I'm not exactly sure what I expected. Even though this meeting was entirely my idea, I was not expecting the Equestrians to put me on the spot, forcing me to explain to Chrysalis why I was so adamant the two races achieved peace. That was only made worse by the fact that she found me to be annoying and didn't wish for me to have the opportunity to go on tangents. That forced us to play the Q & A game... sometimes answering to the ponies as well.

"You claim to be a changeling queen," Chrysalis reiterated, as though she found the entire idea doubtful, "and yet your body is clearly one of metal and textile. Why is this? You may hide behind magicless illusions all you wish, but I will not accept you are one of us."

Sighing, I reclined against the wall. I wished to remain apart from both parties and kept back in order to convey neutrality and the fact that I was an outsider, and thus I did not take a seat at the table. "Much as I explained to Princesses Celestia and Luna at breakfast, I'm something of a magical scholar. Specifically, I am a rune mage, and was working on a spell that would permit two-way scrying between two worlds. Specifically it was intended as a means for my world's Princess Celestia to communicate with a former student of hers since they'd made peace." The white horse in question looked a lot more alert, for it was a detail I hadn't let slip this morning. "Some magical anomaly involving chaos and dimensional magic interrupted a test of a prototype interdimensional scrying spell, and my soul was separated from my body, and thus I became this. My body, personal magic, and family are back in my own Equestria, and I would very much like to find a way home."

Everyone, but especially Chrysalis and Cadenza, paused to consider this. It was short, to the point, and most important of all, it hinted at what sort of mind they were dealing with. I called myself a scholar, but what it really meant was that I was an expert at spell creation and external casting. Even without my magic I couldn't be underestimated.

After a moment, Princess Cadenza raised a hoof and then spoke. "You mentioned a Goddess of the Swarm before, when you defended that drone," she observed, directing momentary attention to Ocellus. Now that it was clear that she was under my protection, said drone was now standing at the changeling side of the table, right beside her mentor in infiltration. "Perhaps if you explain what or who she is, Queen Chrysalis might be more inclined to believe you."

Before I even considered my answer, I shot the queen a questioning look. Dare I venture forth and put your mind to rest? When she gave a begrudging nod, I took a moment to compose my thoughts. That is to say, I mentally queried and condensed all the hive lore that had been crammed into my head when I was a foal in order to preserve the changeling's history. Even a decade later, I still hadn't sorted through all of it.

"I will lay everything out as I understand it although I need to preface it a bit to make things clearer to the ponies," I agreed after a moment. "In the world, there are beings that I tend to refer to as Embodied Concepts—living, thinking natural forces. Chaos is one I'm certain a few of you may have met in the past. I angled my head in the direction of the castle garden, where said entity was currently encased in stone. "Some, like Harmony, have creatures they treat as their children. Just as ponies fall under Harmony's domain, changelings fall under Hunger's domain."

Based on the shocked expressions on everypony's faces, they were not aware of this fact. "According to what I've been made to believe, Hunger created the changelings long ago in the time of Dream Valley." I glanced at Chrysalis before smiling, "You might remember the name of the First Queen, Queen Tethys. Back then, pony and bug-kind didn't have any sort of adversarial relationship, and it used to be symbiotic, so Tethys' hive grew into a great empire. Things were great for centuries, until relations between the three pony tribes collapsed. Love became harder to come by, and eventually all tribes grew to distrust the changelings, who grew twisted in their starvation. Thus, Hunger appeared before Tethys and taught her ambition and secrecy; she was enshrined then, as the Goddess of the Swarm, and the masquerade was established in her name."

It was entirely unexpected when I observed Chrysalis draw a circle in the air before her with her hoof and then move to clasp her opposite shoulder. That was a changeling religious gesture that, at least in my world, died out before Chrysalis' time. "It can't be," she whispered in disbelief. "Even Apocrita doesn't have that clear of a picture of our history, and yet... I can feel it in my heart."

