"This sucks."

Chrysalis would never admit to agreeing with a pony, but she couldn't help but have a similar feeling as the colorful winged pegasus at the moment.

Twilight had given Chrysalis almost a full week to "recover her strength," as if she'd somehow become so weak since coming to this pony town. In truth, the ambient love in the area meant her strength was returning to her even more quickly than she'd estimated. Of course she wouldn't let any of these ponies know that. The less they knew the better.

But apparently enough time had passed that her captor now believed she could go ahead with the charade of trying to get her to let her guard down. Around her were those troublesome element bearers who had attempted to thwart her plans in Canterlot. Even though they hadn't been enough of a threat back then, they had proven to possess a notable level of power more recently. Six ponies in total, plus one dragon, and the four changelings Twilight had brought back with them from the hive in the badlands. Even though there was clearly some kind of spatial distortion magic being used on this library, it was still cramped.

And it sucked.

"Seriously Twi, when is Celestia going to get you your own castle. Meeting in the library like this is kinda lame." The pegasus she had confirmed to be called Rainbow Dash, Chrysalis would never understand why pony names were the way they were, whined from atop a bookshelf in order to escape the cramped floor space. It proved to be a surprisingly good enough strategy that Chrysalis had gotten Twilight to let two of her changelings up there as well. Rainbow Dash kept eyeing them cautiously.

"Castles don't just spring up out of the ground Rainbow Dash. Canterlot castle was built over the course of decades and took the combined treasuries of multiple joined tribes. I'm not going to commission one in Ponyville just because you want to have a cool place to have meetings."

The white unicorn apparently named Rarity, again with the lack of consistent reason, chimed in as she used a small folding mirror to pretend to inspect herself while watching the two changelings still on the floor with them. "As much as it pains me to say, I kind of agree with Rainbow on this one. While we don't necessarily need something quite as grand as the royal capital, a proper space to have a Friendship Council meeting would be nice. I mean, one we don't need to contend with Ponyscouts meetings for."

"We were not muscled out by them." Twilight said this in such a way that Chrysalis was sure this was not the first time this had come up. "The mayor does give us priority and we could have used the town hall community space if we'd wanted to."

"So why didn't we?" Rainbow Dash dryly cut in.

Twilight glared. "Because, due to the delicate nature of the situation, I thought it would be better to keep everything as contained as possible to avoid information leaks. We don't need Ponyville in an uproar thinking there's an invasion happening."

"It's a small town, Twi, odds are everypony already knows." Applejack stood to the side. Chrysalis could tell she was trying to watch over the whole room. Her paranoia was bitter and also tainted all other emotions in the room. That being said, it was especially odd that she'd brought a basket of fruit themed pony foods and offered them for the group, Chrysalis and her changelings included. "Apple hospitality," she had said. Knowing anything she could have tainted them with probably couldn't hurt a changeling, she'd elected to let her children partake. They seemed to like them according to chatter in the hive mind.

Twilight cleared her throat as a murmur of agreement followed the statement. "If that is the case, we'll deal with that when it comes up. For now, let's try to be civil and professional. We'll call to order this friendship council meeting." She lightly banged a heavy book against a table in absence of a gavel.

"Why are we trying to be so, 'civil and professional?' It's not like this is a real government function." Rainbow said this while attempting to get more comfortable where she lay atop the shelf.

Frustration was becoming more prominent in Twilight's emotions, souring them overall. "Because we have important guests here today and I'd LIKE IT if they got a good impression. Now, before we get started with the important stuff, is there any new business that needs to be brought up?"

Rainbow chimed in, raising a hoof as if trying to make an official motion. "I'd like to make a motion that this sucks."

"Rainbow!" The exclamation came from more than one source in the room. All silenced after what followed.

"Seconded."

All eyes turned to Chrysalis. Their confusion was a bit too tart for Chrysalis's taste, but she enjoyed it anyway.

Twilight cleared her throat once more. "Well then, I guess that makes it an official motion. I don't think we need to vote on it though. I suppose... Spike, you can put it into the minutes for the meeting." The dragon began to scribble away. Rainbow snickered from her perch.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "I don't care about any aspect of this farce. Every pony in this room is eager for something. Each has different intent based on how they feel, but I can surmise they all wish to be asking me something. Let's just get this glorified interrogation over with. It's not as if you'd need to torture me to get the truth."

