Chapters 3 Years Before Nightmare Moon's Return
Cadence looked at the mountain range. She had to admit that the Changelings choice of hiding place was very elegant. The whole place was full of enough wild magic to discourage anyone from coming closer, and there should be an extensive network of underground tunnels for the Changelings to sneak in and out of the hive.
However, Cadence didn't care about how reclusive the Changelings were, she still had to talk to them. So she used the plan she had worked out before even coming to that place and started focusing on her inherent power as the alicorn of bonds.
She thought about Changelings, Cadence had absorbed everything Celestia had to tell her about them, which admittedly wasn't that much, but considering love was one of the most powerful bonds and Changelings were inextricably linked to it, Cadence didn't need much information to be able to detect the Changelings.
She could feel a multitude of them inside the mountain range, but what she was looking for was a lone Changeling who was close enough for her to intercept. It didn't take very long before she found a likely candidate who was flying nearby, presumably preparing to go inside one of the hidden tunnels.
She flew towards him, quickly getting close enough to see that the Changeling had adopted the form of an orange pegasus mare with a purple mane. She slowed down upon recognizing Cadance, allowing her to approach.
"Princess Cadenza? What are you doing here?" The Changeling seemed honestly curious and not nervous at all. She(or maybe a he) was a very good actress.
"I'm here for a special mission, and I would like for you to carry a message for me. Please tell Queen Chrysalis that I would like to speak to her in person." Cadance knew this kind of direct approach was the only thing that would work on the Changelings.
"Queen Chrysalis...? I don't know who that is." The look of confusion on the face of the disguised Changeling looked entirely genuine. Cadance might have been fooled if not for her special abilities.
"I'm sure you don't. But pass the message anyway. I'll be waiting near Red Mountain." Cadence said and turned back, flying toward the point she said. The die was cast, and she could only wait for her move to draw results.
It took three entire days, but Cadance was patient, she simply kept looking at all the bonds shared in between the Changelings, and eating the meals that were teleported to her during pre-planned times. Finally, a blue pegasus stallion with a green mane(also a Changeling) approached her.
"I have come to take you to see Queen Chrysalis." He said, standing like one of Celestia's royal guards.
"Lead the way, then." Cadence smiled at him and followed when he started flying deeper into the mountain range.
After a few minutes, the Changeling landed next to an unremarkable rock in the middle of a field of identical rocks and looked around for a bit before pushing the rock aside to reveal a dark tunnel. Glancing at Cadence to see if she was paying attention, he then dived into the tunnel, Cadence did the same, flying down for a few moments before the tunnel levelled off and both her and the Changeling landed on the ground and started walking.
He then turned into his real form, an actual male Changeling, and lit up his horn. The reason why he did it became clear once Cadence heard the rock being moved again, and the light shining from outside was blocked. In the middle of the dark passage, Cadence could only follow the small light given off by the Changeling, without knowing which paths she was going through, or even if there were any alternate paths. This would be a harrowing experience, but Cadence was only feeling fascination with the Changelings themselves. Every thing they did made her more anxious to meet Queen Chrysalis, with the depths of the sheer paranoia they were going through for this visit being particularly interesting. Cadence also engraved in her mind the image of the first Changeling she had ever seen.
So occupied was she with those thoughts that she almost missed the moment they arrived at the meeting place. Several torches on the walls lit themselves up, showing that she was in a circular chamber that was as big as one of the castle's halls, and with the exception of the torches, the chamber was completely bare. The guide Changeling turned back and left through the same place they had apparently came in, the only exit of the chamber, but Cadence barely registered it, considering almost all of her attention was in the only other occupant of the chamber, Queen Chrysalis herself.
And it wasn't surprising, for Chrysalis was clearly an exceptional example of her kind, her color was a shiny black that could not be found in nature, exccept for blue-green plating on her barrel, her legs were long and elegant, despite being seemingly out of proportion with her body. She had a curly teal mane, and a lock of it fell over her face, giving it a sense of mysteriousness. Her tail was also teal and straight, appearing to be more rigid than hair should. Her wings were insectoid, translucent and tattered, but Cadence had no doubt they could exert a lot of power. She had a twisted horn that seemed to fit with everything else better than a normal one would, next to it a crown tipped with blue orbs. Finally, upon getting closer, Cadence could see that Chrysalis had small fangs and fascinating elongated eyes with green pupils.
The princess could feel that Chrysalis eyes were appraising her in a similar manner. The queen was probably wondering why Cadence had come, so it was time to actually start the job she had came to do.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty. I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, one of the Alicorn princesses of Equestria." Cadance did a small bow. If her ambadassorial manners teacher could see her, he would probably shed a single tear at how perfect the introduction was.
"Princess Cadenza." Chrysalis spoke clearly and unhurriedly "I am Queen Chrysalis. Reaper of the Underworld. But you already knew that." She finished, taking a step forwards, closer to Cadence.
"Just as much as you knew about me." Cadence also started stepping forward, walking in a way to pass by Chrysalis' side "But neither of those things is important at the moment, so we should get to more important business." She stopped and turned to look straight into the Changeling Queen's eyes, now that they were separated by only a few inches "As this is your home, you can ask first."
Chrysalis waited for a moment before speaking "You should already know my question. Why would an Alicorn come to the land of the Changelings? What business do you have with me?" Chrysalis spoke in a tone that would admit no deflection.
"What kind of business can two rulers have with one another?" Cadence smiled lightly "I am here on a diplomatic mission."
Chrysalis stared at Cadance in a way that, translated from diplomatic speech, meant pretty much 'the hell you talking about?' "So, after five centuries, Celestia just suddenly decided to send an envoy?" Despite her surprise, Chrysalis' voice barely rippled.
"Actually, the idea was mine." Cadence looked to the side in remembrance "I am a young Alicorn, so Celestia taught me a lot about things of the past. But when I learned about the Changelings, I begged her to let me come in this mission."Cadence said with a face set in determination "Celestia wanted me to take guards, set up meetings in neutral locations and go through a whole process... but I decided to forego all those things to give me a better chance." Cadence smiled again, in amusement this time.
"And all those protection spells were a compromise, I assume." Chrysalis pointed with her right forehoof.
"Indeed." Cadence confirmed "They shouldn't really affect the diplomatic process, so I agreed." She put one hoof on her chest.
"Putting all that aside." Chrysalis did a slight shake of her head "There is a more important question." She took a half step forward, putting her face almost touching Cadence's "What is the reason it was so important for you to come on this mission?"
Cadence could feel, in the deepest part of her self, that Chrysalis was concerned for her Changelings. The bond she felt ressonate on those last words seemed like the bond between a mother and her children. This, above everything else, convinced Cadence she had made the right decision.
"It's very simple. I am the Alicorn of bonds. When I heard about a race that depended on bonds by their very existence, I wanted to meet them." She closed her eyes "And when I learned that they were isolated from our society, I decided to do everything I could in order to reverse this situation."
Chrysalis looked at Cadence with even more intensity than before. Then she proceeded to pace around the Alicorn princess in a measured step.
"And how exactly do you intend to reverse the situation?" She asked, with a sneer "How do you intend to convince us to cooperate? What place could we have in Equestrian society?" the Queen turned back to Cadence and once again invaded her personal space.
"I don't know." The princess answered. But before Chrysalis could react, she went on "No one in Equestria knows much about Changeling society. I don't know your laws and customs, I don't know what you need or what you wish for, I don't know what you can do or what you can offer. That's why I had to come here. That was the only way I could potentially learn enough to understand the Changelings, enough to be able to actually negotiate in good faith." Cadence held her ground without any signs of intimidation.
Chrysalis looked at her, then drew her head back and turned it away. She gave a few more steps, clearly thinking furiously, and the Princess of Bonds simply waited. She had done all that she could, what was left was hoping.
Finally, Chrysalis stopped, turned her head in profile and said "You would need to stay inside the hive during the whole process." Cadence had to keep herself from whooping. This was as good as already allowing it.
"That will not be a problem. I had already prepared myself for it." Cadence spoke, unable to stop a small smile from forming.
"In that case... I will allow you to remain within the hive and learn about us. We will also meet personally everyday for our diplomatic discussions." She raised a hoof, and a Changeling in armor seemed to melt away from the wall "Take her to one of the vacant guest quarters" she ordered the Changeling.
"Thank you, your majesty." Cadance bowed her head.
"Please." Chrysalis blew on the lock of hair on her face "If we're going to be meeting everyday, you should call me Chrysallis." She didn't quite smile, but the feeling was there.
"In that case, you can call me Cadence." The princess did smile, the kind of smile one would usually only show among friends "I look forward to our next meeting."
"Likewise." The queen said, and then the guard(for it could only be a guard) passed by Cadance and she turned and started following him. Steeling her heart.
Because she knew that, although she had passed through the first hurdle, there were a lot more challenges to be faced before she could complete her first real challenge as the Alicorn of Bonds.
First Night and First Day
Cadence followed the Changeling guard. It was similar to the first time she was following a Changeling inside the Hive, but there were still differences. This time, the light radiated by the Changeling's horn was brighter, and she could see a lot more of the path, including all the unmarked passages that were a part of the labyrinth of the Changeling hive. There were so many the princess could be sure that any invading enemy would get hopelessly lost.
