Pinkie's Lost Time

Chapters

The Shell Cracks - 1
The Shell Opens - 2
The Shell Releases - 3

The Shell Cracks - 1

There we are, darling, how is that? Not too snug?" Rarity adjusted the gem-encrusted light halter on her friend but there was a strange calmness in the normally overly distracted mare. "Pinkie Pie? Are you alright?" Rarity waved a hoof before the pink party pony's snout, noting her pupils were focused down to pin-pricks that didn't follow the motion.

Pinkie didn't hear her friend. The feel of the halter, the slightly tight grip it held on her head cracking a shell inside her head. Memories spilled out.

She was a happy filly, but not extroverted. Pinkie was working the rock farm, on the farthest field from the farmstead. There was an annoying batch of wild tomato’s that had gotten in the way of some fine limestone crags. "Come on, move you stupid-heads."

Leaning down, the filly wrapped her strong jaws around one of the stems and yanked. Hard. Falling backwards, as the might that even a young earth pony can bring to bear ripped the plant from the ground, Pinkie was suddenly hit square in the face by a big, overripe tomato. "Hey!" She swung out at the plant, only succeeding in bursting another of the juicy fruits and having it drip on her. She giggled. "Oh, you think you can beat me?"

The yelled words echoed off a nearby canyon, but they weren't what led the predators to her. It was the giggle, the taste of the hint of happiness in another.

Pinkie kept yanking up stems, giggling and struggling through the work, showing a tiny hint of the joyful mare she would later become. "Oh, not so tough when you are all out of the ground, huh?" She stomped all over the green stems, licking her lips clean.

"PINKIE!" Rarity panted but she saw her yell got the desired result. "Oh dear me, Pinkamina, what came over you?"

Blinking away at her eyes, Pinkie turned to look at Rarity. "Huh? What came over me?" She lifted a hoof to her mouth. "I… was remembering growing up on our rock farm. Silly tomatoes!" Giggling madly, Pinkie looked to her confused friend with some worry.

"Darling, you have been standing there, rock still, for hours." Rarity deposited herself on a couch, levitating a small fan over to start cooling herself. "I nearly yelled myself hoarse trying to snap you out of it. I don't know what I would have done if that hadn't worked… I might have even doused you in water!"

The tone, and her friend's wordiness, tipped the pink mare off to something being wrong. "Hours? But I…" She looked around, the big dress Rarity was fitting for her was sitting aside on a poniquin, as was the elaborate, halter-like head-dress. "Oh I am sure it was nothing! Did you get all the pins and things in where you needed 'em?"

"Well, yes." Rarity gave a little harrumph. "You really should go and see Twilight… or maybe Zecora. Pinkie, I was really worried about you." Rarity gave Pinkie a look that spoke volumes to accompany the heart-felt words.

"Tomorrow I will go and let Twilight hook me up to all her machines again. Maybe she will find something this time." Pinkie gave a huge smile to her friend. "I am sure a good night's sleep will fix it, that is what Applejack always says!"

As Pinkie settled in to bed that night, she was snuggling down between the pink sheets, under the pink blanket, in the middle of the pink bed, when it hit her. "I never remembered that before… I wonder if there are any other bits I don't remember?"

Her eyes grew heavy, tiredness overcoming her. Just as it did, she felt herself stiffen in the bed.

"Are you going out to that field again?" Maud's dull tone was anything but to Pinkie, she could feel her sister's very soul speaking through the minute tonal shifts. "Be careful, Pinkie."

"Maud, of course I will be careful, but I need to make sure those nasty tomatoes don't come back." Pinkie gave her sister a tight hug. "Besides, this is Equestria! We are perfectly safe!" She squeezed her sister tighter, knowing the other filly was certainly strong enough to take it, and got back as good as she gave.

"You should smile more." Maud reached up and, in the most unsurprising way possible, booped Pinkie on the nose, managing to get the pink filly to smile. "There you go."

