It had been the longest distance Twilight had ever teleported and, worse, she had pulled along friends with her. She would have fallen and tumbled over when she arrived with a purple flash right in the middle of Princess Celestia's throne room. Twilight trembled a little, feeling completely drained. "I got you, relax, recover." The soft words in her ear made the mare smile, thankful to Gel for having… well, more than her back, he had her legs right then.

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia sounded shocked and suddenly there was a bright shaft of gold power. Twilight felt herself being torn from Gel as the changeling cried out into her ear.

"No! Stop!" Twilight's strength was pulled from her reserves, she felt weak as a filly but managed to strike a hoof down solidly on the flagstones. "Princess Celestia, stop, he is helping."

The flood of golden power stopped burning at Gel, the changeling stunned at how much raw force was behind it.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, explain this situation right now." The words were stern but not angry. Twilight had never heard Celestia quite so… cross.

"Gel is a changeling, he was mind-warped by Chrysalis to come and… and kill me and my friends." Twilight explained but realized her words were not doing much for her new friend's image, she quickly moved on. "I helped break the enchantments she had on him and he agreed to help, he warned me about the possible attack on Princess Cadance and my brother, he even helped fight off another attack on myself."

"Twilight," the white-furred princess sounded softer now, her voice almost chiding, "did you not think for a moment he was sent to gain your trust, so he could subvert you?"

"I wouldn't…"

"He wouldn't…"

Twilight had been the only pony to hear Gel's words, but her own didn't sound so shaky and scared. "Princess Celestia, I trust him."

There was silence in the room and the last of Celestia's magic withdrew, allowing Gel to flow back into place, covering Twilight and clinging to her as if for the safety she provided.

"You are the most trying student I have ever had, Twilight Sparkle, but also the most caring. Very well, if you trust him then I find I have no choice but to as well. What news do you have?" Celestia seemed to relax back to her throne only to find Pinkie Pie dashing up and setting some cake before her. This got the earth pony a smile.

Gel murmured to her. "I am going to talk, this may feel a little funny."

Twilight gave a nod and then realized it did feel funny when another pony was in control of your breathing suddenly. It certainly didn't hurt, but Gel opened her mouth and twitched her vocal cords.

"Princess Celestia, I apologize for not being more… myself. With news that Twilight's friends were foalnapped I didn't wish to take a single chance, know I will protect her to the end of my abilities." Gel gave a slight bow.

Celestia's eyes opened a little wider, whether at the taste of the cake she was eating or at hearing a changeling speaking with Twilight's voice, was unknown. "You speak well for a changeling, yet you seem quite different to the regular drone. What are you, Gel?"

"I am a changeling, Chrysalis… my mother, spent a lot of energy to create me. She wanted to use me to kill and weaken your ponies." Gel's words felt strange to Twilight, but it was something that unsurprisingly, had her curious. How much of her body could he control like this? Could he work her like a puppet? "It doesn't take a smart pony to work out that what she is doing is so very wrong. She used me, made me hurt ponies, one I even loved." Twilight could feel a trembling in her body, she felt Gel's anger at his misuse, or at least the very physical result of it.

"You claim you are not a smart pony, but I think my student would not wish such… close, company of a silly pony." Celestia was in a good mood again, the cake really helped, but seeing how much her student trusted this changeling, it had the scent of intimacy about it. She hoped he would be true to his word.

Twilight's blush was hidden by Gel, but Gel's wasn't. The changeling was shocked that he even could blush. "We need to find out how they took her friends, track them and try and catch up to them before they reach the hive." His words made much sense to Twilight, and she nodded to them. It was a surprise when she felt a gentle tickle at one ear. A surprise and a delight.

"And what do you say, Twilight Sparkle?" Celestia looked at them still. Gel adjusted, freeing her lungs and her voice, then her mouth.

"It is a good plan, but I think, if we cannot find how they abducted three of the most capable ponies I know, within a day, then we must leave anyway." It was Twilight's turn to feel her head nodding. It was starting to become commonplace to the mare, feeling all this, having another pony able to control and move her at a moments notice. She smiled. "And if that is the case, we will have no choice but to go directly to the hive and get my friends back!"

"There are other ponies, trapped there." Gel's words were soft, of course only Twilight could hear them. "Chrysalis uses up ponies like they really are nothing but food."

"We are going now." Twilight's words, contradicting the entire plan she had just come up with, shocked not only herself but also every pony present. "Gel, can you protect me from their gaze?"

Gel struggled with this conversation, it was all fine and good talking just to Twilight when they were alone or in a fight, and a whole other problem when there was a princess with immense power sitting right before them, looking at them like they were crazy. Working a good-sized mass of changeling from within Twilight, Gel forced himself to push out at her shoulder, putting a little pressure on Twilight's neck to bend to the other side. Forming an identical head to the one already on the alicorn was easy, but it did get some gasps of surprise and one chuckle. The latter was from Celestia.

