course." Imago smiled as Celestia walked away. It seemed that some good might have come from Chrysalis' drone's transgression after all.

After a couple of minutes, Celestia returned. "I understand that you have a member of Chrysalis' army in your custody."

"That is correct, he attempted to replace a young mare in town yesterday. Ponyville is considered by the queens to be my territory, so I cannot allow other hives to get away with such actions in an area that I claim."

"And what is his punishment to be?"

"I have not decided yet. I have to see this from as many points of view as possible, and I could see that he was starving. I am yet to get over my anger towards Chrysalis for putting my daughter in danger, and I received the message about my daughter being surrounded before I was able to come to a reasonable decision."

Celestia's head rose as she thought of an idea. "Would you consider giving him to me to deal with? I understand that you need to police your own kind, but since it was one of my citizens he put at risk, I could argue the greater claim."

The queen was silent for a moment. "I believe I can make that work, although some of the other queens may not be happy about it. Chrysalis in particular if it gets back to her. I believe we have a deal. Assuming, of course, that my daughter is free to go."

"I can agree to that." Celestia reached forward and shook Imago's hoof. "I will do what I can to change the order for the arrest of all changelings, although I cannot guarantee that this decision will be popular, and I fear that at least some of the guard will ignore it. I will certainly make sure that any arrested changelings are given as fair a trial as possible, even if I have to preside over them myself." A thought struck her. "Is there an easy way to tell between hives quickly?"

"The back plate," Imago answered immediately. "If a changeling with a dark blue one claims not to follow Chrysalis they're lying. All of my hive have the same bright orange as mine. It's one of the few limitations we have on our forms, that we can't appear as a different changeling."

Celestia thought for a moment. "Would it be possible for me to get a list of which colours match up with each hive?"

"It would. Should I just tell you now, or would you like it written down?"

"Written down, please. In fact," she raised her voice, "Twilight, could you and Spike come over here, please. Oh, and you may stand down, I am convinced for now that Mirage is no threat."

While Spike was taking down the list of queens and their colours, Twilight watched as Applejack and Rarity hugged their sisters, now out of the shield they had been helping to generate. Mirage, now back in her Scootaloo form, stood off to the side, seemingly unsure what she should be doing.

Seeing an opportunity, Twilight pounced. "So, Princess Mirage -" she started, only to be interrupted.

"Scootaloo. Rule one of dealing with changelings is that the name used should match the form they're in, at least with invented forms."

"Scootaloo, then. You said that if this worked out, you'd tell me how you got the sweets through the shield."

Scootaloo groaned. "Trust you to get all egghead about this as soon as the problem's solved. I suppose I can tell you."

"Great! So how does it work?"

"Changeling magic is pure love energy, forced into a specific shape. When it's not contained in our bodies, it slowly decays, which is what causes the green glow. In most cases, that means nothing, it works like unicorn magic. The difference comes when spells interact.

"Unicorn spells have hard interactions. Conflicting spells will continue to fight each other, meaning that you can't levitate something through a force field. For changelings, it's slightly different, depending on conditions.

"If two changeling spells powered by exactly the same love source interact, then the love energy gathered at the contact point doesn't know what it should be, so it tries to compromise. The result is that one or both of the spells in the area is significantly weakened. The only control we have is that we can alter which spell takes priority, and by what degree. I simply put the telekinetic spell at a much higher priority than the shield, allowing it to pass through without weakening the shield anywhere else."

Twilight had been steadily writing notes since she had started her explanation, but she now had a question. "You said the same love source, not the same changeling? What do you mean by that?"

Scootaloo smiled, "I think an example is best for that question.

"Say that there was a fourth member of the Crusaders, also a changeling, and also feeding off Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The relationship that this changeling had with them would be slightly different to mine, so the love they received would also be different. If we then fought, our spells would behave like unicorn magic.

"On the other hoof, if this changeling and I were both playing the part of Scootaloo, and nopony could tell which of us was doing it at any time, both of us would be absorbing their love for Scootaloo, so it would be the same. If one of us was even slightly more powerful than the other, if we were to fight, then their offensive spells would take priority over their opponent's defensive spells, although they could still be severely weakened." She laughed. "Of course, as a royal, I would win such a fight easily unless it was against another royal."

Scootaloo looked away for a moment. "I think Celestia's done with mum for now, I'll need to head home to discuss recent events."

"Oh." Twilight looked like somepony had taken away her favourite toy. "We can talk about this again, right?"

A long sigh came from Scootaloo. "Fine."

Author's Note

It should be obvious, but I would like to make it clear that the outcome of the previous episode (Crusaders of the Lost Mark) is not canon to this story. I have a direction I'm aiming for, and while I thought it was a great episode, it simply doesn't fit with my plans. Fortunately, that's what the AU tag is for.

Secondly, I am currently compiling a list of queens and their colours, for ease of reference later. I currently have ten names (Imago, Chrysalis, Illusion, Carapace, Mandible, Phantasm, Spectre, Lepidoptera, Gemini, and Doppelganger), but I'm starting to run out of ideas for names, and I would rather not be stuck with boring ones like Shift.

If anyone has any good name ideas, please post a comment.

Return

It was supposed to be a routine patrol. Four of Queen Lepidoptera's drones had been sent to check around her territory for any unwanted guests. They had been warned about the wild magic outbursts, but this one was far stronger and more widespread than any previously reported.

The four of them ran for their lives as bolts of magic slammed into everything around them. Diving into a nearby cave, they hid behind rocks and peeked over the tops.

The affected area slowly shrank, but the magic only gained in strength. A critical point seemed to be reached, and the area collapsed rapidly in some areas, leaving jagged spikes of wild magic reaching into the sky.

As the shapes became more intricate and detailed, it became clear that they were actually angular spires, tall and thin.

Suddenly, a wave of white light spread from the centre. As it passed, the magical outlines solidified, becoming structures hewn out of many-coloured crystal.

As the light faded, four white-backed changelings with abnormally large wings stared in shock. All of them recognised what they had just seen.

The ancient empire of legend had returned.

Two hours later, Queen Imago received a message from Queen Lepidoptera.

I accept.

There was no love coming from the city. It was clear that despite its return, something was still missing. Lepidoptera didn't know what it was, but the city felt hollow, as though a vital part of itself had been long since lost.

The problem was that she had no idea what to do about it. The ponies of Equestria didn't like changelings, so even trying to help could be misinterpreted as an act of war.

Stranger than the broken city was the emotional aura which was building up in the mountains above the city. She had encountered it personally, and it was filled with hatred and malice.

Worse, it seemed to be sapient, if not particularly intelligent. If she had to guess, this was what was left of the ancient tyrant. A cloud of negative emotions and dark magic, driven only by its desire to relive past glories and retake the Crystal Empire.

Attempting to fight it was useless. Spells formed from love would be annihilated by the loathing in the cloud, or simply avoided, and physical attacks passed straight through his insubstantial form.

Not to mention that staying too close to that many violently negative emotions would be toxic for a changeling. If he gained too much power, he would start poisoning the area itself.

Lepidoptera wasn't sure how she would prevent that, but it had to be done.

Two days later

Lyra had intended to confront Bon Bon today, but was starting to think twice about her decision.

For one thing, the Elements had been called out of town by Princess Celestia for an unknown period of time. For another, she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the truth. She really didn't want to damage her relationship with Bon Bon. They had been through a lot together, enough that it would hurt if the possible illusion was to shatter.

On the other hand, wasn't it already shattered? Her suspicions weren't without evidence, and while she wasn't thrilled by the idea that Bon Bon had been lying to her, she had been able to be around her without any major problems.

Nopony had noticed any changes in Lyra's own behaviour, and Twilight Sparkle herself had checked her personally when she spoke to the princess about Mirage, so it was safe to assume that Bon Bon wasn't using magic to control her, but that didn't change the fact that she had possibly, or maybe even probably, lied.

A week ago, she would never have believed it. The idea that all of the lunches they’d shared, the long and insightful conversations they’d had, and the evenings spent sitting on benches while watching the sun go down could all be based on a lie about who Bon Bon was would have been inconceivable.

Now, though, her suspicions grew every time they spoke. She would get suspicious, Bon Bon would get nervous, and the two states of mind seemed to feed off each other.

Even through all of that, she knew that she still loved Bon Bon. She simply couldn't believe it was possible to fake everything. She had seen it between Scootaloo and Mirage, certain similarities which, once attention was drawn to them, were impossible to miss. In fact, it was the similar rage between Trance and Bon Bon which had alerted her to the possibility, and if that was real, maybe most of Bon Bon's personality was. A simple lie only about her name and her species wouldn't be so bad.

