Twilight Sparkle Becomes a Changeling Queen, Book 1

by bahatumay

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Gore, Changelings, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Adventure, Sex
Length: 31603

Twilight Sparkle has been through some interesting changes in her life. She wasn't quite ready for this one.

There is only one real rule regarding changeling royalty: there must always be a queen. Twilight Sparkle is about to learn this through personal experience.

Originally written for an X Becomes a Changeling prompt almost three years ago.
Set after season three.

Published 2016-01-09 10:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-07-13 15:16:32 UTC

Chapter 1

On the borders of the thriving city of Canterlot, two guardsponies, one pegasus and one unicorn, stood watch over the gateway. Ever since the changeling invasion, guard patrols had been increased, which meant a lot of patrols—and a lot of overtime. This also meant that the guards were more tired, and thus more easily distracted. Luckily, at this time, they were passing the time and paying attention to their surroundings by using a tried and true method, passed down from time immemorial by guards of years and eras gone by.

“I spy something... yellow,” the unicorn said.

“Is it your armor?”

“...Yes. How did you know?”

The pegasus fought hard to keep from facehoofing. “Because that's the only thing you've said for the past three turns. Think of something new already.”

The unicorn huffed. “Ok, fine… Let’s see. I spy... Is that a changeling?”

The pegasus rolled his eyes. “That's not how the game is played, you moron.”

“No, I'm serious. Look.”

The pegasus snorted derisively, but decided to humor his companion. When he turned and looked, his jaw dropped.

Sure enough, along the path walked a single changeling. It wore a white cloth on its horn, and a sign hanging from a cord wrapped around its neck.

“It really is,” the pegasus whispered.

“Toldja.”

“What is it doing?”

“Looks like it's coming this way.”

The unicorn readied his spear. “If it wants a fight, it'll get it!” he promised. “I'm still bitter about the invasion! I'll never forgive those changelings for what they did to me!”

The pegasus sighed. “You slipped on some slime and knocked yourself out before they even touched you.”

“Irrelevant!” the unicorn scoffed.

There was a pause.

“I don't think it's here to fight,” the pegasus said. “Look at the sign.”

The unicorn squinted. “I can’t see that far. Pegasi have better eyesight. What does it say?”

“It looks like it says, 'please take me to Celestia'.”

The unicorn lowered his spear. “Is it turning itself in?”

“It appears so.”

Both looked at each other. Of all the changelings they had seen post-invasion, the grand majority had been attempting to flee Canterlot; not show up at its doorstep.

But sure enough, here came the changeling. Although changelings always looked a little thin and grubby, this one really did look as though it had been through the wringer. Its chitin looked dull and its wings limp and wrinkled. Still, it walked firmly up, presented itself in front of the guards, and then sat and waited patiently.

“Well,” the pegasus finally said. “Let's get him inside, I guess.”

* * *

Princess Twilight was reviewing the protocol for working with the griffon ambassadors when there came a knock at the door. She calmly marked her place and slid off the bed. Trotting over to the door, she opened it to see a guardspony standing there.

“Yes?” Twilight greeted him.

“Your Highness, Princess Celestia has requested your presence in the throne room immediately.”

Twilight froze except for her wings, which flared out in fear. “Oh no! I’m still not done reviewing! I’m still on what to do if I’m offered meat! What if there’s a griffon in there and she wants to test me?” She grabbed the guardspony and shook him dramatically. “I’m not ready for that test! I’m going to fail!”

The guardspony, who was by now used to these outbursts, gently removed her hooves and set them on the ground. “There is no griffon. I did, however, see a changeling.”

Twilight’s eyebrow raised. “Changeling?”

* * *

Sure enough, when Twilight entered the throne room, the first thing she saw was a changeling chained to the ground. He—at least, it might have been a he—turned to look at her and shuffled a bit at her arrival, but said nothing. Twilight noticed with some apprehension that the loops his chains attached to were built into the floor itself, and briefly wondered how many others had worn those bonds.

"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia warmly greeted her former student. "We've been waiting for you."

’We’? Twilight looked over and saw Princess Luna also there, looking none too pleased at being awake at this hour. Or maybe it was the fact that one of the creatures who had invaded her land was now standing in front of her. Luna was still slightly bitter about the whole changeling incident, although Celestia and Twilight had both tried to convince her otherwise. It really wasn't her fault that her estrous cycle had begun during the week of the wedding and she had had to voluntarily exile herself from Canterlot.

Twilight shook these thoughts off and walked over to the dais, taking her throne next to Celestia.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"You know as much as I," Celestia admitted, her smile fading slightly. "He arrived and requested an audience. That is as far as we have gotten."

Twilight nodded and shifted her weight slightly.

"Very well," Luna said, her voice loud and commanding. "We are here. Speak."

The changeling nodded. He leaned forward and attempted to flare magic, but the suppressor on his horn redirected it into a feedback loop. The sharp smell of ozone filled the air, and he collapsed in pain, unable to even rub his horn.

"You think he came here just to attack?" Twilight asked quietly.

"No. I am sure there is more to this," Celestia whispered back.

The changeling struggled to his hooves. “Hermouf sinit ihnoa frifs nighzyeh!” he protested.

All three alicorns cocked their heads.

“Do you think they have their own language?” Twilight asked.

The changeling nodded, muttering, “Henoa nachit.”

Right. Dumb question.

“Are you even able to speak our language?”

The changeling nodded, and then an idea occurred to him. He made a writing motion with his mouth.

Celestia nodded and gestured at the recorder nearby. She flinched, then realized that that had been a silent request. Picking up a spare piece of paper and a pencil, she hesitantly stepped down from her spot and nervously walked over. She made it nearly all the way there before her nerve failed her, and she dropped the supplies and retreated. It was a bit too far, so she darted forward, kicked them over a bit closer, and then retreated again, not wanting to be in the changeling’s radius of attack.

Though the paper was nearly out of reach, the changeling nodded his thanks, and stretched out as far as the chains would permit him to pick up the pencil. Celestia shifted the paper forward with a little flick of magic, and he nodded his thanks to her as well.

Now that he had what he needed, he sketched out a crude drawing of a changeling and a speech bubble with strange, wedge-shaped letters, and then a stick figure of a pony saying, ‘I am Bruch’ in legible letters. He held it up for the three to see.

Luna squinted as she studied the drawing. “It appears that he requires a pony form to speak our language," she decided.

The changeling nodded his head vigorously.

Luna lit her horn and lifted up on the little strap attached to the magic suppressor, removing it from his horn. "Then assume a form and speak. But be warned, if you use your magic for other purposes, you will find that it is not just the power of love that can send a changeling flying."

The changeling had the decency to look slightly cowed at the threat. Scanning the room, he took in the princesses, the guards, and finally closed his eyes. Green fire flared up around his body, and when it cleared, there stood a lavender unicorn with two stripes in her purple mane.

Before he could speak, Celestia cut him off. "No," she said coldly.

(S)he nodded before flaring again. Now there stood a lavender unicorn with two stripes in his purple mane.

"No."

"It's easiest if I have a target," the changeling explained quietly.

Twilight wasn't sure if she should be offended or flattered that the changeling had chosen her form, but after hearing the male version of her voice, decided on the second.

Luna was not as impressed, nor was she feeling particularly sympathetic. "Then make one up. And fast."

Sending that he was quickly using up patience that he desperately needed, he transformed again, and now there stood an earth pony stallion with a simple, nondescript red coat and a messy brown mane.

“Much better.”

Twilight decided to open the discussion with a question. “I see that you had your own writing language. Is that your own language for the transcript?”

The changeling nodded. “It is.”

“I’m surprised,” Luna murmured. “It seems quite advanced for your kind.”

The changeling narrowed his eyes. “If you're implying that we are savages, I must forcefully disagree. Remember, we infiltrated your country—along with many others—for over a thousand years without getting caught. Even the weakest changeling can take on any disguise, and we learn how to impersonate ponies of any age with striking accuracy."

Luna raised an eyebrow, but merely said, “I see. I stand corrected.”

Twilight poked her head up. "Then it stands to reason that you have your own fine arts as well," she said. “Writing and art…?”

“Did,” the changeling corrected bitterly. “We’re not much for painting or things like that, but our sculpting rivals the unicorns and our poetry outstrips that of the griffons. But ever since Queen Chrysalis came to power, those things have been pushed to the side in favor of things like war, espionage, subversion... She is not the wisest leader.”

“So that's why you're here,” Celestia surmised. "She has not lead the way you want."

The changeling shook his head again, and a dark look crossed his face. “I'm here because she killed my wife and shattered my egg. Vengeance, justice, call it what you will.”

“Your wife?” Twilight asked.

She didn't explain what she meant by that question, but the changeling understood. “We reproduce like ponies, monogamous relationships, except we lay eggs instead of live birth.”

“Fascinating,” Twilight whispered, the fires of research already lighting in her eyes. She reached subconsciously for paper and quill that weren't there. "How many per clutch?"

He frowned. "One, sometimes two; but that's not relevant in the slightest."

Celestia, on the other hoof, was more interested in the here and now. “You are here committing treason, then.”

His eyes hardened. “You don't know what it's like,” he accused softly. “You don't know what it is to starve. You don't know how hard it is for a female to lay eggs while starving, how severely it drains her to care for her young. She does. She rallied us to war anyway. She single-hoofedly killed half our population. She called my wife to war even though she was weak from laying eggs." His voice cracked ever so slightly. "Years and years we tried for offspring. She finally conceived and laid two and now? Now she is dead. My eggs are broken; without her care they didn't stand a chance. And Chrysalis has the audacity to rally us to war again? To attack a country we already lost to? She is no longer my queen.”

Celestia nodded, her face a stone mask even as she processed that warning. “What are you offering?”

“I am willing to betray the hive's location, and by extension queen Chrysalis.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Here comes the bargaining part,” she muttered.

“I will do so on condition of amnesty for me and those who feel like I do. Those who no longer wish to be lead by Chrysalis.”

Celestia nodded. “And how many of you are there?”

The changeling swallowed nervously, knowing he was about to break open quite the stinkpod. “Not quite seven.”

Luna was not fooled. “And?” she prompted.

“That is not counting the nearly two thousand more remaining members of the hive who will join when Chrysalis is defeated.”

Had Twilight been drinking something, she definitely would have spat it out. She did cough and splutter a bit, though.

Celestia and Luna, however, kept on their expressionless, diplomatic faces. “I see,” Celestia said. “Allow us time to deliberate. You may leave us.”

The changeling looked down at his bonds and looked back up at the alicorns, cocking his head in confusion.

“Oh. Right,” Celestia grinned with a modicum of sheepishness. “Force of habit; most petitioners are not chained… Well, remain there.” Rearing up, she lit her horn, forming a protective golden bubble around the three princesses for private discussion.

As soon as it landed, Twilight released the breath she didn’t know she had been holding and shook her head. “Thousands? Thousands of changelings? Here in Canterlot?”

“They wouldn’t all have to live here,” Celestia said. “The majority, if not all, could stay in the hive where they came from.”

Luna shook her head. “We would be removing their queen, and possibly causing mass destruction there. If they resist, their hive could be destroyed and uninhabitable. They would have to come here and learn to live under our laws. I see no other option besides destroying them completely.”

“After what they did? Nopony’s going to accept them. Or forgive them,” Twilight said sadly.

Luna coughed once, pointedly.

Twilight blushed. “Oh. Right.”

“Either way, the question remains. Do we take the offer?” Celestia asked.

Twilight tried to reason this situation out. “Well, let's look at the pros and cons here. Pros, we eliminate a threat to Equestria.”

“As a former threat, I do not know if I like this plan,” Luna interrupted. "We do not know how much of a threat Chrysalis even is."

“She is planning another attack,” Celestia pointed out.

“We don’t know that,” Luna protested. “He has a personal vendetta against the queen. Perhaps he is blinded by pain and desires revenge. Perhaps the changeling queen is merely licking her wounds and no longer has set her desires on Equestria, and we would attack unprovoked.”

“Why would he travel all this way, then?” Twilight asked.

“It could be a trap,” Luna suggested. “Leading one or all of us to a painful destruction.”

“That is a possibility,” Twilight conceded. “Also, the sight of us cavorting with a known enemy of Canterlot won’t look very good to the nobles.”

Luna’s snort of derision was quick, but indicated clearly just how little she cared about the frumpy nobility and their opinions, and just where exactly they could stick them.

It was quite the powerful snort.

Celestia looked at her fellow alicorns. "So what shall we do?"

Twilight suddenly looked up. "I have an idea."

* * *

The golden bubble dissolved into nothing and the three alicorns returned to their thrones.

Celestia was the first to speak. "We have reached an agreement."

The changeling looked up hopefully.

"We have decided to discuss your offer more fully with the leaders of the Guard."

The changeling sighed in relief.

"Do not celebrate just yet," Luna warned. "We have not agreed to your terms. You will be removed to the dungeons." Luna's voice hardened. "And your actions there will show how truthful you are."

The changeling stammered a bit. "The second attack is coming sometime next week. She probably already knows I’m here, and might attack sooner if she feels she has lost the element if surprise. How long will it take?"

"I know not," Luna answered loftily.

The changeling swallowed. "V- very well,” he said. "If that is as good as it will get."

"They do say beggars cannot be choosers," Luna observed dispassionately. "Revert to your changeling form."

He did so. At Celestia's nod, the guards returned the inhibitor ring and unhooked his chains from the floor.

"Thank you," Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but say.

The changeling's face bore no discernible emotion as he was dragged away.

* * *

The changeling sat dispassionately in the cell, barely reacting to anything. The ambient emotions here were mostly despair and frustration, neither of which made for appetizing meals, so he mostly just sat there numbly.

"Hello, Bruch."

Until this. His head shot up, and his eyes widened as he heard his own language spoken. Changeling language was a little harsh on a pony’s throat, so hearing that meant...

"H- hey, hivemate. What's up?" he greeted the guard.

"Spare me the formalities," the solar guard growled, reverting to speaking Equestrian as he circled the cage like a shark watching its prey. "Oh, I've Just been standing guard, protecting the alicorns...” His voice hardened. “Watching a traitor to the hive waltz in here and try to betray the queen!"

"The queen has already betrayed us!" Bruch argued. "Under the alicorns we get a ghost of a chance to survive!"

"The queen’s new invasion will work. You are a fool for distrusting her."

"And you a greater fool for blindly trusting her!"

“Enough! Chrysalis has ordered me to ensure this invasion will succeed at all costs.”

”With what army?” Bruch turned away. “We’re destroyed already. Our eggs lie in shards, our warriors are weak, and our population is dying.”

“You’re a talkative little chitin slag, aren’t you? Defeatist! Traitor!” The guard spat angrily and lit his horn... and was blindsided by a purple blast that knocked him into the wall. Bruch sprang to the bars and saw Twilight Sparkle fade into existence. He turned and saw the changeling, now devoid of his disguise and recognizable as one he knew as Drict, laying on the ground. Bruch could almost see the little canaries flying around his head.

Twilight turned to Bruch. “You were right,” she said, almost as if in shock.

Bruch shrugged. “Veij voff.”

Twilight assumed he had agreed with her. “How many more are impersonating our guard?” she asked.

Bruch shook his head slowly and spread his hooves, indicating ignorance.

Twilight frowned. “Then we need a test. Something specific. Something that any changeling would react to.”

And as Bruch watched a slow smile spread across Twilight’s face, he had a sinking feeling that he was about to become a test subject, and a cold shiver ran up his back.

Chapter 2

A small platoon of Solar guards stood at attention, their backs facing the exterior wall, as Twilight paced in front in front of them. The princess may have still been fairly new to this whole leading thing, but the expression in her eyes made it clear that she was here for important business, and every guard was in proper, upright position.

"Gentlecolts, I have troubling news. We have reason to believe that the changelings have infiltrated the Guard," she began.

The guards stood stoically, as if they hadn't heard; though a few couldn't suppress scowls or eye twitches.

Twilight continued. "Therefore, there will be a test, in an attempt to expose them. Every guard must submit to this test, upon pain of discharge."

The guards didn't react to this, either.

"It will be a rather intensive test. But then again, I expect only the best of the Canterlot Guard."

A tiny flicker of pride might have flickered over a couple of faces.

Twilight exhaled. "We have received intelligence that the changelings are preparing another attack, and it is of the utmost importance that we are prepared."

One guard licked his lips nervously.

"After all, upon your shoulders rides the safety of not only our regents Princesses Celestia and Luna, but in fact every pony living here in Canterlot and, by extension, all of Equestria."

Another guard's eyes flicked around the room rapidly.

"It is a great responsibility, but I believe I can rest easy tonight, knowing that Canterlot's finest in the Solar Guard are guarding me."

A guard noticeably puffed his chest out a bit. The second guard flinched and his eyes shifted.

"And furthermore, it is imperative that the Guard be on..."

A body-shaking shiver rose up the guard’s back, and he grit his teeth.

Twilight spun and shot a blast of energy at him, knocking the changeling in disguise back and slamming him into the wall. Before he could react, Twilight had cast another spell, this one more of a beam, and with a flash of purple light, the changeling slumped to the ground, no longer disguised.

Twilight raised a hoof and calmed the startled guards. "Relax. This is all under control."

Two Lunar Guards faded into view, chained up the changeling, and faded back into the shadows, dragging the feebly-struggling changeling behind them.

Twilight turned to the assembled guards. "That was our test. Thank you for your participation. Go to the east ballroom and remain there until further instruction."

The guards saluted and filed out, many noticeably shaken that there had been a changeling in their midst.

Twilight waited until the last guard had left before slumping over, breathing hard. That had been stressful. There was only so much she could do to stall for time; thinking on her hooves was not her strongest quality. She wiped her brow, only now realizing how drained she felt. Still, Twilight was glad she’d figured out how to get a reaction (even if it had been somewhat unintentional). While the Lunar guard had all passed the test without incident, this had been Solar guard changeling number seven already, and this was only the fifth squadron. Who knew how many more there were?

She walked over to the window and looked down through the purple bubble at her brother and his wife. "Good news. We got another one!" she called.

Shining Armor lay on his back, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Like his name, his body was shining; but that was only because he was covered in sweat and various other bodily fluids (at least, what part of him was visible under the blanket they had demanded for privacy purposes). Cadence had slightly better poise as she was sitting up as regally as she could; but this effort was ruined by the fact that she was having a little trouble keeping her body steady, her eyes seemed to be unfocused, and she was also soaked in various liquids with her sweaty mane resembling more a ruined pink haystack than anything else.

Shining caught sight of his sister and cocked his head.

"Oh, right," Twilight blushed. "Soundproof bubble." She lit her horn and cancelled the bubble. "We got another live one! That makes seven in all!"

Shining nodded shakily. “Great. I'm happy for you. Really, I am. But as much as I'm… enjoying this… could you maybe give us a couple minutes to recover before the next squad? Please?”

Twilight averted her eyes, and not just because of the musky scent that rose up from the balcony. "Sorry! One more platoon and then lunch break. Promise."

Cadence nodded hesitantly. "Good, because I can already tell that I won't be walking comfortably anywhere for a couple of days."

Shining smiled weakly before turning back towards Twilight. “Are you sure there was no other option?” he asked. “I mean, it's not like I'm complaining or anything, but I’m kindof… complaining. And I’m exhausted.” He was starting to regret taking Cadence up on her offer of a good time in a closet near the dungeon. Apparently, both Bruch and the other changeling had had a reaction to Cadence’s climax. That had been awkwardness all around.

“And I’m not?” Cadence jabbed playfully, slumping over and resting her head on Shining’s heaving chest. She set a hoof on his stomach and looked up, giving him a gentle smile. “At least I’m just tired and not disappointed.”

Shining grinned and brought up a shaky hoof to gently stroke her mane, earning a quiet nicker of contentment from her.

Twilight coughed uncomfortably. “Yes, well… I didn’t have time to test if any other ponies’ copulation would have the same result.”

Cadence and Shining Armor shared a knowing (if somewhat exasperated) look. She would turn sex into a science project.

