Change of Life

by Lil Penpusher

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Luna, Drama, Changelings, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Queen Chrysalis, Princess Celestia, Slice of Life
Length: 46564

It's been a long time since the Changeling Invasion of Canterlot was repulsed and that Equestria has gone back to their usual Business. What nopony expects though...is that the enemy is far from defeated...and has already infiltrated them once again.

It has been a long time since the Changelings tried invading Canterlot. Their attack has been repelled and all Ponies believe the Changelings to be defeated.
What they don't know is that they are far from defeated.

This is the story of Thunder Strike, a Pegasus and Lunar Guard Soldier. He joined the Guard as a still fairly young colt, hiding his true reason for joining the Lunar Guard from everypony else. Together with the Unicorn Blaze from the Solar Guard he is enjoying his time in the Guard as much as one possibly could.

Soon though, his feelings for somepony else blind him, causing a massive chain of events that nopony could have ever foreseen.

Additional Characters: Shining Armor, Cadance, Mane Six

This Story plays before Season 6, meaning FlurryHeart hasn't been born yet and Thorax also is not yet "a thing" (In case you are wondering).

Thanks to my good friend Toasty who helps me out with pointing out mistakes and giving me great ideas for the story, cheers mate!

This story is being proofread by an awesome person called Infuscate, I thank him lots for spending time on correcting my rather stupid mistakes :raritywink:

Feel free to point out errors in the Story, as I am still learning on how to write stories (apart from the fact that english isnt my first language :pinkiesad2:)

Published 2016-08-10 05:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-29 15:56:16 UTC

1 - Best Friends forever

Canterlot, Lunar Guard Barracks, 6:00 am. 8 months after the first Changeling Invasion of Canterlot.

A Lunar Guard Patrol consisting of 7 Ponies walks towards the Barracks as the Sun rises. A Guard in the last row sneaks off while all the others enter the Barracks. As he continues sneaking away from the Barracks he notices a Solar Guard leaning against a Wall infront of him

"Dear Celestia, what took you so long, Thunder? I almost decided to go the Pub without you."

Said the Solar Guard as he turned towards Thunder.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry 'bout that, Blaze. The Patrol took longer than expected."

Thunder stopped infront of his friend Blaze and looked back at the Barracks to make sure none of the other Guards saw them.

"Yeah, right. You probably ran into your Captain again while glarring at Luna, haha."

Blaze began laughing.

"Blah, blah, blah! Are we going to the Pub now or not?"

Replied Thunder with an annoyed voice and a mad expression on his face.

"Sure thing, pal. Lead the way"

Blaze walked aside an raised a Hoof. He smiled at Thunder as he walked by him and then followed up behind him. Thunder and Blaze have been friends for ages. They met eachother when they were both recruits in their respective Guards. They quickly came up with the idea of sneaking away from their Barracks to go to the Pub once a week. Both of them thought this was a great idea, although they were both quite scared of being caught the first time they did it.

"Alright, here we are."

Blaze pointed out as they stopped infront of their favorite Pub which was only a few minutes away from the Barracks.

"Perhaps I should lead the way this time, who knows what dangers lurk within..."

Blaze smiled at Thunder who shook his head while giggling and then entered the Pub, Thunder following right behind him.

There werent many Ponies in the Pub at the hours Thunder and Blaze normally visit it. Their Shifts normally end when the Sun or Moon sets so they either come early in the Morning or at Night.

They both walked up to their favorite table at the Window and sat down. They both gave their casual sighs of relief as they sat down, happy to escape the Life of a Guard for at least a few hours a week.

The Bartender walked over to their table and smiled as he recognized the already well-known faces.

"Haha, Thunder, Blaze! Great to see you again! Your weekly visit I assume?"

They all shook hooves and laughed.

"Indeed it is, Mr. Tipsy. Always nice to escape the stress of being a Guard and drink some delicious Cider here, even if it's just once a week."

Said Thunder who then looked over to Blaze who could only nod at his statement.

"Well then, I better not let you two wait then. 2 Apple Ciders on the way."

Mr. Tipsy then walked back over to the Bar. Thunder and Blaze both turned to look at eachother.

"So...any news on Luna?"

Blaze said and smiled. Thunder once again was very annoyed by him bringing that topic up.

"Stop it, I told you I don't wanna talk about it."

Thunder suddenly looked down at the ground with a sad face.

"...she would never love me anyway"

Blaze took a hoof and lifted up his friend's head.

"Now, now, I'm sure she'll love you too, buddy. After all, you are a great guy AND part of her Personal Guard. You literally spend all your time protecting her. Well...apart from sleeping...and this...but you get the idea."

Thunder wiped away a few tears that started forming in his eyes and lifted his head.

"I...I guess you're right Blaze...I hope so at least. But I shouldn't worry about that for now, I should focus on having a good time this morning with you, right?"

Blaze noded in agreement.

"That's right, pal!"

At that moment Mr. Tipsy came back to them with their order of 2 Apple Ciders.

"Here you go, boys. Just dont ex it like that one time. I'm talking to you, Blaze..."

"Hey, It's not my fault your Cider is so good"

The two Friends then took their Drinks and Mr. Tipsy walked back over to the bar to clean some dirty glasses.

"I'm lucky to have you by my side man. Thanks for sticking with me all the time."

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Exactly."

Thunder then lifted his Glas into the air.

"On our Friendship"

"On our Friendship"

Blaze lifted his Glas, they both clinked glasses and began drinking. As time went by they talked, complained and even sung a few songs together with Mr. Tipsy playing his old Guitar. They all had a great time, as they always do when spending time together. As they left, they said their Goodbye's to Mr. Tipsy, who looked forward to their visit the coming week. On their way back to the Barracks, they both talked about alot of things, yet one thing sticked out the most.

"Hey Thunder, sorry for mocking you with that Luna thing all the time. I really don't mean to actually make you mad or sad or anything."

Thunder giggled and looked over to him.

"Heh, you couldn't make me mad with that, pal. Not you, at least."

Blaze had an unsure feeling about the topic though.

"I'm not sure...I kind of feel like I do hurt your feelings with it a little bit at least though."

Thunder laid a hoof around Blaze and smiled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I told you, it's alright, I'd never be mad at you, especially not for something like that. You are the only one I ever trusted telling about my secret love with Luna, so of course I don't mind you saying something as simple as that.

As they arrived at the Entrance to the Barracks they both stoped. Blaze smiled and looked to Thunder.

"Thanks man, I'm glad you aren't mad at me."

Thunder smiled back.

"Never could be."

As they hear a voice from behind they both run off into their respective barracks and pretend like nothing ever happened. As usual.

2 - Love...

6 Days later, early in the Morning.

Deep in the Castle, the Door to Princess Celestia's Bedroom slowly and quietly opened. A tired and exhausted looking Blaze could be seen sticking his head out of the small door gap. He quickly looked back into the Room and saw Princess Celestia in a deep slumber on her bed. He looked to the left and right of the Corridor to see if there were any Guards who could see him, but nopony was there, everything was quiet. He stepped out of the Room and quietly closed the Door. He then continued by walking towards the Castle Gardens, as this was the fastest way towards the Barracks.

As he arrived at the Entrance to the Gardens, he once again looked for any ponies who may spot him. Nopony was to be seen so he continued on his way and entered the Gardens. As he ran past the Statues in the Gardens though, he could hear a familiar voice behind him.

"Blaze!? Blaze, is that you, buddy?"

Blaze stopped and looked back to see Thunder who stood next to a Statue which Blaze ran past a few seconds ago. He must have not seen Thunder earlier.

"Thunder? What are you doing here!?"

Blaze became nervous and looked around to see if there were any other ponies around who could see or hear them, but nopony to be seen. Hopefully he was actually right this time.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same, pal. What is a Solar Guard like you doing in the Gardens this early? Shouldn't you be sleeping? Or at least be at the Barracks right now?"

Thunder looked both confused and intrigued. Normally he and the other Lunar Guards would be going back to the Barracks in about 1 hour to swap Shifts with the Solar Guard. He couldn't exactly understand what Blaze would be doing up this early.

"Oh, I...Yeah, I was going to the Barracks right now, actually."

Thunder followed by staring at him with an unbelieving face.

"Alright, alright! I...I was...busy"

"Busy? By the looks of it you didn't get a single second of sleep tonight. How busy exactly?"

Blaze began sweating and tried putting on a false smile, but he himself was sure noone, not even Thunder, would fall for it.

"Very, very busy. It...wasn't exactly Guard work tho"

That caught Thunder's attention. What could keep him busy allnight if it wasn't work for the Solar Guard...?

"Oh? What do you mean it wasn't Guard work? What else could you have been doing allnight?"

Blaze didn't answer at first but as Thunder once again started starring at him and stepped closer to him he began talking.

"I...I was with...ugh..."

Blaze knew he had to tell Thunder about what happened last night.

"I...was with Princess Celestia..."

Thunder looked so confused, his face could have just as well been a giant question mark.

"W-what? What do you mean?"

Deep inside Thunder had a suspicion of what might have happened but he didn't dare to say it himself, afraid of it not being true and sounding completely ridiculous.

"I...we..."

Blaze looked down to the ground and took a deep breath.

"...We love eachother."

Thunder practically froze for 5 seconds as he heard that. He couldn't believe it. His friend and The Princess of the Sun...in love...this was too weird but also too good to be true...or was it?

"W-w-what? WHAT? WHAAAT!?"

Thunder's reaction was exactly as Blaze would have expected him to react to it.

"Yeah...We've been meeting privatly for a few weeks now. I've been lucky to not get caught by other ponies...until now at least."

Thunder still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his friend and one of the Princesses were in love. What was worse is the fact that they probably had sex last night.

"I...I can't really understand any of this..." Thunder scratched his head. "Why? Why you? I mean, not that you are a bad choice or anything, but she's...a Princess...and..."

Thunder was promptly interrupted by Blaze who had forseen questions like that.

"Look, I don't know when it all started exactly, or why it started. One day she just wished for me to visit her in the evening and since then we both "like" eachother."

Thunder tried to focus on what he was saying but he could only focus on one thing...

"...So...did you two have Sex?"

Blaze blushed at that question. He somehow knew that topic was sure to come up but not that promptly or directly.

"W-why would you ask?"

"Well, for one you look like you've just ran a marathon, then you also have very messy hair and you also dont wear your armor, and we both know you normally always wear your armor."

It was then that Blaze actually noticed his messy hair and the fact that he must have left his armor in Celestia's Bedroom.

"Oh..." Blaze thought for a second and sighed, "...Yeah, you're right..."

Thunder wasn't sure how to process all of this properly. He was lost in thought for what felt like an hour to him but was surely only about 10 seconds.

"Huh...I mean...That's...great...right?"

Blaze shrugged.

"I guess so, yeah."

Thunder scratched his Head once again.

"So...you and Celi then, huh?"

Blaze nodded

"Seems so, yeah."

Thunder looked away from Blaze all of the sudden.

"Well... at least you are successful with loving a Princess and all that..."

Blaze knew exactly what he was going on about. He walked up next to him and laid his right hoof around his neck.

"Hey...I'm sure Luna will love you if see gets the opportunity to see who you really are. I'm sure of that."

Thunder turned his head back to Blaze.

"Yeah, right. And how am I, a Lunar Guard private, supposed to get a chance like that?"

Blaze walked a few steps while thinking about his question.

"Hmm...I've got an idea. Since me and Celestia are "good friends", I might be able to organize a meeting between you two."

Thunder's face suddenly turned happier with every passing second.

"You...You could do that?"

"I can't promise anything of course, but I can try."

Thunder's face was filled with joy all of the sudden.

"WOW! AWESOME! THANKS MAN!"

For one moment it almost looked like he was going to hug Blaze but Blaze quickly interrupted him.

"Sssshhhh! Not so loud! I can't let anyone hear or see us!"

Thunder quickly shut his mouth but you could still see the happiness on his face.

"Oh...yeah, right. Still, thanks alot buddy."

Blaze looked around to once again see if there were other ponies around.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. Look, I gotta go now, normally I'm supposed to be sleeping in the Barracks right now. I'll cya later"

With that, Blaze turned around and ran towards the exit of the Gardens.

"Cya! And thanks again!"

Thunder looked after him for a few seconds and then turned around to continue his usual patrol. He tried to focus, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't stop thinking about Luna. He just hoped that she has feelings for him too.

3 - ...comes at a Price

A few days later, early afternoon.

In the early morning, Thunder's Captain told him he would be guarding Princess Luna's Bedroom for today. Thunder was certain that this wasn't a coincidence, it must have been Blaze who asked Princess Celestia about the meeting with him and Luna. In the early Afternoon, Thunder left the Barracks to guard the Princess' Door, as ordered. As he was walking, he already imagined how he would finally be able to actually talk to her. In privat, so that nopony could disturb them.

As Thunder arrived at said Door, nopony was to be seen. Just him, the Door and an empty hallway. He didn't think too much of it, he was too happy to be thinking about things like that anyway, so he just walked up to the Door and stood there for about an hour.

After about an hour though, the Door of the room opened. Thunder's eyes grew bigger as he hoped to finally see his loved one after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, but as he saw who left the Room, he was not only disapointed but also very confused.

"Blaze!? What the hay are you doing in Luna's Room!? And how did you get in there!? I didn't see you enter, neither did the previous Guard."

Blaze looked at Thunder for a moment and then walked out of the Doorway and turned his back to Thunder.

"Hello to you as well. As to what I was doing in the Princess' Room, I obviously had to speak to her personally before letting you talk to her like that."

Thunder slowly calmed down, yet this still didn't all make sense to him.

"I...guess that's true...but that still doesnt explain how you got in her room without anypony noticing."

Thunder could swear that Blaze's left ear twitched at him asking that question.

"Obviously I teleported into her room, I'm a Unicorn after all."

That was when Thunder knew something was wrong.

"But...The Royal Bedrooms are isolated from Magic, nopony could teleport in."

Blaze turned his head to Thunder and chuckled.

"Heh, of course a Pegasus would think that. Who told you fairytales like that? Your mother?"

Thunder's mood became serious from that point on.

"No...Princess Luna told me...when I was in the Lunar Guard Academy she told us things like that...You should know the Princesses tell their Guards things like that, after all Celestia told you and the Solar Guard the same things in the Academy."

Blaze turned his head back away from his friend.

"Pfft, doesn't matter anyway. I managed to get Luna to talk with you. You should be happy."

Thunder's eyes narrowed and he gave his Friend a very suspicious look.

"Maybe I should...but You are being very suspicious to me right now. Something ain't right here."

Blaze then turned around and became mad.

"Suspicious!? Excuse me, but I'm the one who gave you a chance to talk with the Princess of the Moon here, the pony you have loved ever since you first saw her. I demand a little bit more trust from you in exchange."

Thunder thought about what Blaze said but was still very suspicious of his friend.

"Maybe you're right...I probably shouldn't be talking to you like that after what you've done for me. Tha-"

Thunder suddenly froze in place as he walked into the Room and saw Princess Luna lying in the left corner of her Room. Thunder quickly ran over to her and looked if she was physically hurt, but he couldn't find any wounds. She looked terrible, she looked like she hadn't slept, eaten or showered for 2 years. At first Thunder thought she was unconscious but she was breathing...slowly and quietly at least.

Then it hit Thunder, it hit him like a truck. He turned around to the pony who had to have done this. His best friend, Blaze.

"Why!? Why would you do this!?"

He yelled as he angrily walked up to him.

"Oh please, I've only done what you wanted me to do."

Thunder almost exploded at that statement.

"What!? I never asked for you to murder her! I asked you to organize a meeting between us! Not. Murder. Her!"

Blaze looked past Thunder to look at the Princess in the Corner.

"Oh, She isn't dead. Just exhausted. She'll be fine in about an hour or so. After that, she'll be more than happy to talk to you, I assure you that."

Thunder shook Blaze around with his Hooves.

"What the hay did you do to her!? Whatever you did, It's NOT what I wanted you to do!"

Blaze shook off Thunder and stepped back a little.

"Calm down already, she'll be fine, I just told you she will. It's just a side effect."

Thunder's eyes began to twitch at his friend playing with him like that.

"Side effect? Side effect? What kind of side effect is this!?"

Blaze chuckled at his friend's behavior.

"You think a Spell like that comes without Side Effects? Pfft, Pegasi..."

It was then when Thunder lost his temper completely and charged at Blaze. Before he could reach him though, He was stopped in his tracks and lifted into the Air by Magic. Blaze's magic. Dark magic.

"What...is this!? What kind of Unicorn are you to use Dark Magic!?"

Thunder tried escaping Blaze's grasp but as he kept struggling he could move less and less.

"Now, now. Let's all settle down before anypony gets hurt. Alright? Alright."

Thunder wanted to keep screaming but he barely managed to keep his mouth shut.

"Normally I wouldn't do this, but I like you Thunder...I really do."

Blaze walked past Thunder who was still levitating in the Air.

"You may hate me right now, but I've really gotten to like you after all this time."

Thunder growled back at him. He wanted to shout so badly, but both of them knew it was better not to, it was no use after all.

"I'll tell you what" Blaze walked up to the still dead-looking Luna. "I'll let you leave....with her. Go and take her with you to a beautiful countryside and live the life you've always wished for. When she gets back to her senses, she will only know that she loves you. All I ask in return is..." He turned to Thunder who was listening with great attention. "...that you keep your mouth shut and out of my plans."

Thunder growled and thought for a second.

"Never...I would never agree to anything you propose. You hurt her...just look at her. I don't know what you did to her exactly, but It ain't right, and I will make you regret the day you hurt her..."

Thunder once again struggled and tried to escape the magic grasp of Blaze who was once again walking past him.

"Hm...I expected an answer like that. Too bad. I really hoped you would agree, It would make this easier for all of us."

Thunder growled at that sentence.

"I don't care how hard it is or long it takes...I will make you pay for hurting her..."

Blaze turned around and looked at Thunder.

"But think about it Thunder. You've always wanted her, didn't you? You've always dreamed of having her with you, by your side. I offer you exactly that, for practically nothing in return."

Thunder closed his eyes and thought deeply for about 10 seconds.

"I...can't. You've hurt her and I won't overlook that. Apart from that, having a mind-manipulated Luna with me for the rest of my life...just doesn't seem right. I'd keep telling myself I did the wrong thing If I accept now. So my answer is: No."

Blaze sighed and turned his back to Thunder again.

"A shame. I hoped to get rid of you this way and also make you happy. I guess you aren't as bribable as I think you are."

Thunder practically barked at him at this point.

"Not when it is about Luna!"

Blaze chuckled and kept his normal, calm attitude.

"You are a fool if you believe you can defeat me. I am more powerful than you can imagine. And even if you do defeat me...there are thousands on the way to finish my work."

Thunder didn't understand what he meant. How could he be as powerful as he is saying he is? But, how could he have taken out Princess Luna if he wasnt? And what did he mean with "Thousands are on the way to finish my work"? This didn't make any sense.

"What are you even saying...?"

Blaze gave out a deep laugh and turned his head around to Thunder.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

Thunder's face spoke for him. It talked of betrayal and unknowingness.

"You Fool..."

Suddenly a Burst of Green Flames engulved Blaze. Thunder couldn't believe or understand what was happening. Slowly the Unicorn Blaze disappeared...and a Changeling took his place. He gave Thunder an evil smile as he walked closer to him. As Thunder examined him with his shocked eyes, he saw that he looked exactly like all other Changelings he had seen on pictures of the Invasion of Canterlot, except for his Eyes. His eyes were Red, not Blue like the normal eyes of a changeling.

"What...are you...?"

The Changeling rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, you know what I am, Thunder. And I am sure you know why im here, too."

Thunder tried reaching for the changeling but he couldnt reach him due to his magical restraints.

"You...dirty, little bug! I thought you were my friend, Blaze! What about being Best Friends!?"

The changeling watched Thunder as he tried reaching for him and gave out a quick chuckle.

"As I said, I do like you. I personally didn't lie with being your friend and liking you. But I too have my duties and a mission to complete. I offered you the "easy way out" already, because I didn't want you to be hurt or that anything bad happens to you, but you declined unfortunatly.

He turned around and walked away from him towards a bookshelf in the room.

"Oh, and please call me Shade, that's my real name. Or, Changeling name, I should say."

Thunder spit at the ground when he heard that name.

"Heh, yeah right. Shade. Fits a changeling. So what are your plans now, capture Princess Luna and me and bring me to your precious Queen or what?"

Shade took an old book out of the Bookshelf and read in it.

"No, no, at least not yet. I'm still waiting."

Thunder raised an Eyebrow.

"Waiting? For what?"

Suddenly screams can be heard from the outside. Shade quickly puts the book back into it's place and walks over to the big Window in the Room and sees the unstopable.

"For them..."

Author's Note

Well, here we go. This was actually supposed to be the 1. Chapter but I decided to put 2 "Prologue" kind of Chapters before it to get to know the characters and the situation they are in.

It only gets more exciting from here on out, stay tuned kiddos ;)

4 - Learn from your mistakes

"You...you are insane! All of you little bugs are! This is never going to work, The Princesses will stop you!"

Thunder interrupted Shade's moment of glory as he was looking outside of the window at the invading changeling forces. He turned his head towards Thunder and gave him a questioning look.

"Oh? Is that so? Are you certain about that? Perhaps we should ask Luna...ooooh...wait...yeah...I almost forgot."

Thunder shook his head violently as he Shade referred to Princess Luna who was still lying in the corner.

"You little bastard! Celestia and Cadance will stop you!"

Shade gave out a loud laugh at Thunder's statement and shook his head a little bit.

"Haha, please Thunder. I already took care of Celestia. She is in the same state as Princess Luna right now. It's easy to get near a Princess like her when she thinks you come to...please her. It was a piece of cake, really. As for Cadance, I wouldn't worry too much about her, surely she is on her way already. We are ready for her."

Tears began rolling down Thunder's cheeks as he remembered that he once believed everything this...changeling told him. That this was once his best friend.

"You used us...all of us. Not just me, but even Celestia. I knew changelings aren't able to love themselves, they are so ugly and evil that they have to take it from others."

Shade stepped closer to Thunder and stared at him.

"If I were you, I wouldn't worry to much about me..."

As Shade was talking to him a Changeling flew into the room and sneaked up behind him.

"What are you..."

Thunder had no chance to finish his sentence as he was suddenly bitten in the Neck by the Changeling behind him. His two long Fangs drove into Thunder and injected a special Changeling venom.

"Argh! What...what was..."

Thunder felt sleepy, very sleepy all of the sudden. He felt like he hadn't slept in ages. Like he had no other choice but sleep. His eyes began closing but he managed to keep them open for a few more seconds to see the familiar face of Blaze infront of him.

"Thunder? What's wrong pal?"

Thunder couldn't manage to keep his eyes open any longer. The Pain in his Neck paired with the immense sleepiness was too much for him. He swiftly drifted off into a deep sleep as he could heard an evil laugh that became quieter and quieter as time passed.

3 Hours later.

Thunder slowly regained consciousness. He heard a voice...no, multiple voices. they were quiet...no, they were loud, they were yelling at him.
They all sounded familiar to him, but who was talking to him? And where was he anyways? He groaned as he slowly managed to open his eyes. His blurry vision revealed what seemed like 3 Ponies. He was sure to fall back asleep as he was slapped by one of them. He quickly regained his vision and was fully awake again.

"Tia! You can't just slap him like that!"

Yelled Cadance to Celestia who looked at Thunder's face.

"I know what I'm doing. See? He is awake again."

Thunder held a hoof to his head and shook his head.

"Wh-what? Where...where am I?"

The three Princesses looked at eachother quickly and then looked back at him.

"We are in the Dungeons of the Queen Chrysalis' Hive in the Badlands."

Said Cadance while looking around. They were all trapped inside a big Metal Cage. A few torches on the wall were the only source of light. The walls were made out of Dirt so it was sure to assume they were underground.

"What!? Are you telling me that...that these bugs won? They took us all out?"

Princess Celestia looked down and answered with a regretful and sad voice.

"Indeed...Chrysalis and her Changelings were able to take us out before their offensive. Without us Canterlot was vulnerable. Paired with their massive forces, they overwhelmed the Guards and took Canterlot."

Thunder shook his head repeatedly in denial of what had happened. He couldn't believe this had happened. He couldn't believe he himself fell for their tricks.

"You too Princess Cadance?"

The said Princess lowered her Head in shame.

"Unfortunatly I was lead into a trap. I tried to help defending Canterlot but...they were ready for me. They easily took me out with their sheer numbers."

Thunder lowered his head onto the ground. He needed time to actually understand what the hay was happening and what had happened. He felt a new feeling coming up in him: Guilt. He was the one who believed Blaze and let him take out Celestia and Luna. He was the one who let his guard down to go after his personal interests. What did it lead to? It lead to his home city and captial city of Equestria being invaded and having him and the Princesses being captured.

"I am sorry...I am so sorry...especially to you, Luna."

Cadance and Celestia looked at Luna who walked up to Thunder and held out her hoof. At first Thunder refused to grab her hoof but after a bit he decided to give in and grab it. Luna pulled Thunder up onto his Hooves again and looked at him.

"There is no reason to be sorry. We all make mistakes, even we as Princesses do. You didn't mean to harm any of us or cause what has happened. I forgive you."

Thunder wasn't sure if he was supposed to be happy or not.

"No, don't forgive me, this is all my fault...If I didn't close my eyes to get what I wanted, this never would have happened. I-"

Suddenly the Door to their room was opened and the four ponies all turned around to look at who entered the room. A tall figure walked into the room with 2 smaller ones behind it. It stopped infront of the cage and grinned at the Princesses. It was Celestia who walked towards the figure. Cadance jumped after her to stop her but Luna held her back.

"Princess Celestia..."

Said the Tall Figure as it starred at Celestia who now stood right infront of her, the bars dividing the two of them.

"Chrysalis..."

5 - Saved and Doomed

"What is the matter of this, Chrysalis? I thought we taught you and your changelings the lesson to stay out of Equestria."

Chrysalis broke out in laughter.

"Haha, lesson? Dear Celestia, the only one to be taught a lesson here is you. It is to never underestimate your enemies."

Celestia grumbled and stared at Chrysalis with a serious expression, not distracted by her laughing.

"You will not succeed, Chrysalis. You are a fool to believe you are going to succeed."

Chrysalis' look clearly said she thought otherwise.

"I wouldn't be so rude if I were you, my dear. We wouldn't want any arguments to occur, otherwise...you get the idea."

Cadance now walked up next to Celestia to assist her in facing Chrysalis.

"You will never win, Chrysalis! Twillight and her friends will stop you! Equestria as a whole will if they find where you are!"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the Princess' enthusiasm.

"Of course I know they will be looking for me, but they won't attack if they are smart. You aren't just my captives, you are also my protection against Twilight and the others. If they really do dare to attack to "save" you, then I am afraid they will find a cage with alot less alive Princesses."

