Author's Note

So here is my late Christmas gift for all of you. An early chapter a few days ahead of schedule thanks to some extra free time.

Also in case no one has known yet. I am doing a crossover with another writer of the story. Welcome to Runeterra...which will be on my next chapter Is which should be released next week around Friday or Saturday.

A Roegadyn in Equestria. Chapter 24: Monkey Suit. Part 2.

A Roegadyn in Equestria.

Chapter 23: Monkey Suit. Part 2.

*Point of view: Brex Mith*

After saying that, Brex left the hotel. On his way down he did make it a point to quickly glance over each and every one of the guards to see if there were any Infiltrators. As it turns out, he knew quite a bit about the changelings thanks to all the stories from both the television show and the fan fictions. Of course, he wasn't going to rely heavily on that as pure fact, but it was good enough to go on for some starting clues.

Changelings we're a race of ponies with bug light features that live from consuming what is produced from other beings when they feel certain types of emotions. They're general characteristics are that they are black with an exoskeleton instead of fur. They have wings, but unlike the Pegasus, they closely resemble a dragonfly. The horns are curved and all their magic was considered the same class and all have an identical green glow when used. Instead of having normal eyes, theirs were all completely blue.

It is believed that they could do simple telekinesis with their magic and shoot magic projectiles. They're most iconic spell that they can use on themselves is that of transformations. They are fully capable of taking on the form of any other living creature, as long as its form was near to theirs in the first place. This meant that a changeling couldn't turn into a giant elephant, nor could they become a tiny mouse.

Another one of their abilities that has to do with their Physical anatomy, the ability to sense emotions. They can't really read minds of others, but they can somehow either see or smell what another is giving off as the current emotions. It could be compared to saying where a predator can smell its praise fear.

The second type of ability that they're known for, is the power to brainwash their victims into loving them. This is because of their need to consume something from their victim that is only produced while they are having romantic feelings. This makes them a type of emotion vampire. In the show they were capable of extracting it from the air around the pony, while in some stories the Changelings would use their fangs to get what they needed. Their victims would normally be unaware of what is being done to them if they were careful about how they did the extraction.

A changeling would typically kidnap one individual and take their place. Typically, the one replaced would be a love interest. The pony that is taken away is normally cocooned and placed in a safe location for future use or taken back to a Hive so that they could be used by the rest. By placing them into a dream state to draw more from them for feeding.

They typically work together as a colony that thinks the same due to a mental connection among them. It is unclear wither or not this was a direct control method or just a way of communicating among their kind. Brex knew about their Queen Chrysalis. But there have been many stories where she was not the only one to control a Hive seeing as in some of those, they each had a distinct color scheme. For all he knew, there could be other Queens out there and opposing Hives. Heck, in this instance, it could just be a group that got exiled from theirs or even just a single one on its own.

With Brex now outside of the building, he was going to need to make this fast before the drone discovers that the brainwashing was undone. Otherwise, the missing pony might have their life be put in danger.

Instead of having to do the whole detective thing and run around the city for who knows how long, the Roegadyn finally had an opportunity to use heaven's computer properly in locating Fleur de Lis. Thanks to meeting her a number of times already, he knew that there was no way that this was going to backfire on him like It did the last time he attempted using it to locate the little girl called Cherry Sweet.

Quickly, his map of the city popped up and an icon that was reminiscent to a quest marker appeared on it. He zoomed in on the image and quickly discovered that it was a location he had previously been too in the last week. Recalling back at least four days prior, he and his employer Fancy Pants had gone there for a meeting with a small group of other ponies. He also remembered that he didn't quite like the feeling he got from that particular environment. Back then Brex didn’t really know why he felt that way.

While heading over to the quest marker, the Roegadyn had a few plans running through his head. He also began speaking to Rory through the mental connection, “Say Rory, I know we set things up so my mind couldn't be looked at, but how is the defense when it comes to emotions?”

She then replied after a moment and Said, “Now that I'm not entirely sure. I mean I could dampen them a little. But I’m more in control when its memories and current thoughts. So, this one is a little bit out of my realm of expertise.”

Brex then said while giving out a small sigh, “Well I guess I'm gonna have to focus a lot more. As long as I keep myself in control and don't lose too much concentration, I think I can fool their senses. If I use my Hide skill and close off my emotions, then I should be able to get in-and-out without them knowing until it’s too late. The only real issue is with me seeing something that will cause me to explode inside. If that should happen, then it may as well be like someone throwing a Flash Bang in the middle of a room and announcing, Hey! I'm right here! Anyway, our number one priority is getting Fleur de Lis out of there safely. second is to find out how their operation works and see if we can throw a monkey wrench into it.”

After getting a short agreement on what they should be doing from Rory, they continued their path on the streets. Luckily Brex had already initiated the hide skill so he wouldn't be attracting any attention from the civilians or any disguised drones that could be keeping a lookout.

Thanks to the skill slowing down his maximum movement speed, it had taken nearly an hour and a half to finally get to the structure that was marked on his city map. It was currently in a part of the city that was not quite savory. Brex had been to a number of locations and among those included, area’s that the rich would live, Factories and a few other various types of locations that were considered for remodeling or on a list for complete rebuilding.

This one however, was in one of those run-down factory buildings. Brex thought to himself while still hiding, “Really just… really... Are they...” Brex had to place his hand over his temples to give them a massage because of how stupid this seemed. For what could be considered a kidnapping ring or criminal organization, it really did pull a cheesy cartoon move and set up shop inside of a abandoned building In the middle of nowhere.

The Roegadyn wondered if he could have been considered one of the most intelligent beings on the planet at this point. Well... When it came to common sense that is. If it was him, he would have picked a less conspicuous place to put a base. For one, he would have picked a livelier spot that didn't scream “bad guys hide out.” The other is the fact that, if they had done this within the city limits where there were crowds of ponies around, then that would have limited the authority’s ability to use heavy Magic spells out of fear of hurting civilians.

This would give them the ample time needed to use an escape strategy. Like using a small tunnel that would connect to a nearby building a few blocks away for which they would get out from and they could easily collapse said tunnel if they ended up being followed. Afterwards, they would carefully blend into the streets and escape. With them being here in the middle of nowhere, they would just stand out like a sore thumb. They're changelings, they could easily walk into a large crowd and duck behind an object to change into someone else and disappear among the other ponies.

When he got done with all these thoughts and scenarios in his head. Brex mentally faced palmed himself before thinking, “How did these guys even stay alive for this long without being found out in the public? No wonder their food supply is so short the ones running their branches must be idiots.”

The building along with the surrounding area was marked for possible torn down options and to be rebuilt as a community center. This of course was an idea that was proposed by Fancy Pants. The one who currently still own the building was opposed to this idea. Now that Brex thought about it, he was extremely against it. In the end, it was put to a vote and that came to a tie. Another one was going to be held tomorrow. Now the pieces were coming together inside of his head. It made sense for a changeling to make a move now if this location was at risk.

The changelings must have had this place under their thumb and didn't care for the idea of their operation being found out. So, they must have sent one of their agents in, in order to brainwash Fancy Pants into changing his mind on the vote and leaving the building untouched. With that out of the way, they could continue with their activities.

It was most likely that the one who argued with Fancy Pants was one of the ponies being controlled. If it was a changeling back there in the room with him, then his senses would have gone off just like it did in the hallway when Fleur de Lis left Fancy Pants's room. But there was also the possibility that he was not being controlled, but instead could have been working with them from the beginning.

Brex shook his head out of this endless, what if scenario and walked towards the building’s side entrance. He had figured that with them being a secretive bunch, then they would most likely keep an eye on the two main entrances, which were the front and back. But have very little on the side entrance.

When he got there, he saw two Unicorn guards standing watch next to the single door. After giving them a good inspection from a distance. It was found out that they were changelings and they had used their abilities to change themselves into the form that was an exact copy of those that work inside the building that his employer stayed in. The door itself was a basic type and there was a single light fixture above it. Taking a closer look towards the floor and the door itself, it was discovered that this had barely any traffic in or out.