Her voice trailed off. “And I didn’t have… anypony else to ask. So it wasn’t even really a test, more of an accident that you happened to be… yeah… there in the dungeon. But still. It got a reaction!” she finished brightly.

“They’re not the only ones getting a reaction,” Cadence said cheekily, nudging Shining Armor.

Shining pointedly pretended to be too exhausted to reply.

“Thanks so much again,” Twilight said as she turned to leave. “Ten minute breather and then the next platoon comes in, so get ready.”

Shining Armor’s jaw dropped as she pulled the soundproof bubble back up. “Ten minu-?! She’s obviously never had sex before,” Shining Armor complained. "This was not in the fine print of our marriage agreement."

He was joking, of course. Their agreement had been oral, and had consisted of both parties promising to love, cherish, and comfort the other, and to make the other laugh daily*. Cadence nuzzled his side gently. “You’re doing great. You’re pleasing your princess—which was in our agreement—and that’s what counts.”

“Which one?” Shining teased. "I've got a couple princesses in my life now."

Cadence jabbed him with her horn. “Hey now,” she protested. "I'd better be your top priority."

Shining grinned and pawed at Cadence's cutie mark. “Trust me. You on top is fine by me.”

Back up in the testing room, Twilight paused. She was vaguely certain she had heard the sound of a playful slap.

*  *  *

Twilight, Luna, and Celestia sat stoically as Bruch, with chains covering his body again, was brought back into the throne room.

"Remove the inhibitor ring," Celestia ordered.

The guard to his left obeyed, grabbing the strap with his mouth and pulling it off.

"Bruch the changeling," Celestia started. "You came to us with an offer to betray your kind to us."

The changeling crinkled his snout, obviously taking mild offense to the 'your kind' part, but otherwise made no motion.

"Owing to the information you provided, we have found no less than twenty changelings infiltrating the ranks of the Solar Guard, some at high ranks. We have not even begun to scan the general population, or even others in the castle."

The changeling nodded.

"We have decided that the invasion is indeed plausible, and that it would be in our best interest to accept your offer."

Bruch smiled, his fangs poking out from his lips. He flared green fire again and there stood the nondescript red stallion. "I am glad to hear it."

"We will be setting up a special task force, led by a squad hoof-picked by captain Shining Armor and led by our own Princess Twilight Sparkle, to perform a counter-operation."

Twilight did a double-take. "Wh-? Me?" She looked at Celestia, who nodded and smiled comfortingly. She spun towards Luna, who gestured onward with a hoof and had a knowing look in her eyes.

"I suggested you," she said with an encouraging smile.

"Bu- me? But..."

“We trust you, Twilight,” Luna said firmly. “You will do well.”

Bruch politely coughed. "Now that that is taken care of, when do we leave?"

Celestia looked at Twilight. "Tonight."

“Toni-? Tonight. Yes. Tonight.” Twilight nodded, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. She'd just had a large responsibility placed on her. Hopefully she could rise to the challenge.

Chapter 3

Somewhere deep in the badlands, Twilight stood in the darkness, looking out at the little opening in the rock wall. It was barely a cave; more like a crack in the rock face, really. She glanced over at the disguised Bruch, once more wearing his red pony form.

"There," Bruch said, pointing with a foreleg. "That is the least-guarded entrance. It’s far from anything important like food storage or the queen’s chambers, but it’ll get you in."

Shining Armor nodded. He turned back to his troops, stepping gingerly as he did. "Strike team, first three going in to check the conditions. Bruch, you hang back for the first part. Once we've set up a command post in the first room, we'll send you in on point. We'll probably be out of here within half an hour. Remember, gentlecolts, we're here to disable, not to kill."

The guards saluted and quickly moved into position.

Twilight turned to Shining. "Already in charge, eh?"

Shining grinned. "Yep. You may be princess, but I'm still calling the shots."

"Oh, no," Twilight said firmly. "I'm the little sister. I've always been in charge."

"That's what you think, Twily." Shining nudged his sister playfully. "Older siblings always have right of way."

Twilight put on the meanest frown she could while trying to suppress a laugh. "Keep talking like that, mister. One royal decree from me and you'll be transferred to latrine duty for the rest of your career!”

“Oh, at least that's not too awfully bad. Now if you had assigned me to KP duty, I might have accidentally let slip a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Like your bedroom habits. You still sleep with Smartypants, don’t you?”

Twilight flushed. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” she protested. “Scientific evidence shows no statistically significant correlation between childhood habits that continue on through adolescence and any psychological disorders whatsoever; and even if it did exist, correlation is not enough to assume causation.”

“Or how you reacted to your first time in heat?”

Twilight frowned, and the start of a blush colored her cheeks. “Ok, that’s not funny anymore.”

“You were so adorable, though!” Shining insisted. “You remember, don’t you? The whole ice cream thing, when you-”

Twilight shoved him aside and grumbled under her breath, even as her cheeks and ears burned bright red. “Just get your colts into position,” she ordered as she left to be anyplace but there.

“Yes, your highness,” Shining smirked. And that’s for using me as a litmus test this morning.

*  *  *

Mineral Spark was a large pony. Some ponies in this shock troop group were small, agile, good for quick movement and dexterity, in-and-out-before-you-noticed-anything-wrong ponies. Mineral Spark was not one of those ponies.

The small group inched forward inside the cave until they heard weak buzzing noises, definitely changeling wings. With one motion, his squad leader motioned him to take lead. He did so willingly and burst into the room. Lowering his shoulder, he hit the first changeling he could see with a punishing tackle. His target flew across the room and skidded to a stop, raising clouds of dust. The changeling painfully attempted to force himself up, but he failed, and collapsed again with a weak groan.

Mineral paused even as he readied himself for retaliation. Something wasn't right. Looking around, he noticed that the gathered changelings barely had enough strength to growl, let alone fight. Some huddled protectively over smaller changelings, much like a mother over her children. The chitin and their eyes all looked… dull. That was the right word. Or perhaps 'lifeless'? 'Hopeless'?

He raised a hoof to the side of his helmet and called back to his squad leader. “Captain? Princess? This isn’t an army. This isn't even a resistance force. This is an already defeated group.”

*  *  *

Lieutenant Striker paced in front of the changelings.  “Alright, you maggots! You're prisoners of the Equestrian crown, now, and as such you have rights! Cross us, and you might lose those rights! I'm talking about the right to not be dead, the right to retain all your limbs, and your right to keep your horns in one piece!”

Twilight noticed that all the changelings were flinching at his every word. Were they feeling his anger? She found herself wishing Shining Armor had come inside with them.

“We’re going to process you and cuff you together, and we brought plenty of rope. But I won’t be averse to leaving some of you behind!” His angry tone of voice and accompanying hoofstomp made it perfectly clear that any who were left behind would not be leaving again.

Twilight stepped up. “We’re going to make this quick and easy and as painless as possible,” she said, trying to be the voice of reason. “Line up in groups of thirty, where you’ll be counted and tagged. Line up three across and ten down.”

The changelings shuffled into position, most moving very slowly. Perhaps it was because they were weak. Perhaps it was because Queen Chrysalis was missing in action, and they didn’t know where to turn.

Unless…

Twilight spun around and scanned the gathered guards. “Lightning Spark! Thunder Bolt!”

Two unicorn guards snapped to attention. “Princess?”

Twilight pointed at a small natural archway, narrow enough that it would only admit three ponies at best. “Stand at that little bottleneck there, and scan all the changelings as they walk by. If any of them have an abnormal magic level, I want to know about it.”

“Yes, your highness!”

Unseen by any of them, one changeling smirked.

*  *  *

Twilight wandered around. The changelings seemed to be cooperative, or at the very least noncombative; but nopony in the guard was breathing easily. Not even Shining Armor's presence helped. Everypony was jumpy; expecting a sneak attack. Stumblings that could have been swings and yawns that could have been bites put everyone on edge, and a few scuffles almost broke out.

Lightning’s voice broke through the tension. “Your highness!”

Twilight spun around just in time to see the changeling he was scanning turn and punch him right in the face, sending him back into the wall with a punishing ‘crack’ and sending blood running down his face. Twilight lit her horn and shot a stunning spell, but the changeling ducked and sprinted away, breaking through the line of stunned guards and disappearing into the darkness.

Twilight quickly followed, in turn followed by a few guards, but skidded to a stop when she entered a large room with a vaulted ceiling. She took a step backwards, scanning the room, when suddenly a levitated rock slammed into the back of her head, leaving a huge gash in its wake.

It had been a deadly blow. Had Twilight been but a normal unicorn, her story would have ended here.

However, as an alicorn, she had the resilience of an earth pony, which kept her alive; the quick-healing of a pegasus, which brought her eyes back into focus before Chrysalis had fully disappeared from sight; and the magic of a unicorn that let her quickly cast a spell that helped stop her bleeding.

The guards rushed over to help her, but Twilight waved them onward. “I'm fine! Get Chrysalis! Go!”

As soon as she could stand steadily again, she sprinted after the quickly departing ponies. The hive was a twisted maze, with short doorways and winding pathways carved into jagged rock. Twilight couldn't help but shudder as she jumped over rocks and piles of chitin shards… some of which looked like they had once been living changelings…

She skidded to a stop as she saw one of her guards, Thunder Bolt, stuck to the wall by a slab of green goo. “She went that way!” he said, gesturing with his head.

Twilight nodded shortly and sprinted off in that direction.

The guard turned and watched her go. His lips curled up into a smile… until a powerful blast of magic hit him in the side of his face, stunning him and nearly tearing him from the wall. He grit his teeth and growled. When his eyes refocused, he turned back to see Twilight Sparkle, head lowered, horn glowing, pawing at the ground threateningly.

“I know the guards I came with,” she growled. “Bolt has a slight lisp due to a soccer injury.”

The guard smiled before bursting into flame. His armor and the slime disappeared into thin air, and there stood Queen Chrysalis. “Not bad… for a maggot. You're smarter than I gave you credit for,” she hissed. “It seems Celestia's pet knows a few good tricks.”

“Or you're just losing your touch in your old age,” Twilight Sparkle suggested, fearlessly returning fire. “Don't worry about it. Going senile happens to almost everypony when they reach your age.”

Chrysalis's eyes narrowed to slits. “Big words from my next meal.”

“I must warn you, I'm probably going to give you indigestion,” Twilight said with a grin.

Chrysalis had had enough. Lighting her own horn, she fired a blast of sickly green magic at Twilight. Twilight ducked and it exploded against the rock face behind her. More accurately, it exploded the rock behind her, pulverizing it and sending chips flying hard enough to leave little scratches in Twilight's face.

Twilight looked back and raised an eyebrow. “Playing f- for keeps, I see,” she observed, trying but failing to keep a hitch from entering her voice.

“You're in my house now, little worm,” Chrysalis spat, shooting another explosive blast. Twilight sprinted to one side, nearly losing a piece of her tail in the process.

Twilight instantly knew what she had to do. She had no other choice, really.

She turned and ran.

From behind, she heard Chrysalis sigh. “Why do they always run?” she grumbled before quickly giving chase.

*  *  *

Twilight was at a serious disadvantage. She didn't know the hive’s inner workings, and more than once she turned right into a dead end. Once she escaped annihilation only by quickly teleporting behind Chrysalis the instant before she fired. She had to run with her head down while ducking and weaving, and she had to try and focus on her attacks, all while avoiding Chrysalis's taunts.

“You're out of your element, little maggot,” Chrysalis called, shooting another blast of changeling magic that converted another rock into smithereens.

Twilight somehow found her way into a large room, with huge pointed arches, beautiful pillars, and other elements of gothic architecture. Twilight couldn't help but skid to a stop. “Whoa, look at that! You don't see architecture like this anymore.”

“See what?” Chrysalis asked.

“This gothic architecture. This is a huge pointed arch, and I mean huge. This is a perfect example of weight distribution at its finest. You know how long it took ponies to figure this out?”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Ponies? Oh, the arrogance! No, no; that was our doing.”

“What?”

“Changelings invented this style,” Chrysalis said proudly, gently brushing a hoof against one of the supports. “You'd be surprised just how much of your modern architecture you ponies owe to us changelings. The pointed arch, and before that the corbeled arch, the Corinthian pillar style; all kinds of things, really.”

“Fascinating...”

Both suddenly snapped out of their trance.

“Oh. Right,” Twilight remembered. “Mortal enemies and such.” She teleported out of the way to behind a pillar, just in time to avoid a blast of energy that went through the wall. Twilight lowered her head and sprinted, barely avoiding another blast that disintegrated another pillar, and entered one of the alcoves and into a smaller tunnel, this one low enough that Chrysalis was forced to land and give chase on hoof.

As soon as she'd run a good fifty paces, Twilight spun around. “My turn,” she said, lighting her horn and firing blast after blast of purple energy at Chrysalis, filling the room with dust and rock particles.

When the smoke cleared, Chrysalis stood unscathed. She blinked, surprised, and then smirked. “You missed, little maggot,” she snarled.

“My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight hissed, casting a purple shield over herself. She took a step backwards until she was up against the wall. “And I never miss.” With a grunt of effort, she shifted her weight and bucked the wall with all the earth pony magic she could muster, and all at once, the cavern collapsed.

Chrysalis’s eyes widened. Flaring her wings, she lifted up and did her best to dodge the falling rocks, but her luck had finally run out. She had been too far in to escape.

When the dust and rock shards had cleared again, the queen was trapped under piles of rubble. Green slime oozed from the numerous cuts on her body; what wasn't already crushed under the rocky debris, that is.

“Clever nymph,” Chrysalis groaned. “Clever, clever nymph…” Her voice trailed off and she began to cough violently, expelling green splatters of changeling blood with every hacking cough.

Twilight let her shield fade. “I claim victory,” she said solemnly.

Chrysalis might have tried to say something bitingly sarcastic in reply, but it was drowned out in the next fit of coughing. A small green bubble of phlegm formed over her lips, and then popped.

“Any last words?” Twilight asked, stepping closer to her defeated enemy.

“Just one,” Chrysalis whispered.

"It'd better be 'sorry'," Twilight murmured, taking a step closer.

Chrysalis coughed once more… before rearing out and jabbing her fangs into Twilight's foreleg. Twilight screamed and stumbled backwards, pressing another hoof to the site to stop the bleeding.

“Enjoy,” Chrysalis whispered through gritted teeth, her expression an unreadable mixture of pain and something else. She reverted to her natural changeling tongue as she spoke her last words, “Haneo hawait zerwha tsarmem,” before collapsing and gasping her last.

Twilight took a stumbling step backwards, her hoof still pressed against her injury. A sharp pain coursed through her chest. Her head swam, and black spots appeared in the corner of her vision. Her breath came faster, more ragged. Was a changeling bite venomous? It must have been; Twilight stumbled once more before her hooves suddenly refused to respond. She collapsed, falling on her face, and her whole world slowly faded to black.

Chapter 4

“So their plan was to be captured and then replace the army in the desert?” Cadence asked.

Shining Armor nodded from his comfortable position on Cadence’s stomach. What with debriefing and processing and other guard duties, this was their first real conversation in almost three days, and he was enjoying this immensely. “It would appear so, from what Bruch told us. Had Bruch not come of his own free will, she would have sent somepony to ‘warn’ us.”

Cadence stared off into space in horror. “That might have worked flawlessly… How do you know they won't still try it?”

“Bruch said that the queen's plan died with her. After that last attempt, not many changelings were keen on attacking Canterlot again, anyway. Especially with how weak they all were. That part wasn’t entirely acting. I can't count how many dead changelings there were. Some were little, too. Like, changeling foals or something.” He shivered. Enemies of the state or no, that was just wrong.

“I haven’t seen any around,” Cadence said, hesitantly looking around as though half-expecting that she might see a changeling pop out from inside her wardrobe. “Are they all in the dungeons?” She paused. “Do they even have dungeons here?”

Shining grinned. “Yeah, but they’re small and not really well-kept. There wasn’t nearly enough room for all of them, so we stuck them all in the crystal caverns under the castle. I’ve got multiple guards posted round-the-clock on all the known entrances and on patrol with rotating passwords in case the bugs try to replace a guard; but as far as we can tell, they’ve been pretty peaceful.” He exhaled through his nose. “For now, anyway.”

Cadence shuddered and buried her head even deeper into his mane. She still had nightmares about that place. “That's good, because that could have been disastrous.”

“Could’ve been, but Chrysalis got greedy and took a chance and lashed out at Twilight.” Shining grinned. “And you know what tends to happen to things that try and hurt Twilight. Remember her fifth birthday?”

Cadence grimaced. “It was supposed to be a little prank!” she said, one hoof drifting back to her side as if remembering an old scar. Which, incidentally, she was.

“Yeah, but filly Twily didn't know that at the time.”

“Where is Twilight, anyway?” Cadence looked around, as if hoping Twilight would also appear somehow.

“Hospital wing. We found her unconscious in this big room next to the dead queen, down the hall from the two guards who were following her. They’re fine, aside from a few cuts and bruises, but she hasn’t woken up yet.”

Cadence couldn’t help but wonder why he was here cuddling with her and not there with his sister. “So why are yo-?”

Shining cut her off. “The room is cramped so we have to take turns watching her, and it's not my turn.” His voice was bitter. It was readily apparent that this visitor rotation thing had not been his idea, and he clearly wanted to be there by his sister's side the whole time.

“How many ponies are there?" Cadence asked. “I thought it was just her five friends and Spike.”

“And mom and dad,” Shining added, “yeah. But they aren't the only ones in the room.”

* * *

They say that the first sense to recover is hearing, and that's true. Maybe it is a vestigial instinct, letting ponies know that if there is a predator still around, continuing to play dead might be a viable option.

Twilight, however, had no intention of playing dead; so when her hearing returned and she heard voices, she decided that she was among friends. Painfully, she opened her eyes and looked over to the left, from whence she had heard the most noise.

To her astonishment, it was a changeling's unblinking blue eyes that met with hers.

Twilight let out a perfectly understandable and perfectly princessy yelp of surprise.

“So sorry, your majesty,” the changeling said, bowing his head and taking a step back in respect.

“Twilight!”

She turned to see Rarity standing there on her left, looking elated. She turned to the door and called, “She's awake!”

Instantly, the remainder of her friends piled into the tiny room. They couldn't have appeared faster even if they had teleported. Twilight couldn’t restrain a smile at seeing their worried faces. “Hey, girls!” she said, lifting a foreleg so Spike could give her the hug he obviously wanted to. “It’s great to see all of you!”

Her friends neared hesitantly, not wanting to rush her. Most did, that is. Pinkie Pie, however, hopped right up on her bed. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re awake!! You’ve been out for almost a whole week and we kindof thought you’d never wake up again and we’re so happy you did and I would have loved to throw you a party but my concealed weapons permit expired and so I couldn’t bring my party cannon but I managed to sneak in a cupcake or two for you but then I ate them and the doctor-”

“I think she gets it, Pinkie,” Applejack said, laying a restraining hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie good-naturedly hopped down off the bed, but she still wore a huge smile. Spike looked around sheepishly and jumped down too.

“Concealed weapons permit?” one changeling muttered to the changeling next to him.

His neighbor shrugged and said “Mm-mm-mmm,” to the cadence of 'I don't know'.

This conversation was ignored. “I'm so happy to see all of you,” Twilight said. “Even you, Pinkie.”

Pinkie grinned widely.

Twilight looked around and her eyes fell on the group of changelings. Some stood on the ground, some stood on the wall, and a few even remained on the ceiling. All stood quietly and respectfully, heads bowed, as if waiting for her to speak.

“What's with the changelings?” Twilight asked, looking back at her friends. “And why aren't you freaking out that they're here?” Subconsciously, she brought a hoof up to the evidence of the last contact she’d had with the changelings, the bite Chrysalis had given her. To her surprise, her flesh felt smooth, without even a scar or bumps. No indication remained of the bite she’d received. She frowned, but dropped her hoof and looked to her friends for their answer.