Cadance and Celestia both looked at eachother and sighed. Cadance lowered her head and walked back to Luna and Thunder who were standing on the other end of the cage. She stopped infront of them and sat down, her head still hanging down.

"I don't think there's much we can do..."

Thunder and Luna looked at eachother as they saw Cadance being so sad.

"I just hope Shining and Twily are alright..."

Luna lifted up Cadance's head to look her in the eyes.

"Do not worry, Princess. I am sure Princess Twilight and Prince Shining Armor are safe. They were not involved in the attack it appears."

Cadance shut her eyes for a second, sighed and opened them again.

"You're probably right...thanks Luna."

Luna nodded. She turned around to listen to what Celestia and Chrysalis were doing. They were still talking as before it seemed, but suddenly the door to the room opened once again and two changelings entered the room.
The Changelings were both armed with spears and wore obsidian body armor and helmets which was standard amongst the changeling guards.
They walked up to Queen Chrysalis who had turned around to them as they entered. The Changelings both bowed before Chrysalis before they started talking.

"My Queen, you ordered us here?"

Chrysalis nodded.

"Indeed Lieutenant." She turned around and pointed at Thunder who looked very surprised and and scared by this. "I want this Pegasus to be taken to the Food Chambers. He is no use for us here."

The two changelings quickly looked at Thunder and then bowed before Chrysalis again.

"It shall be done, my Queen."

They opened the cage using their magic and entered. The Princesses all moved back into one corner, behind them was Thunder. They would not let them be taken away like that.

"No step closer, changelings!"

Said Celestia while all three of them charged up their horns while going into defensive positions in front of Thunder. As the Changelings didn't react and slowly walked towards them though, they were forced to take action. Their already charged horns glowed and...nothing. It didn't work.

"What...what is this? It's not working!"

Said a confused Cadance as she tried to figure out why her magic was not working, the others had the same problem. Chrysalis was visibly enjoying herself as she looked at the confused and helpless Princesses.

"Ladies, please. You didn't honestly think I would leave you your magic, right? I would love to tell you how I took it and where it is but all you need to know is...it's not with you anymore."

An evil smile concluded Chrysalis' sentence. The Princesses looked at eachother in confusion and disbelief. Their magic taken? By the changelings? How could that even be possible? There was no time for them to think about that though as the two changeling guards pushed them away with their spears and continued on to Thunder who was cowering in the corner of the cage. His whole body was shivering and he held his hooves up infront of his face to protect himself.

"D-don't hurt m-me...please!"

Was all he managed to say as the changelings stared at him.

"Stand up."

Said one of them. They waited for him to respond but...there was no response. Thunder didn't say or do anything, he just kept cowering in the corner. The guards got mad at him and grabed his forehooves.

"That wasn't a question! Get up!"

Yelled one of them as they pulled him up with brute force. As Thunder got on his hooves he almost collapsed again, afraid of moving, going where they want him to go.

"Let's go, move!"

Thunder looked back at the two changelings who had now pointed their spears at him.

"Are you deaf? I said move!"

Yelled one of them as he pushed Thunder forward. Thunder began walking but stopped when he was next to the Princesses. He looked at all of them briefly, mostly at Luna and said...

"I'm sorry..."

Then he continued on to leave the cage. All three of the Princesses were visibly hit by this but they knew they couldn't do anything. Not now, not without their magic and while at the mercy of their enemies. All they could do...was watch.

"I hope you choke on your bloody love one day..."

Said Thunder as he was escorted past Chrysalis and out of the room. As they left the room, Chrysalis turned back to the Princesses who were focused on what was happening to Thunder.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but I have important matters to attend to. Being a Queen certainly isn't an easy job. Don't worry though, we will meet again soon enough."

Then she too turned around and left the room. The two changelings that entered with her followed her, one of them looked back at the Princesses in the cage briefly and then closed and locked the door from the outside. He looked to the right to see his Queen inspect Thunder who looked like he wanted to spit her in the face (thank celestia he didn't). He quickly ran up to her and interrupted them.

"My Queen,.." He said as he pulled down the Hood of his robe which he was wearing, revealing the face of Shade. "I need to talk with you about something."

Chrysalis turned away from Thunder and turned towards Shade with a questioning look.

"And what may that be?"

Shade scratched his head as he tried to find the right words to tell his Queen about this.

"It's...about him. The Pegasus."

Chrysalis' eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Thunder who had turned away from her by now, the two guards were still next to him.

"Him? The Pegasus? What is there to talk about when it involves...a pony?"

Shade sighed.

"You said our Captives wouldn't be taken to the Food Chambers and be fed on. Why are you doing this then?"

Chrysalis chuckled and put a hoof on Shade's shoulder.

"Oh, you must have misunderstood me. With captives I obviously meant the Princesses. They are not to be harmed for now because we may need them in a healthy state later. Him though...he is just a regular pony. He doesn't really provide any benefit to us if we don't feed on his love so why would we not do so?"

Shade looked disapointed. He thought that his old friend was at least not gonna be brought to the food chambers, cocooned in slime and have all his love sucked out of him. Shade had to think of a better solution quickly. He knew Thunder too well to have that happen to him. If it was just an ordinary pony he wouldn't have cared but...he knew him. He knew him very, very well. And although it was just a disguise, he felt like they truly were friends.

"But...You can't do that to him!"

Chrysalis was more than surprised by Shade's resistance against her order. Especially because it was a normal thing for changelings to do.

"Shade, what is the matter of this? You feed on love yourself everyday, you even brought ponies to the Food Chambers yourself a couple of times. Why would this pony be different from those other ones?"

Shade stared at the ground. He knew he had to do something. He had to tell her about him being friends with Thunder but...would she understand? Maybe she would punish him for "allying with the enemy" or something like that....but no, he had to do this, for Thunder.

"It's...It's because I know this one very well. He was a Lunar Guard who I spent alot of time with while I was at Canterlot as a Solar Guard."

Chrysalis thought for a second.

"So you are friends, hm?"

Shade gulped and answered with a bit of fear in his voice.

"Yes, you could say that."

Chrysalis turned around and walked towards Thunder who then turned around and looked at her with an angry face.

"I see..."

After a few seconds of thinking she turned back around and walked towards Shade.

"And you are sure about that, yes?"

Shade nodded, not wanting to upset the Queen by saying something wrong.

"In that case I only see one solution to this problem. We will take him to the Hall of the Elders. You know what to do. Meet me there in an hour, I will prepare everything."

Shade sighed in relief. He knew what would happen at the Hall of the Elders as well as Chrysalis did but this was the only other option he had to save Thunder.

"I will be there, my Queen."

Shade bowed and walked past Thunder and the two Changeling Guards. Thunder didn't seem to recognize him as he walked past, not much of a surprise considering the only difference is a scar over his left eye. As he continued walking he looked back one more time and saw Chrysalis talking to the guards, presumably telling them about their new orders. As Shade kept on walking through the tunnels of the Hive, he felt multiple emotions. There was happiness, because he had just saved his best friend Thunder from being food for his Hive. He also felt regret because now his Queen might think of him as someone who makes friends with the enemy. But mainly he felt sorry. He felt sorry for Thunder. True, Shade saved him from one of the worst things a pony could imagine but got him into something that he may not be ready for. Something he as a a Pony simply might not be able to understand and live with.

For now though he could only hope for the best to happen in the future and tell himself that he did the right thing.

6 - Blessed by the Ancients

1 hour later.

As Shade went on his way towards the Hall of the Elders to meet up with Chrysalis, he still couldn't make his mind up on what to think about this. He tried to shake off those thoughts but they just kept coming.

"Calm down Shade, you did the right thing." He thought to himself. "There was no other option, you did the right thing. Thunder will thank you when he gets the chance to, you did the right thing."

As he was lost in thought the time seemed to pass three times quicker than normal and he arrived at the Hall of the Elders in no time.

The Hall of the Elders was a holy, ancient place for the Changelings. Inside, locked behind thick wooden doors that had ancient changeling symbols painted on them, were relics of long gone times and reigns. There were statues of previous rulers of the changeling empire, telling the story of what basically was Queen Chrysalis' family and ancestors. But there was more to this place than just some stupid statues. The room itself was filled with what seemed to be the combined mind of all the deceased leaders, which the changelings simply called "Elders". Everytime a changeling leader died, he would be taken to this room to let his mind merge with that of the others. Most would probably say it is some kind of witchcraft but the changelings worship it as a symbol that their empire will never be destroyed or forgotten, as their minds will live on.

As Shade approached the huge wooden doors, he looked at the paintings on them. They were black and green and showed the image of a Huge figure, presumably a Queen, standing ontop of black changelings who themselves stood upon green changelings. When Shade first saw these images he didn't understand the meaning of this painting. Later on though, he started to understand the message behind it.

Shade's horn lighted up and he opened the doors infront of him. As the doors opened, he could already see Queen Chrysalis inside who turned to face him as she noticed he had arrived.

"Glad you could make it in time."

Shade closed the doors behind him and walked towards Chrysalis.

"I wouldn't let you wait, my Queen."

Chrysalis smirked.

"Of course you wouldn't. Anyways, let's focus on the task at hand, I have prepared everything for the ceremony."

Shade bowed before her when he noticed someone missing.

"Um...my Queen...where is..."

"Your friend?" Chrysalis interrupted him. "Don't worry, he's right here."

Chrysalis' horn lighted up and suddenly a tied up Thunder appeared in front of her. Followed by the teleportation was a loud "Ouch!".

"Oh...I see."

That was all Shade could say when he looked at Thunder who laid on the floor from the imminent fall from the teleport. Shade felt quilty once again, knowing what was about to happen to him. He snapped out of it after a few seconds when Chrysalis started talking to him again.

"Now, let us get started. The Elders surely won't wait forever."

Shade nodded. Chrysalis lifted Thunder up with her magic, making him struggle around in mid-air. She moved him around with her as she walked to the middle of the room where some kind of plattform was. Shade made a worried face as he looked at Thunder who still struggled and moved around while within her magical grasp but then followed her. She lowered him down on it, keeping her magic active to prevent him from moving.

"Hear me, my ancestors!"

Chrysalis said as the eyes of the statues in the room started glowing. Shade knew how this ceremony went down but he would still get goosebumps every single time.

"I have come to you today to ask for your help and magic."

Shade looked down at Thunder who tried moving away but was nowhere near successful in doing so.

"Let me go you monsters!"

He yelled. Chrysalis' eyes narrowed at his loud protesting. Her head lowered down and she quickly bit his neck with her fangs making Thunder groan in pain. He became weaker and sleepier with every second, it was the same venom shade had used on him before.

"No...I...I will..."

Then he fell into a deep sleep and Chrysalis continued with the ceremony.

"I have come to bring you this creature. I have been told by my children that this creature is said to be friendly and I trust my children as much as any of you do, so my request is to have this creature receive the gift of the Elders. Not many receive it, but if my child says he is indeed worth it, then I shall trust him."

Chrysalis looked towards Shade in expectation of him answering. Shade thought again for a second and then looked at her.

"Yes my Queen, I do think he is worth it. And I hope that the Elders do too."

Chrysalis looked at Thunder whose body was completely still, only his slow, quiet breaths could be heard that made it clear he was still alive.

"You've heard my child, Elders. I ask for you to judge upon this creature to receive your gift."

The entire room suddenly went quiet. For a few seconds nothing happened it seemed but then the several statues of the deceased leaders began sending out a green beam towards Chrysalis's horn, making her eyes glow green from the energy.

"I am more than grateful and honored of your decision, Elders. I promise you, your decision will not be a mistake."

Chrysalis then sent out a beam of energy, which glowed in the same green as the statue's beams, towards Thunder's forehead. Thunder tried moving his head away from the beam but he couldn't due to Chrysalis restraining him on the table with her magic.

"I will now deliver the gift of my numerous ancestors to this creature that was brought to me by my children."

Suddenly the beams of the statues disappeared and Thunder's eyes too began glowing in the same green as Chrysalis' eyes. The Pain became more and more intense every second and soon it became clear as to why it did. The changes were quick but painful. First it was his tail and mane that changed. The tail turned into a stiff, black and holey tail and his mane disappeared except for some black mane on the back of his head. Next up were his wings. They slowly morphed into thin, holey membrane, his old pegasus wings nowhere to be seen. After his wings were done, the next changes were made to his hooves as holes formed on them. Then his skin slowly turned into black, hard, cold chitin. As it crept up his head it changed his face with it. As it reached his mouth two fangs grew in his mouth. Next a Horn began forming on Thunder's forehead. Meanwhile his ears changed form and transformed into rather lenghty changeling ears. Then Thunder's and Chrysalis' eyes stopped glowing, revealing Thunder's new purely blue eyes.

"It is done." Chrysalis said as Thunder came back to his senses. "Welcome to the Hive, my son. May the Elders bless you"

Author's Note

Edited on 4th September 2016

7 - A new pair of eyes

Thunder scratched his head as a massive headache overcame him. Actually, it wasn't just a headache. He felt pain all over his body. He couldn't even open his eyes or stand up. He had no idea why this was happening to him, not that he could focus on that anyway, the pain was way too much for thinking about that. After about a minute the pain slowly became less tense. He still hadn't opened his eyes, neither could he remember where he was. Suddenly though, he heard a well-known voice.

"Open your eyes."

Confused, Thunder opened his eyes. At first he stared at holey legs which stood infront of him, as he looked up though, he looked at a Queen Chrysalis who herself looked down at him.

"Chrysalis...what happened...?"

Rage built up in Thunder again at the pure sight of the changeling queen in front of him.

"Ah yes, the typical. You don't remember the ceremony, do you?"

Thunder had no idea what had happened, neither did he know what "the ceremony" was supposed to be.

"What. Happened. I won't ask again..."

Chrysalis chuckled as she walked past Thunder who kept a suspicious look on her.

"My dear, please. There is no need to be so mad. After all, you have just gained a whole new bunch of brothers and sisters."

Thunder froze in place as his mind processed what she had said.

"What are you..."

"Saying?" She interrupted. "Why don't you take a look for yourself?"

She promptly made a mirror appear in front of Thunder. Thunder's eyes grew bigger the longer he inspected the image that the mirror showed him.
He moved around, shook his hooves around, everything. But it was to no avail, the image copied every exact move he made...the changeling in the mirror made the exact same moves as he did...

"No...no...no,no,no,no...NO!"

His pure confusion turned into raging anger. As Chrysalis made the mirror disappear, She smiled at Thunder, smiled at Thunder's anger at what had happened and what he had been turned into...by her.

"Congratulations my son. Welcome to the Hive."

That was too much for Thunder to handle.

"NEVER!"

He yelled as he began charging at Chrysalis. Right before he reached her though, he was pulled back. He realized it was magic that had him in it's grasp but Chrysalis' horn wasn't glowing, she was simply staring at him with a malicious smile.

"I'm sorry Thunder..."

Thunder knew that voice all too well. He turned around to face Shade who, once again, restrained him with his dark magic.

"Let me go you traitor! I've got a Bug to kill!"

Shade looked at Chrysalis for a moment who simply nodded at him.

"Calm down Thunder. Everything is alright."

Thunder kept trying to reach for Shade but the magic kept him unable to do so.

"Alright!? You are kidding me! I'm a changeling! A dirty, little bug! And you are saying it's alright!?"

Shade sighed as he looked at the ground.

"Look, I need you to calm down. I get that you are angry and all but...I'll explain everything to you."

Thunder looked at him in disbelief and spit in Shade's face.

"Yeah, right. You'd have an awful lot of explaining to do to explain THIS. I don't think there is much to be explained here. You...monsters, insects, bugs, whatever, you made me one of you so that I join your dirty bug family. But guess what? It ain't happening."

Shade wiped off Thunder's saliva from his cheek as Thunder talked.

"Please Thunder, I can explain. You just gotta believe me on this. I don't mean to harm you. There's lots of things you don't understand or know of yet."

Thunder simply looked away from Shade at this point.

"Pfft, believe you...good joke...after all you've done to me? After all you've done to the Princesses? After all you've done to....her...?"

Thunder could feel the sorrow in his friend. Not because he was a changeling, but because he remembered what he did to the Princesses. He remembered what he made him see in Luna's room...He felt horrible for everything he had done to him...He just wanted it all to be over. Wanted it to be forgotten by him so they could be best friends again.

"I'm...sorry...I really am...that's all I can offer you for now..."

Thunder turned around to see tears running down Shade's cheeks. All of the sudden he...felt bad. But...why? Why would he feel bad for a changeling? He was his best friend but...wait...no, he wasn't...right? It was all just a trick...right?

"I guess I have no choice anyway...might aswell hear your stupid explanation for all of this..."

Shade wiped away his tears in hope to maybe...just maybe, get the chance to get on Thunder's good side again.

"Thanks Thunder...I'm sure you'll understand."

Thunder crossed his arms and looked the other way.

"Don't think I have forgiven any of you. I only agree to this because my schedule is fairly empty as of now. And I hope your "explaining" is more entertaining than sitting around, doing nothing."

Shade chuckled as he freed Thunder from his magic. As Thunder stood up, Shade walked towards him.

"Don't you dare come near me..."

Shade scratched his head awkwardly and walked back a little.

"Heh, sorry. Force of habit, I guess."

Then it was Chrysalis who interrupted their conversation.

"Ahem. If the two of you would excuse me, I have important matters to attend to." She then turned towards Shade. "Shade, I trust you to take care of him for the next few weeks until he has lived in."

Shade nodded and bowed before Chrysalis. Thunder simply grumbled as Chrysalis looked over to him, not surprised that he didn't bow before her.

"Well then, I shall leave you two to it then. Try not to kill eachother."

With that, her horn lit up and she disappeared. For a moment both of the two changelings were looking at where she had stood, it was Shade who began talking first.

"So...I guess we shouldn't talk here..."

Thunder rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Uh huh, and why not?"

Shade turned towards the doors with a smile.

"Well, if you wanna stay in the room that transformed you into a changeling then..."

Thunder's eyes grew as he looked around the room. Soon he caught up with Shade who was opening the doors.

"Actually, leaving doesn't sound that bad."

As they left the room, Thunder looked at a bunch of tunnels in the earth. The Hive was underground after all, and it was dark as all hell with barely any light sources.

"Um...one question though..."

Shade turned around to him after closing the doors with his magic.

"Yeah?"

Thunder scratched his head awkwardly while looking at the different tunnel entrances in front of him.

"Where exactly are we going now?"

Shade chuckled as he walked towards a tunnel on the right of Thunder. His voice echoed through the tunnel as he entered.

"My home."

Author's Note

Edited on 10th September 2016

8 - Home Sweet Home

"Home? What do you mean...home?"

Shade kept walking through the tunnel that was now in front of Thunder.

"I mean my home, silly. You'll see soon enough."

Shade's voice echoed through the tunnel as Thunder stood still, looking into the complete darkness of the tunnel, a tunnel of a changeling hive, a tunnel that might lead to places or creatures he could have never dreamed of.

"You coming or what?"

Shade said as he stuck out his head from the tunnel. Thunder was kinda embarassed to admit it but...

"Uh...I guess it's just...um...you don't happen to have a torch with you or something like that?"

Shade blushed a little bit at this awkward moment. How could he forget something like that?

"Oh...yeah, sorry about that. I must have forgotten you can't see in the dark yet, force of habit I guess."

Shade concentrated for a brief second and made his horn light up in a bright light.

"There we go. I'll lead the way, just follow the light."

Shade turned around into the tunnel again, leaving Thunder at the entrance once again. Thunder sighed as he looked back at the giant doors of the hall.

"Sure...right behind you..."

With that, Thunder entered the tunnel and followed Shade. On their journey, they came across different branches of tunnels. To Thunder they all looked exactly the same: A dark, dirty whole that would lead to celestia knows where. Shade appeared to know exactly where every tunnel leads. Thunder kept on going and followed him but at some point, at what seemed like the sixth branch of tunnels, he had to ask.

"Hey, how are you doing that? How do you know your way around these tunnels so well?"

Shade's Horn glowed for a brief second as he looked at the three different tunnels in front of him. When it stopped glowing, he walked into the right tunnel.

"I'm a changeling, pal. You'd think I know my way around my own Hive, right?"

Thunder inspected the walls once more. They all looked the same. At all times. Dirt. Dirt everywhere, as far as you could see.

"Sure but...It can't just be that. It can't just be "alot of practice", there's no way you could remember all this."

Shade turned his head to Thunder for a second while walking.

"Of course "I" don't remember all of this. It has to do with something called Hivemind. You might have heard of it before."

Thunder nodded slightly in agreement.

"Yeah, I heard that in school when I was younger. We were talking about bees and other insects."

"And that's how our race works too. We have a Hivemind that contains all information about things like our Hive. When a new tunnel is built, the constructors will send the information of that new tunnel to the Hivemind and basically save it there. Then, when a changeling enters that tunnel, he can access the Hivemind and find the information about it. That way he knows exactly where he is and where he is going. Pretty smart, don't you think?"

Thunder grumbled.

"Yeah, as smart as the little bugs you are..."

Shade ignored the insult and negativity, he knew there was more where that came from if he engaged right now.

"And that's not even all. But we'll get to that later on."

Thunder sighed as he trotted behind Shade.

"Woohoo, can't wait..."

Their walk through the seemingly endless tunnels went on for a few more minutes. Then finally they saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

"Looks like we're there, still there Th-"

Shade was interrupted as Thunder pushed him aside and ran towards the sweet light. He saw it was only a bunch of torches on the walls that produced said light, but it was still better than walking through dark tunnels forever with only the glowing horn of a changeling to keep you from being consumed by the darkness and getting lost in those dark, endless tunnels.

"Ahem...the dirt floor isn't exactly there to kiss it."

Shade said as he saw Thunder doing said thing. Thunder quickly stopped, turned to Shade with a blush and grinned innocently.

"Wh-What? Oh, I didn't. no, no. I was just...uh...yeah, I don't know..."

Shade rolled his eyes as he proceeded to walk past him.

"Come on now, You don't wanna sit out here when my home is right here."

Thunder stood up and looked around. There was nothing to be seen. Only dirt walls, a few tunnel entrances and torches on the wall. Nothing anypony could ever call a "home".

"Um...where exactly is this "home" supposed to be? I don't see anything except for lots of dirt."

Shade smirked at Thunder's remark and laughed. He let his horn light up once again, this time in a dark black.

"Behold!"

Suddenly, the Wall behind Thunder became shaking. Thunder instinctively walked away from said wall. He stood there in awe as the wall slowly lowered itself to the ground and revealed an actual home behind it.

"And for my next trick I will make a rabbit appear on my assistant's head."

Said Shade as he bumped Thunder while walking inside. Thunder still stood in place with open mouth for a few seconds when he slowly regained control of himself. He looked around Shade's home as he walked inside.
Inside were many things he was familiar with, like a relatively big, green couch in the middle of what seemed to be the living room. However, there were also a lot of things he had never seen before, some of which even creeped him out a little bit, like a Hammock made out of slime in one of the rather small rooms in the back. As he looked into said room, Shade tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ahem."

Thunder was startled for a brief moment but quickly recovered as he saw it was Shade.

"I see you have found your bedroom already. Make yourself at home."

Thunder's eyes grew bigger as he turned his head back to the Slime Hammock. THAT was his "bed"?

"You mean...I have to...sleep in...this?"

Thunder said while carefully tapping the slime.

"Yup, pretty much. Made it myself. I may not be a constructor or anything like that, but It's good enough."

Shade turned around and walked outside of the room.

"...At least I hope it is."

Thunder freed his eyes from the Hammock and looked at the other objects in the room. There was a desk made out of something rocky, yet it looked way darker than actual rocks. There was also a bookshelf with a few books in it. Next to it was a large mirror. As Thunder approached it, he could once again see the monster of a creature he had turned into. For a few moments, while walking through those tunnels, he had forgotten about all this. He couldn't escape this. He was imprisoned in this body. This bug body. A body which he didn't belong to.

"Hey, want me to...um...everything alright?"

Shade asked as he once again walked into the room. He saw how Thunder stared into the mirror, how he stared at the creature it showed. Shade knew this was going to be a tough case, but this was his fault and he had to take responsibility for it.

"Why...why would you do this to me?"

Thunder asked as he turned his head towards Shade, tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Thunder...I knew you wouldn't like this but...I had to. It was the only choice I had."

Shade expected Thunder to react angrily again, perhaps even attack him in an act of pure rage, It seemed tho, his expectations were wrong.

"Blaze..."

Shade instantly noticed him using that name.

"...tell me why."

9 - How it all started

Shade sighed as he faced his friend. He knew he would have to explain everything he and his race had done to his friend...and it wouldn't be easy.

"All this happened because of a dramatic incident thousands of years ago..."

Shade turned around and kept talking.

"When the ponies and changelings first met all those years ago, the ponies were weak. I'm sure you know about the History of the different tribes of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns. Queen Crudelis, the reigning Queen at that time, found the ponies to be a perfect food source due to their loving and friendly nature and weak, divided tribes. There were voices in the Hive against attacking and feeding on them...but they were overheard...
Queen Crudelis gathered her army and started the offensive on the ponies. The first attacks and raids were very succesful, as she had expected, but it turned out that the divided tribes started helping and defending together. With the help of Princess Luna and Celestia, our army was driven out of their lands and the Princesses eventually united the ponies under the banner of Equestria."

Thunder wiped away some tears and listened more carefully. never had he heard of such things. He knew about the divided tribes of ponies and how Celestia and Luna united them but never had he heard of a changeling attack during those times...

"With her army defeated, scattered and driven out of Equestria, Queen Crudelis swore to get revenge on Equestria, no matter how long it would take.
The Hive agreed with her plans for revenge and her plans became a royal duty of the Queen after her."

Thunder thought for a moment and asked...

"So you are telling me you attacked us because of something that happened thousands of years ago? Because we stood together and defended us?
That's why you think you "have to" attack us?"

Shade turned to Thunder.

"Of course not! Queen Ambrosia, Chrysalis' mother, was the first Queen that did not agree with the plans to attack the ponies again for simple revenge. She told her subjects how she wanted a better future for them and the ponies alike and that both races would benefit if there was peace and friendship between their races. Her Hive however...most changelings strongly disagreed with her. Having no other choice, Queen Ambrosia gathered the few subjects that agreed with her and went on a diplomatic mission to Equestria. It is told that she and her subjects arrived at Canterlot...however...they were eventually killed. Only 3 of the changelings returned to the Hive, telling the story of how the ponies struck down their Queen, thinking she had come to attack."

Thunder's ears lowered as he heard that tragic story. He had never heard of such a thing...why? Was Shade lying? Was he really not told such things back in Equestria?

"I'm...sorry about that...but..."

Shade interrupted him as he continued his speech.