Maud led her sister to the bathroom and had her sit up before the big mirror. "Hold still." Pinkie loved this, it was one of the things that could really get the filly to giggle. Maud lifted a brush, first, and started working on her sister's mane. The flat, lifeless hair was teased and brushed up, worked into tangles and swirls. She really got into it until, at last, the pink mane was a riot of mass and body, curls and tangles everywhere.

Giggling, Pinkie was almost bouncing in place. Maud moved down her body and started on her tail. Non-stop, the dour gray filly had her sister all fluffed up and ready to face the day. "There you go." To anypony else, the voice was monotone, but to Pinkie it was full of love.

"This is great." Pinkie got up from the stool she had been sitting on to bounce down. Her head felt lighter, all of her did. Feeling happier than she had in weeks, the filly grabbed her lunch-bag on the way out and trotted for the far field again.

She didn't make it all the way.

Pinkie jerked up in her bed, eyes wide and her body matted with sweat. "Where was my rainboom?"

Rolling off the side of her bed, her mane and tail flat and lifeless, Pinkie paced around the room. "That was right when I should have seen Dash's rainboom, where was it?" It wasn't just her demeanor that was serious, for the first time in as far as she could remember, Pinkie really knew worry. As she turned one more time, she caught sight of herself in the mirror of her room and felt joy flood her. Happiness washed away all the scared thoughts, all the worry. It was like the pink just shoved delight back into her. Her mane sprung up into curls and she grinned at the pink mare that grinned back.

"It must have been nothing, just a silly, billy, dream!" Turning back to her bed, Pinkie pronked into it with expert precision, shimmying down under the covers again. "All a silly, bad dream."

Twilight held the magnifying glass up to one of Pinkie's eyes, staring deep into it. "Rarity said this looked serious, Pinkie." Twilight didn't bother with the normal restraints, Pinkie would slip from them like a greased pig. "What happened?"

"Oh, it was just a silly, billy, dream!" Pinkie giggled at her joke. "I dreamed I was back on the rock farm, when I was little…"

Recoiling from her friend, Twilight blinked. Pinkie's eyes had focused down to dots, her breathing had started to grow slower and she looked like a statue. "Pinkie? Pinkie are you there?"

"Pinkie? Pinkie are you there?" The words came from a rock, a big one.

"Rocks don't talk, why are you talking, rock?" Pinkie trotted over to the big rock, the recent growth spurt she had experienced having given her a quicker trot. "Now, tell me what you are doing?"

"Catching you." The voice was no longer 'rock like' at all, but there was a slight hiss at the end of it. A black creature stepped out from behind the big rock, its pony-like shape sporting a glowing horn.

It was the lasso, flying toward her, that Pinkie was worried about. "Hey, that's not nice!" Pinkie jumped to the side, avoiding the throw. "You should introduce yourself. Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie!"

Another of those hissy-voices came from behind Pinkie, just as a lasso landed around her neck. "No, you are food." The lasso was yanked, the noose tightening around her neck. Pinkie bucked and kicked, her earth pony nature making her less than an ideal target to catch. "Get her!"

Focusing on kicking and getting out of the lasso around her neck, Pinkie missed as the second one dropped around her too. "Got it!" The first of the creatures yanked on his rope, just as Pinkie decided that it was time to test their grip.

The two black, pony-like creatures yelped in shock when their prey took off at speed. One lost his grip and fell while the other dug in his hole-filled hooves and braced with his magic. Pinkie's eyes bulged as she was stopped dead at the end of the rope. It became a little harder to breathe for a moment, until one of the odd ponies came up to her and loosened the lariat. "Hold still, pony!" The voice sounded mean to the filly and she quickly teared up.

"Ugh, that tastes horrible, are you sure this was the right one?" Chitin trotted up to his hivemate, Pincer. "I mean, she tasted good yesterday, but-"

"Yes I am sure. Queen Cocoon said she would be the perfect food for her new daughter, and the first test subject. Now stop gawking and help me bind her!" Pincer tried to remember why he had brought the big and dumb Chitin along. Of course it hit him quickly, Chitin had dug in and dragged the filly down, a full-blooded earth pony.