Most seemed taken aback at the declaration. It was Applejack that seemed to recover first. "I can respect that. Are you planning on betraying Twilight if you get the chance."

Chrysalis scoffed. "There will be no betrayal involved. I want the best for my hive and the best thing would be for a true queen to take charge. I'll take my hive back if I get the chance and she knows it."

Twilight sighed with exhaustion, seeming to acknowledge the breakdown and embracing it. "Yes, she's told me that pretty much every time we've talked. However, much like the protocol for figuring out if I'd been replaced, I came up with a series of orders which should overlap in such a way that she can't enact any subversive actions." Chrysalis thrummed low in her throat at this.

Applejack narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Y'all say that, but how can we know this ain't a really elaborate scheme?"

Twilight sighed in exhaustion again. "Yeah, I know. I told you all what happened in the hive, but you weren't actually there for it. I'm sure I can't say it in any properly convincing way, but the moment I gave those changelings an order, I knew it was all true."

"I want to believe the changelings ain't a threat too. But you being a changeling queen is just hard to wrap my head around. Y'all aren't even a changeling."

Chrysalis was getting tired of the confused banter. "Unlike you disorganized and undisciplined ponies, changelings know their duty is the good of the hive. And the hive must be controlled by the strongest there is." She turned to glare at Twilight. "I don't know how a pathetic pony beat me, but that is the reality I'm currently dealing with. If you want proof your princess need only command."

"Wow." Rainbow now chimed in. "Is that true Twilight? Can you really command her to do anything? Ooooh, tell her to put on a frilly pink dress and skip through Ponyville."

"No!" The room seemed taken aback at the response coming from both Chrysalis and Twilight at the same time. Though Chrysalis had considerably more venom behind the word, Twilight was the one to follow up. "Both her and the other changelings are living beings. If I can help it, I'd prefer not to force their compliance. And I'm certainly not going to humiliate them for fun."

"Well how are we supposed to know for sure if you don't?" Rainbow inquired.

Twilight seemed to ponder for a moment. Her thoughts cleared somewhat, but not as much as Chrysalis had observed before. "It would be the easiest way to prove it." She turned to Chrysalis, biting her lip just a little. "Chrysalis, is it alright if I...."

"Grow a spine and do what you need to do," Chrysalis spat.

Twilight was shocked by this sudden outburst, but stabilized her emotions quickly. She seemed to settle on the best course of action within moments. "Chrysalis, tell me something you really don't want me to know."

Chrysalis twitched as her biology kicked in and she fought the words trying to come to her mouth. Everypony else in the room noticed the sudden, and violent, discomfort in her face and might have tried to inquire. But the words finally forced themselves from her mouth. "There was an error in your logic when you gave me your nonviolence orders." Chrysalis then began swearing under her breath, though to the ponies in the room it sounded like a series of hisses and clicks.

"What!? Where? How?" Twilight asked in earnest as confusion came from the others in the room.

Chrysalis growled as she responded. "You were too specific in your orders about malicious actions."

Twilight's moment of realization was a bitter emotion for Chrysalis to taste. "Oh, I think I see. I said you can't take any action with the intent of it being malicious to any creature. But you can make a malicious action as long as there's no direct intent with it. The only way I think you could use that though... is maybe setting a random trap with little to no chance of it working against anypony and just hoping for the best." Chrysalis grumbled and looked away. Twilight took this as confirmation. "Ok then. I amend that order to no intended malicious actions whatsoever, even if it has no chance of hurting anypony, any creature, as far as you can tell."

Another twitch from Chrysalis, this one more violent as her horn glowed to life. There was a sudden loud thud from somewhere in the tree house.

"...That was a good line of questioning. Thank you for that Applejack. Let's move on."

"Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed. "She set a trap for y'all in your own house. That right there should be the last straw. Lock her up and throw away the key."

"I'm actually way more concerned that that could have hurt Spike." This seemed true by a very concentrated bubble of anger Twilight seemed to be trying to keep from rising to the surface of her emotions. "But please understand that I'm trying to be very forgiving right now. I'm pretty sure the changelings don't even have a concept of ponies being able to be nice to them. She's just not that used to, positive feedback."