Beside that, she also detected the presence of other Changelings besides just the guard, she could see them by the corner of her eye, looking ar her from the passages, she could hear silent steps from both behind and in front. It didn't take long for Cadence to realize that news of her appearance had reached the ears of the Changelings.
Still, that was of less concern than what to do next, and Cadence realized that she had a perfect opportunity to start learning. So she did the simplest thing and asked:
"Could you tell me your name?" Directed at the guard.
He stopped for a moment, before turning his head to her and speaking:
"I am called Armor Hide. This name was given for my ability to strengten my body." He said in the same tone guards everywhere had when communicating with civilians, the kind of detached seriousness that gave rise to rumors that they were artificial ponies or something similar.
"So you get names based on your abilities?" It was similar to ponies who changed their names upon getting their cutie marks "Does this mean Chrysalis has a special talent in creating her namesake?"
Armor Hide nodded and Cadence thought of asking about what were chrysalis used for among the Changelings, before realizing there was something else she was more curious about.
"Chrysalis called herself Reaper of the Underworld. What is that about?" She asked, knowing she might be pushing her advantage too far.
Still, the guard didn't seem offended "This is a title, titles are given for performing feats. Queen Chrysalis earned hers for thrice managing to escape from the jaws of death." The last few words lost part of the detached tone he had used until then. What sneaked in was a tinge of pride, of admiration towards his ruler.
As Cadance paused to consider this new information, the Changeling resumed walking towards his destination. And Cadence decided there would be time for further questions later, specially considering how forthcoming the guard had been with volunteering information.
It took only two more minutes or so for them to reach their destination. It was a small wooden door inserted into the rock, Armor Hide pushed it open before waving Cadence inside. And upon entering it, she saw that the "guest room" was somewhat misnamed. It seemed to be designed for long term living. It was a spacious room carved in the rock, with multiple sub-areas.
There was the bathroom, which included a water system. There was a space with a table and an empty bookshelf that could be a work room. There was an empty cabinet, that could be used to store clothes and all kinds of personal effects. There was a bed that was more like a mat, but still soft and including a blanket. There was a lit lamp set with clamps on the wall, and it was a special model that became very popular for being easy to carry. There was even a few cushions laying around. It was far from the special accomodations a princess like Cadence was used to, but it was definitely confortable.
After she took in the sight of her temporary home, Cadence turned to the guard, who said:
"There will be an worker sent here to help getting you accomodated. You can also ask him about your possible activities for the next days. Any questions?" The Changeling explained carefully.
"No, I'm alright." Cadence said, shaking her head.
Then, the guard closed the door and left, leaving Cadance to think about what did those guest rooms get used for. She also checked every single piece of furniture and every single corner of the room, just to see if she might find something interesting, but discovering the whole thing was spotless. Thus, she simply daydreamed until she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in." She said in a slightly raised voice.
A male Changeling entered and walked closer before doing a small bow "Hello, Princess."
"Hello." She smiled and did a little wave "You can call me Cadance. But what is your name?" She stepped closer.
"I am Light Keeper. I've come to help you with any matters you may need while you are our guest." The new Changeling spoke with a tone that resembled that of the cleaning staff of the palace. Helpful, professional and a tiny bit ingratiating.
It was a familiar tone, and Cadence ended up answering without much thought "Then, could you bring a few scrolls and writing implements for my use? Also, something like puzzle books, to give me something to pass the time."
Light Keeper didn't disappoint "I shall see that will be done. Do you need anything else? We already know you are receiving food regularly, so..."
Cadence decided to resolve her doubts. She indicated the room "Why is this called a guest room? What kind of guests use these rooms?"
He looked up for a second before answering, and his voice took a tone closer to that of a storyteller:
"Sometimes, ponies or others start feeling constrained by their roles in society and decide to go away for a time, or sometimes they get lost in certain places, or sometimes they are purposefully looking for old legends. Whatever the case, they sometimes end up making their way into the hive, and they volunteer love in exchange for being taken care of for as long as they decide to stay. Every single one of them lives in one of those rooms." He finished with a somber expression.
"I can understand." She waited for a few moments before opening her mouth again "So, what has been decided regarding me learning about the Hive?"
"In these next few days, I shall take you to visit the Changelings that are in charge of the most essential aspects of the Hive. As well as the most important places we can allow you to go into."
Now Light Keeper's voice took on a knowledgeable tone, like he was a teacher talking about his specialty "Her Majesty Queen Chrysalis will call for you to discuss with her later in the day."
"It seems to hold together. And... could I ask to receive the same food as the guests?" Cadance asked in a conversational tone.
"I don't see why not." The Changeling answered simply, seeming to understand the meaning inherent in that request.
"And you will be my direct line with Chrysalis for the kinds of things we don't discuss in our sessions." She stated in a confident tone, having figured out at least part of how the hive operated.
"Yes." He didn't deny it. And then he looked down for a bit before continuing "Do you need anything else? Because it is getting late, and the next day is going to start early for you."
Cadance realized that she was indeed getting somewhat tired. And briefly wondered about the schedule management in a place where the sun didn't reach, but realized there was something else she wanted to ask more.
"One last thing," she took two steps closer to the Changeling "what is your name for?" She was getting more natural in asking that question.
Light Keeper stopped for a moment, as if trying to decide where to start "I earned this name by inventing a new kind of lamp... Of course, since Changelings can see in the dark, it's usually guests who thank me for them." With those words, he turned away and left the room.
Cadence thought about her new situation and about what she was going to be doing soon. She engraved in her heart the fact that every Changeling she met had their own stories, knowing this would be something that would be disastrous to forget for even a moment during her mission.
Soon, there was a knock on her door, a shout of "Delivery!", and when she went to the door, the princess saw a box containing what she had asked for. Then, bringing the box inside the room, she went to the bathroom to do her final preparations for the night before laying on the bed and sleeping.
The next morning, or at least what her body told her was the next morning, Cadence woke up and did her morning preparations before taking a scroll and writing a message on it:
Hello, Auntie
Things are going well so far. I have become a guest of the Changeling Hive and will be able to learn more about them and Queen Chrysalis has agreed to discuss diplomatic possibilities with me. I will keep you posted on any updates to the situation.
Also, they will be providing me with meals, so you don't need to keep sending food to me.
How are you and Twilight? I hope you're all fine, and I'll try to bring something interesting for her when I get back.
Much love to you all.
Cadance.
She sent the scroll directly to Celestia with a spell and took out the puzzle book she had received the previous day, intending to distract herself with it until the time came. However, before she
could even open it, there was a knock on the door, a familiar cry of "Delivery!" and she had to go see what was up.
This time, the delivery was a basket containg two daisy sandwiches and an apple pie. They had brought her breakfast. Of course, she thought, I had almost forgotten that I'll be getting food from the Changelings now.
She ate her breakfast and finally opened the puzzle book she had received. It was one of those kinds that had all sorts of different puzzles, with the first one being a logic problem. And looking at it, Cadance soon realized that this book had been used before, but someone had them removed all the markings with magic. Possibly multiple times. She was still in the middle of solving it when she heard another knock on the door.
After allowing the visitor to enter, the princess recognized him as Light Keeper, who walked right to the front of her before talking:
"Are you ready for your first day?" He asked, his voice this time tinted with an encouraging tone.
"Yes, I am." Cadence nodded firmly "Where are we going to go today?"
The Changeling smiled "You're going to see the chief of the gatherers. She is one of the most skilled Changelings in the entire hive. Her name is Aqua." He turned away and left the room, signalling for Cadence to follow him.
She grabbed the lamp on the wall to help light the way, even if his light spell was good enough to make it unnecessary, she still felt it was the right thing to do.
"I presume her name has something to do with the maleability of water?" Cadence asked after two minutes of walking, since she honestly curious.
"That and the fact it can be anywhere, including the air." Light Keeper clarified with a smile in his voice.
"She's your lover, isn't she?" The Alicorn worked out.
He stopped for a moment before turning back to her and smiling abashedly "Was it really that obvious?"
"Not for most people," Cadance shook her head "but I am the Princess of Bonds. I could feel the resonance of a strong bond when you were talking about her."
He turned his head away "I guess there's no need to keep it a secret. But I was just embarassed to be seen through so easily, because the gatherers like her are experts in stealth and acting." He resumed his walking, Cadance following closely.
They stopped talking for the rest of the walk, but this time the silence was more because of a sense that there wasn't much that needed to be said. The two had become fairly confortable with one another, to the point where Cadance wouldn't hesitate to call Light Keeper a friend.
Eventually they got to a big hall where there were dozens of Changelings, which was a great surprise, considering she had never seen more than two Changelings at the same place at the same time, and that was including the Queen. All of them were listening carefully to a Changeling at the very end of the room, who was facing them and talking about something.
"... that is why the careful study and control of body language is essential to any sucessful mission. Now you should practice in front of mirrors until you can do every gesture and movement perfectly and switch between them fluidly no matter which form you're using. Class dismissed!" Was what Cadance managed to distinguish after she got close enough for the voice to make sense.
The Changelings formed four lines and walked out of the hall in perfect syncronization. If someone had told Cadance that those were the Changeling guards, she would have believed it.
Finally, there was only the Changeling teacher remaining in the room apart from Cadance and Light Keeper... or rather, apart from Cadance, since he apparently had sneaked off together with the rest of the Changelings.