Still, if this went wrong, she wanted the Elements nearby. She would confront Bon Bon the day they returned.

Queen Lepidoptera looked down at the city, as well as the huge black shadow, radiating dark magic in enormous quantities, which was putting it under siege. The ponies had been quick to respond to the threat, going as far as to send one of their three alicorns to defend the city, but it wouldn't be enough.

The dark king hadn't rested once since he appeared, four days ago now. An alicorn, while resilient, still needed to sleep. The shield was already flickering occasionally. It was simple logic that if this went on too long, the empire would fall.

If that happened, she would step in somehow. Her kind may have been feared by ponies, but letting that abomination poison her territory was not something she was willing to accept. If Sombra took the empire, she would lead her hive to war, dragging Imago with her.

Still, yesterday's appearance of the Elements had certainly made something happen. It appeared that there was some sort of festival going on today.

Unfortunately, it was clear that some of the dark magic had gained a foothold in the outskirts, and was spreading quickly.

The magic seemed to be starting to take a more solid form when something fell from the highest tower of the palace. Even from the distance she was at, she could see a pink blur that had to be the princess flying to intercept whatever it was.

Seconds later, the streets of the city lit up. In the visual spectrum, it was a sight which had to be seen to be believed, and Lepidoptera certainly acknowledged the beauty which it held. In her emotional sense however, it was something else. The crystal city blazed with love of all kinds, transforming it (in a changeling's eyes, at least) from a city into an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Absorbing even a small amount did nothing to dent the huge supply, which was rapidly spreading across the entire mountain range, if not as strongly as in the city.

Lepidoptera smiled. She always knew the legends were true.

Imago let out a sigh of relief as she heard that Twilight and her friends had been successful. The way Lepidoptera was talking, it had looked for a while as though she would drag her into a war against an extremely powerful warlord in an area which would literally be poison to changelings.

It made sense. Her territory would have included the poisoned area, so it could be argued that Sombra would have inadvertently attacked her, but that didn't mean Imago would have liked it.

The agreement to the one sided alliance still worked well for Lepidoptera, even after Sombra's defeat. Her land was now highly prized by all of the hives. It was entirely possible that someling could try to make a power play to seize it for herself.

She half expected to receive a message saying that it had happened at any moment.

She had no idea how soon she would be proven correct.

Author's Note

I'm not particularly happy with how this chapter turned out. It feels awkward and clunky to me for some reason. I tried a couple of ideas for fixing it, and I think I improved it a bit (the very first draft felt rushed because I didn't have the Lyra scene to break up the 'action').

I think the main problem was that I was attempting to summarise an episode from a perspective which wouldn't see much of it, at least not in detail. I have no intention of following any of canon from now on, so this should, hopefully, not happen again.

As promised, here is the list of queens, colours and the largest settlement claimed.

Imago - Bright Orange - Ponyville
Chrysalis - Dark Blue - Manehattan (W)
Illusion - Sky Blue - Appleloosa
Carapace - Dark Purple - Manehattan (SE)
Mandible - Bright Red - Canterlot (E)
Phantasm - Lavender - Canterlot (W)
Spectre - Bright Green - Baltimare
Lepidoptera - White (Large, butterfly-like wings) - Vanhoover*, (Crystal Empire)
Chitin - Dark Brown - Las Pegasus
Gemini - Yellow - Dodge Junction
Doppelganger - Maroon - Seaddle (N)
Ringer - Dark Green - Chickago (Griffons)
Polymorph - Light Brown - Seaddle (S)
Figment - Pink - Fillydelphia
Aurora - Pale Green - Trottingham
Reflection - Dark Orange - Cloudsdale
Hornet - Gold - Manehattan (NE)
Haze - Silver - Griffonstone (Not as in canon)
Shadow - Dark Grey - Minos (Minotaur Capital)
Hallucination - Pale Orange - Trotsborough

* Before return of Crystal Empire

Invitations

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay. I (mostly) started writing this while on holiday, and several chapters were written on flights. Once the holiday had come to an end, I realised that I had written myself into a slight corner and also didn't have as much time on my hands. I spent the next few weeks busy and still trying to work out how to solve my problem, and trying to flow smoothly between the plot points I want in the next few chapters. I think I finally have something resembling what I want, so here it is.

This chapter takes place while the Mane 6 are in the Crystal Empire.

Invitations

The classroom fell silent as Scootaloo walked in. All eyes watched her closely as she calmly took her seat between Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The room tasted bitter to Scootaloo, filled with suspicion and fear. She could handle it for a while, but she would have to step outside at some point to clear her system.

Rumours had spread quickly through the town, and now pretty much everypony knew she was a changeling, although her status as royalty had been better hidden.

Slowly, whispers spread across the room, starting at the furthest points from her and moving gradually inwards. Those sitting closest remained silent. They might not have liked the idea that a changeling was in their class, but none of them wanted to provoke her either. On the other hoof, there was always one.

“What are you doing here?” came a sneering voice. “This is a school for ponies.”

The class fell silent again, wondering what would happen next, and making it easy to hear Silver Spoon’s whispered warning. “Are you crazy? She’s a changeling!”

Diamond Tiara just laughed. “Please, she can’t be that dangerous if she can’t even figure out how to fly in a form she chose for herself. Why else would she hang around with those losers?”

“Who?” Scootaloo asked. “The loyal friends who love me for who I am? Forgive me if I see that as a good thing.” She smirked, before adding one last comment. “And quite tasty too.”

“Ha! See!” Diamond practically shouted, looking at the other two. “She just thinks of you as food.”

“No she doesn’t! At least she gets something from us,” Applebloom shot back. “The only way a changeling could feed off you would be if they turned into a mirror.” She froze. “Scoots, can changelings do that?”

“Nah. I could probably manage a reflective pony, but it would look ridiculous.”

“No more ridiculous than you usually look, Scootaloser,” Diamond called. “In fact, you all look ridiculous, why don’t you just take them somewhere else and drain them so the rest of us don’t have to see their stupid blank flanks all day.”

Scootaloo stood up, eyes flickering with green light, but before she could say anything, a voice cut across the room.

“Diamond Tiara!” Cheerilee screeched from the doorway, looking livid. “I am well aware that your mother’s position on the school board makes you think you can’t be punished, but there is still a line, and you just crossed it. I have never heard such a disgraceful comment in my life.” Diamond Tiara’s ears flattened under the teacher’s glare.

“On top of that, I was asked by Twilight Sparkle, on behalf of Princess Celestia herself, to make sure Scootaloo was safe today, and I assure you that if the princess gets involved, your mother’s position and reputation will mean nothing. I can’t let this continue. You can spend your lunch hours for the next week in here with me.”

The entire class looked stunned at the normally mild teacher’s outburst. Cheerilee took a few deep breaths, visibly calming down, before speaking again, in a slightly strained voice. “Now, I hope you all have the homework I asked for on Friday.” After her previous display, everypony pulled out their homework as quickly as possible.

“So, I was thinking,” Scootaloo said as the Crusaders walked out of class. “I’ve been to both of your houses, but you’ve never seen where I live.”

“So?” asked Applebloom. “It’s not like you could’ve had us over without tellin’ us you were a changelin’.”

“Of course not, but now you know, that’s not a problem any more. So, what do you think? Wanna visit a changeling hive?”

“Isn’t it in the middle of the Everfree?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Is that safe?”

“Please, I’m a royal changeling. Since I don’t have to hide that anymore, there’s nothing in that forest that I can’t beat with the right shift.”

Applebloom stopped. “You can turn into something that can take on a dragon, but you can’t do a mirror?”

“Bigger is easier than smaller. I still need to be able to fit all my internal organs into whatever form I take, and I don’t have to worry about parts of my natural body sticking out of something big. If I go for something small, I have to be careful about how I rearrange everything, and I have to basically destroy the parts which would stick out. If I wasn’t a royal, I wouldn’t even be able to get this small, and I won’t be able to once I’m a queen either, too much size difference.”

“You’re starting to sound like Twilight,” teased Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo stopped and made gagging noises. “Hey! I’m going to be queen one day, I need to know this stuff. I’m not an egghead.”

Sweetie Belle smirked.