"Twilight, that's not really making a case as far as Applejack's lock them up idea." Rarity now chimed in. "Wouldn't it be more prudent to secure them in such a way that they can be confirmed to not be a threat, then find a way to reform them."

Twilight's emotions were a chaotic mess once again. Chrysalis cringed at the random torrent of flavors. However that clear flavor she preferred started to come back as Twilight took a series of deep breaths while extending her hoof from her chest. "Creatures can't be forced to get along. If changelings and ponies are going to get along, it needs to be mutual. We can't force changelings to be something else for us to be able to accept them."

"Why are your emotions so clear right now?" All eyes turned to Chrysalis at the question. "Normally when a creature lies it taints their emotions. How can you lie so effortlessly?"

The silence after this seemed hard for the ponies to break. It was finally Applejack that braved a response. "I think you're right, Twilight. She really can't imagine trusting us at all." She said this, before finally addressing Chrysalis neutrally. "Listen. Y'all probably don't know much about us, but everypony here represents an element of harmony."

"I don't know how that weapon works, but I doubt it will help you. Your threats are wasted." Chrysalis hissed back at her.

"Not a threat," Applejack raised her hooves placatingly. "I'm just explaining. My element is literally the element of honesty. It's not like I couldn't lie if I really needed to, but it ain't exactly natural for me. So let me just say, as the literal embodiment of honesty, that Twilight is telling the truth. Celestia knows why, but she wants to help ya'."

Chrysalis couldn't taste a lie in either Twilight or Applejack. She turned away in frustration. "You ponies make no sense. You are prey, we are predators. Peace is not an option."

"Chrysalis. If you refuse peace, then how can you see life going forward for your changelings." Rarity now, and with her the sickly sweet sympathy coming from the ponies now threatened to overwhelm Chrysalis.

"I DON'T KNOW!!!" It wasn't loud, but every voice in Chrysalis seemed to try to shout out at once. Much more calmly she continued. "I don't know. I only know the changeling way. I have to do something for my children, but at this point I can't understand what you ponies are thinking."

There was a sweet flicker of thought from Twilight before she spoke up again. "Since you already thought this was an interrogation, how about instead of a friendship council meeting, we treat this like a meet and greet?"

"A what?" Chrysalis was confused, but the emotion Twilight was giving off was keeping it from being frustrating.

"It's how ponies, creatures, that don't know each other can get to know each other. We can just exchange questions back and forth. Because we don't know how changelings think either. This will give our two species a chance to learn about each other. " Twilight suddenly seemed overjoyed by this idea. Chrysalis wasn't sure about it, but the sudden change in emotion in the room made her more prone to agreeing. She nodded her consent. Twilight clapped her hooves together in joy at this. "Does anyp... any creature want to go first?"

From a forgotten corner of the room, a yellow hoof was raised. Fluttershy seemed apprehensive, but a genuine spark of curiosity sat at the edge of her emotions. This caused Chrysalis to tilt her head in confusion, which Fluttershy seemed to consider an acknowledgment.

"I was just wondering, since you can clearly sense emotions from ponies, can you sense them in other animals too?"

Chrysalis considered how to answer. "The less... collective a species, the harder it is to sense. Wild animals rarely have much on their mind beyond survival. Ponies, cows, griffins, any species that get together for the sake of survival. You're all more, domesticated." Chrysalis could sense most of the ponies didn't like that phrasing. She continued on unhindered by this. "It makes your emotions more broad. Once the spectrums are wide enough, we changelings can sense them and feed upon them."

Fluttershy seemed disappointed by this. "Ah, that's too bad."

"Can you really communicate with wild animals on a one to one level?" Fluttershy seemed taken aback by the sudden question from Chrysalis. "I thought this was meant as an exchange. Do you not wish to divulge your secrets as well?"

Catching on, Fluttershy now stuttered a response. "Oh no, I didn't mean to keep any secrets. I just didn't think you'd be interested in me. Let's see. It's not one to one, unless I know them really well like Angel Bunny. Most of the time I can understand what they are trying to tell me, but it's more like I can just, feel what they want to say. Does that make sense? The more wild and unfamiliar an animal the harder it is to understand. I was honestly curious because, well, if changelings could give a broad sense of an animal's emotions, it might make it easier for me to communicate with them." Chrysalis eyed her with confusion. "Umm, you can, ask another question if you don't understand."

