(Chrysalis)

Sometimes I wished I could be more like the wasteland Queens, utterly devoid of morals, taking the easy way out by putting my voice into the heads of my swarm, just repeating the words of obedience, sacrifice, conformity.

Usually when these thoughts came I could just lock myself in my chambers with a cake and wait for the feelings to pass, and my advisors to sort out whatever problem had come up that week. Usually I didn’t have to deal with a supremely angry Royal guard screaming about how he would get the princesses to wipe my hive off of the face of the planet. Usually there wasn’t a changeling and an old stallion behind me, using me as a shield.

Another steel clad hoof came down on my desk, the wooden furniture denting underneath the force of the armoured limb while the pure hatred that was spilling forth from Steel Shod’s mouth battered my mental shield. The desk had been expensive, at least for the hive it had been expensive and to watch the callous destruction of my property was starting to grate on what remained of my nerves.

“Captain Steel Shod to what do I owe this surprise visit?” I knew keeping my voice level in this situation wouldn’t be much help, but it made me feel better, and honestly after yesterday’s speech, the constant influx of Changeling’s who had found themselves being harassed by guards, and now this, I just wanted a little bit of that, once so close, warm, fuzzy feeling that everything was as close to pleasant as possible.

“You know damned well why I’m here you sun loathed bug!” The captain screamed at me, causing the two behind me the flinch away from him, I could see Spoken Softly hovering around outside my office, waiting, and most likely praying, to escort the captain away without any violence. “Your insects attacked my guards ponies without any provocation”

I was beginning to grow sceptical that ponies ever remembered we could sense emotions, or that we had lived on deception for almost 30 years before our banishment. All of the elements of a deception were right there, floating through the miasma of hate that surrounded his words, desire, superiority, contempt, smugness, all wrapped up to make the taste of an artificial preservative without any of the substance.

“Captain Steel Shod, if any of my swarm, or the ponies who live with us, had attacked your guards without provocation do you honestly think I would withhold them from punishment” the unicorn continued to sneer at me “But according to several witnesses your guards openly attacked Kick-Back in a flagrant abuse of their authority and in complete abuse of the laws of my Hive”

Those words were a mistake, the sudden surge of hostility, of rage, of pure unbridled hate howled against my mental shields with fury of the Windigo lords, and I could feel Severed Bonds start to shiver against my hind legs, Kick-Back doing his best to comfort her.

“Your Hive only exists because the Princesses have allowed it to! You dare to think you have any authority over me, I am a Captain of the Solar Guard!” He all but howled his rage, and I wondered if only the Princesses actually had the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“You are a guest here” I hissed back, not allowing him to continue his tirade “And I am disgusted in your behaviour, as I imagine your Princesses would be if they were here to see one of their ‘little’ ponies acting like a deranged grub”

“You have no right to talk about my Princess like you understand her” the Unicorn screamed back.

“Just as you have no right to order the denizens of my Hive!” my voice was matching his for volume now, the loose papers on my desk fluttering and whispering under the storm “If I still had the means to contact your Princesses I would demand your involvement in this event be terminated and somepony with the ability to control their temperament and their subordinates be your replacement.” my voice faltered and I could see the Unicorn gearing up for his own exchange in our verbal battle before I cut him off again.

“I am putting this matter to rest for now, however when your Princesses arrive they will know of this” I gestured a hoof at the door behind him “do not let me detain you.” my voice had returned to a low hiss now as he glared daggers at me

“You think you can just dismiss me?”

“I think you didn’t understand me, you are responsible for everything your guards do while you are here as guests, do not make me enforce your more permanent housing in the barracks we have given you. I would hate to explain to Celestia that her guards couldn’t enjoy some of our ‘Sun, Sand and Surf’ due to being unable to act with any discipline”, another blast of hatred, another piece of me not caring, this was almost getting boring now and I wanted to care for my child and her charge. “Do not let the door hit you on the way out”

Spoken Softly, please enter.

The surge in raw rage was expected, but before the unicorn could finish drawing the breath, the door to my office swung open at the behemoth’s hooves, the sudden presence startling both of the unicorns who could not hear the thought-speak, Severed Bonds trying to reassure the old stallion behind me as he flinched.

“Spoken Softly, please escort Steel Shod back to the barracks with his ponies, I need some time to arrange the reports and decide on an appropriate course of action without letting my emotions get the better of me.” I didn’t bother to look at the Captain as the behemoth wrapped a hulking hoof around his neck with the minimum of force to not drag the furious unicorn from the room, just gently persuade him to follow his own head lest it get torn from his shoulders.