"With Queen Ambrosia dead, Queen Chrysalis, still very young at that time, became the new ruler of the Hive. She was told about her ancestors...and with that, her mother. She was told why her mother disappeared from one night to the other...she was told how she died on the battlefield, fighting for what she thought was right. A burning hatred grew in her with every day that passed. The first attack on Canterlot was her way to make the ponies suffer as much as they made her suffer by killing her loving mother...the mother that tried to find peace between both races was now the reason for a new uprising against the ponies..."

Thunder was basically speechless at this point.

"B-but..."

"Chrysalis enjoyed every second of her plan. She enjoyed making twilight cry as her brother told her to not attend to the wedding. She enjoyed tricking all the ponies. She enjoyed defeating Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. However...after the giant explosion of love caused by Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance...she was different. It's hard to explain for me, maybe she should tell you herself at some point but...it seemed like her plans for revenge vanished. She suddenly forgot all her hatred. She realized what she had done and what a fool she had been. She did exactly what her mother wanted not to happen...what her mother died for so that It wouldn't happen...
She spent the next few days alone, most of the time she meditated in the Hall of the Elders, trying to talk and apologize to her mother...No one really knows whether or not it had worked or not."

Thunder took a step forward towards Shade.

"But...if she so strongly regrets attacking us, then why would she do it a second time? That doesn't make any sense!"

Shade looked at him for a second and then turned his head back towards a painting of Chrysalis in front of him.

"She tried to think of ways to redeem herself. She tried to succeed in what her mother had died for...peace between ponies and changelings...
I know you wonder why she would attack Canterlot a second time if she was looking for peace...but it was the only choice she had. She couldn't risk showing up in front of ponies herself like her mother, she would just end like her mother. She couldn't send any letters or ambassadors to the Princesses either, they wouldn't have believed any of it, thinking the changelings only wanted to trick them once again. So, as she came to a conclusion, the only choice seemed to be...a kidnapping. She had to kidnap the Princesses and bring them her so she could finally talk to them. She realized it was a risky plan and that the Princesses may be unlikely to believe her but it was better than just sitting there and doing nothing."

"That doesn't make any sense...I saw how she acted towards the Princessed before when I was in that cage! Do you call that "negotiating peace" or what?"

"That confused even me. I'm not allknowing after all. The only answer I would have for that is that she acted that way because our Chief of Army was with her in the room."

Thunder made a questioning expression.

"Chief of Army? But I didn't see him anywhere, I didn't even know you changelings have something like that."

Shade gave out a little, quiet laugh.

"You may have noticed how two hooded figures entered the room with her. You probably know that one of them was me. The other one was the Chief of Army. Anyways, I could only explain her rude behavior because he was in there with her. She already knows that I support her plan. However, the Chief of Army himself...isn't all that impressed. There are rumors of him saying Chrysalis is ruining the Hive and that he is planning to kill her. The Queen herself doesn't seem to believe those rumors too much but perhaps she did show some strength towards "the enemy" in front of him to convince him that she isn't just a stupid, blind idiot. Perhaps, I'm not sure myself."

Thunder thought with a hoof on his chin.

"So...is that it?"

Shade turned around to Thunder, he had been looking at the portrait of Chrysalis on the wall the entire time.

"For now at least, yeah."

Thunder looked towards the slimey hammock next to him.

"I hope you don't mind if I go to sleep for now. I gotta think about all of this, take it into consideration and all that."

Shade nodded.

"Of course I don't mind, it's kinda late anyway. I'll go to sleep in a bit aswell."

Thunder now stood in front of the hammock and gave Shade a last look before he left.

"See you tomorrow...Shade..."

Shade smiled as he walked outside.

"See you Thunder, sleep well."

10 - Lesson one

The next Morning, on the surface the Sun is slowly showing itself beneath the horizon.

A few quiet steps can be heard inside the changeling home. The Sound of the Steps slowly creeps towards Thunder's bedroom, coming closer, closer and closer. Suddenly they stop.

"Good Morning!"

Yelled Shade as he jumps into the Room. Thunder looked like he had a heart attack from the...rather loud alarm clock.

"What the hay!? What was that for!?"

He spit out between deep breaths. Shade giggled, He hadn't been able to prank anyone like that for ages.

"Hey, come on! I'm sure someone like you can withstand a little prank like that, right?"

Thunder grumbled and stared at him in disaproval. Then he laid back down, facing away from Shade.

"Yeah, whatever."

Shade rolled his eyes as he walked up to Thunder and taped his back.

"Ahem. I would like to inform you that it is time to wake up now. No sleepy sleep anymore."

Thunder rolled around in his Hammock and looked at Shade in surprise.

"Wake up? Now? It can't be time for that yet, I've barrely gotten any sleep."

Shade raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"Didn't sleep too well?"

Thunder growned while scratching his head.

"Ugh, not too well, no...but I'll come back to that later. Why wake up now though?"

Shade lifted a hoof as he begann explaining.

"Well, we have a lot to do today. Not only today actually, for the next few days...2 weeks to be precise."

Thunder gave out a loud "UUUUGH!" while covering his face with his hooves.

"So you're telling me I have to wake up THIS soon for the next two weeks?? Why? What do we even have to do that makes our day so "busy"?"

Shade laughed as he held out a hoof for Thunder.

"Chrysalis made me responsible for getting you accustomed with the Hive and your new Body. Trust me, if we wanna get all of that done in time, we'll have to wake up this early. It's definitly not gonna be a walk in the park for us."

Thunder grabbed Shade's Hoof while he talked. After he had pulled him up, he sat on the edge of the Hammock.

"Us? Why would it be a challenge for you?"

Shade scratched his backhead.

"Weeelll...It wouldn't be such a challenge for me in general but...I highly doubt you will agree to doing everything on our to-do list. Convincing people to learn is kinda hard, at least for me."

Shade then turned around and mumbled "I'm not a teacher anyway..." to himself. Thunder got up from the Hammock and followed Shade outside the room, thinking about what he had said in the meantime. As they arrived outside, Thunder had to ask an awkward question...and he was afraid of the answer.

"Um...so...where's the food? It's been ages since I ate something. You guys don't happen to have some Pizza lying around here, do you?"

Shade stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Not exactly. Not that there would be any need for that anyway. I know it doesn't sound too nice in your ears but...we changelings eat on love and love only. Our stomachs can't digest normal food. If you really wanna eat some Pizza then go ahead but I'm not cleaning up the mess you'll cause afterwards."

Thunder sighed and lowered his head in disapointment. Never could he experience the taste of his favorite foods anymore. Or any food at all for that matter. Now he was stuck with...this...feeding on love...the love of innocent ponies...

"That's just..."

"...wrong?" Shade ended the sentence for him. "I know it seems like that for you. Trust me, it's not as cruel and evil as ponies say it is. And after all, it's in our nature, we can't rebel against our own bodies."

Thunder mumbled "I bet I can..." just loud enough so that Shade could hear it. Yet, Shade decided not to say anything about it, 2 tough and argue rich weeks were lying ahead of of him.

"Anyways, follow me. I'll show you the way to the Food Chambers."

Thunder grunted and slowly walked up behind Shade. "Food Chambers..." he thought, "...that's what they call the place where they hold ponies against their will and feed on them..." As Shade walked up to the "Entrance" of his home and once again lowered the wall, a lot quicker and less dramatic this time, Thunder sighed in what was to come.

"Greeeat, tunnels. I missed those sooo much."

Shade lifted the Wall behind Thunder as he left and then proceeded to walk towards a tunnel entrance. This time though, it was a different tunnel entrance.

"I know you don't like it, but I'll show you how to work around the darkness inside the Hive soon. For now though, just follow me, I'll light the way."

At that moment his horn once again lighted up in a green tone. He entered the Tunnel, Thunder following him close behind, not wanting to lose him in the Darkness.

"So..." Thunder began while following. "What do you mean with "working around the darkness"? How is that supposed to work?"

Shade replied without looking back at Thunder.

"Well...It has to do with Nightsight. Normally all Changelings know how to use it but changelings like you are different, which is kind of obvious. I'll teach you how to use it later on, when we get back home."

Thunder grumbled quietly as Shade called him a Changeling. He was sure to be called one in the near future, and he was sure to hate being called one too.

"Sure...I guess..."

From there on Thunder kept his mouth shut and followed Shade quietly through the tunnels. After about a minute (which still seemed like an hour to Thunder) they arrived at the end of the tunnel. After they left the tunnel they both stood still for a moment as they looked around the room that they found themselves in....a Food Chamber.

"I think I have to throw up..."

Thunder stated with disgust in his voice. He looked around the rather dark and sinister room. There were about 3 Changelings in the room with them, walking around...cocooned ponies. Thunder looked at the different cocoones, there were about 9 of them, to see if he knew anypony that was trapped in them. Luckily...he didn't recognize anypony.

"Well...I guess I'll lead the way, again."

Shade interrupted Thunder's thought process as he walked towards a cocooned unicorn. Thunder walked up behind him and looked at her. She looked so innocent in there. She looked like she didn't deserve this, any of this. And now...now he and his "friend" were going to feed on her love...?

"Alright, so." Shade started, slightly bumping Thunder with his flank to regain his attention. "First thing you have to do is close your mind and focus on the target. Focus, inhale and exhale deeply if you need to, it can help in the beginning. Focus until you can feel the warmth inside the target's body. When you've achieved that, you need to focus on said warmth and imagine it moving towards your horn. If it doesn't work at first then just keep trying."

With that, Shade turned around to the unicorn and followed the steps. At first he closed his eyes. Thunder could hear and see him inhale and exhale. Then he lifted his head slightly. The Unicorn inside the cocoon moved slightly as Shade fed on her love. After about 10 seconds Shade opened his eyes again and turned around to Thunder once again.

"There you go, that's how it's done. Now it's your turn."

Thunder looked at the unicorn in regret. Was he really going to do this? Was he really going to feed on the love of an innocent pony? Could he bring himself to do it? There was this big hunger in moving him towards doing it but...would it be right? Of course not...or is it? There were two voices in his head shouting at each other. One telling him to not do it, the other one telling him to do what he had to do and feed on the love.

"Fine...I'll try..."

He said, Shade stepped aside, letting Thunder pass through. A slight smile appeared on Shade's face, seeing his old best friend trying to feed on love for the first time.

"Forgive me for this...I'm sorry..."

Thunder whispered to the unicorn, unsure if she was even able to hear him in there or not. Then Thunder began following the steps Shade had told him about. He closed his eyes and focused on the unicorn in front of him. He inhaled and exhaled deeply as he continued to focus. It already took longer for him to simply focus than it took for Shade to do the whole thing.

"Focus. You have to feel the love inside of her, the warm love."

Shade's advice paid off as Thunder could soon feel the love inside of the unicornl. He couldn't quite believe he was actually FEELING someone's love right now. But of course this wasn't where it stopped. He wasn't just going to feel it, he was going to eat it. After a few seconds of feeling the love, Thunder tried to move it towards him. However, it didn't quite work.

"Slower, slower. Don't rush it."

Thunder tried following his advice and tried to move it once again, much slower this time. And indeed, it moved towards him. He licked his lips without noticing as it got close to him. He then channeled it into his horn, a part of his body which he was still fairly uncomfortable with. He could feel the newly gained love move through his body, giving him new energy.

"Wow, that was...good..."

Thunder said, losing his enthusiasm mid-sentence as he remembered it was love he had just fed on and stolen from somepony. Sure, it tasted great and he even felt great now but there was a bitter aftertaste all the time. It was the fact that it indeed WAS love, and it definitly wasn't his love.

"Wow, first try. I'm impressed! Well done!"

Shade said, visually impressed by Thunder's performance.

"I don't know...this feels...wrong. Just look at them, they are innocent and helpless!"

Thunder's loud voice attracted the attention of other changelings inside the room, yet they went back to their business after a few seconds.

"Of course that's true. However, the only reason why we have to feed on ponies like this is because we don't get nearly enough love through things like our Infiltrators. If we don't get enough love by acting undercover in pony territory WITHOUT hurting them, then it's the only choice we have to sustain ourselves."

Thunder grunted.

"And why don't you just ask for some love?" Thunder remembered what he was told yesterday suddenly. "Oh...nevermind..."

Shade sighed as he began walking towards the same tunnel they had used before.

"Don't worry, I too want times to change. A shame we have to treat ponies like this."

Thunder looked back at the unicorn behind him as he slowly followed Shade. He was unsure whether or not feeding on love was "ok" in general or not. He also wasn't sure about...well, Shade. Maybe he was just pretending to be a good friend right now? What if he had turned him into a changeling because he knows too much about his plans? I didn't exactly matter to him right now, there was too much happening than he could think about that properly.

"Congrats on passing Lesson one."

Shade said as he entered the tunnel. His voice echoed not only through the tunnel but also in Thunder's head.

"Now to Lesson two."

12 - Everything comes at a price

"Never! I will NEVER talk to that THING again!"

Shade tried calming Thunder down as much as he could, yet it didn't seem to bare any fruits.

"Come on Thunder, she isn't as evil as you think she is. I told you about her and the changeling race's history, right?"

Thunder took a deep breath, taking in what Shade said.

"It isn't about her and your bucking history...It's about her transforming me into...this."

Shade sighed as he tried stepping closer to Thunder.

"I know you're not feeling too well with this but-"

"No!" Thunder interrupted. "You don't know! You don't know how it feels at all! It's bad enough that I'm not a pony anymore and that I can't live my old life anymore...but my already slim chances to impress Luna are gone too..."

Thunder's rage turned into bitterness and sorrow. Tears poured down his cheeks as he turned away from Shade and sat down on the ground.

"I just wanted to have somepony that really cares for me, that loves me. But now..." He sighed. "Now I'm not even a pony anymore..."

Thunder started crying quietly. Shade looked around carefully, he didn't know how to handle this situation. It hurt seeing his old, best friend like this...although he wasn't even sure if Thunder considered him a friend anymore after all he had done.

"Hey...everything will be alright Thunder..."

Shade stepped up behind Thunder and laid a hoof on his shoulder.

"No...nothing is alright and never will be again...I've lost everything I hold dear. My friends, my job, my home...my love..."

"You still have one friend, im sure of that."

Shade smiled confidently yet Thunder didn't bother to answer or look at him.

"Look, I'm sure Luna still loves you."

Thunder wiped away the tears in his eyes.

"Pfft, right. She didn't love me in the first place."

Shade walked around Thunder to look him in the eyes.

"That's only because you've never gotten the chance to talk to each other personally."

Thunder chuckled sarcastically.

"Oh I did get the chance to talk to her personally...In that dirty cage you locked her in...right after you betrayed me and her..."

Shade lowered his head in guilt.

"I know what I did was...extreme, to say the least, but I am very much sorry for doing it. After all...we are both soldiers, we have our duties. If it takes something like that to finally create friendship between ponies and changelings...then so it is."

Thunder looked away from Shade and growled.

"I'm sorry Thunder, I really am. I wish there had been another way or that I could have told you...but I couldn't."

Thunder turned around and looked at Shade. If looks could kill then Shade would have been under the ground now.

"Oh yeah? And why not? Why couldn't you tell me? Too scared?"

Shade scratched his head in thought.

"Well...yeah. Try to see it through my eyes. You are a changeling in the midst of the Equestrian capital and you are trying to capture the princesses...I'm not sure if that would be something to tell anypony, especially not when your best friend is a guard."

Thunder's rage-filled look turned into pure awkwardness.

"Oh...I...guess that's...somewhat of a valid reason. Still..I never would have told anyone if you had told me."

Shade sighed.

"Or would you? Look at yourself right now and how you reacted back in Canterlot. You were furious. Maybe right now you would'nt turn me in, but I doubt I would have gotten the chance to explain everything to you back in Canterlot."

Thunder looked away from Shade.

"I guess you're right...It's hard to imagine me turning on my best friend but...I guess I would have done that..."

Shade sprang to attention in the middle of that sentence.

"B-best friend? You...still consider me your...best friend? After all that happened?"

Thunder looked back at Shade with a friendly look.

"I know I often give you hell for alot of stuff, now and in the past, but I certainly do count you as my very best friend. Besides...I don't think I have much of a wide choice between friends anymore anyway."

Shade thought hard for a moment.

"Hmm...Maybe I should introduce you to some of the other changelings soon then. I'm sure some of them will like you."

Thunder blushed and scratched his head awkwardly, he clearly wasn't too excited about meeting changelings.

"Oh uh, don't worry about that too much, pal. I think I'm good for now."

Shade shrugged.

"Eh, alright then. Maybe later, we'll have to work on your other new changeling abilities then."

Thunder sighed in relief.

"Phew, thank goodness. That means I don't have to-"

"-Talk to Chrysalis?"

Shade knew exactly how afraid he was of that meeting, yet he also knew how important it was for Chrysalis.

"I know you don't want to but...This has to be done. We both have to attend to that meeting. It's of great importance."

Thunder growled in annoyance.

"Ugh, Can't that way? I thought teaching me about my new abilities was way more important?"

Shade rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you're right. That's why we are going to her. It's not only a simple talk with her but also a lesson in the Hivemind, the most important ability of a changeling if I may say."

Thunder looked at Shade with a questioning look.

"But...why can't YOU teach me about that? You did that with all the other stuff already. Why do we need her for this one?"

Shade giggled slightly.

"It's because the Queen of the Hive needs to accept you into the Hivemind. She is the Queen, only she has that power."

Thunder sighed even louder than before.

"So I rely on HER to accept me into the Hivemind!? Ugh, great..."

Shade laid a hoof on Thunder's shoulder, looking him into the eyes.

"Look, I trust that everything will go well. For now we should both just go to sleep, It's been a long day. I'll wake you up as tomorrow at the same time if you want."

Shade smirked, Thunder didn't really have a choice on him waking him up or not, he would do it either way.

"Yeah, sure. I could really need a timeout right now..."

Shade started walking towards his room, it was about twice as big as Thunder's bedroom.

"Alrighty then, I wish you a good night!"

"Yeah, good night."

With that, Shade disappeared in his bedroom, closing the little, green curtains behind him that replaced a door. Thunder stood in place for a few more moments, thinking about the impending meeting tomorrow. Soon he figured it was better to worry about that tomorrow though and he too went to sleep in his little, slimey hammock.

13 - The Dreams of a Changeling

It was a sunny day in Canterlot. Thunder was walking down the streets of the city, jumping in joy. Everypony he walked past greeted him with a nice gesture, making Thunder even happier than he already was.
Then he went into a flower shop. He was greeted by a pink, green maned mare with a bouquet of flowers as her cutie mark.

"Thunder, great to see you! What can I do for you?"

Thunder leaned over the counter in joy.

"Rosey, I need the best flowers for a very special somepony that you can find."

Rosey giggled in joy.

"Oh, special somepony, hm? Great to hear! What kinda colour do you want it to be? Red? Pink?"

Only half of Thunder was actually listening to her. The other half of him was already thinking about meeting his special somepony.

"Blue...as blue as the sky please."

Rosey smirked at the dreamy Thunder that was staring into the air, his eyes full of joy and love. Rosey quickly found the fitting sky-blue flowers Thunder had asked for. She quickly came to the counter with a bouquet of sky-blue flowers.

"Oh wow...they look beautiful...I'm not even sure if I can afford these things."

Rosey remembered her first love, how happy and filled with hope and joy she was. It was the best feeling she had ever experienced.

"You know what, these ones are on the house. All you need to care about is making your special somepony the happiest pony ever."

Tears of joy rolled down Thunder's cheeks as he grabbed Rosey and pulled her halfway over the counter to hug her.

"Thank you! Thank you so much Rosey! I won't disapoint you, I won't disapoint her! I promise!"

Rosey struggled to get out of Thunder's tight hug.

"I know you won't, you're not the type of pony to disapoint others. Now, go and make me proud."

Thunder let go of Rosey and grabbed the bouquet on the counter. He nodded towards Rosey and then ran outside. He continued running down the street towards Canterlot Castle, the beautiful bouquet stuck in his mouth. The guards at the gates to the Castle immediatly recognized Thunder and let him pass. Thunder continued on, he ran past the gardens, through the main entrance, through giant hallways and then arrived at the Throne room. He stopped in front of the giant door to catch his breath. In hindsight it may have been a better idea to not run all the way to the castle.
Still breathing hard, he opened one of the doors to the throne room. He expected Princess Celestia and Luna to be in the room as he pushed the door open. However, he was greeted by an entire garrison of royal guards who made space for a rather wide path towards the actual throne.
To Thunder's surprise, it was Luna who sat on the throne, not Celestia. Celestia herself was nowhere to be found.

"Thunder, my sweetheart. Come on in!"

Luna spoke, her voice echoing throughout the room. Thunder slowly moved forward, feeling increasingly unsafe in the presence of all those guards watching him. As he was halfway to the throne, the door behind him was rapidly closed by Luna's magic.

"Why the stressed look, dear? Aren't you happy to see me?"

Thunder gulped and took a step forward.

"O-of course I-I am...I'm just...surprised..."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Surprised? Surprised at what?"

Thunder looked around himself, only seeing a wall of royal guards, both lunar and solar, blocking the way to his right and left.

"I didn't expect you to...bring so much company, I guess..."

Luna giggled as she got up from her Throne.

"Oh, I like to be surrounded by my subjects, dear. You could say that I consider them my family."

Thunder kept looking at the guards around him with an increasingly suspicious look.

"Uh huh..."

Thunder then blinked and shook his head, focusing on his loved one again.

"I, uh, brought you flowers. In your favorite colour too."

He held out the Bouquet with his right hoof. Luna levitated the bouquet out of his hooves towards her, looking at it and even sniffing at it.

"Hm...very nice of you but...I hate flowers."

With that, Luna let the bouquet fall to the ground and trampled it. Thunder couldn't believe his eyes, tears were already forming in his eyes. This time, they weren't tears of joy though...

"I-I'm...so sorry...I t-thought that y-you..."

Luna lifted a hoof to signalise Thunder to be silent.

"Thunder, dear...I'm not sure if this can keep going. You don't even know me well enough to know little things like that."

Thunder's heart was breaking apart as she was speaking. He had only wanted to make her a nice present, thought he had finally achieved what he had always wanted...but no. He had been a fool, ruined everything, just as he always does when trying to do others any good.

"N-no...p-please! I'm sorry! I didn't-"

"Silence!"

Luna's facial expression became angry and grim. She began to slowly walk towards Thunder as she started talking.

"Silly Thunder...did you really think THIS was going to work? I'm a Princess, you...you're a simple guard, a simple pony, a subject of mine..."

Thunder slowly walked backwards, backing away from the now angry looking Luna. His retreat was quickly stopped however, as the guards in the room formed up behind him. As Luna was about 5 meters away from Thunder she stopped, letting the guards finally form a circle in which the two of them stood.

"You don't belong here, Thunder...you never did..."

Thunder tried backing away again, two guards behind him pushed him forwards, towards Luna, however.

"What do you mean...Of course I belong here, I was born here."

Luna let out a loud laugh, making all the guards join in. Thunder wanted to disappear into the ground as everyone around him, including the one he loved, laughed at him.

"Oh Thunder" Luna said as she stopped laughing. "You don't belong here...you belong with...me..."

Thunder couldn't trust his eyes as his loved one was suddenly surrounded by a ring of fire, laughing aloud once again. She was quickly surrounded by fire, making Thunder look away. When Thunder dared to look back at her, Princess Luna, his loved one, had disappeared. Instead, the Queen of the Changelings, Queen Chrysalis, took her place. Thunder fell to the ground in panic and crawled backwards. He wasn't stopped by a royal guard behind him however, it was a changeling that now stopped him in his tracks. He scattered away from the changeling, unwillingly moving towards Chrysalis. He stood still, realizing that everyone in the room was now a changeling. His brain, his mind, was melting as he tried comprehending the situation.

"W-what..I-I don't..."

"...understand? Oh, you will. Soon enough you will! Like all the others before you! You're mine! Forever!"

Chrysalis walked backwards with a histeric laugh and disappeared in the crowd of changelings that now moved in towards Thunder. Thunder moved around in the ever smaller circle. He tried flapping his wings to fly away, however, he simply couldn't lift off. Something was holding him on the ground, doomed to be smallowed by the masses of changelings.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! GET AWAY!"

Then he was grabbed from behind and felt a pain in his neck. He was bitten. The changeling that bit him let go of him, letting the now dizzy Thunder dwindle around.

"No...no...Luna...I'm...I'm sorry..."

After that, he fell to the ground, too tired and exhausted to move any of his muscles.

"So...sorry..."

Suddenly a loud voice echoed through his head.

"THUNDER! WAKE UP!"

14 - A talk with Royalty

Thunder's eyes opened only to see the face of a panicing changeling.

"We overslept, Thunder! Get up, quickly!" With that, Shade grabbed the still half-asleep Thunder by his hooves and pulled him out of his hammock. Shade showed no mercy, letting Thunder fall to the cold floor. At least now Thunder was actually fully awake.

"Ugh..." He started, rubbing his eyes. "What do you mean we overslept?"

"We are going to be late for the meeting, Thunder!" He said, bending down to Thunder who was still laying on the floor. "Our first appointment with the Queen and we are going to be late!" Shade was beginning to shiver all over his body thinking about Queen Chrysalis's expression to them being late.

Thunder though, didn't seem to be interested much into the appointment. "Yeah, right." He said, rolling over to his side, closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep. "I'll give you a headstart."

Shade's left eye began twitching. Not only were they going to be late but his "student" was rebelling and not interested in this at all. He lost control and grabbed Thunder's head, pulling it towards his face. "Thunder! Listen!" He yelled, pulling his face so close to him that both of their noses made contact with eachother. "This is a very important appointment! Not only for me, or for her, but for you! Now please do me a favor and stop rebelling against me. I not only don't have the time for that right now, but I'm also getting sick of it! Cut it out, alright?"

Thunder's eyes darted from left to right and right to left while he talked, at the end though, he looked Shade in his eyes and nodded. His nod was quickly met with him being falling to the floor again, due to Shade letting go of him and leaving the room. Thunder moaned as he got up from the ground. "I hope this doesn't become a regular thing...", he said to himself. He then trotted outside of his room where Shade was already waiting.

"Alright, let's not waste any time. Let's go." Shade said, turning around from Thunder and opening the wall once again.

"Um..." Thunder said, rubbing his backhead awkwardly while remaining inside. "I'm...kinda hungry though. Can't we-" He was cut off by Shade.

"Sorry, pal. No time for feeding. That'll have to wait for after we're finished with Chrysalis. For now, we need to get to the Throne room as soon as possible." Shade walked outside, waving towards Thunder with a hoof, motioning him to follow. Thunder sighed as he held his belly for a moment, then he followed Shade outside.

Thunder looked after Shade as he crawled into one of the many tunnels. He stared into the dark in which Shade had now disappeared and sighed. "Let's just get this over with quickly..." He thought to himself, crawling into the same tunnel and using his newly-learned night vision.