"Hello, you must be Aqua, right?" Cadance waved at her, without even bothering to get closer first, but those halls were silent and carried voices well.
Instead of answering, Aqua took to the skies and flew towards the princess, before coming down in a technically perfect maneuver that would get her full points for landing in a flight competition.
Now that they were close enough to see each other clearly, the Changeling put a hoof in her chin and answered "That's me. And who are you?" She asked in such a perfect manner that Cadance could almost believe the Aqua had no idea who she was.
However, she wasn't caught off guard, and simply put a hoof in her chest and assumed her most formal voice "My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but I prefer to be called Cadance, I am the Alicorn of Bonds, I am currently 23 years old and my current interests revolve around the estabilishment of a peace treaty between the Changelings and Equestria." She smiled and passed the ball to Aqua.
It was clear the Changeling mare was satisfied with Cadance's response. She put a hoof in her own chest and declaimed in a manner remarkably similar to what the princess had just done "In that case, the reason why you are here must be to obtain the counsel and teaching of Aqua, the Thousand Lives, the high chief of the gatherer branch of the Changeling Hive." Suddenly she stomped the floor with her front hooves and pointed at Cadance "Isn't that right?"
"Smartly deducted." the princess was having fun, but decided it was time to turn the tables "As expected of one of the most skilled Changelings of the entire hive, partner of the genius that brought so much wealth to it, Light Keeper."
Suddenly, Aqua was right beside her "Ohh..." She started, in a voice that was amused and yet annoyed at the same time "Has someone been telling tales?" She put her hoof on Cadance's shoulder.
"It wasn't that hard to deduce." Cadance came very close to losing her cool at the sudden change, but still hung on "He mentioned gaining his name by inventing a lamp, and my room had this lamp," She indicated the lamp still held in her magic "the same kind that became super-popular in recent years. Combined with the weird feeling I got to take it when I was coming here with him, and also the feeling when he was talking about you... I just had to join the dots."
"Ha." Aqua did a few claps, genuinely impressed "I guess even young Alicorns shouldn't be underestimated." She then moved to the front of Cadance "Then tell me princess... What do you want to know?"
There was only one possible answer to this question "As much as you can teach me." She answered with the eagerness of a scholar.
The high chief smiled "Then let's start."
Gatherers and First Discussion
Author's Note
HA HA HA! Fuck you, depression! I still managed to finish the chapter before going to sleep! How do you like them apples?!
Gatherers and First Discussion
Aqua's horn glowed, and she brought a folder from behind herself (Cadence was sure the room had been bare before) opened it and brought several sheets of paper to float in front of the Princess.
Cadance saw that every file had the name of a city or other similar region, together with pictures and a big number of annotations in too small a script for Cadance to read without getting closer (but she did learn that the Changelings used standard equestrian, at least for this kind of thing), and some of the regions were rather far afield.
"Gatherers," Aqua started, in a lecturing tone of voice, while returning all papers to the folder "are the members of the swarm with the mission of travelling to love rich areas and collecting love, for it to be taken back to the hive for distribution.
"Collecting love can be done in many ways, but the gatherers are encouraged to be as circunspect as possible to avoid drawing undue attention." She was pacing in a circle around the Alicorn, before stopping and turning her head to look at her while speaking the next part "It is quite easy for a Changeling to feed on someone to the point where they become a living zombie, but this kind of thing leaves traces." She then returned to her pacing.
"Different gatherers have different strategies. Some will do voluntary work and charity, others will work in the service industry or anywhere they will be in constant contact with ponies." The Changeling stopped pacing and faced the Princess directly "And some will take a more direct approach, seeking those that are looking for the confort and warmth of another in order to receive their love." The last few words had adopted a more somber tone.
"Regardless," her tone returned to normal, and she walked towards Cadence, but wasn't focusing completely on her anymore "often they will have to adopt short-term disguises, but most of their work will be done by maintaining a few continuous roles." She stopped next to the Alicorn and looked at her wings "The system is set in such a way that a new gatherer comes to assume the role whenever the previous gatherer has to go back to the hive make his deposit."
Then her head raised "My title was obtained by setting up an entire network of fake identities, even if things didn't go entirely according to plan. Tell me, do you remember this person?" Aqua turned into a young, yellow unicorn mare with a blue mane and a whirlpool cutie mark.
Cadance suddenly remembered a strange case that became very famous when she was a filly "Of course, that's White Falls, who was accused by that Red Aura of being part of a secret organizaaa..." Her brain finally caught up to her mouth. The princess understood at that moment about the feelings the literary researchers had when they discovered that the popularly known last 40 chapters of Mares of the Red Chamber were written by another author, and that the original climax of the story was supposed to be very different.
"That..." She managed, before being cut off.
"You don't need to pity him." The Changeling's voice was annoyed "He had always been planning on betraying me to get some financial compensation. It was the only reason he agreed to help manipulate the records." Then she sounded amused "Too bad for him, I had the help of dozens of Changelings to act as the ponies he 'invented', and their families. And there was also some document manipulation and a bit of mind magic but everything turned out all right." She smiled, before turning back to her true form.
"I understand." Said Cadence, in a tone that carried all sorts of hidden meanings.
Aqua took to the air, then turned to Cadance "Let's fly." She said before taking off without waiting for a response.
Cadance took off after her, and saw that the high chief was going straight towards a wall. She expected some kind of last minute double back, but instead she flew right through the wall, now revealed to be an illusion (or at least, that part of the wall was an illusion). The Alicorn followed after her, but was unable to avoid the instintive flinch when running into the wall, despite putting the lamp to go through first.
They came out in a cilindrical tunnel, with Aqua waiting a bit for Cadance to catch up before flying forward.
"Of course," She started, even though they were still flying relatively fast "This also means that the gatherers are the biggest and most reliable source of information about the outside world that the swarm has." She suddenly dropped down through another illusory wall, forcing Cadance to scramble to keep up.
"The reports sent by the gatherers are first read by other gatherers in standby, since the smallest change being overlooked could lead to serious consequences." Her tone was remarkably casual for the kinds of maneuvers she was pulling off "But the general news is then shared to the rest of the hive." They had somehow gotten back to the kind of corridors that she usually went through walking. Aqua landed in front of a divisory arch and entered the room indicated by it as soon as the princess landed behind her.
"This is the report room. Where the reports of the gatherers and others come to be sorted, copied and filed." She explained when they both could see the contents of the room, a bunch of bookshelfs and tables full of paper scrolls, together with three Changelings working.
Without warning she went back out of the room and took flight again, with Cadance managing to keep only due to already having predicted something like that.
This set the tone for the next half hour. Aqua would fly around until they got to a specific spot, give a short introduction, and then fly away to the next spot, like she was trying to set a speed record for showing the hive to somepony new.
"This is acting class, where the Changelings learn how to control their actions and reactions to pass without being discovered or cause specific impressions on others." She showed a room full of big and detailed images of ponies on the walls, and Changelings practicing their forms.
"This is the main workshop, where the Changelings learn small crafts to gain money and obtain jobs. Specifically, here they learn about the various jobs and requirements, and the other workshops are where the actual job learning happens." She indicated a room with a Changeling behind a counter and a table full of small leaflets.
"This is the psycology room, where Changelings learn about pony personality, and how to take advantage of it to fullfil their missions." She presented a room full of Changelings reading scrolls and writing in them.
And during the whole thing, she kept talking while flying about how each of those things was important for gatherers, about how some of it was also important to some of the other orders of Changeling, about how the courses the Changelings had to go through were decided and scheduled...
It was almost too much, so the Princess became glad when she was taken to a small break room for the two of them to have their lunch. And yet Aqua still managed to fill the empty space by explaining about how the Changelings needed both food and love to work properly. Cadance almost regretted saying "As much as you can teach me." Almost.
It seemed like the high chief of the gatherers was taking the notion entirely too seriously.
However, after the food, things seemed to calm down. Aqua took Cadance back to the same places where she had been before, but instead of just an introduction, they actually got to stay for a while.
The acting class performed a short play, the psycology teacher did a quiz on several general aspects of the coursework, and the various workshops got to show the visitor exactly what they could do, even making a few gifts for the Alicorn Princess (They were all sent to her room). She also got to meet all those Changelings personally.
Cadance finally felt like she was in a true diplomatic mission, and it was a great feeling.
The hours passed, and the time came. Another Changeling had come to call the Princess for her discussion with Queen Chrysalis, and she gave a goodbye wave to Aqua before flying after the guard, who went through the same kinds of routes Aqua had been going, except without the same kinds of sudden turns.
The guard(not Armor Hide, it was a different one, and she was worrying too much about the upcoming discussion to think about learning his name) stopped by the side of the door leading to the meeting place. This time, it was already well lit when she got there, and Cadance approached the waiting Chrysalis purposefully.
"So," Chrysalis started, when Cadance got close enough to her "you have learned about the gatherers today. What do you think is the greatest problem the Changeling horde faces currently?" She looked down at the princess with a certain eagerness.
"Nothing surprising, it is a lack of love." She answered, with a frown "Their system is efficient and clearly well put together, but there was always a feeling of insecurity whenever they talked about the love gathered." She breathed deeply and looked at Chrysalis "And the new members are almost too dedicated, it feels like they are under a big pressure to perform well." The princess then adopted an expression of concern "I don't know the specifics, but things aren't going well, and there's no expectation of them getting better."