Pinkie trembled as the two strange ponies tied ropes around her legs, binding them, front and back, together, then leading a loose rope from the front to the back. "No kicking, pony." Chitin gave a chittering giggle. "Or kick all you like, it will be funny."

"Stop baiting her, she is not for us to have fun with, she belongs to the queen." Pincer pushed Chitin away and grabbed one of the lasso ropes. "Get up, pony."

"Don't want to!" Pinkie was petulant, and she guessed if they couldn't move her, they couldn't get her away from home. Maud would come and kick their patooties all the way to the sea.

"If you don't, I will make you." Pincer looked at the filly, narrowing his blue eyes. When the filly just jutted her bottom lip out the drone sighed. "Look away, Chitin."

"But… okay!" Chitin turned his back, he didn't want to get whammied.

"Little pony, look here." Pincer pushed power into his eyes. Pinkie, feeling like she was winning, wanted to show the meanie up and glared up at him, just in time to see green flood his eyes. "Good, now relax, calm down, you are not in danger, noling is trying to hurt you."

Pinkie smiled. That her legs were hobbled, or that nasty ponies had her tied up, meant nothing. The nice voice had said she wasn't in danger. Nothing was trying to hurt her. Pinkie calmed down.

"Good, better. Filly is good filly." Pincer fed more power into the little pony. "Filly will follow everything changelings say, it feels good to do what we say, little filly. Really good."

Quivering as that voice spoke deeply into her, Pinkie felt her ears perk forward, her whole body straining to hear what the strange ponies would tell her.

"Stand up, filly." Pincer's command was followed before he got the last word out and he smiled. "Feels so good to do what I say, doesn't it? You can talk, filly."

"It feels nice, I like it." Pinkie noticed an odd green tint to everything now, not just the strange pony's eyes. "Please…"

"Please what, pony?" Pincer eased back on his power, he was nearly spent anyway. "Tell me what you want."

Pinkie beamed in delight, the pony had asked her to do something and it plastered a smile across her face. "Tell me to do something, please."

"Chitin, it's safe. Filly, you just have to do one simple thing, well, two. Just follow us, and don't try to run away. If you do those things, every step you take will make you happy."

The strange pony backed up, the rope loose in his magic. Pinkie pranced after him, her hooves snagging on the hobbles a little, but each step widened her smile, made the green glow everything had, feel much nicer. "Yay!"

Author's Note

A new story, hope everypony has their blankets pulled tight around them, this one will get a little down and scary, but we know full well who Pinkie grows up to be. This will likely be a handful of chapters long, it was meant originally to be a single hit of about 3-4k words, but you know me, that would be impossible.

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and ~~I~~ they will definitely, hopefully, reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, ~~I~~ They will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one question per post!

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The Shell Opens - 2

"And what do you remember?" Princess Twilight Sparkle was concerned for her normally bubbly friend. Pinkie was huddled on one of the spare beds of the castle, looking small and alone. "Anything at all?"

"I was on the rock farm, the day when I should have seen Dash's Sonic Rainboom…" Pinkie stared ahead. "But everything was green, instead."

"Green" Twilight had a book out, flipping through it. "I really can't find anything in Big Book of Head Ouchies that would make things green. Are you sure it wasn't cyan?"

Pinkie shook her head and, in that moment, saw a sad pony in the mirror of the room. An odd ache filled her, a warmth that had been her constant companion since… since she thought she had seen the Rainboom. She felt a smile creep onto her face, felt a happy mood chase all the clouds of doubt away. Looking back in the mirror, she saw a happy pony again and felt even better. "It was all nothing, Twilight."

The book tumbled from Twilight's magical grip. "But Pinkie, something was really wrong, what-"

Getting up off the bed, her main sprung out again and took on its normal cotton-candy appearance. "Twilight, I am feeling so much better now, I am sure all I needed was a good talk with you!"