When Brex had got closer, he started to hear the two talking to one another. Just like with the hotel, he was just going to call them by numbers. Changeling number one was on the left side of the door while changeling number two was on the right side. One spoke and said, “Why did we have to get stuck with guarding this place? I'd rather be doing something else.” After letting out a sigh number one continues, “I had a date lined up tonight.”

Number two responded with, “Oh, my, gosh! I know right! I like, had a date of my own and it was gonna be with this hottie mare that I met just yesterday!” Number one asked, “Oh I disguised myself as a female for mine, what about you?” Number two answered with, “Oh a girl obviously. Don't know about you, but I really rather not be treated badly. There is absolutely no way I'm gonna let myself get tackled by some of those herd mare’s out there.” At the end of that sentence, she gave a few notable shivers.

Number one then spoke up again with resigned tone, “Well we got no choice. We have to do what the boss say’s. You know what will happen if we don't... This got a reluctant sigh from number two as she then said, “Yeah, But I'm not gonna like it. Things were a lot better before.”

This caused the Roegadyn to raise an eyebrow behind his mask after taking in what the pair had just finished saying. Brex asked Rory with the mental connection, “OK, some things are a little more complicated than I thought.”

Rory responded with, “Yeah seems like it. From the sounds of it, there seems to have been a power exchange of some sort. These two don't seem to be liking how things are run and the one that’s currently in charge is using some type of threat to keep them in check. Do you think they have a new Queen that took over?”

Brex Is replied with, “I'm not sure. Queen Chrysalis doesn't make an appearance for at least another 14 years. Also, I doubt we're gonna run into a kid version of her. She is in a way, just like an alicorn. So, she must already be an adult by now. If that's the case, then it would make sense for someone to take control of these drones. I doubt a person of her reputation would take kindly to that. Anyhow, we should probably get a move on. We could save the theories for later.”

Brex snuck up behind the changelings by using a combination of skill and concentration to keep himself undetected. Currently, Brex was right behind the pair of them while they were still in arms reach. He had considered the idea of just outright taking them out, but couldn't bring himself to do so. All this time he had been able to fight monsters, but these were technically ponies. They were living, breathing, thinking beings. It wasn't their fault that they're doing something like this. Especially right now with how it sounds like they're being forced into it.

Brex knew that there was going to be a brighter future for the changelings if things follow the storyline. Not all of them were bad. They only wanted to survive and live, so they couldn't help their biology.

Right after he thought about their biology did, he had an epiphany. He accessed heaven's computer for information on changelings. It didn't take long till he found a few references. Among the info was some fighting tips when going up against them. What caught his eye in particular, was the bit about drones and them having certain weaknesses. One section described how there was a nerve cluster that was between the shoulder blades and the neck.

After reviewing it for a moment, he blinked in place. He then muttered to himself within his mind, “Am I really about to pull this off? Am I really gonna do the one thing that every nerd hopes to do at least once in their life?”

He couldn't help the broad smile he was having as he reached for both of the changelings in disguise. Then like a viper, he struck by using both hands and pinched the base of their necks by using a thumb, index and middle fingers. This was followed by a pair of feminine gasps that sounded a little too much like pleasure before they crumpled to the ground unconscious. When he did this, the Roegadyn became visible once more but his body had stayed in the same position as when he had performed the set of movements. From behind his mask, he had a stoned face that just screamed, “what the fuck.” As he muttered under his breath, “That was… supposed to feel epic... But instead, I feel dirty.”

That was when Rory replied with a smug tone, “Oh master~ In your haste in reading that info, I believe you may have overlooked something important. If you had made sure to read it all fully. Then you would have known that spot was meant to be touched gently. The reason that would knock them out, is because it's a pleasure zone similar to acupuncture. What you did was overwhelmed them with an instant, mind blowing orgasm all at once. And I think it was a lot more potent with how you caught them unaware.”

Hearing this, the Roegadyn couldn't help but look straight up into the dark moon filled sky and internally said, “I'm sorry… I am so sorry for perverting your technique.” That was when he raised his right hand and while holding out his thumb to the side. He lined up his four fingers pointing up and divided them down the middle to form a V-shape and held that pose for a few seconds while a single tear slowly ran down his face.

Afterwards he opened the door and checked by poking his head inside to see if any heard the commotion and found that nothing was happening. Carefully, Brex dragged both changelings inside and place them in a spot that they wouldn’t easily be seen from. He had figured that they would have changed back to their normal form after getting knocked out, but these two retained their disguises. With there being a time limit and all, he didn't want to go into trying to figure out this mystery and went on ahead and began checking the building one room at a Time.

He could have gone into the shadow realm and used that but, Brex didn’t want to miss any details with how it would make things a lot darker in there while in that state. When the first floor was checked thoroughly, he moved on to the second. Just like the one below, there was nothing that showed any signs of the pony that he was looking for. But what he did found, was a bunch of Changelings randomly posted around and inside of some of the rooms.

Seeing it to be a very effective means of taking them out without causing any undue harm, the Roegadyn reluctantly repeated the “forbidden move” that he had begun to call it by. By the time he had finished with the second floor and was moving on to the next. He was responsible for inflicting hell on what he counted to be 31 changelings. Just like with the two outside, they all retain their forms after being knocked out. He concluded that this was in no way some kind of fluke and was due to what he had done to them.

It didn't take him long at all, for as soon as he ascended the steps, he came across a hallway that was in better shape than the rest of the building. It appeared to have been falling apart at the seams. However, this hallway had a nice red, cleaned rug that started from the steps and went all the way down to the far end. There were fancy gold-plated crystal lights affixed to the walls every six feet. The doors themselves appear to have been recently replaced with some fairly expensive looking ones.

From where he stood, Brex was still under the effect of his stealth combo. There was a total of three rooms on one side and three on the other. One door was at the very far end of the hallway. After using his various abilities to detect others around him, he was able to see that there was one at the very far end and only three others on this floor for a total of four.

Within his mind, the Roegadyn was grumbling to himself that his quest marker couldn't be more specific as to where his target was within this building. All It gave him was the building itself, so he didn't get a floor or even a room. He guessed that it was too much to ask for this thing to directly point out the pony.

The first two rooms on the left side were empty. One was alone on the very room on the end of that side. While the right side of the rooms were empty except for the last room on the end that had two inside. This meant that the only ones occupied were the three that were right next to one another at the very end of the hallway. Now this was going to get a little tricky. If he didn't handle it right, then the others who were in close proximity would get a heads up when he finally made a move.

The Roegadyn had to be very careful because if he was found out, then he would not be able to go back into hiding by using the Hide skill when combat was initiated. So, he had to make a choice. Does he go for one of the single target rooms or should it be the one that has two inside? He considered that if he went for the single ones, then there was a higher chance of him being able to get away with it without being detected. But if he messed up then the others would make a move and it would put the Unicorn in danger. Then again, if he went after the room with the two within, then he would cut down their numbers by half even if he messed up. That would mean that the Unicorn would have been alone in one of the other rooms and she wouldn't be attacked immediately.

After running the scenarios through his head, Brex slowly approached the door on the right side as to go after the pair within. Slowly he made his way and was successful at making no sound as he went down the carpeted hallway. It took a moment to comment to Rory through the mental connection, “They really are stupid.”

This got a confused tone from the girl as she replied with, “Um, Master what are you talking about?” He then replied with, “Oh I'm just commenting on how they got this whole build set up and not once did they set any kind of trap. Its painfully obvious that they have been here for some time, especially with how they got this part fixed up. I suppose they didn't really need them with their being over 30 downstairs. But still, if it was me, then I would have put something around the VIP target in the event of someone getting past the rest. The one in charge must be really full of themselves or just really stupid.”

By the time he got done saying that to Rory, he arrived at the door and had kneeled down to peak through the keyhole. It took him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust from looking through such a small opening and immediately caught sight of the missing Unicorn. Just to make sure, he looked for her status bar and there was Fleur de Lis right above her head. The other figure in the room was another changeling of course, but this one was not wearing a disguise.

At first, Brex thought this might have been a guard or maybe the Queen that's in charge. But that turned out to be far from the truth when he heard Fleur de Lis speaking in a worried tone as she was tending to the changeling currently laying in the bed with bandages wrapped around their head.

