(Celestia)

I stood on the white and gold stones of the entryway to my castle, my sister besides me, yawning heavily. My sun hung low in the sky as evening wound on, my little ponies casting long shadows over the courtyard cobblestones as they stood there in the orange light. Some of my ponies had placards hoisted overhead, bobbing up and down as had been the symbol of a demonstration for so many years, something was always being thrust up and down into the air; pitchforks, torches, scythes, and now, placards; I wondered if I’d ever understand why.

A nervous grumble ran through the crowd as my sister and I stood there silent, staring out over the crowd, my sister yawning behind her hoof as I took in the images that had been hoof-painted onto the signs and banners that the crowd waved; images of Changeling’s and Ponies together, pictures of a heart clutched by hooves full of holes, a long banner with the words “LOVE ENOUGH FOR ALL” printed on in it black ink, the letter full of holes.

A strange mixture of love and anger at my Little Ponies washed through me, I loved them for their forgiveness, the fact they could throw aside the hurts of the past, give an enemy a second chance so willingly. They had done it for my sister when she was cleansed of her corruption by the Elements of Harmony, they had done it for Discord in these past five years allowing the chaotic beast a chance to redeem himself, and now they were doing it for Chrysalis and her Changelings, an enemy that had struck at their hearts, an enemy that had come so close to enslaving them.

The anger however hurt me, how could they forgive her so easily, how could they forgive her after she had struck out against me, how could the Ponies my sister and I loved so dearly forgive Chrysalis after all she had done to them, everything she had done to me, my niece and nephew, turning me against my student; how could they forgive her that?

These thoughts raced through my head, running around and around in a never-ending circle as I held my normal expression, a warm smile on my muzzle, my eyes kind even as I struggled with my darker thoughts.

I did not see her move, but I could feel my sister pull closer to me, her snout reaching up into my ear as she whispered.

“’Tia, what are we to do?” her question echoing my own thoughts “This mob has been growing the last few days, they have stayed peaceful these days past, but if we ignore them any longer” she left the ending to the sentence unsaid, our Ponies had been known to do some extreme things when angered, Luna’s rampage being one of them, I was not keen for another riot to take place in my city.

Sighing internally, I stepped forward and drew myself to my full height, letting my mane and tail flow behind me, as I spoke for the first time that evening.

“May I ask who is in charge here?” I asked softly enough to sound kind, loud enough to be heard over the noise of the crowd

“You are, ain’t cha?” some Pony who fancied himself a comedian yelled from somewhere in the mob, the anonymity allowing his insouciance as others in the crowd either laughed, or looked worried.

I ignored him, as I felt my sister bristle behind me, before I spoke again rephrasing.

“May I ask who is leading this demonstration?” I asked, my voice growing only a shade louder, there was a stirring at the back of the crowd as ponies turned around to look at each other and shuffle around in the cramped confines of the crowd as somepony approached me, pushing their way through the pulsing press of ponies, until at last a Unicorn mare walked out of the crowd.

She held her head high as she approached me, the dull brown of her coat at odds with the almost bilious blue of her mane, a pair of saddlebags hanging over her barrel almost obscuring the image of a billowing cloak on her hips.

“Ah, Wind Cloak, I had wondered when I would see you again” I lowered my head slightly, a nod of recognition, as I stared at the charity mare, this large a demonstration was unlike her but she had been a nigh-permanent fixture in my courtyard before when similar situations had appeared. I could say I was proud of her but I was honestly more proud of what she achieved, the mare herself refused any reward I could give her and was often abrasive, disruptive, and manipulative in her efforts to direct my charity to her, mostly worthy, causes.

“Princess Celestia” the mare bowed enough to be polite, not enough to show respect, as she always did, something I was familiar with after centuries of dealing with self-absorbed nobles; at least in this case what she wanted from me was something that benefited others rather than just herself.

“I suppose I am to take it that this demonstration is your work” I stated, it wasn’t a question, we both knew the answer and at this point we were just dancing to an old song, the only difference being the crowd behind her.

“Princess, you wound me, this is not just my work; this is the work of all ponies to care for those that need it, to give a voice to the voiceless, to bring aid to the helpless” it was a practised speech, one that she had given me plenty of times already; and then she went off script.