Princess Celestia groaned. Her day had seemed to be one long string of nobles demanding to know what she was thinking. Anti-changeling sentiment in Canterlot, and Equestria in general, was strong, and it wouldn’t surprise her if there were groups being set up to oppose them. With such a tenuous agreement in place with Queen Imago, such a thing could be a disaster. She had asked Imago to send a message to the other queens, stating that she didn’t hold them responsible for Chrysalis’ actions, but she didn’t expect any responses: changelings were naturally suspicious of anything that could be a trick.

Her worries about how Twilight and her friends were doing in the North did nothing to ease her nerves about the situation. She still didn’t fully trust Queen Imago, even if she had found her fairly likeable. Imago had clearly stated that most changelings were highly skilled at acting, presumably including herself and her daughter, leaving their personalities open to doubt. She was more inclined to trust Princess Mirage due to her long term connection to the Crusaders with no apparent ill effects, but she was still setting up some contingencies in case of a betrayal by either party.

As she left the throne room, she found Prince Blueblood waiting for her. She smiled. Blueblood had been one of the first through the doors this morning, ranting about changelings, which would normally have annoyed her immensely… if she hadn’t asked him to do it. Blueblood was her secret weapon against scheming nobles. He projected an image of being a pompous pain-in-the-flank, which made the ones who actually thought that way gravitate towards him. Any information gained would then be passed straight to her, allowing her to prepare arguments against their proposals which she could appear to have come up with on the spot.

“Blueblood. What have you learned?”

“I received invitations to no fewer than three house parties with the aim of setting up a group against changelings. I directed the second and third towards the first, so as to only have one group to watch instead of three, although I suspect it may split into two groups anyway.”

“Who were the three?”

“The first were Jet Set and Upper Crust,” Blueblood said. “As you know, they are two of the most vocal ponies of those I surround myself with, so it does not surprise me in the slightest that they would try organising such a group.” He shook his head. “Next came Crème de la Crème, which surprised me. She always had strong opinions, but hasn’t tended towards action in the past, although her son was injured in the attack, which could explain it. I expect that she will either follow the first group or not bother, given time to calm down.”

“And the third?” Celestia asked curiously.

“Emerald Shine. Not really unexpected, but I think she will be much easier to work with or around. Her well known hatred of Jet Set means she’s unlikely to join that group, leading me to believe that she will continue to form her own group. She’s always been swayed by results more than words, so if we can go a few months and show that this arrangement is working, her group will probably break up on its own without having done much. If anything she probably sees it as a precautionary measure, rather than any true belief that your agreement won’t work.”

“That’s not so bad,” Celestia said, after a moment of thought. “I knew there would be opposition when I went into this, but one possibly dangerous group and another one not so threatening is better than many unconnected threats. I’d like you to be my eyes and ears in Jet Set and Upper Crust’s group. Your public persona puts you closer to their circles, and they are the bigger threat as far as anypony can tell. Was there anything else that stood out to you?”

“At some point, somepony managed to slip a message into my pocket without my noticing. It reads, ‘Good acting, but your emotions betray you,’ and is signed, ‘P’. Given the content, I believe that one of the local queens arranged it, and the list you gave me would suggest Queen Phantasm was responsible. I believe she was testing whether it would reach you. She may attempt to establish full communications in the near future. Given the local attitude towards changelings, it would make tactical sense for her to open friendly talks with the local powers.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Assuming you are correct, that is good, albeit slightly disturbing, news. I was expecting the other queens to remain hidden, at least for a while, but if some line of communication can be opened, we may be able to control the situation better. It worries me that you were unaware of the message being passed, but it is not unexpected from such a secretive race, especially with magic and shapeshifting at their disposal. Just check regularly for new messages, this may become a more permanent arrangement. Is that everything?”

“For now. I will alert you if I find anything else, Princess.”

Blueblood walked off, reestablishing his public face, as Celestia pondered these new developments.

The Talk

It had taken some convincing, but Applejack and Rarity eventually agreed to let their sisters visit the hive, although they did insist on a few rules. Both of them would be checked over thoroughly by Twilight after the visit, and they would stay with Scootaloo/Mirage at all times. They would be home before bedtime too, despite their attempt to use weaponised cuteness to get a sleepover. That would not be happening for a long time yet. The visit was arranged to happen on the Thursday, two days after the Elements returned from the Crystal Empire, so as to allow some time to prepare.

Wednesday

Lyra walked slowly into her marefriend’s sweet shop. She had promised herself that today would be the day she faced Bon Bon, but she really didn’t want to. The illusion, damaged as it was, might not have been real, but it certainly felt good. If Trance and Bon Bon were one and the same, could they really go back to what they had before? She knew they could recover, but she was also sure that things would be different.

She walked up to the counter, where she could see Bon Bon looking for something underneath, and prepared to talk, despite her hooves straining to bolt. She wouldn’t let them win. She had to know.

“Bon Bon?” It came out at barely a whisper. She swallowed and tried again. “Bon Bon?” Still quiet, but at least it was audible this time. Bon Bon stopped rummaging and looked up.

“Hi Lyra,” she said cheerfully, before taking in the nervous posture, flattened ears, and the aura of determination mixed with doubt. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Lyra paused, trying to find the right words. “I need to know... I need to know if you’re a… a changeling.”

Bon Bon’s posture collapsed slightly, but before she could say anything, Lyra continued.

“If… If you say you’re not, I’ll… I’ll believe you, but… I have to know.”

If anything, that just made Bon Bon feel worse. Lyra had left her a way out, and even said she’d believe it, although the lie was obvious, even without her emotion sense. Lyra was asking the question, but she was already convinced. Denying it now would only hurt things further.

She stepped out from behind the counter and closed the door, flipping the sign from open to closed as she did so, before moving to the stairs and beckoning Lyra up. They walked in silence, neither of them trusting herself to speak, until they reached the bedroom, which, while technically Bon Bon’s, they had both spent many nights in.

Bon Bon walked into the middle of the room.

What started as a tiny flicker of green flame quickly grew to the size of a small bonfire as the disguise burned away, before vanishing as fast as it had appeared.

Lyra’s legs refused to hold her weight any longer as she collapsed onto her barrel.

Bon Bon/Trance watched sadly as Lyra pulled herself together, feeling conflicted. Her/his heart told her/him to go and help, while her/his brain said that it would only make things worse. On top of that, her/his instincts were screaming at her/him to put on a disguise and hide.

After what was probably only a minute or so, but felt like hours, Lyra finally spoke. “Trance? Right?”

“I never use that name any more. I would prefer to be called Bon Bon, but most changelings would want you to use their real name when in their natural form, and everyling at the hive still insists on calling me that. I’m Bon Bon. That’s all I ever want to be.”

“OK. Bon Bon, then. You could have told me, you know.”

“Could I? If I had come to you like this, claiming that I was Bon Bon, can you honestly say you would have believed me?”

Lyra hesitated. “I… maybe?”

Bon Bon gave her a look.

“OK, no. You’re right, but that doesn’t change the fact that our whole relationship has been based on a lie. Nothing you told me about your past was real. I know almost nothing about you. So tell me Bon Bon, who are you?”

The changeling sighed. “This might take a while.”

“I’ve got time,” Lyra replied.

Bon Bon finally resigned herself to telling her life story.

“I suppose I should start by saying that I never lied about my birthday. My age, yes, but not the day of the year. How it happened, though, well that’s a bit different. Changelings are exactly as we appear: we have some pony traits, and some insect ones, but the life cycle is far along the scale towards the insect end, although there are a few differences.

“Insect queens tend to mate with their children each year, but changeling queens don’t, mainly because our genetics are unstable enough without trying to mix two different sets. Shapeshifting is our greatest strength, but also our greatest weakness. It allows us to hide and defend ourselves, but it forces our bodies to rely on our magic to remain stable. Of course, that instability leads to significant mutations in every generation, and means that simpler reproductive systems work better. Sadly, it also means that only one in ten eggs laid ever reaches adulthood.”

“What?!” shouted Lyra. “But that’s hardly any.”

“It’s just a fact of life for us. Three in ten don’t even hatch, and another two won’t last a year. The rest tend to die in the chrysalis at age five or so. If you survive that, you’re an adult. So much simpler than the pony system of choosing an arbitrary number. If you look like an adult, you’re an adult.”

“Wait,” Lyra said. “What do you look like as foals?”

Bon Bon looked uncomfortable. “Think about insects for a moment, and ask yourself if you really want an answer to that question.”

“Insects? Don’t they… oh. Did not need that image.”

