Transparency: Q. Mint Jewelip

Recon sat.

There was a table, with a teapot. There were little cups with finely hammered gold rims. There was a small dish with individual sugar crystals, grown to the size of cherry tomatoes and cut so cleanly that they looked, for all the world, to be made of nothing more than blown glass.

There were doilies.

And across from her there was the single most terrifying creature short of her queen that Recon had ever seen... Princess Celestia.

... who was in the process of some form of deeply traumatizing mental assault.

Recon swallowed again dryly.

"Oh. More tea dear?" Celestia paused as she floated over the teapot... which was finely painted.... no... INLAID with silver filigree to depict a pastoral scene with various shades of burnished patina under pristine lacquer.

Nodding very slowly, Recon held up her cu....her TEAcup in both hooves, being careful to keep the sharp edges of her holey legs from scratching the fine porcelain as Celestia filled it.

Celestia smiled as the teapot was gently deposited back upon the table as the alicorn returned her full attention to her captive guest.

"Now that that's handled, where was I? OH!" Celestia smiled radiantly, perfectly straight, perfectly cleaned, nearly mirror finish pearly white teeth reflecting the light of the afternoon sun. "And then Twilight just started to whimper when her book fort had to be put away for the night. I'll never forget how utterly despondent she looked." Here, Celestia smiled as she rolled her eyes, "And I just couldn't say no to that.... so, we ended up having a 'sleepover' in the middle of the floor so she could continue reading her 'walls' within her 'fortress of knowledge.' It was the cutest thing."

Recon delicately sipped her, likely poisoned, tea as she considered how utterly hopeless her situation was when compared to the millenias old tactical genius that sat across from her.

'Hives.... If Sleep doesn't spring me soon, there might not be anything left to rescue.'

-~oOo~-

WC smiled to everyone he passed, cheerful and carefree, just like any other happy citizen of Canterlot.

There was the baker! Hello Baker!

There was the fancy pony with the mane....thing. Hello Fancy Pony!

There was the Big-to-do Business Pony with the bags of bits, striding along like he owned the place.... which, given the sign with his likeness, he probably did. Hello Greedy Pony with a sad and un-fulfilling love life!

And look! Some Royal Guards! Hello Royal Gua....oh! They're coming to play!

WC liked to play.

YAY! One had a pike! And he was swinging it!

It must be limbo! Of course it was limbo, ponies didn't fight!

So, WC played limbo, leaning backwards as the Guards tried to force him to lose at Limbo.

And that one had a sword! He must be making salad for later!

Because ponies didn't use weapons, he had to be a cook!

So WC played limbo with the one Guard and helped the cook to find some nice roughage with his choppy stick... ponies eat grass! Choppy Stick Cook could have some grass!

So, WC ducked the pike and helpfully hugged the cook, turning him around to show him the nearby park where there was some grass.

And that one was a unicorn! He must be there for cooking too because his horn was lighting up with fire!

Because ponies don't attack things... they run and hide and scream when they're frightened.

So WC helped the Fiery cook to work with his buddy the grass eating cook as he spun around to keep playing with the Limbo guard.

Unfortunately though, while WC liked playing with ponies (they were SO FUN), Sleep Dep had been very specific that he needed to be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time, so he had to leave the pony party.

So WC spun in to help the Limbo Guard play with the Fiery cook and the Face-Stuck-in-a-park-bench cook.

They could play with each other. He didn't want them to be sad afterall.

WC was a good changeling... and good changelings don't leave unhappy ponies.

-~oOo~-

Deep Thought was blinking slowly as the patrol of Royal Guards raced by, armor glinting and weapons drawn as they careened down the street and rocketed overhead. Sleep had been walking directly towards the nearest guard, her eyes wide open and a concerned expression on her face when the call had gone out. A series of shouted orders, a rapid fire alarm and suddenly the two disguised changelings we're being gently being pushed off the road as the Guard raced off to whatever it was that was needing their attention.

Deep blinked incredulously.

From beside him, Sleep's soft chuckle sent a shiver down his back.

"Deep, Dear, would you be so kind as to grab that pegasus over there? Yes, the one oogling that stallion's flank. I have a need of her for a moment."

Deep shook off the creepy feeling before nodding and glancing both ways to ensure he wouldn't be trampled by a lagging guard, and trotted across the road.

The mare was indeed staring at the rear end of one of the charging guards who were now just far enough away that the mare had started to flit upwards. She was so intent that Deep had to politely cough a few times to get her attention.

And, though she glanced back at the patrol after looking down, it was clear that her moment had been spoiled.

"Yheah?" she asked as she dropped back to the ground, an unhappy look on her face... probably from being kept from her flank-staring.

"Oh, um, terribly sorry miss, but my friend over there said she thought she recognized you and asked me to fetch you." Deep smiled genuinely... well, as genuinely as anyone with an ulterior motive and a species wide dedication to deception ever did anything genuinely at least.

"Oh?" She glanced across the street, looking around for a second before raising an eyebrow and looking back to the stallion. "Is that so?"

Nodding politely, Deep turned around to point out Sleep Dep, only to freeze as the empty shopfront they'd been in only a minute ago stared back at him.

"Look mister.... um... whoever you are. I'm sure that line works on a lot of mares, but I'm not really interested in you.... like... at all. So, good luck with that and ... oh! Look! Another patrol!"

And just like that... all her remaining brain cells had apparently been spent. Deep rolled his eyes before turning away and frowning.

If Sleep wanted him out of the way, that could only mean one thing...

He sighed. She was going to do something incredibly, insufferably, and indelibly foolish.

... and she didn't want any witnesses in case she ever had to wipe the memory from her mind.

Well, if Sleep wanted to forget the whole thing, that just meant that he'd have to do his absolute best to figure out every possible event along the line, discover her plan (if she even had one), protect his queen, coordinate the hive, and make certain that nothing was unaccounted for.

Deep Thought shook his head with a defeated smirk. Oh well... time to find some coffee, a lantern, and at least four cups of sugar. It was looking to be a late night.