Taking a moment to clear my head of the cloud of negative emotions still floating around it I heard the door click shut and the shuffling of hooves behind me as Severed Bonds and Kick-Back edged away from me, as I took deep, calming, breaths, gathering my thoughts as I planned and schemed.

Vigil, Hyacinth, I want both of you to watch over our Royal Guests until I’m done with today’s business, I trust you can deal with any immediate emergencies that emerge for the next I glanced at the strange clock hanging from my wall before realising just how late it had gotten, thirty minutes.

I snorted as I turned to the pair that had been huddling behind me, both of them now hanging their heads like guilty little hatchlings, I could feel the shame, regret, and fear pulsing from Kick-Back as he glanced upwards at me, then to Severed Bonds who had gone back to her pony disguise, her own cloud of worry oozing through the air around the tip of her horn as her eyes flickered around the room.

“I am not angry with the two of you, that emotion is being reserved for our guests” I relaxed my posture slightly, lowering my head just enough to look them in the eyes even if they didn’t meet my gaze “I am however disappointed with both of you, both of you lacked control in a moment when control was desperately needed” the unicorn glanced up at me, anger flashing across his emotions for a second before it faded while Severed just continued to stare glumly at the floor.

“The way they spoke, it was nae right” Kick-Back grumbled.

“And I’m touched that you’d care so strongly” I put a hoof under his chin and lifted it so he was looking me in the eyes “I’m proud that you took your duty to protect Kick-Back so strongly” I repeated the action for Severed Bonds, trying to look as kind as a five hoof tall, chitinous, fanged, monstrosity could “Neither of you are to blame for this mess, and I’ll stand by the both of you regardless of what that pompous flank-kisser tells the Princesses”

I felt a rush of gratitude wash over me as the two continued to look into my eyes.

“However for your own protection, I will be having one of my soldiers watching you and your house, and I ask that you try to stay inside a much as possible, these Royal Guards are acting to some sort of agenda and I am worried that they might try to make an example out of you two with this incident” I tried to look as serious as I could, masking my own worries and concerns, letting the pony and the disguised changeling before me know that everything was fine, given the situation.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t expect the Guard to do something like this, noling could have expected this, but if they try something like this again no force, not even the Princesses, will stop my fury” I didn’t feel the same conviction that my words had, even as I stood up to the gesture the pair out of my office. There was so much riding on this and if this was some sort of test from Celestia it was in poor spirit at this point.

It couldn’t be the assassination that was provoking this behaviour; that had been kept a tightly lipped secret between Shining Armour, Barbed Retort, and Myself to avoid any panic, and Steel Shod certainly would have howled it for all to hear if he thought it would hurt my swarm.

I sat with my thoughts as the illusionary sun continued to set outside, this day had been too long already, and I had the sinking suspicion that I was not done yet, even after I received Vigil and Hyacinth’s report.

I didn’t notice as Harsh Words slipped through the door, until the cup of tea landed on my desk, placed neatly on the spot where I had been staring a hole into the wood; the soft clunk of the heavy mug against the thick wood breaking through my thoughts.

Looking up at my assistant I wondered what was going through her head, was she as worried as I was? Did she trust me to pull us through this mess? did she think that this was a bad idea and we should just sink back into the shadows again and live like the parasites that the I had brought us here to escape?

“What do you think I should do?” the question caught her off guard, and I could hear her breath catch in shock; apparently she had just hoped I wouldn’t notice the gently steaming mug on my desk or the cloud of concern that had suffused through the room.

“What do you want to do my Queen?”

The answer wasn’t entirely unexpected, Harsh Words had the habit of answering my questions with questions, and she was one of the few Changelings I felt comfortable venting to.

“What I want is to geld that thrice-accursed stallion with his bucking horn, I want things to get better, not worse, I want my swarm to be happy and well fed, I want to wake up in the morning and not have to worry each and every day that one emergency could wipe out our food stores, I want to ask Celestia what she’s thinking sending those guards here when we’ve already proven we can live with her little ponies” I took a deep shuddering breath as I ran out of steam “I want to know how to make things better, and punch somepony”

I continued to stare at the cup of tea sitting on my desk; while the Solar Alicorn was thought to drink nothing but the stuff I didn’t think she would approve of my particular blend, the bitter, scorching tannic drink was enough to wake the dead, and the sugar and milk I added did nothing to take away from the flavour, only add to it. Stygian might have been too kind a word.

I had been staring at the cup long enough for my assistant to find her answer, and my ears perked up as she started to speak.

