Friendship Bling and Changing Things

by WeatheredField

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Dark, Alternate Universe, Drama, Changelings, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Violence, Sex
Length: 51379

During her brother's surprise wedding, Twilight meets a demon from her past that overturns the lives of everypony around her, and threatens to tear apart their friendships. Meanwhile, Twilight's enemies, old and new, close in as her spirit fails.

Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. My brothers are Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard, and a dragon named Spike that I hatched when I was little. I have five friends that help me wield the Elements of Harmony, artifacts that protect Equestria from evil. I have a few other friends that are less important, but still great ponies nonetheless.

One catch, though. I am also a changeling Queen, and the friends and family I just mentioned are all my subjects, and children as well. They don't even know it, but everything's working out alright, so no reason to tell them! After all, it's not like a giant wave of love energy could suddenly reveal all the changelings in Canterlot, right? Right?

Part 1, Revelation: Twilight Sparkle meets an old enemy that reveals a secret she's kept since she was named.

Part 2, Recollection: The Elements of Harmony try to get to the truth of the matter, changeling Queens begin their game of chess, Queen Citlali takes her Hive and runs from Canterlot.

Part 3, Reformation: Queen Citlali begins to grow her hive, Whitetail Hive takes some time to get used to the news, Princess Cadance dreams of a dark creature.

May 11-15, 2017: Featured for the maximum time... whoa.

Published 2017-05-11 04:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-07-02 05:01:02 UTC

1 - I - In-Laws Are The Worst

Part One: Revelation
Chapter I - In-Laws Are The Worst

“Twilight, you shouldn’t be frettin’ like this! It’s your brother’s wedding, you should be happy about this, not mopin’ around, and starin’ out the window.” Applejack rested a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, and she groaned. Her brother was getting married, which wouldn’t be a problem if she had heard anything about it beforehoof.

But she hadn’t. He was marrying some unfamiliar ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’, instead of anypony she had met, or even heard about. She was understandably quite peeved when she had received the letter telling her of this news.

She looked back at Applejack and the other Bearers. Spike locked eyes with her and gave a small nod of encouragement. “It’s just… my brother and I were always close as foals, and now I discover that he’s not only decided to marry somepony without telling me, he’s also managed to marry somepony I’ve never heard of! I mean, who is this ‘Princess Mi Amore… whatsername?”

Spike chuckled quietly as Rarity spoke up. “Does it matter, dear? I mean, think about it! A Princess is marrying your brother, that means that you’ll be part of the royal family! If I was in your position, I would be celebrating, not mourning.”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah, sure it’s neat that I’m getting a royal sister-in-law, but this is about my brother! We’ve always been so close, has something changed between us to warrant this secrecy?”

They looked out the window, and all gasped. The train had passed through the last tunnel on the way to Canterlot, which meant that the city was visible in all its splendid glory. While the whole image was marred by the pink shield surrounding it, it was still an impressive sight.

The train neared, then passed through the bubble, sending a wave of pink energy down the train cars. It passed over them, making them feel a peculiar, warm, tingling sensation. Twilight looked back at the shield and smiled.

As the train began to slow to a halt, Twilight stood at the doors and looked to the others. “Spike, girls, I’m going to head straight for my brother. In the meantime, the Princesses are expecting us, so I’m sure some guards or similar ponies will be there to take you.” They looked out the window, and sure enough, a small group of guards were holding two signs with ‘Elements of Harmony’ and ‘Spykoranuvellitar.’

Spike chuckled. “They even got my full name, I’m guessing Shining had something to do with that. He knows that it bugs me whenever ponies use that name, it just sounds so… fancy.”

Rarity leaned over and rubbed his head with a hoof. “I think it sounds noble and dignified! A name truly fit for a strong, handsome dragon such as yourself!” She smiled at Spike, who smirked and flexed just a little bit. Twilight nudged his leg, and he snapped out of it.

The doors slid open, prompting Twilight to leap into a sprint towards the castle. She said a goodbye over her shoulder and focused on her target. She pushed her magic and felt seven pings behind her, and one towards the castle itself. That was the one she needed.

After some searching, she spotted him standing on a balcony and ordering some guards around. She ignored the guards and teleported in front of him. “SHINING ARMOR, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!?” He yelped and fell backward. The guards moved to restrain Twilight, but Shining Armor waved them off.

After a few shaky breaths, he got to his hooves. “Twi— Twilight, good to see you too? What was that about?”

She gave a heavy groan. “What was that— Oh, I don’t know, maybe we’ll start with the part where you forgot to tell your sister, in person, that you were getting married to some mare she’s never met!? Does that ring any bells?”

“Never met? Twilight, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadence, your old foal sitter! And I couldn’t tell you in person because of how swamped I am with guard duty. Somepony gave an anonymous threat to Canterlot a few weeks back, and we’ve been searching high and low to find who did it.”

Twilight squealed and pressed her hooves to her cheeks. “Ohmygosh, Cadence!? She was the best foal-sitter, ever, of all time! And you’re marrying her!? Don’t get me wrong, I’m still furious at you for not saying anything about the wedding, but this makes it a little better! But what kind of threat was made to warrant a weeks-long search?”

Shining scratched the back of his head. “Some noble pony found a mare in an alleyway, with the note tied to her hoof. But here's the thing that got the Princesses worried: She was completely out of it like something had removed her soul, or similar. The note essentially said that the offending party would do the same to the Princesses, and has attacked a few others, so we’ve been trying to stop whoever is behind the attacks.”

Twilight frowned. “That sounds serious, and I can see why that would take up most of your time. But still, you never even sent a letter saying you started dating Cadence or anything. What’s up with that?”

He smirked. “We’ve been dating since you became Princess Celestia’s student, Twilight. I kinda expected you, of all ponies, to figure that out. You always were the best at telling ponies’ emotions. Cadence and I know each other excellently by now, so we’ve finally decided to marry each other!”

Twilight's eye twitched, and she shook her head with a mad giggle. “No, no, I don’t miss emotions, trust me! I would have noticed if you two were together!”

Shining shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe you’re losing your touch?”

Twilight cleared her throat and stared at Shining for a moment. “Shining Armor, right now you are feeling humor, concern, guilt, anticipation, love, and a little bit of worry. I haven’t lost my touch, trust me.”

Shining shook his head and motioned for Twilight to walk with him. “I’ve never been able to figure out how you do that. Anyways, follow me. There’s somepony you need to meet.”

They walked towards a relatively small tower with a bridge leading to it. As they neared it, Shining leaned over to Twilight with a touch of pride. “Hey Twily, I’m sure you’ve been wondering what’s up with the big pink bubble around the city, right?”

She tilted her head in thought. “Lemme guess. The mysterious threat to Canterlot, combined with the royal wedding means that security needs to be pretty tight. Nopony untrustworthy can pass through the barrier, which you cast and modify to fit the Princesses’ needs.”

“Right on. I knew you’d figure that one out!” He winked at Twilight just as the tower’s doors opened, and the greatest foal-sitter ever stepped through. “Ah, the mare of the month herself! Cadence, it’s good to see you! I’m sure you remember Twily?”

Cadence looked at Twilight, and they both locked eyes. Their breath caught in their throats, their hearts beat faster, and the whole world seemed to slow for them. Cadence’s eyes flashed to green, slitted eyes, and Twilight’s flashed to lavender slits. Twilight grit her teeth, yet still smiled, and lowered herself.

Cadence pointed her horn at Shining Armor, who slowly zoned out into a dreamy state. The two mares locked eyes again and stared each other down. The alicorn smiled. “Citlali. How have you been all these years? How long has it been, twenty years now?” She pointed a hoof to Twilight’s mane. “And it looks like you’re just as nostalgic as ever. Just couldn’t lose the mane, could you? Shame you didn’t die in that cave, though. Would have been nice to keep thinking I bested you.”

“Chrysalis. Leave now, and I may consider giving you a head start. I am stronger than I was, and I have allies in the Royal Guard, the Elements of Harmony, and the Princesses. One sound from me, and they could be here in a moment.”

Cadence laughed. “Straight to the point, you punctual prick. You haven’t changed, which is probably some form of irony.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I will admit, I didn’t expect you to be here, or alive at all. I figured you were just as dead as your precious pile of rubble you called a hive! I’ve been feeding off the populaces’ love for the royalty here, so I can finally overthrow those damned Princesses.”

Twilight’s horn lit up. “What did you do to the real Cadence? Speak now, traitor, or I will devote every fiber of my body to making you bleed.”

She laughed long, and hard. “Like you could ever resort to violence, much less harm me! And who is the real traitor? Brainwashing your children, abandoning the other Queens… It’s like you don’t even think yourself a changeling anymore, Citlali!” Twilight swallowed, shifted uncomfortably. “Your silly foal sitter is fine, Twilight. I have her out of the way for now, just until things go to plan.”

Cadence pointed her horn at Shining, who began to reawaken from his daze. “Now, let’s talk like the ponies we are, Twily.”

Shining jumped and looked around. “Oh, sorry about that! I must have zoned out for a second. It’s probably because of the shield spell… How are the two greatest mares in my life doing?”

Cadence smiled. “Oh, it’s so good to see Twilight, after all these years! You’ve grown up well since I last saw you.”

Twilight smiled forcibly. “It’s good to see you too, Cady. I think we all know what happens now, right?” Cadence frowned for just a moment in confusion. Twilight lowered herself and began to dance. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The Princess blinked and stared at Twilight.

Twilight shrugged sheepishly. “It’s alright if you don’t remember. It has been so many years since we last saw each other, though, so I blame myself for not getting in touch with you more often.” Cadence smiled and scratched the back of her head.

She then walked over to Shining Armor and hugged him Shining got the signal and nodded. “I’ve got to get back to my station, but Cadence will be checking in on all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say I couldn’t be more excited to have you here, right dear?”

Cadence smiled and spoke in an all-too-cheery voice. “Absolutely!”

——————

Twilight sat around a table with her friends and sighed. Rarity frowned and rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Whatever is the matter, dear? You’ve been gloomy and on edge the entire time we’ve been here. Surely you’ve forgiven your brother for not sending you an invitation?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, that’s not it. Did Cadence seem… off to anypony? How she acted, talked, or anything? I’ve got a nagging feeling in my gut, and I know something’s up.”

“I can’t say I have, dear. Sure, it’s a slight bit intimidating standing next to royalty, and an alicorn, but I feel the same way for the other two princesses as well.”

Applejack nodded. “I can’t say I’ve felt anything strange about her, either. Is somethin’ bothering you, Twi?”

“No, it’s just, I don’t know. Something is off about her. I can read everypony’s emotions like an open book, but her emotions just seem… off. Fake, or acted out.”

Rainbow scoffed. “What? Are you saying that somepony has replaced Cadence, just to get married to your brother? I like chances for adventure as much as you Twilight, but that’s a little far-fetched.”

“Actually, it isn’t. I’ve read about a species of symbiotic, shape-shifting, emotivores called changelings. Though they’re mostly old mares' tales at this point, I’ve decided to give those credibility as much as scientific research. I’ve learned my lesson with Nightmare Moon and Discord.”

“So what, you think that a ‘changeling’ has replaced Cadence? What would be their motive?” Rainbow leaned forward for an answer.

“Well, at the wedding, Cadence would be standing close to Celestia. If she could drain enough emotion directed towards herself, Celestia, and my brother, she very well could be powerful enough to dethrone the princesses.” Rainbow leaned back and gave a nervous chuckle.

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “Well, I think that she’s nice. A bird of mine was singing off-key, and she helped him fix his mistake!”

“That's nice, but it could still just be an act. At least until the wedding is over and done, keep your guard up around her, okay? Being around her just gives me shivers all over.” They all grumbled affirmatives.

The Bearers, apart from Twilight, began to head back to their bedrooms, since it was getting late. Spike watched them leave, then turned back to Twilight. “Since when did you talk that openly about changelings, Twi? We need to be careful, especially around that snake.”

“Don’t worry Spike. If we can fix this, and out Chrysalis before she has any chance to harm the princesses, then we don’t need to worry about discussing changelings, much less revealing any hives.”

Spike sighed and stood to leave. “I hope you’re right. Just let me know if you need me in anyway to dethrone her. I’ve waited all 13 years of my life to get revenge for what she did. I don’t wanna add Equestria to the list of things to avenge.”

Twilight hugged him and pulled him close. “Me neither, Spike. Me neither. I’m going to talk to her, threaten her with her hive’s location. So long as I’m able to send the Royal Guard after her hive, she can’t attack me. Basic blackmail!”

Spike shook his head vigorously. “No, Twilight. That’s a stupid plan! What if she just kills you, or sends you to wherever Cadence is being held? You’re too angry right now, Twilight. Take some time and think this through!”

Twilight sighed. “Not enough time and Chrysalis wouldn’t do that. She’s smart, she knows that replacing me would be too easy to spot this far into the wedding. But, if something does happen, tell our friends, and the Princesses. They trust you as much as they trust me, they’ll listen.”

Spike swallowed. “I still think it’s a stupid plan.”

——————

“…This was my favorite uncle’s, he wore it to his wedding, though it did have a different symbol on it, of course.” Shining fidgeted with the red and white uniform that his uncle, Lantern Light, wore so long ago. Twilight also heard Cadence just out of view.

“I think it looks wonderful. A uniform fit for royalty, or as the case may be, the royal guard!” Twilight frowned, then put on her best ‘happy Twily’ face. She knocked on the door and pushed it open.

“Hey, Twily, what’re you doing? Shouldn’t you be headed to bed right now? Big day ahead, don’t you know it!”

“I actually wanted to talk to Cadence about my part in the wedding, to make sure I know exactly what to do! I’ve read some books on being the best mare, but nothing has really helped.” She scratched the back of her head and smiled apologetically.

“Of course! Cady, I’ll be in the bedroom when you’re done, alright?” Shining nodded and walked from the room. Twilight slowly closed the door, and stared at Cadence.

“We need to have a talk. Something about you leaving, and me not outing your entire hive to the Equestrian Government.” Cadence's horn flared, and the room lit up with a bright green glow.

Cadence shrugged and smiled smugly. “Soundproofing spell. If we’re going to ‘talk’, then I’d prefer to not bother Shiny, or anypony else.”

Twilight stamped a hoof. “Don’t call him that. He isn’t your brother, snake!”

She grinned and squinted her eyes. “Or what? I’m more powerful than you by far, I can feel it. This city’s care for its rulers runs far deeper than I had imagined, and I have taken their emotions in full vigor. You wouldn’t stand a chance against me. Want me to demonstrate? I mean, I can’t have anypony revealing my hive, can I?”

Twilight lowered herself into a fighting position and watched as Cadence’s disguise burnt away, revealing her true self. The green-maned, green shelled menace that she was. They waited for a few moments, then Twilight pounced forward, firing a bolt of energy towards Chrysalis. The Queen simply blocked it with a conjured shield and swept her head to the side.

Twilight gasped and fell to the floor as the world’s clarity faded away into a blurry, red mess. She gasped as she struck the floor, all too aware of the large gash in her torso. She shuddered as Chrysalis stood over her, that smile still on her face. Green fire erupted around Twilight as she fell into a deep darkness.

Author's Note

OH MY GOSH HERE IT IS!

The official rework of Friendship Bling and Changing Things!

This version has (hopefully) better writing, a fancy third person perspective, and less cold moral decisions!

1 - II - Learning to Trust

Part One: Revelation
Chapter II - Learning to Trust

Shining Armor was worried. He hadn’t seen Twilight since his brief chat with her in his tower the previous day, and the ponies were beginning to wonder where she was. Her friends had told him about her suspicions of Cadence being a… changething, or whatever, but it was absurd. He knew how Twilight got when she was stressed.

They were all getting ready to perform the recital of the wedding, but Twilight needed to be there as the Best Mare for it to proceed. At that moment, Cadence pushed the door open and nodded her head. They all crowded around her and listened to what she had to say.

“I found Twilight. She was wandering the streets below. I asked her if she was going to join us and…” His Cady’s eyes teared up a little, and he felt a jab of sorrow. “She said she can’t be the Best Mare. She insisted that we have somepony fill in for her because she ‘Just wasn’t feeling up to the task after everything that had happened.’” She waved a single hoof, then slowly walked into the hall with her head hung.

She then straightened up and shook her head. “But, if she doesn’t want to be the Best Mare, then we have to pick somebody else.”

Shining nodded and looked over the various gathered ponies. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a Best Mare, but perhaps… “Spike, how would you like to be the Best Drake for the ceremony?” Cadence smiled, and Spike looked shocked.

“Me? But… shouldn’t we try to convince Twilight to come back? Are we sure that she’s even in the right mind to make a decision like this?”

Cadence nodded and spoke firmly. “She was certain of her choice. I wish that she could come, of course, but whatever is troubling her prevents her from doing so.”

Shining gave a small frown. He thought back to his conversation with the Bearers about Twilight’s suspicion, then mentally slapped himself on the hoof. She was his fiancée, not some sort of evil monster. He pushed the traitorous thoughts from his mind as he watched Spike.

Shining took note of how worried he looked. Shining Armor knew that Spike was essentially a little brother to him and Twily, but he looked even more worried than Shining did. Spike nodded and rubbed his hands together.

“Okay, yeah. I’ll be Best Drake, but only after I go looking for Twilight, okay?" Cadence opened her mouth to object, but Spike continued. “She’s my sister as much as she is Shining’s. In fact Shining, you can come with, if you want, see if you can talk her out of whatever funk she’s in.”

Cadence nodded merrily. “Of course! Go ahead, I’ve got things covered here.” The drake and the stallion nodded and headed off towards the door. Cadence sighed and tried not to let her mood sully her expression. With a twitch of concentration, she sent her consciousness into her hives egregore and began to speak with her children.

“I need two inactive infiltrators to tail Spike and Shining Armor and bring them back if they get too close to anything that may compromise our plans.” Some affirmative chittering sounded back, and she smiled. This day was going to be perfect, especially with that moth of a Queen out of the way.

——————

Twilight, or Citlali, gasped as feeling returned to her body, causing her chest to tighten in pain. She was very confused. There was no flash of a spell, no indicator of the spell. Just a flick of the horn and she was… Oof. She looked over herself and frowned. Black chitin was covered in a purple ichor, all seeping from a crack in the front. It was going to be hard to take care of.

Citlali reached into her magical reserves and was worried to find it low. Chrysalis took some for herself when she sent Citlali down… to wherever she was. Citlali slowly stood and sent a ping throughout the city. Ten returned from above, which meant that she was underground, in the Canterhorn.

She lit her horn and used some magic to cast a healing spell on her wound. Some of the flesh knit itself together, but the chitin hardly closed at all. Life couldn’t be bothered to cut Citlali some slack. She slowly began to walk forward but stopped when pain spiked out from her chest.

A spike of hunger went through her, and she instinctively sent out a pulse, looking for emotions nearby. Luckily enough, she got a small trickle of emotion coming from another place in the caves. Despair, heartbreak.

As she began to near the source of emotions, more, smaller varieties began to find their way to her head. Despair and heartbreak, but also panic, worry, anger, and… love. She felt the emotions suddenly shift to confusion, to fear, to anger. Citlali put everything together and pulled from the emotions. Cadence, the real Cadence, was in the caves and had felt Citlali in her emotions.

After shifting into her unicorn disguise, Twilight shouted into the darkness. She kept her changeling eyes, grateful for their dark vision. “Cadence! Are you there? It’s me, Twilight! Chrysalis trapped me down… nghh.” The wound in her soft body had torn open, to her annoyance and pain.

Denial swept over her, sending a clear message. “No, I’m not some illusion conjured by that bug, it’s really me! Send some sort of signal so I can find you!” There was a moment of hesitation, then a small trickle of apprehension, defensiveness, and hope. Emotion-speak for ‘I hope it’s you, but I’ll stamp your head in if it isn’t.’

Twilight grabbed the trail of emotion, and made her way towards it, taking the excess for herself, and using it to heal her gash. It would have gone to waste anyways. Eventually, with much stumbling, cursing, and wincing, she found Cadence’s location.

Behind a thick wall of crystalline rock, one that would take a large amount of magical strength to break. “Uh, Cadence? I’m running a little low on magic. I’ve been burning emotions for energy recently, so I’d like a little restorative boost. And I would move away from this wall if I were you, it’s going to be loud.”

She heard Cadences voice from behind the wall. “Oh. Okay. I’ll send something over, just keep your horn lit and pull it in, okay?” Twilight agreed. A flurry of emotions began to flow towards me, from hope to appreciation, to love, to… lust. As she took it all in, Twilight chuckled.

“Don’t think I didn’t catch that lust, Cadence. You had better not be thinking of my brother in there!” The lust stopped flowing, and she smirked. “Thank you. Now, step back, please.”

Twilight charged her horn but felt the magic hit a physical limit. She dropped her disguise into Citlali and continued charging the spell. The magic pooled into a large fire around her horn, lighting up the caves around her. She let it loose, and a wave of concussive energy struck the wall, tearing it apart into a cloud of dust.

Citlali quickly became Twilight and pulled the dust out of the air, into a pile on the floor. Cadence was blocking her ears with her hooves and looking at the devastation in awe. Twilight rubbed her ears as the ringing of the collapsing crystal died away.

Twilight stepped forward and began to dance. “Sunshine, su— NNGHMPH!?” Cadence had let loose a blast of magic, sending Twilight crashing into the wall behind her. With a small scream and a curse, the gash tore even further. So much for healing magic. She looked up to see a very angry, very tired looking Cadence standing over her with a lit horn. “Cadence, what was—“

“No, stop. Stop using her body, stop using her voice, stop trying to lie to me. I can feel your emotions, and they’re dead. And, as far as I know, Twilight Sparkle can’t sense emotions, much less burn them, like a changeling. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t crush you for all you’ve done towards me and my friend.”

Twilight realized the situation and covered her eyes with a groan. “I knew I was going to slip up eventually.” She slid her hoof off of her face and stared Cadence in the eye. “You got promoted to the rank of Senior Pillow Captain after you saved the life of Commander Smarty Pants in the great battle of Shining’s Room.”

Cadence gasped and stepped back from Twilight like the unicorn had caught on fire. A quick check revealed that yes, Twilight was in fact on fire. She quickly refocused, and the fire died out. “It’s me, Cadence. Always has been, always will be. I was afraid you’d figure this out. Aside from that snake taking your place above, a couple other Queens, and myself, you’re the best there is at emotion magic.”

“But… when… how…” Tears built on her face. “No, I can’t— If you really have been a changeling for that long, I would have been able to sense it. Changelings emotions don’t give off energy. All the time I’ve known you, you’ve had charged emotions."

Twilight gave her a smile. “I know. A feedback effect: Every time you were near me, or one of my changelings, I would push emotional energy out of them. Expensive, risky, and not at all reliable, but it worked well enough. Try me, I’m a pony right now!”

Cadence looked at Twilight, then began to shake her head. “N— No. I— I know how changelings work, I helped Aunt Celestia take care of an entire hive that foalnapped and replaced ponies. We only found about 13 of the total 1,057, the rest probably died of age--”

Twilight cut her off. “No. You only found 13 of the originals because only 13 ponies were replaced! The rest were only there to survive, only there because they knew they could benefit from ponies, and ponies from them. Changelings are not parasitic, Cadence. They’re symbiotic.

“I remember the emergency meeting the Queens held to mourn Queen Transitalia. Whatever changelings not killed in your raid were there, even though they knew that without a Royal, or a Queen, their hive would starve to death, doomed to a slow fade into obscurity. They were dead on their hooves.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes. “You’re going to have to trust me, Cadence. Right now, Chrysalis is with your fiancee, getting ready for her wedding. Best thing to do right now is work to take her out, and that means getting to the Princesses, and warning them of Chrysalis.” Twilight moved to stand but slumped back as her wound made itself known again. “First, actually, I need to patch this up. I can’t move too far with a wound like this, and I don’t have enough magic to teleport and heal.”

Cadence stared for a moment, then took a long sigh. “Why couldn’t you trust us, Twily? You could have told us about your hive, Aunt Tia and I, I mean. We would have helped.”

Twilight laughed harshly. “Really? Just a minute ago you were talking about how you ‘knew changelings’ and had ‘taken care’ of a hive that had made its way into Equestrian society. That was… what, 27 years ago? Not to mention the Sisters' past with my kind and my line. My grandmother and those two weren’t really best friends.”

Cadence closed her mouth and counted some seconds. “But you are… you. I think, I hope. The other changelings are…” She trailed off.

“Are what? Deceivers? Foalnappers? Monsters? Transitalia was one of the greatest Queens, one of the greatest ponies I had ever had the pleasure to meet. She and her hive came to my own aid many times, she stood up for me whenever another Queen accused me of something foul, and she defended my hive as if it were her own. Maybe, just maybe if she had been alive twenty years ago, if you hadn’t murdered her over false evidence, my hive would still be alive, and I wouldn’t be here, wounded in a cave, but perhaps teaching my nymphs how to perform their duties to the hive. So don’t you dare think for a second that I am an exception because I am just like the others. The only reason I have done the horrible things I have done is that my hive, my entire lineage, my children are an endangered species. There are only fourteen changelings in my hive, including myself. The next smallest hive is in the hundreds.” Twilight's voice escalated until she was shouting at Cadence, tears in her eyes.

Cadence frowned and turned her head slightly. “What ‘horrible things?’” She asked cautiously.

Twilight’s breath caught for a moment, but she quickly recomposed herself. “We need to focus on defeating Chrysalis, and healing our wounds.”

Cadence stared at Twilight for a moment, then spoke. “Why can’t you just shapeshift the wound away?”

“Whatever wounds we have carry between all of our forms if it can. If my horn gets snapped as a unicorn, my actual horn will snap as well. So, when I have a large gash in my skin, I have a large gash…” She drew back the magic around the wound, revealing the crack in her chitin. “This is why changeling armies aren’t unstoppable. We can still be harmed.”

Cadence was visibly shaken by the sudden shift but began looking over the injury. “So, how should I help? I’m not exactly an expert in healing magic. I could never memorize all the different names and spells for different parts of the body.”

“Just… start thinking happy thoughts, and I’ll work on healing myself. Don’t worry, I won’t take more than is offered.”

Cadence looked skeptical but nodded. She began to think about the things that made her happy: Aunt Tia, helping others, Shining Armor, and similar subjects. Twilight took the emotions that floated towards nothing in particular and began the slow process of healing herself.

——————

“I’m just saying, I should have involved her more. I knew that she didn’t like surprises, and yet, I still thought it better to let the invitation tell her, instead of taking a few minutes off my shift to send her a letter.”

Shining Armor was sitting against a pillar, holding his head in his hooves. Twilight had gone missing, and no guards, Elements, or brothers could find her. Princess Celestia even tried, but she said that Twilight was not within reach of the sun’s light.

As such, Shining immediately began to blame himself for his sister’s disappearance. If only he had let Twilight plan more of the ordeal, then she wouldn’t have run off. Cadence was, at the moment, trying her hoof at finding Twilight, but she was likely to return soon. The ceremony was drawing closer, and the Best Mare was missing.

Spike was worried as well. Not just for his sister, but for his mother, and Queen as well. He knew that Chrysalis had likely taken care of Twilight, and he was worried that Chrysalis would try to do more than just trap her. He could still feel her life in his mind. Spike decided that he needed to do something.

“Hey, girls, can I talk with you in private for a moment?” The Bearers turned to Spike and moved over to him.

Rainbow was, understandably, the first to Spike. “What’s up, little fire starter?”

Spike groaned. “I only set the tree on fire once— No, not important. Twilight might be in danger right now.” The others gasped in worry. “When she came here, she saw past the disguise of a changeling Queen named Chrysalis. Remember her talk last night? She was going to try and talk Chrysalis out of her plans and told me to let you five, and the Princesses know if anything went wrong.”

Applejack blinked. “So Twi’ just went and decided to talk t’ this Queen, without backup? What the hay did she do that for?”

Spike winced. “Twilight and Chrysalis have… history. Stuff she’s never told anyone but me. Not even Princess Celestia. I told Twilight that she shouldn’t fight Chrysalis because she was too mad to make any real plans. She obviously ignored me.”

The Bearers were silent as they pondered the situation. Pinkie Pie cocked her head. “But why hasn’t Twilight told anypony? Friends are there to share big secrets with because nopony can have big secrets by themselves for too long, It would smash them, like a bug.” Fluttershy winced.

“Not this secret. Twilight has been adamant about not revealing it to anypony. I’m only telling you about it right now because Twilight’s most likely going to talk about it to you after we take care of Chrysalis, and I’ll get her to talk is she doesn’t. We need to get the Princesses and convince them that Cadence isn’t really Cadence before she returns. Pinkie, I need to send a letter to the Princess, since she’s probably busy with royal duties right now.”

Pinkie smiled and shook parchment, ink, and a quill from her mane, which Spike used to write a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s Spike. Twilight isn’t missing because she’s distraught over not being talked to about the wedding, she’s gone because she was trying to take care of a changeling Queen she found in the city and did something stupid. The Queen is the cause of all the strange attacks in the city the past month, and she has currently replaced Cadence. I don’t know where the real Cadence is right now.

We, the Bearers and I, need your help to stop Chrysalis and find Twilight, and Cadence. Please believe me on this. Twilight could be hurt right now, and we can’t afford to waste time trying to argue over who the real Cadence is. We can confront Chrysalis directly if you want, but I think we should free Twilight and Cadence before we attack her. She could order their deaths if we did.

Sincerely, and urgently,

Spike.

The Bearers and Spike waited for a few moments before a troubled-looking Princess Celestia teleported in front of them. “Spike, Bearers. Are you absolutely sure of this? Because if you are wrong, then our accusations could greatly strain our friendship with Princess Cadence.”

“As sure as you are a Princess, Princess. Twilight and I noticed Chrysalis’ disguise yesterday when we first saw her. Twilight went to confront her last night and hasn’t been seen since. Do you know anyplace that Chrysalis may have hidden Twilight?”

Celestia motioned for the others to follow, and they began to move. A distraught Shining hardly noticed them as they passed. “A few. But tell me, why would a changeling Queen want to harm Twilight? I believe I can understand Cadence, but why Twilight?”

“I can’t tell you the specifics, that’s Twilight’s job, but I will say that Twilight and Chrysalis have had a bad history. Twilight’s going to tell you everything after this all blows over, this entire thing really has gone on for too long.”

“I am intrigued, Spike, to hear what secret Twilight has been keeping from us. I cannot think of a time in recent years that she could have encountered Chrysalis, which worries me.”

Fluttershy spoke up. “Wait, why would this Queen want to hurt Cadence? Did they do something to each other?”

Celestia sighed. “27 years ago, Cadence and I discovered a changeling hive that had infiltrated and replaced ponies. We destroyed the hive, but the majority of the original ponies were never found. They are now presumed dead, which is a great tragedy. I assume that destroying a hive would make the other Queens very angry, as evident by the attacks by this Queen Chrysalis.” Spike winced.