After a good while, the two changelings finally arrived at the throne room. Shade left the tunnel and turned around to see if Thunder managed to keep up with his relatively fast pace. They were in a hurry after all. As it turns out, Thunder did manage to keep up quite well.

"Are we there yet...?" Thunder asked sarcastically, making Shade roll his eyes. As the two stood in the throne room, they noticed it was empty. Except for the throne there was nothing and noone else in it. Were they too late? Had the queen lost her temper and departed already?
Thunder only looked around the room curiously, mostly focusing on the big throne. Meanwhile, Shade was once again starting to shiver and panic. To his relief though, he soon heard a well-known voice echoing through one of the other tunnels.

"Ugh, I told you we wouldn't make it in time, Amaz! I should have known that Princess Cadance would-" Chrysalis and her advisor Amaz were stopped in their tracks as they arrived at the throne room and saw that they clearly had guests. Thunder's look became serious, seeing as he faced the queen of the changelings in front of him. Shade gave out an inner sigh of relief, seeing as how the queen didn't manage to arrive on time either.

Chrysalis smiled awkwardly, bumping her advisor with her flank to instruct her into doing the same. "Oh, I am terribly sorry. I had to attend to something very important. It seems though, it took longer than we had planned for." Chrysalis stated, giving her advisor an unhappy look. Amaz herself decided to leave the room, seeing as how the following meeting was not meant for her ears.

"It is perfectly fine, my Queen. You two aren't the only ones that...didn't quite make it on time." With that, Shade bowed before his Queen. Thunder though, as expected, refused to bow before Chrysalis. As Shade noticed that his friend didn't bow, he quickly got up again to distract from the awkward occurence. "Anyways, We are here as you wished, my Queen."

Chrysalis's and Thunder's look met for one second before Chrysalis moved on to Shade. "Indeed, and I am happy to see you two made it." Chrysalis then lifted off the ground and flew towards her throne. "Now..." She started as she landed on said throne. "Let us get started, shall we?"

Shade nodded approvingly, then looking back at Thunder. As Thunder looked at Shade, he remembered what he said back at his home. He decided to not try anything stupid. At least not yet. "Sure, let's get started..." Thunder said, just loud enough for Chrysalis to understand.

"Excellent. So. Before we get into anything surrounding the Hivemind and how to use it, I would like a report on how you two are doing so far." Chrysalis said, looking at Shade.

Shade looked fairly surprised, yet at the same time he kind of expected this kind of question. "Well, my Queen, at this current stage my student has already learned how to utilise his night vision and love feeding abilities." Thunder gulped at the word "love feeding".

"Hmm, and how is your student settling down in the Hive so far?" Chrysalis asked, now looking over to Thunder. Thunder still had an untrusting look towards her.

"Oh, well-" Shade started, yet he was quickly cut off by Chrysalis.

"Not you, Shade. I want your lovely student to tell me that himself." She said, now fully focusing on Thunder whose look went from untrusting to confused and surprised. Shade too was more than surprised at this.

"I...uh..." Thunder gave out while starting to shiver. Suddenly, Chrysalis appeared in front of him.

"Let me help you...my child." The latter clearly caused anger in Thunder, yet he managed to contain it. "I won't play around here, I know how this goes. This by far isn't the first time I've done this." Chrysalis said as she walked past Thunder. "I know you currently stand against me, my kingdom and my race. I also know about your very...special connection to the Princesses, especially Princess Luna." Hearing someone like Chrysalis talk about something as private as that infuriated Thunder. As Thunder tried charging at Chrysalis, however, he was thankfully held back by Shade.

"Calm down, Thunder. It's not worth being so mad about. We're just trying to help you." Shade said as he was holding back the struggling Thunder.

"Indeed we are." Chrysalis said as she turned around to face Thunder. "There's no need to be so discret about your "secrets", dear. You must have forgotten who I am and who you are now, too. Changelings. We have the best spies in all of Equestria. Normally our Spies have better things to do than watch over my own subjects though, so I would very much appreciate it if you could remember this: There are no secrets within the Hive."

Thunder managed to calm down a little. His eyes narrowed as Chrysalis leaned over to him. "Why would I ever try to stay in line for you? All you've done is take all I love and hold dear and exchange it with something I hate, don't want or don't understand."

Chrysalis sighed as she took in what he said. "You still seem to misunderstand why I summoned you here today."

"Oh yeah? Well, tell me!" Thunder barked back at her.

"I understand very well how upset you might be." She started, turning away from Thunder. "But there's more to this than the obligatory "evil queen is doing evil things against my will". I am sure I'm allowed to skip most of this though, Shade here should have told you most of it." She explained, looking towards Shade who himself nodded. "Have you ever wondered why exactly I even decided to turn you into one of us? Why I gave you the change to start a new living with us instead of being fed on by us?"

Thunder looked away from Chrysalis, thinking hard about it, yet couldn't come up with an answer. "If I'm honest, no. I never wondered about that."

"I assumed so. You already know about me and my past, same with what my current goals are." She said, making Thunder grumble in disbelief. "But to actually achieve something like that it takes a lot. To help convince the Princesses and other ponies, me and my advisors came up with a rather...special plan to help convince the equestrians. We would send out our infiltrators to capture ponies and replace them. Those ponies were then brought back to the Hive and turned into one of us. After a long time, they would finally come to seeing as not completely and utterly evil. Then, when the time has come, we would show the ponies and Princesses those reformed "changeling ponies". They would tell and show them that changelings aren't evil and that they are only trying to do what is best for their race, that they are trying to somehow create friendship between our two races."

Thunder looked like his brain stopped working halfway through her speech. "S-so...wait...you are saying...that I am...what I am now...because you need me to convince the princesses of how changelings are not evil?"

Chrysalis simply nodded. "Yes, that summarizes it quite nicely."

Thunder inhaled and exhaled deeply, thinking about how to react to this. "I'm honestly not sure if this makes things worse or better."

Unexpectedly, it was Shade who replied to him. "It's better, of course. Trust me, Thunder. Changelings aren't evil. Nowhere near as evil as you think they are right now. I'm not evil, Chrysalis isn't and neither are any of the others."

Chrysalis nodded in agreement. "Indeed. You should consider us as friends, not enemies. It seems that you and Shade have managed to upkeep your friendship throughout all of what has happened, through all your anger. I am sure this can be applied to all of the other changelings too, including me."

Thunder was shocked by how...how friendly Chrysalis reacted towards all of this. Maybe...just maybe...Shade was right...maybe changelings really are good. "I...I'm not sure...yet...I don't really feel too well right now..." Thunder gave out, holding his belly as it gave out a loud grumble.

"I see..." Chrysalis thought for a couple of seconds and then looked over to Shade who was currently trying to assist his friend who wasn't feeling well. "Shade..." The Changeling in question immediatly looked up to her. "Tell me, has your friend gotten to feed yet?"

"Um, not today, no. Last and only time he did was yesterday, and I don't think he really took much love back then. Do you think that's the reason for this?"

The changeling Queen nodded. "Indeed, It seems your friend is starving for more love. You should get him to the nearest food chamber as soon as possible and let him get some rest for the next few hours. We will continue this later." The Queen said, looking at the sick-looking Thunder.

"As you say, my Queen. Thank you for your advice." Shade said as he helped his sick friend into a tunnel.

"Thank you..." Thunder mumbled just loud enough for Chrysalis to hear. As the two disappeared into the tunnel, a small smile appeared on her face.

15 - Secret plans

About an hour later. Shade had brought his friend to the nearest food chamber and helped him regain his strength by feeding. Thunder is still fairly weak, but is on his way to recovery.

"Hey...Shade..." Thunder started in a quiet voice, it was all he could muster at this point in time.

"Yeah?" Shade simply replied as he looked back at Thunder behind him. He was going slowly so Thunder could keep up.

"Thanks for everything. I'm not sure what would have happened if you didn't help me out today, but thanks."

Shade smiled and stopped as he turned around to his best friend. Thunder almost bumped into him, but managed to stop right before doing so.
"Hey, no problem at all. That's what friends are there for. Besides, It was Chrysalis who came to the conclusion that you were starving, not me. I'm not sure if I would have found out in time myself. You should thank her, not me."

Thunder looked away from Shade. "Ugh...I don't know...something ain't right with her. I've just got the feeling she's...I don't know, lying. Tricking me, or us, or everyone."

Shade laughed at Thunder's distrust. "I'm sure that's just because of the whole 'she transformed me into a changeling' thing. She's really not that bad, pal."

Thunder now looked at Shade with a very serious look. "Are you saying that this whole thing isn't even a big deal? Do you even have any idea what she did to me and what this means to me? Have you been sleeping during our latest disputes??" Thunder yelled at Shade. Both of them didn't think Thunder even had the strength to shout like that at the moment, yet it seems they were both proven wrong.

"W-what? No! I know this is tough for you! Trust me, I do! I really do!" Shade said, trying to step closer to Thunder. Thunder, however, stepped back from him.

"Do you? Do you really? I doubt that. You know what? Maybe I'm right. Maybe this is all just a big faint, a trick, a plan. You may just be trying to brainwash me with your whole changeling stuff. But guess what? I'm not falling for it!" With that, Thunder turned around, walking into the opposite direction of the tunnel which would lead towards the throne room once again.

Shade was shocked, he tried calling for his friend one last time. "Thunder, please! You're wrong and I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! Please! Come back!" Shade's words fell on deaf ears tough as Thunder kept on walking into the darkness, away from him. Shade was disappointed. Not in Thunder, but in himself. He shouldn't have said something like that, Thunder clearly wasn't ready for a 'joke' like that. Shade had overestimated how well Thunder had settled down into the changeling society and now...he was alone. All alone. Unfortunatly, this wasn't the first time for Shade to lose someone he held dear. This time however, it was not too late. He could still make up for his mistakes. "Not again...not this time..." Shade said to himself. "I'll do anything to prevent this." Shade stopped as he remembered what had happened in his past. The memories stung like someone had stabbed him in his throat. "anything..."

As Thunder, still weakened, aimlessly roams around in the tunnels, he starts rethinking the choice he had just made. Was he just overreacting?`No...definitly not, not when talking about being transformed into a changeling. It's hard to overreact when talking about something as bad as that. Perhaps though...Shade was right. Maybe the changelings and Chrysalis really are good. Chrysalis did help him. Maybe she did so to trick him into believing she is good though. Changelings are tricksters, and their Queen would be the biggest one of them.

His though process was cut short as he heard voices at the end of the tunnel. Attracting attention was the last thing he wanted to do at this very moment so he tried sneaking up to the exit without making too much noise. As he came closer, he realized there were at least 3 voices speaking.
Then, as he looked out of the exit and into the room, he knew exactly who was speaking and where he was. The Throne room. Inside the room were Queen Chrysalis, her advisor and 3 other changelings. Chrysalis was sitting on her throne, her advisor flying right next to her while the 3 others stood on the ground. One of them had a very impressive, big armor, while the other two had slightly thinner, less special armor. Thunder could only assume that those 3 must be in some kind of military or guard and that the one with the big armor must be their chief.

"For the last time, General: We will not, I repeat not, hurt the princesses." Chrysalis expressed in a serious and commanding voice.

The General didn't seem to be aggreeing with her though. "This is ridiculous, my Queen. The princesses have already tried attacking several of our guards as they brought them water and food. In addition to that, the pure factor that we are keeping the princesses in the dungeons as captives has created big unrest in the Hive's population. The drones think that-" The General was cut off by a very angry Queen.

"SILENCE!" Chrysalis shouted, making everyone shut up immediatly. Only the buzzing of the advisor's wings could be heard as she was hovering next to the Queen. "I am more than aware of the situation within my own Hive, general. However, you must have all forgotten that the Elements of Harmony and Prince Shining Armor are still out there, looking for their princesses. If we really did hurt the princesses, they would attack us as soon as they found us. And I must remind you, General, that the Elements of Harmony alone defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek and many more evildoers."

"...including you, my Queen." The General replied with a slight sense of humour.

The Queen eyes narrowed at his rather unfitting comment. "Yes...indeed. You see, we are to not underestimate their power again if we truly want to succeed this time. What you and your pity military staff are suggesting would be suicide."

"But...why didn't we just capture ALL of Equestria's royals? It seems rather hindering to not capture the Elements of Harmony aswell." The General replied.

The Queen chuckled at the General's question. "Because, if we did capture all royals, somepony from Equestri's military staff would take charge. This would mean that the entire Equestrian military is devoted to kill us at any price. The only reason we are still alive is because of the princesses. With them as captives and the elements of Harmony and husband of princess Cadance in charge, the Equestrians will never be starting an invasion or attack of any sorts if the lives of their princesses matter to them."

The General was stunned, he had never thought of such possibilities. "Truly, you are right, my Queen."

"That is why you are a General and I'm the Queen, dear. You may know how to lead an army, but I know just how furious the Equestrians are. An open attack would be a massacre. To succeed we must fully depend on deception and infiltration. The Equestrian's spirits are strong and determined, but that won't help them if they don't know who to fight or where the enemy is."

The General bowed before the Queen, the two soldiers next to him did the same. "We are truly grateful to have you as our Leader, my Queen. I will let the others know right away, this will surely stop most of the unrest."

The Queen nodded affirmatively. "Very well, Go ahead." With her command, the General and his bodyguard lifted off the ground and entered one of the countless tunnels in the throne room.

Meanwhile, during all of this, Thunder couldn't trust his ears. He had heard everything, every last bit. He couldn't believe it. He was right! He was actually right! She was evil! Thunder knew he couldn't trust her or any of the changelings. Then suddenly...it hit him. He couldn't trust the changelings...which meant...he couldn't trust Shade either. Shade...lied to him. All this time. He lied from start to finish. First he betrays him in Canterlot, now...in the Changeling Hive. Thunder was unsure if Changelings really had a heart but if they did, Thunder's was surely broken by now.
His best friend betrayed him all this time, the princesses, including his loved one, have been captured and now the Changelings are using the ponies' friendliness as an advantage. He couldn't let this happen! But then again...what could he do? He was all alone, in the midst of the changeling hive with noone to help or guide him. He had to do something...for now though, it seemed the best plan would be to escape from the throne room. The last thing he wanted to happen was for Chrysalis or any changelings to find him here.

And so Thunder turned around and ran off, away from the Throne room. After about a minute though, he bumped into something. As it turns out, it wasn't 'something' though, It was someone.

"Thunder...I...I'm terribly sorry..."

16 - The Story of a Changeling

"You..." Thunder started. "Stay away from me you...you monster! You liar! You bug!"

If Shade didn't cry already, he surely would be now. All those things Thunder said hit him right in the heart. "Thunder...what are you saying? I'm you best friend! And I'm sorry for making you so upset! I really, really am!" Shade's voice made it clear that he was begging for forgiveness at this point.

"Friend!? Don't you dare call me your friend! I'm only friends with people I can trust and who don't try to brainwash me for their evil, little bug plans!" Thunder didn't care to keep his rage in at this point, he yelled at Shade from the depths of his lungs, as loud as he could.

"Evil plans? I...what are you saying Thunder?" Shade asked, still in tears from Thunder's outrage.

"Oh please, give me a break. I heard Chrysalis! I know about it all! Your stupid little plan to brainwash me and invade Equestria. Nice try 'pal', but you can't fool me."

Shade couldn't believe him. He must be hearing things in his dispair and rage, how else could he think Chrysalis said something like that? "That's not true, Thunder! I'm sure you're just imagining things right now, I'm sure some rest right now would be the best for-" Shade's speech was cut off as Thunder once again began yelling at him.

"Imagining things!? Oh, I think I'm seeing and hearing more clearly than ever, thank you very much. Now that I know what you cheeky little bugs are really up to."

Shade still couldn't believe him, this simply didn't make any sense. It couldn't be true. He was very close to Chrysalis and in a high position in the Hive, seeing how he managed to learn dark magic, but he had never ever heard about anything like that from Chrysalis, or anyone else in Hive. "Please Thunder, this isn't true! You've got to believe me!"

Thunder began to feel sick of Shade's sorry begging all the time. After all, he was just a liar, a false friend, a bug. "Right, tell me one reason why I should believe you."

Although Thunder was being sarcastic and didn't expect a real, serious answer, Shade knew this was the best chance he would get to regain the trust of his best friend. Unfortunatly, this would mean bringing up old, hurtful memories. But he had to, there was no other way.
"Because we have more in common than you think. I...I'm not like the other 'normal' changelings in here." Shade said in a deep tone.

Thunder, although surprised, believed no word of what he said. "So you're telling me I should believe you because we have the same hobbies or because you have one more hole in your hooves than the other bugs in here? Sure, I think that's a great reason to-" He was cut off by a quiet speaking Shade.

"Thunder..." Shade interrupted. "I...I used to be a pony. Like you."

Thunder stepped back a bit at Shade's revelation. However, Thunder was unsure if he was being serious or if this was just yet another dirty trick from the changelings to regain his trust. "But...no...no, that can't be. A pony would never be loyal to these things!" Thunder said, trying to not yell for a change.

Shade was afraid that Thunder would never believe him. Not yet at least. Now Shade would need to go deeper into this. Much deeper. "I have my reasons, Thunder." Shade replied in a monotone voice.

Thunder wanted to laugh at him, but couldn't quite manage to bring out a laugh in a situation like this. "What reasons could possibly make you trust that thing called Queen Chrysalis?"

Suddenly, the two heard voices in the distance. They came from the direction where Thunder had come from, the throne room. Shade knew they couldn't stay here forever. "I'll tell you. But not here. Come with me." Shade turned around, running off into the darkness, fully expecting Thunder to follow him.

Luckily for him, Thunder did decide to follow him. "I guess he's still better than whoever is coming up behind me right now..." Thunder thought, still distrusting than angry at Shade and the changeling's in general.

Thunder soon managed to catch up on Shade as they both ran through the tunnel systems. Thunder followed Shade blindly through the dark tunnels, which he was still uncomfortable with, even though he now posessed night vision. Shade on the other hand knew exactly where he would need to go in a situation like this. The Hall of the Elders.

It was quiet as Shade poked his head out of the tunnel. His eyes seemingly fixated on the two, big doors, but he looked around for anyon else to spot him and Thunder. Luckily, there was nobody there. He waved for Thunder to come out after he left the tunnel himself.

"You better tell me why you brought me here right now or-" Thunder started, his rant was interrupted as Shade lifted a hoof to silence him.

Shade was now completely focused on the doors. His eyes simply would not look away from the symbols on the doors. The black and green changelings on the doors. Shade didn't need to look around to know that Thunder himself was curious as to what those symbols meant, It was the only reason he wasn't already yelling at him again. Shade himself though...he knew exactly why those symbols are there...and what they were supposed to mean and represent.

"You don't believe me..." Shade said in a quiet, calm voice. "You don't believe me because you are unknowing, Thunder." His head turned to Thunder for a moment but quickly focused back on the symbols as Shade continued. "Unknowing of all the things I lived through. All the tragedies, the loss, despair...Nopony should ever live through the things I have experienced..."

"Anyone can say that, you know. You'll have to convince me of it first." Thunder countered.

There really was no alternative for Shade, he had to tell his story. The story he had sworn to never tell anyone of, a story he just wished to forget and leave behind. He had no choice now. "As you wish..." Shade started in a weak voice. He sighed and continued. "My story starts a long time ago, back when King Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire."

"Wait...what?" Thunder interrupted. "You're telling me you lived thousands of years ago? When King Sombra reigned? Even before Princess Luna was imprisoned? You really have to work on your lies, pal. I've seen better." Thunder was about to laugh at Shade, however, Shade continued with his story, not impressed or bothered by Thunder's words at all.

"I grew up in a small village near the Crystal Mountains. A blue unicorn, that was me." Shade stopped for a moment as good memories of his family and childhood overcame him, something be didn't expect nor want right now. He quickly brushed those feelings off and continued. "We were a normal family. My dad, my mum and me. Nothing special. And my life really was nothing special. At least not until...it happened."

"What do you mean 'it' happened'?" Thunder asked.

"King Sombra happened." Shade stopped for a couple of seconds as he took in what he was about to live through once again. "He took over the Crystal Empire and enslaved every single one of his subjects. Soon though, his own Empire was not enough for his tyranic mindset and he marched forth into Equestria."

"But..." Thunder asked again. "I've never heard of him actually marching into Equestria...It's said that Celestia and Luna both defeated him before he could even try anything like that."

Shade would have laughed if the topic wasn't this serious, for him anyway. "That is true. However, the reason Sombra's troops never reached Equestria is because of the Crystal Mountains. The people who lived there, including me and my family, were the first and only ones to confront his evil army and defend Equestria from what would be a landslide for sombra's army. Luckily we managed to held firm. But...at a great cost..."

Thunder wanted to ask what he meant but at the very moment he opened his mouth, he realized what he was going at.

"My family, me and the others in my village set up barricades in front of the passage to the Crystal Empire. We hoped this would give us enough time to properly set up a defence...but we were wrong. Our defences were nothing for them. They crushed them, pushed them aside, some managed to climb over them. Panic erupted immediatly as Sombra's troops were starting their raid. I...I was only 9 years old when all that happened. But...it happened. It happened right in front of my eyes. I saw our neighbour trying to run off into his house but he couldn't run fast enough...they got him...an axe in his back ended the suffering as quickly as it came."

"Is...that what you meant when you said 'loss' earlier?"

"If only I was..." Shade looked down in sorrow, tears soon started forming a small puddle on the ground under Shade. "Me and my family watched everything from our house. I myself looked out of the windows with my mother while my dad was looking for things we could use to defend ourselves with. Unfortunatly, our house would be next after the soldier that killed our neighbour looked over to our home. My mum pulled me away from the window and covered my mouth as we both sat in the corner right next to the window. The room was already dim, there were no sources of light except for the moonlight and erupting flames outside. We could soon see a shadow coming up to the window. My mother and me watched it closely as the shadow slowly took his steps away from us, ever so carefully and observate. As the shadow began disappearing, it suddenly stopped and walked backwards, back to the window's center. He had heard something. However, it wasn't me nor my mum...it was my dad who was in another room, looking for weapons. He didn't even know that they were already at our house and looking for us. He walked into the living room where we hid with a slowly quicker pace than normally, carrying two baseball bats and a crowbar. Then...he made eye contact with the soldier at the window and vice versa. My mother loosened her grip around me and my mouth as she realized what was about to happen. During the few seconds that my dad and the soldier stared at eachother she whispered to me "run, take the back entrance. Don't look back and don't stop." She then stoped for a brief second as she took in what she just said and finished her phrase with "I love you". And then it happened, the soldier began screaming, alerting all nearby soldiers. My mother then quickly stood up and pushed me onto my hooves as she once again yelled "run! now!"
I don't know how I managed to leave them in that situation...but I did as she said. I ran. I took the back entrance and looked back into the hallway another, final time where I saw my dad swinging his baseball bat at a soldier that had just come crushing through the door. I looked back front and ran into the open. At this point, I'm not entirely sure if it was a good thing that there were no soldiers in our backyard yet or not. At that time though, I didn't care. I ran. Through our backyard, into the cornfields of our small village and eventually...I ended up in the midst of the Frozen North..."

"The...Frozen North? But it is said that nothing can live there for more than a couple of days, maybe only a few hours. How did you manage to make it out of there?" Thunder's questioned was met with silence at first as Shade took in the memories that came over him. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to be rude. I'm so sorry for what happened to you and your family." Thunder corrected himself, trying to cheer Shade up at least a little bit.

"No apologies can give me back what I have lost. My parents, my friends, my village...my life..." Shade's voice was filled with bitterness and sorrow.

By now, Thunder felt awful for not believing Shade in the first place. He was the one who had caused him telling this story after all. Maybe this choice, the choice to believe Shade's story, was rushed...maybe...but if he really was lying then he was really damn good at it. "I feel you...It feels the same to me...I mean, of course my family and friends are still alive. But...I can't see or talk with them anymore. This whole changeling thing just...really messed everything up."

Shade looked over to Thunder who now stood right next to him and looked him in the eyes. Thunder meant what he said mainly to conform Shade, but he had no awaited what he was about to hear. "Maybe it did for you, yeah. But...not for me." Thunder's eyes grew larger as he heard that. Before Thunder could interrupt though, Shade continued. "As I found myself completely lost in the Frozen North, I had already given up on my life. I knew there was no coming back from the Frozen North. Not like this, not for somepony like me. I was too young for anything like that, I wouldn't survive the constant snow storms longer than a day. As it turned out, I was right. After a few hours of hopelessly marching through the snow and ice, my strength gave in and I fell onto the ground, my hooves unable to make me stand up anymore. I rolled mysef on my back with the last of my strength as I told myself "This is it. My last few minutes. I'll surely be reunited with mum and dad soon. I can feel their warm embrace already."
Suddenly, as I began to black out, I heard a buzzing in the distance. The buzzing quickly became louder and louder and I tried to look around to see what it was...but I couldn't. My state didn't allow it. I remember how my eyes felt heavier and heavier as my strength continued dwindling. The last thing I remember seeing is a black creature in the distance. Then...It was all black."

"I...I don't know what to say..."

"Good, cause I'm not entirely done yet." Shade took a deep breath before he continued once more. "As I slowly woke up, I realized that I was indeed not in a completely white, cold area anymore. I was not in the Frozen North anymore, I realized that immediatly. I tried standing up but my still very weak body after the pure torture didn't allow me to do that just yet. I instead tried looking around, however, my vision was still fairly blurry. The only thing I managed to see were black objects. After a few moments though, I realized those were not objects...they were changelings. As my vision cleared up, I could see them step closer to me. I started to panic, even hyper-ventilate. First my village was raided and my parents were killed, then I almost died in a giant blizzard and then changelings...however, the changelings didn't intend to harm me as I soon happened to realise. They simply stopped in front of me, formed a circle around me and celebrated. I looked around in confusion, thinking I was still dreaming or that this was some kind of joke, but It seemed too real to me. Especially because soon the actual Queen of the Changelings stood in front of me, Chrysalis. I instinctively tried standing up and running away, but...once again, my legs failed me as I fell to the ground immediatly. I decided to simply lie there, completely still, waiting for whatever fate they had in store for me. What I was met though, once again surprised me. "I see our first test subject is well and healthy. What a delightful sight." Chrysalis said to the other changelings around me, making me look around. Apparently there was something going on and I was not filled in. at all. "Don't worry my son." Chrysalis said to me. "You don't have to be afraid. You are safe now." It was then that I first noticed my new, changed hooves. I pulled them up in front of my eyes as I looked at them in shock. The worst thing was: I could see Chrysalis smiling at me as I saw right through my new hole-filled hooves. "We have much to talk about, my son." Is all I remember right now. After then my thoughts are all relatively blurry. I still remember her teaching me all this new stuff, like night vision, feeding on love and flying. Like I am teaching you right now."