"Gods, don't bring that bug up, please," I muttered just loud enough to be heard. "Crazier than a box of frogs, that one." It didn't matter that the bug was the best scholar among the reformed changelings and this world's changelings; the fact of the matter was that the old bug was losing her marbles and clearly had been even before I'd met her in my world.

Another thing I wasn't really expecting was the giggling of the queen's daughter. It was weird because it reminded me of how I sounded when I was a foal. Even as her mother tried to quietly discourage her daughter from her outburst, Princess Anonymous whispered, "It's funny 'cuz it's true!" That got a begrudging chuckle from Chrysalis, and soon the entire pony side of the table was smiling at the cute display. Then, seemingly out of curiosity more than anything, the little bug looked over at me and asked, "So how come we have the same name? Are you like, me from the future?"

When Chrysalis reaffirmed that question as something that was bothering her as well, that got us deep off into a tangent that resulted in a sanitised retelling of my foalhood... How I'd 'reincarnated' into Equestria in the body of a little green filly and gotten the name Anonymous from Celestia—which got a really confused look form both the named horse and changeling queen... Getting sent to live with another alicorn and her apprentice for eating one of Sunbutt's cakes... About how Chrysalis' hive had been warped by Harmony, leaving Chryssi as nothing more than lonely bug with a blood feud against my caretakers.

I half-expected Chrysalis herself was going to lunge at me with the Swarm-minder's Oath at the revelation that I had perverted her counterpart into one of Harmony's 'reformed' bugs through magic and trickery. She let me continue, though, covering how it'd turned out my soul was bound to an already occupied body and I sought some way to separate myself... of Hunger's offer, and her betrayal. Suddenly, knowing that my punishment for ending the last of the true changelings was to become the last true changeling—one tasked with repopulating the species when she came of age—made Chryssi rather smug. I intentionally left out who Hunger used as a template in creating my changeling body. No need for her head to get too big.

"If your Equestria is years ahead of ours, and my plans were the subject of a textbook about our kind, that would explain how you knew of my plans and my agents," Chrysalis finally remarked after several minutes of silence to consider everything she'd heard. "Yet it explains very little why you are so invested in what happens to us. This world's changelings are not your kin; you owe us nothing, and yet you offer us everything."

I shrugged and started walking over to her side of the table. All of her praetorian guards tensed, but made no move as I slowly sat seiza beside the bug queen and her daughter. "Your Majesty, though I am not of this world, everything in here—" I tapped the side of my head. "—and everything in here—" I closed my hand over where my heart would be. "—tells me I should help you," I explained. "The Goddess' touch left not just her mark on my soul, but on the way I think as well. It's honestly kind of awful to think about what she did to my mind, cramming all that hive lore into my poor little head, but..." I looked down at Princess Anonymous and then over at all the ponies on the opposite side of the table. "I wouldn't ask that anyone go through what I had to, because I've no doubt if this world's changelings met the same fate as mine, or worse, this world's Hunger would absolutely take it out on someone and enact my fate on them as punishment."

The room chilled suddenly, and the lighting in the room seemed somehow darker. There was a mellifluous chuckling that almost sounded like purring coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "The outsider is not wrong," came the almost teasing tone of Hunger. "And knowing that it can be done, I might just find the means to do so to whomever seeks that method out."

I wonder if this world's Spirit of Hunger would take the same name if she ever physically manifests, I wondered as things transitioned from 'getting to know the weird changeling-possessed robot' to an actual bit of negotiations over food. Well, they brought in a bunch of love donated by some castle staff volunteers, while the royals had evening snacks. Me, I had a flagon from the kitchens filled with mineral oil and brought to me. I was more than content to just sit and listen. After all, I was more of an advocate than anything else.