The diagram that he saw before didn't go into too much detail on how they looked in person, but from what he could see of the one bandaged up, they didn't look too different from the ponies aside from their skin looking much darker and without fur. If it wasn't for the slight equine features and the horn. The Roegadyn might have confused her for a human.

He heard her say, “Oh I'm so sorry, if only I were there for you when it happened… If I was, then you might not have...” She was then gently shushed when the changeling took a hold of her hand and started to speak in a weak voice, “You have nothing to be sorry for... I don't want you to ever say something like that again. I will not have my daughter say such things in front of me. This would have happened either way... I just got careless, there is nothing else to say…”

This made the Roegadyn pull his head back and scrunched his face in pure confusion. Seeing as the situation was not what he had thought it to be and with Fleur de Lis seemingly safe. He checked the door. But made sure that he didn't make any sounds when doing so and found it to be locked tight. There was even a faint glowing that came from the edges itself around the hinges. If he wasn’t so paranoid about something like traps, then he might have missed the extremely faint light. He then muttered in his head, “So it looks like they're sealed inside. I guess one of the others must have the way in. I could probably break my way through the door or even the wall itself if I had to, But I think I'll opt out for something else.”

He then checked through the other keyhole directly across from the room that Fleur de Lis was in and found that the room a Changeling within. But this one was wearing a disguise. Brex narrowed his eyes when he saw that this changeling had taken on the form of Fancy Pants. But after a few seconds the one in question had a burst of flames wrapped around their body and Fleur de Lis was now standing in his place.

He was about to go right in there to take her out when he heard the changeling beginning to speak to herself, “I wish I didn't have to do this to you. If I was just stronger back then, I could have helped. After finally finding a pony to love, this entire thing had to go down. I hate myself for this.” The changeling then punched the wall and brought her hand back quickly, afterwards to nurse the fresh injury that action had caused. Brex was able to see a small amount of green blood smeared on the wall from the impact. She then returned to her normal form after another display of the green flames covered her body.

Almost immediately after, he witnessed the changeling going back at the wall and punching it repeatedly with the same hand. During this she was crying hysterically but he could tell that it was not from what she was doing to herself.

After seeing more than enough, He got to his feet and began to lightly knock on the door just quietly enough so that the other occupants would not be able to hear. There was a sound of scurrying and things getting moved around a little bit from the other side of the doorway before it was slowly open to reveal a Fleur de Lis with eyes red from all the crying.

As soon as she caught sight of Brex, the Changeling in disguise had her eyes going wide. It appeared that she was about to say something very loud when he noticed that she was taking in a lungful of air. In almost one quick fluid motion he rushed in and clamped his hand around her mouth before she was able to say anything and with the other closed the door silently.

The changeling in his grasp was trying to wrench her mouth free but his fingers were latched into place and gave no option of escape. Her horn started to light up, but before anything was done, Brex had gone into his item box and pulled out an item from long ago and skillfully slid it down her horn.

As soon as it went down as far as it could go, there was a metallic clank sound and There was a small flash of light that came from the jewel on the item. Her eyes went wide and she suddenly gave up fighting when it was apparent that the magic was cut.

Brex brought a finger from his free hand up to his face to make a shush motion. After seeing this, the mare was allowed to move her head a little and she nodded slowly. She was then released. The changeling brought her hands up to her face to massage the now sore muscles of her mouth and jaw. After a few seconds of this she turned towards him and asked in a very shaky voice, “You you're that body guard of his. I remember you from earlier back at Fancy Pants’s. But, but… how did you get up here? You couldn't have gotten past all of the others below.”

Brex answered by saying, “They're all asleep.” This got a confused look from the changeling but it soon turned to relief when she let out a long sigh. He then asked in a tone that demanded that she answered immediately, “Explain the situation.” Afterwards, he stood there with arms crossed while looming over her like some intimidating, unmoving monolith.

She quickly shook her head and began to explain, “You know Fleur de Lis. But did you know that she’s, my sister?” This would have blown him over if he hadn't already seen through the keyhole in the other room, so he just nodded and motioned with his hand in a circular motion to move it along. But underneath, he was screaming, “SHE’S A CHANGELING??!!!” The small changeling was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude towards that revelation but quickly recovered. After coughing into her hand, she continued with, “This wasn't supposed to happen. She isn't like the rest of us. Fleur has a chance at a normal life.”

She released another sigh and sagged her shoulders as she walked towards the bed in the room and sat down on the edge. She was currently looking at the floor when she continued. “It all goes back to when we were in the hive. Oh wait, maybe I shouldn't talk at that point. You probably don't even know what I'm talking about. I'll just skip to what's relevant. Long story short, a bunch of us changelings were kicked out of the Hive and came to this city to try and get a life for ourselves. We managed to scrape by and get whatever was required to sustain our body’s. In case you don't know, we need to survive by…”

That was when Brex chimed in and said, “You consume love.” The way he said it was the same as if someone was talking about the weather and this caused the changeling to look up at him with wide eyes before she asked, “Uh...Yes but wait, just how much do you already know about us?” Deep down Brex wished that he could do the Gravity Falls Bill Cipher trick with flashing images in his eyes.

The Roegadyn just raised his hands in a “I don’t know gesture” and answered with, “A fair amount.” This got a raised eyebrow from her before she slowly nodded her head and went on with the story. “It's been almost two months, but some changeling came in to the city and just took over our group by beating our leader. She was taken down in a fight and now she's… in the sense being held hostage so we don't try anything against our new leader. We don't know what she used as a poison, but whatever it is, it's preventing the natural recovery process from happening and the amount of love she can hold is severely restricted.”

That was when she brought her hands up to her face and began to silently weep into them. Brex could see the tears falling onto her hands along with how they were dripping onto her knees. He asked Rory Through the mental connection, “Changelings are all about manipulation. Do you think she's doing that to me right now? I can't tell if she's telling the truth.”

Rory replied with, “I seriously doubt it. Especially with the scene we saw before we came in. She's obviously been beating herself up about this.”

Brex then brought his attention back to the changeling and asked, “What is plan?” While still crying, the one in front of him began lifting her face and was giving Brex a look of someone that had just been told that the sky was really an ocean floating above their heads. The Changeling then asked while not blinking, “Huh? Plan… didn’t you come to kill us?”

Hearing this, Brex leaned in closer to the point that they were less than a foot apart and spoke in a cold tone that just radiated an underline threat, “Kill… for… what?” The changeling was now seeming to go deep into the beds stuffing as she slowly leaned away and sweating bullets as her eyes shook from intense fear. She answered while her voice was extremely weak, “Because we… we are…”

She was interrupted when he brought his mask closer and whispered, “Because your different?” She nodded slowly and was now closing her eyes as one would when awaiting a strike. She then said, “Yesss……” Brex brought himself back and spoke in an emotionless tone, “That’s just racist.” She opened her eyes and looked towards him and spoke without blinking, “That’s… Huh, what? We’re Changelings, we hunt others and drain them of their love. We are more different than anything else on our world. There is nothing like us out there. We are alone. They all hate our kind… but… just what are you saying? Don’t you want to kill us for what we are?”

He was about to break right there. Hearing the way, she talked about herself and her own race. It reminded him of how alone he was. How there are none like him on their world. All alone, without anywhere to go back too. No one to rely on besides the girl in his own head… Brex was now feeling the weight of his situation and it was coming down hard. The concentration meant for keeping his emotions under wraps had crumbled for but a fraction of a second before it was reformed.

The once small terrified Changeling’s eye somehow went even wider than they had been before and she was gazing at him with something that he couldn’t place. Now feeling uncomfortable he diverted the subject and said, “Where’s new leader?” Now seeming to have calmed down considerably for some unknown reason to Brex. She asked in a much more relaxed tone, “What for?” He replied in a casual tone, “She’s getting impeached.”

It had taken her a few seconds to realize what he had meant. A look of realization struck her and she got up and gave him determined look before she started to inform him on how things are in more detail. After a short talk, well a talk on the Changelings part and Brex standing there and soaking it all up. She had included what was to be done In regards to Fancy Pants and the reason that it happened now.

She told him about how the new leader of the Changelings had them take over control of a handful of the wealthy ponies in the city. As a result, they got control over a good chunk and they even used their resources to pull many of the would-be adventurers from the Guild to limit their actions when it came to doing investigations and such. This meant that while they had control over those ex-Guild members, they would ensure that no stray variable would pop up and they wouldn't be discovered so easily.