Fluttershy squeaked and looked down. Rainbow coughed. “If you don’t mind my asking, Princess, where are we going? We’ve kinda just been walking through the castle for a while, and I wanna look for Twilight, not stained glass.”

Celestia paused, then nodded. “Apologies, I got distracted. We will first search some of the abandoned factories in the city, which could easily be used as a prison. Then we will check the Crystal Caves in the Canterhorn, but we shall do so manually: Those caves reflect many spells cast in there, including teleportation.”

Author's Note

First story difference between the two versions. Spike went to get Celestia, instead of the Bearers looking on their own.

1 - III - Love Hurts

Part One: Revelation
Chapter III - Love Hurts

Twilight was pacing around the cold stone floor, making sure the wound was alright. She then ran a few laps around a column of crystal, then revealed her wings, and tried a few flying laps. She landed, and smiled at Cadence, who nodded. Twilight buzzed her wings, then hid them once more. “I think I’m good. Any damage or strain now shouldn’t open the wound back up. If something does open the wound, we have bigger problems to worry about.

“We need to hurry, the wedding should be starting any minute— damn!” Traditional wedding music began to play upstairs, and Cadence let out a sobbing gasp. “We really need to hurry. Now, for a way out of here.” Twilight cast a teleport, but was disappointed when she reappeared in the same place she left. She tried making a fire portal, but it just spit her back out next to the entry portal.

“Okay, so Chrysalis has found a way to block magical transportation. No problem, we’ll just do this the old fashioned way. Come on, let’s go.” Twilight built up a charge in her horn, then sent a pulse through the air. A mental map of the caves formed in Twilight’s mind, or at least just the areas her spell reached.

“Oh my, these caves are large. Alright, there’s a cave exit this way, but we’ll have to fly over a few gaps to get there.” She revealed her wings again, then began running towards the exit.

As they ran, Cadence cleared her throat. “I know you shouldn’t ask a mare how old they are but… you are definitely older than twenty. How long have you lived?”

Twilight chuckled, then turned down another path. “I was there for your coronation, Cadence, and older still. Your hair was done in a lovely braid, one that I use in a couple disguises. I’ve kept my eye on you for my entire life, just because of your connection to emotions. Lots of queens did, in fact. You’ve had an audience, Cadence. Some of us are cheering for you, but, to be honest, most of them want to see your head on a platter. Chrysalis included."

Cadence blinked in surprise, then looked to the ground in thought. “Oh. Then, why did you join Celestia’s school if you’re that old? What did that get you?” They turned another corner, and flew over a large pit with a cart track spiraling down its side.

Once they had crossed, Twilight answered. “I used to be really bad at unicorn magic. To the point where I could hardly manage a simple levitation spell if it was unicorn based. I really did go to that school with a plan to learn magic, and look at me now! Element of Magic, personal student of the Princess!”

“You never learned unicorn magic in all those years of your life?”

“No, it’s strange. Until Rainbow Dash pulled her sonic rainboom, I could never figure out how to properly use changeling magic to convert emotional energy into unicorn magic. It was easier to use pegasus and earth pony magic, since they are pretty straightforward, and passive. There’s more detail in unicorn magic than ponies seem to think."

They flew across another gap, one leading to what appeared to be a path to the outside. “I remember when I asked Auntie to teach me to use my horn. It was strange, suddenly having access to two entire new fields of magic. Like seeing an entirely new color.”

Twilight hid her wings, and they moved to ascend the staircase. At that moment, they were blocked by the old bridesmaids, Minuette, Lyra Heartstrings, and Twinkleshine, who stepped from the shadows. They spoke in an eerie unison. ”You’re not going anywhere.” They dived at the two members of royalty, before another voice reverberated in the air.

”And neither are you, minions of the darkness!” The three bridesmaids looked surprised, then flashed gold to show three teal changelings, before flashing away in a shower of sparks.

Princess Celestia, the other Bearers, and Spike stepped into the room. Spike shouted out, and ran to embrace Twilight. A healthy amount of love energy poured into Twilight from the ponies assembled. Twilight blinked. “Princess? How are you here? What about the wedding? The music is playing overhead!?

Celestia nodded. “The guests are entering the ballroom as we speak. I hope neither of you are harmed?” They shook their heads. “Good. Then we must go, if Princess Cadence is to catch her wedding.” Cadence sobbed, but laughed at the same time.

“I have waited too long to hear those words. I wish I could’ve heard them in a happier moment, though. But let’s move, we need to stop Queen Chrysalis, and…” She glanced at Twilight. “Settle things with the changelings.”

Celestia nodded firmly. “And Twilight? I fully expect you to explain yourself after this is all over.”

Twilight squeaked, and shrunk back. “Wha— Spike did you— I meant no harm, Princess!”

Celestia raised a brow as Spike shook his head. They all began to climb back up to the outside. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I didn’t tell them. But I do want you to talk it out, this has gone on for too long.” Fluttershy looked between them, and frowned, her wings fluttering nervously.

Once they were out of the cave, Celestia turned to the group. “I will teleport you into Canterlot Castle, make your way towards the ballroom. Prepare to combat Chrysalis and her changelings, and make sure you protect the ponies from harm. The Queen will likely attack them to distract us from her own self. I will join you, and deal with her, as soon as I wake my sister. May the heavens protect you, my little ponies.”

The world flashed golden, and the image of the vast Equestrian horizon, and the caring face of Celestia, disappeared. When the light faded, they were inside of Canterlot Castle, in an empty hall. The Bearers moved to find the ballroom, but Twilight and Cadence stopped them.

Twilight looked around the halls. “Something is wrong. There’s no guards, no ponies coming in late, or any sign of life at all.” She lit her horn, and lifted it into the air. “There’s no ambient emotion in the air, either. Besides ourselves, of course. It’s like nopony has been here all day. This isn’t right, there should be loads of emotions here, where is everypony?” She asked nervously.

Spike flicked his forked tongue out, tasting the emotions in the air. Cadence shrugged. “I’m not sure. From what I know of cha— of Chrysalis, she could have done something to the guests, then absorbed the ambient emotion.”

Twilight shivered. “Dead emotions don’t leave ambient energy. What if nopony ever came through here at all?” The others stared at Twilight, then shuffled nervously. All at once, they broke into a sprint, and made their way towards the ball room. Twilight kept her magic open to emotions from an outside source, but cursed when she found them.

“Cadence, check the emotions in the air now. Anticipation, hate, and… pity? Anyways, they’re dead, which means that Chrysalis has changelings up ahead.” The group turned a corner, and, sure enough, a few guards were stationed outside of the ballroom. Their emotions were dead. “Wait here, I’ll take care of them. Cadence, think of being with Shining again.”

An intense burst of love entered the air, and Twilight quickly drank it up before it could reach the guards. She stepped into the open, and caught the guards attention. One cursed. “You! You are not allowed to be here, by order of the Queen. Offer yourself up willingly, or we shall be forced to take you ourselves!”

Twilight smirked, and tapped into the love that Cadnece had produced. It was powerful, and expansive. The guards, who were rushing towards Twilight, were tripped, gagged, and hogtied by a series of magical bindings.

She motioned for the others to follow. They stood in front of the ballroom doors, and all took a deep breath. Twilight searched for emotional energy, and found a single source inside. The attendants were changelings, waiting for the perfect moment to strike Celestia. She grabbed the doors with her magic, and pushed forwards. The doors exploded off of their hinges, then sailed backwards, behind the group.

Shining Armor and Chrysalis gasped, and charged spells against the group. Shining’s spell died when he saw the other Cadence. He then looked between the two, and asked the important question. “What in Equestria is going on!? Twilight just blew open the doors, after being gone for the whole day, there are two versions of my fiancée, and…” He noticed the multitude of attendees charging spells against the new group.

Cadence stepped forwards. “Shining Armor, that is not Cadence, and most of these ponies are not party goers. They are changelings: they take the form of somepony that is cared for, and use that energy to gain strength!”

Chrysalis sighed, then dropped her disguise in a green inferno. “Ugh. I had hoped for Celestia to be present when I destroyed the ponies she held dear, but I guess I will just have to savor your deaths myself.” She pulsed with magical energy, sending Shining Armor, the poor stallion, soaring through the air, and into a wall. He fell unconscious.

Chrysalis swept her hoof at them as the crowd began to revert to their changeling forms. “Get them! Kill them!” As the changeling horde charged forwards, a bright flash of light caused everybody to freeze. The two Princesses were hovering in the air, their battle armor fully donned.

They both charged up a powerful spell, and spoke in unison. ”Your reign of terror ends today, Chrysalis! Surrender, or be destroyed.” Chrysalis sneered, then fired a beam at the Princesses, who met it with magic of their own. The beams met, and began slowly inching between the sisters, and Chrysalis.

On the ground, the changelings were having a tough time. Twilight was destroying changelings by the dozen, swiping blades of magical energy through their bodies, while Cadence fired magical shards of crystal. Applejack was kicking and bucking all who got close, Rainbow was fighting the changelings in the air, Rarity was slapping the horde with enough force to crack chitin, Fluttershy was… tripping them? Pinkie had, somehow, gotten a hold of her party cannon, and was blasting fruit cake at the crowd. Spike whistled as the battle began. "So that's what a changeling drone looks like. Huh, I expected something a little more 'me'." He rushed forwards, and began breathing fire at the horde.

A changeling got too close to Twilight, who slammed the soldier to the ground. A quick hoof to the head caused the changeling to go still. The Bearers, Spike, and Cadence slowly began pushing into the ballroom, though their view of the Princesses and Shining Armor remained entirely obscured by the horde.

Shining Armor had woken up from his injury and quickly noticed the twin green beams meeting, and beating, the gold and blue beams of the Princesses. He gathered whatever mental power, and magic he had, and shielded the Princesses before the changeling Queen struck them down.

Chrysalis' magic erupted into fire, and covered the two shields entirely. The stress of her magic on Shining’s proved to be too much, and both shields collapsed. Shining collapsed with a shout, clutching his horn in pain. The Princesses were blown backwards, into the horde of changelings. Chrysalis followed them, intending to finish them once and for all.

Cadence finally caught a glimpse of Shining and pushed a wall of magic forwards in response. While the wall held, she quickly spoke to Twilight. “I am going to cast a spell that will get rid of the changelings, and I must go to Shining’s side to cast it. When I drop this barrier, shield yourself!”

Twilight held out a hoof. “Wait, no! There’s still other hives in—” But the shield had dropped, Cadence was by Shining Armor’s side, and casting the spell. Twilight was sure of what spell it was. It had been used 27 years ago in order to clear out the Rambling Rock Hive: Transitalia’s hive.

Twilight heard Chrysalis shout out in anger even as she prepared a shield spell. “Kill them! Kill them before they can finish the spell!” The changelings pulled away from the doorway, and dived towards the couple seconds too late. Twilight threw a hastily made shield around the Bearers, and Spike, and hoped for the best.

An explosion rang out from the ballroom, and a wave of something searing, burning, purging surged past Twilight, and around the shield. Pure, unbridled, weaponized love energy. Twilight felt her disguise catch fire, and burn away as her energy stored far exceeded a safe limit. The Bearers stared in horror as Twilight Sparkle burnt apart, revealing a horrible black-and-purple figure underneath. The changelings caught by the blast were thrown against the wall, and out the door even as they too burnt apart.

Tears welled up in Citlali's eyes as her disguise burnt away completely, allowing the love energy to destroy her actual body. She used the energy to power the shield, which kept the wave from harming the Bearers and Spike. Her body was burning, she could feel flames tearing it apart, ripping her wings, mane, and antenna to pieces. Then the sensation stopped. She collapsed to the ground, her senses in a daze.

Everything was playing in slow-motion, and sounded distant, and muffled. She dropped the shield, and turned to see a horrid sight. Corpses of changelings were falling, Luna and Celestia were laying on the ground, covered in cuts, bites, and burns. Chrysalis was nowhere to be seen. Cadence herself was screaming at Shining who… Citlali sobbed.

He had literally been at the epicenter. He was completely engulfed in the fires of love, and was flailing about, a distant scream filling his throat. Citlali charged her horn, shedding excess magic in the form of lightning, which arced across the floors and walls. The love in Shining pulled way, and exploded through his horn, into the ceiling above.

Twilight collapsed to the floor, and felt her injuries take her consciousness away.

It was entirely silent as the second Queen collapsed to the floor. The remaining ponies dared not breathe, cry, or shout. Celestia and Luna were both unconscious, and beaten on the floor, the Queen that had been impersonating Twilight was smoking from the spell, and Cadence was staring in horror at the still, blackened form of Shining Armor on the floor.

After a few minutes of silence, Cadence spoke in a low, stuttering voice. “How did I never notice? I've known him my entire life, I should have noticed if he had been replaced.” She slowly slumped over to the ground, her jaw still hanging open. "How could I have been so blind?"

The Bearers looked closer, and noticed the changeling that lay on the floor in place of Shining Armor. Spike cried out, and rushed towards the… lavender Queen on the floor. “Citlali, come on Citlali. It was just a bit of love, you’ve been through worse. Get up, we need you!” He shook her side, and pressed his claws to her side. Emotional energy began to flow from him as tears flowed from his eyes. “I need you.”

Rainbow dashed to Spike’s side, and pushed him away from the Queen. “Get away from that thing, Spike! She could still be dangerous, we don’t know if she’s faking it!”

Spike stood up, and became engulfed in lavender flames, causing the Bearers to jump back with a gasp. When the flames died down, a changeling, similar in size to the burnt changelings on the ground, eyed them all expectantly. His horn was smooth, and looked like a curved dagger, but had a hole in the front, breaking the blade into two sections. His head fin was uncovered, though a mane wouldn't hide the tall crest anyways. His tail was long, and flat, and had a streak of his dragon self's purple running through a pale lavender.

Rainbow stared in shock, before rushing towards Spike, hooves outstretched. Fluttershy stepped in front of Rainbow Dash, and spoke in a clear, steady voice. “Rainbow, can you please go down to the city. Look for any medical ponies. I’m sure this Queen, Twilight, will explain everything when she wakes, but for now, we need a doctor.” They stared at each other for a moment, before Rainbow sped out the window, towards the city. Fluttershy motioned to the others. “We need to check on the Princesses, and Shining. We need to know just how much they’re hurt.”

Spike turned back to his Queen, continued pouring all of his stored energy into her, and watched carefully as the wounds began healing. His reserve was draining too fast, and she was healing too slow. “Come on, please! We can’t let Chrysalis win, not after all this time. We have to beat her!”

Rarity and Fluttershy rushed to Cadence and the changeling. Applejack went to Celestia, and Pinkie went to Luna. Fluttershy began comforting Cadence, Rarity began shakily inspecting the changeling. Applejack checked Celestia, and was thankful to find that she wasn’t terribly injured, as she began to stir, and stand.

“Princess, wake up! Luna’s hurt, Shining and Twilight are… missin’, for lack of a better word.” Celestia’s eyes snapped open, and she rushed to her sister’s side with a cry.

Celestia looked over Luna’s injuries, and began healing them, ignoring her own burnt form. “What happened, where are the rest of the changelings, where is Chrysalis?”

Pinkie shrugged, and spoke in a shaky voice. “I dunno. One moment, there were tons of them, hissing and diving at you and Luna, then Twilight jumped in front of us and blocked some sorta wave that came from Cadence and Shining. Then Twilight and Shining turned into changelings, Twilight collapsed, Spike went to her side, then also turned into a changeling, Rainbow went to find a doctor, and I’m pretty sure Chrysalis escaped through the window.”

Celestia looked at Twilight and Shining, and shook her head. “Do not harm them, we need to ask them questions. Do either of you know where the hospital wing of the castle is?” Pinkie nodded. “Good, go and get as many medical kits as you can, and return here.”

Pinkie and Applejack ran out, and it became quiet again, exempt for the quiet comforting of Spike and Fluttershy.

Author's Note

Some changes to who is speaking in the dialogue. Major changes start next chapter.

2 - I - The Parting of the Ways

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter I - The Parting of the Ways

——————

“I am just saying, if, and I mean if, she really is the Twilight Sparkle we know, then we have to hear her out, and treat her as such! There has to be a good reason for all this… subterfuge. Maybe the real Twilight died when she was young, and this Queen replaced her, or Twilight recruited her to help fight Chrysalis or something.” Rarity tapped a hoof against the table for emphasis and looked at the others.

Rainbow was nervously tapping a hoof against the floor, and her wings were fluttering. Applejack had her hooves crossed, and her brow was furrowed in thought. Fluttershy was staring vacantly at the table, and Pinkie Pie was bobbing her head while looking around at the others. Cadence, Celestia, and the two revealed changelings were in the hospital, and Spike was in the dungeons. Luna, who had been healed by Celestia, was the only member of royalty present.

“I understand your thoughts, Miss Rarity, but you must know that changelings have been an enemy of the state for as long as we have known of them. This attack only serves to strengthen that distrust. Hardly any of my subjects in Canterlot have slept the past days, and the one who did had terrible nightmares. Queen Chrysalis and her army put all of Canterlot into cocoons. If not for the efforts of Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia, Chrysalis would be taking Equestria as we speak.”

Rarity stomped a hoof against the table. “And what? The efforts of the other Queen and the changelings that replaced Spike and Shining Armor are dirt? We must give them the benefit of the doubt, regardless of whether or not they’re ponies or changelings.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “I have to agree, Princess. I’ve learned that even creatures as intimidating and scary as a dragon can make kind decisions. And… what if the changelings that attacked were the only bad ones? Maybe there are changelings out there that are good, and we’ve just misunderstood each other throughout the years.”

Luna shot a cold glare at Fluttershy, who cowered. The Princess closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, Miss Shy. My sister and I just haven’t had the greatest history with changeling-kind, or this Queen’s hive. We’ve lost close friends far too soon, too often because of them and their deceptions. My sister and I aren’t lucky enough to be able to sense emotions, unlike our Princess Cadence.

“This new Queen’s hive, back before I was banished, had the ability to, through some foul magic, convert ponies to changelings. We don’t know how, or why, but many ponies we knew would wake up with chitin instead of a coat. We hunted their Queen for months until I finally managed to sever her head from her body. We don’t know how her hive survived, or where her hive is, but we know that this new Queen is not one to be set free.”

They all sat in silence, pondering everything that had been said and done. Applejack cleared her throat and began to speak. “Either way, friendly or not, the changelings that replaced Twilight, Spike and Shining have been lyin’. I have to agree with the Princess. I can’t trust them because they could have even more secrets hidden from us. But we need to figure out what that is without hurtin’ anypony.”

Luna frowned, but the others nodded in agreement. “Very well. We may interrogate them without resorting to violent measures, although I would take immense pleasure in removing those pieces of filth from our world.” Fluttershy shrunk down and looked away.

Pinkie Pie raised a hoof. “What about Twilight’s secret? Spike was saying that she had a big secret she was going to tell us, right? What if that secret was that Twilight is a changeling Queen! Ohmygosh, what if the history she had with Chrysalis that she mentioned was a large battle where Queen Twilight’s hive was destroyed, and Twilight escaped with only a few eggs and nymphs, and slowly began turning changelings into ponies in an attempt at saving her hive! Genius plan, right?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “We never did figure out what Spike was talking about. I don’t think most of what Pinkie said is correct, though I am keeping an open mind because Pinkie, but I do think that her secret was going to be changeling related. It’s too much of a coin… coinseedance… coinkidink… what’s that word for when stuff happens at the same time, and they’re related to each other?”

“Coincidence? And yes, it is awfully suspicious that Spike’s confession and the invasion happened at the same time.” Rarity furrowed her brow and put a hoof to her muzzle.

Luna opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a messenger that burst through the doors and flew to the Princess. The messenger pulled a scroll from her saddlebags and held it to Luna in her mouth. “Message from Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.”

Luna quickly took the message and read through it. Her frown deepened as her eyes passed over the page, until she set it down, and stood up. “We must go, all of you. The Queen and her changelings have woken up.”

——————

Queen Citlali opened her eyes, and immediately felt something… invasive. She looked around and quickly noticed that she was in the Canterlot Castle hospital wing. That wasn’t important. Whoever had put her in a bed had tied her to it by running the ropes through the holes in her legs. She moved her hooves around and shuddered when the ropes rubbed against the highly sensitive spots of sponge-like skin.

When she attempted to burn them away, she felt a pressure around her horn, which made her smile. “The silly ponies put a cuff on my horn! How adorable.” She focused her magic, still using energy from the love bomb, and felt the cuff split in half. The two pieces fell onto the bed and gave off a small amount of smoke. She burned the ropes away, and hopped off the bed, and onto the floor.

The beds beside her were also inhabited. A changeling she immediately recognized as Vahan, and Princess Cadence. She walked to Vahan and looked him over with a caring eye. His chitin was rough and completely burnt away in areas. His crest was singed and shorter than would usually be seen, and his wings were stumps.

Citlali used some of her vast storage of emotional energy to speed the healing process by a good week or so, and walked to Cadence to inspect her. She had less intense injuries, physically at least. Bruises, scrapes, and a few magical burns. Nothing serious. Citlali healed the cuts and began working on her own self.

She felt like chitin-rust. Her wings were gone, her web-like mane was missing, and she couldn’t… She threw a hoof above her head and patted frantically. A small nub of flesh confirmed her fears. She took a heavy sigh. Her antenna was burnt away, which meant that her egregore was gone as well, at least until she healed. She needed to gather her hive the pony way, it seemed.

Citlali heard a small cough, and spun around to see… uh-oh. Princess Celestia had snuck into the medical wing and was staring at her with a cold smile. “The others will be here soon, at which point you will have a chance to explain yourself. If you have harmed any of my subjects, I will have no choice but to imprison you until you are willing to assist myself, and the country.”

Citlali shook her head and took a step back. “I haven’t harmed anypony without reasonable cause. I have done nothing but look after my subjects these past years, which I’m sure you can relate to.”

Celestia chuckled. “Reasonable cause is subjective. What have you done, changeling? I had hoped I had finished off your hive, back when Queen Aysune was in power, but I suppose not every good thing lasts forever. And yet…”

Celestia walked over to Cadance's bed. “I saw you heal her. I am unsure if you are attempting to create a better image for yourself, or if it was out of compassion, but I thank you nonetheless. I assume you healed this changeling as well?” She motioned to Vahan.

Citlali nodded. “I will admit I spent far more energy healing him than I did Cadence. Parental nepotism, and all that.”

“So he is your hive. I will admit, I can see the resemblance. I assume you will explain yourself once the Bearers and Luna make their way here?”

Citlali chuckled, then began to laugh. “Are you kidding me? Wait here for Princess Luna, the one who earned the rank and title of Nightmare because of her actions on the battlefield? The one that decapitated my grandmother? The one that sent our hive into a love drought for decades?”

Citlali roared with laughter. “I’m not apathetic, Princess. I can feel your hate against me and my entire species. If not for my actions during the invasion, and the knowledge I possess, you would have reunited me with my hive in the care of the All-Mother. Back when I was just Twilight Sparkle, unicorn scholar, I attempted to build a better relationship with Luna. But now, Queen Chrysalis has destroyed my life yet again.”

Citlali walked over to Vahan and rested a hoof on his forehead. “I’m sorry to say that Twilight Sparkle is gone now. Burnt away when Princess Cadence cast her love weapon. I enjoyed being your pupil, Celestia. At some point, I might have revealed myself to you, in the interest of repairing relations between changelings and ponies.”

Citlali’s horn began to glow, and Celestia charged hers in kind. “But I am now Queen Citlali of the lavender hive once again. I’ve spent far too long a time sitting around, I will use the love from the weapon to organize my hive again.” The Bearers and Luna rushed through the door in time to see Citlali grab Vahan, and create a fire portal underneath her hooves, which she sank into. They watched as the lavender gateway shrunk, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Luna took a shuddering breath, then slammed both of her front hooves into the floor, shattering the tile with a shout of fury. “Find them, we cannot let them live again!”

Rainbow hovered back, then shook her head. “Where could she have gone? We can’t really follow a changeling that fell into the floor.”

Luna turned around, then began walking away. “That spell was a portal, similar to a teleport. That creature is somewhere within the city, we hope. We have hunted it’s kind before, we can do it again. Tell all the guards to block all exits from the city, disregarding rank or title. Its wings were damaged, which means it must take a path on hoof out of the city. Sister, can you help me set upwards against magical travel around the city? We can trap it, just like Aysune before.”

Celestia didn’t move, looking down instead at Princess Cadence in her bed. “No, sister. Not this time.”

“What? You would side with them?”

“No. But I have faith that my prized protégé will find a solution. Just as she did with Discord, with the fauna of the Everfree, with her zebra friend… with Nightmare Moon.” Celestia glanced at Luna, who had a confused look on her face.

Luna waved a hoof in the air. “What, do you mean to suggest that you think this Queen really is Twilight Sparkle?”

“I don’t think she is Twilight Sparkle. I hope she is Twilight Sparkle, despite everything.”

The Bearers and Princesses looked at the floor where Citlali had cast the fire portal.

——————

Spike sat, undisguised, on his prison cot. He was sick of the constant flow of hate from the guards, the musty smell of moss, and far less pleasant scents that the dungeon floor was coated with.

He would have cried, if not for the fact that crying was a childish thing to do. His life as Spike the dragon was gone, Twilight was revealed as Citlali, and Chrysalis had destroyed their lives and escaped, again.

He thought back to Zecora, and how willing the ponies were to accept her after Apple Bloom had explained everything. If only a simple chat could fix things this time around.

Spike blinked as he felt one of the unpleasant feelings in the air leave. He glanced over in time to see the two guards slump to the floor, unconscious. “Hello? Who’s there?”

The air shimmered and bent as Queen Citlali removed her invisibility spell. A changeling that Spike didn’t recognize was hung over her back. “Spike, we need to leave. I’m going to get our hive going again, using the love from Cadence’s spell. Even if we can get a few harvesters out, we can start rebuilding again. I’ll get in contact with the other Queens again, and ask for any supplies.”

She snapped the lock on the door and pushed it open. “The Whitetail hive has been gone for too long. Being Twilight Sparkle was fun and did a good job of keeping the remnants of the hive alive, but… the good of our hive’s future must come first now.”

She snapped Spike’s bindings and helped him stand. “That’s good news. But, what are we going to do about the girls, Citlali? And the others in Ponyville, Moondancer, and… is that Shining Armor?”

“Vahan, but, yes it is. I’m going to heal him, then we’ll give him and the others a choice. They can continue their lives as a pony, but they must choose whether or not they also serve the hive. Right now, though, we need to hurry. No doubt the Princesses are closing off our escape as we speak.”

“Alright. I hope that we can work this all out like we did with Zecora.”

Citlali ran a hoof down Spike’s crest. “I hope so too. Stand by me, I’ll portal us out of here.” Spike nodded and did as he was asked. The ring of fire flared underneath them, pulling them into the ground.

Author's Note

And here we go. 20% less talking, 20% more action, 20% more coolness!

2 - II - Keep a Steady Mind

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter II - Keep a Steady Mind

——————

“Hold still, Luna. We can’t quite close the cut if you squirm so much.” Celestia wove a needle through her sister's skin, slowly sewing the gash on her withers where a changeling had hooked on with its hoof. Celestia pressed the needle in a little too deep, causing Luna to grunt in pain.

“Our apologies. We’re not quite sure why small pricks in the skin are more difficult to bear than a magical burn, or slash from a blade.” She coughed and wiped some sweat off her forehead with a lavender, ichor-stained hoof.

She watched as a vulture dove down from above and began picking at a corpse. Luna couldn’t tell what kind of corpse it was. It was covered up by the scraps of metal, other corpses, and dried lavender and crimson fluids that covered the field.

It was over. After months of hunting, searching, and loss, they had finally killed Queen Aysune. Luna glanced over at her headless body, sitting not too far from where she sat. No more ponies would lose their equinity because of Aysune. After being turned, a pony was able to be forced by Aysune to do whatever the Queen desired. Which included attacking a loved one, or an important royal figure. Or both. Luna grunted as Celestia pulled the wound closed and tied off the string.

“Alright, Luna, you’re good. Now for our turn. Remember what we taught you.” They spoke in unison. “Steady mind means steady recovery.”

Luna took the medical kit in her magic and hovered a clean needle and string to a wound. “We know, sister, don’t worry. We’ve patched you up before, remember? Back when…” She jerked the needle forwards and it sunk deep into Celestia’s side.

Celestia cried out in surprise and looked back at her sister. “Stars above, Luna, keep a steady mind!” Luna nodded silently, taking a deep breath as she got back to work.

“Apologies. We’re just… how can anything with intelligent thought do the things that Aysune did? Your own student, our… She turned him against us, used him as a pawn. Only let him see the things he had done once he was dying. We aren’t the only ones who were played, either. Countless other ponies have similar stories: looking in the mirror to see a changeling, having to kill their friend or spouse when they were attacked…”

Celestia touched Luna’s side with her wing. “But it’s over now. Aysune is dead, as are her Royals. The ponies are strong; they will recover from this. That starts with us giving them an example. We have been attacked before, we have lost loved ones before, and we shall continue to do so throughout our lives.”

Luna closed a cut and continued to the next. “What is the purpose of it all? What is the point of having a lover, if only to see them wither away?”

“Because unless we let others care for us, we will cease to care for others. Chemical Catalyst was a wonderful pony and he cared for you excellently. You need ponies like that in your life: ones who will support you and your talents.

“Our curse and blessing is our long lives. We may be physically durable, but our minds can still decay and darken like any other pony. We must take extra care to make sure that does not happen.”

Luna sighed and furrowed her brow. “I understand, sister.”

——————

Scout #1555, or Eye Fiver to his friends, was bored. And cold. He had been assigned an extra shift on guard duty, since Double Dozen had gotten a bad infection of chitin-rust and couldn’t make it to her post.

His light blue wings fluttered as a breeze stirred through the air, chilling him further. He considered shifting into a pony, just to reap the benefits of a fur coat, but decided against it. He would rather be cold instead of hungry.

He saw a flash of light to his left and turned his head. One of the other lookouts saw something. He carefully worked out the meaning of the pattern as the pale blue light flashed. “South… friendly… Queen? We weren’t expecting any Queens today, I wonder what’s going on. I hope it’s Queen Amortentia, she is always nice to be around.”

The wind shifted, sending a cold spray from Neighagra Falls into Eye Fiver. He groaned and watched as the scout to his left began blinking another series of lights. “Whitetail? What about…” The signals for Whitetail and alive began flashing over and over. Eye Fiver quickly got the attention of the scout to his right and began relaying the message.

The news spread quickly, until eventually a messenger retreated into the hive in order to tell Queen Nepthysis the good news. After two decades of silence, the Whitetail hive was alive.

——————

Citlali watched as a series of flashes spread around Neighagra Falls. “Well, Spike, we’ve certainly been spotted. I give them maybe a dozen seconds before they send someone to see us. I hope Queen Rivera is still doing well, it would be nice to see her again.”