“My Queen, I don’t know what you should do, all I’ve ever done is care for the little hatchlings, I don’t make their decisions for them, I let them do whatever they will do, and once the dust settles the tears are coming down I pick them up, dust them off, kiss them better and remind them that no matter what they do I care for them” she paused just for a second and I broke away from staring at the steam rising from my tea to look at her “No matter what happens when the dust settles, the swarm will stand by you.”

“It almost sounds like you practised that speech” I responded.

“I’d tell that to all the Hatchlings when they asked me what they should choose at their final moult, just that it was their choice to make and I’d be proud of them no matter what they chose, but that doesn’t mean I don’t mean what I said, we will stand by you, come Tempest or Tartarus”

I lifted the cup in my telekinesis, before taking a sip from it as my assistant flattened her ears in embarrassment, her tail flickering about in nervousness, as we both sat there in silence, our emotions saying everything that words couldn’t.

“Thank you for the tea, Harsh Words” I paused for a moment as an idea floated through my head, and a smile floated across my lips “Once you are done with your business for the evening could I impose on you to go and keep an eye on Kick-Back and Severed Bonds, I promised I’d have someling I trusted watch over them in case of any foolish thoughts of revenge by our guests”

“I would do so gladly my Queen” my own smile was matched with a sense of almost childish glee coming from my assistant, I could almost see the plans forming behind her blank blue eyes, and I almost felt pity for any of the Royal Guards idiotic enough to approach the pair after this meeting, almost.

I floated a group of paper from my desk to her as she prepared to leave, still smiling.

“Could you please pass these on to one of the messenger drones as you leave” a nod, the flicker of exchanging telekinetic fields, and the click of my door as I was left alone again, this time with hopeful thoughts.

Vigil, Hyacinth, what are our guests doing now?

Our Queen, the captain has gathered his forces in the barracks that Barbed Retort allowed them to use, it has already been warded so we cannot listen in on their conversation, however the mood has been swinging between grim determination and violent hatred for some time now.

What are our own forces like?

Not including Captain Barbed Retort, or us, we have two Praetorians; if we include temporary Captain Spoken Softly we have four Behemoths, and ten regular drone soldiers, in addition we have Assassin Harsh Words if she can be convinced to leave your side. We are outnumbered two-to-one.

Harsh Words is going to be watching over Kick-Back and Severed Bonds after today’s incident.

We see.

The thought-link was quiet for a moment; the only ‘sound’ being the regular background hum of the Swarm’s conversation, before I came to a decision, and opened the conversation to another member of my hive.

Little Secret, how many Infiltrators can be spared from their normal duties at the moment?

M-my Queen, currently thirty five Infiltrators are without purpose at the moment

Vigil, Hyacinth, keep an eye on the captain until tomorrow morning, do not put yourselves at risk unless completely necessary; Little Secret, I want you to choose the twenty most talented Infiltrators before ‘dawn’ tomorrow and have them report to Vigil and Hyacinth where they will be monitoring our guests for any more suspect behaviour so that we can avoid more of these incidents

Yes, Our Queen

I dropped my mind out of the hive-link, quieting those all-encompassing voices to a soft buzz in the back of my mind, and sipped at my tea again.

<~~***~~>

(Barbed Retort)

I sipped at the cardboard cup of coffee that I had gripped in my fetlock as I sauntered along on three legs; flavoured syrup was something that we desperately needed back in the Hive, I could feel the stares as I hobbled my way through the castle gates with nothing but a nod and a smile.

Something told me that dishevelled looking unicorns in coffee stained long-coats were usually turned away on sight, could’ve just been my imagination though, maybe the Guard badge they had forced me to wear around my neck was causing consternation, maybe rumours had spread about the ‘altercation’ at the train station, maybe my ‘cutie mark’ was showing, I didn’t smell bad, at least I didn’t smell any worse than I normally did, did I?

I didn’t notice as my hooves started to crunch gravel, instead sniffing at myself, I didn’t smell any worse than normal, although I could do with a good bath soon.

Making my way through the gardens, only stopping to pull a doughnut out of the saddlebags that I had borrowed, not stolen, I could see the guard recruits fumbling their way through weapon training, the shouting of buck sergeants despairing over their charges seemingly complete inability to wield anything properly bringing me back to my own training, unhappy times.

The cloud of disappointment, and occasional pain as some recruits stabbed themselves in the hoof, faded behind me as I pushed my way into the guard barracks, following the trail of frustration that led me to Shining Armour’s office, a cloud of papers spinning around his head as he tried to sort through the pile of bank papers that Wind Cloak had left behind her.