"Wouldn't capturing the animals you seek be easier?"

"Oh, well yes. But that would be mean. I want to learn about them in their natural state, so that wouldn't work."

Chrysalis turned to address Twilight. "I don't think this is working." Twilight's smile fell some, but Chrysalis didn't acknowledge that as she turned back to Fluttershy. "Your motivations make no sense to me."

Fluttershy just shrugged. "It's just something that makes me happy."

Chrysalis puzzled with that for a few moments more. Twilight spoke up, her mood elevating as she spoke. "See, this is working. We can talk without it being hostile."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we can just ignore the apparent assassination attempt for now I guess." Twilight's smile and eye twitched at the statement. Applejack steamrolled ahead with her question. “Just how many changelings are there?"

Chrysalis grumbled at this. This pony had a clear intent to assess the threat they faced. It was respectable, but frustrating that she would have to divulge such valuable information. "In this hive, just shy of twenty thousand." Applejack's eyes shot open at the news. "There might be a few outlying hives left, but none of them would be larger than a few hundred. They'll likely die out in a few generations."

"Twenty thousand. I had no idea... how can we deal with that?" Applejack's mind now filled with stress.

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question? Chrysalis inquired.

This seemed to stop Applejack's frantic thoughts as she refocused on Chrysalis. "Yeah. Yeah I guess. Go ahead."

"Why do you ponies only think in terms of brute force?" Applejack seemed taken aback by this. "The invasion of Canterlot was a one off. Normally I'd never attack full force like that. If I wanted to conquer a pony settlement, rest assured I would only need a fraction of my forces to do it."

"Are ya' threatening our town?" Applejack stomped forward with the question. Twilight looked like she might interject, but Chrysalis seemed at most bemused by the show of force.

"I have no means to threaten anything. I'm making a statement of pure fact. You ponies are our food source. Why would we risk a harvest by attacking it with brute force?"

Applejack drew away, suddenly seeming to be in deep thought. "It only takes a few ponies to harvest a whole orchard. Too many and the labor cost can be too high to make a profit. Makes sense." She now looked back up at Chrysalis. "But if that's true, why did y'all try to attack Canterlot."

Chrysalis scoffed at this. "Likely not for dissimilar reasons as to why you ponies grow and harvest your own food. Having a reliable source of food constantly ready is more desirable, is it not?"

"So, we're just food to you?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Applejack stared at Chrysalis for a time. Chrysalis was curious as what she said didn't seem to trigger more anger in the earth pony. "I, I think I get it now." For some reason, she smiled as her emotions cleared. She also chuckled as she stood to take her previous place. "Word of advice though. If ya' try to force a crop to grow, you're just gonna end up with bad apples."

Chrysalis once again turned to Twilight. "This still isn't working. I still don't understand what you ponies are thinking."

Twilight seemed elated. It would be frustrating to Chrysalis if it didn't taste so good. "I think it is working though. I mean, do you feel any more hostile towards Applejack or Fluttershy?"

Chrysalis looked between them. "That one managed to get crucial tactical information. But her follow up inquiries indicate she doesn't know how to use it to her advantage."

Oddly, Applejack smiled at this. "I can now say with some confidence, we ain't trying to fight cha'. Now I'm just wondering how big this town will get iffin' were gonna move them all in."

"We aren't as wasteful as you ponies. We can dig a hive out in a matter of a few weeks."

"Dig?" Twilight inquired.

"You saw our last hive. We are predators that hunt in the shadows. Underground is a safe place for us that affords many advantages." She turned to Twilight with a glare. "Had I been in control of the hive then, you'd have never gotten close. The ambush would have come from below and you'd have had no warning."

"I was just wondering, not scheming. If you didn't have to live underground, wouldn't you prefer the surface? I mean, do changelings prefer underground?"

"Those that prefer it have more duties on the surface. As it should be. Do you ponies not employ the best suited individuals for their most useful traits?"

"I'm trying to learn this, but I'm still not sure just how, individual, changelings really are." Twilight's emotions clouded some as Chrysalis stood to walk over and tower above her.