Brex thought to himself, “Well I guess the one in charge isn't too much of an idiot if that much was done.” She then continued by saying that, when Fancy Pants came around, it wasn't going to be that much of an issue. However, when it came to the vote regarding this building and this caused the leader to panic and immediately wanted him under her thumb. But as it turns out, the one known as Fleur de Lis who was dating Fancy Pants was one of them, but this information was withheld from the new leader. Once it was soon discovered and in a fit of rage it was ordered that she was to be taken in and locked up with the original leader. She was also to be replaced with a drone.

They were going to influence him to change his vote to leave the building alone and possibly get him to transfer a good amount of his wealth to a dummy corporation for their new leader, who would have full access to said funds.

It seemed that the drones here did not want anything to do with such intentions. But were constantly reminded that if they didn't do what was ordered of them, then the one that they all loved in the group would die. The new leader had used some type of poison that didn’t fade with time and she had to administer a weak dose of the antidote to keep their old leader alive.

When it came to her relationship with his boss’s lover, she knew Fleur de Lis very well with them being sisters. So, it was thought that it would make things easier with the replacing process by sending her as the drone for this task. She began to say how guilty she felt about ruining her sister's future. She went on to explain that Fleur de Lis was born looking the way she did now. Unlike other changelings she's mostly pony. Also, she requires only very little love to live off of and mostly lives the same way as any other pony. She doesn't have the ability to transform or anything like that so the only thing that remained was the need to feed on love and some talent for sensing the emotion of others, but to a much weaker degree. So, in a sense, she was a Unicorn but she had another type of dietary requirement.

After being filled in on all their plans and getting the story, The Roegadyn came up to the changeling and asked, “Where's the key?” The changeling looked visibly confused that she knitted her brow, but then snapped her fingers and exclaimed, “Oh you must be talking about mother's room. The leader has it on her at all times. None other than her can open the door.”

He motioned to her with his finger to stand up and when she did, he reached up towards her horn. When she noticed this sudden action, she flinched. But a second later a metallic clank was heard and the ring was removed. There was a small spark from her horn. When this was done, the Changeling return to her natural state.

( This is sorta how the Small Changeling looks. )

When she did this, she revealed herself and what Brex saw, could have been considered a 14-year-old kid with the typical dark skin that changelings were known for. But instead of seeing the eyes that were completely made up of one solid color like they were in the show, they instead resembled the same eyes that any other pony would have aside from them having that slight reptilian slit going on. When he searched his memories on the show it revealed that it was only Queen Chrysalis that had Iris's. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion the Roegadyn looks at her status bar to see if she was in fact Chrysalis but in her younger years, but instead all he got was the word drone. He thought to himself, “Huh, maybe they don't have bug eyes like they do in the show in this version of Equestria and I’m just overly paranoid.”

Her body did have the same characteristics of the holes forming as if someone just shot her up full of bullets. He was about to move on to the next subject when he noticed that one of her hands had injuries and was still bleeding. Feeling bad for the girl and how he just didn’t register this earlier he went into his item box and extracted from it one of his low-grade potions that he had put together with some of the materials he had during one of the nights he had gotten bored back in Filly Delphia.

Making the motion to make it appear as if he was pulling it out from some pocket, the Roegadyn offered it to the Changeling. She looked at it with suspicion after recoiling back when he made the movement. She was about to protest but Brex didn't want to waste any more time than needed in trying to explain this to her. So, he did the same as he did with Swirl Sugar and grabbed her by the wrist of the busted-up hand and pulled it forward.

This startled the Changeling as she flinched and closed her eyes. He then popped the cork with his thumb and poured some of it onto the wound. Remembering the intense reaction he got from the ponies back at the castle of the two sisters, Brex had done a small experiment where he injured himself and applied the potion onto the injury instead of drinking. That was when he found out that the curative effects still took hold, but at an only slightly less effective rate.

It was his plan to have some weaker versions of the potion on hand in case a medical emergency was to come up and he didn't want to use any spells. Also applying it directly to the body would be a good excuse seeing as Swirl Sugar and Shadow Lily had made such a big deal about it being something one had to drink. This way it would just seem like a very good medicine that was poured onto the injury itself and he can get away with not making such a big deal about it.

Now when the potion was poured directly onto the Changeling's hand, she gave out a loud hiss That only lasted about a second before she stopped and looked back towards him with a look of astonishment on her face as her eyes were looking at the hand he was holding.

When the liquid came into contact with the skin, there was a small sizzling sound reminiscent of something burning on a stove. There were also small wisps of white smoke coming off of it but that too only lasted for a few seconds. Almost instantly, the skin began to heal at an alarming rate. The cuts mended themselves along with the bruises that were now forming from what she had done to herself only a short time ago we're now fading fast.

For Brex, the healing part was expected. But what came immediately after threw him for a loop. All the holes on the changeling's body began to shrink and close in on themselves until there were barely any left on her form. Even the small wings on her back had nearly all closed up the holes that were forming on them. The horn that had ridges Every now and then running along it, we’re now gone to only leave something that was much more unicorn like except with it having the curve.

The Changeling began to hyperventilate a little bit in place as she looked over her body. She had just started checking underneath her clothing and had begun removing some articles such as her top. Catching on to what she was doing in time, the Roegadyn quickly turn his head away out of embarrassment and wondered to himself, “OK I didn’t expect that one. I only meant to heal her hand. So why is that happening to her body? Is it possible my potion is somehow imitated the formula inside of the love that Changelings absorb? I wonder... Is it possible that I can substitute their needs with the potions I can make?... Nah... I doubt it's that convenient. It's probably just a random side effect of the healing.”

When he had finished with those thoughts, he found the girl standing in front of him and was now looking up at him with puppy eyes. Without showing it on the outside, Brex had nearly had a heart attack from how fast she had suddenly gotten in his face without him noticing. He wondered to himself, “I really need to figure out how that happens. Is there some weakness or blind spot for my detection skills I don’t know about?”

She quickly started speaking to him in an excited tone, “What did you just use on me. I can't believe that you did all this with just that red liquid. Please tell me you have more. Please, I'll do anything please! Name your price! If you have any more, please use it on my mother. I'm sure It can cure her.” The Roegadyn's mind went blank after hearing her say those dreaded words “I'll do anything.” He couldn't help but scream in his head, “WHAT IS UP WITH THESE GIRLS AND SAYING SUCH DANGEROUS WORDS, DON’T THEY KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE THAT COULD GET THEM INTO??! Someone really needs to educate these kids on what is appropriate.”

It had taken him a few seconds to recover from this and looked back down to the changeling in front of him that was still giving him puppy dog eyes. Another stray thought crossed his mind, “It’s not even season one yet and they already weaponized cuteness!” Wanting to make sure that he didn't commit himself into doing something that was way beyond his limits, Brex nodded and said, “One more bottle.”

The truth was, he had made a good 20 of them. But after seeing this reaction he was going to get from a Changeling after using a low great potion, then he was better off letting them think he had very little. He was cautious of the idea that they might try to get him to make a constant stream of the stuff if they knew that he was capable of doing so. So, letting them believe that he had very little would dampen that thought and cause them to think it was something rare or hard to make and drop the idea all together.

The Changeling then asked, “Could you give one of them to my mother?” This got her another single nod from Brex. As soon as that body motion was completed, he was then given a tackling hug by the girl. Fortunately, she didn't put enough force into it to knock him over. Brex had to strongly resist the urge to fight her off when she did this and was feeling extremely uncomfortable. He was able to hide it and during all this the concentration needed to hide his emotions was still intact. He wasn't stupid enough to lower his guard at any time at all while still in the nest of the emotional readers.

Brex gently pulled her off and made towards the door and when he got to it, he turned his head a little and said, “Let's get key.” They both left the room and stood in the middle of the hallway. She then pointed towards the door that was between the one they had just came out from and her mothers and said, “She's in there. Be very careful, she's strong because she's the only one that has been feeding the most. The rest of us can only get what we need to survive while she grows in power.”