Chrysalis looked at her, admiration at how easy it was for this diplomat to understand things so perfectly warring with sadness due to the mention of the problems plaguing her Changelings. Both emotions showed on her face before she managed to school it neutral again.
"Indeed. You are exactly right." She walked to Cadance and stopped right beside her "In the last decades, it has become harder and harder to keep the Hive working." This time the feeling she gave off was unmistakably guilt "I have had to make sacrifices, and consider options that I would have never done before. Insane, reckless options." She approached Cadance a little more "In fact, if that were not the case, I would have never considered allowing an Alicorn inside of my hive." She then looked to the side before returning her eyes to Cadance "So, what do you think I should do?" Now her voice had lost all emotion.
"The best way to significantly increase the amount of love you can gather would be actually moving most of the horde to the love rich areas, so that they wouldn't need to depend so much in a limited number of gatherers." Cadance said in a straight tone, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Too hard to do in secret." Chrysalis said in an amused tone, as if that was an old suggestion she had heard hundreds of times. Perhaps it was.
"And that is exactly the problem." Cadance said, willing herself to maintain a level voice "I can think of no plans that can save the Changelings without necessitating that they break that secrecy that seems to be ingrained into their very bones." Her tone somehow had become apologetic "You will have to consider actually revealing the Changelings to the world."
Chrysalis' face scrunched up, like the mere thought was enough to make her sick, but she managed to overcome her distaste to ask:
"And then we would just become a normal part of society?"
"It would take a lot of work, a lot of projects to educate the ponies about this new race they've never heard off, but..." Cadance had lifted a front leg and was delineating points with its movements "The gryphons did become a normal part of society."
This had probably been a good call, Chrysalis actually seemed to be seriously considering it. But it still took quite some time before any response was forthcoming.
"We should probably shelve this discussion for now." She finally said "There are still more possibilities to be explored, and this kind of extreme solution would need a lot of guarantees. Do you have any special questions?"
That wasn't entirely sucessful, but there was still time, so Cadance asked something that had been bugging her for a while:
"Why can't Changelings feed off love from other Changelings? From what I understand about love, this makes no sense. And I know they love just as much as any non-Changeling." She asked in a way that Celestia would classify as very similar to Twilight Sparkle.
"There are actually many theories." Chrysalis looked down, as if trying to remember something "But I think the most plausible one is the 'restriction'. Basically, you know how there's very few spells that deal in love?" She was acting more like a scholar.
"Yes, there is actually part of the reason I was so eager to meet you." Cadance looked at her in interest.
"Sometimes, a mage can apply 'restrictions' to their own magic, in order to make it stronger. In the same way, it's possible that love magic is so powerful, that for an entire race to be able to use it would take pretty heavy restrictions. Like actually needing love to survive, and not being able to use the most easily available love." She finished and looked straight at Cadance, as if daring her to get into a theory argument. Celestia would also classify that as similar to Twilight Sparkle.
"This is..." The princess didn't know what to think "Possible...?"
"Indeed." Chrysalis instantly recovered all of her ruler poise, in a way that would be funny if she wasn't so charismatic "Any other questions?"
Cadance remembered there was something else she could ask:
"How did you get your title?"
Chrysalis smiled. It was a mysterious smile with an edge of danger.
"I'll answer tomorrow. It has to do with the order you'll learn about next on the schedule." She said with that smile still on her face.
"I'll hold you to that. Then I'll see you later." The princess did a small bow of respect and started walking towards the exit.
Builders and Second Discussion
The flight back to her room(and it had really become easy to think of it as "her room") didn't take very long, and soon Cadance was laying on the bed and holding the puzzle book in her telekinectic grip. However, it wasn't open, the Princess being more focused on thinking about what she had learned that day, specially in the discussion with Chrysalis.
Secrecy, love, survival... Every one of those concepts kept spinning around in her head and her thoughts weren't going anywhere. She was finally snapped out of her mental state by a knock on the door and the already familiar cry of "Delivery!"
Realizing she was actually pretty hungry, the Princess went to get the food and sat down for dinner.
It seemed to help, after she finished her meal, Cadance realized she didn't have to try and think of everything alone. And she went to get a scroll to write in.
Hello, Auntie
I am learning a lot about the Changeling society, and Chrysalis seems receptive to the possibility of peace at least, so that's the good news.
The bad news is that they take secrecy to a frankly startling degree. It doesn't seem easy to get them to reveal themselves to the wider world, which would be ncessary for diplomacy to even have a chance of working.
Do you have any ideas about dealing with this situation?
I will do my best anyway, and hope for the best.
Love for all of you again.
Cadance.
With that done, she felt a lot more relaxed and went back to the puzzle book, this time actually opening it and working at the puzzles. Time passed fast, and Cadance went to bed and had a nice, dreamless sleep.
The next day, after walking up, Cadance realized that she was already so used to that room she didn't even have the momentary 'where I am' pause upon waking up. She then saw that something had arrived while she was sleeping. It was a letter from Auntie Celestia. The answer to the message she had sent her the day before.
Dear Cadance
It seems like you are doing well.
Things are about the same back here, but you definitely don't need to hear anymore about Twilight foregoing sleep for study or me having to listen to a lot of pointless bickering from supposed adults at official meetings.
Your dilemma is indeed a complicated one, but at the heart of things exists the problem of trust. Changelings have hidden themselves for so long that they have lost the ability to easily trust.
It is not entirely unwarranted, considering their abilities and appearance, which only serves to make the situation harder to resolve. You would need to obtain a substantial amount of trust from them in order to get your plans to be taken seriously.
However, one thing you may not have realized is the fact that you don't need to go all in, all at once. Having an undisguised Changelling visiting Canterlot as a "mysterious but friendly stranger", could do a lot to show the hive that the possibility of cooperation exists, and to allow my ponies to get used to their "new" neighbours.
This is only an idea, but I hope that you can consider doing something similar.
Love from everyone here, and we all wait to see you again.
Princess Celestia.
Cadance smiled as she read the letter. Her auntie really was wise and made her feel at ease. She still had a lot to do, but having this kind of support made it much easier to believe that she would be sucessful. Her thoughts were interrupted by the delivery of her breakfast, and she thought about how best to bring up the idea to Chrysalis as she was eating.
It wouldn't do to mention that it came from Celestia, since the last time the two had met, Chrysalis ended up taking a mini-sun to the face.
Celestia wouldn't bring up good memories.
She was still thinking about it when Light Keeper came to take her to the next step in her schedule, the High Chief of the order of builders, Molder Mind. She was apparently the youngest of the high chiefs, which the Changeling guide told her as they were walking towards their destination.
They entered in a large room full of a large number of chrysalis of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some Changelings were taking things and inserting them in the chrysalis, while others were ripping off pieces and carrying them away somewhere.
They stopped in front of the Changeling that was overseeing everything from the center of the room.
"Princess Cadance? This is Molder Mind, the high chief of the order of builders." Light Keeper introduced her, stepping to the side.
"Prin- er, your highness, er..." The Changeling mare stumbled over her own words, extending a hoof like she wasn't aware she was doing it.
Cadance shook her hoof firmly and said "You can just call me Cadance. What do you have to show me?" She tried to help Molder.
"Er- I mean, Princess... Cadance. I- I am going to tell you about the order of bluiders, I mean builders." She kept trembling and moving her head to all sides except towards Cadance.
The princess felt at ease, this behavior was pretty similar to Twilight when she was panicking, and it was pretty hard to remain wary while seeing something like that.
"That sounds great. Where do we start?" Cadance did another push.
"Well, right here..." She seemed confused for a moment "Oh! I mean we're talking about chrysalis. They are one of the most important parts of the functioning of the Changeling hive." Slowly, she was beginning to loosen up as an opportunity to discuss her job came up.
Cadance nodded and motioned for the Changeling to continue. Light Keeper had already left with his usual subtlety.
"Chrysalis are recycling tools. They can take in any kind of biomass and turn it into whatever we need." Molder Mind was getting into it, she seemed to have forgotten who she was talking to, and pointed at the biggest chrysalis "They can have virtually any size, and we builders specialize in turning parts of it into materials for our craft.
"Chrysalis pieces can be turned into armor and weapons, incredibly strong supports and links as well as anything you can build, really. You can even eat it as food in a pinch." She was nodding to herself, clearly reaffirming the value of her work.
"But our Builder order doesn't do just that." She was waving her hoof in a negative "We are also the ones who maintain the entire hive, fixing everything that's broken, excavating new tunnels, making sure all the piping works okay..." She then smiled widely "We also set up the rune configurations so that all magical systems in the hive work correctly." She was getting more and more worked up "And when it comes to obtaining resources from outside the Hive, it's also our order who does it!" The other workers had stopped to look at their boss "It is a great honor to be a part of the Builder order, and it is something we all carry proudly!" She threw her hoof upwards.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW" The ovation from the workers was deafening, and seemed to snap Molder Mind out of it.
"Ah- I mean... That's pretty much what we do." She avoided meeting Cadance's eyes.
"This all seems pretty easy to understand. Do you have any particular problems?" Cadance asked.