Rainbow snorted. “They've been floating around since they brought you back. It's weird. And they seem to really like Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie Pie looked up from patting a changeling on the head and winked. The changeling had his ears back and his forked tongue lolling out of his mouth, looking a bit like a happy puppy. Twilight wasn’t sure how to take this, and so she nodded hesitantly.

Spike nodded. “The guards freaked out at first and tried to take them back down, but they kept showing up and finally they gave up. They've been fairly peaceful. I think.”

“Pinkie tried throwing them a little party,” Rainbow Dash added. “They don't seem to like cupcakes, but they like her jokes. Even the one where a pegasus, the princess, and a griffon walk into a bar.”

Twilight nodded hesitantly. “Ok, but that doesn’t really explain why they’re here, though.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “They just wouldn't leave. They seem to love you or something.”

“I know I do,” one of the changelings spoke up, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow and shift away ever so slightly. Another changeling gave him a look and cuffed the speaker upside the head, and the first managed to look somewhat sheepish.

“And they’re always spouting things off in that gibberish language of theirs,” Rainbow added, crossing her forelegs in annoyance.

The first changeling frowned and crossed his forelegs defiantly right back. “It is not gibberish,” he protested.

“Whatever it is,” Twilight said, trying to regain control of the room, “I'm just glad to be back.”

“If I may interrupt the reunion?”

All looked up and saw Celestia standing in the doorway. The ponies all bowed. The changelings, however, did not.

If Celestia was offended, she didn’t show it. “I would like a word with Twilight in private, if that's all right?”

“Oh, of course,” Rarity said politely, and the rest quickly agreed and followed her out.

The changelings didn't move.

Celestia's eyes narrowed.

That simple action was enough; the changelings scattered in a flurry of chitin and fluttering wings.

There in the empty room, there was a brief moment of silence before Celestia spoke. “Do you realize what you've done?” she asked quietly. “By sparing the changelings, you've put yourself in a dangerous position. Former enemies, staying nearby? There is a whole new world of problems with changelings here now. Already paranoia is rising, and some nobles are proposing legislation to expel all changelings from Canterlot. It might have been a better choice to have destroyed them all.”

Twilight looked up, meeting the solar princess in the eye. “Better choice? Yes, maybe. But it would not have been the just choice, and so it was no choice at all.”

Celestia continued looking at her for a moment… before her eyes softened and her mouth curled into a smile. “And that, Twilight Sparkle, is how I knew you were ready to fulfill your destiny.”

“Wha-?”

She leaned in and gave Twilight a gentle nuzzle. “Let the chips fall as they may. You made the right choice, and I am proud of you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you, your highness.” She flinched as she realized she wasn’t supposed to call Celestia that anymore, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“Speaking of which, it seems that the changelings have subjected themselves to you. You saw how they wouldn't leave you alone in here. No less than thirty who were hiding as spies in the castle revealed themselves and have asked to come under your judgement. They’re currently waiting in the dungeons.”

Twilight found some humor in this. “You guide the sun, Luna guides the moon, and I guide the changelings. Something’s not quite right here.”

Celestia laughed. "Be that as it may, they do seem to want to follow you. We can make it official with a public fealty ceremony if you'd like."

Twilight nodded. "I think I would," she said. "It will show that I'm taking the lead and cleaning up my own mess. I started this, I should be the one to end it."

“Then rest well, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia smiled, gently stroking her mane. “It's scheduled in two days' time.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You knew that’s what I’d choose?”

Celestia smiled. “I’ve known you for a while, Twilight,” she said simply as she turned to leave. “I’ll let you get some rest.”

Chapter 6

Twilight woke up feeling much less tired than she had expected, especially for how little she had slept the previous night. She performed her morning checklist—she made her bed, brushed her mane and her teeth, ensured that she would have enough toothpaste to last until her next scheduled shopping trip (a bit of a moot point now that she was a princess and could simply order another tube brought to her room at any time, but it was still part of her ritual and she didn’t much feel like changing it), and prepared breakfast.

Prepared for breakfast, to be more accurate. And preparation included a little light reading until the appointed breakfast time. Having exhausted her search for changeling literature, she instead moved to another topic that interested her.

Twilight found herself so engrossed in String Theory and the Multiverse—How They’re Connected and What You Should Know that she failed to notice that she was late for breakfast until there was a gentle knock on her door. She looked up to see Shining Armor.

“You hungry?” he asked. “Breakfast is ready.”

Twilight jumped out of bed and grinned sheepishly. “Right! I knew that...”

“You’re energetic this morning,” Shining observed. “Did you sleep well? I know I did,” he said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Twilight blushed ever so slightly. “I can imagine,” she said, her voice rising nearly an octave in pitch.

Shining gave her a confused look, but thankfully didn't ask for clarification.

Breakfast looked delicious. It was Twilight’s favorite, oat waffles with strawberry cream and a heaping helping of raspberries. For some reason, though, Twilight did not feel like eating. She poked at her breakfast, but only ate a few bites.

Celestia, ever observant, had to comment. “Do you want something else?”

“No,” Twilight shrugged. “I don't know what I want. I’m just… not sure what I want. Nothing really appeals to me this morning.”

Cadence looked concerned (understandable, as she’d just come out of the hospital), but Shining Armor gave her a gentle nudge. “Twily is a big girl,” he said, giving Cadence a little nuzzle. “She can take care of herself.”

Twilight licked her lips, and she wasn't entirely sure why. She slid her plate away and stood up. “I'm going to go see the changelings.”

Shining's jaw dropped (and he briefly regretted his previous statement). Cadence also bit her lower lip, but before she could protest, Celestia raised an eyebrow. “So soon?” she asked.

Twilight shrugged.

“You can't even understand them,” Shining pointed out.

“I know,” Twilight said, “but I really feel I need to be there. They're lost and looking to me for guidance, I can feel it. I need to try whatever I can. Like you're always there for your ponies.”

Celestia nodded. “Then go in peace, Twilight,” she said.

Cadence watched uneasily as Twilight left, and when she leaned on Shining again it was a wordless plea for comfort, which he wholeheartedly offered.

*  *  *

It was easy enough to find the changelings' temporary hive in the crystal caverns beneath the castle; it was almost completely surrounded by guards. There was only one small entrance on this level, and it was guarded by two guardsponies who paused only long enough to scan her and then bow as she passed.

As she entered, every changeling paused and turned and bowed as well, deep bows that Twilight had never seen ponies use before.

"Hail, your highness," one said.

Twilight nodded... and then turned and stared at the speaker in surprise.

"Did I displease you, my queen?" he asked hesitantly, subconsciously shifting backwards to present as small and nonthreatening a target as possible.

Twilight hesitated, and she caught a whiff of his fear. “No, it's just... You’re Bruch, the traitor, the first changeling I met.”

“Yes...”

“And I understand you now."

“Yes.”

“And you’re in changeling form.”

“I am.” The changeling licked his lips, not sure where she was going with this. “Should not a queen understand her subjects?”

“I… I guess that makes sense,” Twilight said hesitantly. Perhaps it was some magic—they had accepted her as queen, so maybe she picked up their language… somehow? This was going to require some research… of which there was none available. Twilight exhaled. Ah well. Field research was even more fulfilling at times, and she had come prepared. "Also, I am just a princess. You may refer to me as such."

"Yes, my queen."

There was a slightly awkward silence as her willing subjects remained in their bowing stance, making Twilight feel extraordinarily awkward. She still hadn’t gotten used to this whole ‘ponies bowing to her’ thing. “Um… As you were,” she said, waving her hoof in a gentle shooing motion.

The bustle returned slowly as the changelings resumed their various duties. Twilight stared, watching them work almost like a swarm of bees. There were changelings flying, walking, or doing some combination of the two, but there were no crashes. Some carried crystal pieces, perhaps for building or disposal, while others hauled small shiny green spheres and still others carried tools. Twilight found herself slightly mesmerized at the constant flow of motion.

Bruch raised a hoof hesitantly. “Did you require anything, my queen?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, shaking herself out of her reverie. She lit her horn and pulled out a list. “I made a checklist of all the things I would need as I assumed power. Number one. Where are her advisors?”

“Advisors, my queen?”

“You know, po- uh, changelings who give her advice, who she bounced ideas off of?”

Bruch looked mildly amused at this concept. “There are none, my queen. Chrysalis did everything herself.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Ok, royal decree number one. No more calling me 'my queen'. Just 'princess' or Twilight is fine.”

The changeling flinched. At first, Twilight thought it was just from being reprimanded, but to her surprise, the changeling beyond him shivered too. As did his neighbor. As did the female next to him. Almost like a wave spreading out with Twilight as the epicenter, every changeling twitched and then returned to work.

“What was that?”

“You gave a royal decree, princess,” Bruch said simply. “We must obey.”

Twilight frowned. “That was... weird.”

The changeling cocked his head. “Do not the ponies also obey their leaders?”

“Well, yes, but they’re not forced to,” Twilight said.

He nodded. “Ah. As long as I am in the hive, I must obey the queen.”

Twilight picked up on his word choice. “Then are there changelings not in the hive? Like rogue changelings or something?” she asked. Drict had mentioned banishment. Perhaps that was the highest punishment a changeling queen could inflict?

The changeling nervously licked his fangs. “A few, of course. Renegades, outcasts, that sort of thing; but we live better under a queen. We’re social creatures.”

Twilight nodded. “As are ponies. Maybe we’re not so different after all. Follow me. You can be my advisor for now.”

Bruch bowed. “Yes, Princess.”

The two walked through the crystal caves. Twilight observed much. She saw changelings flying, walking (on both walls and floor), hovering; yet they never crashed. To her surprise, she noticed that the changelings seemed to have a societal structure as well, such as when two changelings carving out a doorway through the crystal were communicating and drawing very specific lines along the wall as guides. She even saw one larger changeling leading a group of smaller changelings, much like a teacher leading her class.

As they entered a larger chamber, Twilight recognized a few of the scorch marks on the crystals, and suppressed a shudder as she remembered the last time she was here. Yet at the same time, it felt comfortable; familiar somehow. She shook her head and spoke. “One of the things Chrysalis said during the wedding was it was her responsibility as queen to provide food for her changelings, and that responsibility is now mine. I would like to know all there is about how changelings feed on love.”

Bruch rubbed the back of his head with a nervous hoof. “I… I really don't know, Princess. We just absorb it.”

Twilight nodded and then asked the burning question she'd been wanting to ask for a long time. “Do you harm your prey?”

Bruch snorted derisively, then flinched, quickly bowing his head and bending his whole body in submission. When Twilight’s only reaction was to cock her head in confusion, he slowly straightened up and and shook his head. “That's a good way to make sure you lose all your prey,” he said. “Emotions are like sunlight; ponies just freely emit them. They're already there and are ours for the taking. We just absorb them and store them.”

Twilight tapped her chin. "Ok, then… Can changelings eat anything else, or is it just love?”

This one Bruch could answer. "Any emotion, really. Positive ones feel good, and negative ones make us sick. Love is best, but we can feed on just about any emotion. We can also digest simple fungi. I think Grahm is growing some right now, if you’d like to see."

“I would, but maybe later. What kind of love, specifically?” Twilight asked, pulling out a piece of paper and taking notes furiously.

"A mother's love is purest and most nourishing, but it's difficult to get. Romantic love is sweetest. We can get a little nourishment from ambient love, like loving life or loving your job—that's what we're living on right now, actually—but love directed at us is best.”

Twilight nodded as she continued scribbling. “That helps explain why she chose Equestria, and also why you take the form of loved ones,” she mused. “Alright. And what about the opposites, like hatred or fear?”

Bruch made a disgusted face. “Both disgusting, but they'll keep us alive if we're desperate.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And lust?”

“Slightly bitter, but quite palatable.” His voice lowered. “Some changelings like the taste a little too much, actually,” he confessed.

“And admiration?”

“Edible, but fairly thin, so you don't have to worry about the Wonderbolts being replaced anytime soon.” He grinned and flapped his membranous wings. “Besides, our wings are designed for hovering and hauling heavy loads, not speed. Learning to fly as a pegasus is a whole new experience.”

Twilight nodded again as she wrote that down, too. “Ok. I think I understand. But I don’t get how changelings who don’t go outside get nourishment.”

Bruch smiled, revealing more of his pointed fangs. “Oh, that one I can answer, too.”

*  *  *

Twilight followed Bruch into a deeper, darker section of the hive. Ducking under a web of slime that served as a sort of partition, she paused at what she saw.

“This is our food storage,” Bruch said, pointing. “Love is converted into liquid form and stored, like that.”

Twilight took in the new sight. There in front of her was a small pool, apparently hollowed out from the crystal floor below. It didn't appear very deep at all. A changeling stood on an outcropping built of rocks and slime, holding a long, metal pole with a rounded paddle on the end, which he was using to stir the thick greenish-blue goop underneath. Next to him, there were small balls of what looked like some kind of gelatin, but with different swirling colors inside, looking like marbles about the size of billiard balls. Twilight could see that, when still, the top of the goop quickly began to form a slight crust; but the constant stirring kept it liquid. The changeling was engrossed in his work, but when he felt eyes on him, he looked back. Seeing Twilight, he snapped to attention, bringing the stick up like a spear in a salute—and accidentally flinging sticky remnants of the liquid into the air.

Twilight flinched as specks of green… whatever it was hit her in the face. She was moderately annoyed that she hadn’t seen that one coming or been fast enough to cast a shield to block it.

The changeling, however, reacted very differently, and quickly dropped to a deep bow, quivering fearfully.

“My apologies, princess,” he whispered. “I know I'm unworthy, but...”

“Rise,” Twilight said wearily. She was getting really sick of that sour taste. “It was an accident.”

The changeling looked up in shock, and his jaw hung open. Bruch nodded encouragingly and he stood up warily.

“What is your name?” Twilight asked.

“Jarret,” he answered hesitantly.

“And what do you do here?”

Jarret cracked a half-smile. “I keep the food supply.”

“Can you show me how it works?” Twilight asked.

“Certainly,” Jarret said, somewhat confused that he should have to explain this process (which to him had always been instinctive), but he was never one to turn down an invitation from the queen. Picking up his stick again, he stirred quickly and kicked one of the pods at his hooves into the pool. It floated on top, submerged halfway. With practiced efficiency, he lit his horn and shot a tiny spark at the pod, and scored a direct hit. The pod melted and began diffusing into the liquid as he stirred. He dropped the stick and slid on two small metal hooks on cuffs over his forehooves. He dipped them in and with a surprisingly dexterous movement, he spun them around each other and formed a small ball, looking for all the world like a master glassweaver. He balanced it on one hook and held the ball out respectfully in front of his queen.

She picked it up and examined it, and then hesitantly bit it like an apple. Green liquid spurted out, coating the inside of her mouth and her chin and making her cough and sputter helplessly.

Jarret also had to suppress the urge to cough, but his sounded suspiciously like laughter.

Bruch shook his head, also trying valiantly to suppress a chuckle. “That's not how it's usually done, Princess,” he said.

“I gathered,” Twilight said dryly. “What was that? It was a little…” She licked her lips, trying to think of the words, “thin,” she finally decided, “and very bitter, a bit sour. Kindof tingly.”

Jarret winced. “It's better when there's more tender love in it,” he said apologetically. “It's whatever we can scrape together right now, and that's mostly apprehension, fear, and some ambient love. Next time, it'll be better.” He grinned, already feeling more at ease with his new queen. “And next time, maybe pierce the shell with a fang and suck the stuff out like a coconut,” he said with a grin, miming the actions.

“I don't have fangs,” Twilight protested.

“They'll come in time,” Bruch said comfortingly.

Twilight frowned and was about to ask him to explain further when two changelings walked in behind. Upon seeing Twilight, they bowed respectfully.

“As you were,” she said instinctively.

The changelings nodded and continued, heading over to where Jarret stood. “Pot or side?” one asked.

“What do you have?” Jarret asked.

“A little residual love, mostly work stuff. Found this bucktoothed guy cleaning windows and having the time of his life while doing it, so that was a pretty good conversation.”

“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “You’re leaving? Like, going out on Canterlot streets? And the guards are letting you do that?”

The changeling who had spoken turned and grinned. “What they don’t know don’t hurt them.” He brought a hoof to cover his mouth to hide his giggles at her shocked expression. “We’re changelings, your highness. Master infiltrators. No offense intended, but we’re in and out before those golden bucketheads even notice that we're gone.”

Twilight decided it was not prudent to admit that she was related to the leader of those golden bucketheads, but also decided she might drop a little hint to him anyway.

Jarret shrugged and continued stirring. “Better than everything else I've gotten today. Pot's good.”

One leaned over the pool and began making hacking noises, spinning his tongue around in his mouth. Twilight could only stare in horror as a nearly identical pod (albeit a bit smaller and purplish in color) slid out of the changeling's mouth, nearly identical to a cat hacking up a hairball. Jarret quickly stabbed it and stirred it into the mixture, sending the color swirling around.

Understandably, Twilight began to feel somewhat ill.

Bruch noticed his queen slumping and quickly tried to remedy it. “Perhaps her majesty would rather see something else? The nursery, perhaps?”

Twilight swallowed and nodded shakily.

*  *  *

Twilight had seen many foals in her lifetime, and was somewhat unsurprised to see that changeling nymphs were quite similar (aside from the discarded chitin shards scattered around the room, that is). She was standing in the nursery, surrounded by no fewer than fifteen nymphs. The room was sparsely decorated, and it seemed they were using colorful rocks as playthings. The nymphs themselves were little, with that same awkward proportions pony foals had, with the head too large and the legs too small for the rest of their frame. Most were standing around her, looking up in curiosity. One even lifted a little hoof and poked her leg, almost as if trying to see if she were real.

Their caretaker rushed to apologize, but Twilight waved her off. She’d been around enough foals to expec-

“Ow!”

Well, to expect everything; including for one to bite her upraised hoof, as foals often put things in their mouths to identify them. She also learned fairly quickly that changeling nymphs have sharp teeth, either as a vestigial defense or more probably used for getting out of their egg shells. Twilight chuckled, barely noticing the caretaker quivering in a low bow behind her. Perhaps transitioning to lead these changelings wouldn’t be so different after all.

Of course, that just led to more questions. She turned back to Bruch. “And reproduction... What happens now that Chrysalis isn't around to lay eggs?” She paused. “I can't lay eggs, can I?”

Bruch paused. “You can; but all changelings can reproduce,” he answered slowly, as if he feared for his queen's sanity. Surely, that would have been obvious. Hadn’t she heard his speech about how he had lost his wife and both their eggs? A small tendril of doubt crept into his mind.

Twilight blushed. “Oh, I thought… you know, like honeybees.”

Bruch gave her a flat look, and Twilight got the distinct impression that had it been anypony else who had said that, it would have been considered highly offensive.

She turned to the caretaker. “They’re not all yours, right?”

The caretaker laughed… then quickly shoved her hooves over her mouth and dropped to another frightened, low bow. When it became apparent that Twilight was not going to be angry with her, she straightened up and said, though with plenty of respect in her voice, “No, of course not. I don't even have a mate yet. I just really like taking care of foals.”

“It seems like you’ve got a nice system of jobs,” Twilight noted, looking over at Bruch.

“We do now,” the caretaker said with just a hint of bitterness. “In our queen’s absence, we chose our own assignments. Under Chrysalis, we’d often get shifted around as punishment.”

Bruch leaned in and explained, “Piquis here was thought to be too soft to raise warriors, so she often got stuck on pit cleaning duty. That’s no one’s favorite job.”

Twilight nodded.

“But I like working with nymphs,” Piquis said, gathering the closest nymph up and wrapping it in a tight hug. The nymph gnawed affectionately on her ear, and Twilight couldn’t suppress a smile at the adorable sight.

Piquis giggled as the nymph pawed at her body. “Aw, are you hungry, Chichi? Hold on,” and with a quick retching motion and sound, she spat up a small trail of purple energy, letting it dangle from her her tongue as little Chichi opened his mouth and slurped it up from where it was hanging.