“That’s good, I was getting tired of walking. I’m looking forward to meeting another Queen. Another friendly Queen, I mean. Well, actually, I’m exited about all of this! Meeting more changelings, other Royals, seeing how hives function! It might make it easier to imagine how our hive was, back in the day.”

“Yeah. Our hives look immensely different, though. Whereas my hive was underground, lit by enchanted crystals, Rivera’s hive has rivers flowing through it, and plenty of one-way windows that look like stone from the outside, but show beautiful views of the Falls from inside. The Atrium is many stories tall, from below our level, to the top of Neighagra Falls. They run the tourist services on the outside and harvest astonishment that way.”

Spike watched a black and blue changeling took off from the mountain towards them. “Huh. Did we ever have something like that? A service we ran?”

“Well, our harvesters were mostly the artistic type. Authors, actors, artists, and similar. We harvested appreciation on a wider scale than Rivera. She usually kept her harvesters close to home.” The changeling coming towards them landed and stood in place.

Citlali smiled. “Speaking of close to home, I think that’s our welcoming party. Let’s go introduce ourselves, shall we?”

They approached the changeling, who stood at respectful attention. Once they were in speaking distance, he addressed them. “Queen Citlali, welcome back! The Queens have missed you and feared for the worst. My Queen will want to hear your story.”

Citlali nodded with a smile. “It’s a crazy story, I’m exited to tell her. How is she? Queen Rivera, I mean?”

The changeling looked confused for a moment, then sighed. “Oh… oh. Uh, come on, the Queen will want to see you. She can catch you up on what has been happening among the Queens.” They began walking towards the hive.

Citlali frowned, glanced at Spike, then followed. When she noticed the changeling glancing at the figure on Citlali’s back, she chuckled. “Oh, uh. This is one of my soldiers. I assume you heard what happened at Canterlot?”

“Yes, everyone is buzzing about it. Chrysalis has a bounty on her head right now. After what she did to you, she was hated by everyling. Now, because of Canterlot, she can’t return to her hive, and can’t seek refuge in another Queen’s care. Essentially, she’s changeling enemy #1. I assume you were in Canterlot as well?” the guard asked.

“Yes, we both were. Spike is my Royal and Vahan here is actually a sleeper. We both got hit by the initial blast, so I’m going to keep with him while I tend to his injuries. Has your Queen reported any casualties?” Citlali turned an inquisitive eye to the guard.

“Only a few. Most of our harvesters were outside when the bomb went off, though we didn’t have many harvesters in Canterlot anyways. You said Vahan is a soldier and a sleeper, yet… he has a name? Is he a Royal as well?”

“Oh, no. It’s… it’s a long story. I’ll explain it to your Queen once we meet.” The guard nodded and flashed a few lights at the guards above them. Another series of flashes came back, to which the escort nodded.

“The Queen is able to see you. She will open the Falls to let you in.” Citlali nodded and watched, with Spike, in awe as a series of glowing blue lines etched themselves into the stone. It outlined a stone doorway, with writing along the top. With a rumble, the doors slowly slid open.

Spike whistled. “That’s pretty cool. Once we get our hive built back up, we need to get a door like that.” Citlali chuckled and nodded in agreement.

Inside was a long bridge connecting to another door on the other side. There was a large stone cylinder, indicating a massive room, in front of them, with many other bridges above, and below, them indicating many more locations in the hive.

The bridge they were on had a fence on either side, with holes in it to allow visibility. Gutters on either side had white stains in the blue crystal tile, indicating where water once flowed. Changelings, all light blue in color, flew through the air, landing on various bridges, repairing walls, and chatting to each other. Windows allowed light to fill the whole room, as well as charging the tile on the floor that would activate when light was low.

The guard pressed on the doorway, which slid upwards and revealed the Atrium. A series of ringed floors encircled an open space in the middle, allowing the three changelings sight of the flows of water crisscrossing through the air, into a pool below. Fences were only found in some spots, letting changelings walk off into the center whenever they pleased.

Pillars of a pale white stone held up the floors, with patterns of various aquatic animals adorning them. At the top of the room was a massive skylight, letting sunlight flow into the room. More sun tiles were found along the floor and walls. Spike’s jaw dropped, and Citlali smiled, happy to see her friend’s home once again. The guard was content with their reactions and indicated a door on the top floor.

“Up there is the Throne Room. The Queen shall open the doors for you. It’s good to see the Whitetail Hive returned, Queen Citlali.”

Citlali summoned a fire portal underneath her and Spike, placing them outside the Throne Room. The changelings around them gawked, obviously surprised to see lavender changelings. Once they stood outside the Throne Room doors, they slowly began to slide open in a pale blue glow.

Both stepped forwards, excited to meet Queen Rivera. Citlali stopped, however, and held Spike back. It was not Rivera on the throne. This Queen had long, wavy hair, with various stone ornaments hanging from it. Her horn was longer than Citlali's own, and curved like a snake. The two Queens stared at each other with dropped jaws. Spike looked between them questioningly, until the blue Queen began to laugh. At first it was just a chuckle, then it increased in volume until the Queen was roaring with laughter, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Well I’ll be damned! The Whitetail Hive is even hardier than I thought! This is the second time you fellows have come back from the dead, and you look… actually you look like rotten gel. But rotten gel is a whole lot better than dead, I’ll say. Welcome back to the land of the living, Citlali.”

Spike looked at Citlali, who was in shock. “Nepthysis!? Since when have you been Queen?” Her look of shock fell into a frown. “What happened to your mother?”

Nepthysis looked down. “We had a nasty infection of chitin rust a while back. The hive is still trying to finish it off. It took her and corroded her to the point that healing her was starving the hive. She told us to let her pass to the All-Mother, allowing me to take the throne. Who’da guessed the two of us would both become Queens, right?”

Queen Nepthysis stood and approached the lavender changelings. “And who’re you two? A royal and…” She looked at the group as if seeing them for the first time. She took in the extensive injuries on Vahan and Citlali, and cursed under her breath. “You two were in Canterlot, I’m guessing?”

Citlali nodded and cleared her throat. “We were in the same room that the bomb went off in. I used the love in the air to shield Spike and some of my sleepers.”

“Sleep— All-Mother curse you, Citlali, you’re still making sleepers!? Are you kidding me? Your hive nearly died because your grandmother was making sleepers, and you never once considered that the Princesses would want your head because of that?” Nepthysis pressed a hoof to her face and shook her head. “How many others do you have out there?”

Citlali bowed her head. “Ten.”

“And how many changelings do you have in your hive?”

“Thirteen. Not counting myself. Ten sleepers, Spike, and two eggs.”

Nepthysis gasped, then stared at her friend in shock. Then, in one swift movement, she wrapped her neck around Citlali and held the embrace. Citlali felt some charged emotions flow into her, which she used to heal most of her antenna. “All-Mother above, I’m sorry. I— We all thought that you were either dead, or hidden in a new hive. We never considered that you were just scraping by somewhere.” She pushed out of the embrace, wiped her eyes, and looked between Spike, Vahan and Citlali. “Well, what can I do to help you three?”

Citlali smiled. “We need to use the guest’s quarters and some supply of emotion. I’m trying to use as little as possible, so I can hatch my last two eggs and start rebuilding my hive again. I haven’t had much time, since I’ve been disguised as a pony for the last twenty years.”

Nepthysis whistled. “Only one pony? How’d you pull that off?”

Citlali chuckled and shrugged. “Dropped myself and a sleeper off on a doorstep, disguised as siblings. The family took us in and raised us as their own. There’s nothing quite like mother’s love to keep a changeling alive. My other sleepers are all in positions where they get enough emotion as well.”

“Damn. As much as I disapprove of your sleepers, that probably took some serious organization. Not that organization is an issue for you, Miss ‘Number One Assistant.’”

Spike coughed and looked up to Citlali. “You were a number one assistant too!?”

“Ehh… I helped my mother with whatever she needed. Just like you!” Spike smiled and slid a hoof down his fin.

They all jumped when Vahan flinched on Citlali’s back, and fell off with a shout. He opened his lavender eyes, looked at the two Queens, and changeling in front of him, and scrambled to his hooves. Vahan conjured a quick shield in front of him, then began to speak in a shaky voice.

“Where am I? What did you—“ He grunted, then collapsed to the floor as his injures made themselves known again. He looked at his scorched chitin. “What did you do to me!? What is— what is…” He slumped back to the floor in silence.

They stared at him as Citlali cheerily clapped her hooves together. “Well, it’s been fun seeing you again, but I have a brother who is actually my son who most likely now wants to kill me. I’ll need a private room to talk to him, if that’s alright with you.”

Nepthysis patted Citlali’s withers. “Of course. If you need anything, just ask.”

——————

The Bearers watched in silent pity as yet another changeling, colored crimson this time, was dragged through the halls of Canterlot Castle, kicking and screaming. “I’m not one of hers! I’ve been here for seven years now, I’m in the Royal Guard! Just ask Shining Armor, he knows me! Please, I’m not with Chrysalis!”

The doors to the dungeons shut with a slam, plunging the room into an awful silence. The guards had been bringing discovered changelings in all day for questioning about the attack. The Sisters had eventually shielded the city from any exit, so whatever changelings were in Canterlot were stuck in Canterlot.

Fluttershy was not among the Bearers watching the prisoners come in. After the first couple changelings, she had retired to her dorm room, and had stayed there for the rest of the day. Pinkie Pie had disappeared off to somewhere, which left Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

“I really wish this wasn’t necessary. I understand the need to know who and who isn’t a pony, but this just isn’t the way. The Princesses should have issued a decree saying that any changeling who steps forward and reveals themselves is pardoned, or something similar in nature,” Rarity said. “Apart from the ones colored teal like Chrysalis’ own, none of them have violently resisted arrest.”

Applejack scratched her chin. “What’dya think the colors mean? The changelings that’ve come in so far have all been different colors.”

“Different Queens, maybe? Twili— The Queen that was replacing Twilight was purple and Chrysalis was green. The little changelings had those colors, too. I hope we find them soon. The real Shining, Spike, and Twilight I mean.” Rainbow poked at the ground, a frown on her face.

Rarity scoffed. “According to Princess Celestia, we have. The lavender Queen, Citlali, said she had always been Twilight, Spike revealed himself as a changeling, and Shining was dropped off at their parents’ house at the same time as Twilight.”

Applejack did a double take at Rarity. “Twilight and Shining Armor are adopted? How come she never said anythin’ about that?”

Rainbow scoffed. “Probably the same way she never mentioned Shining Armor, or her fear of what would happen if she missed a letter, or being a changeling Queen. Twilight doesn’t really mention anything you don’t ask about, AJ.”

The farmhand threw a hoof into the air. “Then how come Shining or Spike never said anythin’? Did they really not trust us enough to tell us somethin’ as big as this?”

At that moment, the doors opened yet again, revealing two guards holding a changeling. This one was lavender, just like Twilight’s hive. The changeling was silent and melancholy, until it glanced at the bearers. It locked eyes with them and opened it’s mouth. “You… you’ve gotta help me, please! I’m with you, I’m one of you! You have to trust me!” The dungeon doors closed.

Rainbow shivered. “That was disturbing. Whaddya think she mean when she said she was with us?”

Rarity stared at the dungeon door. “Nothing good, I’m sure.”

Author's Note

Nepthysis is based off of this design by the talented egophilliac: https://derpibooru.org/1038813?q=oc%3Anepenthe

If I mention a changeling based off of somebody elses work, I'll list the source in the Authors notes like this, okay?

2 - III - Queens In Four Suits

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter III - Queens In Four Suits

——————

Shining Armor’s eyes snapped open with a coughing fit. He tried standing, but felt pain flare from his legs and sides. The captain collapsed backwards on the bed, allowing him to take a look around the room. The walls were covered in a white tile, with faintly glowing blue tiles edging the ceiling. A circular window allowed light to flood into the small room. The bed was harder than he was accustomed to, but not uncomfortable.

Shining attempted to stand again, but only managed to flop off the side of his bed, knocking over an I.V. stand with a bag of a strange blue liquid. Shining’s eyes held on the liquid for a moment before the door to the room slid upwards and out of sight. He chuckled in embarrassment when he saw his sister looking at him worriedly.

Twilight sighed. “Shining, stay in bed. You got injured pretty extensively in the attack. Here, let me help you.” Shining’s white coat was surrounded in Twilight’s magical glow as he was lifted back into bed.

“Twily what… what happened? Where’s Cadence, I saw two Queens and…” Shining quickly looked himself over and sighed in relief. “Thank Celestia, it was just a dream. I thought I had turned into a changeling, and there were some other changelings looking at me.” He chuckled.

Twilight laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry, ponies can’t just turn into changelings. That’s just an old mares’ tale. An actual old mares’ tale, mind you. Not like Nightmare Moon, or Discord. Anyways, we need to talk. You might have noticed, we aren’t in Canterlot right now.”

Shining blinked and frowned. “Not in… where are we then, where’s Cadence. Is she okay? What about the Princesses!?”

Twilight held up a hoof. “They’re all recovering from their few injuries. You were hurt lots more than they were. It’s the day after the invasion. They, along with the other Bearers, are in Canterlot, likely looking for changelings.”

“Oh. What happened to me? Why aren’t we…” Shining’s head wobbled, before it collapsed backwards, and he fell asleep.

Twilight glanced at the I.V. stand, then righted it. The liquid glowed and emptied slightly, even as some of Shining’s burns ebbed away. “We aren’t in Canterlot because the Sisters want our hive dead.”

Twilight dropped her disguise and used her essentially-healed antenna to send a message to Spike. “I need you to go to Canterlot to send a message in person. Tell the Bearers that we’re safe and in the care of a friendly Queen. Tell them that Shining is steadily healing and will be healthy in a day or two. Use your dragon disguise, hopefully guards will recognize you as the assistant to the Princess’ student, not a changeling. And, if you see her, bring Satomi back, she’s part of our hive. Send a flare if anything goes wrong, and I’ll make my way there immediately.”

Twilight sent a supply of emotional energy as well, in order to supply the trip. An affirmative came back from Spike, to which Twilight nodded. “Fly safe, number one assistant.”

——————

“State your true name and occupation, and your disguise’s name and occupation.” Major Barking Gums, who was filling out for the injured Shining Armor, shuffled some papers, then looked up at the changeling before him.

It was merrily rocking side to side with a wide grin plastered on it’s face. It’s shell and wings looked like mother-of-pearl, and it’s eyes and glowing chest-gem-thingies were silvery. She stopped and hummed a quick tune in thought.

“My name is Elytra, but my friends call me Ely! I’m one of Amortentia’s Royals, with my brother Tympanal, or Tym. I didn’t actually disguise as anypony important. I didn’t even bother to come up with a disguise name! I was just here to check on some of my hive’s changelings, and then you foalnapped me~!” She sang her last few words and went back to her rocking motion, humming included this time.

The Major perked up. “A… Royal? We haven’t heard that word yet. What do you mean? Do you care for the Queen? Are you a Princess?”

“Mmmm. It’s more like a family of bears. Most changelings would be the babies in this analogy, whereas I would be the cub, and my Queen the momma bear. And you just took momma bear’s cub.” Ely leaned forwards as she said this, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Ely continued her rocking motion and spoke in a normal voice. “I’ve been broadcasting my location to the hive the entire time you’ve been in here with me. They’re going to get in here, take care of you, and walk out with me. It shouldn’t be that hard. I mean, look at what Chryssie did! She replaced a member of royalty and nopony noticed! Not even her fiancé! You ponies are silly. How can you even tell what other ponies are feeling? Do you just fire arrows in the dark and hope one of them is on target when you turn the lights on?”

A laugh sounded behind Major Barking Gums. He quickly turned around and found himself face-to-face with a changeling Queen. The first thing the Major noticed was the horn: long, tapering and thin at the base so that it resembled an arrowhead. It was just as sharp as well. Her iridescent, glass-like mane wrapped around the base of her horn, then rested across her muzzle, and connected back to behind her ear. The back of her mane hung down her side, giving a remarkable attempt at mimicking Princess Celestia’s own mane. Her eyes resembled large pearls, with black slits in the middle. Five oval pearls circled the base of her neck, giving the appearance of expensive jewelry.

Queen Amortentia spoke. Her voice was smooth, and had a musical cadence to it. “Excellent work, Ely. You followed your lessons perfectly. And I do believe ponies rely entirely on body language alone. Fascinating little creatures they are. Fragile, as well. A tunnel collapses on them and they pop like a bug! How have they lived for this long?”

The Major jumped back and lit his horn. “By order of the Equestrian Royalty, you are ordered to stand down, and submit yourself for arrest. You are known to be aiding and abetting a known criminal, and for counts of assault against the crown and country.” His horn flared for a moment. “I have called for more guards to come here and take you to the Canterlot Castle dungeons. Do not resist.”

Queen Amortentia chuckled and smiled, showing off her fangs. “Okay. I’ll play along.” She cleared her throat. “Oh no, not assault! I’m so sorry that I ever committed such a heinous crime, oh woe is me! A life of prison is not meant for one such as I! Officer, when did I do such a thing? Please tell me, so I may know the error of my ways!” She held one hoof to her chest and another in the air, outstretched. Her eyes were closed, but she cracked one open to look at the Major.

The Major stammered for a moment. “Well, you’re changelings! Your kind attacked us not two days ago!”

“Ah yes. I do seem to recall one of your Princesses attacking a hive 27 years ago… should I kill you, because she is a pony as well?” Amortentia’s horn lit up in a brilliant, multicolored flame. Her voice was lower and dripped of danger. “Because I am more than willing to do so.”

At that moment, two guards stepped into the room, looking between the two changelings and the Major. Barking Gums laughed and barked an order to the guards. “You two, arrest this monster!”

The guards nodded and stepped forwards. Then immediately placed a horn cuff and hoof cuffs on the Major. “What are you doing, you fools? Arrest that creature, not me! I will have you reported to Shining Armor the moment—“

A guard struck him across the muzzle and leaned towards him. “You do not refer to the Queen in that manner.” The guards looked to Amortentia and bowed. “My Queen, it is good to see you.”

“Likewise, children. Take this fellow to a bedroom and make sure he is comfortable. Good day, Major.” The Major stammered as the two guards revealed themselves as pearly changelings. They charged their horns in unison, then sank into the ground with a fire portal.

Ely looked to her Queen. “Amortentia, I am glad you came, but… how did you get here so fast? Were you in the area for something besides myself?”

Amortentia nodded. “Yes, Ely. I have wondrous news, indeed. Nepthysis’ hive had spotted the Queen of Whitetail Hive coming their way, and relayed the news to the other hives. Half an hour ago, they also reported that a Royal from Whitetail was making his way here. I wanted to speak to him.” The Queen broke the chains holding Ely to the table.

The Royal clapped her hooves together. “Oh, lovely day! I wonder where they’ve been all this time? Mmmm~, wonderful indeed~!”

Amortentia hummed a merry tune.

——————

Chrysalis had been walking non-stop ever since she landed in the Everfree Forest. She had managed to make her way along the train tracks to Dodge City, where she drained a few ponies for emotions. She had carried on and into the Hayseed Jungle in order to take the hidden path to her hive: there were almost certainly changelings watching the main entrance.

The Queen hadn’t been able to get in contact with any other members of her hive, even though her antenna was fully healed. Her changelings were likely just out of range. Hopefully out of range.

Chrysalis knew the territory lines well: where to step, where to avoid. Any path too far south-east and she could end up in her territory, and that was the last thing any changeling with half a mind wanted to do. Essentially anything that went in there without permission never came out.

High Queen Metamorphia was a very territorial, old-fashioned Queen. Likely because she was the oldest Queen. Rumor had it that she was even older than the Princesses, but they’re all mostly unfounded. Point being: Metamorphia was a force of nature. If she damaged a hive, killed straying changelings, or kidnapped ponies, the others would all let it slide. Even stepping hoof into her territory could mean a death sentence.

So, naturally, when Chrysalis heard the High Queen’s deep, slow voice inside her head, she screamed. ”CHRYSALIS.” The much younger Queen shrieked and flipped around to meet her ancestors’ maker. Metamorphia herself never actually came to any of the councils, because she was so large that traveling that far was inconvenient. She just used another Queen's Roy to represent her. Seeing her was rare and usually spelled out a changeling’s death sentence.

Metamorphia dwarfed Celestia in comparison. Her horn was actually a collection of jagged shards that all spiraled from her forehead, with glowing green pieces that trailed an ethereal mist. Her antenna had developed into a crown, and further still. It had become a large fan of bone that jutted out from behind her head, and gave her a truly alien appearance. Parts of the crest glowed in similar fashion to her horn. Her legs were thin, maybe even spindly, but the slightly-transparent chitin highlighted powerful muscles, and glowing vessels of pure emotional energy inside of her body. Her long, bladed tail waved to and fro, even brushing against Chrysalis’ side every so often, leaving shallow scratches. The High Queen’s shell completely covered her torso, and neck, in thick plates of green armor. Her entire body had various scars where emotions had failed to fully heal an injury.

The High Queen slowly opened her eyes, which looked like a pool of swirling green and gold liquids. Her pupils were shaped like diamonds, with additional points at the corners. A glassy membrane blinked over the eye, allowing Metamorphia to remain staring at Chrysalis. ”YOU ATTACKED CANTERLOT.”

“I— well— yes, High Queen. I attacked Canterlot without meeting with the Summit of Queens.” Chrysalis bowed her head in shame and closed her eyes, not wanting to see Metamorphia’s terrible figure.

”YOU REVEALED OUR SPECIES, NOW MORE THAN EVER. BEFORE THAT, YOU ATTACKED A FELLOW QUEEN BECAUSE HER DRONES STUMBLED INTO YOUR DESERTED, PATHETIC LAND YOU CALL HOME.” Metamorphia leaned closer to Chrysalis, who gave a stuttering sob. The High Queen opened her mouth, showing dozens of rows of teeth that ran all the way down her throat. Chrysalis could have sat comfortably in that mouth, if not for the fact that it was a mouth that had no moral qualms about eating her.

“But… haven’t you… done… that?” Metamorphia let out a long, rumbling, stuttering growl that reminded Chrysalis of a tyrant king of reptiles. It chilled her to the bone, then chilled her soul. She felt like a grain of sand at the bottom of the world’s ocean.

”YOU FORGET YOUR PLACE. I DO AS I PLEASE. I ANSWER TO NONE, YOU ANSWER TO THE OTHER QUEENS, AND MYSELF. ONE MORE MISTAKE FROM YOU AND I WILL REPLACE YOUR HIVE WITH ONE THAT IS MORE COMPETENT. DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME.” Chrysalis collapsed to the ground, then nodded violently, and silently. When she looked back up, the High Queen was gone without a trace.

Chrysalis almost screamed again when her egregore became flooded with the panicking feelings of her worker changelings. Worry and panic, before she spoke to them all. “I am alright. It will be a while longer before I return to the hive. Stigma perished in the attack, Thorax is to lead while I am gone. Do not disappoint me.”

Chrysalis’ second of three Royals spoke to her. “Queen Chrysalis, is everything all right, besides the invasion? You disappeared completely for a short time there. The hive went into a panic, and Pharynx said I needed to think about a Queen’s name for myself. I don’t, right?”

“Not yet, Thorax. Everything is alright, I am unharmed. Go and do what I have asked of you.”

“Yes, Queen Chrysalis.”

——————

Nepthysis facehoofed and leaned back in her throne. “Are you kidding me!? You still haven’t talked to him? Citlali, this has gone on long enough; twenty years is a long time for somepony to not know their species. You’ve gotta talk to him and break the bad news.”

Citlali was pacing franticly around the floor of the Throne Room, speaking quickly. “Yes, I know I have to, but… I’m scared. I’m scared that he won’t see things from our perspective, that he’ll still hate the changelings, which includes himself. I haven’t talked to any of them because I don’t want to lose them! I mean, once he knows what he is, what if he goes back to Canterlot, and they capture him, and they don’t believe him when he says he is Shining Armor!?”

“That isn’t going to happen, because you’ll be there with him. You’re the most diplomatic changeling I know; you convinced Sophicius, who’s hive feeds off of pride, to side with you when you tried to call them out on their own security flaws. If there is a Queen that can pull this off, it’s you. You are going to get in there and talk to your son, as his mother. Now go, before my changelings drag you in there themselves.”

Citlali smiled for a moment, then nodded her head. “Yeah, you’re right. I can do this. Going to talk to Vahan as Citlali, not Shining as Twilight. Thanks again for letting us be here, Nepthysis. We appreciate it.” Nepthysis nodded and Citlali turned and walked out, towards the room that Vahan was staying in.

Citlali paused in front of the door, pushed it upwards, and stepped in. The room was empty. She had just a moment of confusion before something hard struck her in the back of the head, sending her stumbling forwards. Citlali rubbed the spot that had been hit, then turned around to see Vahan, undisguised, running through the hive while looking for a way out.

The Queen facehoofed. “Oh, by the All-Mother's love, you have got to be kidding me.” She formed the spell for a fire portal and watched Vahan’s movements closely. Once Citlali found what she was looking for, she cast the spell and watched as the poor changeling dropped into the floor, and appeared at her side. She grabbed him with her magic and walked back into the guest room.

“Let go of me you monster! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to me and my country! I’ll kill you!” Vahan shouted and kicked at Citlali as she dragged him through the air. The Queen simply closed his mouth with her magic, then laid him on the bed.

“Alright, if you’ll stop throwing your tantrum, we can talk. Diplomatically. Queen to changeling.” Vahan attempted to get up after Citlali had said this, but she simply pushed him back down, pinning him with the bed sheet as she did so. “There, I’ve even tucked you in! Now, Shining, can we talk?”

The Captain of the Royal Guard stared at Citlali with burning eyes. “You’ve turned me into this… horror, you foalnapped my wife, and you attacked the city I love! Why would I ever want to speak to you?”

“Because we’ve done it thousands of times before. You would ask me about some trivial fact, I would give you an answer… to a hundred different questions. I was like a leaky faucet of information. You most likely assumed it was from the expanse of books I read, but it was all knowledge gained personally.” Citlali spoke calmly. Vahan stared at her warily.

“Remember when I described the anatomy of a hydra to you? Around a century before that, my hive dissected a hydra that had been intruding on our hive’s land. We got to see exactly how it worked. We learned many things that day. My favorite was ‘don’t cut off a hydra’s head and attempt to ride the stump.’”

Vahan shook his head. “You’re lying. That’s all you ever do! You lie, manipulate, and steal.”

Citlali shrugged. “No, I’m not. In fact, by acusing me of lying, you yourself have lied. You just don’t want to admit it. I honestly wish I had found a better way to resolve this than just dropping it on you, but here goes.” She cleared her throat and transformed into Twilight Sparkle. “Shining Armor, you are, and always have been a changeling named Vahan of the Whitetail Hive. Twilight Sparkle was a disguise created by your mother and Queen, named Citlali, in order to save her hive. There was a reason I never fussed as a foal, or why we were both dropped off on our doorstep with no traceable thaumprint.”

Vahan shook his head slowly. “No. No, that’s impossible. Cadence said she could sense changelings, and I always had… charged emotions, or whatever she called them. I haven’t always been a changeling.”

Citlali transformed back into herself and stepped towards him. “Yes, you have. I created a method that hides changelings from ponies with empathy like Cadence. Only reason it isn’t more widely used is because it’s resource extensive, and is difficult to maintain on a group larger than a couple dozen changelings. Now, if you could please just accept that you—”

Spike’s voice sounded in her head. It was frantic, shaky, and tinged with panic. “Citlali, hurry! Fluttershy and Pinkie have been discovered, there’s guards here!” The connection cut unexpectedly. Citlali cursed and prepared a portal to Spike’s location that he had broadcasted.

Vahan looked at her as she faced the wall. “What are you doing?”

“I just got a distress message from Spike, in Canterlot. Two of my changelings have been discovered by your guard. I’m creating a portal there now.” Citlali’s horn lit, enveloping the wall in a circle of flames, which she stepped into. Just before it closed, Vahan lept off of his bed, hung onto Citlali, and passed through the portal.

The spell collapsed on itself with a pop and a puff of smoke.

When Citlali came through the other side, she had her horn lit in a glowing blaze, ready to torch whoever threatened her children. When she looked around the room, she saw an undisguised Vesela, Yasu, and Satomi staring at her along with a disguised Spike, and the rest of the Bearers.

Spike waved casually. “Hey, Citlali, Vahan. Nice of you two to join the party!”

Citlali sputtered as her magic died. “Spike— you— the guards?”

Spike pointed to two guards lying in a corner. “Are right there, only slightly unconscious. Hit em’ with a sleep spell when I came in here.”

The Queen sighed and lowered her head. “So why did you send a message saying you had been discovered?”

“Because Pinkie and Fluttershy were in the middle of a conversation with those guards. And get this: those guards aren’t ponies! They’re changelings!” Spike held a grin on his face before he saw the look his Queen was giving him.

“You attacked before you tried to speak to them? How did you know they were a threat? What if these changelings are with an ally of ours, and we’ve just attacked them?” Citlali motioned to the guards, then looked back at Spike. “I’m not mad, in fact I’m proud of you for thinking quickly, but I do wish we could have handled this better. While we wait for them to wake, why don’t you tell me about your trip? I see you freed Satomi, which is excellent. It’s good to see you girls.”

Rarity shook her head. “Twilight. So it’s true, then? We’re all changelings? And you kept this secret from us for our entire lives?”

Citlali nodded. “Yes. Everypony in here is a changeling. I’ll explain myself once Spike tells his story, I want to hear it.”

Spike looked between them, dropped his disguise, to the slight surprise of Vahan, and began his story.

Author's Note

This chapter and the next one take place simultaneously. This chapter is meant to set up two other plots that will be happening along with Citlali, and her hive's story. Each will follow one hive: Citlali's hive, Chrysalis' hive, and Amortentia's hive.

Stuff relating to HQ Metamorphia
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http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Omnifarious
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2 - IV - Conflicting Interests

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter IV - Conflicting Interests

Spike whistled and spun around as he took in the whole of the Neighagra Hive. He watched as the clear water of the mountain fell sideways towards the pool, far to his right. Various changelings flew up and down, to and fro as they carried out their tasks assigned to them. He was slightly aware of another changeling walking up beside him on the wall, but his focus remained on the hive’s decorations.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Spike nodded silently. “Mother told me what you’ve been through. I think we may have set a high bar in terms of hive standards, though she also said that your hive wasn’t so bad back in the day, either.” Spike looked over and saw two slitted eyes meet his. The Royal smiled and held out a hoof, which Spike bumped. “Nileaisa, but most call me Nile.”

Nile’s mane was short, slightly wavy, and turned a pale blue at the ends. It slightly covered one of her eyes, which didn’t blink as she stared at Spike. Her tail was long, thin, and wagged playfully side to side. Her horn resembled her mother’s own, albeit shorter. The Royal’s grin widened, showing off a few sharp teeth. “So, you gonna stare at the scenery all day, or are you gonna say somethin’?”