"Not... as such... No-Nothing that isn't a common problem for the entire swarm anyway..." She then turned to one of the workers "Leader! You take care of things while I'm out!" The Changeling saluted "So..." She turned back to Cadance "I... I can show you some of- of the stuff I talked about."
Cadance gave her best smile "Then let's go."
And they went. Molder explained the various wards as well as useful things like the illusion walls, in fact she explained it in excruciating detail and most of it went over Cadance's head. The Princess decided that the Changeling should have been one of those prodigies, which really fit with her being the youngest high chief. She had never mentioned any titles, but the Alicorn wouldn't be surprised were she to get any in the future.
They had their lunch in a break room where many of the Changelings present came to greet Molder.
They went to see the many crates of resources that were brought over from the outside because the Changelings couldn't produce them, or couldn't do it in large enough numbers. They went to see one of the pillars of support that helped keep the hive whole, and the Changeling even did a small check up, just to show what it took to maintain them. They went to see the underground lake from where the hive got its water, and the mechanisms that were used to move it around.
Through all of this Molder Mind got more and more comfortable with Cadance's presence, to the point where she stopped stuttering entirely. But then, something else made the princess curious. It seemed like the Changeling kept looking at her and thinking hard about something. It eventually got too much for Cadance to keep waiting, and she asked about it:
"What are you thinking about?"
The Changeling seemed shocked by the question, but quickly recomposed herself "There's another place I could show you, but it is very secret... and Queen Chrysalis told me to judge by myself whether I should show it to you or not."
"Is it a cool thing?" Cadance asked, she had also become more relaxed around that young Changeling that reminded her of Twilight.
Molder Mind smiled warmly "Yeah. It's a really cool thing... You know what, let's do it. I think you should see it anyway."
They went. Cadance soon realized that this "secret" was definitely something well-protected. They had to go through many layers of wards and several illusionary walls. There was also a ridiculous amount of guards along the path. But eventually, they got to a room behind a heavy door and found... A kindergarten.
Suddenly, they were set upon by a pack of Changeling nymphs.
"Moldie!"
"You came to visit again!"
"Good thing I wasn't sleeping today!"
"Who is the pinkie?"
There was no way Cadance would lose an opportunity like that. She stepped forward and said:
"Hello, I am Princess Cadance. Moldie wanted to show me this place."
"Wow, a Princess! ... What's a princess?" A particularly excited one said that.
"Are you like Queen Chrysalis?" This one was smarter.
"I really like her mane." Said a Changeling touching Cadance's hair.
Most ponies would freeze in this situation, but the Alicorn Princess was an experienced foalsitter. She quickly answered "I guess I am indeed like Chrysalis. Thank you for the comparison!" She rubbed the head of the Changeling who had made the comment.
That made the floodgates open, and even the timid nymphs that hadn't come forward earlier approached Cadance. And then they started to play, and tell stories, and Cadance saw every single one of the many, many toys they had. Time passed in a blur, until Molder got a message to take Cadance to the Queen.
While they were walking to the meeting point, Molder talked:
"You are really good with children."
"That's because I worked a lot as a foalysitter." Cadance smiled again at the reminder.
"A princess serving as a foalsitter? That's cool." The Changeling imagined being taken care off by Queen Chrysalis as a Nymph. That seemed like something one would brag about constantly.
It didn't take that long before they were back in the familiar meeting room. Molder Mind gave her farewells and left Cadance for her meeting with the Queen.
"So..." Chrysalis said, when they were face to face again "I think we should start with me telling the story I promised you." She had a small smile on her face.
"I would like to hear it, yes." Cadance said in a pompous tone, figuring they weren't at the serious part of the meeting yet.
"Well, you've learned about chrysalis today. But what you don't know is that the most used biomass in the past consisted of dead Changelings." Chrysalis said without emotion.
Well, things had gotten serious rather suddenly.
"Changelings who were good at using chrysalis like me would encase themselves as their last act, to make it easier for the others." Chrysalis was talking with an old voice, like Celestia did once in a while "One day I did it, after giving away all of my love to save another Changeling." She seemed proud of that "But just as they were putting me along with the others, I actually awoke and burst out." She smiled without much strength "That was the first time I defied certain death. Twice more I did it, and on the third time, when I burst out I was different from the others." She looked at Cadance and put her hooves on her chest "I had became what you can see here. I was the first Changeling Queen in so long that they had become legends, and I felt like I was invincible." Her tone got prouder as she said those last words "And well, you know how that turned out." And then it went back to sad again.
There was only one thing Cadance could say in response to this story:
"It's no surprise that you became a Changeling Queen." The princess was completely confident.
"Why?" Chrysalis asked.
"You walked into death three times to save other Changelings, the love you felt for them, the desire to protect them, I feel like those were the requirements for you to ascend." Cadance said, with just as much confidence as before.
This had apparently managed to make Chrysalis lose her words. She stayed silent for a few seconds before dodging the topic:
"You were really good with the nymphs, you know that?" Still, her voice was sincere, so Cadance didn't tease her for it.
"You received a report?" Cadance was curious.
"More or less." Chrysalis entered lecture mode again "Every Changeling has a mental connection, it usually only allows one to sense position and a few strong feelings, but with some effort it is possible to send entire memories to other Changelings. And since I am the Queen, it is easiest to send them to me." She turned her hoof to the air "I just asked them to keep me informed about you."
"That explains some things" Cadance said "And it seem like a really convenient ability to have."
"It is certainly one of the advantages of being a Changeling. But we should really get going to the main part of the discussion." Chrysalis was suddenly all business.
"Sure. I have an idea to propose, but do you have any news first?" Cadance was still a trained diplomat, and could get in business mode just as fast.
"Nothing earth-shattering." She put her hoof in her chin "The other Changelings are still too wary to consider revealing themselves, but your influence on the High Chiefs is helping. If you keep it up, we may actually be able to work something out." She actually seemed rather surprised at that.
"Well," Cadance decided this was a good time to mention the plan "I actually had an idea that might help. Instead of doing a complete reveal all of a sudden, you could send a volunteer Changeling to show himself at the capital, which could help the ponies become more used to the idea of Changelings. Then things could be done one step at a time." This was the best she could do, presenting the idea at a proper time.
Chrysalis clearly struggled with the possibility of one of her Changelings showing themselves to the world while she wasn't there to help, but she still seemed to be seriously considering it "That could be a good idea, I'll have to float it with the other Changelings to see what they think."
"That would be perferct!" Cadance smiled brightly. Things were looking up again.
"Then I guess this discussion is over. I really hope things actually work right." She also smiled a little.
And that was that, Cadance was guided back to her room while Chrysalis went back to do her job of Queen, because the Hive never sleeps.
Guests and Third Discussion
Author's Note
Can I ever manage to finish a chapter at a civilised hour?
Guests and Third Discussion
Cadance followed the Changeling guard (this one was Armor Hide) back to her room and sat on the bed, examining the events of the latest discussion with a critical eye. She was glad that the interactions between her and Chrysalis had become a lot more casual, specially compared to their first meeting.
She wanted to thank her diplomacy lessons for that, but the fact that the Changeling leaders really seemed to want something to be worked out was probably the biggest contributor. There could be no diplomatic exchange if one of the sides didn't want to have anything to do with the other. But they weren't mindless, uncaring monsters, and their leader was clearly concerned enough with the problems faced by the swarm to try for this kind of solutions, even though working with others wasn't part of the Changeling culture, and that past events had estabilished ponies as a threat.
And every diplomatic exchange was doomed to fail if there wasn't an understanding between parties. That was the reason Cadance decided to become a diplomat, understanding was based on empathy. And empathy was the base of all relationships between intelligent beings. Of all bonds. And Cadance thought she had a pretty good understanding of Queen Chrysalis.
The Changeling Queen was similar in some ways to Celestia, due to their shared role as leaders, but she also felt more like a mother, probably because her Changelings were much more connected with her. She had pride in her accomplishments, and a sense of danger that could easily turn into threat, but was completely controlled. She was smart, and was definitely trying to understand Cadance as well. To work out if she could trust the Alicorn that had come bearing words of peace.
Well, this was the opposite of a problem.
Cadance had never tried to deceive the Changelings with any of her actions, and if Chrysalis and the other Changelings could be convinced of her honesty via her interactions with them, that would only help. This would allow them to trust her more, and it would help in convincing them to accept any plan of Changeling integration into society.
Cadance went to get the food that had been delivered while she was considering all those things. She saw that another puzzle book had also been delivered. They were a little early, because she thought she would probably only finish the previous puzzle book on the next day, but still took it inside with her.
After eating, the Princess thought about sending another message to Celestia, to inform her of the new developments and the things she had worked out, but ultimately decided not to. It would be better to wait until she had something a little more substantial to tell her auntie.
That decided, she plopped down on the bed and set upon the puzzle book until she started yawning, before putting it away (like she expected, there were still some puzzles left) and going to sleep.
The next morning had the usual routine, including Light Keeper coming to her door to take her to her next meeting. However, he said something different.
"Today, you are going to come with me to see the other guests of the Swarm." He seemed somewhat apologetic.
"So, you are the High Chief of the guests?" Cadance said in a teasing voice.
"I don't consider myself a High Chief." He said embarassedly "But someone has to manage all the matters involved with keeping the guests confortable and happy. And it ended up being me."
