What Lies Within

Before her eyes had recovered from the flash, Ocellus knew that she'd been transported somewhere unpleasant. The air had grown colder, and the darkness closed in oppressively. Hugging herself tightly, the girl tried to peer into the inky blackness, thankful that her eyes adjusted quicker than most. Even so, it was slow progress; the darkness was thick and it took minutes before it gradually began thinning out, peeling away to give her some idea of where she was. The giveaway wasn't the change in colour so much as the change in texture; darkness was thick, swirling, and pervasive, not jagged and tangible, like the rock face ahead of her.

Reaching out a hand, the girl inched forwards, her creamy skin almost glowing in the obfuscation of the darkness around her. A few steps forward, and she brushed against hard, cold surface of rock, confirming her suspicions, and turned to another direction. If this was a cave, then surely there was an exit, she reasoned. Taking a deep breath, she started forward again, her steps growing in confidence as she moved. It was easier after the first, and then the second, and then the third, until she was waking normally, able to see far enough ahead that she was sure she wasn't going to bump into an obstacle. The ground underfoot seemed to be soft compacted soil, and the tunnel - the meagre distances between the walls around her indicated she wasn't in a cavern - was wide enough that she could meander without scraping or slamming into the rock. Other than the isolation, her situation wasn't too dire.

At the thought of isolation, her wings fluttered nervously behind her, a chill running down her spine. She was alone down here...at least, she hoped so. What if there was something which wanted to hurt her? Or her friends? She bit her lip nervously, her hand starting to shake in front of her. Her eyes having adjusted to something resembling normal vision, she brought it back to her, hugging herself as she walked. Was it actually colder, or did she just feel more vulnerable? There was nothing ahead, as far as she could see, and every time she glanced behind, nothing jumped out at her. If she was being stalked, then her pursuer was a master of this enclosed space. They could be a shadow on the wall, camouflaged beyond vision. She couldn't think of any creature which could become part of the environment, except, maybe...

An ethereal, enigmatic glow lit the way up ahead, revealing the true expanse of the cave to her. Alcoves furrowed deeply into the walls, and winding columns of rock reached from the ground to the ceiling above her head, all bathed in bright green luminescence of various shades. Thick shadows skulked in the deepest crevices and holes, untouched by the light. She glanced around, nervously peering at each of the alcoves in case something tried to crawl out unnoticed. The more she looked, the more unnerved she became. It wasn't because it was strange or foreign - it was quite the contrary. The source of the glowing - globules of sticky goop adorning the rock - and the maze-like pattern of the alcoves and crawlspaces was starting to revive some memories from her mind, things she'd tried to bury deep. It looked almost like a hive.

Her hive.

The sudden thud of a boot striking the ground caused her to gasp and spin around. In the cave's glow, the guards somehow looked more alien than she was used to. She'd seen them around plenty of times, both in the dreary, dim environment of the hive and outside in the open air, where the sunlight seemed to fall through their onyx hide as though spurned by it. Now was the first time she'd seen it reflecting anything, and somehow, it made her kin all the more frightening, unnatural.

"W-why do you look like that?" she asked, instinctively taking a step back. The two figures, though diminutive in size, were a relic of her past, and something she'd rather distance herself from. Clad in the crude dark blue armor that was once a proud display of their barbaric, warlike nature, the two changelings glanced first at each other, and then upwards at Ocellus. That was strange in itself - she should've been their height. Were they young?

"What do you mean?" one of them asked, tilting its head. "We all look the same." That sentence resonated painfully within the girl, her heart aching at the words. There was a time when everyone in her hive had been identical, when individuality had been scolded harshly, and when divergence from the community in any small way was punished even more so.

"I don't," she rebutted, her tone lacking the firmness or the sureness it should've had. She couldn't explain what she felt, or why. By all accounts, she was happier now than she'd ever been than when she'd been confined to the hive, spending her days beneath a cold, unforgiving ceiling, passing her time pacing the tunnels and generally being shoved around for being meek. Perhaps that was it; she never fit in back then, and it was the diversification of her race that had ironically strengthened her kinship with her kind, the differences bringing them closer. Now, confronted with that same sense of misplacement, she felt herself mentally cowed.

"Well, of course you don't." She sighed, waiting for the familiar rebukes that she'd hoped she'd never have to listen to again. She was the freak, the weakling, the disgrace. The cruelty had been a daily occurrence in the hive, but it had fallen into obscurity with the metamorphosis and the structural changes that had come about as Thorax had risen to the throne. "No one looks like you, your Majesty."

Ocellus blinked. That was a new one. She'd been expecting something more straightforward and blunt, something along the lines of second rate or runt. Patronisingly referring to another creature as royalty was surprisingly creative for changelings. She didn't know how to feel about it; it certainly wasn't as biting as the upfront comments about her skittishness or how easy it would be to crush her underfoot, but there was something disconcerting about being hailed as a ruler, of bearing power it was abundantly clear she didn't want nor could ever possess. The memories of Chrysalis tainted the position of ruler for her. Grimacing at the thought, she glanced to the right, a glint catching her attention.

A pair of malignant eyes glared back at her from the rock.

The girl gasped, the figure in the wall mirroring her shock. Her heart thumped in her chest, her eyes tracing over the familiar features of the queen. That scornful, hate-filled gaze that was once a daily reality stared back at her, admidst a fearful, youthful countenance. That was unnerving. The girl moved, and the figure moved, a parallel image against the smooth, reflective rock. Every blink, every twitch and shift, Chrysalis moved with Ocellus, her expression staring back at her. Jerking her hands up in front of her face, she was met not with her smooth, creamy skin, but with charcoal-black, wrinkled, leathery hide.