Spike nodded and chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just a lot to take in. Before yesterday, the only changelings I’d ever seen were Citlali and myself. Now I’m here, in an entire hive, watching changelings go about their business, and talking to another Royal. Yesterday, I was Spike the Dragon, assistant to Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. Now I’m Spike, Royal to Queen Citlali of the Whitetail Hive.”

Nile chuckled, pushed from the wall, and hovered in the air while motioning for Spike to follow. “Life changes. That’s the blessin’ and curse of our kind. Nothin’ ever stays the same. Identities shift, Queens pass, and we Royals have to stand by, watching it happ’n. It isn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure you’ve made tons of friends over your lifetime, right? Any time you want, you can make a new you, and get to know even more people.”

They flew upwards and stood before a door at the very top floor of the hive. Spike could see ponies moving on top of the Falls through the skylight above, and could feel their emotions being harvested by their tour guides. “Tons of them. Most of them probably hate me now, just because of who I am. Unless I start all over again.”

“My mother had a scout that got discovered, right after the Rambling Rock was destroyed. The pony that found him threw a fit, and knocked the scout out, but didn’t turn him in. Instead, they sat down, and had a pleasant chat on what ‘lings were really like. Now, that same pony comes here every month or so, just to talk to the drones here, since mother allowed that scout to bring ‘im to the hive.” Nile pushed on the door and it slid upwards.

“The point I’m tryin’a make here is that ponies forgive. It’s their shtick. I mean, look at Princess Luna! Only a year ago, she was tryin’a freeze one half of the world, and burn the other! Now, she’s one of the head figures of the Equestrian government. Bein’ a changeling doesn’t stop you from talkin’ to them. Stayin’ here does.” They both donned their public disguises and stepped outside.

It was gorgeous. The whole of the Equestrian horizon could be seen, from the tall, jagged mountains of the Frozen North, to the proud spire of the Canterhorn. The air was slightly moist from the spray of the Falls, and the shuffling and excited murmuring of the crowd above almost matched the roar of Neighagra. Because of the mist in the air, Spike could see a rainbow coloring the sky above.

“Wow. I can see how this view’d be profitable.” He looked around some more, then glanced back at Nile, who was disguised as a pegasus with a sea foam green coat, a vivid blue and sand-striped mane, and amber eyes. Her cutie mark was a river delta. “Thanks, Nile, for the talk. I needed that. As soon as I find my way back to my friends, I’ll get Citlali and talk to them.”

At that moment, Spike blinked as Citlali began speaking to him through the egregore. “I need you to go to Canterlot to send a message in person. Tell the Bearers that we’re safe and in the care of a friendly Queen. Tell them that Shining is steadily healing and will be healthy in a day or two. Use your dragon disguise, hopefully guards will recognize you as the assistant to the Princess’ student, not a changeling. And, if you see her, bring Satomi back, she’s part of our hive. Send a flare if anything goes wrong, and I’ll make my way there immediately.” A decent supply of energy was sent to him as well, causing him to smile at the wanted warmth.

He nodded and sent back an affirmative. “Nile, good news. Citlali just asked me to head to Canterlot to talk to my friends about this whole mess. One of our hive members is… sleeping there as well, so she wants me to wake her up. Hopefully the guards there don’t know about me being… me, and Spike the Dragon can go meet his friends without incident. Maybe I can check out the full view from the Falls later, Nile.” Spike waved a claw to Nile and stepped back inside.

The light blue Royal watched him go, then shook her head. “How in Equestria did a Whitetail Queen make a Royal that good?”

——————

A dark figure wove between the twisting streets and alleyways of Canterlot, keeping an ample distance between herself, and the figure ahead of her. The latter figure was trying not to be seen, or followed. They took random paths through the streets and mixed in with the drab grey and brown of the cobblestone street, and old wooden homes.

He eventually stopped at a large stone wall, which led upwards to the side of the Canterhorn itself. With a flash of lavender fire, he became a grey lizard that quickly latched to the wall, and began crawling towards the richer half of Canterlot. The figure watching stepped backwards and became enveloped in an iridescent flame, revealing a tall and calm changeling Queen.

Amortentia watched the Whitetail changeling climb up the wall, then smirked. “Aphrodasia. What brings you to this less-than-reputable alleyway? I hope you aren’t harvesting here, it’s dirty enough without your presence.” Amortentia turned and watched as another Queen dropped from underneath the roof of a home, then slowly walked towards her.

Queen Aphrodasia had a long, curly, and above all, hot pink mane that dragged across the ground without picking up a single speck of dirt. Her horn was straight, blunt, and smooth, with obvious signs of file work marring it’s surface. Her wings had small, heart shaped holes in the ends. She passed by Amortentia, brushing her fluffy tail against the pearl Queen’s cheek as she passed. She grinned, showing off a series of slightly-blunt teeth that wouldn’t do any more than pinch.

Amortentia looked down at Aphrodasia, and pulled the pink Queen’s tail away from her face with magic, while humming warningly. Aphrodasia simply laughed and rested her head against her elder Queen’s side. “Oh, that’s no way to greet a friend. I was just making sure you were okay, trailing that Royal. It’d be a shame if this perfect chitin ever got scratched by a guard’s spear, or… a bite from another changeling.” She opened her mouth and moved to nibble on Amortentia’s neck.

Amortentia stopped the advancing mouth by placing a hoof on Aphrodasia’s horn, and pushing backwards. “Never again, Aphrodasia. Please tell me, why are you really here? Shouldn’t you be back at your brothel, helping ponies calm down from that stunt Chrysalis pulled?”

Aphrodasia clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Brothel? Oh, no, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t just sell sex to any horny pony who walks through my doors, I also sell advice. Conversation. Which means… me and my children pick up a lot of rumors. Like, for example, did you know that the pony that saved Luna from her darker self was Queen Citlali?” Amortentia’s brow raised, causing Aphrodasia to chuckle. “I know. That silly darling has been alive this whole time, living as a pony in Canterlot. If it hadn’t been for Chrysalis, she may have never returned to being herself.”

The Queen of Lust flicked her forked tongue out, tickling the inside of Amortentia’s ear. “I’d say she’s gone soft. Cares for the ponies now. Even though they almost killed her hive, and obliterated the one that would have been able to defend against Chrysalis and her betrayal. I wonder who’d she defend first? Changelings, or ponies?” Aphrodasia clamped her teeth onto Amortentia’s ear, causing a small hum from the older Queen.

“I know how you play, Aphrodasia. You worm your way into any ear that listens to you, then twist their mind, and heart. I don’t believe that trick is going to work on me again. Citlali has returned to our kind, she is currently with Nepthysis in Neighagra Falls. She sent her Royal here, and I want to know why. Now please pardon me while I try to do something worthwhile, an activity that you have had no experience with.” Amortentia shifted into a large, iridescent beetle, and began flying towards the castle.

Aphrodasia watched her go while wagging her tail. “Is that so, lovely?” She dipped into her egregore, and spoke a message to a coup of her drones. “The tracker is on Amortentia. Follow her and find out what Citlali’s Royal is doing.” She tilted her head and turned to leave. “I’ll need to tell Citlali that her hive is not welcome in Canterlot as long as she is a Queen, and not a pony. The Whitetail hive brings nothing but destruction in it’s wake.”

——————

“State your true name and occupation, and your disguise’s name and occupation.” Major Barking Gums shuffled some papers in his magical grip, occasionally glancing at the lavender changeling before him.

The changeling leaned forwards, but was halted by her bindings. “Moondancer, student at the Magical Academy of Research and Engineering!”

“I said your true information, before your disguise’s information. We have a lot of your kind to process, so please work with us.”

Faintly-purple tears dripped from the changeling’s eyes. “I am Moondancer! I've lived in Canterlot First orphanage for my whole life! Look me up, I’m not a changeling!”

The Major pointed at ‘Moondancer’. “The chitin and wings say different. We’ll look Moondancer up, but for now, we need to know who you, as a changeling, are! Now speak and spare us both of—“

“Major Barking Gums, that’s enough.” The Major and changeling looked over to see Captain Shining Armor standing in the doorway. “I would like to speak to this changeling, alone.”

The Major stepped back, then saluted his superior. “C-Captain Shining Armor!? I thought you were in the medical wing, when did you get released?”

“A few hours ago. Now, please leave us.” Shining Armor stepped to the side, freeing the doorway.

Barking Gums blinked, then looked between the Captain and the changeling. “With all due respect, Captain, how do I know it’s you?”

“I had you and your wife over for dinner six months ago, with Princess Cadence. This changeling claims to be one of the foal hood friends of my sister, so I want to speak to her personally. Please leave.”

The Major nodded, obviously content with the answer, and stood. He silently left, then closed the door. A few seconds after he left, Shining Armor walked over to the crystal recording the conversation, and crushed it with his hoof.

“Now, Miss Moondancer, let’s talk.” Shining Armor erupted into magenta flames, revealing a changeling underneath. He was taller than the average changeling, but had a leaner build. His lavender eyes had a visible, slit pupil instead of the white highlight of the standard changeling.

Moondancer leaned back and shook her head in confusion. “What… but… who are you, what do you want? Why am I like this?” She thrust her hooves forward, but was once again stopped by her restraints.

“My name is Spike. I’m the sole Royal of Queen Citlali. Our Queen. She has asked me to get you out of here, so that is what I am doing. You look like a changeling because, quite simply, you are a changeling. Your changeling name is Satomi, and you would have been a harvester, if not for the Queen dropping you off at an orphanage.”

Satomi shook her head. “I… but… how could I have been a changeling all my life? I’ve never needed to drain the love from anypony, or changed my shape. Until that spell struck me, that is.”

Spike smiled. “The ponies at the orphanage cared for you very much. You’ve never changed shape, because you simply haven’t tried. Go on, become Moondancer again. Just focus on being Moondancer. That is who you will be.”

Satomi focused for a second, before a lavender flame ran down her body from her horn, transforming her into Moondancer once again. “Good. Now, imagine one of the Royal Guards. The uniformed ones, mean. Not any of the officers.” Moondancer transformed into a Royal Guard, armor and all. The bound parts of her didn’t shape shift, since they were blocked by the chains.

Spike snapped them with a burst of magic, and the transformation completed itself. He transformed himself into Spike the dragon, and smiled. “Wonderful! Now we won’t be suspicious!”

Moondancer shook her head. “No, you…” Her, now his, voice was deeper than he expected. “Huh. You can’t look like that! That’s the assistant to Princess Celestia’s student, the guards will notice you immediately!”

“Ah, but you see, I am the assistant to Twilight Sparkle. Number one, actually. And of course the guards will notice me, there’s one escorting me right now!” Spike smiled, and Moondancer shook his head.

“But what if Twilight finds out? We’ll be caught and arrested for impersonation!”

“Moondancer, at this point, we’ll be arrested for existing. And Twilight is Citlali, she placed you at Canterlot First, she became friends with you, and now she wants you back by her side, where you’ll be safe. But before we leave, I need to speak to some friends. Citlali wanted me to relay a message to them as well as rescue you. Stand by me, I’ll fire portal us out of here.”

Moondancer stood by Spike and looked at him questioningly. “Fire portal?”

“Changeling spell. Like teleporting, but works better with our natural magic. Now lets see…” Spike looked around at the walls, before narrowing his eyes at something Moondancer couldn’t see. “Three are just outside the dungeons. If anybody tries to speak to us, let me do the talking, okay?”

Moondancer nodded vacantly. Spike tapped the floor with his foot, which burst into flames. Moondancer squeaked as they fell into the fire, then came out into a different hallway in the Castle. “Good. Some of the Bearers are just around the corner. We’ll ask them to speak in private.”

Moondancer stopped Spike. “The Bearers? Those aren’t the real bearers out there, they’re changelings too. I… felt it or something. It made me say things I wouldn’t have otherwise said.”

Spike waved a claw. “That’s the egregore you felt. It connects changelings in a hive, and lets them send emotions to each other. The Queen and Royals can send actually thoughts to other hive members.” He turned the corner, but held back when he saw two guards, and one Major Barking Gums walking through the door to the dungeons. Once they were out of sight, Spike rounded the corner.

“Hey, AJ, RD, Rarity, what’s going on?” They all turned to Spike and gasped.

Rainbow leapt into the air. “Spike!? I though you’d gone with…” She slowly flow towards Spike’s face and locked eyes with him. “How do I know you’re the real Spike?”

Spike chuckled. “Oh come on, how could any other changeling hope to replicate muscles like these?” He held an arm out, and flexed it. Aside from his fist curling, nothing changed.

Rainbow nodded. “Yup, it’s Spike. Where have you been? There was a changeling replacing you, Twilight, and Shining, how’d you get free!?”

Spike’s eyes flashed lavender slits. “Twilight asked me to come here. Can we talk in private, though? A very angry Major is stomping up the staircase to the dungeons right now, because I might have broken this one out a bit ago.” Moondancer waved awkwardly.

Rainbow’s eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion. “How do we know you aren’t just some spy, luring us into a trap?”

“You don’t! Just like how I don’t know what song you were singing in the bath last time you stayed over at Twilight’s, right?” Spike smirked at the pegasus.

Rainbow blushed immediately and stood up straight. “Yep, that’s the real Spike. AJ, Rarity, that’s definitely the real Spike.”

Rarity moved to say something, but Applejack beat her to the punch. “He’s tellin’ the truth, I’m sure of it. You’ve got a lot of explainin’ to do, Spike. Let’s go girls, we’d better get somewhere quiet.”

“Alright, if you two think that is my Spike, then I have no option but to agree. Lead the way, young drake.” The group quickly turned the corner Spike had come from, just as the Major and guards burst from the dungeon.

They began shouting and looking around the hall for any trace of the two changelings. Spike hurried the Bearers and Moondancer along, before turning into a side room. Spike closed the doors and looked to the others.

“Alright, now I need to find Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. They are…” Spike once again looked around the walls “In the guest rooms of the Castle. Together, it looks like. Stand close to me, I’ll get us up there in no time.”

Rainbow landed by Spike. “What exactly are you planning to do, teleport us with your fire breath?” She chuckled at her joke.

“Something like that, yeah.” Rainbow did a double take just as the floor ignited and pulled them through. When they rose out of the floor, they were in a guest room, looking at very shy looking changeling, Pinkie Pie, and two very surprised guards.

The guards had barely a moment to address the new intruders before Spike dropped his disguise. He fired two purple bolts that struck the guards and knocked them out. Spike pulled them into the room, took note of their dead emotions, reformed his disguise, and closed the doors. They all turned to the other changeling in the room, who was slowly moving against the wall.

Pinkie Pie waved at the group as Rainbow shot into the air, and stared down the changeling. “Who are you? What were you doing to Pinkie Pie and those guards!?”

Spike facehoofed, and the changeling squeaked out a response. ”I’m Fluttershy.”

Rainbow flew closer. “What was that? I didn’t hear you. Who are you?” The changeling shrunk even further and squeaked out the same response. “Oh, come on! Louder!”

Spike pulled Rainbow back, and closed her muzzle. “Rainbow, quit that. Moondancer, you can drop your disguise. Fluttershy, put yours up.” Rainbow gasped, and stared at Fluttershy, who transformed into a buttery pegasus.

Rarity looked between Fluttershy and Moondancer, before settling on the latter. “You were the changeling they dragged by us! What did you mean by ‘I’m one of you’?”

Moondancer looked over to her and blinked. “Well, I’m a lavender changeling, like you five, and Spike. He explained it by saying I was feeling the egregore, or hive mind.”

Rarity’s eyes widened as Rainbow and Applejack shouted out at the same time. “What!?”

Pinkie did a cartwheel across the room, all while dropping her disguise. “We’re all love bugs!” She said in a singsong voice.

Spike nodded slowly. “She’s telling the truth. How did you two find out? You couldn’t have dropped the disguises, since you never learned to do so.”

Moondancer snorted and made an 'ehhh' sound. “You don’t really ‘learn’ to do it. It’s just imagining yourself as somepony different.” She turned into her pony self for a moment. “It's more natural ability than education.”

Spike rolled his eyes as Pinkie turned into Twilight, and nodded her head. “I like this pony, she’s smart!” She fell back to her normal form with a giggle.

Spike waved his hands. “And you two aren’t worried at all about the fact that you are in fact an entirely different species than your parents!?”

Fluttershy smiled and looked up. “I actually talked with my parents about it. They said that they had discovered me on a street in Canterlot, and took me home after that.”

Pinkie snorted. “Have you even met my family? I don’t look or act anything like them! I put it together forever ago, but I had already moved out by then. I moved out when I was really young, y’know?”

Rainbow lifted a shaky hoof. “So you mean we’re all… you know.” She waved at Spike and Moondancer. Applejack and Rarity also turned to Spike, who sighed.

“Lets talk in a moment, okay? I’m going to invite somepony here.” Spike focused and dipped into the egregore. “Citlali, hurry! Fluttershy and Pinkie have been discovered, there’s guards here!” He pulled from the egregore with a smile. “She’ll be along in a moment.”

They blinked and spoke in unison. “Who?”

“Queen Citlali. Your Queen, I might add. She should be here in three… two… one…” They all stared at the wall as a large ring of bright purple fire burst to life, and spat out a very angry looking Citlali, with another changeling clinging to her tail.

Spike waved to their Queen as she looked around the room and relaxed. “Spike— you— the guards?”

Spike pointed to the changeling guards in the corner of the room. “Are right there, only slightly unconscious. Hit em’ with a sleep spell when I came in here.”

Citlali sighed and lowered her head. “So why did you send a message saying you had been discovered?”

“Because Pinkie and Fluttershy were in the middle of a conversation with those guards. And get this: those guards aren’t ponies! They’re changelings!” Spike held a grin on his face before he saw the look his Queen was giving him.

“You attacked before you tried to speak to them? How did you know they were a threat? What if these changelings are with an ally of ours, and we’ve just attacked them?” Citlali motioned to the guards, then looked back at Spike. “I’m not mad, in fact I’m proud of you for thinking quickly, but I do wish we could have handled this better. While we wait for them to wake, why don’t you tell me about your trip? I see you freed Satomi, which is excellent, and got the Bearers together! It’s good to see you girls.”

Rarity shook her head. “Twilight. So it’s true, then? We’re all changelings? And you kept this secret from us for our entire lives?”

Citlali nodded, causing Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow to take a deep sigh, and slump forwards in shocked disbelief. “Yes. Everypony in here is a changeling. I’ll explain myself once Spike tells his story, I want to hear it.”

Spike looked between them, dropped his disguise, to the slight surprise of Vahan, and told his story.

——————

“So, in a nutshell, I flew here as a pegasus, then made my way to the side of the Canterhorn while being tailed by a changeling, crawled to the castle, and watched as Satomi was taken to the interrogation room. Now we’re all together, and we can all talk.”

Citlali nodded as Spike finished his side of the story, and leaned backwards. The room was silent for a moment as Citlali pondered what to do next. Eventually, she stood. “Alright. I’m sure you have lots of questions, all of you. I’m here to answer them, nothing held back. Its about time I told you this story. It should answer most questions, and give you a little insight on our history, and why I never told any of you who you really were."

The Bearers leaned forwards as Citlali began her story.

Author's Note

Sorry for the double cliffhanger. I'm gonna do a passive answer session next chapter, so I'll be taking some questions from you guys, so long as they can be asked and answered naturally.

As for what song Rainbow was singing in the bath... I haven't personally decided. Just think of something that Rainbow would absolutely never sing in public, like 'All the Single Ladies', or something.

2 - VI - Drawing Lines in the Sand

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter VI - Drawing Lines in the Sand

======

The princesses were silent. Celestia was pondering recent events while pretending to listen to nobles trying to get some sort of money for the damages during the invasion. Cadence was distraught, thinking about the foal she once took care of and her would-be-husband. Luna was mad. Mad that her closest friend, the one who had saved her, had kept this from her. Mad that Twilight was a changeling, from the lavender hive, no less.

Celestia told the noble in front of her that Canterlot would be repaired of all its damages from the invasion, just like all the nobles before. She waved the pony out politely. By standing up, taking hold of the unicorn in her grip, and placing her outside the door. Celestia told her guards to leave, as well. Though hesitant at first, in light of recent events, they exited and closed the doors behind them.

Celestia's perception of the world decayed, giving way to a vast field of blue stars and gas. With a thought, numerous screens and images appeared. They were of Twilight and her friends, but never any changelings. They shifted, and Celestia looked closer for any sign of the creatures.

The sun and moon showed Celestia many things as they circled the planet, but Twilight Sparkle's truth was not one of them. Celestia waved a hoof, shifting the images to that of her sister standing on her balcony, and Cadence looking at pictures of Shining and Twilight in her tower.

Because of its lack of military force, Equestria had bountiful supplies of tenacity. They could pull through any situation, no matter how dire. That included one of the Elements of Harmony and the Captain of the Guard being revealed as changelings. A pony walked up beside Celestia in her realm.

The Princess of the Sun looked over to see her faithful assistant, Raven Inkwell standing beside her. Celestia returned to her body in the waking world and gave Raven her attention. "Any news regarding Twilight Sparkle or Shining Armor, Raven?"

Raven was holding a clipboard out in a crimson glow. She glanced at it, then nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty." Celestia's eyes widened. "Captain Shining Armor is actually requesting an audience, alongside a mare named Cavern Star. He said that he has news concerning the changeling Queen that escaped."

Celestia smiled and nodded. "Gather my sister and Princess Cadence, then bring him in."

Raven charged magic in her horn. "Yes, Your Majesty." She disappeared. A few moments later, she returned with the other princesses and walked towards the door.

Luna turned to Celestia. "What is this about, sister? Your aide did not give any details." Cadence nodded in agreement.

Celestia sighed. "Captain Shining Armor has returned with news of where Citlali went." Cadence inhaled sharply and Luna frowned. "She said he has a mare with him by the name of Cavern Star. I can only imagine she is Citlali or another changeling from the lavender hive. However, Luna, so long as they present themselves as ponies, we shall treat them as such. This is a matter of diplomacy: they came to us to talk, so we will talk."

Luna grimaced. Cadence's wings fluttered. In a glow of blue and gold from the guards outside, the two doors swung open to reveal three ponies. Shining Armor, Cavern Star, and Raven Inkwell. Raven bowed to the princesses, then teleported elsewhere. Shining took one look at Cadence, gasped, then rushed to meet her. Cadence went to him as well, and the two of them held each other for the first time since the invasion.

Eventually, Cadence pulled away as Celestia cleared her throat. "Captain Armor, Cavern Star. Raven told me that you have news concerning the whereabouts of a certain changeling Queen." She locked eyes with the very-obviously Queen Citlali, who smiled. "Since you came to us on this matter, we will hear you out." Celestia closed the doors.

'Cavern' stepped forwards, dropped her disguise, and bowed. "Princesses, I'm sorry it all had to fall apart like this. If I had known Chrysalis would..." She shook her head. "No, I should have just asked for your help from the start. As you may or may not know, Chrysalis and I have a history. Twenty years ago she all but obliterated my hive and left me for dead. I didn't have the resources to rebuild my family, so I released them into the world, into the care of various families. Vahan here is one of the fourteen that survived, including me."

Cadence had a silent conversation with Shining as Celestia and Luna thought. The younger sister spoke. "And why are you telling us this?"

Citlali gave a pleading look. "Because my hive is not your enemy. Chrysalis will return. Her invasion only failed because she did not count on Cadence or Shining being able to come together to create that spell. You won't be strong enough to defeat her alone, neither will I. We have to work together with this. I'm more than willing to help you, but I just ask that you trust me in return."

Luna scoffed. "Why should we trust you? A Queen of your hive infiltrated our cities and attempted to kill my sister and me."

Citlali shook her head. "Not a single pony was replaced by her changelings. Catalyst only attacked because his duty was to his mother first, his teacher second."

Luna growled. "Lies. We found hundreds of ponies, all of which had been transformed into your kind. Your previous Queen warped the mind of Catalyst and turned him against us.

Citlali shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "Princess Luna. Ponies cannot be transformed into changelings. They simply did not know what they truly were. As for Catalyst... if you had not killed him, he would have been exiled from the hive. He started a war that gravely damaged our hive's numbers, killed our Queen, and further exposed our kind to ponies."

"By placing these agents, you would curse somebody in that fashion, to disallow them the privilege of ever truly being a pony?" Luna asked softly.

Citlali's mouth dropped in awe. "Privilege? Privilege!? You slaughtered my people, killed my friends, demonize my race, and you have the nerve
to call being a pony a privilege!? From the moment that you discovered the changeling race, you have hunted us, painted us as some kind of... parasitic bogeymare that replaces foals and steals love!"

Celestia, sensing where the conversation was going between those two, tried to intervene. "Luna, Citlali, please calm yourselves."

She was ignored as Luna gave a retort. "You take the emotions and freedom of ponies, and give nothing in return. Yes, you are a parasite to my fair ponies."

"Give nothing? We temper your negative emotions and provide countless artistic and functional services. If anything, we should be getting praise for our--"

Celestia silenced them both with a stomp of her hooves. "Enough!" The others flinched back from her as the floor cracked. "When I let the both of you speak in this room, I expected a civilized, diplomatic conversation. Instead, I get a contest of insults between my own sister, and somepony who came to me for help!"

"But sister, she--"

"I said enough!" Luna shrunk back as Celestia moved forwards. A moment passed before Celestia regained her composure. The ground that she had been standing on was slightly scorched. "Queen Citlali, what do you want?"

Citlali stared at the floor, then snapped to Celestia with wide eyes. "I... uh. I need to know that I can begin rebuilding my hive without the Royal or Lunar Guard knocking on my front door. I am not your enemy, despite what my ancestors may or may not have done. Chrysalis and any who would side with her are the true enemy here. I can only speak for myself at the moment, but I'm sure that many of the other Queens would be willing to help us stop Chrysalis."

Celestia nodded. She was silent for a few moments. "I'm not sure if I can trust you, Queen Citlali." Citlali tensed. "But, I would trust Twilight Sparkle with my throne. So long as you remain true to your words and exist as an ally of Equestria, then I have no option but to accept."

Luna stared at Celestia in shock, Cadence and Shining let out a relieved sigh, and Citlali visibly relaxed. Celestia nodded. "Thank you for coming to me, Twilight. I also wish that it could have been under... simpler circumstances, but this will have to do. I'll send a message to the guards throughout the city that the two of you have returned."

Citlali sighed while chuckling and sat down on the floor. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. Luna, I hope we can still be friends because of who we are, not what we are. I'm going to the library to sleep. I'm not going to be able to make the trip back to Nepthysis, regardless of how I travel."

Luna looked at her sister, niece, and the changeling Queen in disbelief. "You're seriously going to let her... roam free in the city? She is a changeling, Celestia! Has time's power to erase knowledge become so strong that mine own sister has forgotten these monsters' secret combinations amongst our subjects?" Luna shook her head as Celestia gave her an almost... pitying look.

"Luna, please! Even if you don't believe Citlali to be Twilight, She still came here under her own power, seeking peace! The least we can do is show her the same respect she now gives to us."

Luna just glared at Celestia, sighed, then teleported away. Celestia sighed and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Twilight. In Luna's perspective, it's only been a little over a dozen years since your grandmother ruled. Her mind was not her own while assaulted by the Nightmare." Citlali nodded, lit her horn, and descended into a portal of brilliant flame.

Princess Cadence looked to her would-be husband after a few moments of awkward silence. "So. You're a changeling?"

"Yep."

"And, you feed off of love?"

"I guess so."

"Are you still the Shining Armor I proposed to?"

"Absolutely."

Cadence nodded, then grabbed Shining in her magic. "Then we are going to go to our bedroom, figure out how your shapeshifting works, and have a nice meal." Shining's eyes widened as he blushed and floated away beside Cadence, leaving Celestia to herself.

She closed her eyes. "Ever the vigilant watcher, sister. I hope you see the truth."

======

Spike, the Bearers, and Guard Satomi turned down an alleyway. Spike motioned for them to stop, so they waited in silence. Spike spoke to the air. "So, who's the sneaky changeling who's been tailing me? Show yourself."

A lamp attached to a building burst into iridescent flames to reveal a changeling Royal hanging upside down. A barrel nearby burst into flames as well to reveal a Queen. Spike tensed as he saw the two unfamiliar members of changeling Royalty.

"Smokey Mountain Hive? Why were you following me today?" Spike asked plainly.

Amortentia hummed a small jingle, then smiled. "We thought Whitetail was dead. Aphrodisia didn't, of course, but the rest of us did. So when I got reports of a lavender Royal flying from Neighagra to Canterlot, I got curious and decided to investigate. I just want to play a little bit of catch up. Ask where you've been, what happened to you."

Elytra buzzed over to Spike. "I decided to tag along because, with a name like 'Spike', you've got to be an interesting Royal, hmm? And you six as well! I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you. Oh excellent, what fun this will be!"

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Oooh, I like her! Oh, oh, do you like parties?"

Elytra hummed and tilted her head. "Oh, when there's lots of food around and everypony is happy and having a wondrous time!"

Pinkie laughed. "Excellent~!" She pulled a clipboard and pencil from somewhere. "So, a crowded party with lots of games. I hope you come visit Ponyville soon, so I can throw you a party!"

Elytra trilled and turned to Amortentia. "Mother dear, can we keep this one?"

Amortentia hummed quietly. "She is entertaining, but I don't think Citlali would appreciate us taking one of her changelings. Now, Spike, what happened to your hive?"

The mood died. Spike flexed his claws. "Well, Citlali can probably give you a better answer, since I'm only 13. Chrysalis betrayed us, just after her last summit, and destroyed the hive. Citlali managed to escape with some eggs and nymphs. She hid them as sleepers and kept the eggs. Citlali has been living as Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's student. We haven't been able to harvest enough love to expand without drawing attention to ourselves."

Amortentia closed her eyes and hummed. She locked eyes with Elytra for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. When you and your hive return to your home in Ponyville, we will visit in order to talk with Citlali, and..." She looked between Elytra and Pinkie. "Party."

Somewhere, somehow, Cheese Sandwich began to breathe heavily as his nose bled.

Spike nodded. "Great, but now we do have to go. One of our siblings is at Nepthysis' hive; we want to get there as fast as possible. It's been nice talking to you, I hope to see you later when things aren't so hectic."

Amortentia gave a polite bow. "As do I. Travel safe, Whitetail." The pearlescent changelings took on basic disguises and walked away, towards the majority of Canterlot.

Whitetail continued their journey to the train station when they saw something that put a damper in their plans. There was a unicorn guard stationed at the platform, casting a spell on everypony that walked by. One pony that was scanned exploded into yellow flames, revealing a yellow changeling. It yelped and tried to fly away before half a dozen stun spells knocked it out cold. Two guards took the changeling away.

Spike frowned. "That guard is scanning everypony walking nearby, not just the ones trying to get on the train. I don't want to fight them, I'm sure you don't either, so we're going to need to find another way out. Any ideas?"