She knew that had to be something he wasn't saying, and he was probably being far too modest, but she let the matter drop. They walked, with Cadance talking a little about her impressions of the High Chiefs she had met so far, as well as how she thought her discussions with Chrysalis were going.
Eventually they got to a door just like the one for Cadance's room and knocked on the door. A male voice answered that they could enter.
Inside was a middle aged stallion with a green coat and yellow mane, his cutie mark was a bonfire. Light Keeper greeted him.
"Hello, Mr Camping!"
Them he turned to Cadance "Mr. Camping Tales is one of the guests who has been living with the Changeling hive for longest."
He turned back to the stallion "Here is Princess Cadance, the new Princess of Equestria there has been news on a few years ago. She is visiting the hive in a diplomatic mission."
"Hello, your highness. Light already came here to ask if I would be willing to speak to you, so don't worry about that." He said in a peaceful voice.
"You can call me Cadance. Could you tell me about how you came to become a guest of the Changelings, and your experiences as one?" She asked respectfully.
She noticed that, different from the other times, Light Keeper didn't leave her to do something else. It made sense, since he was responsible for the guests and he was the High Chief she was "meeting with" that day.
"Well. It's not really that complicated of a story." He looked to the side "There were some things with my job and my family, and I fell into depression, and started having trouble at my old job, of camping teacher." He sighed "It got to the point where my boss pretty much ordered me to go take a vacation."
After a small pause, he resumed the story "I pretty much decided to camp out at the most desolate place I could. I don't quite remember why. Perhaps I was trying to force my talent to the limit to be able to forget everything else, perhaps I simply thought any place was good enough if it didn't have other ponies... or perhaps I was simply deciding to end my life in a more indirect way." A smile finally appeared after that last part "Regardless, I was found almost dead by a few Changelings and nursed back to health. They explained that I could remain here as long as I wanted in return for sharing my love with them." He shrugged "It wasn't really anything special."
"I can understand. Light Keeper told me about the kinds of ponies, and others, who end up living with the Changelings. I'm also living in one of the guest rooms, even though my reasons to be here are different."
"Well, it's not like they could let you live in one of the Changeling quarters." Camping Tales joked "And about the rest, it's really not that different from what I did back in Equestria. I give classes in camping to Changelings that want to learn it, mostly the gatherers, I receive books, news, and other things to be able to distract myself when I'm alone. And for the rest of the time, I go see the various things the Troupe does, as well as all the smaller performers." He finished, with a tone that made it sound obvious.
"The Troupe?" She asked, not having heard of that before.
But instead of Camping, it was Light Keeper who answered.
"You are scheduled to meet them tomorrow. Their chief is also the High Chief of entertainment, and you will be able to ask any questions you want to her."
"So that's already solved." Camping smiled, then frowned "But if you want to know why I'm one of the oldest guests still here... It's because guests are not allowed to leave while carrying memories of the swarm." He said, with a sense of finality.
"So the information on their existence and location is hidden." Cadance realized. It was something that would have been obvious if she had stopped to think about it, but there had been a lot of more pressing matters in the way.
"Yes. And I really haven't reached the point of being willing to sacrifice all my memories from here just to go back to Equestria." He said in a determined tone, and the Princess realized that he had very strong bonds with the hive itself and the Changelings. To the point where he was basically a naturalized Changeling.
"Well," Cadance started "I'm trying to get the hive to reveal itself to the world. So maybe someday, you won't have too." She said in a hopeful voice.
"That sounds like a good thing to fight for." He shared her hopeful tone.
After that, he offered to let Cadance see the process of sharing love with the Changelings. She agreed, since seeing this kind of love magic in action was one of the reasons why she came.
It wasn't actually anything special in physical terms. He got close to the Changeling who would receive the love (Helper Heart was her name), closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, a burst of light came out of his body and entered the Changeling.
But to the senses to Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Bonds and user of love magic? It was an experience she would never forget, even centuries afterwards.
She could feel the love, the bonds, and everything else Camping was focusing on. She could feel how Helper syncronized with it in some complex way, turning all the love into the kind of life energy the Changelings needed to survive.
It was definitely a miracle, and it was something an entire race could do as a matter of course. Cadance could only smile, with tears in her eyes, because of just how beautiful that experience had been.
It took a few minutes for her to regain control of her emotions. And the Princess swore right then and there that she would not allow the Changelings to suffer as long as she could do something to help. She could not bear the thought of the race that was responsible for this dying out.
They went to see the other guests that had accepted her visit (Light Keeper mentioned some who weren't willing to see her, and Cadance understood they must have had their reasons for that). There were ponies, but also griffins, minotaurs and she even saw a yak.
All of them had their own stories, and their own reasons for being Guests of the Swarm, and their own routines in their day to day lives, and their own things they wanted to show her. Like the minotaur (Water Wheel) that proudly explained how the mechanism used for filtering the water of the underground lake was actually his invention, and the previous mechanism was a lot less efficient.
He said he was happy for being able to have a real effect on the workings of the Hive.
Eventually, she was once again called for a discussion with the Queen. Cadance was looking forward to discussing about the way love gathering worked, now that she had seen the sharing of love from the guests.
"I see you had a good time today." Chrysalis said, smiling and tilting her head. She had seen that the princess was smiling brightly.
"Yes." Cadance said "Seeing the love magic that goes on when love is shared to the Changelings is just... amazing." Then her smile got smaller and she went on "Actually, I want to talk about something involving that."
"I think I already know what you want to know, but let's sit first." Chrysalis indicated two chairs there had been put in the room sometime after the last time Cadance had been there "I should have probably prepared this earlier, but..." She didn't have any excuse. They both sat down.
"Well. I saw how much love energy Helper Heart got from that. And considering Aqua told me about how many sources of love a gatherer neeeds to get 'full'... It doesn't seem to fit." Cadance gave Chrysalis a questioning look. It seemed like this was exactly what she was thinking.
"Yes." The Changeling Queen said simply "As you might have gathered, there are differences on the amount of love a Changeling can get from a single person, depending on certain circunstances." She was talking in a more relaxed version of her lecturing voice.
"The best case scenario is love given by someone who knows they are giving it to a Changeling." She nodded her head "This is what you saw. And even though they are few, this form of love is so strong the guests are still responsible for providing a significant amount of love to the swarm.
"Then there is the most common form of love used by the swarm. The love given by someone without knowing the target of their love is a Changeling in disguise" She closed her eyes "It is a lot less potent than the first form, so the gatherers need to obtain love from many different sources before becoming full.
"And there's the third form." She looked at Cadance, with a weird expression "Love taken falsely. Changelings can use mind magic to convince others they are that person's loved ones, and thus obtain the love that would go to them." She sighed "It is the weakest form of love, and has many problems if it is used to much on a single target."
Cadance was horrified.
"I know." Chrysalis said in a sad voice "But I still gave them permission to use the magic in case of emergency." She looked sharply at the Princess.
The Alicorn found her voice:
"I'm more sad that the first way is something so rare for the Changelings." She was still somewhat choked up "It was so beautiful, that I don't want to think that they can't reach their full potential because there are not enough people who know about you." Her eyes had become determined.
The Queen observed her intensely, as if trying to see inside her very soul. But suddenly, her eyes softened, and she said in a small voice:
"There's something I want to show you. The main work I do as Queen of the Changelings" Her voice had traces of guilt.
The two of them got up from the chairs and Cadance followed Chrysalis as she walked through a few passages.
Eventually, they got into an immense room, and the princess was immediately reminded of when she met the High Chief of the builders, because this room was also full of Chrysalis. Only, they were all transparent, and they all contained Changelings.
There must have been hundreds of them, and Cadance could tell that every single one of them was sleeping.
"Love rationing." Chrysalis said "I keep a big part of the swarm in stasis so that the love demands are lower, and I cycle those who are awake and those who are asleep."
She walked towards one of the closest chrysalis "The High Chiefs and other important Changelings stay awake almost all the time, since they are needed for the hive. But the others..." She indicated the chrysalis, showing that there was a nymph inside "Some of them haven't even earned their names yet."
Chrysalis was looking at the nymph with a somber mood, and Cadance's heart almost broke upon realizing how bad the Changeling's situation actually was.
And then, it happened.
A pulse of magic unleashed itself from the Princess' body, and passed through the entire hive. It took a moment for her to realize that this had been a pulse of love.
The Changelings inside the chrysalis started moving. Chrysalis looked at Cadance with surprise in her eyes. The Alicorn opened her mouth...
And suddenly Chrysalis had her front legs around her head, hugging her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She spoke in a half cry, half shout. Then, she separated and looked at Cadance, her eyes already wet.
"I presume..." She started, still with a choked up voice "I presume this is not something you can do voluntarily?" She managed to regain a big part of her calm.
"Yes. I would definitely have mentioned it before. I just felt bad for them, and..." Cadance answered, still a little surprise at how suddenly things had escalated.
"I still have to thank you for this gift. You have just completely filled the reserves of every Changeling in the entire hive." She said, wiping her eyes "Even if you can do nothing else, the swarm will never forget this miracle you have done for us." She looked to the Changelings that were starting to burst out of the chrysalis "I declare that tomorrow will be a day of celebration! Where every single one of our members will be awake for the first time in far too long!"
She then looked at Cadance "I'm sorry we have to cut this meeting short, but I have to organize everything." She was smiling, and seemed happier than Cadance had ever seen her.