“Moving swiftly on, and skipping straight over the portion of my life you really don’t want to think about, I joined the hive’s guard. I was good at fighting, and I rose quickly. I was promoted to the queen’s personal guard within a couple of years. Changeling warriors see a bit more action than pony ones, since hives are always squabbling for territory, so I was involved in a few fights, and I really did enjoy it, but there were a few things which didn’t bother me initially, but started to get to me later on. My reliance on others was the big one.

“Being a guard meant that there really weren’t many situations where I would have love directed towards me, so I had to rely on second hand love from dedicated collectors. It was plenty to keep me healthy, and most guards are fine with that arrangement, but I began to realise I wanted the real thing. Every changeling is taught how to blend in with ponies, so changing jobs to become a collector wasn’t much of an issue, although I did have to keep a lid on some of the more violent tendencies which were encouraged in the guard. I made a couple of early mistakes, but I learned quickly, as all changelings do.

“It was my fourth or fifth time in town when I first met you, although you wouldn’t have recognised me. I was the stallion who tried to cheer you up when you were trying to work out why your date with Thunderlane hadn’t worked out. I tried several male disguises, actually, but you just didn’t seem interested. I had actually given up when I tried the form you think of as me. I thought you might just need a friend to help you work out what was wrong, and I was willing to do that. I figured it would help me set up an identity in town. I was quite surprised to sense the early signs of attraction. I probably figured it out before you realised yourself.

“And, I suppose, you know the rest from there. I opened my sweet shop after spending some time learning to bake, and we started hanging out, before slowly moving into dating. I’ve kept an eye out for the other collectors in town, but the only truly threatening things which happen around here are either dealt with before they reach town, or need to be dealt with by somepony more powerful than me. Between the Apple family and Fluttershy, not much makes it out of the forest, and the stuff that isn’t from there usually needs the Elements.

“So that’s basically it. I became a guard, and decided it wasn’t for me, before going looking for love and meeting you. There’s not really that much to tell. Hive life can be quite boring.”

Lyra spent a few seconds absorbing what she’d learned, before looking up with a smirk. “Hey! Were you that complete flank with the terrible pick up lines?”

Bon Bon blushed a bright green and looked embarrassed. “Um… maybe?”

Author's Note

Lots of exposition in this chapter. I needed to get it in somewhere, and this felt like the most natural place.

Next up: CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHANGELING HIVE EXPLORERS, YAY!

Visit

Sweetie Belle looked nervously at the entrance to the forest. “Are you sure the path is safe?”

“Relax,” replied Scootaloo. “Like I said, I can take on anything in here.” She shifted into her true form, and started walking. “Come on.”

The other two hesitated for a second before following her in.

For a few minutes, they walked in silence, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle not wanting to catch the attention of anything dangerous, and Mirage using her taller stature to scan the path ahead.

Suddenly, she stopped holding out a hoof to stop the other two. A short way down the path, a large clump of bushes shook with the passage of some creature. The two ponies stepped back as Mirage lowered her horn and began to charge it with magic.

The bushes parted to reveal a single zebra. Mirage relaxed again, while Zecora’s eyes widened, and then quickly narrowed.

“I confess I did not expect to see a false one in the Everfree.” Her eyes drifted towards the pair of fillies behind Mirage. “Come here, fair Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, before this one leads you to your doom.”

“Hey!” shouted Mirage. “I would never hurt my friends.”

Zecora looked angrily at her. “Your kind came to my land in days long back, they thought we would make an easy snack. We quickly rooted out their spies, seeing through their transparent lies. When their secrets came to light, each of them did try to fight. Zebras in battle don’t hang about, we fought back hard and drove them out. You claim your companions are your friends, prove you aren’t just using them for your own ends.”

“How am I meant to do that?”

Zecora stopped and thought for a moment, before opening her saddlebag and pulling out a small pouch. “This powder can interrupt your mental magic, if they run away, then that would be tragic.” She stepped forward and blew a bright red dust over the group.

Nothing happened.

“It seems you were telling at least part of the truth, their lack of fear is a partial proof, but that does not rule out everything your race tries, for children are easily controlled with lies.”

“I admit I lied to them for months, but I couldn’t keep doing that, especially after that mad queen ruined the wedding.” Mirage sighed. “Nothing I say or do will be enough to convince you, will it?”

“I suppose that if I must, I should extend you a measure of trust. To live in this forest one must be protected, the monsters who come near my home are simply rejected. So follow me to my hut, though it is no palace, its protections will block those with hearts full of malice.”

“Why bother, it's not like I haven't been there before.”

Zecora frowned. “If that is the truth and you aren't telling lies, then what was the nature of your disguise?”

Mirage quickly turned back into Scootaloo.

“This is a surprise, as from what I recall, you should not be able to get that small.”

“It’s pretty rare, but I’m just that awesome.” She glanced back at Sweetie Belle, who looked like she was about to ask a question, and subtly shook her head.

Zecora’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Whether or not you are Scootaloo, it will still take time before I trust you. I have already told you what you must try, or to these two you must say goodbye.”

Scootaloo sighed. “Fine, let’s just get it over with.”

Thirty minutes later, after a brief detour to Zecora’s, where they had confirmed that her protections would indeed let Scootaloo in, the two ponies and a changeling arrived at the hive. Applebloom hated being lifted up to the entrance in Mirage’s magic, but that was mainly because earth pony magic tended to act almost like a sixth sense when in contact with the ground, which often made flight disconcerting.

As they rounded the corner to see the hive, both ponies’ jaws dropped. “Whoa…”

“It's pretty,” said Sweetie Belle. “What's it made of?”

“Spent love,” replied Mirage. “Can't get any more magic out of it, but leave it for a while and it gets really strong. Holds active love quite well, too.”

The three of them walked towards the entrance. “How’d y’all find such a big cave?” asked Applebloom.

“We dug it out ourselves. Changelings are great diggers. Almost any changeling could match the top rock farmers in Equestria.”

As they crossed the threshold of the hive, Applebloom stopped for a moment, eyes wide. She glanced briefly down at her hooves, before continuing.

Mirage spoke up again. “The area near the entrance is where most of the guards live, so they can respond quickly if we get attacked. There are also a few living at the top of that ramp, to trigger the hive’s defences. There’s a massive ball of spent love up there which rolls down to block the tunnel.” She smirked. “It’s also great for riding a scooter down if you can fly, although I kind of got banned from riding it in the hive after I nearly ran Mum over.”

The other two giggled.

As they made their way up through the hive, Mirage pointing out important areas, they passed a dark tunnel leading into the rock at the back, surrounded by warning signs.

“What’s down there?” Applebloom asked.

Mirage shuddered. “Deliria’s Labyrinth. My great-grandmother, Queen Deliria, went a bit nutty in her old age. She built a massive, creepy maze of tunnels, sealed them with spent love crystal, filled them with traps and hidden compartments and hid most of the hive’s valuables in there. If nothing else, she was a genius at construction. We still haven’t found everything, which is the only reason it hasn’t been sealed off. I went in there once.” She shuddered again. “Not doing that again.”

“Can we get closer?” Applebloom asked. At Mirage’s look, she continued, “Ah don’t wanna go inside, Ah just wanna check somethin’.”

“Well…” Mirage hesitated. “I suppose as long as you don’t go past the opening, it should be OK.”

Applebloom walked slowly towards the tunnel entrance, before lifting her hoof and placing it on the stone wall next to it. She held it there for a moment, and then moved it over to the smooth green crystal of the tunnel entrance. Again, she waited for a few seconds, before she turned around and walked away.

“Er… Applebloom?” Mirage asked. “What was that all about?”

“Ah’ve been gettin’ a weird feelin’ in mah hooves since we got in here. The rock feels normal, but whenever Ah touch the crystal they get all tingly.”

A look of confusion crossed Mirage’s face. “Really?”

Applebloom nodded.

“And everything else is normal?”

“Eeyup.”

“Huh. I’ll check with Mum, but it’s probably nothing to worry about. Let me know if anything changes.” Mirage looked over the side of the ledge they were standing on and pointed at several large blocks of crystal in the middle of the hive, each glowing brightly. “Anyway, those blocks over there are the main love storage for the hive. They leak slightly, but that’s why they’re in the middle, it’s more likely that someling will absorb it again that way. They’re each sorted into different types. Most hives have one each for romantic love, love of friends, and a mixture of the two. We also have several extras for various combinations of those two with the weird love for every intelligent being that Pinkie puts out. Trust me, it’s strange.”