"So...that's how you...became a changeling?" Thunder asked quietly. Shade nodded as he continued looking at the Symbols of the doors. "Wow...I...I don't know what to say..."

Shade now looked away from the symbols on the door and looked straight at Thunder. "Don't say anything. Please. Don't. I've suffered enough to go through this once, I barrely managed to go through it a second time. I once swore myself to never talk about those things in my past ever again. I wanted to burry my bloody past as fast a possible, wanted a restart, a happy life again."

"Oh...but-" Thunder's speech was cutoff before he managed to say anything.

"So please, Thunder...Don't say anything. All I want...is that you forgive me and that we can still be friends. That I don't have to loose another person that's close to me." Shade sighed deeply before he continued. "If you do decide on turning your back on me though...then go ahead. I won't stop you. Turn around and go. However, I do hope you decide against that. In the end though...it's your choice, not mine."

Shade once again looked away from Thunder and towards the opposite direction, awaiting Thunder's decision. Thunder himself had no doubt that Shade was being honest by now. Sure, the others may be liars and evil, but not him. He was...different. He was a pony, not a changeling.

"Shade..." Thunder started as he walked towards Shade who now turned around to him again. "I am more than sorry for what you had to go through in your past. I am sorry for all you have lost and all you have experienced. But I can tell you right now...I won't leave you. Never."

Shade's sad look quickly turned into a joyful smile as he heard his best friend say that. "Thanks man. Thanks so much." With that, Shade grabbed Thunder and pulled him into a friendly, tight hug. One which Thunder didn't expect, but was certainly not opposed to.

"Oh...but...I do wanna ask..." Thunder said as he pulled himself out of the hug.

"That would be?" Shade asked.

"What do those symbols on the door mean? And why did you bring us here specifically?" Thunder asked, much to the surprise of Shade

"Oh..." Shade started as he realized he had forgotten about that part. "I forgot to tell you. I guess I'll do that now."

17 - Trust over Truth

"It's a funny story in some way, you know. When I was new to all this, I stood at this very place and simply stared at these symbols. They seemed so...alien...yet still seemed familiar in some way." Shade said as he was remembering the moment he simply sat in front of those doors and inspected the very strange symbols on the doors. The doors to the room that made him what he is now.

"So? What do they mean?" Thunder interrupted rather abruptly. Thunder focused more on Shade than the still strange looking symbols, although he really wanted to know what they actually meant.

"From what I know, These symbols were made shortly after I was successfully turned into a changeling. A changeling told me so a few days after I found them the first time, but they weren't there the day I was transformed, I do remember that."

"Ah...so they must have something to do with you in some way, right?" Thunder asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. When I asked changelings for the meaning of the symbols, nobody ever told me what they meant though, not even Chrysalis herself. She actually got pretty upset when I asked about their meaning. That didn't stop me from wanting to know their meaning though, so...I kinda tricked our head scientist and stole a book from him about the symbols...don't tell him though." Shade smiled, not able to get a quick laugh out as he once again remembered the stinging memories from his past. His happy mood died off as fast as it came.

"I knew you wouldn't stop that easily." Thunder commented, referring to the several times they rebelled against their orders back in Canterlot as guards. "So what did the book say?" Thunder added.

Shade thought for a second, turning to Thunder as he began speaking. "It told the story of...me." Shade gave out in a quiet voice.

"You? Why would somebody write that in a book like that?" Thunder asked in surprise, he knew he hadn't heard the whole story yet. If anything, this was just the beginning.

"It told the story of how the Queen's gratitude saved the life of a helpless and lost pony. The pony was doomed to die, but the Queen saved her by letting it join her family, by letting it join the hive." Shade once again remembered how he was lost in the frozen north, how he really did almost die out there if he hadn't been found. However...he had always questioned if it was for the better that he was rescued or not...

"So the changelings 'saved' you by making you a changeling?" Thunder once again interrupted, a sense of hate swelled up in him again.

"Yes, so they did. At least that's what the book says, I still haven't told any changeling in here about what I've read." Shade didn't tell Thunder that he was scared of...being killed if he did decide to tell somebody about it. The Queen had been very clear about it that he was to not worry about the symbols, and him rebelling against her orders...may not end well. "However," He continued, "That's not where the book ends. It goes on to the symbols. The Queen and the Hive at first celebrated their 'rescue' of the pony and that they had managed to actually turn a pony into their own. Never before had any Queen done anything like that. However, the Queen very soon ordered to have those symbols made. The Book says that the changelings standing over eachother are supposed to represent the 'new order of the hive'. The big one on top represents the Queen. She rules over all of the hive, as she did before. The one beneath her represents the drones. They are 'normal changelings' as you would say. The one on the bottom, beneath all of them, represents...us. The former ponies. The book said that former ponies such as you and I are not meant to be true changelings and don't fully belong into the hive. No matter what, we appear to be ranked below 'true changelings'."

Thunder was speechless at first. He wasn't exactly surprised, no, but still speechless. Why was Shade trusting the changelings so much if he knew all of that? Then, all of the sudden, Thunder realized that this fell perfectly in line with what Chrysalis had said. It all made sense now. They turn innocent ponies into changelings, look down on them as if they were freaks and use them to gain the trust of the Equestrians...only to then backstab them. "Shade...we can't let this keep on going. You do realize that, right?" Thunder said out loud to his partner.

Shade was both surprised and confused by his question. "Keep what going? I don't understand what-" He was cut short by Thunder who now grabbed him and pulled him towards him, screaming in his face.

"Shade! Do you even realize what you read back then!?" Thunder paused for a short moment to calm down and let go of his friend. "Shade it's...I heard what Chrysalis said, alright? She wants to use former ponies that have been integrated into the hive as a way to gain the trust of the Equestrians!" Thunder said, now in a more calm, yet still hectic voice.

Shade slaped himself with a hoof in annoyance. "Of course she is trying to use us for that. I already told you why, even she did. She is trying to get on good terms with the Equestrians, Thunder."

Thunder grumbled at his friend who clearly didn't understand what he was trying to say. "No, Shade! She is trying to get on good terms with them to then backstab them! She's just pretending to be 'good', it's part of her plan to defeat the equestrians once and for all! We can't just let that happen, we've got to stop her!"

Shade looked at him for a brief moment before he locked off to think. "He can't be right. He really can't." He thought. "I've known Chrysalis for hundreds of years now, she would never do anything like that, especially not while keeping it a secret from me...no, it can't be true."
Shade looked back at Thunder, his look was forged by distrust and disbelief. "After all I've done to get you back on my side, you just throw all of that out the window and side against me and my family once more...You should know better, you know? It's surely just an illusion. Probably because you were still weak at the time and eager to hear whatever you wanted to hear."

If there was one thing Thunder didn't expect at all...it would have been this. Shade simply turning on him after all this, after all the evidence he had provided to back his statement up...just like that? Because he thinks he was going crazy or something? "No, Shade! I'm not having any Illusions and I'm not crazy either! If anyone here is trying to hear what he wants to hear then that would be you! You keep telling me I'm crazy and that what I've clearly heard from your precious Queen herself isn't true! Face it, pal, your Queen is evil, so is her entire race."

Shade was unmoved, he knew Thunder was just trying to lie his way out of this. "Thunder, I've been here for a long time. I've lost everything and she's saved my life and given me anything I could have wanted. Thanks to her, I have a family again. Thanks to her, I've learnt powerful, dark magic. I've been living with her in this very Hive for hundreds of years, don't you dare tell me she is evil!" Shade's last sentence sounded alot more threatening than he would have liked, but he simply couldn't control his mood at that point.

"I don't care if you've known her for hundreds of years, that still doesn't mean she has to be good. I mean, look at what Princess Luna did in the past. She was good, then turned evil. I'm sure Celestia wasn't expecting that, was she? Only because her lovely sister was good all this time. She thought Luna could never ever turn on her. You seem to forget that both ponies and changelings change, Shade. Changelings not only change in appearance but also in personality. If you lovely bug Queen was nice 10 years ago, great. Good to hear. But that by no stretch of imagination means she is good now. People turn evil when others least expect it. When others say 'Oh, they'll never turn evil, they'd never do that.' that's when people turn evil, because others will never agree that they really are evil."

Shade sighed and took a moment to respond. "You don't seem to understand...I know her better than anyone else in this hive. Not only because she saved me but also because im the dark mage of the hive, I have stronger magic than her. She wouldn't keep anything a secret from me. Never. Even if what you just said is true, she still isn't evil. Never."

Anger was slowly rising up in Thunder, seeing how Shade was too blind to see the truth. "Shade, please! Open your eyes and look for yourself! She's trying to conquer all of Equestria! She is-" Suddenly, a loud buzzing could be heard through one of the tunnels.

Shade turned to the direction the buzzing came from, the tunnel that would lead directly from the Throne room to the Hall of the Elders, The Hall wasn't far from the throne room so it would only be a matter of seconds for whoever was in that tunnel to arrive. "I suggest we settle this argument later, at home. It's not safe here." Shade rushed past Thunder and ran into a tunnel behind Thunder, making Thunder turn around.

Thunder once again looked at the direction the buzzing came from, it was getting louder and louder, then, in a quiet voice, he mumbled "Let's hope you've opened your eyes by the time we're there." Then Thunder followed Shade into the darkness of the tunnel.

18 - Queen's orders

"Alright..." Shade said in an exhausted voice, he was clearly sick of running so much. "I think we lost them. For now at least." Shade looked back into the tunnel as he left said Tunnel. Besides Thunder, who now trotted past him as he left, nothing was to be seen or heard.

"Don't you think we're done yet, Shade." Thunder said in a complaining voice. "I won't just ignore and forget the fact that you believe Chrysalis is a 'good changeling'. Even after all I've told you."

Shade turned to Shade and looked him in the eyes for a brief moment. He wanted to engage him, wanted to defend the very person that saved his life....but he knew it wasn't right. It wouldn't lead to anything anyway. "We should get inside. It's getting late." Was all Shade decided to say to him as he broke eye contact and moved on to the very wall that was the door to his home.

As Shade lowered said wall and entered, Thunder interrupted him. He grabbed one of Shade's hind legs and said "Shade, please. You can't just shrug all these facts off like that." Shade once again looked at him, his face still showed the same serious expression as before. "...Shade...please. I know you've been here for a long time and I haven't been but...come on, you have to open your eyes!" Shade was unmoved. He shook off Thunder's hoof and entered his home, not saying a word to Thunder. Thunder stood still, frozen in place as his best friend simply would not trust him. Even worse, he would rather have trust in an evil bug that wanted to invade Equestria.

As Thunder stood in the entrance, noises could be heard. Thunder, lost in thought and sadness at that moment, shrugged them off, not even noticing them at first. Shade, however, did notice them. He himself froze in place for a moment as he first heard the sound. It was buzzing. The same buzzing that pursued them earlier. "They must have heard us..." He said to himself, loud enough so Thunder could have heard it, but Thunder was still not paying any attention to his surroundings. "Thunder! Move out of the way! We've gotta hide now!" Shade said in a loud voice.

Thunder was still unmoved. His head was lowered and he kept mumbling things to himself. Shade's eyes began to twitch at the seeming incompetence of his friend. He really didn't need that now. "Move Thunder!" He yelled. Once again, no reaction. Shade was about to lose his temper as he decided to use his magic to lift him up and levitate him right next to him. Shade looked at the still mute Thunder as he closed up the entrance to his home. His home was now seemingly concealed again, a simple wall, nothing more. He was sure whoever it was that was chasing them wouldn't find them here.

Unfortunatly he was wrong.

"Queen's Guard, open up!" said a deep voice on the outside of the wall. He must have yelled loud enough for his voice to be audible on the other side of the wall.

"The Queen's Guard...why would they look for us? I don't have an appointment with Chrysalis or anyone connected with her today." Said thought to himself as panic built up in his body. Suddenly, he realized why they might be looking for them. "Thunder...he must have done something to attract attention. Maybe he was seen sneaking around alone. That'd be against the rules of the Hive. An ex-pony rookie like him can't just run around freely, he could cause problems...and I'd be punished for it too! I'm his teacher!" If he wasn't panicing now, he surely was now. He grabbed Thunder why his throat and said "What. did you. do." He tried to keep his voice low so that the guards outside wouldn't hear them arguing, but it was more than hard for him to do so in a situation like this.

Thunder's eyes drifted off towards the door as the guards once again knocked on the wall. "Who's that?" Thunder asked as if he had no idea what had happened in the last 30 seconds.

Shade's right eye twitched as he replied to him: "Oh, It's Princess Luna! She's here to marry you." Shade's sarcasm switched over to seriousness. "It's the Queen's guard, you donkey! It's Chrysalis' personal guard! They are looking for us!"

Thunder cocked his head as he asked: "Looking for us? Why?"

Shade was lucky he had no hair as a changeling, otherwise it would have fallen out through all the stress by now. "I was about to ask you that question! What. did you. do!?"

Thunder once again looked over to the wall as the guards were growing impatient. "I didn't do anything. I wasn't seen either. Even then, you wouldn't believe me anyway, would you?" Thunder replied in a deep voice.

Shade paid no attention to the latter sentence, he was too sick of that topic to really care at this point. "You must have done something to attract attention obviously! I swear, if you-" Shade's sentence was cutoff as the guards yelled from the outside once again.

"Last chance! Open up or we'll come in with force!"

Shade looked at Thunder once more, dead serious, before he turned to the entrance. His horn lit up in a dark color and the wall magically lowered itself once more. As it did, it revealed a group of guards. 4 armored and armed guards. "You have to excuse me, my...friend kind of held me back."

One of the guards stepped forward and spoke up. "Are you the one they call Shade?" He asked in a deep voice. Shade noticed it must have been the same changeling that yelled to them from the outside of the wall before.

"Um, indeed I am. Dark wizard of the Hive. Why are you asking?" Shade tried not to sound too nervous while saying that.

"We are looking for you and your protegee. Order from the Queen. You are to report at the Queen at once." The guard said in his typical deep, unemotional voice.

Shade gulped as he looked over to Thunder who stood behind him. "Um...sure. Will do. You go ahead, we'll be there in a shortly." Shade said as he faced the guards again.

The guard now leaned over to Shade with a serious look. "At once." The guard replied. "We will escort you to the Throne room right away. If the Queen wants to see you then we better not let her wait."

Shade was about to loose his mind, he was sure the worst was about to happen. The Queen...wanted to talk with him and Thunder...after all this...something bad must have happened...and they would be punished for it!

He had no choice. The Queen ordered it, he had to go. "Yes...of course. Let's get moving right away then..." He said as he waved over Thunder. Thunder was not fond of visiting the Queen himself, he knew what she was up to after all. This might just be a giant trap to get rid off people who know too much about her plans. Then again, he didn't have much of a choice. He was a part of the lunar guard for long enough to know that he didn't have any chance to escape in a situation like this.

"Very well, follow our lead then." The guards turned around, leading both Thunder and Shade into a Tunnel that would eventually lead to the Throne room, where Chrysalis was already awaiting their arrival. As Shade stopped to close up the entrance to his home once more, Thunder stopped next to him briefly and whispered into his ear: "I swear I'm not responsible for this but...let's hope we get out of it alive."

Shade looked towards him for a moment, replying with: "Yeah...let's hope so..." and then moved on to the tunnel, Thunder following closely behind him.

19 - Making new Friends

The silence echoed through the tunnels as the pack of changelings moved. The silence only interrupted by the sound of their hooves hitting the ground, over and over again. And, although the outside showed nothing but silence, Shade and Thunder were panicing on the inside. What was going to happen? Why would the Queen call for them? Did they do something wrong? There were more than a dozen more questions like that, but none of them could be answered. At least not yet, they would soon find out the answer for every single question themselves.

Rays of dim light struck the changelings as they left the tunnel. They had finally arrived at their destination, the Throne room. Shade had been here several times, same to be said about the guards, yet Thunder still felt more than uncomfortable in the seemingly gigantic room. A dark and evil aura radiated through the room, or, so Thunder thought at least. For the others, it was a simple room, a room made for their beloved Queen. For Thunder, it was a death trap, a trap that was inhabitated by the devil itself.

Suddenly, the dim lighted room was illuminated in bright light as the candles on the wall magically lit up. The changelings, who stood in the center of the room, looked up and around. They knew exactly why the candles were lit, and knew exactly who did it.

"Finally, I am ever so glad you could come." Gave out a feminine voice, it's voice echoed through one of the many tunnels that lead to the room. The guards immediatly stood at attention, Shade looking towards the tunnel from which the voice echoed out of with a worried look, Thunder too followed the voice that eminated from out the tunnel but his look was an angry and furious one, not a worried one.

Then, the Queen of the changelings finally lifted herself out of the tunnel exit. Although she was of bigger figure, she still fitted into the tunnels perfectly. "I hope you had a comfortbale and relaxing trip here?" She asked in a mocking tone. Thunder despised her already, the mocking in her voice only made it worse. Shade, though, tried to keep his thoughts together.

"Um, We...sort of did, my Queen. We were currently practicing-" Shade was about to lie his way out of this situation somehow, yet Chrysalis let him no chance.

"Of course you were, my dear. Of course." Chrysalis mockingly interrupted before she lifted off, flying onto her throne. She once again started talking as she started landing on it. "Do you know why I have called you, Shade?" For the first time her voice became serious during the meeting.

Shade gulped, trying to think of any possible reasons. He had been asking himself this question among many other questions along the way there, but he simply couldn't come up with anything that...really justified a situation like this. "I...sadly don't, my Queen." Shade replied, almost in fear.

Chrysalis grumbled quietly, her slight frown disappeared rather quickly though. "I had told you of the meeting between us two and the princesses. You are needed for..." Chrysalis held in as she remembered it was classified information, something the others in the room, especially the mysterious ex-pony, shouldn't get to know. "...for you know what." If she wasn't a Queen she might have even winked at him in secrecy, but her royal status held her back from doing so.

"Oh..." Shade suddenly remembered the appointment. He had completely forgotten. It was made between him and Chrysalis when they captured Thunder and the Princesses, how could he ever forget that!? He had simply been too busy dealing with his own or Thunder's problems that...he completely forgot. "I...I remember now...I-I'm so sorry for forgetting that most important appointment, my Queen! I really-" His apology was not of worth for Chrysalis, she was not interested in it in the slightest as she simply held up a perforated hoof, silencing Shade.

"I do not hold any grudge against you, Shade. I would never consider doing that. After all these years, you have always stayed loyal and served me well. I can certainly excuse some minor mistakes."

Shade was seemingly reliefed at this, yet on the inside, he was still panicing as much as before. "I...I thank you, my Queen. I should not have doubted your sincere gratitude." Shade bowed respectively as he said the latter. He slowly rose up again, looking at his Queen that now lifted herself up again. Chrysalis' wings flapped as she slowly descended to the ground, right in front of the two ex-pony changelings, her Queen's guard was formed up behind the two. An escape was basically impossible now.

"Now, Let us not waste time with words. We have work to do and we are already late." Chrysalis nodded towards Shade as she targeted a new tunnel entrance to crawl into. However, she didn't come far until a voice behind her stopped her.

"What about...him?" Shade asked awkwardly. He felt uncomfortable both because of Chrysalis and Thunder in the room, he also didn't like adressing him as if he was a problem. For a matter of fact though, Shade knew...he really would be a problem in this matter.

"I thought it was obvious, Shade. We send him home, of course. There, he can practice more on his abilities, without a teacher. He needs to learn how to use them properly without any help, it's a good exercise for him." Chrysalis spoke as if there was never a doubt about the decision, nor was there an alternative.

"Yes...you are right, that surely would be good exercise for my student." Shade said unwillingly before he turned towards Thunder who looked more distrusting than ever. They both didn't want Thunder to stay alone for such a long time, but Shade was afraid he simply couldn't argue with what the Queen herself found to be the best and only solution.

"Send me home, huh?" Thunder spoke up before Shade could, he was speaking quiet enough to be unaudible for Chrysalis. Shade replied with a nod, Thunder on the other hand replied with a disagreeing sigh. "Why don't you just send me home to Canterlot then? It seems like a more appropriate spot to be called 'home'." Thunder spoke up now, The other Changelings turning around to look at him.

Shade was sure now. If Thunder truly hadn't done something stupid or bad until now...he surely just did for his first time. "Sorry all! My friend can be a little...unpredictable at times." Shade's try to better the situation were hopeless, but it was all he could do at this point. He would have rather burried himself right now instead of letting the Queen do it later on.

"Did you call Canterlot your home, young one?" Chrysalis asked, rather politely, much to the surprise of Shade.

"You bet I did you little, cheeky bug. It's where I grew up, it's where I live, It's where I work and where all my friends live. It's my home, something this place will never be!" Thunder was unmoved. Although he was scared of Chrysalis and the Changelings, he couldn't hold back his true feelings. It was not of his nature. Not just that, but it was also more than wrong to do so in times and situations like this.

Almost everyone, including Thunder, expected Chrysalis to react furiously to this. They thought this was gonna be it, only one of them would eventually leave the room, most probably Chrysalis. But...nobody expected what she actually did.

"I see...so you do not feel well in the Hive? Why is that?" Chrysalis' question was serious, yet many would have believed it to be purely sarcastic.

Thunder would have laughed if it wasn't so serious for him. "Oh, how about being kidnapped from your actual home, being turned into a gigantic bug that eats love and then having to live in the home of said bugs? Do you think I'd ever call this home?"

Once again, Chrysalis stayed peaceful, not a spark of aggression to be seen. Instead, she tried finding a way to make him more comfortable in the Hive, amongst her race. "You are certainly right about your 'arrival' here, and I do have to apologize for the rather rude introduction to us as a race. However, this should not prevent you from seeing us as friends or even family. We hold together as a race, we care for eachother. That includes you too."

Thunder was unmoved by her pacifism. If anything, Thunder was trying to cause a fight more than anything else. "Seeing you as friends? I only know Shade and...well, we've had our differences, let's say that. Why would I trust a bunch of bugs who look exactly the same: Like oversized, love-eating, evil bugs."

Chrysalis suddenly had an idea to solve the issue. It may not be an idea she had alot of faith in, but she did have faith in a certain Changeling involved into her idea. "Tell me, how about I offer you a tour around the Hive with my own, personal advisor while me and your best friend are gone doing business?"

Shade looked at Chrysalis in surprise, then at Thunder. Shade saw Thunder was in conflict, he was thinking hard about his decision. He did hate the Changelings, even had proof they were plotting something evil but...for some reason the voice of Chrysalis began making him doubt himself.

"...Sure, as if I had a choice. Where is your silly advisor then?" Thunder looked around but saw nobody who could possibly be called the royal advisor.

Chrysalis giggled briefly, replying "A good choice, I trust you won't regret it." and then lighting up her horn in her own, typcial green color.

"Wha-?" Was all Thunder could manage before Chrysalis' spell hit him. From one moment to the other, he had disappeared completely.

Thunder shook his head as he stood up from the ground. Something must have hit him hard, something that almost knocked him out. Almost.
"Ugh...what...happened?" He asked, not awaiting an actual reply. He was far too scratching his headache-plagued head than to think about where he really was.

Suddenly, his headache disappeared, as a soft and feminine voice spoke to him. "Um...hello?" spoke a Changeling.

The voice made Thunder forget all his pain, as he suddenly looked up, staring into the face of a rather feminine looking Changeling, who wore a golden amulet around her neck. "I-I...Hey! W-where, I mean, Who are you? I'm Thunder." Thunder gave out in stotters. There was something about that Changeling that simply robbed him his breath.

"Oh, I'm Amaz, Queen Chrysalis' personal advisor. I've been tasked with giving you a full tour around the Hive, showing you our culture and society."
She replied in a professional and neutral tone, yet Thunder could look through her and know she wasn't normally of such professional and high tier nature.

"Oh...right. I remember now." Thunder replied, scratching his head as a last bit of pain got through. "Have we met yet? You seem kind of familiar to me." Thunder gave out in his usual, unrestrained nature. He had not paid much attention during the meeting between him and Chrysalis until now, so he simply didn't notice Amaz being right next to her Queen. Amaz on the other hand, did notice him. In fact, she had stopped listening to Chrysalis at some point to simply focus on him. To look at him. Something in him made her interested. Something...she could not explain herself.

"I...think we've met before, yeah. It was during a previous meeting between the Queen, you and your friend." Amaz thought for a brief moment and added "No need to worry though, it's easy to miss somebody when focused."

Obviously, Thunder felt guilty for missing her, not because of being focused but simply because he decided to not pay any attention. However, he couldn't tell her that. It would make him seem rude. "I suggest we just get on with the tour for now, we can continue our conversation during that." Thunder too thought over what he had just said and added "Don't mean to be rude of course, but I'm not too thrilled about this personally. Might aswell get it over with."

Amaz giggled as she turned around towards the door. "Oh, I'm sure you'll love it! Come on, let's get going then!" Her voice was alot happier and joyful now, instead of the previous 'professional' type of voice which she tried to use to make her seem like a professional at her job.

"Here goes nothing." Thunder gave out as he followed Amaz over to the door. Only then, Thunder noticed that Amaz's home had doors, even though it seemed to be much smaller and less luxurious than Shade's home. Of course, the door only consisted out of a few thin planks of wood, but it served it's purpose.

And so, Thunder and his new friend moved on to discover the Hive together.

20 - For the Hive

Chrysalis stepped out of the tunnel with loud steps, her guards following close behind her. Behind the guards was Shade, he had been trying to keep a little distance from the Queen and her bodyguards. Reason being that he had wanted to think. Think about how and why he was supposed to 'aid' the Queen with the Princesses. He had asked the Queen before, right as she told him about this planned meeting, but the Queen refused to tell him the reason for why he was truly needed, saying that it was of no importance.

Now though, this all seemed to feel quite...strange. The Princesses were locked in the Dungeons, they couldn't use their magic, the Queen had used a spell that restricted them from using it, so he could not have been called for that. Though, other than that, Shade really had no clue as to why he would be needed for this. He was a grand wizard, true, the only one the Changelings have ever had, but he only posessed Dark Magic. Dark Magic would not help with any kind of diplomatic meeting, it's only use was to destroy and kill.

"Unless..." Shade thought to himself.

"No." He interrupted himself in thought, "No, that's not true, it couldn't be. Chrysalis is good, she would never have requested for my help to hurt others."

Shade's thoughts were split in half as s Battle raged between the two sides. "But what if she was? What if Thunder is right and she really is evil? What if-" Once again, he was interrupted. Although, not by his own thoughts. This time it was the Queen herself speaking up.

"We have arrived. Shade?" The Queen asked for Shade, the Changeling in question looked up in shock as his name was mentioned. He saw that the guards had turned towards him aswell, everyone in the entry hall to the Changeling Dungeons now looked at him.

"Y-yes" He stottered in shock, adding the phrase "My Queen?" afterwards.