"Pinkie, you are staying here tonight." Twilight clopped her hoof, her feelings for her good friend overriding any sense of propriety. "And furthermore, you will be until we can work out what is going wrong."

Blinking up at her friend, Pinkie could only smile more. "You promise?" Some part of her wanted, needed, to have a friend look after her right now.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight smiled as she did the motions, she meant every word of the sacred Pinkie Promise. "Now, time to get tucked in. You need real rest." Magic wasn't always the answer, but when you needed to tuck a friend into bed, it was the best. In no time the pink mare was under the blankets and feeling warm and happy.

"Thank you, Twilight." Pinkie was snuggled so well into the bed, only her snout and eyes could be seen, even her voluminous mane was stuffed under the warm covers.

Twilight gave the exposed pink snout a little boop, getting one more giggle from Pinkie before she left. The moment the alicorn was out of the room, sleep swamped Pinkie, her mind dredging that bog of lost memories again.

The nice ponies, changelings they had called themselves, led Pinkie along, telling her when to be careful of things, when to stop for a snack. They were just so nice to her that she never wanted to leave their side. All day they trotted and when night came, one of them asked her to look into his eyes. "So green…" Pinkie smiled, she was being a good filly and doing what she was told, the green light made her brain tickle.

"It feels nice to do what we say, you really like feeling nice." Pincer lifted his hoof up, waving it before the pony's eyes. She didn't bat an eyelash, didn't so much as track the hole-filled limb an inch. "But now you need to sleep and, when you sleep, you are going to have the best dream you can possibly have."

Pinkie nodded ever so slightly, scared that if she tilted her head too far she might lose track of the nice green. "Nice dream. Will it have Maud?"

"Does Maud make you happy?" Pincer could easily see that it did by the way she asked about whatever this 'Maud' was. When Pinkie nodded a little more, Pincer grinned. "The whole dream will be about Maud, about spending time with Maud, about being happy with Maud."

Unable to stand waiting, the moment the green was gone, not that it was completely gone, with it being everywhere, but the moment the light of green was gone, Pinkie spun into a circle and was fast asleep. Her dreams came on fast, really fast. She slipped into a dream where she was playing a game of rock-chasing with Maud. Her sister was doing silly things and the filly was actually giggling in her sleep.

In the waking world, Pincer and Chitin stared at her with slack jaws. "How can one pony… a filly, put out that much love?" Chitin's voice trembled a little, he was so very careful to only lightly sip.

"We picked the right pony, clearly." Pincer was even more careful. He had to replenish the energy it took to whammy the filly, but the wells of happiness in her were so deep he barely scratched the surface. "We have to get her back, the hive needs her."

Pinkie woke from her dream, the day just starting to get nice and bright, the green sun high in the sky. "That was the best night of sleep ever!" She bounced over to Pincer. "Thank you, Mister Changeling, for making me dream of Maud."

Pincer froze, she shouldn't be able to remember his commands like that. "Pincer." It was hard to be unhappy, however, when the filly practically thrust the most delicious meal he had ever tasted right in his face. "Call me Pincer."

"Hi Pincer, I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie bounced in place a little more, then sprang forward to hug the changeling. "I feel so much better!"

"Then let's get ready, we should reach the hive by midday. That will be even better." Pincer obviously meant it would be better for him, but Pinkie would start to get the special treatment, and his Queen would be happy. A happy Queen meant a happy Pincer. "Come on Chitin. Pinkie, please keep up."

Pinkie Pie nodded over and over. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" A dark hoof reached out and ruffled Pinkies mane before the three walked off. "Why do I have to wear the hobbles, Pincer?"

"Because you have to wear the hobbles, Pinkie." Pincer smiled at the filly, feeling an odd bit of kinship with her. "You feel really happy about wearing hobbles."