“Pinkie is always strange,” said Sweetie Belle. “Remember when she tried to tell us that getting her cutie mark made Equestria?”

“Blueblood, what have you learned?”

“Jet Set and Upper Crust have recruited approximately twenty nobles and assorted high fliers to their cause, including Crème de la Crème, while eight have joined Emerald Shine. As expected, the latter group is taking a far more moderate approach, with a few of the more reasonable nobles also expressing interest in it, although none have joined yet.

“There was a lot of boring discussion at Upper Crust’s party, but the summary is that they intend to make life difficult for ponies suspected of being changelings. I suspect that there may be cases for harassment in future, although I also suspect, in the present climate, that few juries would convict a pony for harassing a changeling. Given that Queen Imago’s daughter has been exposed to the population of Ponyville, and that one of the members of the group, one Spoiled Rich, also lives there, I suspect we will see trouble within the next few days. I would suggest alerting your student to the situation as soon as possible.”

“What do you know of Spoiled Rich?”

“Honestly, not a huge amount. She comes from a rich earth pony family, but is considered by the nobles to be little more than an upstart. Opinions are fairly evenly divided between those who despise her and those who think they can use her. The latter group tend to act like they care about her opinions, while disregarding them entirely. She is unlikely to have any influence in the group, but she is highly ambitious, and there is little she wouldn't do to get in the leaders’ good graces.

“Put simply, she is an ideal pawn, and they will use her to test the waters. If she gets away scot-free, they will feel able to act more openly. Punish her harshly, and they will work in the shadows.”

Celestia grimaced. “So I am left with a choice between allowing my apparent ally’s daughter to be harassed for a chance at the bigger fish, or personally defending her and warning the ringleaders away. Wonderful.” She sighed. “Good work, Blueblood. I’ll see if Twilight knows anything more about Mrs Rich.”

“How the hay did you do that, Applebloom?” Mirage shouted as she stared at the shattered remains of the portable love container (a ball of love crystal) they had been kicking around. “These things are almost indestructible!”

“Ah dunno. Ah just tried to buck it as hard as Ah could, then the tinglin’ got really strong an’ it broke.”

Mirage sighed. “We really need to speak to my mother about this.”

Author's Note

WARNING: Overexposure to Pinkie Pie may cause dizziness, reduced inhibitions, and (in extreme cases) short term memory loss. In other words, Pinkie gets changelings drunk.

Also, writing Zecora is both hard and easy at the same time. Easy because there's no need to make her speech flow smoothly, but hard because every time you write something, you need to phrase it in a way that rhymes well.

Can anyone guess what's happening with Applebloom?

Theory

“Hmm…” said Queen Imago after Applebloom had explained the situation. “I confess, in my younger days, I was something of an ‘egghead’, as my daughter would put it. Before I inherited the throne, I often buried myself in research, much like Twilight Sparkle is reputed to do. It sounds like your magic is interacting strongly with the spent love, but I don’t know why it would. I have some ideas, but they would only lead to more questions.”

She paused for a moment. “I do not have to do anything particularly urgently, so I may as well see if I can find anything to shed some light on the subject. Come and see me before you leave and I may have answers.”

“Where are all the foals?” Sweetie Belle asked as they left the throne room. “All the changelings we’ve seen here are adults.”

Mirage hesitated. “I could take you down to the nursery if you really want, but most ponies would think it's kinda gross.”

“What? Why? Little foals are cute.”

Mirage motioned to herself. “Hello, part insect here!”

Applebloom's eyes widened. “Wait, you mean..?”

Mirage nodded. “Giant, filly-sized maggots.”

Sweetie Belle managed the impressive feat of turning even whiter than usual, and shuddered. “Umm... on second thought, maybe we should do something completely different.”

“Oh, Ah don't know, Sweetie,” Applebloom said, smirking. An aura of mischief filled Mirage's emotional sense. “It could be interestin’.”

There was silence for a few seconds before the other two burst out laughing at the look of pure horror on Sweetie Belle’s face.

Queen Hornet’s hive had, somewhat ironically, given their golden back-plates, never been very large or powerful. They survived, destined to be little more than a footnote in changeling history, and most of the hive was resigned to that fate.

The queen herself was not.

Hornet was well aware that her hive was lacking in military might, and had kept her head down, taking less desirable territory while keeping a close eye on the affairs of other hives. Finally, she had found a weakness, and in the largest hive, too. Something that the new queen wanted enough that she could be manipulated into doing almost anything.

Chrysalis was sterile.

She had gone to Chrysalis and convinced her that taking in a huge amount of love would force her body to produce eggs. A lie, of course, but she always felt that the best lies were ones which the target wanted to believe. It was also one that Chrysalis couldn’t disprove, after all she could always say that clearly Chrysalis hadn’t taken in enough.

Chrysalis had proceeded to drain her hive’s love supplies down to nothing in an attempt doomed to do nothing but hurt her hive, but as she had watched her drones begin to starve, she had given it all back with interest, bringing herself to the point of starvation in the process.

In her love-deprived state it had been so easy for Hornet to convince her that an invasion was the only way to get the love she needed. It was a perfect win-win situation. If the invasion succeeded, she could gain an advisory position in Chrysalis’ government and then have her killed, taking the top spot for herself. If it failed, a rival could be removed from play, and it might even be possible to arrange it to inherit regency over her hive.

Now though, she had a dilemma.

After the failure in Canterlot, it had made sense to point her little pawn at the Crystal Empire and the Northern Hive next.

Unfortunately, Chrysalis was not completely stupid.

She had quickly realised that Lepidoptera's hive now outnumbered her, and that they had been gorging on the Crystal Heart for days. Chrysalis would be outnumbered and outgunned… so she had asked for help.

The ball was now firmly in Hornet's court, and she didn't like it one bit. If she refused, she would lose her hard-won influence over Chrysalis, but accepting risked exposing her part in planning the invasion of Canterlot to the other queens, and, through some of them, the ponies.

This would take some thought.

Not too much though. A delay would only shift the balance further towards Queen Lepidoptera.

The tour of the hive next stopped at the love storage area Mirage had pointed out, and it wasn't long before Sweetie Belle noticed something strange.

“Why do I feel happier here?”

“It's the love leakage, the levels are higher here,” Mirage replied. “It's not true that ponies can't sense love, but it's a lot harder to tell. Most ponies simply don't notice, and just feel a little better about themselves and others. Sending a little love back can increase the collection a lot, but it is a risk.”

“How much difference does it make?” asked Applebloom, who, now it had been pointed out, had also noticed the effects.

“Well, if I asked now, I would think that Sweetie Belle would have a lot fewer objections to meeting my baby brothers.”

That's..!” Sweetie shouted, before suddenly stopping, frowning. “That's true, actually. I know that I should, but I don’t. That's creepy.”

“Come on,” said Mirage. “It won't show up as mental magic, but too much exposure could make you act out of character for a while. I’d rather not have the Elements of Harmony after my head, even if a burst of magically charged platonic love does sound very tasty.”

Lyra and Bon Bon sat on a bench.

To a casual observer, this would be nothing new; the couple often watched the sunset together. A trained eye would pick up some tension, but it was hardly unusual for a couple to have the occasional fight.

Bon Bon looked at Lyra. “So…” She paused. “Now that we’ve both had a little time to think things over… where do we go from here? I mean, I can sense you’re conflicted. If you need me to give you a little space, I can.”

“No,” sighed Lyra. “It’s just… things are going to change now. How is it going to affect our relationship now that I know about you? I’m scared, Bon Bon. I liked how things were before. What if this drives us apart?”

Bon Bon's ears flattened. “I won't say it's never happened. Plenty of my family have been rejected or have grown apart from their loved ones in the past. For a lot, it happens when they realise that they can't have foals, not that we could anyway. All I can say is that the fact that you still want to make it work is a good start.”

Lyra sat silently for a while as the moon replaced the sun in the sky. Several times, her mouth opened to say something, but she stopped herself. The silence dragged on until she finally figured out what to say.

It came out as a scared whisper, but it was clear in the quiet evening. “I don't want to lose you.”

Bon Bon wrapped a foreleg around her back and spoke with a gentle smile. “As long as you keep feeling like that, you never will.”

Queen Imago looked up as the Cutie Mark Crusaders walked tiredly back into the throne room. Several large books and other pieces of paper were spread across the table she had used for her research.

“Ah, you’re back. I think I’m onto something.”

“Really?” Applebloom asked excitedly as she ran forward. “What is it?”