The Queen was not interested in his little phrases, nor his apparent anxiety. She had heard enough of all that in her life, she could care less.
"I want you to stay close, do not fall behind." She said in a commanding voice, a voice which nearly every Changeling followed at an instant. "We will arrive at their cell in a few minutes, so prepare yourself." She added.

Shade instinctively nodded, replying "Certainly.", but he wondered what the Queen meant with 'prepare yourself'. It was a friendly diplomatic meeting, was it not? Why would anyone, except maybe a speaker, have to really prepare for such a thing?

Unless of course...

No, this was not the time to ask questions, especially not about the Queen and her motives. Shade knew she wasn't evil, and even then there would be enough time to ask himself those questions later.

"Follow me then, you two come with us." She pointed towards the two closest guards, they saluted immediatly as they got their order. "The others, stay here. Let nobody enter until we are done. I do not wish to be disturbed during this meeting."

Chrysalis then turned around towards a big, black door. It was the entrance to what some of the Changelings in the Hive would call "The Death Pit.", due to the Prisoners not getting nearly as much food as they would need to properly survive, apart from the general hostile conditions of course. There was not alot of air to breath so some Prisoners would eventually suffocate before starving to death, it was very cold in the Hive in general too, the Changelings only able to live there because their race was able to maintain a normal body temperature under these conditions. Ponies, however, were not able to do so.

As Chrysalis used her magic, her horn lit up in the typical bright green color. The doors creaked as they slowly opened themselves to the group of Changelings. Many would curse these gigantic doors. These gigantic, black, cold looking doors. Many times the creatures entering throught these doors would not get the chance to see them again, doomed to rot in the dungeons.

Chrysalis though was not deterred by this. She knew what was best for her race and her Hive, she knew best for she was their Queen.
She stepped forwards in a steady trot, the guards following behind her, one to the left and one to the right. Shade, once again, followed in behind the Queen and guards. This time though, he could not fall behind, the Queen wanted him to stay close.

The squad of Changelings walked past many cells. To Shade, they looked more like simple holes though. And, to a certain degree, he was right. The dungeon cells, for the most part, were simple dirt holes, a thick wooden door blocking the path to the outside. The conditions in here were truly horrifying indeed, that was something Shade had realized ever since he first entered the dungeons.

Then, after a quick march past several empty cells, they had arrived at their destination. The cell that held the Royal Princesses within it. A slightly evil smile formed on Chrysalis' face as she stepped closer to the celldoor, only to be stopped as a voice behind her spoke up.

"My Queen, wait." Said Shade, this time undeterred. "I must ask...what is it that we are supposed to do? Especially me as a grand wizard."

Chrysalis crunched her teeth for a brief moment, right before she turned around to respond to him. "Oh I will tell you, my dear Shade." She lowered her head down to his head level before continuing. "Today is a glorious day, my dear minion. Today we will lay the foundation to rebuild the once great and glorious Changeling Empire, the one that our ancestors were so proud to rule over until these dirty, weak minded ponies took our lands!"

Shade's ears lowered themselves as Shade was now more than just confused, he was angry. Furious even. "My Queen, you cannot do this! You would act against your own plans if you do! You said-"

He was cutoff as Chrysalis pulled him towards her with her magic. She raised her head once again, Shade floating right in front of her eyes now. "I dare you tell me what to do! Have you forgotten that I am your Queen? I know exactly what's right and what's the best for the Hive!" She was outraged at Shade's disobeyal and distrust in her.

Shade was only able to get out a "But..." before he was once again cut off by Chrysalis, still as furious as before.

Chrysalis now looked him deep into the eyes, speaking in a more quiet voice. "I have always counted you to my most loyal minions, It would be a shame if my trust was displaced, don't you think?" Suddenly she let go of him, letting Shade wall straight to the ground. It may have only been a short fall, yet it still wasn't a very 'nice' thing to do.

Looking up as he sat on the ground, he mumbled: "Why would you lie about your goals...?" His mood had slowly changed from anger to sadness. He was disappointed. Disappointed that he had been deceived by his very Queen it seemed.

Chrysalis laughed at his question before replying: "Do you really think I would let an ex-pony know of my real plans months, if not years, before executing them? I trust you, but you still share some pony thoughts and feelings within you. This way, I assured you didn't get into my way prematurely."

Shade was shocked at this revelation. It was exactly what Shade had hoped to not be true. He had hoped it was all a misunderstanding until this point, a small part of him believed that at least, but now...it was for certain. His own Queen didn't trust him, saw him as an obstacle.

"Now, before you think about revolting..." She said as the two guards positioned themselves besides Shade, "I want to remind you that resistance would be very much futile. At this point, my plan has already progressed to the point where we cannot be stopped anymore. We have the Princesses captured, the Equestrians are helpless without them."

Chrysalis then turned around, speaking as she looked away from Shade who himself looked at the two guards next to him. "So I ask you, my once loyal friend..." She sighed before continuing, "Do you intend on standing against me and the Hive, against your brothers and sisters, your family that had saved your life, or do you stay loyal and support the common cause? The cause to return our empire to it's former glory, to make the ponies pay for the things they have done to us?"

Shade replied surprisngly fast. There were millions of thoughts shooting through his brain, both for siding with and against her. Yet, even then, his response came quickly. He replied in a clear voice, saying "I will remain loyal to my Queen forever. No matter the cost."

When Chrysalis turned around, an evil smirk forming on her face once again, Shade realized what he had just said. For him, it was as if he had not spoken those words himself. It was as if a second him took over all of the sudden and spoke for him, against his will. Shade had no time to question this for now though, as his Queen intended on not wasting any more precious time with useless talking.

"An excellent decision, my dear. I say we should prove your obedience further by getting into the matter of things, don't you think? I would hate to waste more time out here when we could be writing Changeling history right now." It was clear that Chrysalis stood fully behind whatever she was going to do to the Princesses and the ponies of Equestria. Her voice made her conviction and fanatism for this cause more than clear. And, to Shade, it was a scary thing to see his Queen like this. Especially after all he had been told about her, the 'nice and good minded Queen'. Unfortunatly, all those things had been lies it seemed.

Shade thought about the situation he was in when all of the sudden he spoke up with a deeper voice than usual, saying "A great idea, my Queen."
Once again, Shade had not intended on saying this, he shook his head to snap out of whatever it was that made him say and do things against his will. Yet, by now, it was too late. He was doomed to follow the evil Queen of the Changelings, a Queen whose only dream was not to befriend the ponies...but to destroy them. He had no choice but to obey...for now at least.

"Very well, let us proceed then. Let us bring glory to the Hive! For the Hive!" Chrysalis exclaimed before turning towards the wooden toor of the cell.

"For the Hive..." Shade replied in a quiet, doubtful voice. He had not been surprised if he once again spit that phrase out without any intention to do so, yet he was quite aware when he did so this time. He did not say it against his will, he very much wanted to say it. He had said that phrase many, many times in his life as a Changeling, only this time...

He wasn't sure just what he was supposed to fight for.

21 - To Feel Love

"So how did you get here exactly?" Asked Amaz as she lead the 'sightseeing tour' through the Hive. She held up a torch with her right hoof. It was not needed, both of them had night vision after all, but Amaz hadn't asked Thunder about that just yet, she decided it was better to not dive into things that are not her responsibility.

"Oh, I - uh..." Thunder stottered, surprised at the sudden, rather personal question. Until this point Amaz had been rather quiet, almost completely silent actually. He himself had thought about asking her some questions, though his mouth always shut itself before he was able to get any kind of question out.

"Oh, I hope that wasn't too personal. Just ... forget about that question." Amaz said in an apologizing voice. Amaz had always been a rather timid Changeling, she was not somebody who would get angry at others easily. Usually, she was angry at herself, for making mistakes.

Thunder's thought process stopped as he heard Amaz's comment. His eyes immediately locked onto hers, seeing the anger that she had towards herself at that moment. "No, no! Don't worry!" Thunder said in a calming voice, though his voice was not one to be particularly calming. "It was just... unexpected, that's all. I'd be happy to tell you..." Thunder's good mood suddenly died off as he realized what he had just agreed to. He would have to tell somebody about him and Shade, their time in Canterlot as Royal Guards and how Shade had betrayed him...
Already, his hate grew once again. Reminded of his past, the betrayal and the horrible things the Changelings had done to him and...

his loved one...Luna...

"What am I even doing...?" Thunder thought to himself as he doubted his actions. "I am a Lunar Guard, a Pony! I'm not some filthy, evil bug! I know for certain that Chrysalis is planning an invasion, I gotta stop her!" He thought, his enthusiasm growing with every new word.

"Are you alright? Thunder?" Amaz asked in a worrying tone. Thunder had not noticed how his inner rage was visible on the outside, his face visibly portrayed it, same as his body stance did.

Thunder looked back at Amaz, shrugging off his previous thoughts, for the moment at least. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that. It was... nothing."

Amaz wanted to let out a small chuckle, though her mood only let her smirk slightly. "Sooo... are you sure you want to tell me?"

Thunder sighed briefly, replying: "Yeah...yeah I am."

Amaz's smile widened at Thunder's confirmation, though she was still doubtful at even asking the question in the first place. One way or another, Thunder would have to tell her about his past. Something he was not all too fond of.

"It all started back in Canterlot..." Thunder started.

"Me and Shade had been friends for a long time, though...I used to call him 'Blaze' back then. We two met at the Royal Guard Academy . We both became friends relatively easy, spending the little bit of freetime we had together. When we graduated from the Guard's Academy we both went seperate ways, me signing up to the Lunar Guard, him to the Solar Guard. We were both upset at us not being in the same Guard, but it seemed we both knew exactly which Guard was the best one for us. Even then, we would meet up between our shifts and spend some time together."

Thunder closed his eyes and continued. "Then...everything changed..." He began, taking a deep breath. "Shade offered me a meeting between me and-" He stopped briefly, thinking it would be unwise telling Amaz of his secret love for Princess Luna. "-somepony I liked. I, of course, accepted, being the typical blind, stupid fool that I am. When it actually came to the 'meeting' though..."

Once again, Thunder stopped. This time though, his eyes were filled with tears. His heart simply wasn't ready for the horrible things Shade had done. He had hurt Luna, his true love, he had betrayed him and all of Equestria and got the Princesses captured. How a heart could possibly withstand such horrific things, Thunder did not know. All he knew was that his heart surely couldn't. He was sure that if he put a hoof to his chest, he could have felt his heart slowly break into tiny pieces.

That was until Amaz interrupted. "What's wrong, Thunder? Why the tears?" She said in a caring voice as she got a little closer to Thunder.

Thunder wiped away a few tears, replying in a mix of both words and sobbing: "Nothing you'd understand...nobody would ever understand."

A worried look plaqued Amaz's face at the sight of Thunder's emotional pain. She got close to him until she stood to his right, putting a hoof around his neck. Thunder looked up to her, the two now staring at each other face to face. Amaz was the first to speak during the situation, saying: "You're right." Thunder's eyes showed his surprise as they widened a bit, he had expected her to try and cheer him up but not that. "You're right, I could never understand." Amaz now pulled back the hoof she had laid on his back and walked a few steps.

She stopped, not looking at Thunder as she continued. "I can't feel love, Thunder. It's biologically impossible for me."

Thunder's eyes grew as wide as they could. Shade, or any other Changeling or Pony for that matter, had never told him that Changelings were unable to actually feel love. Of course everypony knew that Changelings ate love but... that they couldn't love themselves?

"Amaz...I'm..." Thunder stottered, he looked for the right words to apologize to her. Thunder very quickly realized that he lacked the vocabulary to express himself correctly. "...I'm so sorry. I...I am so, so sorry." Was all he could muster.

Amaz giggled bitterly, replying: "Don't be. It's just the way I am."

Thunder took a few steps towards her, asking: "But why? Why can't you feel love yourself? What makes you unable to love?" His question was made of pure curiosity though to Amaz it sounded more like an insult of sorts.

"I'm sorry I'm unable to love, alright? I'm not one of you, I'm not a pony. I am..." She sighed deeply, "I am a Changeling..."

Thunder felt her pain as if it was his own. He realized it was pain similar to the pain he had felt a few moments ago, when he had to remind himself of Canterlot, Shade and Luna. He couldn't imagine not being able to love, how such an important and passionate emotion could simply be...missing.

"You're right, you are." Thunder said in a caring voice, as caring as he could muster at least. He moved up to Amaz, standing by her side just as she had done before. "But being a Changeling doesn't mean you can't feel love, does it?" Thunder was improvising, he had no idea how Changelings worked biologically but he was sure that every lifeform was somehow able to love.

Amaz opened her mouth to reply, though closed it again, rethinking. She had asked her Queen about this before, she had said that Changelings couldn't feel love because they didn't need to. They would take the love of others anytime they felt like they needed love. However, that answer caused a whole lot of other questions in her mind. Why would they not just 'produce' love themselves? What made Changelings unable to love themselves? Why did the Queen support this? Could the Queen feel love herself?

Amaz finished her thought process, now looking back at Thunder and replying: "I don't know..."

Thunder was as surprised as he was happy. He had expected her to give an answer like "Of course I can't feel love." but it seemed that she was in doubt. That was the reason why Thunder was happy about her answer too. It meant that she was not sure. That there may have been a chance of her being able to feel love for herself. He didn't know how, but he had to somehow convince her. He had to convince her that, who- or whatever told her that she couldn't feel love was wrong.

She had to experience love for herself.

"Amaz." He started, looking into her eyes. "Have you ever..." His thoughts drifted off as he continued looking into Amaz's eyes. "Loved?"

For a moment all was silent. It was just the two Changelings and the silence, the crackling of the torch interrupting the dead silence on occasion.
Both Amaz and Thunder continued looking into eachother's eyes. Their faces looked as if they had been hypnotized, like they weren't themselves.

Then Amaz slowly shook her head from left to right and vice-versa, keeping her eyes fixed on Thunder's eyes at all times.

Thunder wanted to speak up at first, to reply to Amaz's answer. However, right as his mouth opened it was as if he was mute. The sight of Amaz suddenly took his breath, stopping him from saying anything. He gulped, continuing to watch Amaz. He could see that Amaz was going through the same feeling at that time.

The two heads then moved closer to another, seemingly unnoticed and unintended, and stopped right before colliding with each other. Once again a time of silence set in in which nothing happened. Only them, staring into each other's eyes. Their Changeling eyes seemed so beautiful and charming all of the sudden. Those cold, blue eyes, eyes all Changelings shared. Yet those, at that very moment, seemed like something entirely different. They told a story, a story none of the two Changelings knew, yet the eyes called for them, wanting somebody to finally patch up their past wounds and find a safe place in the world. The eyes seemed to speak to them, quietly whispering:

"I'm here for you."

Then their heads drifted towards each other, meeting in a deep, emotional kiss. Thunder's and Amaz's eyes closed in enjoyment. After a few seconds their lips seperated again, leaving the two Changelings to staring into each other's eyes once again.

This time though, the silence did not last long. Thunder's face grew a smile of joy as he gave out: "And?" He started, "What about now? Have you loved now?" His smile turned into a slight smirk.

Amaz, just now realizing what had happened, began crying in joy. In a joyful voice she said: "Yes. Yes!" She suddenly pulled Thunder into a tight, joyful hug. Her voice now louder and more joyful than before, continuing with: "Thank you, Thunder! Thank you! I...I love you! I love you!" Amaz was overjoyed, she had never dreamed of actually loving before, and suddenly this feeling, this warm and comforting feeling, overcame her.

Thunder smiled back at her just as before, though in though he was not as happy. He had always loved somepony else, he loved Princess Luna. He had sworn to not love anypony else, he commited himself to loving her, even joining her guard to get closer to her.

And now, this random Changeling enters his life, not even a pony, and claims to love him. Normally Thunder would have laughed at the mere thought of him loving a Changeling, he would have laughed out loud. But now, as much as he tried...he couldn't. The smile on his face as Amaz continued to hold him in her hug was genuine. The comfort he felt as she held him close was genuine. The feeling he felt for her were genuine.

...The love he felt for her...was genuine.

His whole life Thunder had looked for love, claiming he had already found his true love. His whole life it seemed that he would never get the chance to truly love, his loved one was simply too important than to even talk to him. And now...now he had love. He had more than enough of it, he felt it. He felt the love's warmth. He still had questions, he knew he did, but at the moment those questions held no importance to him. For that moment nothing mattered. Nothing but one thing.

Love.

22 - Between Loyalty and Honesty

Shade froze in place as he stepped into the cell of the Princesses. A lot had changed since his last visit a couple of days ago. He saw how the Princesses laid on the ground, barely breathing it seemed. He then noticed a pair of guards opening the door of the cage and stepping inside. They walked up to the 3 royals and commanded them to stand up. Only Luna raised her head to look at them, Celestia and Cadance did not move, it was if they were dead already.

The guards then called for backup, effectively calling another pair of guards into the cage. They then, without hesitation, went on to grab the Princesses by their hooves, trying to pull them up by force. Princess Luna protested but her struggle was to no avail as the guards took a hold of her. Once again, Cadance and Celestia remained silent though their eyes opened slightly as the guards pulled on their hooves.

Barely able to stand, the Princesses were now standing in the middle of the cage. Cadance and Celestia had a tired, exhausted look on their faces, while Luna had an angry look on her face. She must have been the only one with enough strength left to even afford anger.

Shade's observations were interrupted as Chrysalis spoke to him as she herself stood at the entrance to the cage.

"Let us not waste time, Shade. It would be a shame to waste our precious time with these sorry beings." Chrysalis said in a merciless voice.

Shade gulped as he took his first steps forward towards the cage and the Queen. The Queen watched him during this very carefully. When Shade finally stood next to her he asked: "My Queen, what is it that we are supposed to do with them anyways? You still have not told me."

Chrysalis' eyes narrowed, an evil smile forming on her face. She slowly trotted forwards, her steps creating clank noises as they hit the metal floor of the cage. She stopped about 3 meters away from the Equestrian Royals, inspecting them, especially Luna who was the only one returning a stare.

Chrysalis suddenly began laughing, at first a quiet cackle then becoming louder and louder, eventually turning into an evil laugh.

Shade, although scared and unsure, followed his Queen into the cage carefully. As he entered the cage, the Queen spoke in a loud voice: "Oh Shade, my dear." Shade continued on, eventually finding himself behind the Changeling Queen who turned around towards him, lowering herself down to his head level, continuing: "We will make them pay for what they did to us. For what they did to my mother and me! I won't stand idle as long as these monsters roam around in this world!"

She paused, looking back at the Princesses, continuing in an evil voice: "And now, finally..." She walked towards Princess Celestia, "I will have my vengeance!"

"Never have we commited crimes or evil against you! You must not do this!" Princess Luna shouted, attracting the looks of all Changelings present.

Chrysalis turned around to Luna, a furious look on her face gave an indication on how she felt about her interruption. "I can do whatever I want to. You and your fellow ponies are a parasite on this world and our civilization that needs to be destroyed. Your game of hiding your past actions for your own benefit disgusts me, even now you continue on with it."

Shade couldn't trust his own eyes as Chrysalis lifted Luna into the air with her magic. She pulled her towards her in order to look her straight into the eyes, whispering: "I'll show you the pain I felt when you killed my mother."

Suddenly, Chrysalis pushed Luna away, throwing her through the cage. Luna moaned as her head hit the hard, metal bars of the cage. She held a hoof to her head, looking around the cage. Her vision was blurry, though she was still able to make out a large, black and green colored creature moving towards her, seemingly becoming bigger and bigger from her laying perspective.

Shade's heart beat faster and faster, he felt the pain of Luna as if it was him getting thrown around. He watched as Chrysalis got closer and closer to Luna once again. He saw Luna was helpless, defenseless, with no chance of surviving whatever Chrysalis had planned for her. Though, even then, he was unable to help...was he?

"Not so tough now, hm? Come on, stand up. Fight back, show me you are worth being called a Princess." Chrysalis shouted at Luna who laid in front of her.

"One does not need strength or force to be called a Leader," Luna replied, "but passion, love and honesty. You can push others around as much as you want but-"

"ENOUGH!" Chrysalis interrupted, reacting with her once again throwing Luna's body around. This time, Luna landed in front of Shade. He watched in shock as Luna moaned in pain. He saw her trying to stand up and immediatly collapsing again.

Shade looked up from Luna, seeing how the still furious Changeling Queen closed in on Luna once again. His mind was split as he looked back down at the Princess of the Night. She too now looked up to him with what strength she had left. Their gazes met, leaving them in a short stance of silence. During this, Chrysalis' horn began glowing once again, preparing another strike at the Princess.

Luna's and Shade's eye contact was broken as Chrysalis kicked Luna's body around, rolling Luna onto her back. Chrysalis was ready to strike once again, yet her horn stopped glowing. Luna looked up to Chrysalis in surprise, Shade too stared at her in surprise. Chrysalis knew what she was doing though.

"Shade..." She started, looking at him, "I believe now...is your turn." She looked back down onto Princess Luna as Shade's ears lowered in fear. "Give her what she deserves." Chrysalis added.

Shade looked back down to Luna who herself looked back to him now. Once again, their eyes met. Shade realized that Luna's eyes told him all he needed to know about Luna. He saw her pain, though also saw her strength. He saw her despair, though also saw her courage. He knew, a pony that kept on to her ideals of friendship, love and peace in a situation like this would have to be a great leader, though he saw himself bound to his own leader, Chrysalis. He felt the need to cut himself loose from the chain that was Chrysalis, though he couldn't seem to find a tool to destroy that chain for he himself was too weak. No, without help and support, he was doomed to follow Chrysalis. Forever. No matter what would happen. No matter what he would be ordered to do. Things like...this.

"Do it, my minion. Show no mercy!" Chrysalis pushed, she was visibly becoming impatient with Shade.

Shade sighed deeply, mumbling to himself: "I'm sorry..." His horn started glowing in a black aura. He took a step back in precaution and prepared a spell, it was a dark spell, meaning it was meant to hurt, to destroy ... to kill.

"Stop this nonsense at once!" Called a loud voice. It was Celestia's voice, the voice of the Princess of the Sun who now stood steadily on her own hooves again. Shade aborted the spelling process and looked over to her, as did Chrysalis and even Luna, the voice of her sister gave her the strength to turn her body over a bit so she could see. "Queen Chrysalis, you are wrong to believe that I, my sister, or any of my subjects have wronged you!" Celestia's voice was energetic and determined, as was Chrysalis's voice.

Shade saw how Chrysalis turned to the white coated Princess, he knew that, unless a miracle happened, there would be a fight between the two. A fight to the death. A fight Celestia, especially in her weak condition, could not win. Not alone at least.

"You...YOU! It was your very own guard that struck down my beloved mother! It is your very fault that I lost my mother! You dare tell me I am lying!?" Chrysalis was at the brink of insanity. Surely many of the Changeling guards present expected their Queen to attack Celestia any second now.

Celestia was unmoved, sticking with her standpoint and previous demand. "Chrysalis, that is not true! You must listen to me!" Celestia called for Chrysalis' sanity and reason, but there was none left in the dark heart of Chrysalis. All that remained was the desire for vengeance and pure hatred.

"I would rather jump into a pool of lava than listen to any more of your lies, Celestia!" She stopped a few meters in front of Celestia, her horn starting to glow, "The time for words has passed. Now, it is time for actions. It is time to rid myself and my hive from the plague that is you and your disgusting subjects!" Some of the guards present cheered at the Queen's speech, much to the delight of Chrysalis.

Suddenly the voice of Thunder echoed through Shade's mind as he saw Chrysalis standing in front of an almost defenseless Celestia. "She's evil" echoed through his mind, along with many other things Thunder had said about Chrysalis. He had told him about her, about her evil plans, about her deception. Thunder knew about it all along. And Shade? He hadn't listened to him, not once. He simply shrugged it off as if it was of no importance, he held on to his past, something he had always wanted to forget and leave behind. Now he realized that nobody could ever run away from his past, it would always come back to haunt one. May it be him...or Chrysalis.

"He's right..." Shade mumbled to himself, "He was right all along. I should've listened to him."

Shade suddenly shook his head, a second thought plagued him, telling him: "No, he's wrong. Chrysalis is right, she's the Queen after all. I can't just betray her after she saved my life. I owe her my loyalty."

A conflict erupted in Shade's head as his mind was split in half, battling out which side was stronger. It was a battle between Loyalty to the Queen, the one that had saved his very life, or honesty, facing the truth that what Chrysalis was doing is wrong and that the ponies were right to say so. Shade was unable to make out what Chrysalis and Celestia were saying, or shouting rather, as the conflict in his head got him a huge headache.

Then, suddenly, it disappeared. The headache had gone as quick as it had come, his mind was now sharpened, Shade knew what he had to do and what was the right choice.

Shade looked over to Chrysalis and Celestia who were still arguing. However, it seemed Chrysalis had run out of patience. She breathed heavily, shouting as loud as she could: "Enough! It's time you face your end! Just like the rest of your sorry kind!" Chrysalis's horn now glowed up as strong as it could as Chrysalis entered a combat stance, ready to face Celestia.

Celestia on the other hand did, as it seemed, nothing. She stood still, not entering any kind of defensive stance, running away from her impending doom or otherwise looking for help. She faced what was about to come, just as her sister had done before. "Passion, love and honesty..." Echoed through Celestia's mind, her sister's words were as true as could be.

Chrysalis was at the end of her patience and sanity as she finally yelled "Die, you parasite! Die!" Her horn then shot out a big, mighty beam of green energy, aimed right at the Princess of the Sun who still refused to move. All she did was close her eyes, she wouldn't want to see her death coming with her very own eyes.

The green ray exploded, a bright flash of light blinded many of the Changelings and ponies presents. Chrysalis herself looked away and chuckled as she looked back, expecting the corpse of her most hated enemy.

There was no corpse, but instead a Changeling stood in front of the still unharmed Princess. That Changeling was Shade. He knew he couldn't stand idle and watch as Chrysalis murders Celestia, he had jumped in front of her and cast a shield in front of them. It was not his usual type of spell, he was specialized on dark magic these times, but he still knew some old pony magic spells, like teleportation and shields.

Chrysalis fletched her teeth in anger, barking at Shade: "What do you think you are doing, Shade!? Don't you realize that I am your Queen? Move away from that disgrace of a pony immediatly!"

Shade turned his head to Celestia who remained behind him, returning his gaze. After their short eye contact Shade returned to face his Queen, proudly saying: "No. I will not."

Chrysalis' right eye twitched as one of her closest Changelings teamed up with her enemies. "You dare stand against your very own Queen? I saved your life, Shade, remember that! You would be long dead if it wasn't for me!"

Shade knew what he did was the right choice, though what Chrysalis said was right too it seemed. His eyes shut as he thought over the topic once again. This time though, he was helped in his choice by somepony else. His head towards Celestia once again as the Princess turned it towards her, speaking to him in a soft voice: "Don't let her discourage you. You did the right thing, my friend. Have trust in your choices."