Brunch looked over at Twilight and saw that she looked quite physically green, and not the healthy slime color, either.

“I… Uh… I think I've seen enough for now,” Twilight said shakily, taking a retreating step back. “I think I'll… you know… go see what Cadence is doing.”

Bruch flinched at the mention of that name, but nodded. “Very well, Princess. I'll show you out, then?”

“Please.”

*  *  *

The dinner discussion topic, of course, centered on changelings. Twilight first and foremost. “I’ve learned a great many things about changelings.” She swallowed. “Many… interesting things.”

“You’re adapting well,” Celestia observed. “Do you think you are ready to lead them alone?”

“No,” Twilight confessed, “but I've got a few good changelings I trust. I think I'll be fine.”

Cadence bit her lower lip and worried. The words 'trust' and 'changeling' didn't seem like they should go together.

That worry almost tripled, though, when Twilight pushed back an almost full plate of food and announced, “Thank you, everypony. I'm going to go explore the hive some more.”

“Already?” Cadence asked.

Twilight nodded.

Cadence bit her lower lip as she watched Twilight leave. She leaned down towards Shining Armor. “That's not normal, is it?”

Shining barked a laugh. “When Twilight gets her mind on something, you can't stop her. Remember when she decided she wanted to quantify all the plants in the Royal Gardens and wouldn’t leave until she got hungry--at three in the morning? She'll be back to normal in no time.”

But for some reason, Cadence was not comforted.

Chapter 7

Shining Armor had snuggled with Cadence enough times to know when she was angry or upset. That one time she'd seen him hugging another mare? It was as if she'd become a rigid block of ice every time he even tried to brush up against her.

Of course, he being the thick-headed pony he was, it had taken him all that night and most of the next day to figure out what she was so upset about. It had finally dawned on him when she had had a stunned and speechless reaction when he introduced her to his cousin from Whinnyapolis who was in town just for the weekend. She had later apologized. Repeatedly.

And quite physically as well.

Tonight, though, there was something else on her mind, and it wasn't Shining's fault this time. She barely noticed him when he climbed onto the bed and pulled her into being his little spoon. She didn't flinch when his hooves began gently prodding at her body and poking at her hips, and she didn’t respond to his gentle nuzzling of her neck.

When she didn't even react to his ear-biting, though, he knew he had to speak. “You're worried about Twilight, aren't you?”

Cadence chuckled mirthlessly. “Was it that obvious?”

Shining ignored that question. “Cadence, she killed Queen Chrysalis, by herself,” he said. “I really don’t think there’ll be anything she can’t handle.”

“I know; but…”

“I trust her,” he said firmly. “Celesia trusts her. She'll be fine.”

“Yeah, but…”

Shining pulled her close. “She'll be fine,” he repeated. “She's staying here in the castle tonight, anyway, and Luna's guards are standing watch over the mini-hive tonight. They take their job seriously. I'd bet anything it's locked down tighter than a noble's coinpurse. Trust me. No changeling's getting out of that cave tonight.”

*  *  *

Twilight's door opened, and a changeling slid inside, clinging to the ceiling. He grinned. “Took me a while to find you, your highness,” he whispered. He crept along the ceiling, heading towards Twilight's bed. He was silent as he went…

...until something hard and sharp hit him on the back of the head, causing him to simultaneously squeak in surprise and lose his grip on the ceiling. He quickly dropped to the ground, and landed with a crunch.

“Knew I shouldn't accept that offer of my own room,” Spike grumbled, picking up a second gemstone and cocking his arm back for another throw.

The changeling shot to his hooves, fangs bared… and then he froze. “A dragon,” he breathed, taking a step back.

Spike didn't understand the word that came out of the changeling's mouth, but he certainly understood the tone and his body language. “Yeah, that's right,” Spike growled, tossing the ruby up once as intimidatingly as he could before catching it and pointing it at him threateningly. “A dragon. Twilight's got a guard dragon. And right now that dragon wants to know why you're in Twilight's room.”

Twilight sat up, awoken by the noise. “Who in what room?” she asked blearily. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the changeling there. “Is there a reason you're in my room at…” She glanced at the clock. “...one in the mor-” She did a double take. “One in the morning?!”

The changeling cowered slightly. “I was ordered to be here,” he explained.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “By whom?”

“Queen Chrysalis.”

Twilight glanced back at the clock, but it hadn't changed; it still read near one in the morning. “Why?” she sputtered.

The changeling shuffled uncomfortably. “She thought me a skilled lover. Which, I am, I suppose; but...”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait. Are you saying you came into my room with the express intent of mating with me?”

Spike's eyes widened as well. He was only understanding Twilight’s half of this conversation, but that half was sounding very disturbing. What had Twilight gotten herself into?

“Yes!” The changeling’s wide smile dimmed somewhat at Twilight’s bewildered expression. “Is that wrong?”

Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. “Well, hmm, let me think about tha- Yes! Yes, it's wrong! Why would you do that? Why would she do that?”

“Well, I…” The changeling scratched the back of his neck and muttered something under his breath that Twilight could barely hear, and finished with, “and that’s very desirable for changeling females.”

Twilight cocked her head. “I don’t understand changeling anatomy yet,” she confessed.

The changeling nodded. “If I translated it to ponies, it would probably be...” And he finished that sentence whispering in her ear.

Twilight’s wings flared open, but she quickly brought herself back under control. “But I do not wish to have sex with a changeling," she protested.

Spike gagged once. On second thought, maybe he should have taken up Celestia on her offer of his own room, after all.

The changeling shrugged. “It was a standing order.”

Twilight blinked. “I rescind it,” she said.

The changeling sighed with relief. “My life-mate will be pleased.”

Twilight was taken aback. “You’re married too?” she asked. Perhaps it was a bit speciest, but she had trouble imagining all these changelings courting each other. They still all somewhat looked the same to her.

The changeling looked down and scuffed a hoof. “Well, not technically--Chrysalis didn’t want her lovers attached to anypony else--but we’re-”

Twilight’s voice nearly raised an octave. “And she made you do this anyway?”

“Yes...?”

“Every night?”

He shook his head. “Not every night, no. She rotated between three or four of us.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. When she was able to regain some control over herself, she scrambled to her hooves on top of her covers and shouted, “Royal decree number two! Any other standing orders that involve sensual conduct with me are hereby rescinded!”

The changeling shuddered briefly as the royal decree pulsed across the hive. In slight contrast, Spike shuddered at the thought of a changeling kissing Twilight.

Twilight inhaled deeply, held her breath for a few moments, and then slowly exhaled. “I’m almost afraid to ask; but are there any other royal decrees I should be aware of before I can go back to sleep?”

The changeling shrugged. “Most of her decrees were along the lines of ‘get out of my way’ or ‘go clean pits and don’t stop until your hooves are bleeding’ or ‘leave my hive and never return’.”

Twilight shook her head, unable to comprehend this. To her, that was wrong on so many levels. "But why?" she asked.

The changeling shrugged. "She was the queen. Her commands were always right.”

“She was doing something wrong,” Twilight growled, now feeling tainted.

The changeling looked conflicted. The old queen had told him that as queen, she could do no wrong. But here was another queen, who could also do no wrong, saying that what the old queen was doing was wrong. Both queens could not be right at the same time. Whatever was a simple changeling to do?

Twilight noticed his confusion and decided to give him something else to do before he hurt himself. “Tell you what. Here is your new order. You go home to your life-mate, and treat her like you would have treated me tonight.”

The changeling’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

The changeling blinked and cocked his head. “What’s a heart attack, Princess?”

Twilight realized that she really had no idea how changeling anatomy worked. “Never mind. Just go.”

The changeling bowed and quickly darted out of the room.

Spike lifted a claw, lowered it again, and then decided to risk it. “What was that all about?” he asked.

Twilight placed the pillow over her face. “You don’t want to know.”

Chapter 8

Bright and early the next morning, Twilight and (a still yawning) Spike headed down to the crystal caves again. The guards seemed surprised to see her there so early, but let her pass.

Twilight ducked her head as she entered, and slowed to a stop. The changelings had done a very good job of converting the natural crystal caves to more of a familiar, homey environment. For the changelings, this seemed to imply a lot of slime; though much of the remaining visible crystal had been polished to a bright sheen as well.

As she entered, she noticed a few changelings eagerly awaiting her arrival.

“Your highness! And… a dragon!” a female squeaked.

They jumped at the sight of Spike. They quivered in their bows, looking a lot like the ponies in the stalls before a race.

“At ease,” Twilight said automatically.

But instead of straightening up, they turned and sprinted away.

Spike frowned and looked down at himself. “I didn’t think I’d gotten that scary,” he mumbled.

“It's not that,” Twilight said comfortingly. “Changeling chitin is really susceptible to fire. That's why the lights around here are all glowing crystals.”

Spike suddenly noticed that she was right. He looked around, but sure enough, there were no lanterns in this place.

Twilight continued, “They're probably afraid instinctively, like how ponies get spooked at snakes even though only two of the more than four hundred species native to Equestria have venom dangerous enough to cause death, and we've developed antivenin for those.”

Spike raised an eyebrow teasingly as memories of their first Winter Wrap-up in Ponyville came to mind. “Ponies like you?”

“It's instinctive!” Twilight defended herself.

Spike continued to laugh. “Yeah, because all us scaly things are scary.” He raised his claws and hissed, sticking his tongue out. This finally got a chuckle from Twilight, and the two continued walking.

Both of their ears pricked up at a scuffing hoof behind them. They turned around to see a changeling, bowing deeply, holding out a jewel to Spike.

Twilight hesitated, but Spike was never one to turn down free food. He took the offered gem and shoved it in his mouth.

“Spike,” Twilight scolded.

“What? I didn’t have breakfast this morning,” Spike defended himself as he sprayed crumbs of ruby everywhere.

“We weren’t hungry.”

“You weren’t hungry,” Spike corrected, accepting another gem. “I, on the other claw, always am.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep the playful spark out of them. “Ok, but future Twilight will laugh at future Spike if present Spike makes himself sick.”

Spike chewed on the next offering. “Future Spike won't need your mocking,” he said solemnly. “Present Spike is more than capable of handling this display of affection.” He opened his mouth, and a changeling placed a gem on his tongue.

Twilight rolled her eyes. As she turned to continue, she nearly bumped into one of the changelings she’d seen at the entrance.

“Princess, we have something to show you,” she said excitedly.

* * *

As it turns out, every good hive has a space especially for the queen, and this temporary hive was no exception; they had given Twilight her own queen’s chambers.

Sure, it was just a little room carved out of the caves with a large, flat crystal for a table, a few smaller crystals with divots carved in to serve as chairs, and a few particularly spiky rocks as decorations on top; but it was the effort that counted.

And the nice thing about having her own chambers was it was a private place to work uninterrupted. Twilight reared up and clapped her hooves together. “This is wonderful! Thank you,” she said, reaching for her saddlebag and placing it on the table. The changelings bowed and buzzed happily off.

She took a few steps in, ready to sit down; but then something caught her eye. Behind the table, raised high, there was a facsimile of her stained glass window, carved into the crystal.

At least, it was probably supposed to be. They’d made her far too tall, her horn too long and somewhat curved, and her wings a bit too small and wide. She squinted, and it suddenly occurred to her that they’d given her the proportions of Chrysalis. She shrugged. Well, perhaps it was symbolic of her new role as changeling queen. Chrysalis was likely the only queen they’d known, so they had probably just used her as a model.

She sat down, eager to continue her work of sketching out a few ideas for her new reign as queen. She was in a really good mood today for some reason, and oddly enough, the whole hive seemed to be in a good mood, too. It smelled of cinnamon.

As she continued brainstorming ideas--she was currently debating the pros and cons of hiring out changelings as extras in plays--there came a hesitant knock on the wall.

“Enter,” she said.

A changeling entered hesitantly. She was limping slightly, and Twilight’s ears flicked up. Was her changeling hurt? “Are you ok?” she asked.

“Oh, no, your highness. I’m fine,” she answered, scuffing a hoof bashfully against the ground. “I just… wanted to come and say ‘thank you’.”

Twilight blinked. “You’re welcome,” she said. She paused, then tapped her hoof against her table as the changeling just stood there. “Uh… F- for what, actually?”

“I believe you met my life-mate last night?”

Twilight’s ears pricked. “You could say that,” she said guardedly. “And… oh.” Her ears dropped. Suddenly, her limping made a strange amount of sense. Twilight coughed. She was a princess. She could keep this not awkward. “I… take it you had a good night?”

She winced. Apparently, she could not.

But the changeling seemed unfazed. “The best I’ve had in years,” she answered, her tone almost reverent. “He’s been required for Chrysalis for as long as I can remember. From one female to another, thank you.” And she sank into a deep bow, so low she scraped her horn against the ground.

“Anytime,” Twilight answered hesitantly. “If there’s anything else I can do…”

She looked up. “Can you attend the marriage?” she asked quickly.

Twilight blinked. That was an odd request. “Sure, I guess,” she said.

She lowered her head again. “Thank you, Princess. I’ll name her after you.”

Twilight blinked. “Name who?” she asked.

A tiny smile played at her lips. She straightened up, reached a hoof back, and gestured towards her abdomen. “Believe me, Princess. I will lay after that.”

Twilight stared dumbly, her face contorting with confusion. Did she just…?

The changeling flushed, realizing that she had shared far too much. She bowed, this time sheepishly, her expression crinkled with regret. “By your leave?” she whispered, unable to meet Twilight’s eyes.

“Dismissed,” Twilight nodded.

The changeling scampered away as best she could.

Twilight sighed and massaged her temples with her hooves. She did want to learn about changeling culture, yes; but that was not the way she’d expected. Or hoped. “Hope Spike’s day is going a little bit saner,” she muttered.

* * *

Twilight had many skills, but an innate sense of time was not one of them. More often than she could remember, she would lose track of time and only realize how long she had been reading when it suddenly got too dark to see.

So thus it was that was not expecting it when Bruch came in at nine, as she had asked.

“Good morning, Princess,” Bruch said.

“Ai!” Twilight jumped. “Oh. Right. Good morning. It’s nine already?”

Bruch nodded. “You’re here early.”

“Just had to be here.” She tapped her quill against the paper. “So, random question. Tell me about changeling weddings.”

Bruch stopped short. “It’s a wonderful experience,” he said quietly, his large blue eyes looking down.

Twilight winced. That’s right. Bruch had been married.

He continued, almost whispering. “It’s a private ceremony, close friends only. Sometimes the queen comes, but usually not. It’s two changelings who love each other, pledging to stay together forever, no matter what happens or how low the hive’s food supply gets. And even when they’re out harvesting or working, they’re always… together…” His voice trailed off and he squeezed his eyes closed. “I’m sorry, Princess,” he whispered.

Twilight shook her head. She walked over and stood against him. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I mean, I wouldn’t have brought it up; except I just got asked to attend one, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do besides show up.”

Bruch nodded slowly. “Just ‘showing up’ would be very generous of you, your highness.”

Twilight took a step back and coughed. “Well, aside from that… is it just me, or is everypony here in a good mood today?”

“There's a dragon in the hive,” Bruch said, clearly pleased both at that development and the change of subject. “It's palpable, isn't it?”

Twilight's ears pricked up at the opportunity to learn about this new culture in a not-awkward situation. “Are dragons good luck in changeling culture?” she asked.

“It's good news, that's for sure. They're great sources of love,” Bruch said.

Twilight paused. “Run that by me again?”

“Love from a dragon. They tend to really love their things, so if they get a lot of things, there's a lot of…” His voice trailed off as he saw Twilight's expression slowly shift from cautiously intrigued to horrified. “Princess?”

“A lot of things… Spike!” Twilight shouted, leaping over the table and sprinting, hoping against hope she would find Spike in time. “Spike!”

* * *

Spike shoved gem after gem into his mouth. Changelings would offer them and he wouldn't wait before snatching them out of their hooves. Some he would take without them even noticing he had reached for them.

A smaller changeling nymph brought out her offering, and she chuckled at the expression on his face.

It wasn't near enough; Spike lunged and swiped it. “Mine!”

Spike froze. Had that snarling noise come out of his mouth?

It had. It definitely had.

A cold fear seized him. Now hyperventilating and no longer hungry, he dropped the jewel and sprinted out, shoving changelings out of his way as he desperately attempted to escape from the caves. Not even the guards could stop him as he tore past them in his desperate search to escape.

* * *

Twilight found him huddling under her bed, curled up in a fetal position, rocking slightly back and forth. She crawled as close as she dared. “Spike?” she started gently.

“Go away,” he whispered. “I don’t… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me,” Twilight insisted. “I know you won’t.” She cracked a smile. “And if you did, you’d have to take my place as the queen of the changelings, and I bet you wouldn't enjoy that.”

Spike chuckled, his resistance cracking slightly. He slowly uncurled himself and looked over his shoulder at Twilight. “Yeah. That’d be messy. They’d feed me gems and I’d grow huge.” He snorted darkly. “I’d probably get so big that I’d outgrow the whole cave system.”

“I don’t think you’d get that big,” Twilight said with a wry smile. “But you’d probably get stuck in one of the doorways and get too fat to move. Then they’d just have to line up and throw gems in your mouth. Big line of changelings, all carrying gems, throwing them at you until you exploded.”

Spike laughed. “That sounds like a good way to die, I guess,” he said.

“I’d rather you didn’t die at all,” Twilight said. She scooted back. “Come out?”

Spike nodded. He crawled out, and his back spines scraped against the bed frame as he emerged, leaving gashes in the wood. He stood up.

And almost bumped his head on Twilight’s chin.

Twilight gasped. She spun around and tore open a drawer. “Stay right there!”

A few minutes (and many repeated measurements) later, Twilight dropped her measuring tape. She couldn’t deny it, no matter how much she tried: Spike had definitely grown slightly.

It was at this point, really, that it truly dawned on Twilight just how much this decision was going to affect everypony she loved. She pulled Spike into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.”

* * *

“It wasn't their fault,” Twilight said numbly. “They're predators and they're starving.”

Celestia nodded. She had remained silent throughout Twilight’s explanation, and she continued to remain silent as Twilight worked through what had just happened.

“Like moths to a flame,” Twilight continued. “They just couldn’t help it.”

Celestia nodded.

“But Spike… I don't think he's going to…” She swallowed. “I think he's going to stay that size.”

Celestia nodded.

“I think it's my fault.”

“It is.”

Twilight was taken aback. “That was… blunt,” she said.

“It was also necessary,” Celestia said firmly. “You cannot be caught up in the past. You have made an honest mistake, you have learned from it; now, never do it again. What else can you do?”

“Uh…” Twilight realized she didn’t have an answer for that.

“Spike will be taken care of. If you need to go do something else, feel free.”

Twilight nodded and left.

And sure enough, when Celestia went to check on Twilight later, she found her in Spike’s room, curled up, sleeping protectively around him. With a tiny smile, she closed the door and left the two alone.

Chapter 9

It was around noon the next day. Twilight was finally getting the hang of navigating the hive when a changeling appeared nearby and coughed lightly. He seemed to be cowering slightly, and his stance was somewhat defensive. “Your highness?” he started.

“Yes?” Twilight asked as disarmingly as she could. Though the changelings for the most part seemed to have gotten over their cowering and cringing every time she passed them, most still hesitated when starting conversations with her.

“You’ve got a visitor,” he reported, “but she doesn’t want to come inside.”

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“The pink one.”

Twilight frowned. “The pink one? Pinkie Pie?”

He cracked a little smile and shook his head. “No, we like her. The larger pink one.” He lowered his voice. “The scary pink one.”

Twilight blinked. Which pink pony scared the cha-? Her ears perked up. “Cadence!” she shouted. She closed her eyes and teleported to the main entrance, where sure enough, Cadence stood waiting. Twilight wrapped her in a hug, and paused as she felt Cadence tense beneath her.

She pulled back. “It's really me,” Twilight said.

“I know; it's just…” Cadence sighed. “No, I don't know,” she admitted sadly.