Her heart beat fast. The princess stammered out an "O-okay. See you tomorrow." in answer. And followed the guard that had helpfully appeared at the doorway.
She didn't understand exactly what was going on with her, but she could feel that this diplomatic mission had just taken a far different turn.
Entertainment and Fourth Discussion
Cadance went back to her room almost like it was a dream. Her thoughts were in too much disarray for her to remember much about when she was walking there. But by the time the princess was in her room, she managed to recover enough to actively try to understand what was going on with her feelings.
And she quickly managed to recognize the source of all those jumbled up feelings inside herself. It was Queen Chrysalis. Cadance also understood that this was not something that had developed suddenly, but something that that had been growing unnoticed ever since the first time she saw the Changeling Queen. Or perhaps even earlier, when she dreamed about meeting the Changelings and their Queen.
In fact, the latter seemed more plausible, but it wouldn't have been any more than a simple interest, except their interactions after they actually met had caused those feelings to grow, as the Princess of Bonds understood more and more about the Queen of the Changelings and was attracted to what she had found. And those feelings ended up crossing the barrier into true and genuine affection and love after the events of the previous day served as a catalyst.
Many would misunderstand things or try to deny their feelings, but Cadance was the Alicorn of Bonds, she could no more do any of that than Princess Celestia could put out the sun. But the main question then became, what should she do about those feelings?
She had already robotically grabbed the dinner delivered to her door, and was eating without being able to feel the taste. While she ate, she recognized that as the most important question. At first, she tried to feel if the state of her heart would interfere in the promise she had made the day before, about helping the Changelings.
She was happy to see that her resolution still had just as much strength as before, if not more. It made sense, since Chrysalis loved the Changelings, so helping them would make her happy.
In that case, she already knew one of the things she would do about it, simply continue with her efforts at diplomacy, because her feelings didn't change her mission. With this, Cadance managed to recover most of her equilibrium, since she had remembered her mission, and its importance.
But that still left how she would deal with Chrysalis herself. The Princess could tell she loved the Queen of the Changelings, but she was somewhat confused about how to express that love. What did she actually want from Chrysalis was still something unclear, except for the fact she didn't want to be apart from her in some sense.
Cadance then realized she was thinking about things from the wrong angle. She didn't need to plan about how she would deal with Chrysalis, she could just follow her heart and hope for the best. After all, love was not something you could decide and manage entirely on your own, it needed to experience and communicate with the other, otherwise there was no point. The Princess would act and react based on her feelings when she could interact with Chrysalis.
Everything decided, Cadance's heart settles and she recovered full control of her faculties. Since it was still too early to go to bed, she went to finish the first puzzle book and start the second, doing a lot more puzzles than she had been able to in the previous days. Eventually, she went to sleep.
The next morning, Cadance woke up with a frown. Her dream had been pleasant, since she had managed to talk with Chrysalis about her feelings in it. It was annoying to be put back in square one. Still, she didn't let it bother her too much, and did her usual morning routine until Light Keeper came to take her to today's spot on the schedule.
He seemed significantly happier than any other time she had seen him. The princess didn't need to ask why that was the case, considering just what was happening that day. Still, it was nice to see him like that.
"This is amazing. Mask will even reprise the most popular performance of the troupe. I'm sure you'll like it." He said with a broad smile.
"The High Chief of Entertainment?" Cadance deduced.
"Yes. She gained her position by being very good at writing, scripting and everything similar. And she is also very prollific. This earned her the title Factory of Stories." It seemed like there was an inside joke she wasn't getting.
"Hm... Now I'm interested in reading something by her. What do you reccomend?" She asked.
This led to a big monologue about the merits of some of her diverse stories. Cadance made a few notes about things she was interested in, but soon they reached a place that was very different from any other in the hive.
It was an enormous space. It was an order of magnitude larger than anywhere else she had went to before. The only comparison she could make was with the central portion of Manehattan. There were numberless small merchants peddling their wares, small performers doing their acts and small buildings of varied forms, many of them seeming to be temporary. All those things were spread all over where Cadance could see.
And there were Changelings, a ridiculous amount of Changelings. So many Changelings she could believe that every single Changeling in the world were all under that same ceiling, sharing that same space.
"Welcome to the Central Square. The heart of the hive." Light announced, in a flamboyant manner perhaps more befitting of Aqua.
And they walked around, with Cadance looking everywhere to try and capture every single interesting detail she could. But there was no way she could see everything, even if she spent the entire day only trying to do it. But perhaps the most interesting thing she saw was many of the guests walking around casually like they did that everyday. It was quite possible that some of them did.
Still, they had a planned destination, and it didn't take all that long for them to reach a small stage where a female Changeling with a sack on her back was directing other Changelings in setting up curtains.
"Oh hey, it's the heroine of the moment." Said Mask, upon spotting Cadance. She then walked towards her.
"Heroine? I guess you can consider it that way." Cadance admitted "Bye Light." She said, upon noticing that Light Keeper was sneaking away again.
"Bye." He said, and then left.
Cadance turned back to mask, and received a small black sphere sculpted to be similar to an insect from inside the sack "Thank you." She said automatically.
"That's from one of our newest sculptors." Mask said proudly "Let's walk around and see what fun we can find."
That was exactly what Cadance wanted to do, so she followed the Changeling chief and they walked aimlessly through the square. The Princess could tell, because Mask was looking around side to side, in search of cool stuff.
First, they stopped to watch three Changeling brothers doing a mix of acrobatics and juggling. Mask advised them about various things they could do to make the performance more elaborate, like but objects to serve as obstacles to work around. She gave them a small red pin from inside her sack. Later, they saw a Changeling nymph (only a bit older than the kindergarten ones) doing a sort of acrobatic dance performance that was full of spins. Mask advised her to keep her attention on the audience, and make her movements in a way their best view was pointed towards them. She also gave the nymph a golden top from the sack. Then they saw a Changeling mare who was reciting poetry, who Mask advised on how to vocalize more effectively so that her words could be understood more easily, and gave a small decorated paper scroll.
And that went on, with Mask having advice for every single performer they met, not matter their specialties. Cadance was amazed at Mask's abilities, but even more amazed at the fact that she never seemed condescending or disapproving of their attempts. Eventually, she started talking about her work.
"This is pretty much a hobby for me. My real job is mostly managing the flow of resources that can be used by the performers. And also the distribution of works like books and paintings, where it is something solid that the artist can create. Apart from that I just lead the Troupe, the most talented group of artists and performers in the swarm. I decide who to invite and what the group will perform, as well as when." Mask was very casual about things "My job is important to keep everyone happy, and that is pretty much the only thing that really matters in my opinion."
"That's a nice way of putting things." Cadance said.
Afterward, the Changeling took Cadance to see the highly anticipated show, which was held in an open theather with an immense number of seats. And even that number was not enough, as other Changelings were hanging seats on the ceiling, creating a tridimensional seating arena, just to give a place for every single Changeling (and others) who wanted to see the performance.
And the Princess didn't have to wait overly long for the show to start. Soon, the whole swarm was silent, the stage was set and the first actor walked on stage.
Mask hadn't said anything about what kind of show it actually was, or what it was about, and Cadance soon understood why. She would have difficulty in describing what she was seeing and hearing in an eloquent manner. It was a play, because it told a story, but some parts had dialogue, some parts had singing and some parts were absolutely silent. It was a display of acrobatic skill, both in the small, precise movements and in the large, sweeping aerial dances. The best she could describe it would be as a mix of styles.
And the story wasn't any easier to explain. The temporal order was anacronic, seeming to be unconcerned with a simple progression. In fact, the story seemed to be told in a thematic fashion, going through moments of action, then moments of sadness, then moments of comedy, and on and on... And the itself wasn't that easy to follow, because it seemingly was trying to give the viewer the true essence of Changeling history and culture. And yet, she could only understand it because she had already learned a lot about who the Changelings were.
It didn't help that every Changeling played at least five different characters, with very little to distinguish them, specially given there were characters whose simillarities were intentionally highlighted.
Still, at the end of it all, Cadance wasn't the least bit hesitant to join in the ridiculously loud cheer that filled the stands. The clapping lasted for a long time, and it was absolutely deserved.
The Princess waited until the Changeling High Chief came back to take her to Chrysalis.
"You know. That was my masterpiece, but I've been thinking of creating something even better." Mask said.
"That was really good, so I would be interested in seeing what else you can come up with." Cadance spoke seriously.
"I'm planning on making something simple yet meaningful. I actually got some inspiration from your visit." Mask smiled at her.
"Oh... That... I don't know how to respond to that." Cadance said truthfully.
"Just try to make sure this story would have a happy ending." The Changeling said.
Cadance blinked, then nodded.
This time, the place she was taken to was actually the same place where the chrysalised Changelings had been kept. And Chrysalis was already hard at work, putting a big number of Changelings in stasis. The Princess waited until Chrysalis was free.
"I have good news for you." The Queen said with a smile.
"Oh? What kind?" Cadance said, already smiling herself.
'Your little miracle has made the Swarm very happy." Chrysalis said, with a nod "You've seen how they've been celebrating all day."
"Right." Said Cadance, that had seemed to be the case.
"And this has been the final nail necessary for us to agree to give your plan a try." Chrysalis said, broadening her smile a bit.