“I can’t pretend to understand your hurts” she looked down at the ground as I felt my eyes widen in shock “after the invasion we were all scared, so many ‘Ponies’ went missing, some of them must have been Changelings in disguise just living amongst us for so long, one of my closest friends herself disappeared and I was terrified for her for so long” the mare’s breathing shuddered as her chest heaved, the crowd behind her was silent, this was a story that had gone too long untold.

“The last thing I remember of my friend, she was a pony, she told me to stay inside, she looked worried like something had gone very wrong, she told me not to worry and to stay inside, and then the invasion happened” I could see small tears forming in her eyes, the small droplets of water soaking into the fur around her eyes, some of the closer ponies looking disturbed. “Afterwards I looked everywhere I could, asking after her, I checked the records of those injured, I travelled to the places where Changeling were found thinking that one of them had carried her as the love bomb blew them away

“Last year I finally went south to the Hive” she turned her dark brown eyes back to mine, her expression serious “Just to put that constant nagging fear to rest” biting her lip she took another breath before continuing “I spoke with several Changelings, and the ponies that live there, asking if any of them knew her before the invasion, it took me a while but I found a Changeling who remembered her, she said her name was Chrysanthemum, and my friend was called Healing Toxin” Wind Cloak paused again, apparently struggling with something important.

“She told me that, during the aftermath of the explosion, when the Changelings were flung from Canterlot, very few of them survived, most of them either died from the explosion itself, or from the landing, but some of them died of their wounds, starving from a lack of love” the mare looked away from me again, her voice wavering for a moment before she continued.

“I’ve starved before, during that winter almost thirty years ago” I remembered that winter for less than pleasant reasons myself, and the memory made me shudder internally. “I was young and some fool who was tired burned down our village’s food storage and most of the adults were injured trying to extinguish the fire, the snow was so hard we couldn’t get a message out to any nearby settlements” Wind Cloak looked away from me from a second wiping at her eyes “I barely remember anything from that winter anymore, but I still have the nightmares, and when I picture the pony that I consider a friend lost, hurt, starving, dying it reminds me of a pain that haunts me through so many years” Suddenly so much of her actions made sense to me, not least of all her constant insistence on the governmental soup kitchens that the nobles had tried to shut down numerous times.

She looked up at me, her eyes full of pain, regret, uncertainty, fear “Even if my friend was a Changeling underneath everything, she was still my friend; she could have given me no warning, she could have subdued me herself, she could have used me and had a Changeling take my place, but in the end she did none of those things, in the end she was my friend, Pony or Changeling”

She took a deep breath as I continued to stare, my outward expression not changing. It had been something I long suspected myself after the invasion, reports of missing family members, friends, business partners, and lovers had come flooding in. My guards had spared no effort in searching for these ponies sealed in Changeling pods, but we had never found them. I had used it as another justification for banishing the Changelings from my lands; even in failure they had hurt my little ponies again.

“Princess, I know about the summit coming up, how could anypony not, the media won’t stop talking about how it’s some grand scheme of Chrysalis’ to take control again, but everypony here has lost friends, whether it was due to the invasion, the rigours of life, or one of the many calamities that have seemed to strike us so recently.” Wind Cloak was still looking up at me; the emotions in her eyes had lifted to something that resembled hope, anticipation.

“All we wish to ask is that you give the Changelings a chance, all of the ones I talked to seemed hurt by the invasion themselves, none of them seemed hostile, and the ponies living in their hive acted like it was just another town.” She paused for a second before looking directly into my eyes “They are like us, alive, capable of happiness, sadness, pain, fear, hope, faith, and love”

I stared down at Wind Cloak, my violet eyes meeting her grey eyes. I didn’t let my expression change, not the slightest change as I held her gaze as I assembled my thoughts.

“Wind Cloak, your charity does me proud” I paused letting the words I had said before whenever she brought another charity case to me, sink in as always “However this demonstration was unnecessary, that is the point of the meetings that Chrysalis is hosting, we” I gestured back towards my sister “wish to see if we can put the hurts of the past behind us, we wish to see if Chrysalis and her swarm can be trusted, if she wishes for our trust, however your presence here puts my heart at rest” I waved my hoof outwards, over the amassed crowd of ponies “to know that my little ponies can be so ready to forgive one who has done you so wrong”

I sat back on the stone, still staring out over the crowd, I knew my voice had carried, I could see the blushes, the embarrassed ears splaying out over heads, the nervous flicks of ponies tails.