“Your favorite flavor of jelly bean is black licorice?” Twilight tried.

Cadence cracked a smile, accepting this for now. “You’ve been here a while,” she commented.

“I just need to be here,” Twilight shrugged. “I can’t explain it.”

“Is there even anything to eat?” Cadence asked.

Technically, yes; but nothing Twilight wanted to eat. Twilight didn’t want to worry her, but she really didn’t want to lie, either. “I haven't been hungry,” she said, which was definitely the truth.

Cadence sighed. “Just... stay safe, ok? You know I worry.”

“I know.” Twilight gave her a comforting hug, which this time Cadence returned. “You've always been the best at taking care of ponies.”

“Just the ones I really love.” Cadence grinned, but it faded quickly. “I can't help but think that you're going to be replaced and then the you they swear fealty to tomorrow is actually a changeling.”

Twilight paused. This was actually a very valid concern. “How about I stay with you tonight?” she suggested. “I can leave right now.”

Cadence smiled. “I'd like that.”

“We can do all the things we used to do,” Twilight said, starting to get excited about this new idea. “We can go to the library, go out for frozen yogurt, do each other's manes, braid each other's tails, paint our hooves!” She clopped her hooves together. “Perfect!”

*  *  *

That evening, Shining Armor paused as he neared his room and slowed to a stop by a mirror. He adjusted his uniform slightly until it was straight. In one saddlebag, he carried a bottle of Crystal berry juice in Cadence’s favorite flavor. Cadence had been under a lot of stress recently; lucky for her, he knew just how to help her relax.

He paused to adjust his mane briefly and spray on just a dash of cologne before opening the door with a seductive look on his face. “Oh, Cade-”

He stopped short as he saw Cadence and Twilight laying tip to tail, magically braiding each other's tails into that strange interwoven chain that all girls seemed to know how to make.

Both mares looked up at him, then at each other, back at Shining Armor, back at each other, and then back at Shining Armor again. As one, devious smiles spread across their faces, and Shining had the distinct impression that his nightly plans were about to be put on hold indefinitely.

Cadence lifted a hair tie in her magic. “Oh, Shiiining… It's time for a makeover!”

Shining managed to suppress a grimace. There was always tomorrow night.

*  *  *

“And this I swear,” the official intoned.

“And this I swear,” the gathered changelings repeated. They wore no obvious disguise, but Twilight had seen their throats all burst into flames beforehoof as they changed their voice boxes to those of ponies. Bruch had told her that a changeling in disguise while still appearing as a changeling was somewhat of a major taboo in changeling culture; but since the other option was having them disguise themselves as random ponies (and thus raise all manner of suspicion if they accidentally chose a form currently being used by somepony), Twilight had decided to order this option instead.

“To disavow queen Chrysalis,” he continued.

This line came much louder. “To disavow queen Chrysalis…” A few even leaned down to spit at her name.

“And to forever serve,”

“And to forever serve,”

“Her royal highness Twilight Sparkle,”

“Her royal highness Twilight Sparkle,”

“As long as I shall live.”

“As long as I shall live.”

Twilight was not used to hearing her name chanted like that, but she kept the smile on her face as she inclined her head. “I accept; and I shall be your princess for as long as I shall live.”

The ceremony ended, the applause came. At least, it was supposed to be applause. Twilight frowned as she looked at the nobles, many of whom were not clapping. Many more had chosen to be absent; and of those that had come, most looked upset, even angry. She winced. Not good.

Afterwards, Twilight quickly dropped to the ground and pulled Bruch aside, making the guard nearest them raise an eyebrow. “How was that?” she asked.

Bruch shook his head. “They don't trust us. At all. I have never tasted so much distrust or hatred or fear.” He made a little groan of displeasure as he exhaled, and Twilight realized that she might have just seen the changeling equivalent of nausea. “And I think I might be sick.”

Twilight bit her lip as he stumbled off to rejoin the changeling train back to their temporary hive. She hadn’t expected any different; but it was still disheartening to hear.

As she watched him leave, she heard hoofsteps approaching, and she turned to see her friends coming. Twilight brightened. “Did you come for the ceremony?”

“We’ve been here,” Rainbow grumbled. “You’ve just been so busy with the bugs that you’ve forgotten your friends.”

“Hey!” Twilight protested. “I haven’t forgotten you at all! This is important! The changelings don’t have a leader now, and it’s up to me to…”

“That’s great and all,” Rainbow interrupted, “but what about us? Aren’t we important, too?”

Twilight put her hoof down. She looked at all her friends, meeting their eyes one by one. “Girls, we've been through enough that you should know I'm not abandoning you. I didn't change when I became a princess, and I'm not going to change just because I'm a queen. You're my friends.”

“But-”

“No, no,” Applejack interrupted, “she's got a point. I've been around Twilight the longest and I've never seen her once let any of us down.” She leaned in close to Twilight and whispered, “Rainbow’s just been a bit fussy ever since she found out her season pass expired and she had to miss the Wonderbolts show last week.”

Rainbow pointedly ignored this. She folded her forelegs. “Yeah, fine; sorry we doubted you.”

Twilight pulled her friends in for a hug. “I promise, nothing will ever come between us.”

Pinkie nodded, but then her tail, left ear, and right thigh shook wildly. She brightened. “Ooh! That's the one I get when somepony says something they'll likely regret soon!”

Needless to say, that did nothing to alleviate Twilight's worries.

*  *  *

Celestia smiled at the knock on her door. It was a familiar pattern, one that she would never forget. She put her bookmark back and went over to sit on her bed before answering, “Come in.”

Sure enough, Twilight Sparkle poked her head in over the threshold. “May I come in?” she asked hesitantly.

“Of course. I did just invite you, after all,” Celestia said, scooting over and gesturing for Twilight to sit. “What's bothering you?”

Twilight grimaced slightly as she entered. “Is it that obvious?”

Celestia took in Twilight's messy mane and tail littered with flyaways, her unkempt, tousled coat that seemed to be thinning in patches, and her nervous eye twitching. A tiny smile played at the edge of her lips. “I just know you very well,” she said.

Twilight hopped up onto the bed, and it all came tumbling out. For nearly three minutes straight, her fears and concerns about abandoning her friends and being a bad queen were laid bare in front of her mentor.

When she was done, Celestia pondered this for a moment, and then smiled. “I believe I have a solution.”

“What?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Go to bed,” Celestia said with a twinkle in her eye.

“What?” This time Twilight's voice was more quiet and confused.

“When I invited you to join us as a princess, it was not Princess Twilight Sparkle I sought; it was Twilight Sparkle I was looking for.”

“What?” Twilight repeated again.

“Twilight, I did not ever want you to change. Everything you were and are is perfect for you. You just needed to see it for yourself. Don't worry about being a good queen; worry about being a good Twilight Sparkle. Everything else will fall into place, I promise you this.”

Twilight nodded hesitantly.

Celestia smiled and lifted up the covers with a wing in invitation, just as she had done for little filly Twilight so often all those years ago. “And yes, you may sleep here tonight if you wish.”

Twilight, a fully-grown mare with more power in the top segment of her horn than most unicorns even dreamed of wielding, bounded up on the bed like a filly a fifth her age. She turned in place three times and then lay down, curled up, just like she had many years ago. And just as she had many years ago, Celestia spread a wing protectively over her and rested against her; and soon both were sleeping soundly.

Chapter 10

Twilight woke up early the next morning feeling very confident and surprisingly alert. Though it was still dark outside, she hopped out of bed, her body full of energy and her mind full of ideas. “Let's do this!” she proclaimed, her mane flowing in a wind only she could feel.

She jumped and spun around at the sound of a loud yawn behind her. Celestia rubbed her eyes with a hoof. She clearly did not share Twilight's morning enthusiasm.

“Princess? Are you ok?” A brief worry ran through Twilight's mind. Had she inadvertently drained Celestia during the night?

Celestia closed her eyes, mentally calculated the time, and groaned. Eyes still screwed tightly shut, she lit her horn and raised the sun with a lazy toss of her head.

Twilight couldn’t help but crack a smile. This was a far cry from the time she’d gracefully raised the sun at that fateful Summer Sun Celebration.

Celestia fought to suppress a yawn. “I am fine, Twilight. Mornings, though, have never been my friends. I am princess of the sun, not necessarily the princess of the early morning,” Celestia joked with a half-smile.*

“Oh, well, I have plenty of energy! I bet I could…” Twilight hopped onto the bed and crossed her horn with Celestia's.

Celestia tried to pull back. “Twilight, you don't…”

But it was too late. With a spark of purple magic that held just a tinge of green, Twilight transferred a pulse of energy through her horn and bounced back. “How was that?” she asked, seemingly none the worse for the wear.

Celestia paused as the strange sensation coursed through her. “I feel… awake,” she admitted, “and refreshed.”

“Oh, good. I was hoping that would work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got tests to run and new experiments to try!” Apparently, she still had plenty of energy, as she quite literally leaped off the bed and sprinted out of Celestia's room. Celestia watched her go with a smile on her face. Twilight had grown so much…

Her musings were interrupted by a polite cough next to her. “It's good to see you up so early, your majesty,” Raven said pleasantly. “And how would you like your tea this morning?”

Celestia pondered for a moment before answering. “This morning I believe I shall dispense with the tea.”

Raven blinked. She could honestly say that was one of the last things she had expected to hear.

A slow smile spread across Celestia's face. “Instead, bring me a stack of scones, and that stack of paperwork I keep putting off. I'm feeling awake and alive today, Raven, and I intend to take full advantage of it!”

Raven hesitated only briefly before bowing. “At once, your highness.” As she left, she briefly considered the possibility that Celestia had been replaced by a changeling during the night; but then realized that that was impossible. Paperwork made ponies want to kill themselves; a changeling (and one without caffeine at that) would happily throw itself out the window within the first two minutes.

*  *  *

Bruch poked his head into Twilight's chambers. "Princess? You summoned me?"

"I did," Twilight said, looking up from her writing and pulling over a new piece of paper. “It has come to my attention that we don't have a lot of food supplies.”

Bruch winced. The changelings had come to a silent agreement that they wouldn't bring this up; Chrysalis had left a bad impression about food desperation. “It's true, your majesty,” he admitted.

Twilight didn't seem to notice his hesitation. “And since it now falls to me to make sure that that changes, I've been brainstorming. I think I have a few ideas on how to increase our food supply. Would you like to test them out with me?"

“It would require going to Equestria proper, right?” Bruch asked hesitantly.

Twilight nodded.

"I am not well-trained in infiltration," Bruch confessed, shuffling uncomfortably. "I’m much more comfortable staying here. Not that I won't accompany you if you want me to, of course; but…"

“I’d hate to make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with,” Twilight cut him off. “Do you know any changeling in particular you think I should bring?”

Bruch smiled. “I know a couple. I think you’ll like them.”

*  *  *

Twilight walked through the halls, accompanied by two changelings Bruch had recommended. They were called Nemri and Ithir, and they were twins. Twins weren't unheard of among the changelings, but they were still a fairly rare occurrence. And, much like pony twins, they seemed to be very close and even shared the same sense of humor.

It was fun to see the guards stiffen slightly as they passed. They didn't dare say anything, not with Twilight walking with them, but it clearly made them uncomfortable to have changelings prancing through the halls.

Not as uncomfortable as Spike, though. When they rounded the corner and he saw her, he waved and said something that sounded like, “Oh, hey Twili- aiiiii!” and then sprinted down the hallway.

Obviously, this was cause for alarm. Startled, Twilight could only watch as he ran off. “Spike?” she called, giving chase. “Spike!” She followed him as he ran into Cadence's room. His legs had grown slightly during the Incident, and Twilight found herself hard-pressed to keep up. She found herself feeling impressed against her will.

Twilight followed him in, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Spike?” she asked, looking desperately for him. “Spike, what happened? Are you alr-?”

Cadence suddenly burst into the room, head down and horn aglow, with Spike hiding behind her hind legs. Twilight took a step back. Cadence had never shown aggression towards her before; not even when she accidentally lit her wings on fire.

Though the changelings quickly ducked against the wall for cover, they were seemingly unfazed by this show of power. In fact, they seemed more curious than anything else. “That’s the princess of love?” Nemri asked.

“She’s prettier than I imagined, especially with how Chrysalis described her,” Ithir said.

“Right. And not too scary, either.”

“I'll say. By pony standards, I’d say she’s downright beautiful.”

“She needs fangs. That's all that's missing, really.”

“She'd look great even if she just had an inch and a half.”

“Mhm.”

This somewhat awkward conversation continued, but Twilight lost track as she ducked a bolt of shooting magic from Cadence. “Cadence, what are yo-?”

“Don’t call me that! What have you done with Twilight?”

“I am Twilight!”

But that's as far as she got. Now that their queen was in danger, it was time for action; and Nemri and Ithir tackled Cadence with a perfectly executed combination tackle. One changeling went high around her neck from one side, and one went low around her fetlocks from the other, and their combined rotational inertia brought her down to the ground easily. Cadence was slightly dazed from the impact, but didn't let that stop her. She flared her wings and grit her teeth as she struggled to stand up, but Nemri forcibly pushed her horn to the ground with a hoof and was about to hock a giant slime loogie on it when Twilight stomped.

“Let her go!” she ordered.

Nemri looked at her in confusion, but a second later obeyed, releasing Cadence and hovering in the air nearby.

Twilight held her breath as Cadence stumbled to her hooves. “Cadence, I…”

“Don't call me that!” Cadence snapped.

Twilight struggled for comprehension. “Why? What did I do? It's me, Cadence! It's really me!”

“Liar! You got the eyes wrong!”

“I am! It’s me, I swear!”

“Prove it! Tell me something only the real Twilight would know!”

Twilight thought quickly, and something she'd thought long forgotten came to mind. “Well, there’s... no, I couldn’-”

“Tell me!”

Twilight buried her face in her hooves as she provided the proof. “When I was in seventh grade I saw you and Shining Armor having anal sex on my bed, but I didn’t know what you were doing until I asked Princess Celestia two days later!”

Cadence froze, and suddenly her fur was not the only thing making her face pink. Yes. That she could believe. She remembered that; though she hadn't realized Twilight had seen. Still, that would definitely explain the intense grilling she had received from Celestia over dinner later that week about the more physical aspects of her element.

Behind Twilight, Nemri smirked. “Toldja she looked like a butt mare,” he said, jabbing the other in the ribs. Ithir sighed and bent over. With striking similarity to a cat puking up a hairball, he gagged violently, and a small chunk of sickly-pink glowing material formed on his tongue. With a few deft motions, he formed it into a ball, which he passed to the first changeling. Nemri grinned and proceeded to pop it open on a fang and then suck out the contents.

“That was disgusting,” Twilight said, gagging.

Cadence flushed even brighter red, and couldn't quite meet her eyes. “A- actually, it takes a bit of preparation, but it’s quite pleasurable if done righ-”

“I meant the changeling.”

“Sorry,” Cadence said.

“Sorry, Princess,” the changelings repeated in unison.

“It’s fine,” Twilight said, “but what I don’t get is why you and Spike both tried to attack me.”

Cadence looked down and back up nervously, unsure how to break it to her. “We thought you were a changeling copy of Twilight.”

“Why would you think that?” Twilight laughed. “They wouldn't do that.”

Nemri and Ithir shook their heads. “Not unless ordered.”

Twilight scowled. She was mildly relieved to remember that they couldn't understand changeling.

Spike and Cadence shared a look before Spike broke the news. “It’s your eyes.”

“My what?”

Cadence lit her horn and hesitantly brought over a mirror. Twilight took it and looked at her reflection... and then screamed.

The irises of her normally purple eyes had changed, becoming a sickly shade of green.

*  *  *

Back in her bedroom, Twilight was definitely freaking out. She paced relentlessly. “Ok, this is bad. This is really bad; but it's explainable. You can explain this. It's explainable, I'm sure of it. There's a perfectly logical explanation for this.” Twilight continued to pace, not noticing or caring that she was wearing a rut in the thick carpet.

The two changelings shared a look. “A logical explanation for what, your highness?” Nemri asked.

“Why my eyes are like this! It's too fast to be an adaptation, but it doesn't feel like a spell. It can't be a prank…”

Cadence glared at the two changelings standing nearby. “Gee, I wonder who could be responsible.”

Ithir glared back and then burst into flames, and then there stood another Cadence, though this copy was a bit smaller than the original. He waggled his head and stuck his tongue out with a mocking “Rethponthibibble!”

Cadence shot to her hooves and lit her horn, but Twilight jumped in between them and held out her hooves, keeping them apart. “Decloak,” she snarled at Ithir.

Ithir did so instantly, and had the decency to look abashed.

She turned to Cadence and held a hoof to her own chest for a moment before extending it. Cadence was chagrined at being shown something she herself had taught Twilight; but after a few seconds' hesitation, brought her hoof up and out, breathing out as she did.

“Good,” Twilight said calmly. “I won't have you two fighting. Now, I can return to freaking out.” She teleported back to her previous location on the carpet and continued wearing a rut through it.

Ithir and Nemri looked at each other, then back at Twilight. Ithir shuffled slightly. “It's because you're a queen now,” he said. “That's literally what it is.”

“But what does that have to do with what's happening to me?” Twilight demanded.

Ithir coughed. “Anyone who kills a changeling queen becomes themselves a changeling queen. I'm not sure how else I can say that.”

Twilight froze as the impact of these words hit her. “Wait… so that means… I’m going to become Chrysalis?”

It was Spike and Cadence's turn to share a look, though theirs was a bit more shocked than confused.

“You’ll become a queen,” Nemri emphasized. “Taller, stronger, beautiful set of fangs, more magical abilities than the rest of us changelings combined, that sort of thing.”

Twilight took a shaky breath. “Can I at least keep my mane?” she whimpered.

Nemri bit his lower lip. His queen needed support; as much as he would like to crack a joke, he couldn't. “You’re a changeling now, and a changeling queen no less. You can do whatever you want and look however you choose.”

Twilight was far from comforted. She looked up at Cadence. “What have I done?” she whispered.

Cadence hesitated--she hadn’t understood the changelings’ half of the conversation--but then sat next to her and pulled her head onto her chest, just as she had done when Twilight was a filly.

Chapter 11

Three ponies trotted down the hallway, laughing. Two looked fairly nondescript, a pink pegasus and a green earth pony, and the third was a purple alicorn wearing large sunglasses.

The pink pegasus managed to regain control of herself. “So then the colt says... -snrk!- He says, ‘Well, yeah. How do you think I got the horseshoes?’”

Twilight burst out laughing. “I didn’t see that one coming!” she gasped.

“Nopony ever does!”

They continued down the hallway, turned... and then froze as they came in sight of a large purple barrier.

Twilight frowned. That definitely wasn't supposed to be there. In fact, it looked like Shining Armor's protective shield, but… no. It couldn't be.

She decided to ask the nearest guard. “Mineral Spark? What's up with this?”

The larger stallion shrugged. “Nobles passed a law requiring the shield. I'm pretty sure that's the fastest they've ever agreed on anything, to be honest.”

“A shield? For what?”

Mineral raised an eyebrow. “You really need to ask? The changelings.”

“The changelings?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“Ugh,” the green earth pony spat. “Changelings. Nasty little buggers.”

“You said it,” the pink pegasus said, a noticeable shiver running up her back. “I still have nightmares about that day.”

Mineral Spark didn’t respond. Clearly, he was torn between agreeing with the two ponies, and risk offending Twilight; or say nothing about that at all. He decided to change the subject. “So the shield remains up for now. If any changeling tries to get in or out, they’ll get the shock of their life.”

Twilight grimaced. This would definitely throw a little wrench into her plan. It probably wouldn't stop her; but it would stop Ithir and Nemri.

She adjusted her sunglasses, suddenly mindful of what they concealed. Actually, on second thought, it might stop her. She pushed that thought out for now. In any case, the whole castle would be on high alert for changelings. She needed to be outside for a proper test.