When he heard this, Brex realized why it was that this Changeling was covered in so many holes. It was due to her and the others being malnourished. It was one thing for there to be a lack of food supply but still… to horde it all for herself. It was just unforgivable for the Roegadyn.

While in front of her, he pointed towards the door and said, “Go. Act normal.” It appeared as though she was trying to come to terms what he was intending to try and do. After a few moments she had a look of realization and replied with, “Oh you plan to catch her off guard.” This got another nod from the Roegadyn.

The young Changeling approached the door but before touching the handle, she sparked her horn and a rush of flames covered her body. When the flames subsided, it revealed her to be taking on the form of Fleur de Lis once again. She knocked on the door a few times and immediately got a reply from inside.

The one inside shouted through the door, “What do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy in here. Never mind! Get your ass in here! Don't waste my time with excuses. It better be good, otherwise you're gonna get it worse than before!” There was then a crashing sound that indicated that something was thrown and smashed into pieces against the wall near the door way.

The voice was feminine, but at the same time it was one of those types that you just wish you could block your ears with how shrill it sounded. Brex could feel the condescending and egotistical manners that were behind every word that was said.

Brex quickly noticed how the Changeling next to him was now terrified with how she was cowering with her arms up in a defensive manner even though she had yet to open the door between her and the one within. He placed a hand onto her right shoulder and gave her a reassuring tap to indicate that he was still there. She did a noticeable gulp as she straightened up and started to turn the handle.

Brex had stepped off to the side and away from her peripheral vision and use his Hide skill to disappear. At the same time, he focused more of his concentration on to hiding his emotions to the point that he was having a hard time with even noticing them himself.

When the both of them entered the room, the young Changeling closed the door and approached a very large decorated wooden desk that had a tall changeling that was sitting behind it. She was a fair bit taller than the one he had been talking to and appear to be having far less holes on her body compared to how his new friend once had before taking the potion.

Taking the opportunity to do an examination, The Roegadyn discovered that this one had a name and she was called Phase. Now having a name to put with a description, Brex continued with his analysis.

Name: Phase.

Race: Changeling, Possible Queen.

Level: 28.

Weapon specialty: Poisons.

There wasn't really a whole lot to go on for what he saw so he wondered if she was even that much of a threat. But still Brex wasn't going to take things too lightly with how it mentioned that bit about her being a possible queen. He thought to himself, “I wonder if she is royalty or is a sub race that has the option of becoming one if certain conditions are met.”

Phase looked too the smaller Changeling with disgust and picked up a lamp on the table and threw it at the floor very close to the smaller one’s hoofs. This caused her to jump back in fear and began apologizing profusely.

The older Changeling got up from her chair and slammed her hands onto the desk and began to yell at the younger Changeling, “Go on then. Report! how did it go, Is he now under my control? If he is then start getting things set up! By this time tomorrow I'll be the one to have him. To think that worthless sister of yours was capable of getting such a fine catch. Not only was he bursting with love, but he has so many bits that I don't know what to do with. At this rate I'll be taking control of the entire city from behind the scenes in no time at all.”

Phase was too busy monologuing to notice Brex coming up from behind after slowly circling the room. Having heard more than enough, the Roegadyn reached forward with his right hand and grabbed the strands of silver hair on the back of the Changeling's head and sharply pulled until her eyes were forced to look straight into the ceiling. The amount of strength that was used had pulled a fair number of her hairs out by the roots.

( Play this Music for the Emotional effect. )

This act caused Phase to scream in terror from both the sudden pulling and pain that the act had caused. Brex had taken out the same horn ring that was used just earlier and shoved it harshly down the Changeling’s horn until there was a large clanking sound as the ring was slammed down until it hit near the base of her horn. Just hearing what she had intended to do, along with calling Fleur de Lis such a thing only caused him to lose his concentration and his emotions erupted with fiery anger.

The Changeling that was currently still being held by the hair was pulled further along until she stumbled and fell onto her backside. He released her long hair on the way down. Before Phase was able to recover from the fall, Brex had already stepped over and had placed his left foot over her neck. Now underfoot, she was now coughing and gagging as she attempted to claw at his foot to release her along with futile attempts of kicking her legs while underneath him.. It was clear that words were trying to exit her mouth, but due to the strain on her neck that was caused by Brex pressing down onto her wind pipe had made her attempts at communication to come out unintelligible.

After several seconds, Phase relented and stared up at him with terrified eyes while she remained silent as her body frozen place when she appeared to be looking right into his eyes. But with the mask, it may have been the same as looking into the darkness.

Quickly coming to realization that he had lost his temper, The Roegadyn restricted his emotions once more. When he did this the Changeling under him started showing signs of even more panic and a lone tear ran down the right side of her face as she attempted to move her mouth to say something repeatedly.

It was exceedingly hard for him to continue with holding back his emotions from being sensed. His body was visibly shivering from the built-up rage. Lifting his foot, the Roegadyn quickly reaches down and grabs Phase around the neck and hoists her into the air. With his arm fully extended he swings her and slams the Changeling's body into the far wall with his arm holding still as to keep her from getting too close to his face or be able to kick him as she was now pinned a few feet off the ground. The impact was loud enough to shake the wall and had nearly caused a nearby book shelf to topple over. there was even some blood that escaped Phase's lips from the thud.

Brex thought to himself, “What's gotten in to me... Just what is it about this bug that just sets me off. Is it her voice? or is it perhaps the way she talks? It could just be what she's doing. All I know is… I want to hurt her so much... And it's taking everything I got to hold back...”

Rory spoke up in his mind and asked in a worried tone, “Master are you still with me? It’s OK, you got her now… This isn't like you. You've never lost your temper like this without a reason. If you don't calm down you might really do something you won't like...”

Rory's words manage to reach Brex and he could feel his anger beginning to shrink rapidly. During this time Phase was still pinned to the wall and slightly dazed from being roughly handled. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she was looking towards the ceiling and crying nonstop. He could have vaguely made out the words coming from her lips that sounded like, “It... can’t... your.... I’m... I'm sorry... mercy... please... I... I didn’t...” Each word seeming to be weaker than the last.

Hearing Phase begging and saying sorry and wanting mercy only sparked the Roegadyn’s rage once more. But unlike the earlier outburst, this time, it felt different... A type of cold unfeeling anger was swelling up. His fingers that were wrapped around her neck began to tighten ever so slowly. The expression on the changeling's face became more fearful. But instead of fighting it or trying to claw her way free, she just stayed there limply while looking into his eyes.

Rory was attempting to get his attention but he felt no need to answer her. Phase's eyes were now beginning to roll to the back of her head from what appeared to be a lack of air. He would have continued if it wasn't for his arm being lightly pulled by another set of arms off to the side. Without releasing his grip, Brex turned his head towards the one that was interrupting him and saw that it was a now shivering young Changeling that was looking up at him with concern in her eyes. There was also some fear, but that was drowned out by something else that he couldn’t identify.

At that moment the world did not seem real to him. There was neither the cold or warmth. Even the sensation that gravity gave off on his body had also left his senses. He instantly realized that he was cutting off his emotions too far too much and was becoming detached from everything. But upon seeing the face of this small girl that was getting his attention and looking up at him with that expression of hers, caused him to feel something new.

His chest began to ache. Brex sensed that a lone tear was running down the right side of his face underneath the mask. His grip on Phase’s neck loosened and he could hear the taller Changeling gasping for much needed oxygen. He then thought, “Was... Was I about to.... In front of a child...No…” Brex was right now on the verge of having a panic attack at what he was about to do, but Rory's voice came crashing through.

She called out to him in a loud voice, “Master! It's all going to be fine! You haven't done anything. All you did was rough up that changeling, that's all you did.”

This was enough to calm Brex down to a manageable state. He gave a slow nod to the younger Changeling before turning his gaze back to Phase. Pulling her from the wall, he brought her to his face to the point that they were nearly touching nose to mask and he spoke in a very low intimidating tone, “Thank her... now.”

( Stop the Music here. )

This got a very weak nod as Phase turned her eyes towards the other one in the room and was able to squeeze out of her mouth a week, but still heartfelt “Thank you.” Yet as more tears began cascading down her face. But unlike before where it was from an expression of fear, was now an expression of relief.