Pinkie started bouncing, or pronking as Maud had called it. It was easier. "I love hobbles, they mean I can pronk everywhere!"

The day passed slowly, with Pinkie asking questions over and over. Pincer felt bad the first time he turned the filly down with a command, so when she asked again he started answering. "The sky is blue because a huge changeling lives up there, and watches down on everypony, making sure they are safe."

"Ohhh!" Pinkie absorbed facts like a sponge does oil. "And what about when they blink?" Pincer giggled at the filly, almost stopping dead when he realized he had. He was enjoying this, and it worried him a little. "I asked, what happens when the sky-changeling blinks?"

"That is night time." Pincer had to look away, he knew his face would show panic to the filly. He was lucky, as the first peak of the hive's spires was visible over the next hill, and as they crested it, more and more spires of dark clay reached high into the sky. "See that, Pinkie?" He pointed with a hoof. "That is the hive. You will be so happy, this is your new home!"

Pinkie Pie's smile grew wider still, she couldn't help being happy, the nice changeling named Pincer had told her to, and because he told her to she did. "Yay!" The cheer twisted at Pincer's heart, in a way he would never admit to another 'ling. He led the filly down to the city of cooling vents.

The first changeling head to poke out, tasting the filly's love on the air, didn't ask and started to try to drink from her. "Chitin, your job?" The moment Pincer said the words, the startled changeling looked up and charged. The meal he had gained from the filly had the big drone pumped and, inadvertently, green fire shrouded his front as he dazed the other changeling. "This is the Queen's pony!"

"Is the queen nice?" Pinkie looked up at Pincer, and could see the play of odd emotions across their face. After a moment, she asked again. "Are they?"

Pincer closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the filly as he told her the horrible lie. "She is nice and great, doing whatever she says makes you feel happy." It felt like his shell crawled with things under it. What had this filly done to him?

"What's that?" Pinkie looked at the odd thing. It was all kinds of straps of stuff, with hard black plates in places and green goop in others. She liked the green goop, because unlike nearly everything else, in a green light, it looked normal. "Is that goop green or am I just seeing it as green?"

The Queen, Cocoon, lifted a hoof to her aching horn. "Okay, you have to be quiet now, you can only talk if you are talked to." She reached out with her magic to lift the special halter up. With her magic, she could feel the crystals and carved channels, it would work perfectly to bind the filly's mind just right.

Pinkie closed her mouth and tilted her head, watching as the halter got closer. She opened her mouth again to ask a question, but found she couldn't. The cool thing came down over her head, pressing down at her cheeks, around her eyes, and even around the top of her head. It pinned her mane down too but the worst bit was how it pulled around behind her head and, a moment later, was tight there too.

Cocoon grinned wide, her pupils narrowing down to slits. "Perfect, this will be-"

"What is it?" The words tumbled from Pinkie's snout. "Why is it so tight? How does it come off? Does it hurt? Where do you get these things? What-" A black hoof shoved against the filly's snout. "Mfmfmffmmfmf?"

"This is a control halter. Any command you are given, with changeling magic, will not be reversible. It will slowly work it deeper and deeper into that soft head of yours. So," Queen Cocoon's magic flared, rushing into her eyes, "feel happy, laugh, have fun all the time."

Pinkie's eyes went wide, the words seemed to echo through her suddenly empty head. Around her peripheral vision, the green goop of the halter started to pulse a soft green, and the hard bits appeared to have odd glowing squiggles. But that didn't really matter, Pinkie was happy.

"Pinkie!" Twilight had been gently shaking the mare, trying to rouse her for breakfast, when Pinkie finally opened her eyes and looked up at her friend, she smiled widely.

"Hi Twilight! What a wonderful day, I really want to just… to just… pronk everywhere!" Pinkie giggled at her complete inanity.

Twilight stared at the mare. "Pinkie, you slept for two days. I couldn't even wake you yesterday." The alicorn had a whole pile of books in the room, clearly each had been read cover-to-cover. "What were you dreaming about?"