"You of all ponies need to learn well. My changelings are not mindless. They have their own thoughts and personalities. Those are just secondary to serving the hive."

Twilight seemed to think of something. "Is that why I..." She seemed to look around, her gaze shifting between the other changelings in the room. She finally settled on the one opposite of Rainbow Dash on the bookshelves. "...I-25 is the only one who speaks to me when I address them?"

Chrysalis had been sure up until that point that ponies could not tell changelings apart. Why did that fact make Twilight's emotions seem more nutritious than they actually were. Pushing back that line of thought, she rolled her eyes as this information seemed obvious to her. "It's because they are the only one who knows ponish. They're the only infiltrator you brought along for some reason."

"You speak ponish?" Rainbow Dash inquired to her neighbor.

I-25 now seemed to look down to Twilight, seeming in inquiry. Chrysalis knew Twilight couldn't understand, and yet she now turned to her as if she knew what was going on. "What are they saying?"

Chrysalis was taken aback, but responded. "They have previous standing orders not to interact with ponies outside of disguise. They need orders if they are going to respond to her."

"Oh, of course. Chrysalis can you please relay this to the hive mind. All changelings can freely interact with ponies. Although I'm still restricting them to the hive and the areas around until we have an integration plan." She now looked up. "Except you four of course. You can stay until we figure stuff out. Until then, feel free to chat as much as you want."

A small green flame sparked around I-25's muzzle and throat. Their fangs retracted, and in a voice that seemed to mirror Rainbows they spoke. "Of course."

"Wow! Cool!" Hey, how fast can you fly with those buzzy wings?"

"Not fast enough to outrun a pegasus, but we can out maneuver almost any flying species."

Rainbow Dash smiled. "We'll have to test that at some point.”

The mood of the room was nearly pure sweetness to Chrysalis right now. At least the emotions from Twilight were tempered with something that made it more palatable. "This is good," the Alicorn proclaimed. "Any other questions...."

"Oh oh, me next." And there was the overwhelmingly sweet taste in full force. Pinkie Pie bounced up, seeming to not fear Chrysalis in the least. "What do you think of this?"

Chrysalis was now taken aback as the pink mare raised a hoof. In it rested what seemed to be some kind of pony food. Where it had come from, she had no idea. "These are those cupcake things you tried to push on me when I was disguised as Cadence."

"Nope. These are a completely different recipe. I didn't know if you were just in a bad mood then, but I figured I should try something different anyway. But now I'm curious. Can you taste pony food? Can you digest it? The others had some of Applejack's fritters, did they like those? If I threw you a welcome to Ponyville party, what would work for party food? Or maybe, since you eat emotions, gasp, is the party food???" She continued on in this manner.

Chrysalis turned to Twilight. "I can't hit her, how do I make her stop?"

"Pinkie!!!" The rest of the ponies shouted. This seemed to finally stop the endless rambling. Twilight continued. "Remember how we talked about letting others speak?"

"Oh, right." She turned back to Chrysalis, still smiling for some reason. "It's just, twenty thousand. I wanted to be ready in case we needed to expand the menu at Sugarcube Corner."

Chrysalis thought about this for a moment. "It would be easier to show you." She took the cupcake from Pinkie. In a few quick bites she chewed it up and swallowed it down. Although she seemed to continue to work her throat as she did. "We can imitate pony biology, that includes taste buds. It's not necessarily important, but it helps us blend in. And of course, we have preferences. As far as your food," she leaned in close with a deadpan expression. "I simply can't stand the texture of buttercream."

"Noted." Pinkie didn't seem off put by this at all.

Accepting that these ponies just didn't know better than to fear her, she continued. "As far as digesting." She now opened her jaw wide, flexing it some as she did so. As she did, a thick black substance began to exude from her fangs. Within a few moments she'd produced enough to fill her mouth. She then transferred it to a hoof and offered it to Pinkie.

Instinctively, Pinkie took it, an astonished look on her face.

"Oh good gracious. Pinkie don't touch that."

Knowing where this was going, Chrysalis turned to Rarity, the source of the sudden shrill cry. With a malicious smile, she opened her mouth wide and extended her tongue. The mare seemed to follow the forked appendage as it flopped out to its full length of nearly a foot. With wicked pleasure she spoke. "We don't produce waste products like you disgusting ponies do. We don't even have saliva. That is as much cupcake now as when I ate it.”