“What you described to me is the same way many earth ponies describe a strong response to their magic. That leads to the question of why you would have such an affinity for it, when other earth ponies don’t. Though it is rare, you are far from the first earth pony to enter a changeling hive, and none of them have reported such an effect. So I did some research and I found this.

“We have studied a lot of pony magic, and its interactions, so as to blend in better, but there are very few such studies on the magic of foals, simply because only princesses can take the form of one. The only study I found was from around two hundred years ago, trying to work out why adopted foals often found talents relating to their new family.

“It’s all just a theory, but the short version is that before the cutie mark appears, a pony’s magic seems somewhat flexible. It slowly alters to be more similar to those around it, pushing them towards common interests. The effect appears to be particularly strong towards those that they pin their hopes of finding a talent on, often a parent or older sibling, which is why talents often run in families.”

Imago leaned forward. “You, on the other hand, pinned your hopes on the Crusaders. Had you all been ponies, the magic of all of you would likely have converged on your shared interests, possibly even relating to cutie marks themselves. In reality, one of you was a changeling, and your magic may have reacted by becoming slightly more like my daughter’s, the nature of which was already fixed.

“Of course,” she smirked, “you had no opportunities to try changeling related areas before now.

“As an earth pony, you would expect an affinity for plants, food or materials, so your magic may have latched onto a changeling’s most common building material. Combined with the strength all earth ponies have, it allowed you to shatter the crystal, something that most changelings would find almost impossible.”

“Hold on a second,” said Applebloom. “Are you sayin’ that hangin’ around with Scoots gave me a talent for workin’ with this stuff?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but it seems likely.”

“Wait,” said Sweetie Belle. “What about me?”

“Hmm,” replied the queen. “Unicorns tend towards areas of magic. Maybe try illusions or transformation, and if that fails, maybe even mental magic. Just because we don't tend to use it doesn't mean we aren't naturally good at it. Of course, that’s only a theory, please don’t hold me to it.”

“Sure,” Applebloom replied distractedly, before she and Sweetie Belle galloped out of the room.

She looked at her daughter, who sighed. “I’ll go and make sure they don’t break anything. I miss the days when I could be the fun and reckless one, rather than the voice of reason.”

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. It just felt too infodump-y, and nothing I tried seemed to make it any better. In the end, I just decided to bite the bullet and publish it with a few minor tweaks from my previous draft.

The headcanon described in the last part was inspired partly by a couple of comments on my previous chapter, and dragged me out of what could have been a significant plot-hole. It even works to explain what happened between 'The Show Stoppers', where their intended talents were quite obvious, and CotLM, where they were completely different.

The next part will come when I figure out how to make the transition to my next plot point work. It's been stumping me for quite a while. I know where I want this story to go, but I can't work out the best way to get there.

Ignition

The Crusaders left the hive without incident, most likely due to Mirage's intervention in reminding them that it was approaching the deadline their sisters had set. The journey through the forest was similarly uneventful, although Mirage did catch an occasional glimpse of black and white stripes. Clearly, Zecora still didn't trust her. It was hardly a surprise.

As they passed the treeline, they were faced with all of the Elements in a loose huddle, not looking particularly worried, but there all the same.

“Hey,” said Mirage calmly. “We’re back on time, as promised.”

Twilight stepped forward and quickly scanned the other two, before nodding. “It's them, and they're fine,” she called back to her friends.

“Of course they are,” Mirage said, looking somewhat offended. “Noling would dare to hurt my best friends. Although there was a minor problem we found out about before we left.”

“What problem?” asked Applejack suspiciously.

“There’s a chance that hanging out with me for months might have altered their magic slightly.”

“What?” shouted Rarity. “How is this minor?”

“It's not dangerous, it just seems to be a natural thing that happens to any pony without a Cutie Mark. Probably. Maybe. It just means that their special talents might be changeling related.”

“Such as?” Applejack asked.

“Applebloom got a strong earth magic reaction from love crystals. We don't know about Sweetie yet, but we think maybe illusions or transformation spells.”

“Hmm,” said Rarity. “I suppose that's not so bad, but don't think I'm happy about this.”

“Look, by the time any of us realised what was happening, it had already happened. This isn’t anypony or -ling’s fault, just a load of new situations. Weird stuff’s going to happen sometimes. Who knows how many ponies this has happened to over the years and no one noticed.”

Rarity frowned. “That is a rather… disquieting thought. But it is probably not one to be addressed now. Let's go, Sweetie Belle, you need to get to bed.”

“Rarity’s right,” said Applejack. You need to get to bed, Applebloom.” She hesitated for a moment, before looking at Mirage. “Ah can't imagine the Everfree’s very safe at this time of night, even for you. You should probably hurry back.”

Mirage smiled. “I’ll be fine,” she replied, before shouting to the departing Crusaders. “See you tomorrow!”

Upon hearing their responses, she turned around and walked back into the forest.

Life was good in the hive for the next few days. The collectors sent to the Crystal Empire under the agreement with Lepidoptera were coming back with massive loads of love, though there were a few concerns raised over the fact that such a large love source tended to blind emotional senses. Even the negotiations with Princess Celestia were going well, the early stages of a possible alliance being agreed upon.

The relative peace was shattered by the arrival of a message.

Chrysalis attacking CE and Northern Hive. CH blinding detection abilities. Request immediate assistance. QL.

Queen Imago groaned at Chrysalis’s stupidity. Surely she couldn't be that idiotic naturally. She was starting to think that Chrysalis might be being controlled.

Either way, this couldn't be allowed to stand. She reached out with her magic and called in the entire guard.

Lyra opened the front door to find Bon Bon packing a bag. “Bon Bon? Where are you going?”

“Sorry, Lyra. I’ve been called in at short notice for a few days. I'm not sure what the queen wants me to do, but it shouldn't take more than a week.”

“Can you last that long without love?”

“Unless I get in a fight, easily. Besides, the hive has plenty of love stored up, I won't go hungry, even if I have to use the store of Pinkie love.”

“Pinkie love?”

“Think Applejack’s special cider but for changelings. Pinkie Pie is weird.”

“Huh,” said Lyra, deep in thought. “Is that why you were acting like that after the party last month?”

“Yep. You know Pinkie hired me to provide some sweets. We spent the entire afternoon baking in the same kitchen, and I got a huge dose of her love for absolutely everything. We tend to try to avoid spending too much time with her. Her special brand of love may taste delicious, but the side effects aren't worth it.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I’m sorry I have to leave at such short notice, but I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Lyra frowned. “I’m worried. You’ve never had to leave like this before. What if it's dangerous?”

Bon Bon leaned in to kiss her, eyes closing as the delicious taste of love flooded into her, mixed with an undercurrent of worry.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, Lyra. I’ll be back in a few days, and we can pick up right where we left off.” She flashed into her true form for a moment, levitating her bag onto her back, before resuming her disguise. “I’ll see you soon, Lyra. I love you.”

Lyra sighed. “I love you too.”

Queen Imago looked out over the large crowd of drones in front of her and smiled. It always felt good to see her hive so successful. Still, this was a serious occasion, so she quickly schooled her face into a neutral expression, before casting a spell to amplify her voice.

“Earlier today, I received a message. Our allies in the north have come under attack from Chrysalis, and we have been requested to assist. The council response will take time to organise, meaning that we are the only backup for at least three days.

“The guards will come with me, and we will assist Queen Lepidoptera in repelling the invasion. Those of you who are not guards, but have combat experience or training, have been called in to protect the hive while the main guard are away. You will follow the commands of Trance,” (a growl came from the drone in question), “formerly of my personal guard.”

The queen turned around, preparing to leave the raised platform. “We leave immediately. Those of you who are coming with me will be briefed on the way.” She left the room followed by a flood of armoured drones.

Mirage, as princess, felt the call as well. If the hive was going to war, with the queen at its head, she would be required to run the ordinary hive business, while maintaining the appearance of normality. She would also, if things went wrong, have to be ready to take the throne at any time.

That wasn't to say that she couldn't go about her business as usual. It would never do to alert any potential enemies to the hive's vulnerability. It was her duty to ensure that no outsider would be able to tell that anything was different, and that meant doing everything she normally would.

This, of course, meant that school was still on the agenda. Unfortunately, after two days of pretending nothing was wrong, it had become obvious to those who knew her best that she was hiding something. At lunchtime on the second day, the other Crusaders confronted her.

“Scoots, what's wrong?” asked Applebloom. “You’ve been actin’ stressed all day.”