Shade smiled at her, turning his head back towards Chrysalis, speaking with determination: "I'm sorry Chrysalis, but I don't believe I have a Queen anymore."

Everyone present, excluding Celestia, was shocked. The Changelings gasped in surprise, whereas Chrysalis grumbled loudly, replying in a hateful voice: "Very well. In that case..." She took a second to breathe in and think about what she was about to say. "You must die like your pony friends." Her hatred almost turned into regret as she said so, though she very quickly recovered, fully committing to her desire for revenge once again.

"Chrysalis, this is not the way!" Said a voice to the right of Chrysalis. Cadance too had now gathered the strength to stand up and speak up for herself. She slowly took her steps towards Celestia and Shade who were both happy to see Cadance was well. Although Shade and the Princesses knew their appeals to Chrysalis' sanity and reason were going to be overheard, they did not give up on trying.

"You don't have to live your life in the desire for revenge, Chrysalis!" Called Luna who now tried standing up herself once again, having recovered from her previous injuries. "You can live freely again, you can free yourself from the plaguing need for death. You just need to face the truth and stop hiding in lies."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes in annoyance, replying: "The only things I need to rid myself of are you and your kind!"

Managing to stand upright, Luna limped forward, towards the others, as fast as she could. "I'm afraid you cannot be reasoned with then." Said Celestia, looking at her beloved sister managing to limp towards them, it hurt her heart seeing her in a state like that. "I believe there is no way to end this without violence then."

Although Celestia was being incredibly direct in saying so, the others, even Chrysalis, agreed with her silently. Everyone in the room knew that, whatever would happen, there was going to be violence involved in some way. Chrysalis would make sure of that.

"I will ensure you all die rather quickly, you can thank me later." Chrysalis gave out in her usual hatefilled voice.

Celestia sighed at the unreason of Chrysalis, looking at her sister Luna who had by now managed to meet up with the other 3. Celestia decided to stop calling for Chrysalis' reason and sanity, but instead call upon her minions, her guards. The guards had watched them during all of this after all, they must have been in doubt by then.

"Changelings!" Celestia called, the guards looked towards her in surprise, some in anger and hostility. "You see what your Queen is doing, you see what your Queen thinks of others, others that are just like you! You mustn't follow her commands blindly, Changelings! You have a choice, now more than ever!"

Changeling voices filled the room as the guards discussed and talked to eachother, much to the delight of the Princesses. Chrysalis on the other hand looked around the room hectically, she started feeling as if her entire kind had betrayed her. "Don't you dare listen to these parasites! I am your Queen, your mother, listen to what I say for I know best. These ponies know nothing but lies, they are simply trying to use those on you right now, don't you see why we have to destroy them now?"

Chrysalis' speech was surprisingly effective as many of the guards put on an angry look, though a few of the guards were still torn between. Celestia realized it was those who she had to reach with her message. "You don't have to live in hostility and hatred, you can live in peace, friendship and harmony! You mustn't trust Chrysalis, her way is the wrong one, her way would cause more destruction and death than you could ever imagine! We must not let that happen, but we can only do so with your help!"

It was only about 5 of the 20 Changeling guards present who ended up believing Celestia. They walked up to them and pointed their spears towards their Queen, the guards loyal to their Queen positioned themselves next to Chrysalis, pointing their own weapons towards the group of ponies and Changelings.

"Traitors! How dare you betray me in times like these!" Chrysalis barked as she saw her very own royal guard join her enemy, "I should have killed you when you first hatched, squash you like the little worms that you are!"

The group lead by Celestia did not reply, but instead held their ground, standing at the ready for a possible attack. Chrysalis was not surprised or angered at seeing this, but was instead pleased to see an end to the pointless talking.

"Let us end this once and for all. Let us end the reign of the Princesses and crush this pointless resistance against us!" Chrysalis said, her loyal guards cheered, ready to attack.

Celestia, knowing the enemy attack was imminent, leaned forward, whispering something almost inaudible into Shade's left ear. Shade, surprised at the Princess' idea, nodded, turning back towards the enemy, his horn glowing up as he did so.

Chrysalis took a quick look from left to right, checking if her guard was ready to strike, indeed they were. Her horn glowed in the same green light as before as Chrysalis took a step forward, shouting: "For the Hive!" She fired a large ray of energy from her horn, even larger and stronger than the one she had fired before, and yelled:

"Charge!"

23 - The Wrath of a Queen

Shade quickly crouched down, covering his head as he did so, while Princess Celestia dodged to the right. The powerful beam of energy shot past both of them, hitting the metal bars behind the group. The bars were blown to pieces by the raw amount of energy. Undoubtedly, Chrysalis had aimed to kill.

Meanwhile the 5 Changeling guards that had joined Celestia held their ground against the enemy as best as they could. They were heavily outnumbered, though they managed to fend off the attackers. For the moment at least. Shade and the Princesses knew they wouldn't be able to hold them for long. They had to act and they had to act fast.

That was exactly what Celestia had in mind. Turning towards Shade, who had just managed to stand up again, she ordered: "Quickly, before it is too late!"

Shade looked at her with a doubtful look but knew it was the only way to survive. His horn lit up, a black shimmer emminating from it as usual. He closed his eyes, focusing on casting the spell, speaking to Celestia for one last time. "I'll need time to cast the spell, you need to hold them off until I'm ready!"

Without a reply, Celestia nodded. She knew what she had to do. She turned to her younger sister who was clearly scarred from Chrysalis' previous attacks. Luna noticed her sister was watching her and she too now looked into her sister's eyes. Luna's eyes were doubtful, hopeless even, while Celestia's were determined.

"Do not worry, sister. No matter what may happen, I'll be there to protect you. Together we can overcome all obstacles." Celestia's attempt on cheering her sister up worked and Luna quickly regained her confidence, although still afraid of what may happen.

"Together." Luna replied, nodding to her sister.

A sudden scream of agony interrupted their conversation. The source of the scream was one of the allied guards who had a spear stuck inside his ribcage. The Princesses watched as he dropped to the ground, struggling, trying to get the spear out. Everyone watching knew that it was already too late to help him, even the Changeling that had made the killing blow. The enemy Changeling took a few steps towards the injured Changeling and grabbed his spear that was still stuck inside his victim. He moved the spear around, causing even more internal wounds than before together with a new wave of intense screams of pain.

Then the screaming stopped. The friendly Changeling's head stopped moving as green blood spilled out of his mouth. His hooves stopped moving as his struggle for life found an end. He had given all he could for the Princesses, he had sided against his very own kind in order to protect what he believed to be right.

Realizing that the enemy had broken through their defense line, Cadance ran up to the Changeling that had killed her ally. With enormous speed she charged towards him, catching the Changeling completely off guard. The Changeling now tried pulling his spear out of the dead changeling's body, though he had big difficulties in doing so as it appeared to be stuck. He quickly let go of his spear as he saw the charging Princess. He walked backwards in panic, shaking his head as he realized what was about to happen. He heard Cadance scream as she got close to him. He himself shouted back with "No! Please, no!" but it was too late for apologies.

He screamed out loud as he was struck by Cadance. Her horn had stabbed right through his throat. His screaming quickly turned into a coughing and groaning as he grasped for air. Cadance kept her eyes forward, watching as green blood dripped out of his throat, onto her horn. She breathed heavily, the charge had cost her a lot of energy, energy that she previously didn't even believe to have in her current state. The hind legs of the Changeling gave in as his life slowly came to an end. During his last breaths he grabbed onto Cadance with both of his front hooves, looking into her eyes. Cadance saw he wanted to tell her something, though he was unable to get anything out other than coughs.

Then his eyes slowly closed as his last bit of life ran out. He fell onto his back, freeing Cadance's horn from his body as he fell. Cadance was speechless as she watched her victim. Never before had she killed, never had she dared to do such a thing. Though, for some reason, it was suddenly such an easy task. That moment where she began her charge...it was all so easy. She was the Princess of Love, a symbol for peace and friendliness and suddenly she had turned into a murderer. True, the one she had killed was a murderer himself but...murdering a murderer makes you a murderer, does it not?

Cadance was interrupted as her eyes were suddenly drawn towards her horn. The light green Changeling blood dripped down from it, causing a silent 'plop' noise whenever it hit the ground.

Somehow, although the intense fighting between the remaining Changelings carried on around her, Cadance completely blanked them out. She was completely focused on herself, the dead Changeling in front of her and the deed she had just done.

Luna noticed this and became increasingly worried for her safety and well-being. Cadance was, after all, standing in the midst of a fight. Luna decided to approach Cadance who was once again stuck in her own thoughts.

"Cadance, are you-"

"Dead..." Cadance interrupted. Luna cocked her head in surprise. "He's...dead..."

Luna, wearing a worried look, walked up to Cadance who continued her stare towards the changeling's corpse. Luna, who quickly looked over to her left, towards the main fight, in order to see if they were still safe, laid a hoof onto Cadance's shoulder. Cadance paid this no special attention and remained unmoved, sitting down in front of the corpse.

"Cadance," Luna began, speaking in a more quiet voice than usual, "You know you had no choice."

Cadance spoke up with a sour voice, filled with disgust and sorrow. "No choice...maybe it would be better I receive the same punishment as this Changeling then..."

Luna was about to speak up as Cadance interrupted her. "One always has a choice, Luna. No matter how determined you are or how dire the circumstances, there is always another way. Or...so I thought." Cadance's head sunk as tears formed in her eyes.

"Cadance, you should not lose yourself over this, you protected yourself and our group with what you did. It was for the best." Luna replied, though her attempts on cheering Cadance up proved futile once again.

"Killing is never for the best, but for the worst. You saw what Celestia did, Luna!" Cadance suddenly became louder and more aggressive, "She managed to convince our enemies to join us, she changed their hearts for the better! That is the way, not killing each other!"

Luna saw Cadance was visibly disapointed in herself. She was the Princess of Love yet Celestia had managed to convince their enemies while she stood idle, doing nothing. When Cadance decided to intervene and help the group she suddenly found herself in front of a dead Changeling. This was, at least, how Luna figured Cadance's current state. Luna herself was opposed to violence so she could only imagine how much Cadance must have hated violence herself. And now Cadance found herself with a bloody horn and a dead Changeling.

Luna knew Cadance was right, however. The points she made were right, that they as Princesses should not be killing and destroying, but instead bring ponies together, even Changelings. Luna had to somehow get Cadance out of her trance, though she knew it would be a rather tough task.

"You should not be upset. She let the Changelings decide whether or not to join us or Chrysalis and those who saw reason joined us."

Cadance shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks. "That still doesn't justify killing others."

Luna sighed as she tried turning Cadance's mood for the better. "It does not, no. Though you have seen how Chrysalis acts. She simply can not be argued with, not at the moment at least."

Cadance looked over to Luna who still had her hoof on Cadance's shoulder. Luna looked into Cadance's eyes and continued: "Killing is not pleasant, nor good or necessary, Cadance. Sometimes though, you are not left with any other choice than to fight."

Cadance thought hard about the situation and topic at hand. It seemed Luna had a good point, it made sense to Cadance at least. Though she still felt a big sense of guilt.

"I guess you're right, Luna." She replied, turning her head towards the Changeling corpse once more. He had stopped bleeding by now and a green puddle of blood had formed next to his wound. "Though I fear what conflict can do with us..." She continued.

Celestia had been watching over the fight while her sister and Cadance were busy talking. She knew they would have been in danger if there was nopony watching their backs. Luckily no Changeling ever turned around to attack them though and they were left in relative peace. As much as one could get on a battlefield anyway.

Celestia had repeatedly called for Shade in order to get a status on his spell preparations. Until now her calls had all been answered with 'No', Shade's voice had become more and more annoyed by the minute. Now though, it was Shade who called up to Celestia as his spell was finally ready.

"It's ready!" He yelled. Celestia replied with a smirk and nod as she ran up to Luna and Cadance who still seemed to be talking.

Clearly Celestia was interrupting the two in their conversation but Celestia knew that they would not get the chance to talk again if they did not use the spell now.

"Sister, Cadance, you must come quickly!" She said, almost in a commanding voice, even though she faced Princesses.

Luna and Cadance, to no surprise of Celestia, were clueless as to why Celestia was in such a hurry all of the sudden.

"What is it, Celestia?" Cadance asked, she had already wiped away her tears prior to Celestia's arrival, "Did something happen?"

"We have no time, I will explain later. For now you must join the Changeling Shade, I will join you in a minute!"

As Celestia had hoped, the two didn't offer much resistance against her plan and they both ran up to Shade whose horn now glowed in a brighter dark than usual, sparkling with white shimmer while doing so.

Celestia sighed in relief as her sisters were in relative safety. Now all she had to do was get the rest of her group to safety. Namely, the Changelings.

Unfortunatly it seemed that their allied Changelings were fighting on their last hooves, barely able to contain the superior enemy forces for much longer. Celestia realized she couldn't bring them all to safety, to rescue them. No, that was impossible, as horrible as it seemed. It was a fact which Celestia had to face and plan to accordingly. She watched the fight for a brief moment, how the Changelings clashed their spears and axes together, how some of them struggled for bare survival. She knew that one way or another these poor souls would not survive if they stayed here, fighting them. Chrysalis and her army would never show mercy towards traitors as she called them. Celestia knew Changelings would die in their escape, no matter what, but she would try to save as many lives as possible, whatever the cost or risk.

She spoke up in a loud, commanding voice from behind her allied Changeling line, saying: "Changelings, It is time for us to retreat!" She then pointed at 2 of the 4 Changelings, continuing: "You two, come with me, the other two will stay here and cover our retreat!"

She almost felt bad for how heartless and emotionless she sounded when in reality she had just told those 2 Changelings to die. One way or another, there was no time left to think and she had to meet up with Shade and the others herself. She waved over the 2 selected Changeling Guards and made her way to the others of the group, the Changelings following closely behind her.

Her eyes closed briefly as she heard the enemy forces overwhelming the remaining 2 friendly Changelings. There was screaming, sounds of stabbing and cracking noises. Celestia didn't dare looking back, it was a choice she had to make, she could only hope their sacrifice wasn't for nothing.

"We're ready, quickly now!" Celestia said to Shade as she and her 2 Changelings arrived.

Shade breathed in deeply and said "Hold on everypony!"

The group got close to Shade, forming a ring of sorts around him while he was casting his spell. Shade closed his eyes as he focused. His horn started glowing white, glowing brighter and brighter by the second. The others watched in horror as the enemy Changeling forces charged towards them, weapons at the ready. Cadance could be seen covering her eyes with her wings as they got closer while the friendly guards together with Luna and Celestia faced them without a bit of fear in their eyes. The Changeling horde hissed furiously as they got closer, ever closer. Until...

BOOM!

A sudden explosion set an end to the Changeling's charge as they were either hit by the shockwave and thrown back or were simply shocked for a brief moment as smoke covered the immediate area. The Changelings could be heard coughing lightly until the smoke receded after a few seconds.

Their eyes grew in shock as they had to realize that the group of ponies and traitors had disappeared into thin air. They were gone.

A brief moment of silence set in in which the Changelings observed what they did not think was real. They had been close, so very close, yet the traitors won. Most of them began stomping in fury, some hissed as well.

Then the Queen marched past the furious crowd. She did not look around, towards her subjects, but she knew what they felt either way for she felt the same way. No, she felt it more intense than them, she was more furious, bloodthirty and eager for revenge than ever before. Her plan, the plan to finally, after all this time and all her defeats, get her precious revenge on the ponies...had failed.

Chrysalis' eyes burned as she got closer to where had previously been Princess Celestia and her allies. She marched forth, her pace speeding up as her rage grew even more.

Then, when she finally arrived, she stood. She looked around, watched the ground that now had a slight black tone to it from the explosion and thought for a brief moment. Her breathing became louder by the second, her movement more hectic and her eyes were starting to twitch.

Then she cut loose and unleashed her rage. She reared up, her horn glowing in her typical green and stomped at the ground, a big, fiery ring of fire surrounding her, as she all the while screamed out loud in her loudest, most furious voice. Some of the Changelings present backed off a bit as they saw their Queen like this. They too were angry at the escape of the traitors and ponies, but never had they seen their Queen like that.

The green fire surrounding Chrysalis grew in height as Chrysalis began a speech to her subjects, ever so furious and loud as before. "Changelings! We shall not let our enemies escape! We shall find them, wherever they may flee and we will fight them until our last breath!

Chrysalis' speech was met with a wave of fanatic hisses. She left her ring of fire, walking through the flames as if they were nothing, and walked towards one of the Changeling traitors that laid dead in front of her. Her horn glowed, her magic pulling at the head of the Changeling. Her grasp intensified until a loud crack echoed through the room.

Chrysalis held up the traitor's head, levitating it high into the air for all the guards to see. She was determined, determined to give all she had in order to get her revenge.

"We will get our revenge, my children! We will make them pay! We will make them ALL pay! For the Hive!

24 - The Plan

Not far away from the dungeons, in a big room deep within the hive, a white bubble appeared. It disappeared as quickly as it had come, revealing the group of changelings and ponies.

"Where are we? What happened?" Asked a confused Cadance as she looked around the room. She, like Luna and the 2 changeling guards, was not told of the "plan" to escape. It was only Celestia and Shade who knew of it until now.

"Deep within the hive." Shade stated factfully as he stepped forwards, inspecting the area. There were no changeling in sight. They were lucky. Very lucky.

"Deep within the Hive?" She wondered, "Why would you bring us here?" Cadance asked back.

Shade sighed in annoyance. "Unfortunately pony magic doesn't work here so this is all I could manage."

"Is this why our magic doesn't work then?" Luna asked as she took a step towards him.

Shade, after making sure they really were alone for the moment, turned back towards the group. "Indeed it is. No changeling really knows what causes it but there are several rumors and legends of it. Some say it's a special gem or stone which the queens hide within the hive, somewhere where nopony else can get to. Others say the hivemind acts as some kind of shield against pony magic or that the queens themselves absorb pony magic. One way or another, it is a thing and pony magic is almost impossible to use here."

The Princesses looked at each other in confusion. They looked back at him and asked: "Then how did you manage a teleportation spell?"

Shade scratched his head at the question. He realized he should have seen such a question coming. "Well...I was honestly just hoping it would work, really." An awkward smile appeared on his face as the princesses raised their eyebrows respectively.

"So you never knew whether it would work or not? And you still chose to try?" Cadance asked him.

Shade shrugged. "It's not like we had another way out, right?" He paused, looking at the ponies in front of him. After a few seconds, they all nodded silently. "Right. So as I said, it was more of a gamble than anything else. Even then, you should thank Celestia for even giving me the idea of teleporting. She proposed to do so in the first place."

Luna and Cadance looked at Celestia who stood between them. "Is that so, sister?" asked Luna.

Celestia nodded affirmatively. "He's right. But the pride does not belong to me. He is the one who rightfully chose to stand with us after all. He stood against the one that raised him in this very place amongst his kind and now chose to defy her lies." Celestia walked up to Shade and lowered herself so that their heads were even. "And for that I am very, very thankful."

Shade felt a sense of pride inside of him. He felt happiness, for a change, as a smile formed on his face.

Celestia stood up again, smiling herself, as she spoke down to Shade. "Now. How do we get out of here?"

Shade thought about a possible escape route. He quickly reminded himself that it was the Changeling Hive they were in, a simple escape was near impossible. There was no way they would manage to slip past all the guards that were now looking for them.

Shade tried coming up with a proper plan as quickly as he could. "I believe we are close to the Throne room so it should be a 5 minute walk or so until we get to the nearest exit." Shade stated. "Though we are sure to face resistance on our way out."

Celestia sighed and nodded. "I suppose we have no other choice. We will have to fend off the changelings we encounter." She replied. "Can you lead the way for us?"

Shade nodded affirmatively. "Of course, just stay low and quiet. Maybe that will lower our chances of getting slaughtered." Shade's words weren't exactly a morale boost to the rest of the group, yet Shade couldn't hide the fact that their escape was highly dangerous.

The Princesses looked at each other for a brief moment, nodding affirmatively afterwards.

"Very well then." Shade looked towards a tunnel to his right. He shuddered a bit as he stared into the darkness of the tunnel, knowing their escape would most likely be a bloody one. The only question was: Whose blood would be spilled?

"Follow me, and watch for my signal." Shade whispered as he entered the tunnel. The Princesses followed close behind, Celestia entering first, then Luna and then Cadance. The 2 changeling guards were last to enter the tunnel. Shade's horn lit up in order to light the way for the ponies behind him.

They wandered through the tunnel, stopping from time to time when Shade believed to have heard something, yet it had been a false alarm up until that point. He looked back a few times to check up on his fellow escapists. He figured it must have been horrible to roam around in the darkness like that. The only light they had was Shade's horn, and that certainly wasn't a big or bright source of light.

Shade chuckled quietly as he thought of the last time he had to light the way for someone. He remembered how Thunder moaned and complained constantly. Looking back, Shade found himself enjoying the thought of dealing with Thunder's complaints and problems. He had always been very annoyed by it up until this point, found him to be a nuisance even, yet in hindsight it seemed more fun and enjoyable than anything. Then again, Thunder was Shade's only real friend, his best friend. He would enjoy anything as long as he was there.

Shade then froze in place. Celestia managed to stop just in time to not bump into him. "What's wrong?" She whispered from behind Shade, "Why have we stopped?"

She didn't get an answer. All she heard was how Shade's breathing becoming heavier.

"Thunder..." Shade gave out. Celestia, Luna and Cadance looked at eachother in confusion. "No..."

Celestia gave Shade a gentle nip on the back to attract his attention. "Shade, what is wrong?"

Shade turned around to them, still breathing heavily and trying to hold back potential tears. "Nothing." He said in a weak voice. He gulped. He had left his best friend alone with a stranger in the hive, against his will. And now he was going to just...leave? Shade felt guilt well up inside him at the thought of Thunder.

No. He couldn't just leave now. If he left now, without him, it would mean all he did to him, his life, his family...his everything, was for nothing. He would have robbed Thunder of his pony life just so that he himself would leave a few days later? No, that was not the way. Shade knew it wasn't. He had to do something, he had to take him with them. The only question was...

How? Shade turned away from the others once more, taking a few steps away from them while stuck in deep thought. He then came up with a plan. Well, more of a one way ticket to death, really. His plan was as simple as finding Thunder, convincing him that he made a mistake and grouping up with the others outside the hive. How likely he was to succeed?

Unlikely, to say the least. However, they had not much time and it was the only way to get both the others and Thunder out.

With a heavy heart he turned back around to the others. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Alright, listen." He said, focused on the task at hand. "You will go as I have told you. Guards, you know the way. Lead them out of here."

"What about you then?" Celestia interrupted.

"I will move back into the hive. There is someone I need to...talk to." He paused, looking at the others. He saw the Princesses eyeing him with a worried look. "Don't worry." He assured, "I'll meet up with you outside the hive."

Once more, he looked into the the group. One of the guards moved past the Princesses and positioned itself at the head of the group. Luna and Cadance seemed less worried now, though Celestia still wore the same worried look as before. Shade looked away from her, to the guard at the front.

"You know where to go and what to do." He said to the armored changeling.

"We'll do whatever we can to protect them." The guard said as they saluted Shade. Shade nodded slightly as he took a first step forward.

When he stood next to Celestia, now closer than ever, he quietly said: "Good luck everyone."

Shade's steps were silent as he sneaked throught the darkness of the hive. The search for his friend had endured for about 5 minutes when he heard a group of voices ahead. Shade knew they would have to be guards. He panicked at first, yet figured it was best not to fight them head on. Or, even better, not to fight them at all.

He walked out of the tunnel, into the room the group of guards were in. He tried being as inconspicuous as possible, hoping the other changeling would not recognize him as one of the traitors.

He quickly spotted the next tunnel which was located straight ahead of him across the room. He sped up while trying to still keep a low profile. His head turned to his right for a moment. He saw the group of guards talk to each other, presumably about their mission to find and kill the traitors. Or, in other words, to murder Shade and his friends. He noticed how one of the guards looked up and eyed him. Shade immediately faced the front again, breaking eye contact right away. He unintentionally became faster and quickly reached the tunnel entrance. He gave a quiet sight of relief as he walked off into the dark once more, continuing his search after this first, seemingly avoided obstacle.

"Did you see that?" Said the changeling that had spotted him.

The other guards looked towards him, then to where Shade had been a few moments before. "What do you mean?"

The guard took a walk towards the tunnel which Shade had taken just a few seconds ago. He kneeled down to the ground, seeing the hoofprints of him leading right into the tunnel. He gave a quick chuckle as he looked into the darkness of the tunnel. "I believe me might have a hint on where they might be."

25 - No Friend left behind

About 10 minutes had passed. Shade was still wandering around the hive, looking for his best friend. He aimed for places of interest, knowing that Thunder and Amaz were probably still busy with their tour around the hive. He hoped that this would help him find Thunder quicker, which was important, as he didn't have much time to spare. Besides, he didn't know whether Chrysalis now also targeted Thunder as a traitor or not. If she did...Shade was surely too late to aid him now. If she didn't then he will be a traitor as soon as the two of them are seen together.

Shade also took Amaz into consideration. She was the queen's advisor after all. If she got the news of this 'treachery' then she would surely remain loyal to her queen. Something Shade was not all too happy about himself. He had his own fair share of sympathies for her, they had worked together on several projects and missions in the past and have gotten used to each other pretty well by now. Shade still believed that none of the changelings ever counted as real friends to him, but if they did, Amaz would be one for sure. All he could do now though, was to keep on looking, and hope that she hasn't turned on him and Thunder.

A couple of minutes passed before Shade heard distant voices, paired with laughing. He quickly galloped towards where the sounds were coming from and soon found a light at the end of the tunnel, rather literally. He slowly walked up to the exit of the tunnel, briefly blinded as he stepped into the light of the room. Shade could now hear the previously distant voices clear as day. There was at least one voice which he recognized.

"Thunder?" He asked out loud as he jumped out of the tunnel. In front of him were two changelings, the left one was a tiny bit smaller and thiner than the right one. They turned their heads around towards Shade in surprise. The one to the right of Shade seemed especially surprised.

"Shade? Is that you?" Shade gave a big sigh of relief as he got the confirmation that it was indeed Thunder who stood in front of him.

"Indeed it is. And you can trust me: I was never more happy to hear your voice." Thunder cocked his head awkwardly at Shade.

"Um, ok?" He looked to his right, towards Amaz who briefly did the same before eying Shade once more. "So what brings you here? Don't you have important business with Chrysalis?" Thunder asked.