“Is it really?” Pinkie asked, even more astonished. She gave it a sniff.

Rarity cried out again. “Don't you dare eat that Pinkie.”

“I wasn't gonna.”

“Don't lick it either.”

“But it still kinda smells like cupcakes.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the exchange. “It's just been processed into a more useful form. Where do you think the dirt goes when we dig?"

Suddenly Twilight was up close to Chrysalis. "Wait, you use the material you dig to build and reinforce the tunnels you're digging? That's so fascinating. Spike, get me one of my field study notebooks.... are you still keeping minutes?"

The small dragon looked grumpy. "You never told me to stop."

"Oh, sorry. No, this has spiraled out of control as an official meeting. You can take that all up stairs and I'll go through it for useful information later."

Looking pleased to be able to leave, he gathered up as much of the massive pile of papers he'd produced as he could and began trudging from the room.

Twilight turned back to Chrysalis, her joy obvious. Chrysalis decided that letting her indulge in it a bit longer was fine. If only such an emotion could actually sustain her.

"I have so many questions about how this process works. Is it like how wasps build a hive? What kind of materials can be processed?"

"Twilight!" Caught off guard, she turned to Rarity at the call. "Could you leave such, scientific, inquiries for later. This is very distasteful."

"Not really," Pinkie interjected. "This stuff is actually pretty cool.

Looking over, the pink mare had been alarmingly busy. In the time they'd been distracted she'd somehow managed to sculpt little figures from the material. A dragon, five ponies, an Alicorn, and she was just finishing a changeling. One that was noticeably modeled after Chrysalis. She now looked around to the other changelings in the room.

"Sorry, I ran out before I could do you all. I'll bring you some made from cake later if you want." She said this while setting the miniature Chrysalis next to the miniature Twilight.

Twilight looked around the room. She was apparently very happy about the new enthusiasm of her friends. "This is good. There have been some shakey parts, but it's good. Look at us, ponies and changelings, having a nice, civil conversation."

"Hey." The call came from Rainbow above. She smiled fiendishly. "I've got a really good one." Sudden dread set in among some of the ponies in the group. "Can changelings bang?"

Rarity looked aghast. Fluttershy ducked low and hid behind her hair. Applejack chuckled. Pinkie looked confused. Twilight suddenly turned red as her emotions became too chaotic to read.

Sensing she'd accomplished what she had set out to do, Rainbow pushed the issue further. "Seriously. I mean, you almost married Twilight's brother. What if a changeling in disguise needed to bonk somepony to not be noticed?"

"There's no reason to go into stuff like that. Chrysalis, you don't need to answer that if you don't want to." She seemed to be trying to imply something. But implication wasn't an order.

"By 'bonk' I assume you mean sexual intercourse. I've already said we can replicate pony biology nearly perfectly. Of course we can, with the emphasis your species seems to place on the act. Though in a changeling hive it's not necessarily a natural function. The pleasure can be replicated, but the breeding itself is not allowed. The only changelings allowed to breed are Queens. So the only 'banging' that will happen is when your princess breeds me to death for the future of my..."

"STOP!!!!"

The order closed Chrysalis's mouth immediately. She could not parse all the emotions in the room at the moment, but they all seemed remarkably focused on Twilight.

"Hey Twilight, did you still want your research notebook for...."

The door to the library was suddenly slammed in Spike's face with enough force to shake the whole structure. The door was then locked and the key seemed to burn itself from existence.

"Ok, it's not what it sounds like..."

Author's Note

Thanks to my wife for helping in certain places. Although her trying to talk to me while I edit has been frustrating. But without her I'm not sure I'd have finished on time. Seriously, I did like ninety percent of this last night. Once I managed to get all the characters talking, they just kept talking. Hammering that into something useful has been the whole editing process.

This isn't exactly where I wanted to go with this chapter, but I think I like where it's gotten to. This was a bit of a struggle, it plays into a writing problem I've always had, too many characters. I do feel like some of them just sat in the corner for this, but it still works. The next chapter I feel like is going to be a lot of fun to write. You comments are always welcome, good and bad.