The pink pegasus exhaled. “That’s a relief,” she said. “I gotta say, I’ve got more respect for the Royal Guard after that invasion. It’s a tough job, and I never realized it.”

Mineral Spark was far too professional to react, but Twilight could swear she felt him light up a bit. That made no sense, but that was the only way she could describe it.

Either way, the conversation soon ended naturally, and the three began walking away.

“How are we going to get out?” Twilight wondered aloud.

“You want out?” Ithir asked rhetorically. “We'll get you out.”

“How? It's not like I can just ask Shining Armor to pull down the shield, or have one of you impersonate some high-ranking guard to give the order,” Twilight protested.

“Oh, no,” Nemri said. “You're thinking too big.”

*  *  *

“I… I can’t believe it,” Twilight breathed, looking back at the shield behind her. “We’re out.”

Ithir chortled at Twilight's expression. “I told you, we'll do anything for our queen. If she wants out, we'll get her out.”

Twilight grinned, shaking her head in disbelief. “I still can't believe that worked,” she said. “That bit about the magic affecting your pregnancy was brilliant. I mean, I knew it was you, and I knew you were acting; but it was so convincing. You really looked nauseous and everything. I thought you were going to actually hurl on his ponyshoes.”

Nemri shrugged. “We're changelings,” he said. “We're very good at improvising.”

“You'd be surprised at how many inventions ponies use that were invented by changelings making things up as they went to try and keep their cover,” Ithir agreed.

The three ponies continued walking down the street. Twilight led the way; she knew this city. At Twilight’s nod, they headed into a deserted alley. She glanced around and reassured herself that they were alone.

“All right,” Twilight said, bringing them in close. “I want to see feeding in action.”

“Harvesting,” Ithir corrected. “The law of the hive is only take what you need to live, and transport the rest back for the hive for distribution.”

“You can store emotions, then?” Twilight asked, wishing she'd brought something to take notes with. She knew she had forgotten something.

“Yep.” He demonstrated by patting his abdomen. “We keep it here. As far as I know, there's no real limit, and we can store it almost indefinitely. As long as it keeps moving, that is. If you let it sit for too long, it goes rancid.”

“That’s why Jarret’s always stirring his mixture,” Twilight realized.

Nemri nodded. “I've heard that if we absorb an excess of energy, we can actually convert it to a kind of fat, like ponies do,” he added.

Ithir laughed. Clearly, he doubted this was a possibility.

“So how do you harvest?” Twilight tried again, scratching at her opposite foreleg.

Nemri spread his hooves. “We're doing it now. It's a little trickle of ambient love, but when you're starving, it works.” He quickly shut his mouth when Ithir glared at him.

“See, somepony—cough Sir Golden Buckethead himself cough—decided it would be a good idea to implement more safeguards, so we've had to keep on the down-low,” Ithir said. “Families are setting safe-words and setting strict schedules and such, so temporarily being a family member is out. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here.”

“So what do you do?” Twilight asked.

“Lust, for one,” he said. “It's bitter, but it'll keep you alive.”

“We can't take too much, though,” Nemri interjected. “Too bitter and the nymphs don't like it.”

“How do you get that?” Twilight was almost afraid to ask.

Ithir grinned. “Like this.” He poked his head out again, and brightened at something only he saw. He ducked back in out of sight, closed his eyes, and burst into flame. When they had faded, he wore a new disguise, this one the form of a light blue, young earth pony with a poofy mane and a fluffy tail that almost seemed to be naturally raised. He walked… no, he strutted down the sidewalk, swaying her hips and swishing her tail.

Twilight poked her head out. She saw what he'd seen: a pony who looked as though he had had a bit too much to drink already, lounging against the wall. He brightened as she approached. “Hey there,” he said, bringing a hoof up in a quick attempt to fix his mane.

Ithir batted his long eyelashes and flicked his tail, but didn't slow his pace.

The drunk pony reached out a hoof to swat at Ithir's flank, but Ithir rotated his hips and was able to avoid it easily. Thrown off balance, the drunken stallion lost his footing and collapsed.

Ithir stopped and looked down with a coy smile on his face. He looked up hopefully, but Ithir just flicked the underside of his nose with the tip of his tail. “Better luck next time, cowboy,” Ithir said with a sultry wink.

The stallion watched as Ithir walked down the street and didn't deviate his gaze until she had turned down another alleyway.

Twilight could only stare. “Are all stallions that… depraved?” she managed to squeak.

Nemri shrugged. “Enough are,” he said. “Especially when drunk.”

Twilight stiffened as another pony approached from the other side and sidled into the alley, but she relaxed when Ithir revealed himself. “And this is what it looks like,” he said. He twitched and bent over, like he was a giant cat coughing up a hairball. A good amount of hacking later, he stuck out his tongue to show a tiny dark blue ball sitting on the tip, so small it could have been mistaken for a piercing.

“Interesting,” Twilight said slowly. Their earlier interaction suddenly made sense. They didn't have anything; so they traded their food.

Ithir swallowed it again, grimacing a bit as he did. “What I wouldn't give for a little love,” he grumbled.

Nemri sighed. “We can dream,” he said.

Twilight noticed that Ithir didn’t correct him. This would not stand. She wouldn’t have her changelings feeding on the dregs like this. This was a conundrum, and she loved nothing more than a good challenge that required good thinking to overcome. “We’re going back to the castle,” she announced. “I have some planning to do.” She turned and walked purposefully away.

Ithir watched her walk away; or, more accurately, watched the strands of hair she was leaving behind gently drift to the ground. He leaned down and whispered to his brother. “Do you think we should tell her that her coat’s starting to fall out?” he asked.

Nimri barked a laugh. “Not a chance.”

Chapter 12

A noble who wishes to stay nobility knows when it is safe to speak, and when it is safest to whisper. In spite of this—or perhaps because of this—a princess knows when and where to listen to get the information she needs, regardless of the manner it’s shared.

Unfortunately, this time she didn’t even need to listen closely to hear the rumors. Nobility everywhere didn’t even bother to lower their voices as they expressed their disgust with the changelings. There was talk of an expulsion order, headed by Prince Blueblood himself, that would require any changeling who entered Canterlot to be thrown in a dungeon (his words exactly). He had, of course, neglected to consider the logistics of this order. Still, the idea seemed to be gaining some traction.

This is why Twilight Sparkle had issued a hive-wide summons, looking for volunteers for a trip to Ponyville.

“Ponyville?” Bruch asked, confused.

“Yes,” Twilight said. “It’s a more welcoming town than Canterlot. If somepony like me can find friends there, surely changelings will be accepted. We’re going to start by placing changelings with my friends, and then go on from there.” She paused. “I hope,” she added quietly.

“Placing?” Bruch asked, his voice now wary.

Twilight cracked a smile. “If they can put up with me, putting up with changelings who are actually trying to fit in shouldn't be hard at all. It will show that changelings can coexist with ponies.”

Bruch paused, mentally running through that scenario. “That sounds…”

“Utopian?” Twilight supplied.

Bruch cocked his head, unfamiliar with that term.

“Too good to be true?” Twilight tried.

Bruch hesitated, then nodded.

Twilight exhaled, her breath carrying the weight this new queenship had forced upon her. “It might be,” she admitted, “but we have to try.”

Bruch found he had no rebuttal to this.

“Now I just need…” Her voice trailed off as two changelings suddenly appeared in front of her.

“We heard you were looking for volunteers?” Nimri asked with what must have been for changelings a winning smile. Apparently, changelings showed off their fangs when trying to garner attention.

Twilight regretfully shook her head. “I'm afraid I'll need you to sit this one out.”

“Not us?” Ithir wondered, hurt crossing his face.

“Have we displeased you in some way?” Nimri asked, his voice worried and nearly a whisper.

“Of course not,” Twilight said firmly. “But my vision is that every changeling can join pony society, not just the exceptionally skilled infiltrators such as yourselves.”

Ithir blinked, and then shrugged nonchalantly, but it was clear that he felt highly complimented.

“So that’s why I’m looking for many different changelings, each with their own perspectives, and by doing so, I’ll hopefully be proving that no matter how odd they may be, all changelings can work together with ponies.”

One passing changeling poked her head up hopefully and looked back, but when she saw who had been speaking she quickly ducked her head again and continued walking.

Twilight frowned. For some reason, her curiosity was piqued. “Who is that?” she asked.

Bruch grimaced. “That’s... Ponneka, Princess.”

Twilight called. “Ponneka!”

The changeling froze. Her wings and short tail clenched tightly against her body, and her ears pinned against her head. Twilight found it interesting how changelings and ponies reacted similarly.

She slowly turned around, eyes fixed firmly on the ground. “Yes, Princess?” she asked in a whisper.

“Did you want to come to Ponyville, too?”

“They wouldn't want me,” she said quietly.

Twilight glanced over at Bruch. “Why not?”

“She’s... she’s a poniphile, Princess.” Bruch was noticeably embarrassed about this.

“What does that mean?” Twilight asked, looking at the changeling in question.

She didn’t meet Twilight’s gaze. “I... I like having sex with ponies, Princess,” Ponneka explained, in a nearly inaudible voice. It was obviously a sign of shame, or at the very least strongly taboo in changeling culture.

“Well, you do have ‘pony’ in your name.”

Ponneka glanced up long enough to protest, “It’s Pon-NEH-ka, not Pon-NEE-ka,” before quickly remembering where she was, and dropping her head once more. It almost looked like she expected to be struck.

“It... still sounds the same to me,” Twilight admitted. She turned back to Bruch. “But I thought changelings did that anyway?”

Bruch rolled his eyes. “Changelings will do it, but that doesn’t mean we like it. I imagine a lion doesn’t particularly care for chasing down his prey, but he does anyway. I imagine eagles don’t enjoy squinting into the sun to find fish, but they do it anyway. We are hunters. We do what we must to survive.”

“Interesting,” Twilight murmured. “You’re quite the philosophical race, aren’t you?”

“More like our minds wander when hunger pangs keep us awake at night,” Bruch corrected quietly.

Twilight bit her lower lip. As queen of the changelings, she felt responsible for that, and made a quiet promise to herself that no changeling would go hungry again. She shook her head to clear it, turned to face Ponneka, and continued. “All right, then. You’re in.”

Ponneka’s ears pricked up and her eyes widened. A slow smile spread across her face.

“But, Princess,” Bruch protested.

“All perspectives,” Twilight repeated.

Bruch scowled and exhaled slowly, but did not argue further. “Fine, but she’s not sitting next to me on the train.”

Twilight flinched. “Oh, that reminds me… I should probably let my friends know we're coming.”

“They don't know?” Bruch asked.

“I kindof forgot to tell them,” Twilight admitted sheepishly. “But I’m sure they’ll agree, no problem.”

*  *  *

“I'm not sure I can agree with that,” Applejack said slowly.

Twilight grimaced. This wasn't quite how she'd expected it to go. Then again, she had somewhat compensated for this possibility by asking her friends to come one at a time, just to space things out. Applejack and Rainbow Dash would be the most stubborn, and so they were here first.

Applejack adjusted her hat and continued. “Look, Twilight. I trust you, and your judgement. But what I don't trust is them,” she said, jabbing a hoof at the changelings.

The door opened, and Rarity entered, head held high. She slowed to a stop as she saw the changelings behind Twilight. “What's going on?” Rarity asked, her voice raising a few pitches.

“Twilight's trying to stick changelings with us,” Rainbow said quickly.

That made Rarity pause. “Is that so?" she asked, her voice now nearly an octave higher than usual.

“I think it’d be a good example,” Twilight said weakly. “It'd... show how they can... live with us?”

“They’re creepy,” Rainbow emphasized, pointing again. “I mean, look at those eyes!”

Hrit stuck his tongue out at Rainbow when she looked away, and quickly pulled it back inside his mouth when she looked at him. She narrowed her eyes, not buying his innocent whistling act for a second. He'd done something, but she wasn't sure what.

“They're not…” Twilight sighed. “Ok, they kindof are,” she admitted. “But I think they could be a great asset.”

“Or just be pains in ours,” Rainbow countered.

Twilight frowned. “Rainbow…” she said.

Rainbow exhaled. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll go along with this. But I won't be happy about it.”

“Happy about what?”

Twilight looked up and saw Fluttershy, standing in the doorway.

“She's gonna try and stick changelings with us.”

Fluttershy blinked, and then followed Rainbow's hoof to where the changelings stood. Her eyes widened—having them in the same hospital room was one thing; but being in her cottage?—and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

Rarity sniffed. “She took that rather well.”

Twilight began massaging her temples. Perfect. Really.

Chapter 13

“So, I'm stuck with you two,” Rainbow said, pacing in front of the two changelings who had been assigned to her.

They nodded. One shifted uncomfortably and seemed to take a tiny step away from her companion.

“I guess Twilight trusts you, which I think is a big mistake. But, since nopony asked me my opinion, here you are.”

The changelings shared a brief, nervous look. Her mistrust was palpable. This did not bode well for today’s assignment.

“You caught me on a work day. Today I'm going to be leading a squad busting clouds on the borders of the Everfree Forest, and so I'm going to need you guys to stay out of my way. Are we clear?”

There was a burst of green flame, and two identical Rainbow Dashes stood and snapped to a sharp salute. “Ma'am, yes ma'am!” they answered.

Rainbow blinked. She'd forgotten just how strange it was to see herself standing in front of her. Exact copies of herself. Completely convincing, even to her…

“Do you want us to help, or just watch?” one offered.

“No,” Rainbow said, a slow smile spreading across her face as a new thought occurred to her. “I have a better idea.”

*  *  *

“Hey, boss!” Raindrops said as she approached Rainbow Dash. “Where do you want me today?”

Rainbow Dash glanced down at the clipboard she held. “South section,” she answered, pointing.

Raindrops saluted. “You got it!” She flew off, ready to start her work day… only to be stopped by Rainbow Dash, standing on top of a cloud.

She waved her down. “Whoa, there. East, Raindrops!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I said east section!”

Raindrops nodded hesitantly. “You got it,” she said, turning around. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gotten turned around, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed up so late baking last night.

She’d almost made it to the correct quadrant when Rainbow Dash popped her head out of a cloud. She pulled herself out and stood up on top, and scowled. “I said west, Raindrops! You know, opposite of where the sun rises?”

Raindrops hovered in place as she tried to comprehend this, but try as she might, it just didn’t work. She whimpered and rubbed at her temples. She knew she should have stayed home today!

it then got worse. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, and then two more Rainbow Dashes flew up.

Raindrops whimpered again. She shook her head, but there were still three Dashes there. She kneaded at her eyes, and that made things worse; when she opened them again, there were two Raindropses flanking a Rainbow Dash hovering there instead.

Raindropsi? Raindropsen? How did she pluralize her name, anyway?

She was just about to try to figure out if she would have to get another job to feed all of her selves when the two ponies that looked like her burst out laughing and reverted to their natural forms.

Raindrops' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the sight of the changelings.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow said quickly, throwing a foreleg over Raindrops' shoulders. “They’ve been assigned from princess Twilight as part of an integration experiment. They’re here to help, and I bet they’re sorry for pranking you.”

The two changelings nodded, with wide, hammy smiles.

“In fact, I bet they’re so sorry, they’ll do your shift for you, and you can have the day off.”

Raindrops cracked a smile. She wouldn’t complain about that.

One of the changelings burst into green flame and became Rainbow Dash. “We will?”

“Yes,” the real Rainbow Dash said firmly.

“Oh. Yes. We will!” And he nodded exaggeratedly.

As Rainbow Dash and Raindrops flew away, the two changelings glanced at each other.

“Oh, she’s good. She’s real good.”

“Shut up, Ponneka.”

*  *  *

Pinkie Pie looked at her two newest assistants. “So you're with me today, huh? Well, I won't go easy on you! You've got a lot to learn if you ever want to set hoof in this bakery again!” Pinkie turned over to a closet. “But first, you need a better outfit,” she said, retrieving two aprons.

She spun around at the sound of fire and saw that they both had taken on her form. Her eyes narrowed. She trotted around them, inspecting their manes, tails, stomachs, checking inside their ears, measuring their cutie marks, and even going so far as peeking inside their mouths and under their tails before she stood back and clapped her hooves together and rendering her verdict. “Perfect!” she declared, throwing the aprons on them. “Let's get started! You'll feel so lucky you were picked to come with me!”

“Picked?” one said.

“Oh, no, no. We volunteered to be with you.”

“Oh? Why's that?” Pinkie asked brightly.

Both changelings took a step forward. “We like you, Pinkie.”

“You're so happy all the time, Pinkie.”

“You tell us jokes.”

“You're not afraid of us.”

They began reaching out and gently nuzzling her as they circled her in tandem, their touches light, gentle, and teasing.

“You're always smiling.”

“You smell like happiness.”

“S- stop, you're making me blush,” Pinkie protested weakly, rubbing a hoof against her cheek.

“You love everypo-”

“No, really, stop; we have lots of things to bake today,” Pinkie insisted, placing a hoof on the side of each of their heads and physically pushing them away.

The two changelings retreated slightly; but only slightly.

“Now, walk this way!” And she bounced off and pronked down the stairs.

The two changelings looked at each other, shrugged, and began bouncing down along after her.

*  *  *

Rarity nervously pranced in place ever so slightly. The two changelings she had been assigned stood there as well. One coughed and found something very interesting to look at near his hooves.  “I don’t know. I must admit, this whole thing is rather off-putting,” she confessed.

The nearest changeling smiled sheepishly, but the fact that this only revealed more of her fangs did very little to comfort Rarity.

“Well, I suppose I can adapt,” she said with somewhat forced cheerfulness. “Follow me.” She led the two into the showroom, and held up a hoof at the nearest mannequin. “Tell me, what do you think of this design?”

The nearest changeling studied it intently before closing her eyes and flaring green fire. There were suddenly two Rarities standing there.

“It looks like it's designed for a noblepony, and I'd say the color and busy-ness of the shoulder puff right here is spot on. Still, I can’t help but feel this hanging strap right here would get caught on the average pony’s gait, if they were to run,” the new Rarity said, her gentle accent an exact duplicate of the real Rarity's. “Now, obviously, you've got a better chance of it raining falafel than seeing a noble pony run; but still, fashion demands it. Now, if it were slid up to here, it would be a bit more out of the way, and then you could add embellishments underneath, like the floral stitching pattern quite in vogue this season.”

Rarity paused and considered this. “But that would…” She leaned in and squinted, and then straightened up. “Actually, you have a very valid point. How did you know that?”

The changeling Rarity grinned. “I’ve been around ponies longer than you’ve been alive, miss Rarity. I may not know everything about fashion, but I know when something looks awkward on a pony.”

Rarity turned to the other changeling, who also flared green fire and appeared as Rarity. “I can make cupcakes?” he offered.

Rarity clapped her hooves together and ignored the fact that his imitation of her mane curled the wrong way. “Great. You’ll be our model.” She lit her horn and pulled the dress off the mannequin. “Up top, please!”

*  *  *

Applejack trotted in front of her two changelings. “So, today I guess you’ll be working in the orchard with me! Doesn’t that sound great?”

The changelings visibly hesitated.

“It’s gonna be great,” Applejack said firmly. “There’s nothing like a nice, long day of hard work, leaving you tired, but with a good feeling inside. Does a pony good.” She paused. “Er, so to speak. You know what I mean. Hard work. Now, bucking apples isn’t that hard, once you get a good rhythm.” She turned around so her hindquarters were towards the tree…

And then she realized that she was all by herself. “Hey. Where’d you go?” she called, but she got no answer. She looked around, frowning. Where had they gone?

She checked behind the trees, she checked up in the trees, she checked under bushes and even in a nearby pond; but there were no changelings to be seen. She chewed on her lower lip.

And then she heard her sister.

“Hey, Applejack?” Apple Bloom called. “Why are there changelings hiding in the kitchen?”

And a little smile spread across Applejack’s face. They didn’t want to work in the orchard, did they? Well, they’d regret that decision.