"Your Majesty?" one of the two changeling guards asked her. She ignored them, eyes wide in horror at the sight. She felt dry, and her chest started to feel tight. This couldn't be happening. "Your Majesty? We need to know what to do with this one." She slowly began to shake her head, her breathing picking up in pace until she was teetering on the edge of a gasping panic attack.

"P-please let me go!"

The new voice, one she never thought she'd hear, broke her from her hazy trance, shocking her so much that her anxiety, previously seconds away from bubbling over and engulfing her, faded away almost immediately. Returning her attention to the guards, she saw another person grasped firmly between them.

"Be quiet, runt!" one of them snapped, hissing at the girl in their grasp, who started to sob. "It's this troublemaker again, your Majesty. She's been acting up, doing outsider things." The two onyx changelings sneered at the word.

"I-It was just a book! I just wanted to read!"

"We said be quiet! Know your place, weakling!"

"Heathen!"

"Traitor!"

"Embarrassment!" With every word, the girl cowered lower and lower, her spirit breaking insult by insult, the bombardment crushing her under its unrelenting weight.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" Ocellus' sharp outburst drew the two male's attentions, and they bowed their heads obediently. The girl continued to sob.

"Of course," the first acquiesced, letting go of the girl's shoulder. "We shall leave her to your judgement, your Majesty. We shall return to our duties, as you have instructed." With that, the other changeling allowed the girl free from his grasp, and she dropped to her knees, covering her face as the two armoured guards walked away, their boots clomping heavily on the tunnel floor. The menacing noise grew dimmer as they rounded the corner, eventually disappearing entirely. As the silence took over, broken only by a sniffle or heaving gasp from the unwilling guest.

Ocellus took a step towards the young girl, but the sound of the footstep made the latter squeal and scamper towards the wall, curling up in fear. The reaction broke Ocellus' heart, though she couldn't tell whether it was the relatability or the fact that the fear-induced retreat was a reaction to her. She couldn't even blame the girl - who in their right mind wouldn't want to distance themselves from the sadistic monster that was Chrysalis? The thought ripped a sob from Ocellus' throat, her staccato vocal spasms supplementing the cowering girl's, their distressed lamenting becoming a symphony. Ocellus crouched down, emotionally exhausted, and planted her tough, leathery skin on the ground, barely feeling the earth beneath her.

It was a little while before the sounds stopped, and Ocellus looked up to see that the girl had peered from behind her hands, her face, still stricken with fear, but carrying a layer of curiosity. Though partly hidden behind her shoulder-length, curvy pink hair, her eyes locked onto Ocellus' own. Puffy and glistening with tears, they were a familiar shade of light blue, matching the blue stubby horn curving from her forehead. Pink, translucent wings flittered fearfully behind her back, twitching in uncertainty.

There was another Ocellus peering back at her, and not just from a reflection in the tunnel wall.

She was a proper Ocellus, too; smooth, creamy skin, dressed in the sort of comfortable casual wear that she enjoyed wearing on weekends - some blue and pink spandex jogging bottoms, and a sky blue blouse. It was the girl that Ocellus yearned to be, a deep, desperate desire that cried out pleadingly from the bottom of her heart.

"Y-your Majesty?" the scared girl asked tentatively, her voice thick with caution. The title stuck a heavier blow coming from herself, and she scrunched her face in painful distaste.

"Don't call me that," she asked her doppelganger, seeing the other girl wince as she spoke.

"I-I'm sorry!" the fearful girl replied immediately. "I know I'm not worthy of being a part of this hive. Please forgive me."

"You don't have to be sorry about anything," Ocellus promised, creeping forward just a little. The other girl tensed, her eyes widening as the taller changeling approached. "I'm not your queen, I'm not here to hurt you." The promise sparked an iota of hope in the cowering girl, but it lasted only a second before a rush of dread smothered it mercilessly. The entire process played out in dreadful detail on the girl's face.

"This is a test, isn't it?" she asked. "You want to see if I'm loyal to the hive? I am, I promise I am! There's no queen but you!" She swallowed and tensed again, shrinking back. Ocellus felt a painful twinge at the regression.

"No, it's not a test," she insisted, sitting back on her legs to try and assuage some of the fear of her replica with a more neutral stance. "I'm not Chrysalis! I'm you! I promise you, I don't want to hurt you! I don't even want to be here!" She felt the hopelessness of the situation crash over her. She knew all too well the grip of fear that Chrysalis held over the changelings, and how cruel the woman could be. There was no reason to believe that the former queen wouldn't pretend to be sympathetic, earning the smallest admission of fear, discontentment, or disapproval, only to crush it and harshly punish the subject who would dare infest her kingdom with any trace of weakness. Towering above the replica and looking every part the horror from a child's cautionary tale, convincing her other self that there was no reason to be afraid was a fruitless task.

"I don't understand what I'm meant to say," the other Ocellus squeaked, bursting into tears. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, let me go!" Her crying grew heavier, and she buried her head in her arms to muffle her cacophonous wailing. Rocking back and forth, she drew in her knees, interspersing her outpouring of distress with warbling, bubbling apologies. She was sorry for being weak, for being pathetic, for being a troublemaker, for ever having been born, and she was sorry the queen had to have the displeasure of even acknowledging her existence.

That was too much for the fake Chrysalis, and she grabbed her other self and pulled her forcefully into a tight hug, evoking a scream from the replica. At first, the young girl wriggled, trying to break free from the tall, dark woman's hold, expecting to feel a blinding stab of pain or to be dragged to some dank part of the tunnels, never to be seen again. As the embrace wore on, however, her movements calmed, and she eventually stopped resisting. On and on the contact lasted, the panicking girl's rapid breathing slowing, and her body loosening from its rigid state into something approaching relaxation. As the minutes passed by, the replica slowly, cautiously wrapped her arms around the woman, returning the unprecedented display of love.