AJ sighed. "I've got nothin'. I'll bet the other exits are blocked as well. Unless we just jump off, or you can teleport us to the ground. Unless you're packing nearly as much magic as Twilight, I don't think that's an option."

Rarity's eyes lit up. "I have an idea. I don't like it one bit, but I do have an idea."

Pinkie smiled. "We throw all the guards one massive party so they forget about scanning us for any signs of bugginess? Then, while they're distracted by the cake and games, we sneak aboard the train and ride to victory!"

Rarity squinted. "I don't think that would work quite as well as you think, dear. I believe that Applejack is right; unless we jump off, we're stuck in the city."

They all frowned. Fluttershy raised a hoof. "I'm the only one that can fly and I can't carry all of you. Uh, no offense."

Rarity waved a hoof. "No offense was taken, darling. I mean if we're all shapeshifting... bugs..." Rarity shivered. "Then we can all fly, right?"

Spike's eyes widened. "Of course! If we all make ourselves wings, we can at least glide to the bottom. Of course, new wings are going to be difficult to use, especially since they'll be avian, not insectoid."

AJ gave Spike a questioning look. "What do you mean by that?"

"Rarity, when Twilight used that spell to give you wings, she was actually just shifting your disguise a little bit. There aren't any wing spells, not that I know of at least. She made them butterfly wings because they are kinda close to our natural wings, while still avoiding the appearance of changeling wings. Hovering flight is one of the instincts that aren't overwritten when a sleeper is created. Had they been pegasus wings, I doubt you'd even be able to keep off the ground. No offense."

Rarity twitched. "None taken, darling. I will admit that using those wings was almost as easy as using my magic. If those are so much easier to use than pegasus wings, then why are we considering an alternative?"

"Because we're trying to be conspicuous and those wings aren't stealthy," Spike said in a deadpan voice. "Remember?"

Rarity let out a heavy cough. "That is on the list of things you shall never mention EVER!" She composed herself. "But yes, I do unfortunately remember."

They were quiet for a moment before Satomi, who had been quiet ever since their encounter with Smokey Mountain hive, spoke up. "Either way, pegasus, insect, or whatever, this plan is going to be awful unless we can see where we're landing. It's going to be pitch black down on the ground. I would recommend a light spell, but it would have to be extremely powerful to give us enough energy to reliably land. I vote we stay somewhere for the night, then go in the morning."

Fluttershy nodded. "It would be much less scary to be able to see where we're flying."

AJ agreed. "I don't want to... learn to fly in the dark. It's just askin' for an accident."

"It does seem like the safest solution, though we will be easier to see in the sunlight. I say we carefully let ourselves down tonight." Rarity countered.

"Rainbow will be waiting for us in an unfamiliar location, with an unfamiliar body. We shouldn't keep her waiting any longer than we have to." Spike added.

They all turned to Pinkie, who suddenly shrunk back. She looked between Satomi, Fluttershy, and Applejack, then at Rarity and Spike. If she were to pick travelling tomorrow, it would avoid anybody getting hurt, which would be sad, but then it would leave Rainbow alone, which would be sad! Then an idea happened. Pinkie held up a single hoof. "Guys! What if... we simply walk to Neighagra?"

The group looked at each other, then at Pinkie. Satomi shrugged. "We'd be able to use light spells since we wouldn't be illuminating as large an area."

Spike nodded. "All in favor of walking down?" Everypony raised their hooves. "Alright then, let's go."

Because the guard was closing every exit, the paths onto the Canterhorn were all blocked. However, Spike was able to use a fire portal to move past the guard, because of how short a distance it was. They continued making their way to Neighagra Falls.

======

Rainbow was more than happy to be flying again. From the constant worrying over Twilight to the checking on injured ponies, to running messages, she hadn't been able to simply fly as fast as she wanted for the past few days. She had begun to feel a little bit cramped.

So, being asked to fly to Neighagra Falls as fast as she could, she couldn't stop laughing. Rainbow felt the air slam against her wings every time she made a turn, the wind in her mane as she dived, and the warmth of the air as she skipped over thermals. It was great to be finally free.

The pegasus eventually found herself above Neighagra Falls, so she descended quickly and landed on the roof softly. "Alright, time to see if Twilight is crazy or not." She frowned. "I actually kinda hope she is crazy on this one."

Rainbow blinked, then chuckled. "Aaand now I'm talking to myself. Guess I'm the cra-- Okay time to stop, I've got a mission." She closed her eyes and imagined a sick looking changeling, sleek and light, but not unarmored. She imagined that image becoming her and gasped when she felt a wave of... something travel down her body.

Rainbow twitched her wings and shuddered when she felt two solid masses, not feathers, respond. She felt something sticking out of her forehead, so she moved a hoof up, still not looking. Her hoof stopped in the middle of the air, striking something instead of passing over her head. She felt some strange... scents? Tastes? Sounds? Somethings coming from below her, which then began to near her.

"Sweet Celestia, Twilight was right." Rainbow opened her eyes and found a black mass of chitin in front of her. She considered the implications. Her parents, her extended family, her future career as a wonderbolt, her... everything. It was all gone. She heard a grating sound as the strange sensation moved to her same level.

A large group of changelings flooded out from a rock, all black and blue in coloration. The ex-pegasus gave a stuttering breath as six lives worths of lies revealed themselves. "Oh sweet Celestia, Twilight was right!" She moved to cover her quivering jaw (it wouldn't do to let anybody know she was scared) but stopped when she saw the black chitin once again. The world flipped as Rainbow collapsed to the deck.

======

Thorax was pacing in the throne room, trying to keep himself from going into a panic. Never before had the Queen dropped out of the egregore like that. Was she ill? Was she in danger? Had a Queen taken hold of her mind? His thoughts returned to what his brother had told him.

Should he start thinking of a fitting name for when he ascended into a Queen? Or should he trust what Chrysalis had said? Perhaps maybe he could keep his name when he ascended, like his own Queen? Queen Thorax? There was a beat. Thorax screamed out loud at the prospect of being Queen.

He screamed even louder when someling behind him also screamed. He spun around to see his older-by-seconds (for Pharynx had stepped on Thorax's head to get out of his egg) twin brother, Pharynx, standing in the doorway with a lit horn and raised hoof. "What was that all about!? That was the most blood-curdling, un-Queenly scream I have ever had the displeasure to hear!"

Thorax blinked. "Pharynx? What are you doing here?"

Pharynx scoffed, then avoided Thorax's gaze. "Nothing for you to worry about! Definitely not thinking mushy thoughts about our Queen's safety, nope." He squinted. "What are you doing here?"

Thorax scratched his horn with a hoof. "Well, I for one was worried about Queen Chrysalis. I don't know if I'm ready to be in charge. Of anything, really." He set his hoof down. "I wish Stigma was here."

Pharynx scoffed. "If those wimpy ponies were able to kill Stigma, then she was never meant to rule."

"But Pharynx, those ponies defeated our army: you saw the explosion from here, I saw your jaw drop." Thorax unhelpfully supplied.

"I was just surprised that I wasn't there to help in the invasion! We would have won for sure if I was there. No wonder she left you here, though. You're awful at infiltration and combat! It's a wonder you're even the next in line at all!" Pharynx said while slowly getting louder.

"Queen Chrysalis said I was next in line because I have a knack for organizing the hive," Thorax said with his eyes closed like he was reciting from a book. When he opened them again, they grew wide.

Pharynx didn't notice and rolled his eyes. "Well, Queen Chrysalis is--"

"Is what, Pharynx?" Came an ice cold voice from the doorway. The Royal froze, then suddenly turned around. Queen Chrysalis was standing in the doorway, staring at him with two very angry, very tired eyes. Her mane was ripped more than usual and there was a long scrape across in her chitin. There were numerous other cracks along her body, and one of her hooves showed signs of recently being regrown.

Pharynx dropped to his knees in a bow. "My Queen, forgive me. I spoke out of line!"

"Finish your sentence, then wait in the barracks so I can remind you where you stand." Pharynx thought of the last time a changeling had been personally called by the Queen to the barracks. Noling could sleep that night, on account of the sounds of steel-on-chitin, and the screams of the poor changeling that dared speak against his Queen.

Pharynx was silent for a moment, still bowed. Chrysalis took a grip of his horn with her magic and pulled him up to look her in the eyes. Her voice was unnervingly soft. "Do as you are told, child."

"Queen Chrysalis is... is..." He clenched his eyes shut. "Too old to rule."

It was a much more tame version of what he was going to say and didn't even use the word senile, but it had the same effect. Chrysalis grit her teeth, swung the Royal around and into the doorframe, cracking both chitin and construct, then struck him in the muzzle. "I am far wiser and far stronger than you will ever hope to be. I defeated Celestia in a duel, I overcame the sun itself!"

Chrysalis pushed the now-snivelling Pharynx out the door. "Now go, I will meet with you in a moment." As he began to leave, she stopped him. "And Pharynx? Start on your front right hoof." The Royal looked back, nodded, then stumbled out of sight.

Thorax was silent the whole time as his brother was beaten. He held back any physical traces of emotion, though he knew the Queen still felt his sorrow, fury, and fear. He knew better to show it, however. Chrysalis looked back at him, then walked towards her throne. "Thorax, I believe you know of our failure in Canterlot."

"Yes, my Queen."

"The changeling Queen Citlali has returned. She somehow survived the siege upon her hive and assisted Princess Cadance in using her spell to defeat us. How Citlali has kept herself hidden all these years, I do not know. Needless to say, this cannot stand. You are to assist the hive in regrowing its numbers, then you are to discover where Citlali's hive is now located, take notes of everything, and return to me."

"Yes, my Queen." Thorax began to leave the room.

Chrysalis flew onto her thone and sat. "One last thing, Thorax." He stopped. "Am I too old to rule?"

Thorax opened his mouth and paused for a moment too long. "As I thought. Go join your brother, start on your front left hoof." The Royal choked, shook, then slowly walked from the room.

Thorax thought of the invasion, then of Chrysalis' methods of 'encouragement' in the hive. He agreed with his brother on one thing: Chrysalis was unfit to rule.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. I couldn't really think of anything to write in here, and I couldn't get that first scene to a point where I was satisfied. That and school is awful and everywhere. But I am back and working on my stories again, so woo!

I fear what Pinkie and Elytra could do together. Pinkie's abilities with Ely's... enthusiasm could lead to some very interesting pranks.

2 - VII - Thank You

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter VII - Thank You

The climb down the Canterhorn had been tiresome. Every so often, Spike or Satomi would portal or teleport them closer to the ground before letting their magic cool down. Once they got off the Canterhorn and onto the flat plains that covered most of Equestria, they took a quick rest.

They all fell asleep within half an hour, though some of those were spent trying to figure out where Rarity pulled her fainting couch from, or where Pinkie Pie got a stuffed plush of Gummy from. Nobody had a valid answer, so they just shrugged and fell asleep. All but two of them.

Satomi sat next to Spike, who was keeping a watch out. The Royal glanced over at the scholar who was staring at her hooves. "Satomi, you should be getting some sleep." He felt her emotions and sighed. "What's wrong?"

Satomi scoffed. "Everything. Last week I was Moondancer, a scholar in Canterlot, studying magic and pottery. Now... I'm a strange shapeshifting bug on the run from the guard. That's the thing, too. 'Moondancer.' Why am I so calm about losing my own name, my entire life in favor of a group of creatures that just attacked Canterlot!?"

Spike looked down and sighed. "I know what you mean."

Satomi frowned. "You do? Really?"

"Well, yeah. I've spent my entire life as Spike the dragon, making sure Citlali is only seen as Twilight Sparkle. Now that Chrysalis attacked, it's all coming apart. I'm sure that the Princesses will support us... but what about the rest of Equestria? We can't make sure they know our story, so they might just assume all changelings are together." Spike sat down. "Point is, you aren't the only one who lost their life, or a name today. And, if it helps, I can call you Moondancer instead."

Moondancer smiled. "I'd like that. Thanks."

Spike smiled back. "No problem. You really should be going to bed, though. We're gonna want to hurry in the morning, so we can meet with Rainbow as quick as possible. She's probably freaking out right now."

The two of them frowned. "Uh-oh."

======

Rainbow's eyes popped open. Then squinted. She was not sleeping on a cloud, branch, or specially tested bed. Who in the hay moved her!? Who felt they had the right to displace a sleeping pegasus! Don't they know to let sleeping pegasi lie? Rainbow groaned and slowly stood. She took little notice of the stone walls around her, or the pouch of blue gel stuff next to her bed, and got ready for her morning exercises.

She hopped off the bed, stretched out her legs, then began doing pushups with her eyes still half-closed. It wasn't until she had finished 100 push-ups, and 100 sit-ups, then started on 100 wing-ups that she realized something was off. Her wings wouldn't move down enough to touch the floor.

Rainbow rubbed at her eyes, then looked back at her wings to try and see what the problem was. Two lavender sails sat there instead of blue feathers. She squinted, stood up, and hopped back in bed. She needed more sleep. Dash lay there for a few moments before she blinked. She held up her black hoof in confusion.

After a few moments staring at her hoof, it clicked. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" There was a bursting sound as the door slammed open to reveal... a changeling! Dash pointed a black hoof at the changeling. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The changeling, reasonably spooked by the sudden screaming, panicked. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

This screaming, in turn, allowed Rainbow Dash a full view of the changeling's fangs and forked tongue. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHOUGHCH!" She fell backward off the bed and hit the stone floor. "OW!"

Rainbow rubbed the smooth back of her head before pulled her hoof in front of her, again. She took a few panicked breaths, then covered her mouth as a scream tried to rise up again. The memories of the previous day came crashing down, hard, into a giant fireball. Massive Bang would have jealous.

The changeling, worried by the panicking changeling, walked around the side of the bed. "Are you okay? That looked like a hard fall."

Rainbow looked at the changeling and took a few deep breaths. "Where am I? What happened? Where's Twilight?"

The changeling blinked. "Uh, this is the Neighagra Hive. We took you to a guest room, under the Queen's orders. After you landed on the observation deck, you had some sort of episode and fainted. And... I'm not sure who Twilight is."

"Hey, I didn't faint, I just... had been flying for a while and decided that it was a good time for a nap. Shut up." The changeling blinked as Rainbow racked her memories. "Uh, her name was... Citlali! Where's Citlali!"

The changeling nodded in understanding. "Ah, right. She still hasn't returned from her trip to Canterlot. She went looking for her Royal, apparently."

"Alright, then... where are the others? The others that are with Citlali, they were supposed to meet me here!" Rainbow shakily stood on her new legs.

"They haven't arrived, but they are visible on the horizon. Some guards spotted them this morning. They should be here within a few hours."

Rainbow looked back at her wings. "Uh, where's the exit to this place? I'm gonna go meet them. I have more than a few questions."

======

The group walked in silence, besides the constant pronking of Pinkie Pie. They had left that morning, with hardly any talking. They were still tired from the chaos of the wedding and emotionally spent from all the revelations. Spike knew that they weren't done just yet, however.

He slowed down to a stop after some deep pondering. "Hey Applejack, Rarity, can you two come here for a bit?" The two ponies looked back at Spike, between themselves, then walked back to them. Spike waved to the others. "You guys can go on ahead, this won't take too long."

The others shrugged and continued on. Spike looked at Applejack and Rarity. "Alright. I wanted to wait until we got to the hive to do this but... I figure it'll be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. I'm going to need you two to drop your disguises." The ponies tensed. "Now, I know, that's a scary idea. The point of no return, I guess. And... no matter if you're covered in chitin, or hair, just remember that appearances aren't everything, that the only you that matters is the you that acts."

The ponies frowned. Applejack nodded and adjusted her hat. "Ah figure you're right, Spike. The longer we put this off, the worse it's gonna be. Alright, how do Ah drop my disguise?"

Spike smiled. "Thanks, Applejack. Changeling magic is primarily based on intent and emotion. You have to want to be a changeling, instead of a pony. Imagine a changeling, then make that changeling you."

Applejack nodded once more, then closed her eyes. After a few moments, a wave of lavender fire traveled down her body, revealing a changeling with a strong build and a stetson. Applejack opened her eyes, then looked herself over. She took a few breaths, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. Another wave of fire traveled down her as she turned into a pony once more. "Alright. I'll go catch up with the others."

Spike blinked. "That's it? No panicking, or existential crises? Just 'alright'?" Spike could feel the strong emotions burning within Applejack that needed to be released.

Applejack stopped. "Ah'm fine, Spike. Like you said, it's not what Ah look like that matters." She trotted alongside the rest of the ponies. Pinkie Pie gave her a big hug.

Spike frowned, then turned to Rarity. "Well, it's your turn, Rarity. Just imagine yourself as a changeling, and the magic will take effect."

Rarity nodded. "Alright," she said shakily. She focused for a few moments before the standard wave of fire took her. When it was gone, Rarity looked herself over, checked her nonexistent mane, then fell over on her side, unconscious.

Spike nodded. "Yeah, that was predictable." Spike picked her up in his magic and placed Rarity on his back. He caught up with the other ponies, who looked at Rarity with worry. "Don't worry, she just fainted. She'll probably wake up before we get..." Spike squinted, picked Rarity back up, and handed her to Applejack.

The farmpony supported Rarity, then raised a brow. "Spike, what is it?"

"I think I see..." A blue dot flashed in the distance. Spike smiled. "Looks like Rainbow Dash finally woke up!"

======

Citlali stood in front of a very familiar building, disguised as Twilight Sparkle. Shining Armor stood next to her. That morning, the Queen had immediately woken Vahan up and had planned to leave right then. Celestia had stopped her, however, and invited them to breakfast.

This had proven to be a good time to teach Vahan how to detect different emotions and how to feed upon them. She taught him the basic, core six emotions: joy, fear, madness, sadness, peace, and power. Vahan was a bit confused at the last two, but Citlali assured him that they were actual emotions.

Celestia provided basic powerful emotions with pride and faith, as well as fear with feelings of anxiety. Cadence provided both kinds of love (Vahan was quite familiar with the feeling of one of them), Citlali could only show Vahan what sadness felt like with thoughts of her hives fall, and Luna provided a burst of anger as she briefly visited to take an apple.

Celestia, during breakfast, had brought up a very good point. Twilight Velvet and Night Light still thought their children were missing. All members of royalty present agreed that it was important for Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor to talk to their parents about the situation.

So there they were, standing outside of their parents' home. Twilight sighed. "Shining, if you want, I can talk to them first. I'm the reason they're in our lives, it's only right I clear this all up."

Shining pondered for a moment before smiling. "Of course not. You're Twilight right now, which means I am still your BBBFF. What kind of brother would I be if I wasn't there for you?" Twilight smiled thankfully, swallowed, then stepped up to the door.

She stood there for a moment. "What do I say? 'Oh hey, mom, it turns out Shining is my son. Also, we're the same kind of creature that just attacked Equestria and beat the princesses, and I'm hundreds of years older than you.'" Twilight shook her head. "I could have avoided all of this if I had just come to Celestia in the first place. Everyling knows how kind she is, she would have seen my way."

"Sure, but that's all in the past. We're here now, our parents are worried now, so we need to talk to them now. Just knock and everything will fall into place. Our parents are strong, remember when you turned them into plants? There were totally fine afterward, especially once they saw..." Shining trailed off while squinting. "What's up with your cutie mark?"

Twilight looked back at it. "Oh, yeah, that's real. Changeling disguises can get cutie marks, but they're only superficial. Sure, they might show what our special talent is, but they don't provide any real benefit beyond being another layer of integrity for our disguises."

"Oh. So, my talent really is making shields?"

Twilight smiled. "Of course, nopony else I know could sustain a shield around Canterlot for as long as you did. Sure, it was a static spell, which requires less concentration, but it was still impressive." Twilight's smile shifted into a smirk. "It made mommy very proud."

Shining gave an uncomfortable chuckle then nodded at the door. "Go ahead. You've put this off long enough."

Twilight nodded. She raised a hoof and knocked on the door seven times. Any more, and it would seem rude. Any less and it wouldn't sound very urgent. The Power Seven knock, perfect for any occasion.

After a few moments and some scrambling sounds, a very frazzled grey unicorn opened the door. Her eyes were somewhat red, and strands of her otherwise perfect white-and-lavender mane stuck out at odd angles. Twilight Velvet looked between the two of them, then pulled them into a hug. "I thought you were gone. Celestia only told us that something had happened to you at the wedding, that we couldn't see you. I- I- I thought you had some kind of horrible scarring injury, or you had been replaced by changelings, or perhaps revealed yourself to be double agents all along, which now that I think about it, could be an interesting idea for a book, so if you'll excuse me--"

Velvet disappeared for a moment in a flash of fuchsia magic, then returned the next moment holding a pencil and notepad that were writing something down. "Anyways, come in come in! I'll go get Night Light, he's still asleep right now." She disappeared again.

Twilight bowed her head. "Well, she was sorta on the nose with those ideas, wasn't she? And, she's just as ecstatic as ever." They walked into the home and closed the door behind them.

By way of Night Light's wealthy and old family, Twilight and Shining's parents were nobility, and it showed. The entryway was two stories tall, circular, with two staircases on either side leading upwards. The floor was made of a steel grey granite in a square cobblestone pattern, and the walls were colored light grey with white accents. There was a table with pictures of the family resting against the left staircase and a potted plant from the Mareyan Jungle on the right. Twilight figured it was new.

There was some commotion upstairs before the center double doors were pulled open in a pale blue glow. A tired looking azure unicorn with a darker mane leaned over the railing before he ran down a staircase and stood in front of them. Night Light looked at his two kids before pulling them both into a hug. He spoke in a quiet, yet firm voice. "Don't you ever scare us like that again. Especially not your mother." He pulled from the hug. "It's good to see you two."

Night Light ushered them into the kitchen, where they all sat around the table in black and white chairs. "Come on, come on, sit down. We need to hear what happened. The Princesses were incredibly vague in describing what had happened to you two."

Twilight sighed, scratched her chin, then rested her head on both hooves. "Before I start, you must understand that what I'm about to tell you is highly confidential by order of Royalty, and cannot leave this house, unless prompted by a member of Royalty. This does not include Prince Blueblood." The parents chuckled despite the serious air. "I'm telling you that because the disclosure of the information shared at this meeting could endanger your lives, my life, and my friends' life."

Twilight Velvet glanced at Night Light before nodding. "I'm a little spooked by how... formal this is, but... I understand. Our lips are sealed."

Twilight gave a small nod. "Thank you. Twenty years ago, just after those magical fires that claimed a great number of ponies lives, you found Shining and me on your doorstep. You assumed that we were the children of some family that had perished in the fires, that someone had found us but hadn't wanted to do anything with us."

Night Light nodded. "It was the happiest day of our lives. After losing friends in that fire, we gained the one thing we had been hoping for ever since we got married. Twice that, no less!"

Twilight closed her eyes, trying to keep tears from forming. "What you don't know, however, is that... the pony who dropped us off was..." Twilight buried her head in her hooves, fighting off her nausea. "Please understand that Spike and I were the only ones that knew this prior to recent events."

Night Light smiled. "Don't worry. Whatever you say, we'll still love you, no matter what."

"Let's put that to the test." Twilight thought. "The one who dropped Shining Armor and I on your doorstep was a changeling Queen named Citlali." The room immediately fell silent as the parent's gasped. "Her hive was on the verge of going extinct after an attack by Queen Chrysalis, the very same Queen that attacked the wedding, killed her drones throughout Equestria, by overcharging the emotions within them which caused them to burst into flames. Citlali took the remainder of her hive and began placing them under the care of various parents and facilities throughout Equestria."

Twilight could see the recognition spark in her parents' eyes. She choked back a few sobs. "When she had just six eggs left, she knew she couldn't keep track of the rest at that time. Rather than losing track of some children, she hid five of those eggs, hatched the sixth, then looked for somepony to leave him with."

Shining made quick eye contact with his rapidly tiring parents. Twilight took a heavy sigh. "Citlali found a married couple that had just learned they were unable to have children. She had seen how much they would have cared for a child, so she gave her child a disguise, and left him on their doorstep."

"Citlali, however, couldn't leave her last child and just insert herself somewhere into society. She had to be close to at least one of them as they grew, even if she couldn't be their actual caretaker. So, she disguised herself as an infant and stayed there on that doorstep until she and her 'brother' were found. Citlali smiled when she heard the names the couple gave them. 'Twilight Sparkle' and 'Shining Armor'."

The parents scoffed at this news and shook their heads as Twilight covered her face in shame. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I should have told you earlier, I should have told somepony earlier! I've spent 20 years lying to everybody! You three, the Princesses, my classmates here, my friends in Ponyville, and all the Queens I used to know! I feel like every decision I've made has been wrong, ever since Chrysalis attacked me, and even before that! If I hadn't let Pollux get so close to her territory, if I hadn't been using sleepers, if I had just told you the truth from the beginning..."

Twilight took a deep breath. "If I had just been honest from the start, talked the situation over with you before I just left Vahan here, if I had just hidden all my eggs, then spent the rest of my energy looking for the members of my hive that left, I could have solved everything!" Twilight was in such hysterics at this point that her disguise had begun to destabilize, small lavender flames burning across its surface. She stood up and shouted, "I could have had it all!"

She slammed a hoof against the table, which broke her weakened disguise. A wave of fire spread out from the hoof, pushing her chair away as Twilight Sparkle left, and a very distraught, tired, and defeated Citlali stood in her place. Twilight Velvet and Night Light jumped back as the Queen dropped her disguise, not entirely sure how to feel about their conversation.

Citlali softly shook her head and spoke in recognizable deeper, more mature voice. "Everything is coming apart. My hive is still in shambles, a life I spent 20 years developing is ruined, friends I once played with have passed away thinking I was dead, and Chrysalis is still alive."

After a dozen minutes of silence, Night Light took a deep breath and gingerly placed a hoof on Citlali's head. He idly noted the strange texture of the Queen's mane, then spoke. "Twily. It may be a little... shocking to learn all of this, and I may spend a few nights awake thinking about... everything, but let me make something clear. I cared for you as you grew up for 20 years, which, in my book, means I am allowed to be your dad. You and Shiny both."

Citlali looked up at him with a slitted eye. "And since I am your dad, I will always be there for you. I don't care if you're a unicorn, or a changeling, or a dragon. My kids get cared for, end of discussion. So don't think, because I know you were thinking it, that Velvet and I don't want to be your parents because you could never be further from the truth. And, whatever problems you're facing right now, whatever trials, I know you'll pull through. You're Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic! Queen or not, an Element of Harmony chose you. That's a special letter of recommendation you have there, little star."

Citlali looked up at him, gave a half smile, then shifted back into Twilight Sparkle. "Thank you. You have no idea how it feels to hear that." She chuckled. "I mean that literally. Changelings receive energy from emotions, like a kind of photosynthesis, so that talk just fueled a couple days for Shiny and me."

They all chuckled. Velvet leaned towards Twilight with a mischievous grin. "You do realize that I wanna hear all your adventures now, right? I have no doubt your story would be popular if put to pages, not to mention the fact that it would make ponies trust you a little more."

Twilight chuckled, then laughed, then doubled over as heaving peals of laughter racked her body. The other three ponies looked at each other nervously, then Shining placed a hoof on Twilight's back. "Are you... okay?"

Twilight held up a hoof, then slowly got her laughter under control. "I'm... I'm sorry. It's just..." She shook her head. "I just assumed the worst was going to come out of this chat. We would be disowned, or attacked, or reported to the guard. I just find it hilarious that I thought for even a moment that you two- the best parents I've ever had- could shut us out that easily. I'm just on edge, I guess. If not for Celestia, Luna and the whole of the guard would be coming down on us."

Night Light frowned. "Why would Princess Luna order the guard after you?"

"Princess Luna was courting my grandmother's son, who tried to kill Celestia. Luna tore Aysune's head off, and has kinda been wanting to do the same to me." It was quiet for a moment as they all pondered that small bit of information.

Velvet squinted, turning a thought over in her mind. "How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

Twilight turned her head to the side, pondering the question. "I was born sometime around 500 Celestia's Reign, so a little over five hundred. I haven't really thought about it that much. When a Royal or any standard changeling is born, the date isn't recorded. My coronation date and my mother's death are recorded in precise detail. 21st day of Summer, 532 C.R."

Twilight's parents' eyes widened. Night Light whistled. "Well, I have to thank you for making me feel young, at least. You're older than Cadence! Once Shiny gets married, to the real Cadance, mind you, we'll have four ponies older than this street in the family! Speaking of the wedding, Shining..." Night trailed off as he twirled a hoof.

Shining sighed. "Cadance and I talked about it last night. We're going to put it on hold, just until we can be sure we're safe, Citlali has things somewhat stable, and Canterlot doesn't need every hoof helping with restoration. It's going to be a while before ponies can sleep peacefully in their beds."

The mood fell into the somber territory as they were reminded of the fact that many ponies had spent a few hours in slime-filled cocoons, or under guard by changelings. Canterlot was damaged, more than ever before, without any easy way of cleaning up the debris.

Twilight nodded, then stood up. "Well, I can't say how much I've appreciated this chat. It really gives me hope that ponies can be forgiving towards my race in the future. It's nice to not have to worry about losing you two anymore. We do need to get going, though. I told the girls and Spike that we'd meet them at a friendly Queen's hive; they're probably waiting for us. Thank you again for... everything."

As she stood up to leave, Shining sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Actually, Twilight, I'm going to stay here. I just... I've had too much adventure in the last few days, I need to get back to Cadance and my post. Changeling or not, I'm still the Captain of the Royal Guard."

Twilight looked disappointed for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. Stay safe, all of you." The family promised to do so, then watched as Twilight turned around and walked out the door with her head held high.

The moment the door closed behind her, Twilight sat down and cried.

Author's Note

Ugh. I tried so hard to finish Act 1 this chapter. I couldn't find the inspiration or time to write more, but I felt I did well on what was done so far so... here's some more stuff, Chapter 11 will seal the Act up.

No, Rarity is not done freaking out. Neither are the rest of the characters.

I think this chapter is a nice 'calm before the storm'.

The storm being absolute egg and chitin filled insanity.

2 - VIII - Dawn of a New Era

Act Two: Recollection
Chapter VIII - Dawn of a New Era

Citlali was finally in range for a fire portal that she felt wouldn't drain her precious magic, which was still mostly full of the love bomb. She rose up from the floor in the Neighagra Hive, spooking a few changelings walking or buzzing by. She leaned on the wall surrounding the center of the hive and watched the waterfall go, taking long breaths as she did. "Spike, I've made it to the hive. How are you and the others?"

"I'm good. Better, now that you're back. I think they're still processing things. Rarity hasn't really freaked out yet, so... How did it go with the Princesses?"

"Great. Far better than expected. Luna is still hostile, but Celestia and Cadance are both willing to be amicable with any changeling not sided with Chrysalis, or any other hive that would do harm to Equestria."

"But what? You still don't sound happy."

"But this shouldn't be happening in the first place. The changelings were supposed to reveal themselves peacefully, not as an invasion force. Even if I can get the Princesses on my side, we still have the ponies to convince. You know how it was with Zecora, but she hadn't so much as scowled at anypony."