Brex then asked, “Where is key?” While clutching at her now severely bruised neck, Phase raised a shaky right finger and she pointed towards one of the bookshelves and muttered something that sounded like, “Behind the blue book.” In a flash, the younger Changeling rushed up to the bookshelf and began pulling off every single blue book on it until she'd found a large key and rushed back over to Brex.

With nowhere to put Phase, he brought her along as they all left the room and quickly approached the door that the other two were trapped behind. The young changeling undid the magic lock and swung the door open with such force that Brex was almost positive that the door hinges would now need replacing now.

There was a set of gasps inside and when Brex poked his head in, he found all three huddled in a big group hug with the one on the bed just sitting up in the middle of her bed. Upon entering the room, the Roegadyn yanked inside Phase by the neck. Almost seeming like the changeling had done a 180 degree on her attitude, she was now whimpering uncontrollably while being roughly handled but gave no resistance.

He had figured that she was just scared for her life and let it go. With his free hand he closed the door to ensure that if something was to happen, then it would not be easy for Phase to escape by simply running through an open doorway.

Taking a good look around he found the room to be windowless and there was a small pile of what seemed to be necessities such as extra clothing, toilet paper, food and water. It was now apparent that Fleur de Lis was going to be kept here for an extended period of time.

Now as for the Unicorn in question, she was now looking straight at Brex with a bewildered expression before she asked timidly, “Is… Is that you? You're not a trick, are you?” This confused Brex as to why she asked that. But then it might have been due to him hiding his emotions unlike all the other times she had been around. She was part changeling after all, so he must seem very odd to her with his current state.

He asked in an emotionless tone, “Your mother, OK?” Fleur de Lis's eyes went wide as dinner plates as she brought a hand up to her mouth. It looked as if she was about to say something, but she drew her eyes down to the floor and began to look extremely sad. She then spoke in a quivering voice, “She... She isn't doing too well. The poison…that Phase used. It’s doing too much to her body… but I feel that...”

Brex heard enough and threw Phase onto the floor near the bed. When he was sure that she was giving him her undivided attention, he pointed to the ground near her feet and gave the Changeling the unspoken command to stay put. Without even a moment's hesitation she got to her knees and bowed her head so low that she was pressing both her nose and horn onto the floor and remain still. Not even registering her actions, the Roegadyn turned and approached the bed quickly.

Fleur de Lis was showing signs of panicking and was attempting to get in his way by taking a protective stance for the Changeling in bed. All the while, her eyes were closed as if one would when waiting for a beating.

It was the smaller sister that spoke up and took her older sister by the hand gently and spoke, “Sis, he’s not going to hurt her. You're not… are you? you're going to help her like I asked right?” That last part was asked in a very hope filled tone.

Brex began turning his head towards the smaller sister and backup to Fleur de Lis and ask, “You love her?” This got an immediate reaction out of the two as they both practically screamed in unison. “Of course, we love her.” This was all that he wanted to hear and he place a hand into his coat pocket and extracted from his item box one of the weaker versions of the healing potion that he had administered before and along with one antidote potion for good measure.

He handed both of them over to Fleur de Lis. He pointed to each one and called them out by name. “Antidote, Medicine.” That was when the younger sister chimed in and began telling them about how the medicine had helped her earlier. When the explanation was finished, Fleur de Lis quickly administered both to her mother. It didn't take more than ten seconds for the older Changeling in bed to look visibly better.

She had begun to get out of bed, but was stopped by her daughters who were in a panic as they were tenderly trying to coax her into being slower about what she was doing. She gave off a weak chuckle that seemed quite sincere before she relented and just simply sat on the edge of the bed. After promising to them both that she would take it easy.

She then began to slowly unwrap the bandages that were covering most of her form. When she was finished it was noted that she was wearing something underneath the bandages and Brex nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw how she appeared.

(This is how the Changeling Queen, Bellona looks like. )

Before him was a changeling Queen that was almost identical to what he thought Queen Chrysalis would look like as an anthro pony. He quickly searched for her health bar to find out if she was really who he thought her to be, but found that was not the case. She was called Bellona and was level 34. He quickly compared that to Phase and concluded that the reason That she had won the fight was due to the poison that was inflicted on Bellona.

Not wanting to overstay his welcome, the Roegadyn begin leaving the room. He was quickly stopped by an arm grabbing on to the back of his dress coat. When he looked over his shoulder, he found it to be Fleur de Lis but she was still looking towards the ground so he wasn't able to see her face.

After a moment of silence, she began to speak in a worried tone, “Are... Are you going to tell him...? About who, I mean what I am?” At the end, she was visibly crying as he could hear droplets hitting the floor.

Without moving he asked, “Tell him what?” This got her to look back at him as she blinked a few times. She then asked, “What do you mean? You... You know everything now. You know that I'm a changeling... That I'm a monster...”

Brex turned and place slowly and brought his left hand up and began to lightly pat her on the top of the head in an attempt to reassure her. He then spoke in a tender tone, “Tell him.” Fleur de Lis was looking left and right as she showed that she wasn't quite sure on that. She was about to protest when he held up a finger to show that he wanted her to wait. She saw this and closed her mouth that had just begun to open.

The Roegadyn stood tall and crossed his arms while looking with his head tilted down towards the mare Before asking, “You love him?”

He was nearly taken aback when he saw how she now had an extremely determined look in her eyes that just screamed, “Are you kidding me did you really just ask me that question.” For as long as he had known her for, what little time it was, she was always a soft-spoken mare. But she looked as if she was on the verge of exploding on him. Before she was able to let out anything, he raised a hand and gave her a thumbs up and gave another nod to show he understood.

She then stumbled back a step and had a look of embarrassment on her face before she started to tap her fingers together as she spoke, “I'll tell him. I don't know what he will think of me, but he deserves to know this much.”

When all was said and done, the Roegadyn and Fleur de Lis found themselves walking on the streets as they were in the middle of returning back to the hotel that Fancy Pants and he were both staying at.

There happened to be a spare set of clothing for the Unicorn to wear back at the Changelings hide out. So now she was wearing some casual clothes. These were not as extravagant as what she would normally be seen wearing, which consisted of a pair of blue jeans and a pink hoodie. She was also wearing some type of baseball cap with that had an icon that was made up of a thunderbolt with wings on the side of it.

It was rather late at night so the streets were empty of civilians, aside from a few drunkards traveling from bar to bar. He had looked into it and found that they had alcohol here, but it was made using cider. He hadn’t tried any himself but that was what he heard from random ponies when he would be in the guild halls, it was able to get them plastered. Brex didn’t know if he had ever had a drink. All he knew was, he wasn’t going to test his tolerance and find out he was a talker. They had just stepped on to a street that left them with a straight shot to the high-rise hotel that they could currently see five blocks away.

With it nearing midnight, the air was still warm thanks to It being early summer. Brex was having a hard time containing himself when he thought about how odd they both must look right now on the street. Fleur de Lis wearing a cute regular outfit, while at the same time, being escorted by a masked butler who towered over any pony.

Fleur de Lis looked up to Brex and asked while still looking ahead as to not trip over anything in the dim lighting of the street lamps. “Are you positive you're fine with how things went back there? From what little my little sister told me. I'm rather surprised that you let Phase off the hook and allowed us to take care of her punishment.”

What Fleur de Lis was referring to was Phase. With everything settled and fixed, in a way. Brex didn't want to be meddling with their private affairs any more than he already had. He would have been lying to himself that he felt as if he wanted to do a whole lot more to Phase. But seeing her groveling at his feet all pathetic like that, just ruined his mood. All he really wanted to do, was to get away from that girl. Seeing how he scared her that much, Brex didn't feel like he can trust himself around Phase without snapping again.

By the time they had left that building, the other changelings that he had *cough cough...* Incapacitated, we're coming too. But before they could say or do anything, he and Fleur de Lis made a hasty retreat out the front door. Going back to Fleur de Lis’s question, Braxton turned his head down towards her and replied With, “Better this way.”

There was some time of silence between them as they passed a number of light posts before Fleur de Lis started back up again. She spoke with an underlying tone of reverence in her words, “You're a lot more accepting than I thought. You know, I was fully expecting that you would become hostile to all of us, including myself after finding out about us. Whenever our secret ever gets exposed, we always have to cover our tracks in one way or another...”