"You're really not Chrysalis, are you?" the girl asked softly, her voice much calmer after her bout of distress. There was still a veneer of concern, a splash of fear and mistrust, but it was hidden behind the relief. Ocellus shook her head, slowly pulling back to look herself in the eye.

"I'm really not," she confirmed. "I'm you." She left out the how and the why she was here, trying to avoid thinking about it too hard. It wouldn't help to panic when she was already trying to calm down another version of herself.

"But why do you look like that?"

"I-" Ocellus paused, her mind trying to wave her away from the thoughts she was processing. Don't go there! she heard her instincts plead. You won't like it! It's not something we should be thinking about! Please! "I don't know," she admitted at last. "I found a cave with my friends, and we met Twilight, who told us we had to pass a test to leave. Then I was transported here, and..." She trailed off, figuring her other self knew the rest.

"Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle?" The other girl's face paled."I-is she punishing you? Have you been sent back in time, or forced to inhabits Chrysalis' body!? I-I don't want that! I'd never want to live as her! Please don't let it happen to me!"

"What?" Ocellus asked, genuinely taken aback by the suggestion. "No! Twilight would never do that! She's our headmare, and she's nothing but supportive."

"Headmare?" the replica repeated. "Like in a school?"

"Yes, like in...oh." The realisation hit Ocellus suddenly, and she fell silent. Was this really a punishment? Was she back in time? Was this a chance to make things better? Of course...that had to be the test! She was here to repent for her hive's mistakes! That had to be it! She had to learn how badly Chrysalis acted towards her subjects! "Who's in charge of the hive right now?"

"The queen, of course," her other self answered, frowning in confusion. "Who else would it be?"

"When was the last time you saw Thorax?" At the mention of his name, the young girl gasped loudly.

"Y-you're not meant to say his name!" She started trembling, and looked around fearfully. "The last changeling who spoke about him..." Her trembling increased, and Ocellus put a comforting hand on her replica's shoulder, slowly bringing her out of the fear that had reasserted itself.

"I know it's bad now," the disguised woman offered sympathetically. "Chrysalis is a monster. She runs the hive by fear, she enslaves and conquers, and every day is a struggle. But I promise you, that's going to change. All of it is going to change. Thorax returns, and he brings help. The entire hive is liberated, and instead of being forced to slave away and live a life of cruelty and conquest, we connect with other kingdoms. We make friends.

"They forgive us?" her other self asked, her expression and voice exuding awe. "They just...?" She shook her head, barely believing that the very civilisations that they sought to conquer could act with such mercy.

"They offer a new path, and we take it," Ocellus confirmed. "Most of the hive hates this way of life. They want something better, and Twilight and her friends want it for us too. She opens a school for others to come and learn how to live in harmony, and you get to be one of the attendees."

"I get to go to school?" her replica asked, squealing as she received an affirmative nod. "Is it like we always imagined? Books? Desks? Homework?"

"Better," Ocellus confirmed, feeling a smile creep onto her face. It felt wrong on Chrysalis' body, the stretching of her mouth feeling like a vindictive sneer. She ignored it, pushing the sensation aside. "You get friends. Real friends. They care about you, and they treat you like an equal. Ponies, griffons, dragons, yaks."

"But aren't they all aggressive?" the other girl asked, tilting her head. "Isolationist? Like..." She slumped a little. "Like us.."

"They can be," Ocellus agreed. "But the School of Friendship changes that. We're not the only ones who want a better path. Equestria welcomes every creature who wants to learn their ways, to develop something better for themselves and their kingdoms. We changed when Thorax and his friends liberated the hive, and the school helps creatures to change for the better. It directs them. We're not fixed in our nature." The smile started to wilt a little as she thought about the truth of that statement. Most of Equestria welcomes us, she thought to herself. But not that awful Chancellor Neighsay. And Cozy Glow seems to think that friendship isn't in our nature. Maybe we can't change as much as we thought we could.

"What are my friends like?" the sweet, smooth voice asked, eager and excited. It roused Ocellus from her introspective stupour. "Are they weirded out by how different we look? Do they keep it to themselves, or are they nice about it? Does it take them time to adjust?"

"We don't look the same," the taller Ocellus answered. "Our skin stops being so thick and rough. We start looking more like you." The other girl's face lit up in joy.

"I'm not a freak any more?" she inquired, beaming in excited contemplation.

"You never were," the disguised Ocellus responded. "You're beautiful. It was every other creature who was ugly, inside and out. The remarks, the comments, the depredation, the beatings - none of that was your fault, and it certainly isn't normal for communities to do that. The hive just wasn't ready for you. But now, you get to see that you're amazing, and that you've got a bright future ahead of you, one you always deserved."

"One we always deserved," the doppelganger corrected, her smile so bright it was a wonder it didn't light up the entire cave system. It faded a little when Ocellus didn't return the smile. "What's wrong?"

And there it was. The inescapable, unyielding truth that Ocellus had to address. She felt her mind beg her not to seek answers again, imploring her to deny everything, but she couldn't. She had to face reality. Taking a deep breath, she looked her other self in the eye.

"I don't deserve it," she explained morosely. "I'm not a good creature. How can I be? I was sent back to be Chrysalis. Do you think that's a coincidence?" She fell silent, the shock from her replica seeming to stretch over her like a sheet of film.

"Why? What have you done that doesn't make you a good creature?" The other's face fell. "Do I...do I do something bad at the school? Is some creature hurt?"

"No, nothing like that," the taller Ocellus answered. "You don't do anything. But I'm back here and I'm Chrysalis. You're here, and you're what I am...what I was...before it even happens. I think this cave, it..." She sighed, and felt a sob tear itself from her throat. "It shows you what you really are. It forces what you are inside to be displayed outside. I'm a monster. I'm hideous!" She felt hot tears start to well in her eyes, and made no effort to stop them rolling down her cheeks. She barely felt them through the thickness of her skin, as detached from the world around her as she had been back then.