“It's nothing, just a bit of hive business. I can't tell you about it anyway.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyebrow raised. “Does this have something to do with why the sweet shop suddenly closed for a few days?”

Scootaloo looked very uncomfortable. “Yes it does, but I really can't tell you more than that. Look, when all this is over, however it goes, I promise I'll tell you what’s going on, but until then, I have to keep it a secret.”

Applebloom didn't look convinced, but she let the subject drop. “Fine, but not a second longer.”

Sweetie suddenly perked up. “Why don't we try another crusade after school, for old times sake. Just because we have some idea of what we might be good at now, doesn't mean we can't have fun.”

“Yeah,” said Applebloom. “You can even choose what we do, take your mind off things for a bit.”

A small smile crossed Scootaloo's face. “I suppose we haven't done anything really crazy since this all started. Wanna try hang-gliding?”

“So, class,” Cheerilee said loudly, regaining control of the class after lunch, “under the rules we discussed yesterday, who can tell me what five times seven plus nine divided by three is?”

Several hooves shot up instantly, the usual suspects who tried to answer everything. A few more followed more hesitantly, the group who weren't so confident, but had the brains to puzzle out the answer. The latter group were the ones she usually asked, actually being more likely to give a correct answer than many of the former.

“Dinky?”

The little unicorn looked terrified at being singled out, but quickly worked up the courage to answer. “Umm… thirty-eight?”

Diamond Tiara snorted with laughter, but Cheerilee smiled. “Very good, Dinky. Doing the multiplication and division first gives thirty-five plus three. Now, who can —”

Cheerilee’s question was cut off as a pulse of acid green magic spread across the room. Everypony looked towards its source.

Scootaloo's eyes blazed with her magic, green fire overtaking their usual purple, and the image of a jet black crown was fading from her flank.

Author's Note

Next time: What's happening in the Crystal Empire?

Consideration

Three days after the wedding

Queen Imago of the Everfree hive was not pleased. The news her daughter had brought her was giving her a headache. She had heard the rumours that the largest badlands hive had a new queen, something that occasionally caused problems, but she could never have predicted something like this.

To do something as stupid as attempting to conquer Equestria... The new queen had to be a complete imbecile. How did she expect to gather love from ponies who only felt fear?

And replacing ponies? Certainly, it could work for a little while, but it was impossible to learn everything about a target, and eventually a replacement would be caught out. Not to mention that it was a disgraceful thing to do in the first place, in her opinion.

Besides, why steal what isn't yours, when ponies are so friendly to strangers? Platonic love might not have been quite as nourishing as romantic love, but it was still plenty to feed on, given a little effort.

Not only had the idiot tried something that could never work in the long run, she had lost, and exposed the changelings as a whole... as enemies. Imago suspected that the other queens would be just as unhappy as she was, so the idiot would probably die soon, but that didn't solve the exposure issue.

To make matters worse, Imago's daughter had actually been at the wedding in her main disguise. She could only be glad that the banishment and shield spell that had been used were intent based, rather than absolute. Her daughter meant no harm, and so hadn't been banished. If she had been hurt, it would only guarantee the idiot's death sentence.

Her daughter had always been a boisterous filly. She was very skilled with disguises, often arriving back at the hive in her pony form (or, if she'd been practicing, somepony else's), and had really taken to the idea of making friends with ponies. The stories she told of the antics she and her friends got up to were a frequent source of amusement. The fact that they often ended in disaster certainly wasn't helped by her personality. Princess Mirage was a complete tomboy, although she did at least take her position seriously.

Now though, she was in a dangerous situation. Her choice of friends frequently brought her into close contact with the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, including Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful and skilled unicorn in generations. Imago would put good money on her creating a spell to expose changelings very soon. She could only hope that Mirage,or any other hive member for that matter, wouldn't give Twilight any reason to suspect her.

Mirage's disguise was a small pegasus filly, and she was easily sustained by the love of her two best friends. The fact that her friends were each a sister of one of the Elements and that she practically idolised a third was a source of many headaches for the queen.

All she could really do now was wait and see what would happen.

'Scootaloo' reached the edge of the forest and stepped off her scooter. Trying to ride it all the way to the hive was insanity. She knew this because she had attempted it once. It had ended, like so many of her endeavours, with a generous coating of tree sap.

While the ponies found the forest scary, for a well fed changeling it was no different to anywhere else. The geographical dangers were easily bypassed, and the creatures could be scared off by shifting into something bigger than they were. The weather working on its own was unpredictable, but it rarely threw up anything truly dangerous.

The town, on the other hand, was dangerous. Ponies had active magic, so were always a threat. Especially now that Queen Stupid had exposed changelings to everypony.

Looking around to make sure nopony was watching, 'Scootaloo' dropped her disguise, revealing a royal changeling of the same age. There were two main advantages to this form. First, she could use magic, something which came in handy if a forest creature decided to fight. Secondly, having learned to fly as a changeling had completely messed up her flight instincts in pegasus form. She could get forward propulsion with pegasus wings, but any meaningful lift still eluded her. Flight lessons with Rainbow Dash had helped, but the moment she got off the ground, she would instinctively start flapping her wings like her natural ones, causing her to drop almost immediately.

The flight through the forest was relatively uneventful, although she had made a minor detour to avoid a hydra. She could have beaten it by shifting, but it was easier to just go around it.

The day had been spent crusading, and it was obvious that neither Sweetie Belle nor Applebloom had a talent for delivering mail, though admittedly they hadn't been much worse at it than Derpy. Mirage knew that she wouldn't get a Cutie Mark like the other two, and had seen how Applebloom and Twist had grown apart after Twist got one and Applebloom didn't, so she planned to wait until both of her friends got theirs, and then shift one of her own the next day. She already had a design in mind.

Finally reaching the cave which led into the hive, she slowly walked inside, stowing her scooter next to the entrance of the main cavern (she had been forbidden from riding it through the hive after one such attempt had left a trail of chaos behind her). Other changelings quickly moved out of her way when they saw her, after all, she would rule them one day. Mirage wished that they wouldn't. With all of them being so nervous around her, there weren't really any opportunities for friend-making. In fact, the friends she had in pony form were her only ones.

The ones she was lying to.

Mirage loved being a changeling, but sometimes the guilt got to her. Many times, she had thought about telling Applebloom and Sweetie Belle the truth; not only would it solve the guilt, but also increase the power she could get from their friendship. If they accepted her.

The other side was that they might abandon her. She wouldn't go hungry, the hive had too much love stored for that, but she would lose the only people who cared about her for who she was, other than her mother.

The decision was left to her by her mother, who was adamant that she should learn to make tough decisions for herself.

It was just so difficult, and the effects would be permanent, and after the wedding, they would be even less likely to trust her.

She had been thinking on the issue for months now, and before the wedding had been planning to tell them. After all, most ponies had never even heard of changelings, so there wouldn't be much distrust. Maybe a little hurt that she hadn't told them, but not much distrust.

Now though...

Mirage sighed. That lunatic on a power trip had ruined everything.

Now, instead of rejection, she faced being run out of town, or even arrested.

In her heart, though, she knew that it was the same choice, just with higher stakes.

It was a matter of trust, plain and simple. If she truly trusted her friends, and she believed she did, then she should tell them.

Should.

The reality of the decision was much more difficult. The instinctive fear of discovery was hard coded into a changeling's genetic make up. Less so in royals, since they had the power to fight, but it was there.

Several times she had started to tell Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but she had always ground to a halt a few words in. By this point, she was certain that they knew she had a secret, but they could never guess what it was.

Before she could dwell on it any more, she arrived at the entrance to her mother's throne room, a pair of tall double doors with the hive's emblem carved into them, surrounded by images of important parts of the hive's history. She pushed open the doors and walked in.

"Hey, Mum," she called out, after making sure that the queen wasn't in a meeting. She was welcome to sit in on such meetings, as long as she didn't disrupt them, since some day she would have to hold them herself, but today her mother was alone.

"Ah," Queen Imago replied with a smile, "my little princess has returned. How was your day?"

"It was good, we tried delivering mail, but it... didn't really work out. But at least we didn't get covered in tree sap again."

The queen shook her head. "How you manage to do that so often, I'll never know."

"Hey, it's a surprise to us too. I'm starting to think we have a combined talent in mess-making."

Imago laughed at this. "It would certainly explain a few things."

Mirage then dropped the light banter for a more serious topic. "Any word on Chrysalis? I could tell the others were still nervous that she might come back."