She then let out a small sigh before continuing, “Did you know I was actually scared of you before this whole night happened?” This got a raised eyebrow from behind the Roegadyn's mask before she gave out an amused chuckle before Adding, “I'm not all that great when it comes to doing the things that my kind can do, But I can sense emotions to a small degree. You see, I've always been surrounded by both the males and females. So, I have a fairly good idea on how they are in our society. The thing is… you are not like any of the males I have ever encountered.”

For some reason Brex was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable right then and there, but allowed her to continue as he stayed silent. “All the others would always be worried about something or another or scared. But you, I can't really put my finger on it... It just feels like you're worried about something that you've been holding onto for quite a while. I'm not really sure how to describe it. The closest thing that comes to mind is... What goes through your head makes me think that your worries could be compared to that of a mountain. While the others just seem like pebbles in comparison…. Just listen to me! I must sound so weird right now.”

They were now less than a block away from the hotel. The sign near the lobby doors were in view and Brex could make out a few of the guards positioned out front. Seeing that their time alone was about to come to an end, Fleur de Lis turned towards him while still walking in the direction of the hotel as she said, “Do you think you can give us a little time alone to talk things out... I get the feeling this is going to be a long talk...” Brex gave her a nod and replied with, “Love transcends all...”

This got a giggle from Fleur de Lis before she quickly responded with, “Oh, I had no idea you were romantic. If that's the case I could always~ Have a word with my sister.” She then gave him an overdramatic wink before stifling another one of her little giggles. Seeing that she was obviously joking, he decided to play along with her but spoke in a serious tone while looking straight ahead, “She's too young.” This apparently was good enough to cause Fleur de Lis to stumble for a few feet while erratically flailing her arms and attempt to stay on upright before quickly righting herself up and giving a quick blush at the apparent blunder.

After that, there was a few seconds of awkward silence between the both of them before the pair erupted in a small course of giggles and laughter at the joke, they just played on one another. With that the tense mood was alleviated. Soon they found themselves within the hotel and standing in front of Fancy Pants's door. Fleur de Lis knocked on the door and Fancy Pants opened it immediately. Upon seeing Fleur de Lis, his eyes went wide but with some slight hesitation on his part until he saw his bodyguard standing next to her giving him a little nod. This was a signal for the guy to essentially glomped his lover and quickly rush them both inside.

It didn't take long before he left the room and went into his to wait until the night was over. He had a feeling that it was going to be a very, very, lengthy discussion between the two and he was not just going to stand around in the hallway for the entire night.

He had just began laying down on his bed when he spoke outloud in a whisper, “Hey, I can’t help but notice that you’ve been rather quiet today. I sort of expected you to make a comment during the return trip. Got something on your mind?”

Rory soon responded in what sounded to be a carefree tone, “Oh that? I just enjoyed watching the show. I did find it rather interesting that you would go to such lengths in helping the changelings today. As far as I know you don’t particularly trust the ponies, but you seem to get along with fancy pants and Fleur de Lis quite well. You know if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had a thing for her. She is the only one you’ve ever went and tried playing a small joke on. Then there was the whole helping her with her love life with convincing her to tell him the truth.”

Brex closed his eyes and replied, “It’s just I feel that I can relate to their situation when it comes to the whole keeping one’s existence or identity hidden from the world. As for her, I don’t know. I’m sure it’s not anything romantic. Just that I can relate to a degree. I think I’m nothing but a hypocrite. Here I am getting her to spill her biggest secret to her lover, yet I’m still hiding what I am, even to them.”

There was a short pause in the conversation before Rory spoke up again and asked, “I know that you would rather avoid this subject, but do you want to talk about what happened when you confronted Phase? You know… about how you reacted.”

Brex rolled over onto his right side and opened his eyes slightly as to stare directly at the wall next to his bed. He let out a heavy sigh before saying, “Something about everything she was doing just triggered something within me. It was the way she did everything when it came to taking advantage of others for her own greed. But it was the way I saw her talking to that small changeling and throwing that lamp. I thought I was able to handle myself but as soon as I saw the frightened face on that one on the other side of the desk… something in me just snapped. If this really is some kind of trauma from before I became a Roegadyn, then I would really rather not know what it was. If I reacted so violently with that even with the mental fortitude you gave me. Then I’m scared to see what I would be like if I was back to how I was when I first showed up and was in that position.” That was when he slowly closed his eyes for the night.

Just as he thought, the night went on, and on... and on, with no word from the pair. When it was around 8 in the morning, there was a subtle knock on the door which awoke Brex from his sleep. That night he went into REM sleep due to the excessive use of trying to contain his emotions, along with that outburst he had near the end.

He found it to be both Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis standing outside of his room and they were apparently holding hands like they normally do. There was even a set of smiles on both their faces that indicated the night went smoothly. They invited him back to their room for their own little discussion.

The both of them had explained that they were still going to be together and even with Fleur de Lis being part changeling, it did not dissuade the romantic Fancy Pants. He was also informed that they had come to a plan in regards to the other changelings. In short, Fancy Pants was going to do his best to help out his future wife's family and finding them a suitable job placement and housing so that they can both live among ponies and somehow managed to get their daily supply of love.

There were a few ideas and one of them was in regards to their hide out and how he had wanted to turn it into a community center. But through some subtle choice words on his part, of going along with that plan and possibly adding onto the building a psychiatry section seeing as how changelings would most likely make the best therapists with how they can empathize with their patients.

But when it came to their food supply, now that was the tricky bit. Brex knew that they had a second evolutionary form which was shown in the show. But had begun to think about what the ramifications would be if he was to introduce this idea to them before the appointed time that it was supposed to happen. For all he knew, Queen Chrysalis could get word of it and stamp them out like she had attempted to do so when her own colony turned against her when they went through the transformation themselves.

But knowing that these were outcasts and were not part of her hive, he convinced himself that it would be best to let them know now and inform them that it would be a good idea to be keeping it a secret and whenever interacting with any other changelings that are not from their group, they could just change themselves to look like how they once did.

After deciding to go with that option, Brex got some paper and a quill and began writing out detailed notes in regards to the sharing of love among each other willingly. Just as Thorax discovered when he became friends with Spike and it alleviated his need to feed.

After showing the notes to both of them, Fleur de Lis eyes shot open and her mouth was a gape as she continuously darted her eyes between the paper and Brex. He was rather concerned when she continued this for nearly a minute, thinking that she may have suffered some kind of a stroke. But she stopped soon after which was a relief to him. He thought that she was going to possibly disagree with him when she brought a finger up and opened her mouth to retort to the accusations made on the paper, but quickly snapped her mouth shut and a look of realization grew on her face as she lowered her finger.

She then notified the both of them that even though she requires very little and hardly need to feed much compared to her family, she noticed that after telling Fancy Pants about her, and her family, she didn't need to feed on any love at all. In fact, the thought never even crossed her mind during the entire night after returning.

She then told them that she was going to give this information to her family and see if it works for them. There was also an agreement that this should be kept a secret among them for now and to be very careful about who they bring into their fold in the future, unless they want other Hives to find out and trigger some type of a purge for being different from the rest.

When all the heavy discussions were finished, Brex reached into his coat and pretended to grab something out from it like he normally does and produces a thick stack of papers that could have easily been 50 pages long. They were then placed onto the table and slid over to the pair while they were all sitting on the couches that surrounded a coffee table.

The two Unicorns looked rather confused and when they split up the papers and started to read, both were looking up at him with raised eyebrows every now and then and going back to the papers before exchanging them among each other and discussing amongst themselves about various topics relating to what he had given them.

Fancy Pants upon finishing looked towards his bodyguard and gave him an amused smile before saying, “Good sir! I think this would be a very beneficial partnership for all parties involved.” With that the two of them shook hands and Brex had a broad smile behind his mask as one more part of his long-term plan was about to be put into motion.

*Point of view: Queen Bellona*
*Location: Changeling hide out*
*Time: Two days after the incident*

It had been a few days since they were visited by the one wearing a mask who had saved them from a corrupted changeling that had taken over their small hive. All of the members of their community were now gathered on the second floor of the building where there was one large room that could house all of them at once.