The biggest issue being faced was that within two years, barring some sort of miracle, the changelings would die out. I knew from Biologia that Chryssi's stunt with Cadance's wedding pushed the clock back, as did what happened when she successfully replaced much of Ponyville and the ruling class in Canterlot. Too bad she fucked up and didn't account for Starlight and company. They should've cut and run, relocating the hive when the environmental disaster struck, but pride kept them in their ancestral home.

Luckily for her, I intervened and derailed that whole thing. Equestria was a land of plenty, and given time for integration, the changeling numbers would surely be on the rise. It of course wouldn't be that easy. Ponies would need time to adapt, as would all the bugs. In exchange for food, citizenship, and temporary accommodation, all the tribe needed to do was find their place in the pony world. Then, when changelings were integrated, the crown could work with Chrysalis on establishing a new, proper hive in Equestrian territory.

Eventually, Chrysalis admitted what the actual plan for the wedding was, and fully admitted that it was a Hail Mary play that gambled the well-being of the hive. She owned that fact, but refused to be ashamed of it. It was argued that were situations reversed, Celestia and Luna might have been forced to make a similar decision. My interference and breaking the masquerade was the only reason she'd even come to the table.

Even as I zoned out, they were banging out details for a temporary settlement in one of the city's lower tiers. I think Celestia mentioned something about unowned land zoned for industrial use that'd been vacant for a while. I was more interested in the fact that Big Bug was gonna personally lead the tribe out of the desert like some biblical figure, and while all that was going on, you had Cadenza and Luna personally spearheading the love equivalent of a blood drive. It was, to say the least, an interesting turn of events.

I almost went and slipped into sleep mode, but I was distracted by the coming of a very familiar unicorn stallion. White coat, immaculate blonde mane, and a compass rose on his flank? It could only have been Prince Blueblood. Back in my Equestria, he was actually somepony I didn't mind calling a friend, even if we didn't start off on the best terms. Up until shortly before the Storm King's invasion of Canterlot, I was actually convinced he was just a rich snob and the head of Equestria's unicorn supremacist movement. Instead, he was actually a shrewd politician that tempered the nobility, and he kept them from being worse. By the end of that war, all of Equestria knew him as a war hero.

The stallion quietly slipped in and made his way over to Celestia's side of the table and quietly whispered into her ear. I of course, being curious by nature, cranked the gain on my auditory sensors. "The nobles are restless," he quietly intoned. "There is talk of vampires in the castle, strange creatures parading through the streets, and a threat to the crown. There has also been mention of the order getting involved."

Celestia's expression grew dark, and her eyes darted to me, and then Chrysalis. "Find the sources of those rumours and plug them," she growled. "And for the love of Harmony, do whatever you can to keep the zealots out of this, or it will be an unmitigated disaster."

After the meeting concluded, Chrysalis and her daughter were given a room, outside which her escort took up position alongside an honour guard granted by the crown. Ocellus chose to return to my room, and I had no idea what the other ponies were doing. As for me, I decided to take advantage of the moonlight and just go out to one of the castle gardens to be alone. It'd been a pretty busy day, and it was probably the most social I'd been in weeks, and I was pretty drained.

As I wandered the gardens, I found myself sinking into some self reflection. Well, Mom, I'm pretty sure this isn't what you meant when you said I should go out and make some friends, I thought drily as my feet unconsciously led me down a familiar path. Although, I think I see why you felt the need to threaten to do as your mentor did and send me away.

The many days spent either in the lab or sleeping often blurred together, with only the occasional outing interspersed to break it up. Even after all the therapy I'd been through, I still wound up becoming a little homebody who could only take being around lots of ponies in short bursts. It was one thing to hang out with Mom and the Elements, or Emerald and the Crusaders, but those were known quantities who knew my limits. Even trips to the mirror world for drinks and karaoke with Sunset and her friend group were never a long affair. I'd burn myself out over the course of a few hours and then go back to my homebody self or interact one-on-one with ponies I knew.