"You just tried that, for the first time ever, didn't you?" She was smiling, Celestia wasn't sure why she was but seeing the two exploring this oddly symbiotic relationship they had was, if nothing else, entertaining.

"I did. Talking in Twilight's ear only was not really working, this is much better." Gel looked sideways at Twilight, getting an oddly confused look back. "I explained that there are more ponies in the hive, Chrysalis uses them to feed her drones."

"I won't stand for it. We must free everypony." Twilight's hoof rose and fell again, this time the stone actually cracked. Gel was impressed by the force the mare used, he wasn't even helping her with it!

"Then you will lead an army?" The word felt distasteful to Celestia, she really disliked the need for guards at all, but there was the look of the thing, and the look of them. She glanced sideways at one of the stallion unicorns. Yup, definitely the look of them.

"An army would be useless, your highness." Gel got a sour look from Twilight. "With a few of the stronger changeling drones, the army would march happily into pods, surrender and bed down to be food for the hive. That is not the way."

"We should get Cadance and Shining, that would be awesome!" Pinkie bounced a few times, still under the effects of the sugar rush that started moments after she was born. "Woo love cannon!"

"No Pinkie, there is a problem. There are a lot of changelings?" Twilight got a nod from herself. "Okay, so what happens if there are enough to just eat it all this time?"

Gel felt the tremble of fear in Twilight as she explained it. "That would be really bad. We must not allow Chrysalis to capture Princess Cadance… that would be the end of ponykind." He trembled himself, this was not a pretty thought. "So we need to go in, a small group. Get in and… and stop the queen."

There were gasps. "And you would take my student to go do this?" Celestia did not sound approving.

"No, I will go on my own. At worst Chrysalis gets me under her control and… well you know. At best… if I can grab her, control her…" Gel felt those tears again, he was astounded at what was happening to him, it was almost like he had a body, a normal body.

There was a kiss on his cheek, a kiss that removed some of the tears. "You won't be going without me." Twilight looked into Gel's eyes and there was that spark again, a sensation the changeling had been robbed of once before. He blushed suddenly and tried to turn away. Gel couldn't believe he was falling for the princess, it wasn't fair.

Twilight looked into the duplicate of her own head. She hadn't realized at first, how perfect the copy was. She smiled, only a pony who really took notice of her could make a copy that perfect. "Gel, I absolutely will not let you go alone, but we are going, Chrysalis needs to be stopped, my friends need to be released."

A flash of green was seen in the crowd and a changeling was rushing forward, only to be suddenly grabbed in a bright gold ball of force. The ball moved slowly through the shocked crowd. "Long?" Gel looked surprised at the changeling in the bubble. His old teacher looked angry and fierce. Something was off. "Princess, please, dispel him before you talk."

Celestia spared a look to Gel and gave a nod. The spell played out so quickly from the ancient alicorn that nopony present could even tell it happened, but the moment it hit the trapped changeling they slumped and looked broken.

"Long, Long?" Gel walked them both closer and Twilight looked down at the confused-looking changeling. "Long it's Gel, are you okay?"

"Gel? What… where am I?" The changeling looked around the room in a daze, seeing so many ponies just confused him.

"There was a lot of magic woven into him, a lot." Celestia rose from her throne, her cake finished and set aside. She stepped right up to the fallen changeling. "You are safe, little drone. Are you hungry?"

Long looked up, unable to focus well, but he dared to feed from the pony practically offering itself. Raw, burning heat poured into him and he had to let go quickly, it was like trying to swallow magma.

A scrap of paper fell from the wobbling drone and he looked down at it somewhat distracted by it. The scrap glowed gold and rose up. "It is an ultimatum. Chrysalis says if all the princesses of the realms surrender to her, she will leave every other pony alone. Forever."

"No deal." One of the ponies in the throne room, Celestia recognized Fancy Pants, was stepping forward. "She is the queen of lies, your highness. Even if she held to her promise, the price is too high."

It made the sun princess smile, a warmth that seemed to radiate around to every pony present as each stepped forward and made known their own argument with the plan that the scroll suggested.

Even Gel could feel the warmth, he bathed in it, closing his eyes, stopping his sight completely so he could just focus on experiencing it by feel.

"P-p-princess?" Long, the changeling who Celestia had seen have his mind riddled with green-burned holes, lifted a hoof to Celestia. "Princess, she gave me the warning because she had no more use for me. Please, let me do something to show my thanks…" The words from such a broken changeling… pony… Celestia mentally corrected herself. The words hit her, and they hit hard.

"Gel, Twilight, don't charge in, I want a plan. This crazed mare must be stopped and stopped before she hurts anypony else. Unicorn, pegasi, earth pony or changeling." Celestia's words got a cheer from everypony.

Author's Note

Well, it certainly isn't war, but I think the fight is going to be brought to Chrysalis. She is going to get befriended so hard she will never forget it!

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