*  *  *

A yellow pegasus with a long pink mane sat outside on the grass, eyes closed, breathing gently and easily. A little bird flew over and perched on her head and warbled a few bars before deciding that her head was safe enough to rest on a bit longer. He was soon joined by another, and then another.

From inside the house, Fluttershy and another changeling watched from a window as more animals poked their heads out from their holes and burrows and went over to say hi.

“He's good,” Fluttershy whispered.

The other changeling, Cri, nodded, also impressed. Tindr was a quiet changeling, mostly keeping to himself. It had been a surprise when he had volunteered for this expedition. Yet he had clearly taken to this job well. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by trusting animals.

“I like him. I hope he stays,” Fluttershy murmured as she watched him tenderly pet a squirrel.

Cri could taste her emotions. She was hopeful. This was likely the first other pony who could stay quiet like her. And Cri knew all about her staying quiet--it had taken a good hour and a half before she had calmed down enough to actually talk with them. He grinned wryly as he watched Tindr cuddle up with a rabbit. He had the distinct feeling that he would be returning to the library alone tonight.

Chapter 14

Mr. Cake knew that being married means that sometimes you ran into your significant other at the strangest of times. Sometimes, such as the time he walked in on her trying valiantly to fit into a far-too-small pair of her old panties, it was a good thing (or, at the very least, a sight that he would forever treasure). Sometimes, like the time he walked into the bathroom and thought she had drowned in the bathtub when in fact she was just napping peacefully, it was an awkward thing.

But when he opened the door to the baby Cakes' room for their diaper change and found Cup there performing that change, it was a horrifying thing. His mouth worked wordlessly. “Sweetie bun? What are you doing here?”

Cup smirked slightly as she tied the diaper in place. “Exactly what it looks like I'm doing, Carrot. Why?”

“I thought you were downstairs with Pinkie.”

Cup's smirk slowly faded, quickly replaced by a look of confusion and then concern. “I thought you were downstairs with Pinkie,” she said.

They looked at each other in mild horror as the sounds of multiple competent bakers in the kitchen came wafting up the stairs. As one, each grabbed one of their babies and headed downstairs.

Mrs. Cake stopped short, and Mr. Cake bumped into her. Both were struck dumb at the sight.

There in the kitchen worked three Pinkie Pies.

“Oh, sweet, merciful Celestia,” Mrs. Cake whimpered, her pupils now the size of pinpricks. “She's cloned herself.”

Mr. Cake handed Pound Cake to his wife, and then promptly fainted.

*  *  *

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash raised her chin off her cloud, not even bothering to open her eyes. “If it’s about the changelings, I already know,” she seethed through gritted teeth. “They’re supposed to be there.”

Thunderlane hesitated. “Oh,” he said quietly.

“Was that it?” Rainbow demanded.

“Y- yeah.” Thunderlane scratched at the back of his neck. “Yeah. That was it.”

Rainbow Dash scowled as he hesitated and then flew off. He'd been the third this hour alone. It seemed like the only one she had ended up pranking around here was herself. She irritably pushed up a little wall of clouds to reform her pillow, then slammed her face into it. Little bursts of cloud floated up, and she compressed them around her head to try and dampen any noise. She did her very best to emit as many nonverbal ‘leave me alone’ cues as she could; but she knew that as soon as she got comfortable…

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Whaaat?” Rainbow demanded, yanking herself out of the cloud and flying up to get in their face.

She was taken aback to be face to face with herself once more. “Oh,” she realized, retreating slightly (though her irritation was not decreased). “It’s you guys again.”

“Yep. We’re done,” the changeling said proudly. She spread her forelegs wide. “Clouds completely busted!”

“Cool,” Rainbow said, dropping back down to the cloud. She formed her pillow again and lay back down.

There was a long pause.

“What do you usually do right about now?” one changeling asked.

“Usually, I’ve finished my work already, so I take a nap,” Rainbow said irritably, letting them know in no uncertain terms that that was her desired outcome.

There was another pause.

“Well, we’re supposed to stay with you all day, so I guess we’ll just sit and watch you sleep.” And the changeling sat down on the cloud to do just that.

Her companion leaned down and kicked her none-too-gently in the shoulder.

Rainbow scowled and grumbled into her pillow. “Welp, I'm not going to be able to sleep after that. Creepy. I don't even know your names.”

“Ponneka.”

“Teirt.”

Rainbow snorted. What kind of names were those? Had their mothers just slammed a hoof down on a keyboard to name them or something? “That doesn't really help.” She stood up and stretched her wings. “I guess I’ll be going with plan B, then.”

“What’s plan B?”

“Training,” Rainbow answered, starting to stretch one foreleg across her chest.

“For what?” Teirt asked sarcastically. “The Royal Guard?”

“Ha! Better.” A hint of pride crept into Rainbow’s voice. “I’m going to join the Wonderbolts one day.”

“Ooh!” Ponneka clapped her hooves together excitedly (prompting an eyeroll from the other changeling). “And I’m sure you’ve got all the moves you need?”

“Naturally,” Rainbow said, brushing some imaginary dust off her chest.

“Show us!” the eager changeling urged.

Rainbow straightened up and stretched. “Well,” she started, her tone playful, “I’m not so sure you’re ready for the sheer level of awesomeness I’m about to give you.”

“Probably not,” Ponneka breathed, pawing excitedly at the ground like a cat eagerly watching a bobbing toy, “but I’m willing to try.”

Rainbow paused. She looked at the other changeling. “Is she always like this?” she asked in a stage whisper.

“No,” Teirt answered flatly. “Today is a good day.”

Rainbow took a sidling step back away from Ponneka. “Oh… kay, then,” she said. “You know much about flying?”

Teirt shrugged. “I’ve hid as a pegasus a few times, and I've been to a Wonderbolts show.”

Rainbow grinned. “Do you remember anything?”

“You're going to…” Teirt rolled her eyes, but humored her. “Ok, I remember the Buccaneer Blaze.”

“Say no more!” Rainbow flew up high. She floated in midair for a split second before folding her wings and dropping.

The two changelings watched as she picked up speed.

And then Rainbow flew.

The two changelings watched in awe as Rainbow Dash flew, twisting expertly as her inherent pegasus magic built up and then trailed off her wings. Sparks seemed to fly off her feathers as she spun in the air…

And she landed, gently, perfectly, on the cloud.

Ponneka stomped, cheering loudly. Teirt nodded slowly, impressed against her will. “A’ight. Not bad,” she admitted.

Rainbow Dash grinned, now back in her element. “Oh, you think that was good? I’m just getting warmed up! Check this out!”

*  *  *

Twilight looked into the mirror and exhaled. She slowly dragged a hoof against her chin. It wasn’t sore, no; but if she didn’t know any better, she’d say her jawline was lengthening somewhat, and perhaps angling slightly. She exhaled. If only she’d taken some baseline measurements…

She jumped at the knock on her door. She quickly put her sunglasses back on over her eyes and trotted over to the door. She opened it, unsure what she would see.

She was not expecting Rainbow Dash carrying an unconscious changeling. “Hey, Twilight,” she said flatly.

“Rainbow…?” Twilight began hesitantly.

“Changelings are weird,” she announced, unceremoniously dumping Ponneka on the ground at Twilight’s hooves. “This one decided she'd celebrate my super awesome flight routine by trying to get all mushy with me and she kinda touched my hooves so I kinda sorta kicked her in the face; and then that one-” she jabbed a hoof towards the other, “-gave me a hug and said I was her hero.”

Twilight glanced over, but Teirt staunchly refused to look at her. She sighed. So much for that idea. “Thanks for giving it a shot, Rainbow.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. I’m heading up to Cloudsdale for a nap-” here she got into Twilight’s face, “and don’t let them follow me.”

Twilight nodded, and Rainbow darted away, disappearing quickly into the distance. Even her contrail seemed to be eager to disappear

Twilight watched her leave and then sighed. “Oh, Ponneka, what am I going to do with you?” she wondered aloud.

Teirt shrugged. “Chrysalis kinda just kept her around for permanent pit cleaning duty. And for throwing stuff at her when she was bored.”

Twilight pursed her lips. That would explain why she’d flinched upon drawing her attention.

Still, there was still hope. Maybe the other changelings were having more success.

*  *  *

Three fillies stood across from two changelings. Applejack, perhaps wary of their presence in the orchard, had assigned them to ‘crusade’ with these little ones today, whatever that had meant. The little smirk on her face as she did so had not been comforting in the slightest.

The little yellow one with the bow made the first move. “Apple Bloom,” she introduced herself.

“Scootaloo.”

“Sweetie Belle.”

The two changelings responded in kind. “Wrie.”

“Foro.”

Scootaloo crinkled her nose. “Those are weird names,” she said.

Sweetie Belle elbowed her in the ribs. “Be nice,” she hissed.

Apple Bloom paced in front of the two changelings. “So, you're with us for the day?”

The two changelings nodded.

Scootaloo nodded. “I'm surprised Applejack trusts us this much,” she said quietly. “We're pretty good at making messes.”

Wrie and Foro shared a nervous look. They were just fillies. But if they had that reputation already…

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle agreed sadly, but then she perked up. “But today we're just rebuilding the clubhouse; so we're making the opposite of a mess!”

Wrie cocked his head.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Chemists didn't quite go according to plan,” Apple Bloom said by way of cryptic explanation.

Foro ducked his head and burst into flame, disguising himself as a younger colt, probably only a year older than they. “Ahh. I can understand that,” he said knowingly. “Once I was hiding as a college student and ended up in a chemistry lab class.” He whimpered at the memory. “That was not Equish they were speaking.”

“How did that go?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“They had to evacuate the lab,” Foro admitted. “And… and the school. But in my defense, everypony made a full recovery.” His wide smile only faltered slightly as he amended, “Eventually.”

This look was oddly familiar to the three fillies. Now with the feeling that they were in the presence of allies, the three nodded triumphantly at each other and then retrieved hammers from some unknown space. “Then let's go!”

“Where are we going?” Foro asked.

“The CMC clubhouse,” Scootaloo answered. “Today, we’re…”

And then all three jumped up in the air and shouted at the top of their lungs, “Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse repairers! Yay!”

For some reason, Foro reflected as he scrubbed painfully at his ear, he did not find this comforting.

*  *  *

Sweetie Belle watched, fascinated, as Wrie easily scrubbed the soot off the paint. It was going much easier for him than Scootaloo in the opposite corner, who was grunting angrily and though she seemed to be putting in a lot more effort, she was not getting nearly as far at all. “You're good,” Sweetie Belle said. “Do you have a cutie mark in cleaning?”

Wrie paused long enough to take a pony form—a light brown pegasus colt—before responding. “No, but I have a lot of experience,” Wrie said. “When you’re in a bind, you can always hide as a janitor. Nopony ever pays attention to them. I've just picked up a few things over the years.”

She nodded. “So what kind of cutie mark do you have?”

Wrie shrugged. “Changelings don't get cutie marks.”

“What?!” Sweetie gasped.

“I said, changelings don't-” Wrie repeated a bit louder.

“No, I heard that,” Sweetie Belle said, rolling her eyes. “I mean, how do you know what you want to do for the rest of your life if you don't get a cutie mark?”

Wrie looked at her, giving her a critical once-over, then set down the steel wool. Then, he burst into flame again. When it cleared, Sweetie Belle looked right at Sweetie Belle.

“This is what I want to do,” the fake Sweetie Belle said. “Disguise myself as other ponies and harvest love for the hive.”

“Whoa,” Sweetie Belle said, eyes as wide as dinner plates. “You look just like me!”

“I should hope so,” Wriete Belle said cheerfully, bouncing on the tips of his hooves. He even managed to produce a squeak on the word 'hope'; not as cute as the real Sweetie's, but pretty darn close. “If I didn't, I'd be very disappointed!”

Scootaloo poked her head into this conversation. “So can you make your own cutie mark?” she asked, fascinated.

Wrie nodded and closed his eyes. He burst into flame once more, and when it cleared, three stylized horseshoes shone brightly on his flank.

“Whoa…” Sweetie said reverently, bringing a hoof up to touch her double's flank. Wrie flinched, but did let her touch him.

Apple Bloom had stopped pretending to clean a long time ago, and she quickly came over for a better look. “Do something else!” she urged.

Wrie glanced around the ruined clubhouse, and his eyes landed on a paintbrush. He closed his eyes again and his flank burst into flames once more, this time revealing the paintbrush on a small painter's palette.

The brief but heavy flow of admiration surprised him, but he certainly wasn't complaining. The jealousy he could have lived without, though. Still, they were excited, and Twilight had said that he was to try and make friends here.

At their eager requests, Wrie cycled through as many cutie marks as he could think of based on his location (there were a great many apple-based ones) before Foro came to his rescue by bumping a can of paint. The lid clattered noisily to the ground. Suddenly recalled to their duty (and perhaps eager to attempt to earn a cutie mark of their own), they quickly went back to work with a will. Eventually, enough of the soot had been scraped off that the walls could be refinished.

Scootaloo pried the top off a can of paint thinner, and they soon started mixing. Foro was impressed and disturbed at just how much paint she managed to get everywhere.

They were all working together when Wrie and Foro froze. Something was wrong, but they weren’t quite sure what. Foro turned around and saw two new ponies approaching through the window. He had spent some time as a schoolfilly, and he recognized their demeanor instantly. He nudged Wrie and he too, looked; and he too understood.

Apple Bloom noticed their movements, and she looked. She scowled. “Them again?” she grumbled.

This influx of negative energy was mildly unpleasant for the changelings. They needed to get them gone, and fast. This had been their first real meal in a while!

“Why don’t we go talk to them?” Wrie offered. “Maybe we can get them to leave you alone.”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon aren’t going to listen to you,” Scootaloo said derisively, also scowling at the window. The two fillies in question caught her eye and waved.

It was an odd feeling. Anticipation. They clearly wanted to start something.

Wrie nodded to Foro, and then the two burst into flame, returning to their changeling forms. They buzzed their wings and jumped out of the window, making Scootaloo dive out of the way.

To their credit, the two fillies didn’t flinch at the appearance of the changelings. Instead, they turned and looked at them, as if deciding if they were appropriate targets also or not.

“Liener fadrit,” Wrie said pleasantly.

In unison, the two fillies cocked their heads in confusion. It might have been adorable, had they not been evil.

Wrie closed his eyes and burst into flame, changing into a nondescript yellow earth pony stallion. “Good afternoon,” he repeated.

“So you’re the changelings here now,” the one wearing a tiara started.

“That’s us!” Wrie said brightly.

“So what brings you to this dinky little place?”

“We’re hanging out with the Crusaders,” Wrie answered.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Silver Spoon said. “We were just about to go 'hang out' with them, too.”

“You're going to go bother them,” Wrie said flatly.

“Yeah. Duh,” Diamond said with a toss of her mane. “They're good targets.”

“Easy targets,” Silver Spoon agreed.

“But why?” Wrie asked, cocking his head. “They are our friends. Their friendship tastes good and they are happy.”

Foro burst into flame and took on the form of a pink stallion. “Were happy,” he corrected. “Then you two showed up.”

The two fillies smirked. Perfect.

“Please leave,” Wrie said. “We like them.”

“What if we don't want to?” Diamond asked.

“Then you will regret that decision,” Foro said simply.

Silver Spoon drew herself up to her full height. “Are you threatening us?”

Wrie looked at Foro, and they shared a knowing glance. “Well, not exactly,” Wrie said.

“But some very… interesting pictures might show up if you don't leave them alone,” Foro finished.

“Like what?” Diamond challenged.

Wrie and Foro looked at each other… and then a smile that could only be called 'devious' spread over their faces. They looked back at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and then both burst into green flames. When they faded, it was as though the fillies were looking into a mirror.

The fake Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon—or should it be Cubic Zirconia and Stainless Steel?—smirked right back, and then started running in place. It looked like they were trying to run a stationary 100-yard dash, they were running so fast. Sweat quickly started dripping from their manes and running down their faces.

Then they turned to each other.

“Oh, Diamond,” the fake Silver breathed, running her tongue along the front of her teeth.

“Oh, Spoony,” the fake Diamond returned.

The real fillies could only watch in horror as their two doppelgängers began to passionately kiss one another, running their hooves over each other's body. Cubic wrapped Steel's hairbraid around her hoof and jerked sharply, pulling her head back and making her whimper into the kiss. Steel pulled away, and began laying a trail of kisses down Cubic's body. Cubic whimpered as she lay on her side, her hind legs twitching, and then Steel placed her hooves on Cubic's side and began tracing her cutie mark with her little tongue.

That was it. Screaming, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon took off, fleeing as fast as they could.

The crusaders, who had not seen this previous scene, watched them go, their expressions a mixture of confusion and mirth. They quickly headed downstairs to see their two changeling friends, standing nonchalantly against the tree.

“I'm not sure what exactly you two did, but you're ok in my book,” Apple Bloom said with a wide smile.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo laughed. “You guys are awesome!”

“I bet Rarity got stuck with two boring changelings,” Sweetie said pityingly.

The two changelings reverted back to their previous foalish forms. “We are pretty cool, huh,” Wrie grinned. “Let's get back to work, shall we?”

Scootaloo grinned. “I've got the varnish!”

*  *  *

There was a knock on the boutique door, and at Rarity's friendly “Come in!”, Applejack and Sweetie Belle entered the boutique. While Applejack was standing upright, Sweetie Belle looked somewhat woozy and was leaning on the larger mare for balance.

“Oh my, what happened?” Rarity asked, darting over to check on her sister.

Applejack lifted her head to explain. “Varnish problems at the clubhouse means a massive headache. Turns out changelings are immune to that sort of thing, even if ponies aren-”

Her voice trailed off as she realized that there were two regular Rarities working around one pink Rarity wearing a frilly dress and an enormous hat.

Applejack gently set Sweetie Belle down and backed away slowly. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.”

Sweetie Belle grinned goofily. “Woo!” she cheered, raising a hoof in the air. “Three sisters are better than one!” But lifting her hoof had offset her balance, and she slowly tipped over and landed on her face.

Rarity sighed and lit her horn, lifting up her sister. “I'll get her upstairs,” she said. “Vashi, keep working on that, and Hrit… keep being you.”

Vashi saluted and Hrit grinned widely. This he could do.

Chapter 15

That afternoon, Twilight exhaled and scratched absentmindedly at her foreleg. This stress was not good for her. She was itching everywhere; her coat was starting to thin in places and hairs sloughed off every time she scratched. But she couldn’t worry about that now. Her experiment had begun, and now it was time for assessing preliminary data. “Day one. What's the damage?” she asked. It was often best to start with the unpleasant things.

Bruch flipped through a clipboard held in his green magic. “None so far, unless you count the three fillies getting mildly sick from varnish fumes. Foro also reported an astounding amount of… um…” He squinted, unsure if the words he read were correct.

“Tree sap?” Twilight guessed flatly.

Bruch looked back down at the paper again. “Yes,” he said, surprised that she had managed to guess. “Tree sap.”

“That's par for the course with those three,” Twilight murmured. “How many stayed?”

“Stayed?”

“Yeah. Stayed.”

Bruch frowned. “We’ve all stayed,” he said. “We would not abandon our princess.”

“No, I mean… stayed with the ponies you were assigned to.”

Bruch’s frown deepened. “Why would we do that?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“We always return to the hive.”

It was Twilight’s turn to frown. “But if you’re going to be integrated into pony society, you’ll need to get along with other ponies, right?”

Bruch was silent.

“Right?” Twilight asked, a bit less certain this time.

Bruch licked his fangs. “Princess, may I speak freely?”

Twilight nodded.

“We do not want to integrate. This isn’t our way.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“We are changelings. We are outsiders. We will never belong with the ponies, not while they know that we hunt them. We live and thrive in the shadows. While we can change who we are, we can't change what we are.”

“And what are you, Bruch?” Twilight asked quietly.

Bruch shook his head weakly. “We are changelings. I can't explain much better than that.”

“What if integration works, though?” Twilight asked.

“And what if it doesn’t?” Bruch asked quietly.