“Thank you Princess, nopony or indeed noling deserves to have no chance at forgi…” Wind Cloak was still speaking when the bolt of sickly green energy struck her in the side of her head, her body flopping down the sun-warmed ground with the sickening thud of flesh on stone.

The crowd held still for a moment, just for the briefest of moments, before I heard the shrill scream of a mare and panic broke out.

Some ponies surged forth to check on Wind Cloak, far more turned and ran, stampeding from the grand courtyard.

My head snapped in the direction of the magical blast, just in time to see a ragged black tail disappear over the walls surrounding my castle, several of my royal guards chasing it as I turned to my sister who was bellowing orders to the guard who were now struggling to placate the panicked ponies, before turning to my assistant who had not moved, a look of shock on her face, before I spoke to her, the anger in my words barely constrained.

“Raven, I need you to compose a letter to Shining Armour and Chrysalis, we have an emergency”

<~~***~~>

(Shining Armour)

It was always strange, seeing the sunset while underground, feeling the tropical breeze after the still humidity of the mushroom farms, seeing happy families sitting at restaurant tables being served by Changelings who wore smiles on their faces, it was surreal, and almost idyllic in its own way; or it would have been if it wasn’t for the chatty Changeling that I had been forced to accompany as he went on his rounds, and insisted on stopping the both of us to talk to everypony and everyling he saw.

“So how are you enjoying our resort?” Barbed Retort had stopped me again, this time to talk to a pale gray Earth Pony Stallion who had a filly bouncing around his ankles, a huge smile on her face.

“It’s been great!” the filly almost shouted in her excitement, I could feel my bad mood melt a little on the sunny warmth of her smile “We got to see mommy again!”

I couldn’t see Barbed Retorts expression change but the Stallion flinched a little, a flash of guilt running over his face.

“I got to tell her all about school, and all about daddy’s cooking which is yucky and all about our new house in Ponyville which is really really small and all about meeting Neptune Grass who taught me how to play on a body-board” the filly paused to take a breath “You changelings all have really silly names”

I felt myself start to laugh as the father looked aghast and Barbed Retort put a hoof to his head in shock.

“Star-Chart! You can’t just say that!”

“Why not daddy?

“It’s, it’s rude, and thoughtless, and, and” the father started to sputter out before Barbed Retort started to laugh, his shocked expression disappearing.

“It’s okay, we do have silly names” waved a hoof at the still sputtering father “but Star-Chart, do you know what Neptune Grass is?” he asked the filly, lowering his head to her eye level.

“It’s a kind of grass?”

“Close, but no truffle, it’s a flower that grows underwater in the seas around Saddle Arabia, it grows in really big meadows and Neptune told me that he once saw it all flowering at the same time, and could think of nothing more beautiful, so he took it as a name”

“He wasn’t named by his parents?” the filly asked confused, one of her ears flattening against her skull while the other perked up.

“We changelings aren’t for some reason, and until we pick our own names we’re just called ‘Drone 1’ or ‘Drone 43’ or something like that, until we choose our own names”

“Why’d you choose your name?” the filly asked, and the changeling looked nervous for a second.

“That’s personal, I don’t think it’d be a good story to tell a filly like you” he chuckled quietly before continuing “Next time you see Neptune Grass, why don’t you ask him to show you the garden he’s been growing, I think you’d like it” A grumble came from the filly’s stomach “but why don’t you go and get some dinner first?”

I watched as the filly nodded, before grabbing her father’s hooves, babbling excitedly about what she wanted to eat, and whether ‘mommy’ would join them, as he walked away pretending to be dragged by the exuberant foal. I smiled sadly, the filly believed so much that she had met her mother but it had to have been some Changeling just playing a part to drain some love, preying on the father’s emotional state.

He brushed past me, an odd expression on his muzzle, before I turned and followed him along the path that separated the ‘beach’ from the stony paths of the hive; it was only about two-hundred metres long but it taken us almost half an hour to cover the entire length, because Barbed Retort had stopped us so often for so many meaningless conversations.