"Chrysalis would be a fool to come back, and yet we know that she is one. Certainly she will not return soon, when so much of her army was decimated, but to say that she will never return with absolute belief would be folly.

"I received a message today, stating that a conference shall be held to discuss the situation. I will be attending via magic as I can't get to the badlands soon enough to attend in the flesh, but I was also one of the most affected, given that you were put at risk. I will know what the plan is tomorrow." A dark smile appeared on her face. "Personally, I hope I get to go after the bitch who put my daughter in danger."

Mirage smiled. Her mother really took her wellbeing seriously. A yawn broke through the smile. It had been a long day. She left the throne room and headed for her bed.

On her way, she recognised one of the hive's former warriors. "Hey, Trance."

The drone growled at her. "Don't call me that!"

Mirage laughed as she galloped away. Trance preferred to go by the name of his main disguise, and calling him by his real name was sure to rile him up. Noling understood why: it was important for a changeling to separate their identities.

In Trance's case it was especially confusing. Only royal changelings were female, so female pronouns immediately implied royalty. Calling Trance by his pony name, which was female, would just be strange when paired with male pronouns.

Either way, Mirage made a point to call him Trance at every opportunity. His reactions were just too much fun.

Author's Note

Note that I will be using the name Scootaloo when in pony form, and Mirage for when she is a changeling.

Discussion

Celestia sat on her throne, thoroughly bored. She had thought that after the changelings had invaded, she would have more work to do, but now that he was out from under the queen's influence, Shining Armor had quickly sorted out the problems that had been allowed to develop within the guard, and they had proven very effective at rooting out the remnants of Chryalis' army.

Repairs to the city itself were going smoothly, and the only problems there were a few nobles who had lied about what their homes had been like before the damage, so they could get a free upgrade.

There hadn't even been any friendship reports from Twilight and her friends to entertain her. Not that she herself could claim to be a good friend after completely brushing off Twilight's concerns about Cadence's behaviour.

As though on cue, a small puff of green smoke found its way in through the window, coalescing into a single scroll. If anypony asked later, Celestia did not squeal like a filly on her birthday and dive on top of it.

She quickly unrolled the scroll, wondering what antics her student had been involved in this time, but as she read it, her smile faded. This was no time for fun. She had possibly ordered the arrest of thousands of innocent beings.

She reached the bottom of the letter and smiled again. At least now she had something to do today.

Queen Imago looked down at the pathetically begging drone in her dungeon. She felt some pity for the poor guy, having been given a leader who was so completely unstable, and clearly having fallen on hard times, judging by the holes scarring his body.

She hated that it fell to her to decide his fate when he was plainly starving. He had just been looking for a little food, and had the bad luck to end up in her territory. And then had the doubly bad luck to try and feed on Trance of all beings. He was lucky to still be in one piece. Before he met Lyra, Trance would have annihilated him.

On top of her pity for the drone, her current hatred of Chrysalis also factored into it. How she would love to use this incident as an excuse to take her down. She may like her drones to be as pony-like as possible, but underneath it all, changelings were predators. The idea of standing over Chrysalis while she lay with the blood draining from her dying body was extremely appealing right now.

It was also a delicate situation with the ponies. Now that they were exposed, anything which could sour relations any more than they already were was a bad idea. Mindlessly killing Chrysalis would certainly do that. If Chrysalis was to die, it would have to be done in a way that ponies couldn't fault if they found out about it.

A flare of green light appeared next to her. She instantly recognised it as a spell similar to dragon flame, which she had taught her warriors to alert her to major threats.

As she read the short message, her cold, emotionless mask came up. If this wasn't handled correctly it could put her hive at war with the ponies. She couldn't send drones from collection duties or they could compromise their disguises, and the drones trained as warriors could be rather... indelicate.

She would have to go herself.

"I brought the sweets!" Pinkie called up to the tree house, somehow talking despite carrying several bags and boxes of sweets with her mouth.

No sooner had she said it, than a green aura surrounded the snacks and pulled them straight through the shield. "Awesome, thanks Pinkie."

Twilight's jaw dropped. She walked up to the shield and put a hoof to it. It was completely solid. "How did you do that? There was no hole in the shield or anything! That shouldn't be possible."

"Changeling magic is powered by the love we feed on. Why should it work the same as unicorn magic?"

"I... I guess you're right. But I still want to know how that works."

"Maybe I'll tell you if this all works out."

Further conversation was interrupted as the sound of a powerful spell charging was heard. A cage of golden light in the shape of a pony appeared just behind Twilight, before slowly filling itself in. A flash of white and the image became solid.

Celestia certainly knew how to look powerful while making an entrance.

"Princess?" Twilight gasped. "You didn't have to come down here yourself. What about your duties up in Canterlot?"

"Calm down, Twilight. If there were more important things to be doing, I assure you that I would be doing them. As it is, the country is mostly running itself at the moment, so I have some free time to deal with things like this."

"Oh."

"Also, who would you have me send? Your brother is still on his honeymoon, and I'm not sure the interim captain is well enough versed in the art of diplomacy. That leaves me or Luna, and Luna is still sulking over the fact that she slept through an entire invasion."

Twilight looked a little embarrassed at this point. It was obvious in hindsight that this was the only way it could have played out. "I'm sorry, I guess I hadn't thought it through."

A cultured voice cut in at this point. "Excuse me, Princess, but could we perhaps focus on getting my sister and her friends out of there?"

Celestia looked at Rarity, a slightly sheepish smile on her face. "You're right, Rarity." She turned towards the force field, noting the healthy looking changeling now standing right on the other side of it. "So, I am told that your name is Princess Mirage. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's me," the changeling princess replied.

"I am also told," she said slowly, "that you disagree with Chrysalis' methods, and were uninvolved in her invasion."

"Chrysalis was buzzing insane. Did Twilight also tell you about my comparison between Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon? We could just as easily base our opinions of ponies around her as you are with us and Chrysalis."

"That may be true," Celestia countered, "but Luna's dark side wasn't the first pony you had ever encountered. Chrysalis was the first changeling known to exist, and she claimed to be the queen of all of them. We had no reason to doubt her claim at the time. From our point of view, there was no reason to believe that any changelings would view us as anything other than food."

"And pony was once considered a griffon delicacy, but now look at them. None of them would dream of touching pony meat these days. Things change, and Chrysalis will die if she attacks again. She may be powerful when well fed, but she doesn't stand a chance against nineteen angry queens with similar power levels at their disposal." Mirage smirked. "Especially when her planning and deception skills are so obviously lacklustre."

Celestia frowned as something clicked. "You seem so much more mature than Scootaloo, but I still see some of the raw confidence and fearlessness I associate with her. Why the difference in apparent age?"

Mirage laughed at that. "Scootaloo is an eleven-year-old filly who has nothing more to worry about than finding her Cutie Mark. I am an eleven-year-old changeling princess, schooled from a young age to one day lead the hive. Of course I'm more mature than she is. I work hard to maintain that immaturity when I'm being Scootaloo, since my normal personality would seem strange, which is the last thing a changeling in disguise should be."

Celestia nodded. Mirage's explanation made sense, but there was something else she wanted to know. "I seem to remember that after just a month or so of being fed on, Shining Armor became rather unresponsive and lifeless. You claim to have been feeding on the Crusaders for six, and yet there doesn't seem to be any noticeable effect on them. Why?"

Mirage looked down sadly. "It has to do with our different methods. Chrysalis was trying to pretend to be somepony else, and using magic to cover up the fact that she was a poor actress. She was artificially forcing him to feel love for her, which was actually burning out his capacity to feel any emotion at all.

"With the Crusaders, I was just playing the part of a less mature version of my true self. There was no magic needed, and any slips could be passed off as me growing up. I didn't make them love me, so I didn't do any damage."

Celestia let out a relieved breath. If leaving this changeling alone was going to hurt any of her ponies, even as a side effect, she wouldn't have thought twice. Now that she knew that nopony would be hurt, many of her concerns were gone.

"If I was to let you go," she started slowly, "I would want to speak with your mother at the earliest convenience."

"I -"

"I can arrange that," came a second buzzing voice, deeper than Mirage's. Out of the forest stepped a powerful looking changeling queen.

Author's Note

I don't plan to have griffons play much of a part in this story, but since I have now mentioned them, if they do play a part, I will be disregarding canon as described in Lost Treasure of Griffonstone. For the purposes of this story, if we see the griffon empire it will still be proud and powerful.