"No, that can't be right," the doppelganger disagreed, shaking her head in denial. "You're a changeling, you can change back. It doesn't mean you're meant to be stuck like that."

Ocellus bit her lip and flared her magic, feeling the familiar sweep of flames engulf her. The gasp she received, as well as a quick glance down at her hands, confirmed she hadn't changed. She'd been expecting as much, but seeing the confirmation was like a weight dropped on her from a great height, crushing her spirit.

"It doesn't matter," she sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Even if I could change back, I'd still be this on the inside. It's what we used to do; camouflage how rotten we were by looking like literally anything else. Now I'm just forced to be honest about it." A weak smile made its way to her face as she looked up, taking in the sight of her other self. Young, beautiful, concerned. Perfection. "But I can make amends. I can make sure that some creature who is worthy gets to take my place."

"What do you mean?" her replica asked, worry etching itself onto her smooth features. Ocellus tried to fight back the rising pain in her chest for long enough to speak.

"When I pass this test, when I make it so you become a better changeling than I ever was...I want you to go back." She swallowed, her eyes growing puffy as the tears forced their way out.

"I want you to replace me back in my timeline."

"What?!" her replica exclaimed, stepping back in shock. "No! I won't do it! That can't be the test!" She shook her head emphatically, her face widening in displeased surprise.

"You'll be a better me," Ocellus reasoned. "You won't be ugly. You won't be like this on the inside."

"Stop it!" the replica shouted, clenching her fists in distress. "You're being ridiculous. You've done nothing that makes you a bad creature!"

"I'm Chrysalis," the tall woman reminded her other self. "I can't transform. You're the best version of me, and you're not tainted by her. You're everything I should be. Just because I can't change, just because I can't escape my nature, it doesn't mean you can't. That's why I'm here, isn't it? I'm here to stop your nature becoming mine, before it's too late."

"No!" the doppelganger argued, grabbing Ocellus by the shoulders. For a second, the disguised changeling was shocked out of her desolation. The expression on the replica's face was abject determination, a fierce glare that matched the tight grip she had on the tall woman in front of her. Even if she were only disguised as Chrysalis, the sincerity of the doppelganger must've been immeasurable; at no point in her life, even to another changeling disguised as the queen, would she have grabbed Chrysalis and tried to shake sense into her. "You are not a bad changeling! You are a good person! You are! You made me feel safe! You gave me hope! You made me believe that I'm special, and that I'm not a freak! You are not a bad person! I won't let you believe that!"

"B-but my nature-"

"Your nature is not Chrysalis'! That monster never cared for us! Never comforted us! She never cared if she was too cruel! The mere fact that you're distraught about being her shows that you're not bad, that you're not anything like her!"

"I-I know, but-"

"But nothing!" The other Ocellus leaned in, her eyes boring into the fake Chrysalis' own. "You are Ocellus. You are a great girl. You care about others. You've done nothing wrong, and you're not allowed to be held hostage by another woman's past. You are not her. You are you." She pulled back slightly. "And if your nature is unchangeable, then so is mine. If this is your fate, then it's my fate too."

"No!" Ocellus interjected. "You can't! You're better than me, you-"

"I am you," the replica countered. "You showed me what I can be. What I am. Let me do the same for you. For me." She smiled a little, taking one of the leathery hands into her own. "Change back. I'll show you...me...who you truly are."

"I can't," the tall mare whimpered. "You've seen me try."

"No, I've seen you convince yourself you can't," the other Ocellus argued. "You already believe you're evil, that you're Chrysalis. We both know how transformation works."

"You have a mental image of who you want to become."

"Exactly. Everything we do works on emotions. If you feel that you're evil, and you fear Chrysalis, you're going to become her. If you believe that your true form, that your very nature, is Chrysalis', then when you try to change back into yourself, you're going to become her. Let go of all of that. Listen to me. Listen to yourself." She knelt down, squeezing the rough hand supportively. "Tell me about our friends."

"Hm?"

"At this school. Who are our friends?"

"Oh...w-well, there's a pony named Sandbar. He's friendly, and nice...he was the first pony to actually want to talk to me. He's not loud or brash, so he was easy enough to speak with." She smiled at the thought of the man, his cyan hair falling across his eyes, before he brushed it back with a friendly smile. "And then there's Gallus. He's a griffon. He's a lot louder and sarcastic, but it turns out he's really nice too. I guess it was him adjusting to the school? We get along a lot better than I thought we would. The rest are girls; Smolder's a dragon, and she's kinda like Gallus in a lot of ways. They get on really well. Silverstream...wow. She's a hippogriff, but she's had to spend most of her life underwater, so she's just...completely insatiable. She's loud and energetic, but she's not rude. I was a little nervous around her at first, but we study together all the time now. She loves reading, like we do. And then there's Yona Yak. She's a really sweet girl, but I thought she was a barbaric brute at first. She scared me when I first met her, but I never realised how wrong I could be."

"Can you imagine them all?" the doppelganger asked.

"Yes, I can," Ocellus answered, closing her eyes and smiling. And she could. The six of them, standing in a field in Ponyville. Silverstream jumped up and down with excited energy, her wings extending and flapping almost involuntarily. Gallus grinned and shook his head, sweeping his yellow-tipped hair back into place as the excited girl's wings brushed against him. She had no idea what they were doing, but she knew they were happy. All of them, even Smolder, were smiling, looking at each other with the unspoken affection that only friendship could offer.

"Can you feel what they are to you? Can you imagine what you are to them?"

"Yes."