"It's all going to work out, one way or another. We'll make it through this, we always have. Whitetail, the unkillable hive, right?"

It was silent for a moment. "Step outside whatever room you're in currently. I'm going to fire portal to you, but I don't want to spook the others."

Citlali waited for a few seconds, then formed a portal to Spike's location. When she rose from the floor, Spike was in his dragon disguise, leaning against the wall. He smiled. "About time you caught up. I got Moondancer and the Elements with almost no bumps."

"Oh? What happened."

"I got them all to drop their disguises. Check on Rarity, she's probably taking it harder than she makes it seem. Smokey Mountain Hive also showed up, but they just wanted to know where we had been for so long. They've also got a new Queen, I think. Glassy hair, what looked like pearls around her neck, and a horn shaped like an arrow? Talked in a kinda sing-songy voice."

Citlali snorted. "Amortentia? That kook is Queen!?" She shook her head. "What's with all the new Queens recently? Anyways, Amortentia was kinda... unhinged. Not in the same way as Chrysalis, though. Whenever she was with her mother at summits, she'd always stare off into space, or play with whatever insects were nearby." She thought for a moment. "Did she have any Royals?"

"Just one, I think. We didn't catch her name."

Citlali nodded. "Well, thank you for the report." She stepped past Spike, into the room.

======

Thorax tried to ignore the sound of his brother screaming as he neared the barracks. It was a futile effort. The horrible sounds echoed all throughout the hive, making it almost seem like they came from every direction. Even when it could be mistaken for a whimper in the distance, the sound still tore at Thorax's mind like it was a pony jumping through a glass pane. Thorax closed his eyes when he first entered the room, but slowly opened them as he heard his brother give a pained groan.

Pharynx's right forehoof was shattered apart, revealing the soft flesh underneath, which was pierced by a few traitorous shards of chitin. Thorax shook his head as he watched Pharynx raise his other forehoof, and attempt to slam its jagged points into its twin. Thorax stopped the hoof with his magic. Pharynx stared at the arm, then over at Thorax."What are you doing here? Have you come to watch a failure?"

"No, of course not, Pharynx. I..." Thorax let out a huff of air. "I have a plan, but it's treasonous, and could get us killed. It won't happen until I'm healed from today, but if it works we won't have to worry about Chrysalis ever again. I need to know if you want to join me."

Pharynx was still for a dozen or so seconds before he bowed his head and slowly shook. "No. We can't fight her. You heard what she said, she's more powerful than Princess Celestia! How do you challenge someling that powerful?"

"That's just it, Pharynx. Chrysalis said she was stronger and yet, she lost. A large portion of the hive is gone because she made a mistake. You were right, we can't serve a Queen like that." Thorax stared sadly at Pharynx, who remained silent. Thorax lets go of his brother's hoof, then walked over to a table. He set his left forehoof down and took a deep breath. His horn glowed, strengthening his right forehoof. "Think about it, brother."

Chitin broke with a scream.

======

Citlali stepped into the room, immediately grabbing the attention of the group. From what she could tell, they were just talking to Rainbow Dash. Probably catching each other up. "Girls. Moondancer. I'm glad to see that you've all gotten here safely. Spike caught me up on your journey and encounter with Queen Amortentia. Smokey Mountain Hive, I mean."

It was silent for a moment. Even Pinkie was quiet. Citlali sighed. "Okay, I get it, you aren't used to seeing me as a Queen."

Rarity held up a hoof. "No, that isn't it at all, dear," she said in a small voice. "In fact, I think you look beautiful as a Queen!"

"But?"

"But we're tired, confused and kinda in need of answers!" Rainbow shouted as she threw her hooves up in the air. "I mean, come on! Equestria's capital was just attacked by an invading army, you and the Sisters looked like shit, and we weren't sure if a war had just been declared on the nation! Do you know how bad it was, Twilight? If Shining and Cadance hadn't managed to get together, the changelings would own Canterlot now!"

Citlali hissed. "Chrysalis would own Canterlot now."

"Exactly! Not only that, but then you come out of nowhere and drop the bombshell that we are part of the same race that just kicked our doors in, that we need to go to someplace in the middle of nowhere, into a hive full of changelings!" Rainbow ran her hoof through her mane. "We want answers, Twilight, Citlali, whoever the hell you are!"

"I am your Queen!" she shouted back. The others shrunk away as Citlali bore her fangs at Rainbow, who tried her best not to take heavy breaths as she stared into Citlali's eyes. "I know how bad it is. That is why I am doing my best to get you all to somewhere safe so we can rest and make plans." She sighed and sat down, pressing a hoof to her forehead. "I know you need answers. No, you deserve answers. Where did I leave off in my story? When we were in Canterlot?"

Moondancer raised a hoof. "Your hive had just been destroyed."

Citlali nodded. "Right. So, after I escaped the hive and collected myself, I began coming up with ideas to keep my hive alive. Too many had already died, so killing the ones I couldn't support was completely off the table. The five nymphs were my top priority because changeling eggs only expire if broken. That meant I had to search for a new home for them while keeping my love supply intact.

Ponyville was, of course, the first place that I searched. (The whole town was in mourning; some of my children there had been close friends to the townsponies.) My plan for each of the nymphs was to make them into sleepers, then find parents in search of a foal to adopt, at which point those parents would find a foal that even looks like they could be theirs. Hopefully, this similarity would be enough to get the parents to adopt them.

Nilam was the first to go. I left her at the Ponyville orphanage, designed to resemble a happy newly-wed couple in their mid-thirties. The father was a former member of a hoofball team, though he gave it up once one of his legs was permanently injured. The mother was... somewhat of a wild card. She never stayed in one place for too long, always moving and changing jobs. She was originally a baker, though her cutie mark could also be interpreted to mean she sought out what made ponies the happiest.

Avalon was the second after Nilam. I was planning to place her in the orphanage with her sister, but I knew from the intelligence my changelings had gathered in the town that there was a family of apple farmers outside the town. A few years back, there was a feud between them and a rival farm that had ended with a marriage and the rival farm leaving. The mother abandoned her family, joined her husband's, and had a foal a year later. They cared for him very much, even named him after his father.

I went to them, under the disguise of some passing traveler. I told them that I had found a child as I came into town, though I couldn't care for her. They took her in, almost without hesitation. They gave me a place to stay, and food to eat as well. I didn't stay long, though. I ate, fed my hidden nymphs with the farmer couple's love, and left south, to Cloudsdale.

Finding the families for the next nymphs was a real trial. Pegasi families, especially in a city as old as Cloudsdale, are very closed off. I'd compare them to the 'pure' royal bloodlines of the unicorns, but the pegasi are actually honest when they brag. I haven't met one who couldn't back their words up with actions.

Because of this, many of the families that had foals were not looking to take in another, and the couples that didn't have foals were either happy that way, or planned on a foal later. By some stroke of luck from the All-Mother above, I happened two mares, talking to each other in front of a cafe one evening. One mare had learned from the doctor that she was unable to have a child. The other had been enjoying her child so much that she wanted another. But she couldn't bear the thought of foals without parents, so she had been looking to adopt. I met with the two of them and we talked. I left Cloudsdale without Araceli and Yasu.

Vesela was the final nymph and, if I'm going to be honest with you and myself, the one I put the least effort into. I made my way back to the ground from Cloudsdale, found a caravan of ponies selling various wares, and watched them. As soon as I felt that Vesela could be taken care of by them and receive enough love to survive, I left her in their care. It wasn't until much later that I found out she had been personally adopted by the rock farmers in the group."

Just like the last time Citlali finished a story, it was deathly silent in the room. The Elements were reeling from the most recent nail into the coffin containing their normal life. Pinkie's hair was more flat than usual, though it was probably from the idea that Citlali hadn't looked for a caring family, and had instead just dumped her into the hooves of some random ponies. Applejack had her hat pressed to her chest and was looking teary eyed. Rainbow had a forehoof over her mouth while staring at the floor, and Fluttershy was leaning against Rainbow's shoulder, gently shaking.

Rarity was, by far, the most shocked of the group. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly open as she swayed on her hooves. Fluttershy noticed, then immediately perked up in alarm. "Rarity? Are you alright?"

Rarity glanced over at Fluttershy as her eyes glassed over. She tried shaking her head, then fell back into a sitting position, where she covered her mouth with a forehoof and began to violently sob. Fluttershy pushed Rainbow out of the way, to the surprise of both of them, and grabbed Rarity in a hug as she stroked her mane slowly. "Let it out. Just let it out. It's a lot to take in at first, I know."

"I just-- oh Celestia, what am I going to tell my parents? Sweetie Belle? Heavens above, what am I going to tell Sweetie Belle!? She's still in Canterlot! She was so scared after the wedding, and I left her there! She's probably worried sick, wondering where her sister is." Rarity choked, then sobbed even harder. "And I'm not even her sister-er-er-er!" She buried her face into Fluttershy's mane and continued sobbing.

======

Sweetie Belle took another spoonful of ice cream out of the tub as Apple Bloom took a bite out of an apple fritter, and Scootaloo grabbed another cookie. Sweetie swallowed the sweet, sugary substance, then sighed. "I wonder where Rarity is?"

The others shrugged.

======

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both took Rarity to someplace private to talk about when they first found out what they were, and how they handled telling their family. Citlali, back in the room, was still silent as she thought about all her mistakes, and how she might have gone about doing things differently.

Moondancer cleared her throat. "So. Now that you all know where you came from, how about me? Shining Armor, Spike, and the other eggs as well?"

"I only hatched four of the eggs, actually. I hatched the first egg as I was staying in Ponyville for about a week after I dropped the nymphs off. I disguised myself as a foal when I left Shining on our parent's doorstep and grew up as his younger sister. I hatched you and gave you to the Canterlot Orphanage a couple months after Shining. I know you took the dragon egg test at CSGU; I swapped the dragon egg for a disguised egg of my own and hatched it then. Rainbow's rainboom startled my magic out of my control and... well, you've probably heard the story."

"So, where is Shining Armor now?"

"With our parents. We visited them and told them the truth, then Shining decided to stay behind to be with Cadence and fulfill his duty as the Captain of the Guard."

Moondancer nodded, then laughed. "Why did you go to CSGU at all? I know how hard you pushed yourself in your studies; surely that wasn't just for your parents, right?"

Citlali scratched the back of her head. "Actually... I'm not very good at magic. For a Queen, especially. I have the raw power, but I lack the finesse that Rarity has. I used to struggle with anything beyond changeling magic, really. Pegasus magic is easier as well."

"Pegasus magic." Moondancer blinked. "Pegasus magic! I can study pegasus and earth magic now! I can compare it to unicorn magic! This could be the essay that gets me out there!" She gasped, then grabbed Citlali by the cheeks. "Do you know what this means!?" Citlali opened her mouth. "I could finally get some recognition!" she shouted, to the alarm to the others in the room and a few passerby changelings.

Citlali slowly unclasped Moondancer from her cheeks. "Be careful, though. Use an anonymous pegasus assistant for any accounts of flight, alright?" Moondancer didn't seem to hear her. "Ah... anyways. Once the others get back in here, I'm going to start sharing my plan for restarting our hive. What we have right now won't work; if we want to be able to defend ourselves and Equestria from Chrysalis, we're going to have to get a bigger hive."

Citlali grinned wide. "That means we're going to need lots of land, love, and eggs. Lots and lots of eggs. Whitetail is coming back, for good this time."

Author's Note

This was one bitch of a chapter to write. I wrote it twice, deleted both versions, then decided to skip forwards a bit. I'm sorry it turned out so short; I just didn't have the patience or desire to take too long wrapping up the arc. Hopefully, we can get back to longer chapters next arc.

Anyways...

PCHOW! CHAPTER ~~ELEVEN~~ EIGHT! END OF ~~ACT ONE~~ PART TWO!

Now that Whitetail Hive is back together (for the most part), we can get into the good stuff! Like hive making! Episodes! Eggs! Lots of eggs!

Really though, things are really going to get interesting from now on, as well as easier to write. I'll be able to showcase more Pinke (she hasn't gotten many Pinkie-ish lines so far), as well as how I imagine changelings work. I'll be covering the lands beyond Equestria, some of the other Queens, and how Equestria is going to handle the not-so-nice changelings. The ponies still need to have their respective moments reflecting on their new selves, parents (and grandparents) are still going to need the chat, and the mysterious 4th egg still needs to be met.

Basically, we're barely getting started.

Here are the episodes that I plan to cover in the upcoming arc. Spoilers ahead!

May the Best Pet Win
The Crystal Empire 1&2
The Mysterious Mare Do Well
Sleepless in Ponyville (Mentioned)
Read it and Weep
Baby Cakes (mentioned)
Wonderbolts Academy
Too Many Pinkie Pies
Spike at Your Service
One Bad Apple
Hearts and Hooves (mentioned)
The Times They are a Changeling
Magic Duel
Keep Calm and Flutter On
Games Ponies Play (mentioned)
Magical Mystery Cure

Interlude - Home Is Where the Hole Is

======

Cadence slammed the door behind her as she stormed into Princess Celestia's personal study. "I don't get it! She hates me in every way possible!"

Celestia set down a paint brush and looked over at her niece. "Who hates you?"

Cadance undid her ponytail as she began to pace in circles around the room. "Twilight! That little filly does anything and everything to torture me while I'm looking after her!"

"Then why do you continue to babysit her?"

Because she's the sister of the greatest pony I've met and his parents asked me to. "Because you said it would be good for me to get out of the castle! Try something new!"

Celestia put a hoof to her mouth and thought. "Cadance, how do you think I learned to paint?" She picked up her brush and began continuing her work on the sunset outside the window.

The relatively young alicorn blinked. "What does that have to do with foalsitting?"

Celestia shook her head as she mixed a new color together. "Just humor me, Cadence."

Cadence thought. "Well, you probably went to a teacher, right?"

"That's right. Why did I go to the teacher?"

"Because you... didn't know how to paint?"

"Because I didn't know how to paint. I was inexperienced. My student at the time compared my work to a 'pegasus that had splashed into a puddle of rainbow and then faceplanted into a white wall.'" She turned her piece around and Cadence whistled. It was almost a perfect recreation of the sunset. "Now, I do it only for myself because it would dull all other pieces at a museum."

"So... what does this have to do with foalsitting?"

Celestia chuckled as she took her canvas off of the easel, then teleported it to someplace else. "You've just started foalsitting Twilight. You don't know any of the fine details, only the general idea of how to do so. So, go to the master of taking care of Twilight. Ask the filly how she wants to be taken care of, and ask her why she dislikes you."

Celestia lit her horn and pushed the Sun under the horizon. "Hmm. Perhaps I'll try poetry now." She pulled a notebook out of a desk, set a quill and inkwell on the eastern window sill, then watched the moon rise. "No matter how much we learn, or how much we know, there's always more to learn, Cadance." She stared long and lovingly at the Mare in the Moon. "Even things that you might think are obvious or easy can be impossible or torturous to other ponies."

Cadence blinked, then nodded. "Thanks, Auntie. I'll... I'll go talk to Twilight." She walked back out of the room.

======

Cadence slowly opened the door to Celestia's personal study, knocking as she did so. "Auntie Celestia? I had a few questions."

"I'm always happy to answer any and all questions you might have." Celestia finished the line she was writing, cleaned her pen out, and turned to face Cadance.

"Well, I had a few things weighing on my mind since the wedding. Especially because of the wedding." Cadence closed the door behind her, then jumped up onto a sofa. "When I was talking with Queen Citlali in the crystal caves, she brought something up. When we raided Rambling Rock Hive, and we cast the love bomb together... what were your thoughts?"

Celestia's eyes widened as she took a deep breath. "I want to say remorse. That I was hesitant to kill changelings once more. I'm afraid that wasn't the case, though. I enjoyed storming their hive, feeling that power coursing through me, and knowing that one more hive had been purged from the world." The Princess tilted her head thoughtfully. "I regret it, of course. Even before Citlali revealed herself to us, I wished that we could have met the changelings on friendly terms, instead of with a sword and spell."

"Citlali said that, if I hadn't killed Queen Transitalia and her hive, they may have been able to defend her and her hive from Chrysalis." Cadence's eyes began to tear up. "No wonder she hated me. Little Twily, I mean. It wasn't my babysitting, or that I was keeping her from her studies like she said. She blamed me for the death of her children!"

Celestia's calm demeanor sagged, showing pitying eyes, and a frown. She walked up to Cadence and lifted her chin up with her hoof. "That's because it was your fault." Cadence choked and drew back. "You killed them all. You monster."

Cadence began to sob as the room erupted into lavender flames, burning the walls, the outside view from the windows, and Celestia herself. She was revealed to be Citlali, just as damaged and charred as she was when the love bomb hit her, standing in a crumbling hive. "May the Shadow take you."

Cadence sat upright in her bed, breathing heavily. She hiccuped, then buried her face into her hooves as she sobbed.

======

Whitetail Hive walked down a staircase, into the basement of Golden Oaks Library. They were silent, all anticipating what they would find. Twilight had promised them that it had not been anything as grand as the Neighagra Hive, but it was much more than just a hole in the ground for eggs and honey.

On the train ride from Canterlot, the Hive had told the Crusaders that Celestia had given them a top-secret mission that they couldn't say anything about. They bought the explanation, though bitter that they couldn't hear more, and began telling the Hive all about how the castle kitchen gave them any kind of food they asked for (much to Rarity's chagrin). After getting the Crusaders to their homes and into bed, the Hive met back at the Library so Twilight could show them her progress on a new Hive.

Twilight came to a stop in front of one of the bookcases in the basement. Unlike the generic designs on all the other bookcases, this one had a honeybee theme, with small designs resembling the insects all over, and a large beehive design coming out from the bottom. Citlali dropped her disguise and pressed her hoof to the beehive, causing it and the bees to light up in a lavender glow.

The bookshelf slowly faded out of view, revealing a sloped tunnel carved into the wall. There was no sight of dirt or stone in the walls of the tunnel, but rather a black substance that was smooth and stone like on the walls, but bumpy on the floor. Citlali nodded, then descended into the darkness. The other followed her, moving carefully so they didn't trip down the stairs.

When they were all in, the bookshelf reappeared, closing off the entrance. "Er, Twilight dear, is there a light switch down here? It's rather dark," Rarity asked in a tone as polite yet pressing she could manage.

There was a small blink of magic from Citlali's horn, and lines of dim, slightly lavender light came to life on the ceiling. It revealed them to be standing at a crossroads, with two paths on either side and one going straight ahead of them. "Left leads to the hatchery, right leads to the emotive gel pools. Straight on leads to the old Whitetail Hive." She turned left and continued down the hall.

Spike glanced over at her. "Are you doing alright? You're quiet."

Citlali shook her head. "I'm just tired, that's all. I'll be better in the morning, once we've gotten some good sleep in our own beds." The others nodded in agreement.

The hall opened up into a large room with a dirt floor and a high ceiling. The walls had numerous outcroppings, all only a foot or so from each other. Various plants grew in the dirt, much to Applejacks confusion. "Those plants, the grass, and the bushes, how're they growing down here? There's no sunlight and y' don't keep the lights on, so those can't be helpin'."

"They're all very special kinds of plants, found at the very bottom of the jungles in Zebrica, where the sun's completely blocked out. They've evolved to grow without sunlight, drawing in the nutrition in the dirt instead," Citlali explained. Applejack nodded.

Their attention, once it left the plants, was directed to the very center of the room. There were four magenta eggs there, each slightly pulsing with light and about as tall as a pony's leg. Citlali walked up to them, laid down, and smiled. Moondancer walked up beside her and inspected the eggs as she adjusted her glasses. "So those are the last four eggs?" Citlali nodded. "Fascinating. What does the light mean?"

"It means they're healthy. When an egg is laid, it takes some emotive gel from the Queen, puts it inside, and grows the nymph in the gel. It serves as both a food and source of emotion for the nymph as it grows, then puts it in a stasis state, just like the cocoons that Chrysalis used. Then, once they're given permission to hatch, emotion is poured into them, giving them a growth spurt large enough to break the egg," Spike supplied helpfully.

Pinkie threw her hooves up. "So then what are we waiting for? Love those guys and break em' out!"

"Not yet." Citlali turned back to them.

Pinkie's hooves fell down. "Aww... why not?"

"Because I'm tired and I don't want to deal with a nymph!" Citlali snapped. The Hive went quiet. Citlali rubbed her eyes, then shifted into Twilight Sparkle. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. Not here, or at Neighagra. Let's just go get some sleep and meet again in the morning." Twilight teleported upstairs, leaving the rest of the Hive.

"So, do we teleport out of here too? Or..." Rainbow twirled a hoof. Spike sighed and formed a fire portal on the wall.

Moondancer faintly questioned where she was going to be sleeping.

======

Twilight's eyes fluttered open as the sun rushed past the horizon, bathing her walls in golden light. She blinked at the window a few times, then slowly sat up while rubbing her eyes. A smile slowly crept onto her face. She was home. She had slept in her bed, and (most) of her family was with her.

She could understand why Shining had wanted to stay, though. His family and friends were in Canterlot, not Ponyville. The guard surely needed a leader after this whole debacle as well.

Twilight habitually straightened her mane (and maybe even brightened it and her coat's colors) then hopped off her bed. She noted that Spike was already awake, evidenced by his empty bed, so she went down to check for him in the kitchen, maybe making breakfast. When she looked around and was unable to find him, she sent a ping in his direction. He was in the hive.

Twilight made her way downstairs to the basement and pressed an undisguised hoof to the bookshelf. The lights were on, as expected. She continued to follow his ping into the gel pools, where he sat, undisguised, with his hoof hanging over the only pool. They only used the plural because they wanted to be able to expand later.

A thick, purple gel was dripping out of the holes in his outstretched hoof. When the drops landed in the gel, making quiet 'plorp' noises. Citlali was glad to know that her Royal was smart enough to stockpile what they had. "Good morning, Spike!"

He jumped and turned around to face Citlali. "Hey. Did you sleep well?"

Citlali closed her eyes and gave a small shake of her head. "Oh, you have no idea. If not for Celestia's sun, I would have slept through the whole day." She laid down by the pool's edge and hung both forehooves over. Emotive gel began to pour out of the holes in steady streams.

Spike watched, then chuckled. "Showoff. At least wait until I'm finished."

Citlali turned her nose up and leaned away from Spike in mock surprise. "Isn't it only right for a Queen to perform better than her subjects in all ways?"

"Apparently not. You still can't even cook a simple pancake."

Citlali scoffed. "Treason!"

Spike shrugged. "Truthful."

"Alright, you probably are better at cooking than me. I'll give you that." Citlali's gel slowed from a constant stream to a constant drip. She blinked. "Where's Moondancer?"

Spike chuckled. "Asleep in the hatchery. Silly mare stayed up for as long as she could studying the room with a quill and paper. Don't ask me where she got the materials!"

Citlali tensed. "What? Is she- did you warn her not to touch the eggs?"

"Warn her? No. I did tell her, though."

Citlali cut off the flow of her gel, cleaned her hooves with a wave of magic and galloped to the hatchery. Moondancer was indeed standing off to the side of the room, snoring. Her writing utensils rested on the floor beside her, forgotten. Citlali ignored her, though, and scanned the four eggs.

She let out a sigh of relief once all four of them reported the same levels of energy as before, which Moondancer thankfully hadn't touched them. They had an annoying tendency to take whatever emotion was available to them, even if that emotion wasn't being freely given.

Moondancer stirred as Citlali gently shook her awake. When the unicorn cracked her eyes open, Citlali smiled. "Moondancer, it's great that you show an interest in the eggs, but I think we need to figure out where you're staying."

She groggily shook her head. "No, s-fine. I didn' touch 'm."

"That's not the point. I'm not going to let one of my changelings sleep on the floor." Citlali sat Moondancer up, then began brushing the dirt out of her coat. "See? You're going to have dirt stuck in there forever if you keep sleeping here."

There was a flash of purple light and all the dirt fell to the floor. Moondancer shrugged her blackened shoulders. "No more dirt now, see?"

Citlali facehoofed, but was quietly proud that Moondancer was already thinking like a changeling. "That's still not the point. Alright, you're coming with me." She levitated Moondancer into a standing position, then pointed her towards the door. "Do you wanna go see how a changeling stores emotion?"

Moondancer was immediately alert. "Oh my gosh, do I!?" Citlali raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Yes, I do want to see how a changeling stores emotion," Moondancer clarified in a monotone voice.

Author's Note

I really liked the 2k format that I did for the last chapter, since it's a little easier to plan out, and I can get them out more often. I'll keep doing that format for these slice of life chapters, as I feel they're better managed in short bursts.

I don't know if anybody caught this the first time around, but look closely at Major Barking Gums' name.

Barking Gums.

More bark than bite.

By far the best horse name I've ever come up with.

Anyways, I want to address a question that you might have had in the back of your head.

Moondancer is being nice and sociable because Twilight kept in touch with her. Twilight made it to her birthday parties, helped her on assignments, and hung out often in Canterlot. Did you really think a mom wouldn't attend her own kid's party?

3 - I - Growing, At Long Last

Act Three: Reformation
Chapter I - Growing, At Long Last

It was a quaint morning. The newly raised sun shone through the dining room's windows, casting a blue, pink and green shadow on the wall as it passed through Celestia's hair. Luna had yet to come out for breakfast (her dinner), so Celestia just ate her pancakes in silence, enjoying the serene air.

*POOF*

Her next bite of pancake was interrupted by a scroll that had materialized out of the air and landed right on her plate. She picked it up in her magic, cleaned the whipped cream off, and opened it. She was glad she didn't have to get syrup on her hooves.

Interesting. It was signed by Agent Sweetie Drops.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I believe I have sufficient evidence to conduct an investigation on the Elements of Harmony, who I believe are changelings. While I know there have been plenty of similar accusations thrown around this last week, I am confident I am right. You see, they have been acting strangely since the wedding. Twilight has been much more serious and focused, rarely distracted by new books or interesting things that don't ordinarily happen.

The other Elements are acting strangely as well. I almost haven't seen Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash since the wedding, Applejack hardly ever returns to her farm, and Rarity has stopped asking ponies to model for her and keeps her blinds shut daily. I haven't been able to find any difference in the behavior of Pinkie Pie.

There is also the matter of the mare that arrived with the Elements from the wedding. I have never seen her before in my life, and I swear she looks exactly like Twilight if colored differently.

I shall continue monitoring the Elements and await your instructions.

Your faithful Agent,

Sweetie Drops.

Celestia snorted, chuckled, then began shaking with laughter that got Luna's attention. When the lunar princess came in to investigate the laughter, Celestia just handed the letter to her sister. Luna read it over and just shook her head. "What you plan to do?"

Celestia stopped laughing long enough to give a response. "I'm gonna let her confront Twilight, of course. I might have to visit Ponyville as Sunny Skies as well. Oh, the look on Twilight's face... she's going to know I did it as soon as Sweetie Drops reveals herself." Celestia thought about it for a moment, then burst into laughter once more.

Luna just took an apple from the table and walked off.

======

A bell chimed as somepony walked into the Golden Oaks Library. Twilight Sparkle paused in the process of reorganizing her books and sent a mental probe backward. "Good morning, Applejack. What brings you here?" She turned around and tensed a little bit. Applejack looked... haggard, for lack of a better word. Her hat wasn't centered, her eyes were bloodshot, and her mane was out of sorts. More than usual.

Twilight felt Applejack's emotions and swallowed. They were all over the place, hopping between anger, grief, and a sort of apathy. "Hey, what's wrong? You can talk about it, I won't judge."

"That." Applejack closed her eyes. "That's what's wrong. You're still actin' like nothin's changed since th' wedding. If not for... everythin' that happened, I'd swear nothin' had changed!"

Twilight mouthed wordlessly for a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't understand. What's wrong with that?"

"Because everythin's changed, Twi! The lives of the other Elements and I have all been tossed around like a stallion ridin' a bull, but you just act like nothin's happened. Are you really so caught up in your own world that you can't see what's happenin' to your friends?" Twilight tried to respond, but Applejack cut her off. "How am I supposed to talk to my family, huh? They're not even m' family anymore, not really! An I can't tell them what's happened because... because it'd break them."

Applejack hung her head in shame. "Applebloom was there at the wedding, Twilight. She doesn't want to say it, but she has nightmares. I can tell. I have no doubt that half of them are of me bein' replaced by one of Chrysalis' changelings. Yeah, I've got a different Queen, but do you think Applebloom is gonna be able to tell the difference at first glance?"

"Applejack, I'm sure that if you explained things beforehoof, you--"

"I'm not finished." Twilight went quiet. "You told us that we'd be helping, making a difference, but nothing has happened! You haven't talked to the mysterious final member of the hive, you haven't hatched any eggs, and you haven't put any time into fixing the hive! You've been content to just sit here, pretending like nothin' ever happened while the rest of us are havin' trouble getting up in the morning!"

"Applejack, please! I've been--"

"I'M STILL NOT FINISHED!" Applejack was shaking, her grief replaced by anger. "Do you have any idea where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are? Have you noticed that Rarity hardly ever goes outside anymore? The only one that doesn't seem too fazed about all this is Pinkie, and she's Pinkie! Get your muzzle out of your books and pay attention to your friends, Twilight!"

Applejack and Twilight stared at each other, both breathing heavily. Twilight hung her head. "You're right. I haven't done much, haven't I? I haven't paid attention to the hive, or it's needs. I don't know where Rainbow or Fluttershy are, and I haven't talked to Rarity much. I still haven't talked to Antiope, nor have I hatched any eggs, expanded the hive, or even had Moondancer do anything before I sent her back to Canterlot. So, I'll tell you what. Go talk to your family. You do something you've been avoiding, and I'll do something I've been avoiding."

Applejack paled at this but nodded. "Alright. That's fair. I've been putting this off, lyin' about this for too long. When I come back, I expect there to be somepony else I need to meet." She turned and walked out of the library, leaving Twilight to sit down and rub her eyes.

A few minutes later, the bell chimed again as Bon Bon walked into the library. Twilight wasn't present, so the mare decided to wander a little bit. She looked into the kitchen, then went upstairs to the bedroom. When neither location held the unicorn Bon Bon sought, she went back downstairs to the entrance to the basement.

As she entered the basement, Bon Bon whistled. She had no idea what half the charts or devices meant or did, but she could at least appreciate their intricacy. As her eyes scanned the room, her attention was brought to a row of bookshelves. One, in particular, was decorated with... "A hive?" Bon Bon muttered.

She touched a hoof to the hive, feeling the texture of the wood under her hoof. Bon Bon yelped as a sliver of energy left her, and the designs on the wood lit up in a lavender light. "What!?" The bookshelf slowly faded from existence, revealing a tunnel leading down into the depths, lit by the same lavender light.