Shade knew he had to tell them what had happened. He would need to tell them about the horrible things Chrysalis did to the Princesses, tell them about Chrysalis' true plans of conquering Equestria for the changelings. And, even now, Shade found it hard to admit that he was, in fact, wrong. This entire time he had been mocking Thunder for believing the queen to be evil. This entire time he thought he was fighting for the good guys, the friendly changelings and their reformed queen. All that was a lie, all that was just a gigantic feint of Chrysalis to distract, brainwash and control him. And the worst part is...that he tried doing the same to Thunder. He took away all he held dear. Not only his home and his friends, but also his very own body. All of that in the name of the queen herself, believing that he would have a good time in the hive himself.

Shade knew he had to tell him, he really did, but it was by no means an easy thing to do. And he was sure that by the end of their talk, one of the two would be mad at him. Whether it was Thunder for not believing him about Chrysalis in the first place or Amaz for betraying the queen.

He breathed deeply and slowly. The others looked at him, awaiting whatever it was that he had to say. "You were right, Thunder. You were right."

Amaz's head flashed towards Thunder in surprise. Thunder himself looked more than confused. "Right with what?"

Shade was sure Thunder knew what he meant with that the first time around, Thunder simply did not believe him. "All this time, Thunder...you were right about her. Chrysalis..." He paused, closing his eyes and sighing briefly, "She lied. She tricked us."

Thunder began to realize what he was actually saying. Shade was finally, at last, admitting that he was right. Right about Chrysalis, right about the changelings, everything. He felt a weird sense of joy, even though this was surely not a topic to feel well about.

"You...you're serious? You're not just joking around, are you?" Asked Thunder, still in doubt of what he has heard.

"I'm afraid I am not joking. What I have heard and seen is very real. We don't have much time though, there-"

"I told you I was right!" Thunder yelled, his voice echoing throughout the nearby tunnels. "I told you! All this time! I knew of her evil plans all this damn time, only to have my best friend believe me to be insane or hallucinating!"

Shade felt, as he had expected, increasingly uncomfortable. What Thunder was saying was right, Shade couldn't deny that. He did think Thunder to be somewhat crazy back when they argued about Chrysalis being evil, he did indeed not have trust in his best and only friend. Shade felt a sense of dread. He had sworn to not let his past repeat itself, to not leave those who were close to him. Now though, he had to ask himself: Has he really done that? Didn't Thunder's words fall on deaf ears at first? Didn't Shade cause his best friend all this pain and sorrow, only to satisfy himself?

He wanted to cry, he really did. He felt like he had been lying to himself all this time. Shade knew they did not have the time for sadness though. A patrol would soon come by and spot them. He knew they might only have a few more minutes. He had to spend this time wisely.

Shade took a deep breath, releasing his stress as he breathed out. He focused back on the matter at hand. "You are right, just as I have said. And you are free to mock me for not believing you and you are free to hate me or whatever it is that you want...but now, we need to leave."

"Leave?" Amaz asked in a voice that sounded worried to Shade. He didn't notice that Amaz grabbed Thunder's left hoof with hers. She was worried.

Shade coughed awkwardly as he now looked at Amaz for the seemingly first time during their discussion. He did not expect Amaz to say much at all, really. He knew herself well enough to know that she was more of an introvert and not used to speaking up loud during discussions like this. Either way, he had to adress her.

"Yes. Leave. Chrysalis has lost any sense for reality it seems and has ordered the immediate execution of me and the others." Shade explained.

"The others?" Thunder asked, Shade's eyes switching back to him once more.

"The Princesses and a pair of changeling guards that deserted from the hive." He sighed deeply. "...Just as I did."

Shade was surprised when the two others reacted...rather discrete.

"You? You deserted the queen?" Asked Thunder in a mocking voice.

"I had to. The queen is out of control, has lost her sense for reality and reason. I served her because I thought it was for a better, peaceful Equestria. It seems that I was only a peasant in her grand game of chess though."

"But..." Amaz stuttered, "I-I don't understand. How could it come to all that? Why would she lie to us, her loyal children?"

"Well, you might be a children of hers. I, for one, am not, and neither is Thunder." Shade exclaimed in a rather strong voice.

Thunder scratched the back of his head awkwardly at Shade's exclamation. "Yeah...right."

"Fact is: Chrysalis' care for her 'children' is nowhere near as we thought. Beginning with me and the others, any changeling that shows signs of rebellion or disagreement is surely going to be promptly executed. I am sure of that."

Amaz looked terrified by what he was saying. "But...she couldn't..." She muttered in a weak voice.

"I'm afraid she can and already has done so. 2 changeling guards died fighting with us against her hordes of minions." He paused briefly, continuing in a bitter tone. "Their sacrifice will not be in vain."

As Amaz looked even more terrified and worried, Thunder began holding her close to comfort her. Shade, of course, saw this. He wanted to ask what the reason for that was, yet he had to hold back. They barely had any time left.

"I don't want to interrupt, but I am afraid we don't have much time left. There will be a patrol arriving here any second now, we simply must get moving."

The others looked at eachother briefly, then looked at Shade. "Get moving? Why? And where?"

"I have the suspicion that Chrysalis and her army is not only looking for us but also for you, Thunder. I was the one that pushed Chrysalis into having you become a changeling. She knows we are friends. If you don't flee now you will be held hostage by her, or...worse."

Shade looked at the faces of the two and, to his surprise, it seemed that Amaz was more worried than Thunder for some reason.

"And where would we go? You made me into this, I can't just go back to Canterlot now, can I?" Thunder barked.

Shade would have laughed if the situation wasn't this serious. "You forget you are a changeling, Thunder. We simply change our appearance to please the population. What we really do when we have arrived in Canterlot is a question for a later date, for now we will have to make our escape first."

Thunder opened his mouth, yet it shut a few moments later as he found himself defeated. He knew Shade was right, arguing with him would be no use anyways.

Amaz suddenly gasped as she pointed her right hoof towards a tunnel behind Shade who quickly turned around. They could hear voices and hoofsteps echoing through the tunnel, into the room. They had mere seconds now before the patrol would spot them.

"Quickly!" Shade ordered Thunder in a whispery voice. "Follow me!"

Thunder followed Shade into the tunnel he had come from initially. He quickly stopped though, as he realized he had left Amaz in the room. He ran back into the room, not paying any attention to Shade who told him to leave her be. When he arrived the voices had become clear as day already, telling Thunder they were very, very close.

"What are you waiting for? Quick!" He told Amaz as he stood in the entrance of the tunnel, waving his right hoof for Amaz to get in.

"I would only be a burden in your escape..." She said in her typical soft voice, a voice that still managed to touch Thunder's heart.

"Nonsense, come on! We need you!" Amaz looked up at him, a sad look on her almost broke his heart.

"What would you need me for? I'm only a dirty changeling, am I not?" She sighed as her head dropped.

Thunder knew they couldn't go on with arguing, it would get both of them captured or killed.

Thunder jumped out of the tunnel and walked up to Amaz. As he stood before her their eyes met, as they did many hours before.

"You may be a dirty changeling..." He said, grabbing both of her forehooves, "...But you're my dirty changeling."

Amaz smiled gently at hearing this. She was about to hug him as Thunder pulled her with him into the tunnel. They disappeared in the darkness of the tunnel just before the group of guards arrived.

26 - Honor our valiant Queen

"Where is he?" Chrysalis demanded as she rushed into the small dorm of a Changeling. In front of her was only one Changeling, but that Changeling almost fell to the ground in shock as the Queen bursted into his home.

"M-My Queen! I-I..." He stuttered in shock. Chrysalis was not in the mood for such things, nor the time.

"Where is he!?" She repeated, yelling into his face this time while showing her fangs threatingly.

"I...I couldn't find him, I-" He was cut off as the queen's mouth opened, a green beam moving from the changeling's to her heart.

She was sucking him dry, making him pay and suffer for his failure.

The changeling struggled, feeling weaker and weaker by the second as Chrysalis drained him of his love energy. "No..! I...I'm...sorry! Please! Argh!" He collapsed to the through, rolling around in pain as he held his hooves at his heart as a stinging pain originated from it. He felt it become weaker, become smaller. Until, after a few mere seconds, it stopped beating. His last few bits of love were drained, and his heart lost the strength to go on.

His death was a silent one, dead from one moment to the other. Chrysalis eyed the dead changeling before her for a brief second, quickly turning back around and rushing out of the home of the deceased.

Outside was a brigade of Royal guards, standing at attention as their ruler stepped in front of them. Chrysalis stepped in front of two of the soldiers and commanded them to take care of the body in a way that the other changelings would not take note of his death. They saluted their queen, rushing into the room at the double.

Chrysalis thought for a brief moment. As angry as she was, she could not afford to lose more of her own kind before the actual battle had begun. She knew she would need every changeling in the hive to fight the Equestrians, but that time was not now.

She had immediately sent guards to all of the exits of the hive, to prevent an escape. She knew, however, that even with her guard's excellent training, they would face a tough enemy. 3 royal princesses, 2 of their own and a grand mage.

No, she knew she would not be able to prevent an escape like that. What she needed was what the changelings were best at: To lay a trap and ambush them. If she could somehow lure them into a trap then their escape attempt would be crushed. She would get her sweet, well-deserved revenge after all, and her subjects would bow to her in awe, she who crushed the equestrian nobility, the equestrian oppressors!

Chrysalis knew what she had to do. She called the guard to follow her close behind and ran off as fast as she could. There was no time to waste.

"Report." Chrysalis said as she entered the Military Headquarters of the hive. The room was filled with many changelings, most of which wore armor. The room was quite big, featuring two big wooden tables in the middle, which was a very rare sight for changelings as they usually refused to use wood and stone in their hives. The tables had big maps laid on top of them while many changelings were leaned over the table and carefully inspected the map. There was also an armory directly connected to the Headquarters, the biggest one in the hive, in fact. From it, one could find spears, swords, axes, bows and shields of all sorts.

"My Queen? What gives us the honor to have you with us?" Asked one of the changelings that stood in front of Chrysalis at one of the map tables, together with 3 other changelings. They all wore Feathered helmets, some with purple, others with red feathers sticking out on top of the helmet.

Chrysalis rushed towards the table, pushing the changeling away while ignoring his question. Exhausted from her sprint towards the Headquarters, she took a look at the map in front of her while breathing heavily. She did not care that the 4 changelings at the table were all staring at her in surprise and confusion.

"Ahem, anyways." Said a different changeling than before as he took off his helmet and put it on the table. "We have multiple sightings of the Princesses along this path." He reported, pointing his hoof at a point of the map.

"Excellent. Are the guards in pursuit yet?" Chrysalis asked the commander.

"We have sent our best to take care of those traitors, your highness." He told the queen confidently.

"Break off the pursuit." Chrysalis said in a monotone voice, eyeing the map and the path at which the traitors would be moving.

The others at the table were shocked. "Excuse me?" Asked the commander.

"I said break off the pursuit!" Chrysalis repeated, louder this time. The others winced slightly.

The commander couldn't trust his ears, was what he heard really true? Break off the pursuit and let those dirty traitors go? "But my queen, that would allow them to break through our outer defenses!" He stated, clearly opposed to Chrysalis' strategy.

Chrysalis slammed her right hoof on the table, leaving the others in fear and shock . "Are you questioning my orders? I think I have made myself perfectly clear!"

The room as a whole became quiet. All changelings, including those that stood at the table with Chrysalis, were shocked. Chrysalis herself took a few deep breaths, looking at the others at her table. She could hear quiet whispers behind her as the others in the room asked themselves what had caused such an outrage.

Chrysalis gulped and opened her mouth slowly. "We will send the guards to the outer perimeters and ambush them in the forest." She uttered.

The others at the table looked at each other with questioning looks. Chrysalis, having recovered from her brief moment of anger, knew she had to convince them of her plan. She could not afford uncertainty or even mutinies.

"I must remind you all, that we are the changelings. We do not simply rush forward and face the enemy head on." She began walking around the table, "But we hide in the darkest shadows of the night, we lurk in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, waiting for the moment when they let their guard down."

The changelings at the table turned their heads as Chrysalis walked around the table, some of them began nodding their heads at her speech.

"It is then that our armies descend onto our enemies. It is then that our foes fall before us. It is then that we as one shall rise from upon the battlegrounds as the victor."

Chrysalis' speech was increasingly met with enthusiasm as the first cheers echoed through the room. Many of the changelings in the room now gathered around Chrysalis. Chrysalis herself stopped as she came up to the commander that had questioned her orders before.

She walked up to him from behind, standing to his left. Her hooves moved towards the sheath on his left flank. Chrysalis carefully pulled the blade out of the sheath, inspecting it as she held it in both of her hooves. The commander himself was too afraid to look back to look at what she was doing with the sword. He was, in fact, expecting her to hurt him with it, if not straight up killing him.

Chrysalis had other things in mind though. "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." Said Chrysalis as she swung the blade through the air next to the still frightened commander. "Those who push for glory will have their heads cut off." Chrysalis promptly swung the blade at the commander's tail, cutting it in half. The commander was breathing deeply as he feared for his live.

"Battle would be for nothing..." Chrysalis leaned forward and laid the cold, iron blade on the left cheek of the commander who flinched at this. "...if not for great leaders. Leaders that inspire their troops to great deeds and sacrifices. Leaders that install fear in their enemies through their mere presence on the battlefield. Leaders whose legends shall be sung for many years to come."

Chrysalis turned the commander's head towards her by putting the blade under his chin. "Tell me..." She started in a whispery voice, "are you...a great leader?"

The commander tried saying something, yet all that came out of his mouth were stutters and loud breathing. Chrysalis was quite clearly disappointed at his reaction. She needed an army not lead by cowards, but by heroes. And the changeling in front of her certainly did not suit her depiction of a hero.

"You should feel ashamed. Serving in such a high position under my rule is an honor which I do not grant many, and certainly not easily. And you...you dare disgrace the military with such cowardice?"

"I..I am-" His defense had no use for Chrysalis, she knew he was not a changeling to lead an army such as hers.

"Dismissed, Private."

The changeling in question nodded his head slowly and carefully at his queen and stepped back from the table, slowly trotting off through the crowd that had formed around Chrysalis.

"Cowards are a parasite." Chrysalis said out loud to the crowd. "A parasite that easily infects every one around it. One that will destroy the morale of an army within hours, if not mere minutes. And with the fall of the army, our empire shall fall. With the fall of our empire, our race shall fall."

Her words left a bitter taste in the audience, one that Chrysalis knew how to exploit.

"It is for that reason why we must all rise up! We must stand together, united, and face our foes! Now is our chance to become heroes, legends. Our children shall sing songs of the battles we have won!" A loud cheering erupted in the crowd. A vicious smile formed on Chrysalis' face. "They shall celebrate the day we defeated our enemies!" Once again the crowd cheered, louder this time. "They shall thank us for the evil we have crushed!" The crowd cheered as loud as it could.

"And now: Join me! Follow me into battle as we crush or foes! Let us retake what is rightfully ours! And let us rot out the evil in this world! Today, my subjects, is the day we avenge our beloved ancestors! We shall crush whomever stands in our path! We shall make them pay for the things they have done to us!"

Most of the Changelings now unsheathed their weapons and held them in the air while cheering for the queen. The 3 officers at the table raised their swords and shouted "Long live the Queen!" on which the others in the room joined in. A choir of voices formed quickly as the cheering turned into the anthem of the changelings, a song written for Chrysalis' great-grandmother many hundred years ago, yet it was used as an anthem ever since.

With great pride, the changelings raised their voices for the anthem.

"Honor our valiant Queen,
Long live our fearsome Queen,
Long reign, our Queen!
Send her victorious,
Mighty and glorious,
Long to rule over us,
Long reign, our Queen!

O Mighty Hive arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Deceive their politics,
Lead our fateful tricks,
Our hearts on you we fix,
Long reign, our Queen!"

27 - A Soldier's duty

The way out of the hive was no easy one for Shade, Thunder and Amaz. They had already encountered multiple changeling patrols passsing by them, yet until now they had managed to stay undetected. However, all 3 of them knew that it was only a matter of time for them to be spotted.

"Stay back." Shade whispered to Thunder and Amaz that stood behind him as he peaked his head out of a tunnel into a room. The room appeared to be empty, only filled with a few torches on the walls of the room and a dozen tunnels entrances.

"Alright, it's clear. Come on." He told the two behind him, waving to follow him as he jumped out of the tunnel. As he stood in the room he once again looked around, yet still did not spot anyone, much to his relief.

Amaz and Thunder were quick to follow him out of the tunnel, Amaz staying close to Thunder in fear of being spotted. Shade closed his eyes for a brief moment, searching for which one of the tunnels in the room was the right one to take. A few seconds later and he opened his eyes again, pointing at a tunnel to their right.

"This is the one, follow me." He said, galloping towards the entrance at which the others followed him.

"Halt!" Shouted a deep voice coming from inside the tunnel. The group of changelings froze in place as they heard steps becoming louder and louder.

"Identify your-" Said the same changeling as he now stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel, finally looking at Shade and the others face to face. However, it seemed that he recognized them, one of them at least.

"...Amaz?" He asked in a very weak voice now. Amaz became very uneasy as he heard her name and the one that mentioned it. Clearly, the aquaintance was both-sided. "Is that...is that you?"

While Amaz tried ignoring the changeling and looking away from him, Thunder looked at Amaz in surprise and confusion while Shade took a defensive stance in front of the two.

"What do you want from us?" Shade asked the stranger.

The changeling looked at Shade for a brief moment, then looked back over to Amaz who still refused to look at him. "Amaz...I'm sorry."

Shade, too, now turned and looked at Amaz as she now turned her head at him, facing him. "You know you can't undo the things you did, Shift." barked Amaz.

"What is going on here?" Asked Shade, demanding to know what they were talking about.

The changeling looked at Shade briefly, then looked back at Amaz who herself stared back at him. "Amaz and me had a...fight. I did things I can only regret and apologize for now."

"No apology can make up for what you did! Now leave me alone!" Yelled Amaz, her voice echoing through the nearby tunnels.

"Shhh, you'll get us all killed if you scream like that." Shade told her as he put a hoof on her lips.

"Go! Now! Leave me alone!" Amaz screamed once more as she pushed away Shade's hoof. Once again, her voice echoed through the tunnels. This time though, they were not the only ones to hear the echo.

"Corporal, what is going on here? What were those voices?" Asked a loud, strict voice from behind the changeling.

Thunder gulped as he heard hoofsteps all around them closing in. Amaz was untroubled as Shade looked around the room, awaiting the multiple changelings that would jump out of the tunnels.

"Corporal, I asked you a question!" Shouted the same voice as before, now much closer as Shift turned around towards it. "Tell me at once or-" The changeling interrupted himself as he stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel and spotted the group of Thunder, Amaz and Shade. An evil smile formed on his face as he pushed Shift to his side and took his place infront of Shade and the others.

"You..." He began, glaring at Shade, "You bloody traitor!"

Shade's eyes narrowed as he moved into a defensive stance. "If that is what I am called for doing the right thing..." He spat at the ground, "Then I guess I am a traitor."

One could see rage fill the eyes of the changeling in front of him. "You call this the right thing? Abandoning your brothers and sisters? Abandoning your home, your queen? Your mother?"

Shade shook his head. "You're not my brother, nor is this my home. The demon you call queen may have a crown and throne, but that does not make her a leader." He took a deep breath. "And I dare you call that monster my mother." He became louder and enraged. "If only you knew. The last time I saw my mother as a child she sent me away, told me to run. When I began running, I could hear her screaming in agony. That was my mother, that is still my mother and that will always be my mother!"

The changeling stared at him briefly, yet started chuckling as guards jumped out of several of the tunnels in the room and surrounded the three.

"What a heartbreaking story, really. However, the queen does not take easily on betrayal. In fact, she wants your heads." He gave Shade another smile as he grabbed his sword, pulling it out.

"No!" interrupted Shift, grabbing the blade of the changeling guard. The guard, however, quickly pushed him away.

"What is the matter with you, Corporal? Do I have to remind you that these are traitors, quilty of aiding our mortal enemies?"

Shift looked at Amaz briefly before looking back at the guard. "No. Of course not."

"I thought so. Now tell me, on what side do you stand? Loyal to our gracious queen, or one of these bloody traitors?" The guard asked him.

Shift closed his eyes, thinking deeply about what he was about to say, then opened them again as he looked over to Amaz once more, whispering "I'm sorry."

"What was that?" The guard asked him.

"I stand with you, sir. As any soldier should." Amaz's ears flattened as she heard him. For a brief moment, just before he said that, she had believed he might have changed, that he might mean his apology. Now though, she knew that she was nothing to him.

"Good. Now..." He turned back to Shade and the others, "I suggest you're the one who takes the first strike, corporal." The guard said, handing Shift his sword. He took it with slight hesitation, looking at the blade as his face mirrored itself in it.

Shade saw that now was the time to flee. Now or never. "Run! Follow me!" He yelled at Thunder and Amaz, sprinting towards the closest tunnel.

"Quick! After them!" The guard shouted at the other guards who dashed forwards as he said so. He quickly reached over to Shift and took back his sword, following the other guards as fast as he could.

Shift was all by himself as he began to realize that he may have made a terrible choice. One that would haunt him until the end of his days.

11 - A Light in the Darkness

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, didn't quite finish it in time for the weekend.
Sorry 'bout that :twilightsheepish:

11 - A Light in the Darkness

There was silence as Thunder and Shade walked through the dark tunnels. Shade looked back at Thunder occasionally, checking if he didn't actually leave Thunder behind because of the lack of sound he made.

After Shade and Thunder arrived back at Shade's home, Shade stopped and turned around to Thunder. However, Thunder was lost in thought completely, the previous "lesson" had kept him thinking through their last journey through the tunnels until now. He didn't notice they had even arrived, let alone did he notice Shade stopping in front of him.

"Ouf! Hey, what the-"

Thunder said as he bumped into Shade who now looked at him with a suspicious look.

"Ahem. We have arrived, just so you know."

Thunder set a false smile on his face while Shade's stare intensified.

"Haha, yeah. Sorry I ran into you, I didn't mean to-"

"And what exactly distracted you enough to let that happen if I may ask?"

Thunder was afraid he would ask him that. He couldn't just tell him the truth, how he was doubting that feeding on love was the right thing, how he felt so very bad for the poor, trapped unicorn he had fed on...or could he? Shade did say he still wants to be friends with him multiple times and...no. no! He couldn't trust HIM! He's just a dirty, lying changeling. He got him into all of this in the first place.

"None of your business...buddy."

Thunder then faced Shade's stare with his own stare. The air seemingly heated up around the two, they could have gone at eachother at any second. However...

"As you say..."

Shade replied with a slight, false grin. He then turned around and once again quickly opened the entrance to his home.

"Care to join me in here?"

Thunder seriously thought about simply staying out there for a few moments, but then he realized it was probably not the best idea in the first place. Not that it would matter anyway, Shade would probably just drag him inside with his magic.

"Sure, I got nothing to lose anymore anyway. Might aswell..."

Shade rolled his eyes and walked inside, Thunder following closely behind him. As the entrance was closed Thunder asked a question.

"So what did we want to do here again?"

Shade turned around to him after he closed the entrance with a rather annoyed look.

"We're going to practice using your nightsight. I talked about that before, remember?"

Thunder scratched his head and thought hard, yet couldn't quite remember that.

"Oh, sorry. I must have forgotten."

Shade raised a non-existent eyebrow at that statement.

"Already? It has only been like, what, 20 minutes? At most?"

Thunder looked away from Shade in awkwardness.

"Yeah, I...guess the whole love eating thing kept my mind busy. I must have forgotten due to...that."

Thunder then realized what he had just told Shade...the exact same thing he didn't want to tell him earlier.

"Uh huh..."

Shade replied with a, once again, suspicious look.

"I didn't-"

Shade began laughing all of the sudden.

"Haha, it's alright pal. I told you I knew you would have problems with the whole changeling thing, at the start anyway. I would be very surprised if you weren't actually doubting the whole thing right now."

Thunder's mind blacked out for a few moments at that response.

"W-wha...you...you're not...mad?"

Shade rolled his eyes.

"Pfft, of course not. I told you multiple times: I'm your friend. I did what I did because it was the best option I had. Of course it's still a fairly bad option, I know, but it's all the way better than hanging down from the ceiling in a cocoon and have changelings feed on your love."

Shade looked at the ground as he thought about all that had happened. Shade acted quite quickly and made looked at Thunder after he raised his head up with one of his hooves.

"Hey...I know it's hard. Very hard for you especially. But I'm here for you. That's why I'm trying to teach you all these changeling things anyway. I want you to feel better and get used to your body and surroundings better."

Thunder sighed quietly.

"Let's just get it over with then..."

Shade smiled as he started his speech on Nightvision.

"First thing we need is, who would have guessed, darkness. So in order to achieve the right conditions..."

Shade's horn glew in a deep black and suddenly the whole room went into complete darkness. The torches, the candles...all the light was gone all of the sudden. Thunder paniced at first, yet quickly calmed himself down, understanding that he was safe and that it was a lesson.

"Great, now that we have the right conditions to use nightsight we can proceed. First you will need to close your eyes."

Thunder got chills all over his body from Shade's voice coming through the complete darkness. Still, he followed Shade's instructions and closed his eyes, not that he could see anything with them at the moment anyway.

"Now you will need to imagine a bright light. The brightest light you can imagine. So bright that any source of darkness will practically run for cover."

Thunder concentrated and tried imagining a light. He quickly saw a light, yet that light wasn't nearly bright enough to light up the room.
He tried concentrating harder and, with time, the light became bigger and brighter. He still couldn't see anything in said light, it was simply light and darkness.

"Alright, that's a good start for now. You'll get used to it the more you use it. Now, the next thing you need to do is using your inner light and transfer it to the outside. Right now it's just a light in the endless darkness. You need to imagine it isn't just in your head, imagine that it is real and actually in this room."

Thunder was seemingly confused by this. He tried and tried yet couldn't quite get it to work.

"It's not all that hard. Here, just imagine the light is actually in front of you in the actual room."

And so Thunder tried and tried. Out of what felt like hundreds of attempts, the last one beared some fruits. He opened his eyes finally and managed to see in the now bright darkness. However, his "inner light" was still fairly small, it didn't even cover all of the living room in Shade's home. Yet, Thunder did feel accomplished by actually learning how to use something so unexplainable and unimaginable.

"Wow, I can't believe it! How is this even possible!?"

Thunder asked as he was walking around the room, trying out his nightvision like a kid runs around playing with their new toy.

"Oh, that has to do with the Hivemind but...we'll get to that at some other point."

Thunder stopped and looked at Shade from across the room.

"The Hivemind, huh?"

Shade nodded silently.

"Seems fairly important to me personally. Why wouldn't we do something like that first?"

Shade scratched his backhead, he had forgotten to tell Thunder about something fairly important.

"Um...remember how Queen Chrysalis said she would talk to you and me at some other time...?"

Thunder didn't realize what he was going at, but then slowly realized what he was implying.

"You don't mean..."

Shade set an awkward smile on his face and laughed awkwardly.

"Heh, yeah...my bad..."