Tilting her head and thinking, Pinkie froze as her mouth opened. She blinked and went cross-eyed looking at her snout. She tried again, opening her mouth but nothing came out.

"Pinkie?" Twilight summoned a tongue-depressor from her private stores and was trying to insepect the mare's mouth.

"Oh, that's better. Thanks Twilight! I was dreaming about being so happy, and… Pincer…" Something about the name made the pink mare think deep thoughts. "He was a changeling… I think he was my friend…"

"A changeling? Pinkie, what do you mean? Weren't you dreaming of when you were a foal? The changelings didn't attack until Shining and Cadance's wedding." Twilight's magic flared and a notebook appeared before her, a quill and ink set a moment later. "Okay, start at the start and tell me everything."

"Well, the first day was when I found a nasty, good-for-nothing tomato!" Pinkie giggled and then halted, opening her mouth and closing it, not a word coming out.

"Pinkie?" Twilight got just the one word before a hugging Pinkie Pie thanked her.

"Oh, that comes later, but I think I can't talk unless somepony talks first… I will have to explain that bit." She giggled and then her giggle cut off.

"It sounds… crazy, but you can talk again." Twilight hugged her friend tightly, the quill and book, to one side, scribbling like mad.

Author's Note

Pinkie makes an unlikely friend, but one that is ultimately powerless, for all the power he holds over her. And what is going on with that halter?

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The Shell Releases - 3

Pinkie stared at the shape. It looked big and kinda round. She looked up at the changeling beside her, opening her mouth. Of course she couldn't speak.

"While you live here, this is all that matters to you." The words tingled in Pinkie's mind, the halter around her head seemed to pulse, each throb of the green gems pushing the words deeper. She snapped her attention to the round thing. "This is a queen egg, bigger than the rest, more important than everything. You are its food."

"An egg? What is inside?" Pinkie lifted a hoof to the egg, at her side Pincer gasped. Touching the ovoid she felt an odd tingle, a warmth that trickled down her back. "It feels funny."

"Pony, listen to me closely." Pincer turned to look at the little pony, hating what he was about to do. "You ready?"

"Ready!" Pinkie giggled and gave a bad salute. The changeling's eyes began to glow softly, the glow echoing in the glow of the crystals of the halter.

"Pinkie, you are happy, always happy. You love everypony. You want them to feel your happiness too." Pincer knew the halter was going to make that a life-long imprint. "Do you understand?"

The pink filly practically flew at the changeling, throwing herself against him and hugging him tightly with her forelegs. "Of course I do, silly billy, you are my best friend!"

Pincer watched, feeling almost oppressive waves of love and happiness rolling from the filly, as the egg started to hatch. A small head used its horn to break free, drawing Pinkie's attention. The filly giggled and turned back to sit and watch.

Free of its egg, the larger than normal larvae could find its first meal, the meal that had woken it into the world. "It tickles!" Pinkie giggled and hugged the squirming little creature. "What is its name?"

"That, is the next queen of the hive. Chrysalis." Pincer lowered his head, bowing to his future queen.

"Chrysalis… he said Chrysalis, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie had found her voice released from the annoying restriction. "Do you think it was the same Queen Chrysalis that attacked Canterlot? She grew up to be a big meanie!"

"Pinkie, this is amazing." Twilight carefully put the book down, trying not to smudge the page she had just written. "Do you think you can remember more now?" The other mare shook her head. "Maybe later?"

"I only get the memories when I dream." Pinkie felt better than ever. The silly dreams might be real, but she didn't care, she was so happy to have them. "I could try to dream again…"

"Yes… I mean no!" Twilight fought her desire for more knowledge with the care for her friend. "Food first."

Their conversation was interrupted, perfectly on cue, by Pinkie's belly giving a loud grumbling rumble.