"Just what are you hiding, Twilight?" After a moment's hesitation, Bon Bon walked down into the tunnel, drawing upon her magic for strength, just in case some kind of fight broke out. The tunnel was long enough that Bon Bon was about ready to buck anything that so much as squeaked by the time the tunnel split into three directions. She glanced at the rooms, then took the right path.

Inside, Bon Bon wasn't quite sure what she found. There was a hole dug into the dirt floor, lined with some kind of resin. Inside of the hole was a shallow pool of goop. Bon Bon bent down to its edge, staring at the liquid. Something about it was... enticing to her. This terrified her, but she couldn't look away. Her breathing began to quicken as she stretched out her leg and dipped the very tip of her hoof in the pool, then slowly raised it to her muzzle.

The sweet smell of the liquid snapped her out of a trance, and she flicked the gel back into the pool with a yelp. "What is that stuff?" she muttered under her breath.

"Emotive gel. Harvested emotion given physical form." Bon Bon yelped and spun around, expecting to see some kind of changeling drone that she could buck and escape from. Instead, she saw something far worse. A Queen. She had a dark blue mane, almost black, with two stripes of purple running through it, two slitted lavender eyes that carefully examined Bon Bon, and a predatory grin that showed off two fangs.

Bon Bon lowered herself into a fighting position, calling on her training as Special Agent Sweetie Drops. "Who are you? What have you done with Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony!?"

The Queen just chuckled. "Come here, Bon Bon." The mare didn't move. "If you follow me into a room that's just over there, I'll give Twilight to you, deal?" The mare's eyes narrowed, but she followed the Queen out of the room, wary of any traps.

Bon Bon glanced down the path that went further away from Ponyville. "What is this place? How did you dig these tunnels so quickly?"

"It's a changeling hive, of course. And I didn't dig them quickly. It took a couple years of work. It's hard to clear dirt out when all you've got is yourself and a single changeling." The Queen entered the other room and then walked to the side of it.

Bon Bon entered and broke her eyes off of the Queen long enough to notice the four glowing objects in the center of the room. "Are those... eggs?"

The Queen smiled and nodded with a sense of pride. "Indeed. Those are the last four members of my hive. Now that you're here, I can officially start hatching changelings, rather than just gathering them up."

"Now that I'm here... what do you want with me?" Bon Bon asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Trust. That's all, really." The Queen knelt down next to one of the eggs and pressed her hoof against it. The glow began to brighten, adding more unease to Bon Bon's mind. "I'm Citlali, by the way. Queen Citlali if you must. Why are you here?"

Bon Bon mouthed the name as she watched the egg wobble. "Princess Celestia gave me permission to investigate the home of Twilight Sparkle because of the evidence I had found, suggesting the idea that she had been replaced by changelings." Bon Bon glared at Citlali. "What do you know? I was right."

"Celestia sent you!?" Citlali pulled her hoof away from the egg, which now had a definite shape-shifting around inside of it. "Oh, that mare. I'm going to have to get back at her for this. I guess this is what I get for giving her a list of every changeling in my hive..."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean?" Bon Bon was getting more confused by this fairly mannered Queen as the conversation continued.

Citlali stood up and stared Bon Bon right in the eyes. The Queen took a few steps forward until she could raise a hoof and brush it against the side of Bon Bon's face. The mare shivered at the touch, unable to move. "Antiope." Bon Bon seized up, gasping as that name stirred up something deep inside of her. The Queen's horn lit up with a brilliant fuschia color, then slowly dipped toward's the mare's forehead.

Bon Bon began breathing heavier as the horn neared, until its point touched her fur, sparking an ember. The ember blossomed into a fire that quickly began burning Bon Bon away. She knew she should have been afraid, or in agony, but the fire somehow felt... comforting. Like, back when she was still an Agent, taking her equipment off after a long day of work. Relieving.

She took a sharp intake of breath as the sensation stopped, then fell to her knees. She was dimly aware of the chitin that now covered her hooves, the fluttering limbs on her back, and the unfamiliar pressure in the back of her mind. The Queen, her Queen, laid down on the floor next to her and used a hoof to lift Antiope's eyes to meet Citlali's own tender gaze. "There you are, at long last. The others can't see it, not even Spike, but... I think you turned out the best of your whole clutch. Maybe that's just the joy of having all my children back."

Antiope looked back down at herself. "I'm a changeling?" Citlali smiled. "The orphanage... they said I was left anonymously. All my life, I've been a changeling?" Citlali nodded. "And Princess Celestia knows?" Another confirmation. "I... I need more information. You... you've been here a couple years and are on good terms with the Princess..." Antiope looked at Citlali's mane, at her eyes, and recalled the glow of her horn. "Twilight? You're a Queen?"

Ciltlali gave a warm grin. "That's right. And you're my daughter." She turned back to the egg that was getting close to hatching. "Anyways. I'm sure this is all a little much, but I need to hatch these eggs. You can stay and watch if you want, but you should eventually go find Spike, he's down that long path."

"Spike? He knows about..." Antiope waved a vague hoof at Citlali. "You?"

Citlali rolled her eyes. "Well of course he does, he's my Royal. That means if I die, he takes my place as Queen." Antiope nodded and laid down on the dirt. Citlali turned back to the egg and pressed her hoof to its surface, causing the glow from the egg to brighten again. "Changeling eggs have two different states. When they are laid, they remain in a kind of stasis that prevents them from needing much sustenance. Once you give them love, however, they rapidly develop and are ready to break free from the egg in a manner of minutes."

There was a dull thud from the egg as the figure inside kicked its container's wall. Antiope became slightly nervous as the changeling's thrashing intensified, to the point that she had to ask Citlali if they should help it. "No, it has to hatch on its own. It may just be superstition, but I was always under the impression that a changeling that is let out of its egg never properly grows up."

They both watched the larva as it continued thrashing, then paused. Antiope almost asked if something had gone wrong when a horn burst through the surface of the egg, then reared upwards, splitting it open. Two small, black hooves forced themselves through the tear, opening the wound even further. A gel, more viscous than the gel in the pool, spilled onto the grass along with a small drone, roughly the size of a foal.

As far as Antiope was concerned, it was identical to her. A purple shell, lavender wings and eyes, black chitin. It lay there for a moment, taking deep breaths before its eyes fluttered open for the first time. Antiope could see the little white points in them fix themselves onto her own. The little changeling shivered then began lapping at the gel that covered it with a forked tongue. Antiope grimaced. "Is it supposed to be doing that?"

Citlali watched the changeling clean itself with pride. "Yes. Changelings are born hungry; they consume the energy given to them in order to grow and break out of their eggs, so they need something to feed upon when they are hatched. That gel- the yolk, perhaps- serves as that first meal." They watched as the changeling discovered the holes in its legs, as well as the yolk inside. Its tongue stretched further out to lick the holes' insides, making Antiope shiver.

When it was apparently done with feeding itself, it stood and fluttered its tiny wings, flicking yolk off. Citlali stretched a hoof down to the changeling and let it grab her hoof. She brought it up to her face, inspecting it. Antiope knew nothing about changeling biology, but she figured Citlali was checking the drone's gender or something.

When the Queen was done inspecting the drone, she smiled. "Listen, little one." The drone's ears perked up. "I name you Asier, the beginning. A soldier, tasked with guarding your hive from all who would desire to harm it."

Antiope whispered to her Queen. "It can understand Equish?"

"No, not really. He only understands the thought, the intent behind my words."

"He?" Antiope asked with surprise.

"Yes! Meet your new brother!" Citlali held Asier over to Antiope, who momentarily flinched away from him, but came around and looked closely at her sibling. Asier reached out and pressed Antiope's muzzle with his hoof, making the mare chuckle.

She held a hoof up and let Asier poke at it. "He's kinda cute, in a... buggy sort of way."

Citlali smiled. "So are you. From my point of view, you're all adorable! Once Asier grows enough to learn new things, I'll gather Whitetail Hive and start teaching you all at once. Your abilities, how to properly harvest, changeling politics and the like."

"Harvest?" Antiope looked at Citlali.

"You're a harvester; you're naturally better at disguising yourself, coming up with full identities, and gathering emotions to store in the hive's pool. You share this post along with Vesela, Nilam, and Satomi. Those are Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Moondancer. There are also workers, who excel in producing resin, a building material of sorts, and caring for the needs of the changelings that aren't sent out of the hive. Avalon and Yasu, Applejack and Fluttershy, are workers. They're less common than harvesters, along with soldiers, who are tasked with guarding the hive against intruders. Araceli and Vahan, Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor, are soldiers along with little Asier here."

"I figured the other Elements were also changelings, but Shining Armor!? Does Princess Cadance know?"

Citlali grimaced. "Well... none of the members of my hive, Spike not included, knew they were changelings until the wedding. Sorry that it took so long to tell you this; I was too wrapped up in the future and past to think of the present."

"So... nopony else knows how to be a changeling!?"

"Nope."

"Ay. You have a lot of work to do."

Citlali nodded. "It's going to be a very busy year."

Author's Note

WE BACK BOIS! Also the title is a joke heh.

Yes, I know how small the changeling larvae are in canon. This is an AU, remember?

Next chapter is Applejack oriented.

If you're wondering where Rainbow is, she probably flew east or something.

Juggling all these clueless characters will be hard, but I'm going to just focus on a few per chapter.

3 - II - Identity Crises

Author's Note

Sorry for the tricksy update, but I wanted to take chapters 2-5 and mash them together, ordered in chronological order. Yet another part in my plan to keep working on this story!

If you want to reread these chapters, go ahead and be my guest, I guess!

And no, that date isn't wrong. All of part ~~2~~ 3 so far has taken place in one day.

3 - II - Identity Crises

Act Three: Reformation
Chapter II - Identity Crises

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"Spike, could you come here for a moment? I've come up with an idea on how I can manage the Hive but... well, I'd like to have your input on this. Tell Antiope she can leave once we're done talking. Give her some extra gel, as well. She's been the most... progressive of the sleepers so far."

And so Spike stood behind Twilight, looking over a series of numbers and calculations she had drawn out on her chalkboard. There was also a very rough layout for Whitetail Hive. "It all looks good to me. I'm not sure exactly why you needed me here."

Twilight shook her head and pointed to a spot on the board. "Look closer. This number, here." Spike read the indicated number.

ROYALS: 2

"You're planning on hatching another Royal?" Spike's eyes widened.

Twilight smiled. "Yes. That's why I wanted you here. I know that I'm not going to be able to teach every member of the Hive. Not personally, at least. See, if I can get another Royal hatched, I can teach the both of you exactly how to run and grow the Hive, which would give me more time to... be Twilight Sparkle. And, if the situation arises, this new Royal could be a stand-in for me, for when I'm laying eggs."

Spike scratched the back of his head. "So... what? I think it's a great idea. Did you need my blessing as a Royal or something?"

"Well, no, but I didn't want you to feel like I was trying to replace you." She shrugged.

"Twilight, we're an endangered Hive. You can go ahead and make a dozen Royals for all I care." Spike waved a claw, then froze. "Wait, why don't you just make a dozen Royals?"

Twilight blinked. "I've never explained this?" Spike shook his head. "Oh, well. There are two particular reasons why. The first and most important reason is that it strains the egregore. With only two 'sources' coming from us, the connection is fairly constant. Imagine the egregore as... a ball of cotton. It's quite easy to spread it over two, or even three nails, but... imagine if you tried to stretch the cotton ball over a dozen nails?"

"It'd snap, or rip apart," Spike muttered, nodding.

"Exactly. Except, the nails in this scenario would also break. It creates a... feedback loop of sorts. All the thoughts being streamed across the egregore go snapping back to the sources, which can injure or permanently scar the mind. The second reason we don't make a dozen Royals is linked to the process by which they are created. In order to turn a regular egg into a Royal egg, I have to give up a little bit of a finite jelly stored inside of me. This jelly soaks into the egg and begins changing the nymph inside, which requires additional emotions."

Spike nodded, still in understanding. "Ah. So, you can only make a few Royals in total?" Twilight nodded.

"Anyways," Twilight blurted. "I'm going to hatch the last of those eggs before I lay any more. The Royal will be a part of the next clutch. Come with me, I need you to see the process."

When they returned to the Hive below, Citlali and Spike dropped their disguises and entered the gel room. Citlali took a moment to absorb enough gel for three eggs, then crossed over to the hatchery. "Antiope, how is he?"

Antiope was laying down on the floor, forehooves stretched out in front of her. Asier was interwoven between her hooves, his wings occasionally buzzing. Spike stopped at the sight of the nymph and let out a small breath. "Is that... whoa." He laid down next to Antiope and extended a hoof, which the nymph eagerly began exploring.

The harvester smiled. "He's been much calmer than either of the Cake twins, that's for sure. Pinkie Pie asked me to fill for her when she was off on one of your adventures, and those twins are impressively rebellious for their age." Antiope sighed and stood up.

"Well, it's certainly been an... exciting morning, but I need to get back home. Lyra's probably working the store, wondering where I am. It wouldn't be the first time..." She got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment before smiling. "I'll see you later Citlali! Thanks for the gel!"

Citlali waved goodbye, watched her turn the corner, then whistled. "Wow. She acts like she wasn't a sleeper before today. It's impressive if a little creepy how easily she manages multiple lives like a fully-trained harvester. I'll need to ask Celestia how she's training her agents."

"Agents? What do you mean?" Spike glanced up from Asier.

"Turns out 'Bon-Bon' is a code-name for 'Special Agent Sweetie Drops'. Antiope didn't want to tell me much more than that, but... I'm sure I can ask Celestia." Spike and Citlali both shrugged. "Well, anyways. The eggs."

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Applejack took in a deep breath of country air as she rested against a tree. It was her and the other Apple sibling's favorite spot for sitting down and being alone. It was at the very top of a hill that overlooked Ponyville, with a cliff in between the tree and the town, so there weren't any leaves blocking her view.

The mare's hat was off her head, lain beside her. Not forgotten, just ignored. She chewed idly on a toothpick as she held her hoof in front of her face, glaring at it. There was a flash of fire, and orange fur spread up to Applejack's shoulder. With a sigh, she sent the wave over the rest of her body. The earth pony screwed her eyes shut as a lump of nausea settled in her stomach, a recently-developed reaction to being disguised.

A twig snapped, making Applejack jump up and spin around, ready to face whatever was trying to sneak up on her. As a brawny red stallion came into view, she spat out her toothpick and swallowed. "Big Mac, good mornin'. Did you need me for somethin'?" She swept up her hat, donning it with care.

Big Mac looked Applejack over, eyeing the bags under her eyes, the matted down streaks on her cheeks, the hunch of her head. "Applejack, what's wrong?" Big Mac spoke with authority. It was a command, not a request.

"I don't know if I can tell you." Applejack stared down at the ground. "Nopony's keepin' me from speakin', it's just... a bit heavy, holdin' my tongue down."

"Well, that's fine. I can wait 'till you wanna talk." Big Mac sat down in the grass, patting at it for Applejack to do the same. "I can tell there's something serious in there, and I'm not about to let you carry something all on your own again. I've learned it usually ends up like last Applebucking season."

Applejack chuckled. "I recall askin' you to never mention that again, or should I remind you why I was workin' on my own again?" Big Mac snorted. "Some bull-headed stallion thought he could take some of his sister's work, alongside his own share of trees to buck, plowin' the fields and keepin' the barn fixed up! I'd say that season was your fault."

They both laughed at each other's own short-sighted faults. Applejack's laughter died off, however, as she remembered Twilight, trying to get her to ask for help. Twilight. Citlali. "Hey, Big Mac, what are your thoughts on the weddin'? What do you think of the changelings, I mean."

He thought for a moment. "They tried to hurt my family. I figure they would've come after Ponyville too, eventually."

Applejack winced. "Alright, but... what about the ones that didn't attack us? I told you about the ones we saw gettin' taken in, right?"

"Eeyup." The stallion blinked slowly as he laid his head back against the tree. "I think we ponies can get real spooked at times. Zecora, Gilda, Princess Luna. We have trouble seein' other people as anythin' but outsiders. It don't help that they can put on a new face like a new hat, either."

The mare closed her eyes. "Did Mom an' Dad ever tell you about how they found me? Or about some kind of feud with another farm?"

"I don't know about no feud, an' I don't remember much of my time with 'em, but... I do remember. It was out of the blue, they said. Some travelin' mare stayed for a spell, dropped you off, and left." Big Mac turned to look at Applejack. "Why do you ask?"

"Would it matter if I was..." Applejack bit her lip. "I mean, what would you do if..." She screwed her eyes shut. "What if somepony real close to you was a..." She grabbed her hat and threw it into the ground, hiding her face with a hoof. "I'm not a real pony, Mac."

"What was that? Go on and spill."

"I'm not a real pony, Mac!" Applejack straightened up and stared at Big Mac with wilted, defeated eyes. "I'm-- I didn't know until the weddin', I swear. None of us did." She stopped, unable to elaborate further. Her head dropped, hanging before Big Mac, waiting to be judged.

They sat for a minute, Big Mac staying silent, looking down at Applejack. "Well, go on, then." The mare glanced up at Big Mac. "Show me."

Applejack swallowed, then slowly let her disguise fade away. Big Mac took a deep breath as the fire spread down from Applejack's muzzle, but stayed silent. When the disguise was gone, he took up the changeling's head and looked right into her eyes. He tilted them one way, tilted them the other way, then nodded. "Does Apple Bloom know? What about Granny Smith?"

"Wh- eh? That's it? No surprise, no disgust? I'm a changeling, Big Mac! All th' Elements are! Twilight's our Queen. Do you not get how... how... BIG this is?"

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup. I get it. Now go talk to your sister, she needs to know."

Applejack stood up, waving a hoof at Mac, speechless. After a brief moment of angry stuttering, she jammed her hat on her head, shifted back into a pony, and stormed off.

Big Mac sat down under his thinking tree, stared down at Ponyville, and thought.

======

Rarity considered herself an opportunist. She often jumped at the chance, whatever it may be, to improve upon herself, her business, and the well-being of her friends. Sometimes this meant giving a little before one could receive any kind of reward but... giving was never really an issue for the Element of Generosity.

So, when Rarity woke up each morning and found a strand of hair in the mirror that didn't quite fit with the rest of her mane, she jumped at an opportunity. A purple spark ran down the hair, hiding it from view. Rarity sighed, looked her immaculate figure over, and gave a nod of approval.

That was how her life was every day after the wedding. An opportunity.

While she hardly ever dropped her disguise, she was always careful that Sweetie Belle was out of the house and the store was closed. It wasn't long, however, before Sweetie Belle began to notice the slight changes to Rarity's demeanor and appearance.

She was always perfectly groomed, though she rarely visited the spa. She let Sweetie go to Sweet Apple Acres and Scootaloo's Aunts' house if Sweetie so much as looked at the door. Perhaps most worrying of all, Rarity was deliberately and purposefully avoiding the topic of weddings. She had stopped taking commisions for wedding dresses, and she would always change the topic when Sweetie brought it up.

So, Sweetie called an emergency meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Its purpose? To bring up Sweetie's concerns, and see if the other two Crusaders had noticed anything strange from their respective sister and idol.

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat. "Thank you for meeting me here today. I felt this was a matter of utmost importance!" She leaned in for emphasis. "Rarity's been acting strange lately."

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. "Strange? How do ya mean?"

"I made her breakfast yesterday, as a surprise, and she didn't eat it!" Sweetie tapped her hoof to the podium with each word, then looked between the two wide-eyed Crusaders.

Scootaloo burst into laughter. "Sweetie, we don't eat your food either! Remember when we tried to get Marechelin Star chef cutie marks?" Sweetie cringed.

"Or that time we tried to make jello? With tree sap?" Apple Bloom said with a raised hoof.

"Or when Pinkie said your cupcakes needed more work than those baked bads Applejack made?" Scootaloo supplied.

Sweetie Belle held up her hooves and waved them in a frantic attempt to quiet the Crusaders. "Okay, okay, I get it! But usually, she at least takes a few bites, compliments it, then teaches me how to do it right. She didn't even make a different meal, she just said 'no thank you, I'm not feeling up to pancakes this morning.'"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Well, at least she recognized them as pancakes."

"They were supposed to be waffles!" Sweetie shouted with a particularly sharp crack of her voice. She sighed, waited for her blush to fade, then continued. "I don't know what it is, girls, but something's up. She hasn't even gone to the spa in the past week!"

The other Crusaders paled. "Surely it can't be that bad, right?" Apple Bloom whispered.

"You probably should have led with that," Scootaloo spoke in a solemn tone. "This really is bad."

Sweetie nodded. "Which is why I'm having this meeting. You've all noticed weird things going on with Rainbow Dash or Applejack, or their friends, right?"

Scootaloo frowned. "Actually, Rainbow Dash hasn't been in town for a while. She told me she needed to go find something, then took off with her saddlebags."

"Applejack's been sick recently," Apple Bloom muttered. "Its the kinda sick she gets when she's been holdin' a lie in."

Sweetie gulped, then nodded. "That means there really is something going on, then." She took a deep breath and looked around at the other Crusaders. "Cutie Mark Crusader Sister Investigators, yay?" she offered. The others put their hoofs in with a similarly half-hearted cheer.

This was, perhaps, their most important Cutie Mark quest yet.

======

Citlali picked up the already-decaying remains of the first egg with her magic and placed it in a corner of the room. She laid down where the egg had been, and focused her attention on the second egg. With a deep breath, she pressed a hoof against it and began feeding it love. It lit up like a small lantern, casting lavender light across the flora covering the floor. Citlali practically held her breath as she waited for the nymph, now moving, to break free.

There was a wet splat as a hoof kicked through the egg, followed by another hoof, then a head as the nymph took its first breath of air. They watched the nymph with pride and awe as it scanned its environment, then licked the gel off of itself. "Spike, come close," Citlali said. "I need to show you how to tell the three types of changelings from each other."

Citlali waited till the nymph paused in its licking, then picked it up, eliciting a small squeak. Spike walked over, Asier still clinging to his leg. "You want to look at its hooves and its chest. If it's a harvester, the hooves will have more holes, since they're less armored." As Spike scanned the little nymph, he found that the bottom half of its legs almost lacked holes.

"So, we know it's either a soldier or a worker. Now, look at the chest and compare it to Asier's. If there's a plate there, slightly purple, we know it's a soldier." Spike looked again, then down at Asier, and noted the absence of Asier's plate on the new nymph. "Excellent. That means we have a brand new worker. Now, we have to determine the gender." Spike grimaced. "No, don't worry, it's nothing like ponies. See, speaking sexually, changelings are hermaphrodites, though they can't reproduce with members of their own hive.

"Instead, we have to look at the more subtle details. Female changelings are thinner, but overall taller than male changelings. Their tails and fins are longer, while their fangs and horns are smaller. Compare the nymph to Asier again," Citlali whispered to her Royal, who carefully began looking between the two changeling nymphs.

"This one..." Spike muttered as he scanned the nymphs. His eyes widened. "Is a girl!" The nymph's fangs were nearly non-existent, easily mistakable for a regular tooth. It reminded Spike of the vampony he saw in that special Nightmare Night issue of Power Ponies, but it didn't fill him with any sense of unease. Instead, it was incredibly adorable. Mostly because it was a nymph and his sibling. His sister! The rest of the hive could also be considered his siblings, sure, but he had always known them as distant figures, then as friends. Only Vahan truly felt like a brother to Spike.

"Yes! Excellent work, Spike!" Citlali transferred some spare love into Spike, making sure she had enough for the last egg. "Now for a name. Sometimes, changelings are graced with whatever ambient magic also helps the ponies pick a name, as you saw with Asier. Sometimes, the meaning of the name is clear, sometimes it's discovered when the changeling matures. However, when that magic doesn't give a name, you have to come up with one yourself."

Spike made a little noise of confirmation as he nodded. "That's pretty cool. What about her? Do you have a name for her?"

Citlali focused for a moment, staring into the eyes of the nymph. The little worker briefly flicked her forked tongue out like a snake, prompting a spark of recognition in Citlali. "Maxilla. A term referring to a pair of parts in the mouth that arthropods use for chewing and tasting."

Spike snorted and attempted to hold back a laugh. "So, you basically named her Tongue?"

Citlali leveled a flat stare at Spike for a few moments, before giggling herself. "Well, when you put it like that, it sounds silly. If you don't want to call her Tongue, Max would still make a good name." She cleared her throat and checked the amount of energy still stored in her.

It was enough to hatch an egg with, so Citlali nodded, hoofed Maxilla to Spike, and focused on the last egg. It began drawing in her energy... and continued. Frowning, Citlali gave the energy needed to hatch an egg, then continued. And continued. It wasn't until the egg took in nearly double the expected amount of energy, and Citlali was feeling winded, that the flow finally turned off. "Spike, I think we've just received a very special kind of surprise."

He glanced over at Citlali, then back at the egg, gulping. "What kind of surprise?"

The egg shook as the first crack appeared on its surface, followed by another, followed by another. Once there was a spiderweb of cracks on the egg's surface, the changelings flinched as the shell burst outwards, revealing the glowing eyes of a changeling... or two.

Citlali sighed, grinning wide enough to show off her fangs. "Twins!"

3 - III - Everything's Changing

Author's Note

Sorry for tiny chapter, I've hardly touched this story, so this will have to do for now. Consistency be damned!

3 - III - Everything's Changing

Act Three: Reformation
Chapter III - Big News

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Citlali pointed to the brother of the twins, wielding slightly longer fangs than the sister. Otherwise, they were almost impossible to tell apart. "You'll be Labrum," she said, then turned to the sister. "And you'll be Labium. You're twins, which is quite uncommon. Not only will you be clutchmates, but you are also eggmates. Together from your first breath of life, bound forever by a mental link. That means the two of you will have to look out for each other." Citlali spoke both in Equish and through the egregore.

Labium looked over at her brother, blinked, then flicked her tongue out, licking a bit of egg off Labrum's muzzle. Citlali smiled and had to keep herself from doing a little dance.

The Queen had missed raising a nymph that didn't have to be a dragon or a pony. These four were just nymphs. "Spike, go fetch some more energy from the pool. We want them to be strong." Spike nodded and used his magic to lower Maxilla down next to Asier, who had begun to slowly creep towards the twins. Once he was clear of nymphs, Spike walked out of the room.

Citlali watched him leave, then turned to the nymphs. "Listen to me." All four of her children stopped, and turned to face their mother. "Very good. Do you understand who I am?" The nymphs stared at Citlali for a moment, before moving to her hooves and grabbing on. "Yes, that's right. I am your Queen and your mother. I am your shield and I am your anchor. I will do all I can to ensure your safety, as well as that of the hive."

She lowered herself to the floor, looking into the eyes of each of her children. "Each of you will grow up to play a vital role in the resurrection of our hive. Asier, you will keep the hive safe from those who would seek to destroy it. Maxilla, you will look over the wellbeing of the hive, and ensure it is a place that all your hivemates can feel safe." She turned her gaze to the twins, staring at both of them with a firm gaze.

"Labrum and Labium, the whole hive will be relying on your hard work. You will be asked to risk your lives to blend in with the ponies above. To extend a hoof in friendship, and carefully take only that which is healthy for everybody." Citlali looked over the four of them. "I won't lose any of you, not this time. Your continued life will be a testament to our enemies, a promise that we cannot be stamped out like insects," Citlali hissed.

She began to stand up, glancing over at Spike. "Now, turn your attention to my Royal." The nymphs looked over at Spike, and began to slowly walk towards him. Asier, unlike the others, was beginning to understand the best motions for walking. The others were tripping or moving one step at a time, but he already had a good gait down.

Spike bent down to greet the nymphs. "Hi there! My name is Spike. I'm your older brother." The nymphs began flicking their tongue out, tasting the charged emotions that were leaking out of Spike's body. He focused on the mental bead of light that embodied each of their places in the egregore, then began pushing the energy out. It left him quicker than he expected since he was feeding four hungry changelings, but eventually, the flow shut off as they all had their fill.

Citlali walked towards the door. "Now, they won't be able to understand Equish. That's why we must speak to them through the egregore, so they can truly feel our thoughts. They will learn Equish much faster than any pony could learn it, because they can hear its meaning in the egregore as we speak it out loud. The same goes for other concepts." Spike nodded in understanding. "Now, I'm going to go upstairs and grab the foal's books we have. I want you to teach them."

"Really?" He looked up from the nymphs.

"Yes," Citlali said, shaking her head a little bit as she looked back in the doorway. "Spike, you're my royal. My second-in-command. Not only do I want you to be able to care for your hivemates, but you'll also need to take over someday. Hopefully, I'll be around for a while, but..." Citlali ran a hoof across the faded line in her chest, where Chrysalis' magic had slashed her open. "Everything's changing."

3 - IV - As the Griffon Flies

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Rainbow Dash groaned as light filtered in through the window, pressing on her eyelids. She moved her arm to cover her face, but the motion shook the sleep from her body. With a sigh, she pushed herself up, glanced at her clock, then stepped out of her bed.

The room she had bought was certainly plain; designed to cater to multiple races and cultures, which left it quite barren in turn. Empty brown walls, dull carpet, plain wood furniture. She got what she paid for.

Luckily, this included a balcony, per her request. As she rubbed dust out of the corners of her eyes, Rainbow stepped out into the morning sun, letting her wings stretch to warm up and catch the breeze. With a deep breath, she looked over the town of Rainbow Falls, watching as the wind blew an iridecent mist off the waterfalls the town was named after.

With a sudden shift of the wind, a tuft of stark white fluff covered one of Rainbow's eyes. She swept it away and returned inside to the inn's restroom.

The mirror was plain. The griffon reflected there was as well. White feathers, somewhat darker around her yellow eyes and where the feathers shifted into grey fur. It wasn't Rainbow Dash in the mirror anymore.

Araceli raised a talon to turn the sink on, then splashed it over her beak and feathers.

She found it surprisingly easy to imitate the mannerisms of a griffon, though that could have come from growing up with Gilda as her best friend and wingmate. Araceli wasn't quite sure anymore.

She took a preening comb from her bag, one of Gilda's that she had left, and got to work straightening out and oiling her feathers. Araceli imagined Gilda holding the comb, running it over her feathers as they talked about how far above the other students they were. It wasn't a boast if you could back it up, after all.

Gods, Araceli needed something in her life that wasn't different. For once, taking life slowly sounded perfect. She could forget about Twilight, forget about changelings, forget about Equestria once she crossed the border. Take a few weeks to face herself before anything else.

As Araceli left her room and walked by the innkeep, he called out to her. "Gwyneth, wasn't it?"

Araceli- Gwyneth- turned at the sound of her disguise's name. "Yeah." Her voice was lower, like her impression of Gilda. "What do you want?"

The innkeeper shrugged as he reached under the counter."I don't want anything." He presented an envelope to her. "You might like this, though. Arrived last night by courier."

Gwyneth took the letter from his talons and looked it over. It was from Gilda, sent from Griffonstone. She nodded, then handed it back to him. "Send it up to my room. Just slide it under the door or something, I'm headed out."

He nodded. "Alright, have a good day."