Since my unexpected vacation began, though, it didn't really feel like I was getting a chance to come down from being around others. What made it all worse was the fact that the chaos and dimensional magic encapsulating my soul and body were apparently waiting for me to meet some unseen criteria. It somehow seemed unlikely that I'd just get pushed along if I sat still for long enough, which meant that I had to do something. It just so happened that the thing I decided to do here involved stepping out of my comfort zone.

It's not like I can spar with Tempest, or run through any of the katas she taught me and Emerald when she taught us self-defence, in order to cool down. None of those forms were intended for a biped, and although I could probably just let this body's programming take over, I'd rather not have to risk things turning into a bloodbath if I can't wrest back control. Plus, a lot of that seems dependent on the body's integrated weapons systems, which in turn builds up heat. Hmm, I wonder if there's anything in MEMORY_DATA that I can reference.

SEARCH RESULTS - "MARTIAL ARTS" IN: SYS://"../MEMORY_DATA/"

NAME DESCRIPTION

BOXING "HAND-TO-HAND MARTIAL ART. GOOD OL' FISTICUFFS."

BRAZILLIAN_JIU JITSU "DEFENSIVE MARTIAL ART, GRAPPLING AND SUBMISSION FOCUS."

KRAV_MAGA "MARTIAL ART CREATED BY IDF, DERIVED FROM BOXING, AIKIDO, KARATE AND MORE!"

KUNG_FU "VARIOUS CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS INCLUDING WUSHU AND SHAOLINQUAN."

MUAY_THAI "THAI MARTIAL ART UTILISING FISTS, ELBOWS, KNEES, AND SHINS."

VIEW MORE RESULTS?

Jeeze, and that's not even including all the weapon-based martial arts.

Before I realised it, I found myself standing in front of a very familiar looking marble statue. Sitting on a short plinth, balanced by just his serpentine tail was none other than the Spirit of Chaos, Discord, his limbs held out as if to shield himself even as he recoiled away. Except, I knew from the stories that this wasn't a statue. So this is what he looked like when he was under Harmony's lock and key.

A smile crossed my face as I stood alongside the statue, facing the same direction he was. I then accessed the data on boxing and started a basic shadow-boxing program that automated some of my movements. It was all fairly robotic, as it was just a pre-programmed set of movements, but I was paying attention to how the movements felt and committing them to my memory so that I could repeat them, and break it all down into its various components so that I understood how to box.

As my body ran through a series of bobs, weaves, jabs and more, I struck up a one-sided conversation with the petrified incarnation of the Lord of Chaos. Was he even conscious, or was it a moment frozen in time for him? "Must be pretty lonely, being stuck like this, out in the middle of a garden," I observed aloud as the program ran to its conclusion. "Like, I get you did some really fucked up shit, but if you're aware in there, that's cruel and unusual punishment. Being stuck like that for a millennium would be enough to drive anyone insane."

I laughed at my own joke as I started running through that pattern from memory, doing my best to make the actions more fluid. "Not that you have to worry about that, huh?" I paused my practice just long enough to gently elbow the air beside me, as though he were right beside me for me to jab in the ribs, before resuming. "But hey, if this world plays out anything like mine did, your future's looking pretty bright. Hard to imagine, but you even helped save the world. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Quite hard to believe, as it happens," came the calm voice of Princess Celestia. I glanced over to the path that I'd come down, and sure enough, there was the Sun Horse strolling over, in all her regal corpulence. "How could one ever believe that one of the most heinous villains in recorded history would help save the world?"

I stopped my practice and mimicked wiping sweat from my brow as I took in the rather unimpressed look on her face. Out of momentary paranoia, I ran thermals to check her temperature, but unlike a changeling, she was fucking hot. Definitely Celestia. Casually, I backed up and took a seat on the plinth of Discord's prison. "You'd be surprised what a little kindness can do for even the most ferocious of beasts, Your Highness," I said in a casual tone as her eyes narrowed. Wonder if she can take a hint? "Besides, I'd like to think that even violent offenders can contribute something to society if given the chance."