We finally reached the end of the path and I continued to follow him along the rapidly emptying streets, a pale image moon could be seen rising into the ‘sky’ as the sun continued to set.

“Where are we headed now?” I asked, tired of all the time we had wasted as Barbed Retort casually strolled along, his silver armour glowing in the sunset.

“Just one more visit” He replied cheerily as we started to walk up a shallow incline, “And this one shouldn’t involve much talking, I just need to check-up on the Fantasy Chamber”

I stopped as he continued on, humming slightly to himself.

“No” I stated, causing him to stop mid step, one chitinous hoof hovering half an inch from the floor.

“What?”

“No” I repeated, my voice utterly firm, it was the voice I used when rookies wanted to try and scare aware dragons.

“Okay, you’re going to need clarify, because without context, the word ‘no’ can mean a lot of things” he paused for a second “But mostly it means no”

“I am not going in that flesh pit, not with you” I stated my voice still utterly firm.

“I’m touched you’d think of me that way” he chuckled, fluttering his eyelids, as I felt a wave of disgust wash over me, but he continued. “Look, after that incident today, I honestly think it would be best for you and the other guards to work with us in pairs, that means following us on our routes, except in the fungal pits those are actually dangerous”

“I’m not going in there” I responded with all the grace and reason of a foal denied ice-cream.

“We’re not actually going to go in any of the rooms, I just need to talk to the receptionist, see if there’s anything they need, it’s not like we have ponies and ‘lings mating on the floor, we’re not savages, unless that’s want you want.”

“I’m not going in there”

“Look, you can either come in here with me, see that what we’re doing is entirely consensual, or you can sit out like a moody hatchling and continue to try and come up with reasons to demonise us by demonising the lonely, afraid, and rejected ponies who come here for comfort, validation, or a way to let go of something that is eating them away from the inside” his voice was growing sharp, impatient, entirely like a drill sergeant.

“Fine, but can you make this quick?” I responded, lowering my head childishly, as I started to walk uphill again, dragging my hooves over the stone floor as he started walking just in front of me, matching my reluctant pace.

Reaching the top of the hill he turned around to make sure I was still there and hadn’t run away, before he pushed aside a heavy purple curtain with one of his hooves and gestured me in.

Stepping inside the reception room wasn’t what I had expected, although to be honest I didn’t fully know what I had been expecting only that it wasn’t this; soft green, almost black, crystals and polished white marble, smooth velvet high-backed chairs arrayed around dark oak tables, heavy looking bookcases placed against the walls. It put me in mind of one of those smoking clubs that always seemed to show up in colt detective novels; where the rich villains would have their shadowy meeting s about whatever shady scheme they had planned this week. I had seen plenty of these in other meetings where whatever noble would attempt to wine, dine, and bribe me before getting me to turn my head away from whatever shady scheme they had planned this week, they had only attempted this a few times before the word got around I was incorruptible and they had targeted my lieutenants instead, to limited success.

Suffice to say I didn’t like it on moral grounds; looked good though.

I started to look around as Barbed Retort waved to a changeling behind a low desk, before approaching and talking with it in a low voice, occasionally gesturing in my direction.

This continued for a few more minutes as I wandered around before a plaque on a wall next to of the tunnels leading into the rock caught my eye, a plaque with three very telling words.

THE ROYAL CHAMBERS

Pushing aside another curtain, I looked down the tunnel, candlelight illuminating an impressive reproduction of one of the Canterlot Castle majestic hallways curving away through the rock, the occasional pair of ornate looking double doors set in the walls.

Peering down the hallway I could see pictures on each door, but from this angle I could only make out the two of them that were closest.

A replication of Cadance’s crystalline heart and Twily’s magical star cutie marks.

“Like what you see?” I started in place before tumbling through the curtain as Barbed Retort appeared at my side, whispering in my ear, before sniggering at my shock.

“What is this?” I asked the question on my mind fully expecting the answer.

“These are the royal chambers” he smirked “So many of your ponies fantasise about laying with royalty, well besides that Blueblood fop for some reason”, he shrugged confusedly before continuing “but your wife is especially popular”

I could feel my gorge rising, both of my ears lying flat against the back of my head in anger. “You seduce ponies as my wife?!”