Counting all those that were at the hide out that night and the ones that were still out in the city, there was a grand total of 50 Changelings In attendance for this meeting. It was understandable that quite a few of them were very confused during the next day after the incident, but were quickly caught up on all the relevant information.

Seeing as the corrupted Changeling had been brought down and their original Queen was returned to power, the other drones were itching to take out their grievances with the previous leader, but was stopped by Bellona.

Now as for the Changeling in question, she was the focus of much animosity from the others. Phase was currently groveling near the pedestal that Bellona was standing behind. If one was not a part of what happened in the last several weeks and had never seen Phase until right now, they would have never of guessed that this was the very same mastermind who was in a way, corrupting the whole city through her actions and greed.

Her name was Phase, the ex-leader of the Hive. While groveling, she was taking a very low bow as to keep her face hidden from all present. But what was really odd with her behavior right now was with the way she was muttering under her breath in a terrified tone.

Just earlier before the meeting started, she was in a calmer state but still was showing submissiveness and was already bowing before the original Queen. But when the meeting started and the Queen's youngest daughter who had yet to have been given a name spoke of what she saw that night, it only triggered what could have been considered a traumatic backlash for Phase for that was what brought her to be in such a frantic state at this moment.

The youngest daughter of the Queen was standing on the far side of the podium opposite from Phase and was in the middle of regaling them of what she had witnessed.

She spoke of how the masked Individual came into the room and subdued her. This was followed by his act of kindness towards giving her what she had assumed to be an extremely rare substance that was capable of not only restoring her to perfect health almost immediately, but was capable of substituting for the love within her body which ended up with her form becoming completely solid with hardly any holes left in her body aside from a few that remained in her wings and the natural whole pattern that was present in her hair.

This caused a great many of them to murmur among themselves excitedly at the prospect of learning something that could possibly help them with their food shortage.

The story continued to the point where they had confronted Phase. But it was at that time that all present began to show more signs of interest as they all began to go deathly quiet as to not miss a word.

They were told how the masked being erased his presence from her completely. Even with being told the plan that he was going to sneak on Phase. The young changeling was unable to perceive him to the point that she had forgotten about his very existence. To her, he appeared out of nowhere in a blink of an eye and had taken hold of Phase from behind. She then spoke of how he roughly threw her around as if she were some pathetic rag doll, even with her being so strong.

She continued on by saying that the room had become scorching hot at one point, but then it would turn blistering cold the next. The young changeling compared it to standing in the middle of the desert at high noon and blinking to find themselves in the frozen tundra the next.

The next part was a description of how he had Phase by the throat and was squeezing the life slowly from her body. The masked being only releasing her after the young changeling got his attention. He was fully willing to take Phase's life, even with all the begging she was doing, but granted the request when she was the one who made the motion to stop. But it seemed that he did not want to take the credit for her release, instead she made Phase thank the young Changeling in his place.

The story progressed to them getting to Bellona and healing her wounds with the same substance that she herself was given. Along with another liquid that was mentioned to be an antidote. All present were astonished that one who had just shown up that very night, would have something capable of undoing the diabolical poison that was inflicting their Queen.

After she had told that last bit, she went on to describing what she had felt during the whole event. Even though he revealed himself when taking on Phase, the young Changeling was having an exceedingly difficult time in perceiving his very existence. She compared it to what it would be like when a single water drops onto a stone floor. But when it came to this individual. That drop of water which represented their sight and senses towards him, was obstructed by a bubble the same way as a drop of water would bounce off and run to the outer edges of the circle. This was exactly how she felt whenever she tried to look directly at him. She knew that he was there, yet again, all of her senses compelled her to not perceive him.

When her youngest daughter was finished, Bellona brought all in attendance to give her their undivided attention as she began to speak. Along with all of their gazes of admiration and astonishment from the story. She can see how they admired the way she looked. Just like her younger daughter, Bellona was also in peak condition.

Her next words came out with such authority that it would have compelled any to give her their attention no matter what they were in the middle of.

Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for about a second before opening them and letting out the air in her lungs. She then said, “To all present, from what my daughter has said. Along with what I myself have seen and heard. I have no doubt in my mind that this was something foretold to the changeling race thousands of years ago.”

This got a quiet murmur from the gathering before Bellona raised her left hand to get their attention once more. She then continued, “There has been an ancient tail passed down from Queen to Queen. I know it to be ancient from seeing it myself on the great black obsidian stonewalls of our homeland. There was a foretelling written in our ancient language in a form of a rhyme.”

Bellona allowed herself sometime to regain some composure as she was beginning to get a little frazzled by what she was about to say to them. She done said, “If I remember correctly, it goes something like this.”

Beware, beware young Changelings.

Beware, beware for we are the hunter.

For others are our prey.

Beware, beware young Changelings.

Beware, beware for yet there is another.

For we are its prey.

Beware, beware for if you gain his ire.

Then your fate will be most dire.

Beware, beware young changelings.

For he will not permit being seen.

Beware, beware young Changelings.

For all you will know, will be searing heat and blistering cold.

Beware, beware young Changelings.

To avoid such a fate.

One must curry his favor.

Beware, beware the long-lived Myth.

The Apex Predator.

*Point of view: Daddy*
*Location: The other side*

Daddy was currently strolling across the sea of gold while still in his master Roshi form. Even with the ground appearing to be made of pure liquid, his sandals and walking stick still made the clanking sounds that they would normally have done so if he was on solid ground.

He was currently making his way over to the table that was sitting in the middle of the empty ocean of nothingness when he was unexpectedly blindsided on the right by getting tackled to the ground by one of his daughters.

Letting out a weak chuckle Daddy says, “Well I didn't think that I'd be missing this much whenever I go out for a little walk. Ho Hohooo. Maybe I should do those more often, than maybe I’ll get a little more attention from the two of you.”

The figure got off of Daddy and stood to the side of him. This was Little Moon and she was looking rather distraught. She grabbed Daddy by the scruff of his neck collar and pulled him to his feet as if he weighed no more than a piece of paper and place them on the ground facing her.

After seeing that her dad was now on his feet, she gave a disgruntled groan as she threw her arms out to the side and yelled, “Just where did you go off too? I've been looking for you literally everywhere!”

Daddy did the motion of brushing themselves off of any dirt which wasn't really needed with how clean everything was and said, “Did you check the black hole behind that broken planet that was once called Namek? You know, the one that had all those green men on it?”

This got yet another disgruntled grunt from Little Moon as she replied with, “Yes I checked behind there!” Daddy Then said, “Did you check over by-But was interrupted by Little Moon screaming, “And yes I did check over at the adult bookstore that you like to frequent back on Earth.” This got a sigh from Daddy when he said, “Yeah well, I don't go there anymore. Everything is digital now. You gotta download that stuff and it’s a pain to learn how to do…”

This only got Little Moon to become more frustrated as her character's thick accent began to take hold as she grabbed onto Daddy by his shirt collar with both hands and brought him up into the air so that he was at eye level with her. She then started speaking in a strained fashion as one would see someone who was on the verge of losing it. “You see here old man! I need to tell you that-

She was then interrupted by something hitting the ground and making a pair of metallic sounds underneath Daddy. Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked down and found what looked to be a small hammer along with a metal chisel. Without even saying a word, she looked at him and gave him the what is that look.

Giving out a weak chuckle while sporting a Cheshire grin, Daddy said, “Oh that? While on my walk I just felt like doing a little bit of artwork. It's been so long since I've seen anybody write anything down on a stone wall. It started with paper, then it was computer texting and posts. It used to be that back in the day, if someone puts something down on stone, they would look at it a lot more. No one seems to appreciate the classics anymore.”

This only got him to be released while still in midair to fall on his butt. Little Moon then massaged the bridge of her nose to relieve what could have been her very first migraine within the last millennium. She then threw her arms straight above her head in a, I give up motion and said, “Just forget it! I just wanted it to tell you that I picked one of those guys up on the table. Now come on! I need your help.” That was when she reached down and grabbed him by the back of the shirts collar again and started to drag the old man the rest of the way to the large table. All the while, Little Moon was unaware to how Daddy was sporting another one of those big grins.