"Good." The other girl's grip tightened. "Now, change."

The bright flare wasn't green this time; it was a brilliant cyan, and the heat that rushed across her body was invigorating and powerful. Opening her eyes wide, she looked down at her body, now her normal height, her skin back to its creamy hue. The hand of her other self felt more real now, a smooth palm and a tender grip against her flesh. She was dressed in her school uniform rather than the roughspin rags that the changelings used to wear. She was herself again.

"I'm me!" she celebrated, hugging her doppelganger, who hugged back gleefully. "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! You saved me!"

"You saved you," the other girl corrected, pulling back and smiling. "We saved each other." Resting her hands on her legs, she watched as Ocellus wiped her eyes again, clearing them of the tears that had remained. "If you want to...you can keep telling me about the School of Friendship and our friends. Can you?"

Ocellus was happy to explain to her other self all about the experiences Equestria had provided, sitting across from the replica in a mirrored pose, her legs crossed. She talked about how she'd met her five close friends, the nights they'd spent studying or playing games together, the eccentricities and quirks each of them possessed. They giggled together over Silverstream's obsession with stairs and plumping, and Yona's steadfast determination, and Sandbar's adorable awkwardness.

"He sounds really nice," the doppelganger agreed after Ocellus finished recounting a story about the pony's skiing incident over Hearth Warming. "I can't wait for this to be my future." She smiled dreamily. "I'll get to do all these exciting things! Seeing snow, and reading books without being shouted at, and having friends who care about me." She closed her eyes, breathing in as though imagining the scent of the paper. Opening her eyes, she bit her lip, and then looked away, the barest hint of a blush decorating her cheeks. Ocellus knew herself enough to understand that her replica was thinking about something, but was too nervous to ask what she wanted to know.

"What is it?" she asked, receiving a conflicted look. "Don't worry - I'm you. If you want to ask, who better than yourself? I probably already know." That was sound logic, and the replica blushed a little harder, giggled, and sat up straighter.

"We do all these new things," she began. "And that made me wonder. Have we had our first kiss yet?"

"Not yet, no."

"Oh, okay." The other girl seemed only moderately disappointed. "Is any creature interested? I know we have friends, but are there any boys who like us as more than just friends?"

"Some," Ocellus answered. "Well, a lot of lewd thoughts." It was her turn to blush as she remembered passing by a group of boys between classes, feeling their eyes tracking her and their lust spike. She'd felt awkward at the time, huddling down and hurrying away, but on reflection, she'd been flattered to know that she was attractive enough to get that reaction from them. "Some of our friends have thought about it in the past. Nicer than just lewd thoughts. Actual interest in us."

"Really?" the doppelganger asked, leaning closer. "Gallus and Sandbar?"

"Sandbar," Ocellus confirmed. "And Silverstream too."

"What?" the replica asked, her face taking on a shocked expression. "A girl?"

"Yes, a girl."

"B-but that's wrong!" The other girl frowned as Ocellus started laughing.

"I'm you," she reminded her replica after the laughter faded away. "You don't have to lie to me. Equestria doesn't care about relationships in the same way the hive does. It's not about reproduction, it's about genuine love. Boys can love boys, and girls can love girls. It's all okay. And I know we've both thought about it before." The blush on her replica's cheeks flared like a beacon, and she smiled sheepishly, unable to deny the truth to her other self. She was silent for a while.

"Did you say anything to her?" the other girl asked eventually. Ocellus shook her head.

"I thought about it," she confided. "I didn't want to ruin our friendship, so I decided to wait. Maybe I should bring it up when we get out of this cave." She looked around. "I hope she's still interested. Maybe we can do a trial run? See if we work together, without any expectations?" The other Ocellus nodded in support. "Maybe get our first kiss." She smiled at the thought, closing her eyes. "If I'm going to be honest to myself, I've practiced on my mirror. I turned into her and...well, it was..." She blushed and fanned herself a little.

"Oh, wow," her replica commented, awed by the confession. "Did you just...kiss?"

"I might've done a bit more." Ocellus bit her lip. "With a pillow..." Her face was very red now, and she felt a lot hotter. "But the kissing was what I spent the most time on. She's...she's really nice, and I thought that if we were going to do anything, I'd want to make it good for her too. I want her to be happy with kissing me, and I don't have any experience, so..."

Both Ocellus' were flushed now, their cheeks ablaze. It was odd to hear themselves confessing their crush to their counterpart, the reveal somehow both more natural and more awkward. They let the silence linger, an unspoken tension manifesting as it continued.

"If you want practice..." the replica suggested. "It would be good for both of us...if you wanted to, we could..." She bit her lip and burned brighter, her cheeks practically emitting heat like a torch.

"We could," Ocellus agreed, feeling lame for only being able to respond with something so noncommittal.

"It wouldn't even count as our first kiss, because we're-"

"-the same person."

"Exactly."

Neither of them moved. There was a desire to, but there was also something holding them back. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was the uncertainty of how to initiate the whole process. Whatever it was, the obstacle stopped either of them from budging towards or away from each other.

"What exactly does this Silverstream look like?" the other girl asked, her tone shaking with nervousness. Ocellus didn't have to think in order to create a perfect imitation - she'd spent plenty of time around her friend, and she'd fantasised about her on a number of occasions. Casting a cyan flash across her body, the girl transformed into the bubbly, sociable hippogriff who had captured her imagination. The other Ocellus gasped.

"Like this," the imitation Silverstream answered, capturing perfectly the intonation that had started to creep into her dreams. Her cornflower blue hair cascaded down her back to her light magenta wings, and little feathery puffs extended around her ears. The doppelganger stared, mouth agape, which made the disguised changeling blush and look to the side. Was that what she looked like? She hoped the real Silverstream would react in the same way.