Cadance went through a quick sucession of emotions upon hearing this. First she was elated with the prospect that her mission would be a success. Then, she felt sadness, at the prospect of having to leave. Then, her mood recovered upon thinking of Chrysalis openly visiting Equestria to talk more about diplomatic issues. In the end, Cadance kept her smile, even if her eyes contained a hint of wistfullness.
"This is certainly good news." She said.
Chrysalis would have answered, but another Changeling marked for stasis came into the room, and she went to create a chrysalis for him as well.
When she came back, Cadance could tell that something was wrong, and immediately guessed what it had to be.
"How are you holding up?" She asked, with concern.
Chrysalis looked at her for a moment in surprise, before starting to talk with a hitch in her voice.
"It was so good to see all of them awake just for today... But now I have to make them go to sleep again." Cadance could see that her eyes were watering.
"Do you know why rationing love is necessary?" Chrysalis asked, but didn't wait for an answer "It's all my fault. When I became Queen, I decided that the Changelings should grow and expand, and this would lead us to even more love, which would allow further expansion." She stopped for a moment "But instead, all that did was create a shortage of love that could only be dealt with like this. And it never ends, it just gets worse." Chrysalis seemed to be almost to the point of tears.
Cadance didn't think. She reacted. She followed her heart. Before she could even tell what she was doing, the princess was hugging the Queen.
That seemed to be too much, Chrysalis started crying and repeating "I'm sorry", while Cadance was saying "It's okay, we can deal with this." before being reduced to simply trying to confort the crying Changeling beside her.
A few minutes later, Chrysalis managed to recover control of herself.
"Thank you. I needed that." She said, while wiping her tears.
"You're welcome. And I think it would be better to discuss further tomorrow." Cadance offered, seeing that Chrysalis was still not completely back to herself.
"I-I think you're right." Chrysalis agreed readily.
Still, Cadance thought that there should be something else she could do for the Changeling. It took only a moment to decide.
The Alicorn of Bonds put her hoof over her heart and focused on her feelings for Chrysalis. Thinking about what she had seen on the previous day, she sent those feelings out, and was rewarded with the sight of the same kind of burst of light, that was absorbed by Chrysalis.
The Changeling Queen was speechless, Cadance said bye to her and left.
As she followed the guard back to her room, the Princess felt light. She had followed her heart and even managed to express her feelings to Chrysalis. She was satisfied with the way the day had gone.
There was still a surprise waiting for her back at the room. Apparently, Mask had sent her a book that was a collection of all her stories. Other than that, the rest was routine, Cadance ate, read, did more puzzles in the book, wrote a few letters to Celestia that she then destroyed, having had no intent of sending them in the first place...
Time went by quickly, and soon Cadance was sleeping.
The next day, she was scheduled to meet the High Chief of the Guards. Light Keeper talked a little about her:
"She's called White Sword, and her title is Great Defender. She's the oldest current High Chief and quite possibly the strongest Changeling alive, after Chrysalis."
"Seems like an interesting one." Cadance replied.
The Changeling took her to a small building inside a distant tunnel. Inside was a desk with three Changelings working and another Changeling with a big sword strapped to her back, who was obviously White Sword.
"Welcome, your highness." She said, straightening up "I am called White Sword, and I will show to you the job of the guards today"
"Good day to you." Cadance answered.
White pointed to the table "Here is one of the offices where reports are given and collected."
Then she took Cadance out of the building and through a series of tunnels.
"Since our existence is a secret, our most common job is dealing with monsters that wander into our territory." She said, then stopped.
"The Quarray Eels are the worst we have to deal with, and I got my title by fighting off a hundred of them by myself."
Then she pointed to the wall "We are in one of the border tunnels. There are no more tunnels beyond this wall, and the only Changelings who use this tunnel and others like it are guards doing patrol."
She nodded and continued speaking "This way, if something tries to invade the Hive from beneath the earth, it won't be able to attack the more important parts by surprise."
Cadance thought that made sense. She talked about what she knew of the organization and training of the royal guards, and White Sword did the same for the Changeling guards.
After that, they passed through various patrol routes and saw many guards and fortifications, as well as the warehouse where the Changeling guard weapons were stocked.
Still, although it was interesting, the Princess started losing focus on all the explanations and stories due to the proximity of her next discussion with Queen Chrysalis. It was easy to say that she was following her heart and would simply keep doing it, but she was getting anxious.
However, if the Changeling High Chief could see that Cadance wasn't paying complete attention to the proceedings, she did not mention anything.
And then the princess went to meet with Chrysalis. The Queen had completely recovered her poise, which made Cadance glad. The two of them sat down before starting the discussion.
"So, I asked for volunteers to become the 'Mysterious Changeling', and I think I have someone who would be a good candidate." Chrysalis said.
"That's good, but it would be best if we could discuss the exact workings of the plan with Princess Celestia. But I actually have another matter I would like to discuss with you." Cadance said seriously, deciding to go for broke.
Chrysalis looked intrigued "What kind of matter?"
The Princess adopted her most formal voice "In my position as ambassador, I would like to propose a marriage between the Queen of the Changelings and one of the Princesses of Equestria."
Silence reigned for a long moment before Chrysalis said:
"You, you really don't hold back on anything, do you?"
"I just follow my heart. And thank you for not asking if I'm serious." The Princess nodded and smiled slightly.
"I knew that would only insult you, it's just... really sudden, but I guess the heart works that way sometimes." She stopped for a moment and then moved closer to Cadance "So I should give an appropriate answer." She adopted a formal voice "As the ruler of the Changelings, I, Chrysalis, declare that I am amenable to that kind of union, as long as it is not with Princess Celestia, since we have had previous conflicts." She smiled.
Cadance smiled back at her.
The Princess moved first, but Chrysalis was only late by an instant, and then they were kissing. Chrysalis' kiss was hungry, fitting for the queen of a love-eater race. But Cadance was perfectly happy giving her everything she had, and as the kiss prolonged itself, the two bodies pressed ever closer to each other, and their legs (and in Cadance's case, her wings) wrapped around their partner as if afraid they would disappear were they released.
But after a while, the kiss stopped, the two mares breathing deeply, and Cadance nuzzled her partner with obvious affection.
"Now I'm a little sad there are no special marriage rites for Changeling royalty. I always liked those kinds of things." Chrysalis said, a bit wistfully.
"Oh, you are being silly, you are the first Changeling Queen in recorded history. You can define your own marriage rites." Cadance touched Chrysalis' neck.
"I guess you're right." Chrysalis said with a laugh "What kind of thing should we do?" She squatted to look at Cadance face to face.
"Oh, I can think of a few things." The Princess said with a wink.
The two shared a laugh and then started kissing again.
Author's Note
Getting this chapter out was a struggle. Still, the Epilogue should be coming later today.
Princess Celestia was looking at the sky, waiting for her niece to come back.
Twilight was with her, and the Alicorn was disappointed at not being able to give more news about the situation of the mare's old foalsitter, but Cadance really didn't tell her much. Her latest letter just said she had been sucessful and would come back with more news. It seemed that she wanted it to be a surprise.
They didn't have to wait a lot longer, Cadance came flying in, flanked by three pegasus guards. Twilight also saw her, and started waving and shouting, despite the fact that the princess wasn't close enough to hear.
Still, she soon came down and Celestia waved the guards off. Her apprentice and niece did their own small ritual, and then Cadance produced a book from within a knapsack.
"Here Twilight, I knew you would be interested in this. It's about the history of Changelings." She gave the book to Twilight "But keep it a secret for now, okay? I'll talk to auntie a little bit and then we'll catch up."
Twilight nodded and galloped out of the room. Cadance smiled at her and then turned to the other princess.
"So, it seems like things really went well." Celestia said, knowing Cadance wanted to talk.
"More than well." The young princess seemed to be almost bursting with joy "Things went AMAZING!" She pointed her forehooves at herself "You are looking at the consort of the Changeling Queen!" She exclaimed.
"What." Celestia blinked.
"Chrysalis and me got along well." Cadance said with a nod.
Celestia froze again, at the sheer depth of understatement this implied, before finally managing to say:
"Okay, explain things from the beginning."
"Well, this seems like a logical progression of events." Celestia said, having recovered her normal calm "So, we need to discuss how best to integrate Changelings in society. Not just the Stranger thing, but also how to educate the ponies about Changelings and everything."
"Yeah, and I hope all that doesn't take too long." Cadance said with a small frown.
"Why?" Celestia asked "Is there another problem? I thought your love was enough to make the rationing thing a much smaller issue."
"It's just that I don't want to delay our marriage too much." Cadance said.
Celestia became slightly nonplussed "But aren't you already married?" She asked.
"We are married in the Changeling custom, but we still need to have a marriage in the pony custom." Her eyes started shining "I want to have a big ceremony, with musicians, all kinds of foods and..."
Celestia smiled as Cadance procceded to describe her own perfect marriage. It seemed like the problem had been resolved in a clear way, even if it also was an unexpected way. It made her glad.
"Oh, that day is going to be perfect!"
Author's Note
And here we are, at the end of my first story. I hope everyone liked it, even though it has a lot of flaws. This made me realize a lot of things about writing. I hope you will all join me for my next story, which I've already started writing. It's going to be very different, more of an adventure-comedy thing. See you then.