“Coffee, doughnuts?” I asked as he turned to look at me, his eyes haggard with the pressure of paperwork, as he started to mouth words, only managing to speak on his third attempt.

“Where have you been?”

“Getting coffee and doughnuts” I thought the answer was obvious as he stared at me.

“You’ve been gone for two hours!”

“Well Donut Joe's isn’t exactly in a prime location to the palace, and there was the usual dinner rush, and then I helped an old mare across the road, and then I helped get a cat down from a tree, and then…” I stopped as a tendril of telekinesis wrapped around my muzzle effectively silencing me.

“You could have gone to the castle kitchens!” Shining Armour started to pant as I pushed and pulled at the band of force wrapped around my muzzle, before it snapped off, “why didn’t you go to the castle kitchens?”

“Needed the walk” I lied, while I had to admit that Canterlot was an impressive city to walk around, not architecturally, the castle dominated the city too much for the individual buildings to be that impressive, but the sense of scale alone had always taken my breath away; a city dominated by a castle, dominated by a mountain, dominated by the sky. All of which had been dominated by ponies. That wasn't the reason I had been gone so long.

“Any progress with this lot?” I shimmied out of the saddlebags gently leveraging them down to the ground as Shining Armour levitated another steaming cup of coffee, the closed lid the only reason that my loaned saddlebags weren’t soaked all the way through.

A shuddering sip was followed by a rush of bliss, the coffee would still be as hot as it was when I bought it; magical insulating cups were a great thing.

“And that’s why I went to Joe’s” I muttered to myself while I slipped the box of doughnuts onto the desk before sifting through the top layer of papers, while Shining just lent back into his chair; the cup pressed against his snout like the lips of a loved one.

I was almost about to repeat my question to the blissed out unicorn before the door opened and an utterly massive earth pony stuck his head through.

“Hey Lover colt, I got the reports in from those restaurants you wanted us to visit” his voice was oddly sophisticated, before he caught a glimpse of his captain and he started to smirk all sophistication falling away from his voice, “Is there something you ain’t telling me about that coffee cup Lover colt, is it a Changeling Queen in disguise?”

I leant back slightly fully expecting another wave of disgust or rage, but all I got was embarrassment as he started to to stutter through a mouthful of coffee, which was odd. None of the guards had broached the subject of his time in the Hive, and he had kept his terse attitude with me; maybe being back ‘home’ was helping him relax.

“So, what’ve you got for us?” I spoke over the coughing unicorn as Bulwark turned to look at me.

“The cap got me to follow up on a couple of places where the victim visited regularly, receipts every-other week, dunno why” I did, a scan of Wind Cloak’s stomach contents had shown she’d been pumped full of love which had helped to power the changeling magic on her, “turns out she’d visit every week for the last six months, right after the summit was announced, with a different friend each week, her friend would pay every other week, looking at the paperwork each of these different friends paid using the same bank account, and if that don’t smell like seapony I dunno what does”

Sloppy, sloppy wasteland changeling, the red-tape of the banking system would be your downfall.

“Meanwhile, most of the funding for ‘Change of Heart’” Shining Armour paused in his exposition as I groaned at the name of her changeling charity “comes from a subsidiary of Jet-Set travels, Jet Set has been one of the most vocal anti-changeling influences in the Canterlot noble circle making his involvement just a little odd.”

“So we’ve got a group of mysterious friends all using the same account meeting regularly with the victim, and a noble financially supporting a charity for a species that he keeps demonising?” the questions floated overhead “Sounds like we’ve got our leads” I looked over at Shining Armour as pieces floated together in my head. “How do you feel about schmoozing it up with the nobility?”

Author's Note

Come Tempest or Tartarus is the pony version of Hell or High-Water, as Hell doesn’t “exist” in MLP (being replaced by Tartarus), and the tempest part is just to keep the alliteration part going, the Germane have “Sturm und Strang” (actual real-life German saying, means Storm and Stress), and the Shetlanders have “Raiders and Revelers”, in reference to the two people you never want to see show-up on your doorstep at 2 A.M.

For those who appreciate manly nicknames Shining Armour’s nickname among his guards and his friends is “Lover colt”, due to his marriage, he wishes it was otherwise.

This chapter might have been one of the worst to write, that bit with Chrysalis, Steel "Rough" Shod, Kick-Back, Severed Bonds, and Harsh Words took me a full week, and I kinda rushed through the second half at several 2.A.M's, already making good progress with Chapter 7 though.