"She's...oh...wow," the replica murmured, shifting closer. "I take back what I said about liking girls being wrong. I want to be wrong." She bit her lip lustfully. "I think I'm in love."

"I know right?" Ocellus gushed, returning to her true form in a cyan flare. "She's beautiful, she's gorgeous, and she's...oh, my." She simpered in delight, matching her replica's expression. "I wish I was half as beautiful as her."

"You are." The statement tore Ocellus from her daydream, and she found her replica gazing at her in a way she'd never been on the receiving end of before, but recognised immediately. "I think you're every bit as beautiful as her, and maybe you only don't know that because you haven't had some creature tell you, or seen it for yourself." She started to lean in. "Can I show you how beautiful you are?"

"Please do," Ocellus whispered back, unable to tear her eyes away from the girl's approaching face. There was so much to look at; the deep eyes, the tongue anxiously swiping across those soft, peachy lips, the nervous shivering, and the unspoken request for assurance. Reaching forward, trembling as she did so, Ocellus grasped her doppelganger's hand in her own, squeezing lightly and comfortingly. She was so close now, her breath brushing against her skin as their lips drew nearer, pulled as though by a magnet towards their inexorable destination. Inch by inch, millimeter by millimeter, ever closer.

And then they made contact. It was just a gentle brush, but it sent the two girls into a trance, their eyes closing to bask in the gentle glide of their lips against each other. It was as if a current had passed between them upon the barest contact, surrendering to their instincts and allowing their bodies to take over and relegating their minds to passive observers. It was practically frictionless, the minimal pressure more than enough to send their hearts soaring and send warm, fuzzy tingles throughout their body. It was a familiar glow, but far more intense now that their partner was a living, breathing creature, rather than the shallow imitation of a mirror's reflection.

Hands started to roam, sliding forwards to hold the back of the head, or to stroke at a cheek, a thumb passing back and forth over the soft, rosy flesh. A few pants here and a hum there, their vocalisations began to creep into their affectionate dance, guiding their movements as sure as a lighthouse guided ships. An arm slid around the back, supporting the girl as she made out with someone so in tune with her, so in sync, that they didn't need words or signals to move smoothly, to add the lightest graze of a tongue tip against a lip into their routine. Each brush was repaid in kind, every turn of the head or parting of the lips reciprocated and mirrored.

As their movements grew more intense, so did their passion. At some point, a tongue slid into the girl's mouth, and she groaned out needily. It felt right, and she played her own against it, the two dancing over and across one another. A hand made its way downwards, a palm rubbing soothingly at a plump buttock. A few moments later, the action was met with an identical rubbing, the two girls growing comfortable with their bodies in a whole new way. The rubbing transitioned to groping, which evolved into squeezing and kneading.

They only pulled away slightly to ensure that there was sufficient room between them for the exploratory caressing and groping of meandering hands. They weren't going to risk breaking about, not when their kissing, at first slow and clumsy, had become sensual and deep, reading each other's bodies to perfection. Fingers closed around a breast, drawing an intake of breath and a satisfied sigh from the girl, and she replied in kind. It might've been over the clothes, but it was every bit as exciting, new, and rewarding as if they'd been wearing noting at all.

Breaking apart to breathe, they opened their eyes and looked at each other, their lips parted and their breathing heavier. Ocellus moved her lips down to her replica's neck, suckling lightly on the exposed flesh. She received a whimper for her efforts, and the glow inside her intensified.

"I want more," she heard, a breathy whisper muttered to no one in particular. It was her own sentiments spoken by another, and, without stopping her tender affection, she carefully reached for the bottom of the blouse, easing it upwards. Her replica added her own efforts, reluctantly pushing Ocellus away so that she could pull the clothing over her head. Given some time without anything to kiss, the girl started to unbutton her shirt, pulling at the buttons hurriedly. A hand reached out to help, loosening the tie and removing both obstructive items from the flushed girl.

The two stood in front of each other, eyes roaming up and down their identical bodies. Their stomachs, flat and pale, weren't Sivlverstream's toned belly, for sure, but there was a feminine allure about them regardless. They lacked the hourglass figure the hippogriff possessed, but that didn't matter. The sight was gorgeous, and their simple C cup bras were more than enough to draw the eyes of the experimenting girls. The replica started to pull down her pants, eyes fixed hungrily on Ocellus breasts, who began to undo her skirt.

"Keep it on," her doppelganger requested, smiling at her. "I like it. It's cute." Ocellus had never heard of her uniform described as cute before, but she had to agree. If Silverstream came to seduce her in nothing but her school skirt and leggings, she'd faint.

Despite the growing fire in their loins, the two took the time to undress together, moving slowly enough that they could drink in every detail of each other's bodies. The black panties were slowly slid down their slender legs, a string of their excitement clinging to the fabric as it was pulled away from their hot, sopping nethers. Immediately after, they reached back, locking eyes as they unclipped their bras and shrugged the straps from their shoulder, pulling away the cups to reveal their pale breasts, the areola a dark patch against their white skin. Their buds were already hard, a fact which a graze of the fingers confirmed, followed by a pinching roll between their fingers as their lips met again, hungry groans and needy moans describing their satisfaction.

Eager hands cupped their busts, grasping the soft titflesh and squeezing, endlessly trying to satiate their carnal need. Their tongues clashed, and a hand snaked its way down to the round globes of Ocellus' ass, squeezing and spreading and lifting hungrily. The changeling whimpered as the air brushed at her lower lips and sent a shiver up her spine, stoking the fire inside of her. Snaking a hand downwards, she curled her fingers between the other's girl's legs, seeking out the heat between her thighs. A slight trembling accompanied the contact, her fingers dancing across the slippery skin of her crotch towards the sodden slit, her fingertips lightly caressing a very familiar set of lips.