Twilight opened her mouth, and then shut it again. Friendship always worked, right? Friendship always won.

Bruch realized he might have overstepped his boundaries, and attempted a little bit of damage control. “It was a good idea, even if it failed-”

“No!” Twilight corrected. “I have not failed. I have just successfully found a way that doesn't work.”

Bruch blinked. “So… you failed.”

Twilight waved a hoof. “It's a pony saying,” she said. “I'll just go back to the drawing board and-”

“Princess, we appreciate the effort; but we accepted our fate a long time ago.”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“We are willing to go along with any of your experiments, Princess. We trust you. We love you. We live to serve you. But ordering us to do things against our nature…” His voice trailed off, clearly uncertain about how to continue. “It will be difficult,” he finished.

Twilight exhaled. “Alright. I’ll need to… consider a few things,” she said. She held out her hoof expectantly. Bruch gave her the notes, and then silently watched her leave.

Twilight walked up the stairs, entered her room, shut the door, and then spun around and leaned on it, sliding defeatedly to the ground. She exhaled slowly. This was mildly disheartening.

Spike looked up from his reading. “How go the integrations?” he asked. He had remained mostly in Twilight’s room during his time here. Ever since the incident in the crystal caves, the changelings seemed to be giving him a wide berth, which was frankly quite all right with him.

Then again, he did get a larger basket out of the deal, and two small bony lumps were beginning to protrude from his back right where wings should go, so he couldn’t hold too big of a grudge against them. Besides, when else could he read comics all day without Twilight getting on his case?

Twilight looked over her notes again. “To be honest? Pretty ‘bleh’. I mean, there's Tinder, who's staying with Fluttershy; but that's about it. No changeling really wants to stay permanently; they seem to work like bees, collecting nectar and then going back to the hive.” She froze. “And apparently you’re not supposed to compare them to bees because that’s mildly offensive.”

Spike shrugged. He’d never had a problem with bees; their stingers couldn’t pierce his scales.

“And then I looked over some of the comments from the townsponies. Ponyville seems to be fairly accepting, but on more of a NIMBY status.”

“Nimby? Like the mouse lady?”

“That's Frisby,” Twilight corrected absentmindedly. “NIMBY stands for 'not in my backyard'. They don't mind having them around; they just don't want them around, you know?”

Spike scratched his head. “Maybe?”

Twilight sighed. “From both sides, integration isn’t working. I thought for sure friendship would overcome their differences…”

“Well, yeah; but maybe you’re going about this wrong,” Spike said with a shrug. “I mean, you’re friends differently with everypony, right? You’re friends with Pinkie Pie by letting her be her, and by eating her cupcakes. You’re friends with Rainbow Dash by watching her fly and not letting her ego get too big. You’re friends with Rarity by letting her do your mane and… well…” He sighed wistfully and clutched his comic book to his chest. “Actually, anything she does wouldn’t be all that bad.”

Twilight cracked a smile. “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “Maybe I’m trying to force my thinking on them, to make them like me. That’s not friendship, either.”

“So what’s the plan now?”

“I originally scheduled two weeks of this; but if these are my results already, I think we’ll cancel the experiment and head back to Canterlot. Tinder can stay with Fluttershy if he wants, and I’m fairly certain he will.”

“Still in those crystal caves?” Spike asked.

“Yeah.” Twilight exhaled slowly. “And from what I can tell, they’re not exactly happy there, either. Too cramped, and getting in and out isn’t…” 'technically supposed to be possible', she thought; but instead changed it to “-hard; but it’s time-consuming. They’re not used to that.”

“Wow,” Spike said. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, Spike,” Twilight admitted quietly. “I really don’t know.”

The hug Spike gave her was deeply needed and profoundly appreciated.

*  *  *

That evening, there came a knock at the door of the library. Twilight lit her horn and winked into existence right beside the door, startling the changelings playing cards nearby. She opened it and was mildly surprised to see Zecora, flanked by a changeling.

“Zecora,” she said. “What a surprise. Would you like to come in?”

The zebra shook her head. “I’m afraid I cannot tarry; at night the Everfree turns quite scary. I felt the need to walk Scir here home; I didn’t trust her on her own.”

Scir gave Twilight a sheepish smile.

Twilight nodded understandingly. “I’ve learned my lesson about walking through the Everfree by myself,” she said as Scir slunk inside, ears drooping. “Trust me. It's a... rock-hard lesson I won't forget. How did it go today?”

“As you may have well suspected, it went better than I expected. You would be surprised as well how useful is an assistant who cannot smell.”

“Stinkroot helps coats shine. Who'd've thunk?” Scir chimed in.

Zecora gave a wry smile; she hadn’t understood the words. “Though I understand not a word they say, her assistance helped to brighten my day.” She paused. “One question, if I might. Why do you wear your sunglasses at night?”

Twilight adjusted them. “No reason,” she said, her voice cracking a bit more than she'd like.

Zecora cracked a smile and let the matter rest. Then she chewed on her lower lip, as if considering something else. “Another I must ask, if I may be so bold: will they be staying here in the Ponyville fold?”

Twilight grimaced. “Not quite,” she said. “I thought integration was the answer; but it might cause more harm than good on both sides.” She glanced back at the changelings, who were all trying very hard to appear as though they were not listening… and failing drastically; Hrit still had a hoof resting on the draw pile, and one ear cocked to hear the conversation better. She cracked a smile. “Sometimes what ponies think their friends need and what their friends actually need are two very different things.”

Zecora exhaled, relieved. “I felt the stares of judging strong; it would have been tiresome before long.” She glanced up towards Scir, who was clinging to the wall as she listened in, and gave her a smile. “Perhaps you’ll come and visit me again, though perhaps disguised with a zebra’s skin.”

Scir nodded and burst into flame, revealing that she could, indeed, disguise herself as a zebra.

Unfortunately, zebras cannot cling to walls like changelings can, and with a yelp she slid to the ground, landing in a jumble of hooves and fur.

Zecora laughed as she and Twilight helped Scir up. Scir inclined her head respectfully towards Zecora. “Goodbye, my friend. Someday we shall meet again,” the changeling rhymed.

Zecora smiled as she left, disappearing into the night.

Twilight glanced around at the gathered changelings. She crossed a hind leg over and scratched absentmindedly. “So… who’s up for ponopoly?” she offered.

*  *  *

It was getting close to midnight, but the game was still in full-swing (sometimes literally). Twilight glared at her five property cards, none of which were the same color, and then at the fourteen cards owned by Tinder sitting next to her. The quiet changeling had barely said a word all night—a few times, she had almost been convinced that he had fallen asleep—but he had somehow accrued quite the balance of funds. Not her, though. She had had the worst luck. It was so bad that when there came another knock at the door, she teleported over just to get away from the game.

When she opened the door, though, she was surprised to see a familiar pony standing there. “Cheerilee?”

Cheerilee nodded, eyes slightly downcast.

“Would you like to come inside?” Twilight asked.

“Thank you,” Cheerilee said, taking a few tiny steps forward. She swallowed as if to steel herself, and then spoke. “May I borrow a changeling?”

Twilight blinked. That was certainly an odd request. “That’s really up to them.” Twilight took a step back and to the side, allowing Cheerilee passage further into her house.

Cheerilee swallowed nervously, but gamely stepped forward towards the nearest changeling. “Um… hello,” she started.

The changeling tilted its head and blinked its pupil-less eyes, as if trying to comprehend Cheerilee. Then she closed her eyes and burst into flame, becoming a pony that looked exactly like Cheerilee, but with her mane and coat colors swapped.

Cheerilee noticed with mild trepidation that he/she/it had even copied her cutie mark. That unsettled her somewhat. And that was quite the accomplishment; she was unsettled enough coming here in the first place.

The disguised changeling tilted her head. “For what?”

“Do I need to answer that?” Cheerilee asked hesitantly.

“A better question might be, what are you looking for?” the changeling rephrased her question.

Cheerilee shook her head slightly. “I'm asking for a foal to spend the night,” she said, a bit confused.

“Are you asking for a foal to spend the night-” here she jerked her head towards the table, indicating a peaceful evening of games, “-or to spend the night?” She dragged out the 'I' sound in the last syllable, and she ran her tongue across the front of her teeth and flicked her tail.

“Wha- no! Ew! Ugh- No! Celestia's flowing tail no!” Cheerilee shuddered and took a full step back. “It's not that at all. I... I...” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for her confession. “I have always wanted a foal of my own, but I... I can't. I am… infertile.”

The changeling winced noticeably. This was a painful issue that traversed species boundaries.

Cheerilee continued, her eyes still fastened firmly on the ground. “I haven't even gone into heat in years. I was hoping I could pretend, just for one night, that I was a real mother.”

The changeling nodded, and then trotted away up the stairs.

Cheerilee watched, confused. “Aren't you going to-?”

The disguised changeling slowed to a stop. “It's more real if you don't see it happen,” she said quietly.

Cheerilee nodded slowly.

Sure enough, within seconds, a little filly emerged from Twilight's room on the top floor. She peered out from the railing and looked around.

Cheerilee felt her heart rate begin to increase. She'd chosen a similar color scheme to her own, and had become an earth pony at that. She hadn’t chosen a cutie mark; she was young and likely still eager to learn.

Her eyes fell upon Cheerilee, and she visibly brightened. She scampered down the stairs and ran right into Cheerilee's forelegs. “Mama! You came!”

Cheerilee instinctively gathered her into a hug and brushed her lips against the top of her mane in a loving, chaste, instinctive kiss. “Of course I did, sweetheart,” she said, the words springing unbidden to her lips.

“I had fun today! Miss Twilight taught us how to play ponopoly, and I was winning!”

“Were you now?”

“Well, second place; but I think Tinder was cheating.” She turned and stuck her tongue out at Tinder, then smiled widely and attempted to suppress a yawn.

Cheerilee knew she was being played, but still, her maternal instincts were stronger. She lifted the filly up onto her back. “Come along, then, little…?” Her voice trailed off. Did she pick a name, or would the changeling choose?

“My name's Chestnut, mommy,” Chestnut said, kneading her hooves against Cheerilee’s mane. “You're silly!”

Cheerilee nodded, feeling a strange tightness in her throat. “Of course, Chestnut. But I love you anyway.”

Chestnut flopped forward, resting her hooves atop Cheerilee’s head. “I know. I love you too, Mommy.” And together, the two headed out.

Twilight poked her head out the door and stared. She knew it was Scir, she had seen that it was Scir; but still, it was a stark contrast to watch a changeling who had previously called down all manner of curses on Tinder’s egglayer and threatened to forcibly shove the board up Hrit’s cloaca suddenly bounding along and babbling like any normal little filly. “She's good,” she whispered, slightly disturbed. “She’s really good.”

*  *  *

Bright and early the next morning, Cheerilee was woken up by a gentle prodding on her forehead. She groaned… and then froze. Her eyes snapped open. She lived alone. Who was in her house?

“Mommy, we’re hungry.”

Mommy? “We?” Cheerilee rubbed her eyes and sat up.

And then her jaw dropped.

Surrounding her bed were no less than five foals, all at varying ages, but all young and all looking at her. Most were earth ponies, one was a pegasus. One looked down, pawed at the ground, and looked up again hopefully.

Cheerilee felt her breath come raggedly. She pushed herself out of her bed, and then gently hugged each of the foals, one by one, pulling them close and just enjoying the close contact. When she was done, she reached up and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. “Let me get you something to eat, my… my children.”

*  *  *

Twilight blinked as she heard Scir’s report. “I still can’t decide if that’s cruel or kind,” she finally said.

“She was happy.” Scir shrugged. “Temporary or not, she was happy, and we got fed. I'm really not seeing any downside.”

Twilight found she had no response to this. Even so, she couldn't help but feel that her morality had just become a bit grayer.

*  *  *

Surrounded by royal guards (and more than likely a changeling or two disguised as a royal guard), Twilight led the changelings back through town towards the train station. Many ponies had come out to see them off, probably more out of curiosity than support.

She waved at Fluttershy, who was standing next to a light blue pegasus with a long flowy mane. The pegasus met Twilight’s eyes and nodded. Twilight cracked a smile. At least one changeling had found a home here.

Now she just had the whole hive minus one to worry about.

Chapter 16

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

Chapter 5

After another examination revealed no further injury and Twilight was soon presented with a clean bill of health, and she was back at the castle by dinnertime. As much as it was unbefitting a princess, she found herself requesting seconds, and then thirds.

Celestia smiled playfully. “I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much at one time, Twilight. You must be starving.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, shrugging as she shoved yet another forkful of food into her mouth. “Just really hungry, I guess.”

“Leave her alone,” Cadence interrupted. “It's probably from not eating for a week in the hospital.”

“That's quite alright.” Celestia smiled as she patted Twilight on the head. “Growing ponies have to eat a lot so they'll grow big and strong,” she teased, earning chuckles from all present. Even Twilight smiled in spite of herself as she levitated another roll over.

*  *  *

After dinner and dessert--had those cheesecakes always tasted so good?--Twilight returned to her room. She tried to immerse herself in more of her studies (especially on the changelings that would soon be loyal to her), but what she found were more old pony tales and legends than actual hard research. This was frustrating. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the suggestion to lay a line of salt over the windowsill to keep a changeling out was ridiculous. It would just fly over, if it even noticed it at all. She tossed the book aside and flopped back over onto the pillow. It was like changelings didn’t even exist.

Which, upon further reflection, was exactly their modus operandi.

To make matters worse, for some reason she was still hungry. It was like there was this pit in her stomach that just wouldn't be filled. As hard as she tried to ignore it, she was still hungry.

She had almost determined to sneak back down to the kitchens for a late night snack when there came a knock on the door. Her ears pricked up. Grateful for the distraction, she rushed over and opened it.

There stood a solar guard, his helmet under his foreleg. “Your highness!” he greeted her, bowing deeply.

“Granite,” Twilight returned. “I'm glad to see you!”

He hesitated, and a confused look briefly crossed his face.

“I mean, what can I do for you?” Twilight quickly corrected herself with a weak smile.

He scratched the back of his neck. “We were wondering—that is, me and some of the other guards—if you'd come down and talk to some of the changelings in the dungeons. They just… they're asking for you, and they just don't shut up.”

Twilight nodded, both grateful for the distraction and kicking herself that she hadn't thought of that herself. “Of course. I'll follow you.”

*  *  *

The dungeon door creaked open, casting a stark light on the stone walls. Twilight followed Granite in.

“He's in here,” Granite said, pointing. “This one’s been here the longest. And he's the loudest.”

Twilight came to a stop in front of a cell where a single changeling stood. His eyes widened as he recognized his visitor, and he dropped into a deep bow with his face nearly pressed up against the ground. He whispered something respectful that Twilight didn’t quite catch.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Could you take a pony form? Just so we can understand each other?”

He straightened up and burst into flame. There stood a gray stallion, much like the royal guard he had been disguised as.

“You wanted to see me?” Twilight asked.

The changeling nodded eagerly. “I wish to plead for forgiveness. I want to be accepted back into the hive.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Well, thanks, uh… Drict, you said your name was?”

Drict nodded.

“You know, as I recall, you sounded pretty adamant about being for Chrysalis’s plan,” Twilight said.

“She was my queen. Now you are my queen, and I will obey you and only you. Any order you give, I will follow,” he said firmly.

Twilight chuckled nervously. “I'm not so sure I'll be giving you too many orders,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

It had the exact opposite effect. “Not…” Drict froze as he processed her words, and his eyes widened. “Are you… banishing me?” he whimpered, clearly terrified of that idea.

Twilight knew. She could literally taste the sour fear emanating from his body. She tried to verbally backpedal. “N- no; I just…”

“Please!” Drict cried, falling to his knees and reaching out with his forelegs pitifully, desperately reaching through the bars for her hooves. “I will be a loyal servant! I will serve only you! I can do it, I promise I can! Please, let me prove myself, I beg of you! Please!”

It was disturbing to see a fully grown stallion grovelling in front of her. Twilight took the tiniest of steps back and clutched a hoof to her chest, unsure of how to proceed from here. She suddenly became aware of other eyes watching her. As Drict sobbed and pleaded in mumbling, unintelligible words on the ground, she glanced back behind her to see more changelings, pressed up against the bars, their blue eyes unblinking as they watched with baited breath.

Twilight turned to face them. “Does he speak for all of you?” she asked.

They nodded, silently pleading their case with wordless stares.

Twilight exhaled and brought a hoof up to her face. This definitely wasn’t something she’d thought about. She was fairly certain that this situation had no precedent. Changelings had no precedent.

Still, they’d asked to come under her judgement. Celestia would trust her. Celestia did trust her. She would just follow her heart. And her heart said…

Twilight turned back to Granite. “All of the changelings were loyal to Chrysalis at one point. In a few days, they will all swear fealty to me. I see no reason to single these out, especially if they gave themselves up willingly. Gather a few of the Night Guard and escort them down to the crystal caverns with the rest of the changelings.”

Granite saluted, trying--and failing--to hide a relieved smile. “Yes, Princess!” He turned and quickly marched out.

“Oh, thank you, my queen!” Drict cried.

And then Twilight felt the strangest sensation. It was a moist sensation, on her rear hooves, repeated at rapid intervals. She looked back, and confirmed what she already knew.

Drict was reaching out through the bars and was kissing her hooves.

Twilight froze and her ears pinned. She had no precedent for this, either. She glanced up at the nearest guard, but he just shook with silent laughter. She looked back down at the changeling. “Drict, you don't-” She grimaced uncomfortably. “Drict, y- you really don't have to-”

Drict paused long enough to say “I know,” before resuming.

Twilight lit her horn and lifted him up. “You know, Drict,” she squeaked, “you can… show your affec- loyalty some other way. Like at the fealty ceremony in a few days. You can wait for that, right?”

Drict nodded, looking slightly abashed. The changelings behind Twilight giggled with hissing laughter. Twilight forced a smile. The Lunar Guard couldn't get there fast enough.

They arrived quickly, and worked with their cold efficiency. In an orderly fashion, the changelings were extracted from their cells and marched down to rejoin the temporary hive.

Twilight watched as one of the changelings taken from the cells ducked its head and smiled, apparently flirting with the Lunar guard standing at the door; but the Lunar guard merely scowled and gave it a none-too-gentle bump with the butt of the spear, wordlessly telling it to keep moving. It seemed unabashed; Twilight could swear it was still swishing its little tail as it walked.

Twilight gently shook her hoof out as she watched the last of the changelings leave. “I bet Celestia doesn’t have to put up with this,” she muttered.*

*  *  *

Midnight came, and found Twilight Sparkle wandering listlessly around the castle. She had made the right choice, hadn't she? Releasing those changelings back into the general changeling population? She ate another of the cookies she had obtained from the kitchen, not noticing or caring about the crumbs that sprayed from the edges of her mouth. She had. Right? Ugh! She couldn’t concentrate with this hunger! Not even reciting Starswirl's Seven Magical Postulates backwards was helping, and she was getting desperate. What was wrong?

Suddenly, she sensed something she didn’t recognize before. It was like magic; but it felt warmer, fuller, happier. It made her smile. Her curiosity piqued, she set the cookies down and followed the scent along the hallways.

It led her all the way back to her brother's room. Soon, she stood in front of the door, wondering what was going on in there. Experimentation? New crystal magic she hadn’t discovered yet? Old crystal magic she hadn’t learned about yet? She pressed her ear up against the door. Strange grunting noises emanated from the inside, interrupting her thoughts. Twilight pulled back and squinted, confused. For a few minutes, she just sat there, wondering what those noises were.

It wasn't until she heard her brother’s voice call out, “Oh, Cadence~!” that she realized what exactly she was being privy to. Embarrassed and flushing bright red, she fled back to the safety of her room and buried herself beneath the covers of her bed, magically slamming and locking the door behind her.

As she rolled over to try and get to sleep (and hopefully remove those pesky mental images), it suddenly occurred to her that she wasn't hungry anymore

Needless to say, Twilight did not sleep very well that night.