Rainbow Falls wasn't crowded for most of the year, save for when two events rolled around. The Trader's Exchange in the summer, and any year the Equestrian Games rolled around. Rainbow Falls was where many teams, including griffons, tried out for the aerial relay event.

Because of it's location, Rainbow Falls was seen as the 'neutral ground' between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom, though it was in the former country's land. Griffons were as often seen in Rainbow Falls as dragons were seen in Fillydelphia.

Gwyneth had chosen to disguise herself as a griffon not just because Rainbow Dash was a well-recognized pony, especially with her signature mane, but because it gave her a blank slate. She didn't have the ties that Rainbow had or the stigma and conflict that a changeling would bring. She was who she made herself to be, quite literally.

And as herself, Gwyneth decided to walk the streets of the town, thinking. She wasn't usually a thinker since she preferred doing, but after everything that had happened in the last week, she was out of things she could do. Twilight Sparkle, that nerdy, dorky little unicorn that thought friends were distractions was a centuries-old changeling Queen that also happened to be Gwyneth's mother.

So she sat down on a bench and stared at a waterfall. The 'liquid rainbow,' as non-weather ponies liked to say, was actually a mana-conductive liquid called spectra. It was only after the first weather ponies studied this liquid that they were able to manufacture it. Much like her own Sonic Rainboom, spectra had the ability to absorb ambient mana to the point that it actually was visible to the naked eye in the form of iridescence.

Gwyneth was fine sounding like Twilight when it came to the weather. She scratched the back of her neck with a talon, squirming at the strange feeling of having to move five little sticks instead of a single hoof. It still felt nice to scratch, it was just different.

"It's a lovely day out, don't you think?" Gwyneth froze, then turned to see a pony that had sat next to her on the bench. The pony reminded her of a bumblebee; fluffy black and yellow mane with a grey coat covered by a black suit and yellow tie. The pony looked over the city with yellow eyes. "When the sun's out like this, the light catches the falls just perfectly and paints the whole hillside."

The pony puzzled Gwyneth. They were too much like a stallion to be a mare, but too mareish to be a stallion. Either way, she exhaled through her beak and turned away.

"Alright, I get it," the pony said with a hoof wave. "Let sleeping griffons lie and all that. But, having lived by the Falls my whole life, I think I've gotten the hang of scoping out interesting ponies. I like to collect things, you see. Stories or knick-knacks, it doesn't matter to me."

"Doesn't your house get cluttered?" Gwyneth asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, not really. It's a big house!" The pony talked like there was no reason to debate the matter. Not that Gwyneth ever would. Though, it was interesting. The biggest buildings in Rainbow Falls were the hospital and the inns. She wasn't sure how big a 'big house' could be.

"Well, I'm not going to share my life's story, and I don't have anything I can give you, so maybe you should talk to somebody else," Gwyneth muttered. The pony instead continued to speak.

"That's fine, you know. Some people have secrets they keep close to their heart." They sighed. "I'll give a story of my own, if you don't mind."

Yes I do mind please just leave me alone, Gwyneth thought, but the pony continued to speak before she could voice her thoughts.

"So, I had this good buddy of mine years ago. I mean years, like, she disappeared off the face of the earth for a while. But anyways, I get a message from one of our other friends saying 'hey, check it out, look who's back in town' so, naturally, I'm kinda excited." They rubbed their hoof against their nose.

"But wow, imagine my surprise when I get the news that not only is she back, she's got new little kids following her around!" the bumblebee pony said as they snapped to face Gwyneth. "Yeah, she's got a whole bunch of little foals. I'm kinda floored because she had been gone so long that I thought she was dead or had moved out of the country, but then there she is with a little family."

Gwyneth didn't really care. Instead, she began to doze off to the pony's rhythmic voice.

"After that, I get a new message from one of my friends to the south-east that one of this mare's kids is coming my way, so I'm thinking... all kinds of things. How should I introduce myself, are they gonna be nice, are they gonna have any stories about their mom?" They shrugged. "But then when the time comes, and I walk up to them, I get kinda ahead of myself. Talk about the weather."

Something clicked in Gwyneth's head, so she met the pony's eyes with a bit of apprehension. "Yeah, it's kinda awkward since we don't know each other, so it ends up being a one-sided conversation, but..." The pony leaned toward Gwyneth. "It gives me time to learn what I need to know about them."

Gwyneth frowned. With a flex of one of her senses, new colors burst to life in the air. Emotions. Some had a light to them, which she learned meant they could be lapped up for energy. The cloud surrounding the pony, however, was flat. Dead.

"You're a changeling," she remarked.

The pony's pupils thinned to slits for a moment, then returned to normal. "That's right. And so are you. One of Citlali's new brood. Which, I've noted, you're curiously apart from."

"Yeah." Gwyneth straightened in her seat. "Why do you care? Who are you?"

"Queen Aurelia," they said matter-of-factly. "But call me Aura. Like I said, I like collecting stories. Your hive is fragile enough as it is unless you've done an even better job hiding than I thought. What are you doing all the way out here, so far from home?"

"Like I said, I don't want to share my life's story." At Aura's raised eyebrow, Gwyneth waved her claw. "Look, I get that you're a Queen. Due respect and all that. But right now, I don't really want to talk to you."

Aura tilted their head to the side. "Sure, but here you are anyway, so you might as well make use of it. I might even have a few things worth your interest if you'd be willing to follow me home?"

Gwyneth sighed. "What kind of things?"

"I'm one of the people that started the Trader's Exchange so many years ago. You would not believe the kinds of things end up in my hooves. Cursed artifacts, magical talismans, probably a piece of some dark lord? Lots of people see the Exchange as a chance to get rid of things they don't need and walk away with something better. Perhaps I can take whatever's weighing you down? Make a trade?"

The offer tempted her, as much as she didn't want to deal with changelings. "Fine," she sighed. "Just a quick look."

Aura smiled. "Then follow me."

Author's Note

Surprise! Look who learned the dark art of necromancy!

Other writing has gotten a bit stale, and job searching is a little crazy, so I figured I'd visit some old stories, see what I could do with them.

*jazz hands*

I hope you enjoy this little look into what Dash is doing!

The Equestrian Calendar

Author's Note

I'm organizing the timeline, so I thought it would be good for everybody if I clarified what has happened and when things happen.

If you spot any errors, point them out. Keep in mind, these are the official times, so if something is wrong in the story, the dates will be changed to follow the ones here.

The Equestrian Calendar

I based the Equestrian Calendar off of our calendar, though the dates don't quite fit together.

This will contain spoilers for the whole story, so consider reading the story first if you haven't already.

Time before Luna's banishment is listed as XXXX Before Nightmare Moon, or B.N.M.
Time after her banishment is XXXX Celestia's Reign, or C.R.
Time after Luna's return is XXXX Princesses' Reign, or P.R.

History

The Beginning of Time: The universe comes into existence, alongside 5 deities: Harmony, Discord, Change, Life, and Creation. The last 3 name themselves Metamorphia, Faust, and Stellaris.

~6000 B.N.M.: Metamorphia settles in Hayseed Swamp.

~5000 B.N.M.: Celestia and Luna are born from Faust and Stellaris. Stellaris attempts to kill them to preserve his power. The sisters banish him into the sun, which causes it to forever churn and flare.

~3870-3850 B.N.M.: Starswirl the Bearded and his council opens the first portal to an inhabited alternate universe (Earth). They meet the ancient humans, and they accidentally start various religions. He invents a spell that turns a crystal into a storage device of sorts. He creates a mirror to Earth and an alternate Equestria. Starswirl begins mentoring the two Sisters. He creates ripples that echo through multiple realities.

~2840 B.N.M.: Equestria begins to break apart. The chaos creates the wendigos. Equestrian Civil War.

~2330 B.N.M.: After Unification, Equestria is still in chaos. This gets the attention of Discord, who begins torturing Equestria. His reign skews time, making 1000 years feel like a few months of absolute chaos.

~1330 B.N.M.: Celestia and Luna gain the Elements of Harmony, and imprison Discord. They are crowned as the supreme royalty of Equestria, and the Platinum line is crowned as royalty as well.

~980 B.N.M.: Having felt Starswirl's Ripples, Tirek and Scorpan, residents of Dream Valley, invade Equestria, set on conquering it. Scorpan grows fond of the ponies and betrays Tirek, who is imprisoned in Tartarus.

~970 B.N.M.: Metamorphia's 23 children spread throughout the world, and create the changeling hives.

75 B.N.M.: Using Starswirl's research, the Crystal Empire is created, and King Sombra reins. Celestia and Luna visit him, and Luna falls in love with the King. After Celestia warns Luna not to pursue that relationship, she and Sombra are furious and saddened. Sombra begins his plot to destroy Celestia.

72 B.N.M.: Using the power of the Alicorn amulet, Sombra ascends and enslaves his empire. They are forced to fight Equestria and work for Sombra. Celestia and Luna win the battle, take Sombra's amulet, and banish him into shadow. As Sombra is defeated, the Crystal Empire is drawn into the Crystal Heart, deep underground, and does not return until much later. Luna blames Celestia for driving her lover into insanity. Some crystal ponies survive, wandering outside the empire.

11 B.N.M.: Celestia and Luna defeat Queen Aysune, who had placed sleepers throughout Equestria. They assume the Whitetail Hive to be dead. Elowen, a Royal, is crowned as the Queen of Whitetail.

0 B.N.M.: Luna is consumed by a Nightmare, and transforms into Nightmare Moon. She gathers the lunites, thestrals and nocturnals, and fights Celestia over the Castle of the Two Sisters. The resulting battle and war renders that area magically unstable, creating the Everfree forest as known in the present. Celestia wields the elements on her own, and uses them to banish Luna to the moon for 1000 years.

13 C.R.: Construction begins on the great city of Canterlot.

27 C.R.: Canterlot is finished, and the Castle of the two sisters is abandoned.

532 C.R.: Queen Elowen dies of natural causes, Citlali is crowned Queen of the Whitetail Hive.

567 C.R.: Mi Amore Cadenza defeats Princess Amore, and ascends. Celestia takes her from the crystal refugees to Canterlot.

975 C.R.: Cadence and Celestia destroy the Rambling Rock hive of changelings after they discover a great amount of them living in Canterlot. Cadence's first experience with Changelings.

982 C.R.: Whitetail Hive is destroyed. Citlali mamanges to save a few of her childeren, who she places as sleepers in the world. She and Vahan are placed as children to Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

March 26, 990 C.R.: Mad with Power, Sunset Shimmer runs into Starswirl's Mirror, depositing her on Earth, in Pedestria, as a child.

June 15, 990 C.R.: Rainbow Dash creates the first sonic rainboom in recorded history. The Mane 6's disguises get their cutie marks, Twilight is taken under Celestia's wing.

June 21, 1 P.R.: Nightmare Moon is freed from her prison. Queen Citlali moves to Ponyville, Whitetail Hive uses the Elements of Harmony to destroy Nightmare Moon and free Luna.

Spring of 1 P.R.: Putting Your Hoof Down

Summer of 1 P.R.: Friendship is Magic 1&2, Griffin the Brush-Off, Boast Busters, Bridle Gossip, Dragonshy, Feeling Pinkie Keen, Party of One, The Ticket Master, Look Before You Sleep, Sonic Rainboom, Suited For Success, Sweet and Elite, Green Isn't Your Color, Swarm of the Century.

Fall of 1 P.R.: The Last Roundup, Call of the Cutie, Sisterhooves Social, Stare Master, A Bird in the Hoof, Luna Eclipsed, Owl's Well That Ends Well, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, A Dog and Pony Show, Over a Barrel, Applebuck Season, Cutie Mark Chronicles, Fall Weather Friends.

Winter of 1 P.R.: Hearth's Warming Eve, Winter Wrap Up

Spring of 2 P.R.: The Best Night Ever, Return of Harmony 1&2, Hurricane Fluttershy, Lesson Zero, It's About Time, MMMystery on the Friendship Express, A Canterlot Wedding 1&2

The episode calendar will be filled as the story progresses.

Holidays

March 20th on our calendars marks the Equestrian New Year. The Grand Galloping Gala is held the next day, to celebrate the renewal of self. This marks the beginning of Spring.

June 21st is the Summer Sun Celebration, or, the longest day of the year. This marks the beginning of Summer.

September 23rd is Harmony Day, where ponies gather to celebrate the natural world around them, and eat merrily. This also marks the beginning of Fall.

October 31st is Nightmare Night, where Equestria celebrates the defeat of Nightmare Moon and tells stories about the creature.

December 10th is the Running of the Leaves, or the day that Fall is wrapped up to prepare for Cloudsdale's delivery of Winter.

December 21st is the day that Ponyville is scheduled for Cloudsdale's winter delivery. Their whole delivery can last a few weeks, going from town to town. This marks the end of Fall.

December 24th is Hearth's Warming Eve, where ponies gather around a warm fire to celebrate the defeat of the Windigos, and the founding of Equestria.

February 14th is Hearts and Hooves day, to celebrate couples, love, and that one time a stallion gave a mare a love poison.

March 19th is Winter Wrap Up, or the day that ponies restore their towns to it's Spring state. This technically marks the end of Winter.

2 - V - The Part Where Things Go Wrong

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter V - The Part Where Things Go Wrong

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“All in favor of Queen Unica retracting 8% of her changelings from the Bastian Collective, in order for Queen Miasma to expand her harvester population in Lynxis, signal as such.” The speaker for the session, Queen Myxine’s Royal Matcria, counted the horns that lit up in favor of the proposition. “All against, signal as such.” A few horns lit up, Unica’s included. Matcria counted the totals, then nodded. “Six in favor, five against. Queen Unica will do as discussed within a month of this Summit’s end.”

Unica thumped a hoof against the roundtable and took a deep sigh, causing the Queens beside her, Posidala and Daphne, to glance at her. Miasma chuckled as Unica’s antenna lit, sending the message to her Royals to order the least productive harvesters out of Baltimare.

Matcria looked at the next Queen on the roundtable, and waved a hoof towards her. “Queen Citlali of the Whitetail hive, present any claims or requests to the Summit.”

Citlali stood and spoke in a low, and clear voice. “One of my Royals, Pollux, was killed while following a sleeper to Appleoosa. Normally, I would mourn his death, then crown another Royal to replace him. Normally. But before he passed, he sent back a message saying that a group of changelings were trailing him, and threatening him. I just want to know who did it, and why.”

The room was silent as they all looked between each other, wondering who the assailant could be. Chrysalis raised a hoof. “How are you sure that a changeling was the cause of his death? For all we know, the ponies could have discovered, and slain him. I mean, this isn’t the first time one of your Royals failed in their duties.”

Citlali took a breath. “Amaryllis did not fail. She was among the changelings of Transitalia’s hive when they were destroyed, trading a supply of emorphic gel that Transitalia requested. Pollux was the best infiltrator of my hive, possibly better than myself, odds are another hive had him killed. Who was it?”

Matcria lit her horn and sent a dark blue wave rippling through the Queens. “High Queen Metamorphia commands the Queen responsible for this action to stand, and explain themselves.”

The Queens watched with mixed emotions as Chrysalis gasped, and slowly stood. Her body was stiff, and had a faint sapphire glow surrounding it. “I ordered my changelings to slay Queen Citlali’s Royal.” She grit her teeth, before groaning, and speaking in a strained manner. “He entered my territory… Refused to leave peacefully… He— he died with little effort.”

The spell on Chrysalis released itself, causing her to collapse to the floor. The Queen slowly stood back up, using the table as a support. She began laughing. “It was like stomping on an ant! He was a pathetic changeling, just like his mother! Your hive is disgusting: weak, sloppy, unable to harvest properly. It’s no wonder your ancestors lived short lives.”

Citlali stood, slammed a hoof into Chrysalis’ muzzle, and dove at her with a charged horn. Matcria lit her horn in response, and froze the two Queens. “That is enough! I will not tolerate a petty fight in this room. If you cannot be bothered to say something relevant to the Summit, Chrysalis, then hold your tongue and be silent! Because of your outburst, I would say that you have had plenty of time to speak today, so we will move onwards to Queen Phosphora of the Palomino Hive.”

Matcria moved the two Queens back into their seats, and placed a shield between them. The Queens still stared at each other through the barrier, hardly listening to Queen Phosphora as she requested help dealing with a sandworm. Chrysalis ran a hoof across her muzzle, spreading teal ichor away from a crack in her chitin. She gave Citlali a toothy grin, before turning towards the center of the table.

Citlali walked through the burning Autumn light of the Whitetail Woods, after the week's travel from the Summit. While she chided herself for her embarrassing actions, she did not repent. Her kick was justified, though she should have gone for the throat, not the muzzle. Killing Chrysalis would have… no. The Badlands Hive killed Queens, not the Whitetail Hive. Besides, Chrysalis still had a Royal. Killing Chrysalis would do nothing but inconvenience her hive.

Citlali felt something itch in the back of her head, causing her to pause. Something had brushed against her mind, albeit briefly. It was gone as suddenly as it had come. The Queen looked around, then ebbed into her egregore. “Estelle, when was the last time you contacted myself or another Royal from our hive? Forgive the odd question, but I’m just feeling a little… paranoid at the moment. Humor me.”

Estelle touched Citlali’s mind, and began to speak. “Pollux contacted me a few hours ago, asked me to access the files on all sleeper drones in the field. Why, is something wrong?

Citlali cursed, dove into a summoned portal, and emerged next to Estelle, who jumped in surprise at the noise. She turned her milky-white and lavender eyes towards Citlali’s general direction, and stared at the air. Citlali spoke quickly but steadily. “Whatever contacted you wasn’t Pollux, because I lost his connection when I was traveling to the summit. Chrysalis admitted to killing her, but she might have kept the body.”

Estelle blinked and frowned. “Pollux is dead? But… it was his mind that I felt, I’m sure of it. I still feel it there.”

Citlali reached into her egregore again, and felt Pollux’s mind touch hers. She pulled out immediately, and gagged. “A puppet. Chrysalis is using him as a puppet. What exact information did you give to Pollux when he asked? I need to know, Chrysalis might use that information to—”

Citlali gasped, and fell to the floor as a massive wave of psychic messages roared through the egregore. A drop of ichor fell onto Citlali’s hoof, which she used to feel her antenna. One of the glowing orbs had burst from the strain. Estelle had fared no better. Ichor dripped from her antenna, and from her muzzle. They both took heavy breaths, and slowly felt the egregore.

A large mass of the minds within were gone, all snuffed out in an instant. Citlali guessed they were in Canterlot, judging by the distance and direction. “Estelle, get the soldiers, guard all entrances to the Hive! I know Chrysalis’ tactics: she never sends her army in first. It’s like that game the ponies are so fond of, chess. She takes out the pawns, then she goes for the Queen.”

Estelle bowed to Citlali, then bounded down a hall lit by yellow light, emitting a series of high-pitch squeaks as she did so. Citlali’s headache and cries worsened as another round of sleepers were destroyed, all the way in Applewood. She moaned from her physical and emotional pain, but sent a message to her remaining drones in Ponyville. “If you can hear this, sever yourself from the egregore immediately, and return to the Hive! If you are pony, and you are hearing this…” She paused, not quite sure what to say. “I’m sorry.”

She felt a wave of changelings leave her egregore, then felt a wave pass away.

Citlali stood in shock as she felt the last remnants of her connections to the outside fade. She stepped backwards, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” A few tears fell from her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Citlali fell into the wall behind her, and slid to the floor, shaking her head slowly.

Whitetail’s ties to the outside world were gone. They had no harvesters, no sleepers, no way to contact the other Queens. Chrysalis had boxed them in in only a few minutes.

No. A spark ignited within Citlali, burning up her grief, her pain, and her fear, creating an inferno of fury. She pushed herself off the ground, and made her way towards the Atrium, giving instructions to her hive on the way.

Whitetail Hive would not fall, not while she was it’s Queen.

======

Citlali watched as the ceiling above her fell to the floor, revealing a teal drone firing magic into a lavender drone. With a flick of her horn, the teal drone’s neck chitin shattered, and ichor sprayed into the air. She looked over her drone, and found no thoughts coming from it.

Citlali took the two drones’ energy, and continued on. Chrysalis had begun to storm Whitetail, and was located in the emorphic gel reserves.

Citlali’s right foreleg was shattered, exposing the sensitive flesh underneath, her left wing was missing, due to a drone hooking onto it as he was flung away, and her breath was slow and unsteady.

The most that the Whitetail Queen could do was make simple fire portals to the nearest rooms, and shamble towards her target. Nothing else was important. Architecture could be reconstructed, food could be recreated, but lives were finite. So long as Chrysalis lived, others would die.

Citlali stepped into the reserves, leaning against a doorway. In the midst of burning gel and shattered bodies stood Chrysalis, slowly crushing a changeling’s neck underfoot. As Citlali shouted at Chrysalis, the Teal Queen pushed a little harder and killed the drone.

“What have we learned today, Citlali?” Chrysalis turned towards the broken Queen shambling towards her.

“I will kill you!” Citlali spat as she fell to the ground, immediately pushing herself back up.

“No. We have learned to keep your filth away from my children. Hopefully this will be a lesson to the other Queens, a reminder of where their loyalties should rest.” Chrysalis’ horn lit up, carrying Citlali into the air. “I have waited a long time for your line to be broken. I just needed a spark to prove to the others that you aren’t worth anything. Goodbye, Citlali.”

Citlali screamed as Chrysalis pulled her antenna from her head, threw her through a wall, and stomped on her chest. She sputtered for a moment, struggling as Chrysalis took her emotions away. Cold settled in as Citlali leaned her head back and fell still.

An hour later, her eyes shot open once more. Citlali gasped in pain, coughed up ichor, and slowly stood. She felt something fall off of her, so she looked to her side. The small body of Estelle lay on the floor, still and lifeless. As Citlali inspected her royal’s body, she was perplexed. There were no fatal wounds, or any sign of violent death. Citlali felt the emotions in herself, and realized that her last Royal died to save her.

Citlali wanted to be angry at Estelle for saving her Queen when she could have escaped and ascended on her own. But she couldn’t be angry. She instead took her child’s head, kissed it, and whispered a prayer to the All-Mother to keep her dear daughter safe. When she pulled away, there were two wet spots in Estelle’s mane.

A loud rumbling sound caused Citlali to stand and inspect her surroundings. The hive was collapsing. Great chunks of the ceiling were falling down, crushing bodies, gel, furniture, and more. With a cry, Citlali began running as fast as her somewhat-healed body could take her towards the nursery.

The Queen arrived just in time to stop the ceiling from collapsing. She screamed out as her magic reserves waned, and failed, dropping the outer edges of the ceiling on eggs and nymphs. With a pained but determined cry, she picked up as many eggs and nymphs as she could hold, held them outside the room, and lost the battle with the ceiling. Crunches were heard as cries were silenced.

Citlali took the eight eggs and five nymphs and ran to the closest exit. She was struck multiple times by falling debris, but her magic kept her children safe. She tripped on many bodies, but her children never touched the floor. It wasn’t until she emerged into the night air, weak and distraught, that she laid them on the grass.

Fourteen. Fourteen changelings were all that were left of her hive. Citlali pulled her children close, turned her head to the sky, and screamed. She screamed the agony and anger of a bereaved mother until her voice gave out.

======

They all sat in silence as Citlali shook with silent tears. Spike’s head was bowed and his eyes shut. Fluttershy was crying alongside Rarity, Pinkie’s mane was flat, Applejack held her hat to her chest, Rainbow hand landed and begun staring at the floor. Vahan stared at Citlali in pity and Satomi was shaking her head.

Citlali took a breath and calmed herself. “I believe Citlali died that day. I haven’t been the same since. When I chose my new life as Twilight Sparkle, I truly was born again as a new pony. That, of course, leads us to the next part of my--” She paused and held up a hoof.

A very faint groan was heard in the room, coming from the two changeling guards. Citlali walked over to them, nudged them both with a hoof, and watched as they slowly came to. One of them, a unicorn, looked up at Citlali with a wide smile. “Hello, sweetie. I don’t think we’ve ever met before. I speak for Queen Aphrodasia of the Canterlot Hive. She is very frustrated with you, Citlali, for siding with ponies.”

The other changeling stood, a pegasus this time. “Our Queen thinks you’ve gone soft. That you care for the ones that murdered your closest friend, your ancestors, and doomed your hive to this lowly state.”

The unicorn stood in front of a window, the setting sun just behind him. “But that isn’t what is happening, right? Queen Aphrodasia wants you to confirm who’s side you are on. I would hope to see you with me.”

The two spoke at once. “Think about it.” They dropped their disguises in a flash of pink fire and leapt backwards, through the window. Citlali cursed and looked over the edge. They were already gone, disguised as some small creature on the side of the mountain.

Citlali sighed and stepped back from the window. She was breathing heavily. Vahan was the first to speak. “Twi-- Cit-- Twilight? Who was that, what did they mean?”

“Canterlot Hive. Dangerous, clever, connected, and manipulative. They decided to carve their hive into the Canterhorn, only a year after Canterlot Palace was finished. If that doesn’t tell you anything, I’m not sure what will. This new Queen, Aphrodasia, wants me to reject pony kind like Chrysalis has. Attack them for what they’ve done.”

Citlali turned to face the others. “But I’ve learned that ponies are just as caring as... some changelings. We shouldn’t fight over a few misunderstandings, as costly as they may have been. It is Chrysalis’ fault my hive fell, nopony else.”

The others nodded in agreement. Pinkie gasped. “Oh my gosh, you know what this means? Every one of us gets to have a ‘species reveal party!’ I’ve never thrown a species reveal party, I don’t know what kind of games you would bring. Pin the antenna on the Queen?” She put a hoof to her chin in thought.

Citlali seemed to consider the question for a moment, then addressed the group again. “While I would love to continue my story, I don’t think that we’re quite safe here anymore. When it comes to changelings, the walls may very well have eyes and ears. Spike, take the girls and Satomi, and return to Nepthysis. Vahan, I need to speak my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and I want you in the room when I do.”

Spike saluted, shifted into his dragon disguise, and began leading his group away, talking to them as they walked. Vahan made the connection, then nodded. “What am I going to say to her? What are we going to say to... everypony? I mean, the security issues this brings up are... astronomical. Who’s to say that this... Chrysalis won’t return and replace more than just Cadence?”

Citlali nodded. “I’ve already had an extensive talk with Cadence on this subject, back when I was in the caves. She, for the most part, was fine with me being... me. Don’t worry about yourself: Cadence loves you greatly. That love was able to power a healing spell that saved my life.”

Vahan nodded as Citlali moved towards the doors, shifting into a new pony. She had the blue and purple mane of Twilight Sparkle, but with a chitin-colored coat, darker purple eyes, and a longer horn. Her cutie mark was Twilight’s starburst, but without the white sparkles, and a more symmetrical design.

When she caught Vahan eyeing the mark, she shrugged. “It always bothered my that my cutie mark was asymetrical. Now that I can be myself again, I fixed it.”

“Even as a changeling Queen, you’re still the Twilight Sparkle I know.” Vahan chuckled. “At least some things are still the same.” Citlali pulled the doors open, but Vahan stayed back. “I... uh. I’m not sure how to change.”

Citlali quickly gave him a lesson on shifting, then walked through the doors. ‘Cavern Star’ and Shining Armor left the room and began making their way to the Princesses.

======

“While I would love to continue my story, I don’t think that we’re quite safe here anymore. When it comes to changelings, the walls may very well have eyes and ears. Spike, take the girls and Satomi, and return to Nepthysis. Vahan, I need to speak my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and I want you in the room when I do.”

Spike saluted his Queen, shifted into his dragon self, and motioned for his group to follow. Satomi shifted into a generic guard once more. “You guys are going to love Nepthysis and her hive. Especially you, Rarity. It’s built in a place that allows water to flow down the center, into a pool below. The floors are made of mosaics, and it all glows a silvery blue when the sun sets.”

Rarity gave a small smile. “Sounds lovely. I must ask, however, why can’t we accompany Twi... Citlali and Vahan? I do believe we are going to have to talk to the Princesses sooner than later, now seems as good a time as any.”

Spike sighed. “Celestia and Luna really don’t like our hive’s methods. I don’t exactly appreciate them either. If she found out that not just one, not two, but eight members of the Whitetail Hive have been sleeping right under her muzzle, she would be furious.”

Applejack looked at Spike as they turned into a long hall. “What does that mean, sleepin’?”

“A sleeper drone is a changeling that doesn’t know it’s a changeling. This way, it can collect emotional energy without ever failing in its disguise, because it is its disguise. Every so often, harvester changelings go by to collect the excess energy from the sleepers, which only makes them tired for a short while. It allows for a perfect disguise, with full harvesting efficiency.”

Applejack nodded.”It allows a changeling to be honest, while still helpin’ the hive. Why would Princess Celestia be ‘furious’, though? Isn’t that better than a changeling posin’ as somepony they aren’t?”

Spike shook his head. “Not in their eyes. As you probably know, discovering that you aren’t a pony can be traumatic. Just before Luna was banished, a sleeper’s disguise dropped. He panicked and reached the Princesses before we could calm him down. Because of this, Celestia and Luna conducted a thorough investigation of the nearby cities.

“When they discovered more sleepers, they came to the conclusion that ponies were turning into changelings. This caused them to attempt to search for the hive, in order to stop them from converting the entire population. However, the Queen of Whitetail at the time, Aysune, saw this as a declaration of war.

“She took control of Celestia’s student and Luna’s lover, a sleeper named Chemical Catalyst, and tried to assassinate the younger sister. They were forced to kill Catalyst. Once they found the location of the hive, or so they thought, they attacked. They killed thousands of changelings, including Queen Aysune, and gave the other sleepers time with therapists."

Spike shrugged. “A royal named Elowen was crowned the new Queen, and the hive began rebuilding itself. A couple hundred years later, Citlali is born. A few more hundered years later, Elowen dies from sickness, and passes the crown to Citlali. Ever since that war, Whitetail hive has stopped depending on sleepers.” He glanced at the group. “Until recently, of course.”

They were quiet as they followed Spike. They finally reached the outer doors of the Palace and walked into the lamp-lit streets of Canterlot. Spike looked around the city. “Alright. Rainbow Dash, fly as fast as you can to Neighagra Falls, there’s a friendly hive there. Stand on top of the observation platform, and imagine yourself as a changeling.” Spike tapped into the egregore. ”I’ll talk to you then.”

Rainbow stiffened, glanced around at the others, then nodded with a salute. “Can do. Time to see what Twilight’s bug friends are like!” She leapt into the air and bolted to the north-east.

“The rest of you, follow me. A changeling has clearly been trying to talk to me ever since I returned to get you guys, and I want to meet them. After that, we’ll go to Neighagra ourselves and sleep for the night. I’m sorry this has been so crazy, I wanted to have a much calmer conversation between you, the sisters, and Citlali about this. If not for Chrysalis’ attack, Celestia might have been willing to hear us out.”

The other members of the group nodded, clearly worn out from the chaos of the past two days.