The meal, lovingly cooked by Spike of course, proved just how right Twilight had been. Pinkie Pie slurped up the pancakes from her third plate and let out a loud burp. "That's much better!" She tilted her head and looked at the empty plate. "Twilight, do you think Chrysalis eats me at the end?"

"You are remembering this, Pinkie. Of course she doesn't eat… well, she probably does nibble." Twilight had barely made it through one plate of food. Feeling a shudder run up her spine, the alicorn couldn't help adding, "Like she did to my brother."

"I guess so, I can only remember her happy smile as she got loose of her eggy-weg, and when she saw me." Pinkie couldn't hold back a smile herself, although as she thought about the little larva more, she felt her memories grab hold of her again and after barely a blink, she was looking at the immature changeling queen.

"And then I pulled out the nasty tomatoes!" Pinkie tilted her head. "There were a lot of them, and they put up a fight, but I managed to beat them… I think that is almost everything, your mom's friends brought me here after that… Oh! I almost forgot. On that last morning, Maud did my mane up, frizzy and fun."

Chrysalis drank in every drop of information and love both. Her little mind grew at a rapid rate, and despite a part of her knowing that this pink thing was food, another part just wanted to cuddle up and use the first word she had ever heard, the one that had prompted her to break from her egg. "Friend…" It didn't sound right, even to the larva. Chrysalis thrashed around and bounced in Pinkie's grip. "Friend friend friend!" Each time she said the word, it sounded more and more like Pinkie said it.

"Indeedie! I am your best friend!" Pinkie hugged the strange little creature. It felt good when it nuzzled in against her soft fur. But the wormy-thing was getting bigger by the day, and every day Pinkie could feel that trickling sensation, of her new best friend needing something, taking something. Something she was happy to give them.

Pinkie fell asleep, with the squirmy-worm against her, but when she woke, there was a pony, just as big as her! "Wow, Squirmy… you got big! And cute!"

Chrysalis looked up at the pony, her heart growing warm with the food she gave. She hugged Pinkie Pie tightly and got a great hug back. "Pinkie is friend." The words seemed to echo in Pinkie's head, she blinked and blinked, seeing and feeling those gems pulse. Chrysalis, her mind more clear now than a larva could ever have, instinctively knew what the thing on her friend was doing. "No, wrong!" The future queen lashed out, hooves and horn gashing at the halter that, to the little nymph's attacks seemed undamaged. Two legs tightened around her and Chrysalis struggled a moment, but finally gave up. "I will get it off you…"

"It's okay, Squirmy. Just be careful and I will be okay." Pinkie smiled as she hugged her friend, she had no room for another emotion. "Now, let's start on history! A long time ago… I don't know how long, there was a pretty princess!"

Pinkie woke, feeling a lot better. "I like Squishy more than I like Chrysalis." She saw Twilight sitting opposite her, still at the table.

"Squishy?" Twilight woke up from her light doze, quill at the ready. "Tell me everything!"

"It's hard, Squishy, working out what day it is." Pinkie trotted along with the bug-like pony that was now bigger than her. "Do you know how long we have been down here?"

Chrysalis looked at the pony, halting. Every instinct told her to drink and drink and drain the pony of everything. But she wouldn't. "Pinkie, I could ask… Pincer might know." She flicked her wings, making a little buzzing sound. "I need to eat more, Pinkie…" Every time she felt the hunger that growing brought, the pink filly would lean in for a hug.

They cuddled together for what felt like hours, but even at the end of it Pinkie felt no more depleted than when she had first drunk from her. "Are you feeling better now?" Pinkie looked up at her friend. "You can have more, I have plenty!" The moment she offered the feeling came again, the warm tingles up and down her spine. Pinkie giggled as the future queen drank and drank.

Something in Chrysalis seemed to give way, it was unprecedented, in her experience. She was full. "You are too bright for here, Pinkie." Chrysalis was much larger now, she judged she would be almost the size of her mother. "Come on, it is time to go."

Pinkie felt a little tired, but she widened her eyes when her friend told her the news. "Go? Home?" She was fully awake now, and bouncing. "Home home home home!"