"Lay down," her replica urged breathlessly, breaking the kiss to mutter the direction. Ocellus didn't want to stop, she wanted to keep her lips pressed firmly against her other self's, but she also knew why she was being asked to lay down. Complying, she broke the kiss one last time and sank down to her knees, leaving a trail of kisses down the replica's body as she did so, from her collar bone to her breasts, to her stomach, and finally, on her mons, earning a cute, restrained groan. It was tempting to spread the girl's legs and dive in between, but she resisted the urge, finishing her descent and laying down on her back. The other girl smiled down at her and stepped over her supine body, facing away and kneeling down.

Ocellus felt her mouth start to water at the sight of the round, pale ass drawing towards her. She wasn't vain, and so she hadn't spent all that much time admiring herself in a mirror or thinking too hard about her dimensions. This was the first time she had any opportunity to truly appreciate how good she looked from behind; her cheeks were as white as marble and as smooth as virgin snow, and while they weren't as prominent as Silverstream's own gorgeous derriere, they were perfectly proportioned for her own size and stature. It was one thing to have a huge, spankable backside, but it was another thing altogether to have rounded cheeks that lacked any noticeable fault.

She remained enamoured with the sight of those juicy globes as the other girl shifted back, adjusting her position until they were comfortably aligned. A benefit of making love to yourself was that you didn't have to worry about height differences, it seemed. With the pert bottom above her, Ocellus gazed up and drank in the sight of her nethers, raking over her engorged lips and glistening inner flesh. Without any hair to absorb her juices, her mound was slick with her excitement. It was a whole other experience to witness herself in this state. Did she always smell so good? Every breath made her astutely aware of her scent, the surprisingly appealing stench of arousal that seemed to pour from her, and she would be lying if she said that she didn't want to have the girl above her just sit on her face and leave her to bask in the overpowering, heady smell.

When her legs were pushed apart and the rolling breath of her partner graced her mons, the changeling shivered in a mixture of delight and nervousness. She was already soaked, her thighs bearing the stains of her excitement, and her loins felt hotter than she ever remembered them feeling. Even when she played with herself, dipping a hand between her legs or grinding against a pillow in the privacy of her dorm, she didn't get this wet, or feel the demand that her lust was demanding of her now. She needed to be touched, to be pleasured, to reach that peak that every creature desired, to be quenched and sated. And she needed it now.

The graceful brushing of lips against her stomach dragged a whimper from her, followed by a groan as her partner extended her tongue and licked closer to her need. She twitched as the delicate touch grew closer, tracing a path of fire past her lips and down her groin, culminating in a tender kiss just above her lower lips. She jerked her hips upwards, the contact sending a jolt through her that forced her to move, her nerves buzzing imploringly. Driven onwards by the tingling pleasure prickling along her body passively, and drawn in by the smell above her, she grasped the other girl's rear and dragged her downwards, driving her face into her lover's loins.

There wasn't much thought behind her actions, other than pleasuring her partner and basking in every rich sensation she had to offer. Her tongue lapped clumsily and rapidly against hot, wet flesh, her blind movements guided by the errant twitches and the sporadic gasps and moans that managed to reach her ears. The cloying aroma of arousal pervaded her nose, and the deliciously sour taste of feminine excitement saturated her taste buds. The quivering above her was at its peak when Ocellus dragged her tongue across the erect little bud that she was all too familiar with, and so she focused on rubbing insistently against it, only occasionally swiping her tongue upwards to indulge in the potent tang of her lover's nectar.

A flailing tongue drew a whining moan from Ocellus as a pair of lips clamped around her clit and started to suckle, the sensitive bundle of nerves facing an unrelenting assault from her enthusiastic partner. Sharp tingles ran up her body, sparking the nerves along her thighs and groin, and the changeling wiggled in place, her hips rising and falling in mild undulations. Her breathing picked up, and she wondered how she was going to focus on pleasing her replica when she was being subjected to such a barrage of sensations.

And then the fingers entered her, and that concern was wiped from her thoughts entirely.

Her gasping moans transitioned into a whimpering squeak as the digits pushed their way past her unresisting lips and into her hot, dripping canal, sliding effortlessly across her slick, velvety walls. Plunging deep, they curled and dragged backwards, blazing a trail of fire along the paths they took, stroking and caressing her sensitive insides. Back and forth they traced, coaxing involuntary clenches from Ocellus and drawing more feminine lubricant from her quim, mapping out her den through sensation and reaction alone. Once they found the rougher patch just inside her entrance, the changeling couldn't muffle herself anymore, and cried out as her nerves sparked and her hips bucked upwards demandingly.

She couldn't focus on lapping or suckling when her lower half was enraptured by the bliss of the other girl's ministrations, and so the changeling pushed her face against the snatch and rubbed, sweeping her tongue around without direction and smearing femlube across her features, doing everything she could to sate both her replica's needs and her own. A growing tension in her abdomen sapped her concentration and threw off her coordination, but she persisted, attempting to return the favour as well as she could, even as the pressure grew tighter and her head was overtaken by the glorious scent and taste of her lover, a welcome encroachment of mind-warping proportions.

If the pleasure snaking up her body towards her head, numbing her along the way from the persistent tingle, had been like fingers of fire spreading in creeping waves, then her climax was an explosion. The tension erupted in a great crash, euphoria surging through her body like water from a burst dam, igniting every nerve along the way until her body was a spasming, uncoordinated mess. She shuddered and gripped the other girl tightly, the powerful rush swamping her mind and pushing her dangerously close to fainting. Her eyes rolled back and her muscles tensed, clenching and unclenching without her input.