“Well not me personally, but she is the princess of lov…” he didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence as my vision filled with red and I felt my magic surge.

<~~***~~>

(Barbed Retort)

My vision filled with pink as something smashed into my snout sending me flying through the curtains to “the royal quarters” before I smashed into the wall opposite, I could feel the stone behind me crunch and splinter slightly before I fell to the ground, wheezing for breath.

The plan had been going so smoothly, get Shining all riled up, and then drain his anger off, before getting him to at least act professionally by leading him into thinking we at least ran a tasteful operation; not the best way to establish a working relationship but just allowing the negative emotions to fester was a far worse idea, considering the fact that he was essentially a walking powder keg of anger by this point. The explosion this early was a surprise; I hadn’t expected him to be curious and had obviously proceeded the wrong way.

I saw Moss Blanket behind the counter start to charge his own horn with a shield spell as I struggled to my hooves, green sparks of healing love dancing under my armour; the few reinforcement spells I had cast before talking to him were paying off with my continued survival being just the first benefit, but I could feel the armour pressing against my chitin where it had been dented by the wall.

I felt the wave of anger ripple through the room, before the curtains flew open, revealing Shining Armour; he floated a few inches off the ground, his hooves dangling uselessly while his eyes glowed with magic, his horn releasing pink arcs of thaumathurgical energy that left burn marks on the floor where they struck.

“You seduce ponies as my wife and my little sister!?”

I barely had time to charge my own horn, releasing the speed spell I had in mind before another wall of pink energy flew towards me before I scrabbled out of the way, my boosted speed just enough to avoid being where the now crushed wall was.

I saw Moss Blanket in the corner of my eyes as he ducked beneath the counter, and heard him in my mind.

What did you do?

Charging my horn to cast another reinforcement spell, I leapt over another sweeping wall of force that Shining threw at me; the pink energy flying through the air scant millimetres under me.

Would you believe me if I told you this is part of my master-plan?

No.

The moment my hooves touched the floor, I leapt again using my reinforced leg muscles, twisting my body in mid-air as I released the spell I had been charging, a simple sticky hooves cantrip which let me cling to the ceiling as Shining released a beam of Telekinetic force at where he had expected me to land.

Moving quickly I sprinted over the ceiling, charging my horn for one last spell before launching myself at Shining, buzzing my barely functional wings for as much speed as they would give me.

The livid unicorn hadn’t expected me to cling to the ceiling and had paused as I moved closer, but his combat training kicked in as I leapt for him, and a beam of pure force ripped forth from his horn.

Which was exactly what I wanted.

The anti-magic spell stored in my horn whispered as it struck against the beam of force, disrupting the focused energy which shot off wildly into the room shattering Shining Armour's already tenuous focus; I could feel my reinforcement spells peeling away as the anti-magic coursed through the area, Moss Blanket’s shield sputtering away, while I ploughed into Shining Armour from above.

Carrying him to the ground, I pushed my horn against his as I started to drain the anger out of him, noting the odd combination of doubt and love that was helping the anger burn as fiercely as it did.

I had barely finished removed the worst of it before the curtains billowed open as Chrysalis hurried into the reception room, her expression worried, and I could feel fear pouring from her, which was odd, the last time she had been afraid to lose control of her emotional walls was before the invasion.

“Barbed Retort, we have an emergency” she said before she stopped and took in the sight of me standing over Shining Armour who was now groaning in magical exhaustion.

“What happened here Barbed Retort?”

“Would you believe part of my master-plan?” I tried, my voice aiming for cheerful, but coming out as insane, just before I felt Shining Armour’s hoof smash into my jaw from underneath me.

Author's Note

Well that just happened.

For those of you who are curious, Shining was pretty much just letting loose with raw magic in anger, meanwhile Barbed spells were, (in order, included prep spells), Force Dispersal, Cat's Grace, Bear's Endurance, Haste, Jump, Spider-climb, and a wild-surge Dispel Magic.

For those of wondering what insanity prompted this plan, have you ever been in a bad mood with a friend, said or done something you regret, made it all awkward, and then made up? that's the plan, just with added remove the anger and try to replace it with something better.

I will not make friends with the typos