"Foolish nymph, she can't go home yet." Pinkie saw the meanie queen at the end of the hall. "Forget such nonsense and keep feeding, soon you will be ready to learn how a proper queen takes her hive in her hoof."

Darkness moved before Pinkie. "Squishy, what are you doing?" She tried to trot around the big, dark pony.

"Pinkie, find Pincer, tell him to take you home." Chrysalis looked at her perfect little friend. It tore at her to have to tell her only friend to leave, but this wasn't the place for such a bright light. "Pinkie, go now."

The crystals pulsed and Pinkie felt the first resistance she had ever given to the halter grow. "But I want to take you home too!" Green light flared, a bolt of it lancing from the nasty poopy-queen. Pinkie felt another drain on her, the warm feeling of her friend drinking relaxed her, but she had to go and find Pincer. "You beat her up, Squishy!"

Chrysalis couldn't relax, she had gotten her friend out of the way but now she had the fight of her life on her hooves. "This is my hive, now."

Pinkie trotted down halls, calling out for Pincer, finally she found him. "Pincer! Squishy said I could go home now, and that you had to take me." She gave a cute little nod.

"H-H-Home? Squishy… Chrysalis?" Pincer looked at the filly, shaking his head. "But… Come on!" He made up his mind. If Chrysalis lost, he would come back and face the consequences, but regardless, the filly would be out of this. "Come on, follow me."

Her little hooves began to move and Pinkie found herself trotting after Pincer. "You can bring me back, right? When Squishy has told her mom she doesn't want to be unhappy?" Pincer spun on the filly, stopping her dead. She felt a trickle of that liquid and his horn glowed bright green. It built and built until it lanced out, barely missing Pinkie's head!

"When you get home," Pincer looked down at the filly, pouring his magic into this one command, "you will forget about the hive, about everything from the moment I found you until then."

Diving, she reached her hooves up to check and found the halter damaged. Giggling, realizing Pincer's intention, she yanked and pulled, dragging the nasty thing off and shaking her head. "Thank you!" She bounced over to the drone and hugged his leg. Her brain processed that things seemed green again, but that was okay, green was nice.

The trip home was easy, Pinkie followed Pincer, she bounced the whole way again, despite not having hobbles on. She stopped, her tail jerking and back-leg kicking. "I'm home…" She looked around and started bouncing more. "Pincer! I'm home!" Pinkie spun around, but there was no sight of the changeling. "Huh? What…" It was hard to remember, really hard, there was green everywhere. Then something amazing happened.

"The Sonic Rainboom!" Pinkie giggled. "Pincer didn't want me to come back, to search." She rocked around in her big stone throne, watching Twilight's quill finish writing.

"How long were you in there?" Twilight looked at her friend, a few tears falling from her eyes at the ordeal she had been through as a filly. "The hive, I meant."

"No clue!" Pinkie rocked a little more and felt something at her side, something she knew. "My cutie mark…" Both Twilight and Pinkie saw the balloons on the pink pony's plot pulsing. Both looked up, seeing the big map form the balloons over Ponyville, then move them south.

"The… badlands?" Twilight blinked, she tilted her head to the side. "Pinkie, why would the castle want you to go to the badlands?"

"Silly billy. I bet Squishy needs a hug." Pinkie rocked onto her hooves and bounced. "I will need to take a huuuugggeeeee cake!" She giggled and pronked off, leaving a shocked Princess Twilight behind.

"Pinkie!" Twilight teleported and was in front of the bouncing earth pony. "You can't go, what if they catch you again?"

A pink hoof lifted up and poked Twilight on the nose. "Twilight, I will hug them." Pinkie giggled. "I need to thank Pincer, too. I much prefer being happy all the time!"

Author's Note

Pinkie, you go and hug the heck out of every single one of those changelings until they smile. But don't forget Squishy, she sounds like she needs a hug from a good friend.

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