She had no idea how long she quaked before her senses returned, sucking in air in great gasping heaves. It could've only been seconds, but the sensations had been so strong that the only way she could properly comprehend them was to stretch them out to minutes, her mind sluggishly piecing itself back together. Her vision was the last thing to return to her, blooming from blurry, disconnected shapes into sharp focus, allowing her to see the other Ocellus looking down at her with undisguised concern. The look quickly transformed into a relieved smile.

"I thought I'd hurt you," she breathed, giggling a little. "Was it good-" Her speech was cut off as Ocellus leaned up and ensnared her doppelganger in a deep, loving kiss, pushing her tongue into the other's mouth. There was the underlying taste of herself, still strong and fresh on her replica's tongue, and the changeling directed the kiss until she couldn't taste it any longer, the distinct flavour dissipating into a general tastelessness that came with making out. When she broke apart, she smiled, locking eyes with her other self.

"Not even remotely," she whispered back, planting pecks and smooches on the other girl, noticing the remnants of their activities still smeared across her face. Wiping a hand across her own chin, it came back sticky with fluid, and she realised how messy she must look. For some reason, she didn't mind at all.

"But I did show you how beautiful you are," the replica continued, sliding a hand down to Ocellus' still sensitive nethers. The latter gasped as dainty fingers drew against her vulva. "Inside and outside." With a sly smile, she pulled back.

"You did," Ocellus sighed, returning a smile of her own. "I guess we both helped each other, didn't we?" She received a nod, and the replica started to reach for her clothes.

"Ocellus?!" called a new voice, echoing throughout the caves. The sound drew the changeling's attention, and she turned her attention to where sound originated, and her eyes widened in surprise and delight. She jumped to her feet, recognising who it was.

"My friends are here!" she cheered, hastily grabbing her discarded clothes. "The one that called out to me, that's Smolder, the dragon. You'll be able to meet her!" She hasted to slide her panties up under her skirt and slip on her shoes, struggling to force everything into place in one go. While fitting her bra, she glanced around, wondering why her replica was remaining silent.

There was no one else with her. The clothes on the floor, the other version of herself - there was no indication that there'd ever been anyone else. She frowned, turning her head to try and catch a glimpse of the girl, but was hastened back into getting dressed when she heard the flap of wings drawing near. By the time the horned girl had come around the corner, Ocellus was fixing her tie, looking disheveled, but otherwise decent.

"Ocellus!" the newly arrived schoolgirl greeted, landing just in front of the changeling. She didn't try to hide the grin on her face. "Come on, we've got to get out of here! We're still in those weird caves under the school!" The changeling didn't move.

"How do I know you're the real Smolder?" she asked, her demand characteristically demure. The other girl blinked and tilted her head. "I've seen Chrysalis, the changelings from my old hive, and..." She shook her head. "I want to know you're my friend and not some weird apparition." At the mention of Chrysalis, Smolder's eyes widened, and she bit her lip. Glancing around, she tapped her foot in thought.

"Well, I guess I could tell you something no one else knows about me?" she suggested. On receiving a nod, the tomboy took a deep breath, and then another. "We're all being tested in these caves, and mine was to admit that I..." She crossed her arms and looked down. "...that I like cute silly things. I like tea parties and dressing up." Her tanned skin started the redden, and she glanced up at the changeling, who looked like she was fighting back a giggle. "Happy?"

"I believe you," Ocellus replied, a hand held up to her mouth. "If you like tea parties, can I come along when you have another one?"

"That's what you want to know right now?" the dragon asked, her features curling into an exasperated frown. "Yes, we can, on the condition that you don't tell any creature about them, okay? These are gonna be secret tea parties." She received an entirely all too pleased nod, the changeling eagerly shaking her head up and down with a beam plastered onto her face. "Then let's go."

The two of them began back along the route Smolder had come not too long ago, the dragon apparently having a keen sense for direction. For a few minutes, they walked along in silence, the two of them looking for any loop in the tunnel.

"What was your test?" Smolder asked suddenly. The changeling cast a sideways glance at her friend, taking her time in answering. She wasn't sure how much she could say, but since the boisterous dragoness had been upfront and honest with her, she decided to at least divulge the more innocuous parts of her experiences.

"I found myself back at my hive, before Thorax became king," she answered. A vivid grimace played across Smolder's features. "There were two guards, and they marched in a young changeling for me to punish, and I realised that I wasn't me any more. I was Chrysalis." The revelation caused the purple haired girl's eyes to bulge, and she snapped her head round in shock.

"What happened?"

"I thought I'd been sent back in time to live as Chrysalis, and then that maybe that the reason I'd taken on Chrysalis' form is because I was as bad as her."

"That's ridiculous," Smolder scoffed. "You're a thousand times nicer than her! You're the nicest changeling I've ever met!"

"That's what the other changeling told me too," Ocellus replied, smiling at the recent memory. "She showed me that I wasn't a monster, and that I didn't need to fear being a relic of that time, because that isn't who I am."

"She sounds like the exact changeling you needed," the dragon observed, peering down a forked path and sniffing the air. Nodding, she marched down one of the forks without hesitation. The changeling followed her.

"She was. She was exactly who I needed to hear from, and she wasn't afraid to tell me what I needed to hear, no matter how much I denied it." She fell silent, letting half a minute pass in silence before she brought up something that had occurred to her when Smolder asked about her trial, plucking up the courage to finally ask. "Smolder?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you said I couldn't tell any other creature about the secret tea parties, and I won't, but...do you think we can invite Silverstream?"

"No way! You know she'll talk and tell every creature! Besides, why would you want her there? She's totally not the type for a tea party."

"Neither are you," Ocellus pointed out, earning a grunt of reluctant acknowledgement from the dragon. "As for why...well, I guess the trial gave me some perspective about how I should treat my friends." Her smile grew just a tad more devious.

"And some practice on how I should treat them."