It looked as though she were considering something as she occasionally looked from me to Discord. After a tick, she sighed. "You sound as though you speak from experience, Anonymous Flicker."

I nodded, crossing my arms and leaning forward. "I should hope so," I muttered, unable to meet her gaze. "My world's Celestia and Luna took a chance on me. There was a lot more to the story of how I became a changeling than I let on back there. There's just certain things you can't talk about in front of young impressionable princesses, or Chrysalis' daughter for that matter."

That actually got a snort of amusement from her. I can only imagine how it made her feel, being called 'young', even if I was really joking about Cadenza in specificity. "I won't claim to be a saint, Celestia," I muttered. "I was in a really dark place once, and I lost control." Withdrawing my hand into my arm, a small projector emerged and I started focusing on the face of a certain black pegasus stallion. "This piece of shit was a pedophile mobster in my Equestria. The step-father of my adopted little sister... Son of a bitch foalnapped somepony very important to me to get to her... not realising I was occupying Em's body at the time."

When I cut the projection and finally looked up at her, there was a disapproving, if understanding, look on her face. "I take it from the way you speak that the stallion no longer lives."

I shook my head and bitterly muttered, "His soul and body—and the bodies of seventeen other complicit mobsters served as the fuel for Hunger's scheme." I looked down at my hand, and to my utter lack of surprise, it was trembling. "But for the fact that I was clearly a mentally unwell eight-year-old nymph, and Canterlot was recovering from an invasion that'd been happening while all that was going on, you probably wouldn't have 'let me off' with the years of probation and therapy, the community service, the fines, and the five year ban from taking the necessary licensing exams for combat magic, to say nothing about the creation of such spells."

Honestly, if she dared doubt the fact that I could create any sort of combat spell at that age, I was fully ready to project the old spell diagram for my very illegal rail-gun spell. That would definitely put the fear of herself in her. Instead, she surprised me as her expression softened into one of pity. She even overcame whatever disgust she might have felt towards being in the statue's proximity and came to drape a wing over my shoulders.

"And yet you ended up in a body that, by your own admission, is designed and programmed to kill," she said in a compassionate voice. "Fate has a way of making us confront our past in ways we never expected. Before Twilight Sparkle, I had another apprentice. Orphaned at a young age, I took her in and raised her like a daughter..."

I listened quietly as the mare spoke of Sunset and how she'd originally intended to send the young mare down the path that destiny bestowed instead upon Twilight. I of course already knew how it went wrong, but I nonetheless listened. What I was not aware of, or perhaps it simply didn't come into play in this world, was her fear of repeating the mistakes she made while training Twilight—how every day that Twilight grew more secluded and fixated on her learning, she would become more and more worried that Twilight would be incompatible with the task of uniting the Elements of Harmony and saving Princess Luna from the Nightmare.

The interaction didn't make me feel any closer to the mare, but at the same time, it gave me an appreciation for the chance that she was taking with me. Much like with Twilight, she was hoping that her faith was not misplaced—that I wouldn't doom Equestria. Really, that's all it boiled down to... Being able to take a gamble on the potential future I could lead her ponies down.

Friends

N, Disassembly Drone - COP9AU
Uzi, Worker Drone - COP9AU
Ocellus, Unreformed Changeling - EQUS78Σ

Items

The Victim's Guitar - COP9AU
WDF Aviators - COP9AU
Shapeshifter's Parasol - EQUS78Σ

Software

Conscience_v0.1a - COP9AU
absoluteSolver (?) - COP9AU

2 extra lives remaining

Author's Note

Just a short one this week.
To preempt the expected question, no, this world's 'Princess Anon' is not derived from the same person that became Anonymous Flicker. She is just a precious little bug, free of any sort of reincarnation, who should be loved and protected.