A change of heart

Chapters

Prologue - 0 - A Spark
Act I - Chapter 1 - Discoveries
Act I - Chapter 2 - Secrets and lies and truths
Act I - Chapter 3 - Outside the walls
Act I - Chapter 4 - Not Enough
Act I - Chapter 5 - Council
Act I - Chapter 6 - Discussions
Act I - Chapter 7 - Stirring Thoughts
Act I - Chapter 8 - A Collection of Sacrifices

Prologue - 0 - A Spark

I felt it.

We all did.

The princess and her beloved fired off a wave of magic that… I can’t quite explain…

My guess? At the best of my understanding and ability? He tried something desperate, a last-ditch spell to protect… those he loved, I suppose. I’m just a regular changeling, barely above a common worker, so I just did as I was told; I have bare-minimum knowledge of how and why ponies do the things they do differently from us –just enough to go, impersonate, collect love and go back to the hive.

So questions like that don’t make sense. Why try so hard? He was beaten, why keep fighting? He was almost literally on his last leg and yet there he was, attempting to channel a spell through his horn.

He hadn't been very successful. He was drained. Not only that; being one of the few in the hive of Unity with any experience in mental magic due to my transfer, I asked around and saw that the queen had not made any mistakes in her control - leaving him with a tremendous headache that would prevent him from making even a simple levitation. Even if I wasn't overly accepting of it (I prefer to avoid intruding into the minds and wills of my marks, like any other of the hive of Love, Empathy and even Positivity).

And then she helped.

Back to my guess. She… the love that that pink princess felt for that white captain… she poured it all onto him, every last drop of emotion. And he responded in kind, by letting his love for her entwine in complete trust before channeling that energy.

For whatever reason ponies have to push themselves so hard, they did. Their capacity for love is what feeds us, so I might be more surprised by the fact that I’m witnessing such thing with my own eyes rather than being surprised that it is possible at all.

All that love, their minds, their very souls and bodies… turned into power in a last, colossal effort to save themselves and the other ponies. They glowed. Then that… wave shield thing came.

I once thought that our queens could channel the energy of true love –after all, that was what injured princess Celestia, no?

No.

Queen Chrysalis –all of us, actually- used it as a mere power source; or, more commonly, distributed through the hive as food. The love Shining Armor felt for princess Cadence was so pure it left the Sun princess unconscious after receiving a blow she could not safely deflect, but the Queen harnessed it in the first place because she had assumed the bride’s identity and brainwashed the groom into giving it to her.

It was still not true.

It could never be true, unless it was honestly given to ourselves –our real selves. But how? I’m pretty sure the ponies will think we don’t deserve it and, after what happened today, after mulling it over… I-I might agree with them. I look at the old tales... how did I get roped into this hare-brained scheme? What reason there could be to agree to something so contrary to what we stand for? Well, other than 'being at the constant edge of starvation made us crazy'. I've been at the edge of drone-ification for too long, it seems.

Thinking about this wasn't going to do me much good, but it kept my mind away from my inevitable encounter with the ground…

Uh… can't fly, too detached from my own body to do anything... well, not much left to do but keep pondering the situation.

Other than hearing one of the higher-ranks mumble something about a ‘nova’ and 'silver bonds', I was unable to see, hear or otherwise sense anything outside of that massive wall of magic.

It pushed all of us.

I felt it.

The thing powering it was love, but it was burning so brightly! I feared that if I tried to absorb it, or even merely push back, it would consume me in punishment for daring to take it for my own. The shield wouldn't have allowed it, though, just like it would not allow us to pass if we held no love... I guess for the ponies. I know for a fact there are changelings that weren't part of the invasion and didn't get pushed back or anything.

I've heard of changelings leaving the hives and finding love, maybe the spell could differentiate? I don't know. Although there was one thing; just from touching it the spell made me numb all over.

Heh… we were way out of our league. We had been raised to see ponies as completely distrusting and incapable of understanding the importance of love and then this happens. It kind of feels like ponies trampling all over a big piece of the world I know… or thought I knew, as it stands.

Applying what logic and knowledge I can muster, I could place a bet that Celestia was defeated only because she would not risk the safety of her subjects by unleashing the full extent of her powers…

But why?

That’s the thing! I’m aware there are differences in the way we think, and it was precisely because of that that the-our Queen faced their princess in combat; the place they fought in had a huge risk of collateral damage… and it still doesn't make a lick of sense to me!

Forgetting a minute about the fact that they do not operate like us –no swarm and all differences like that- I’m trying to see what’s so different in the way we value things and individuals. There were hundreds of ponies in the palace alone, many of which were far from their fight… surely losing a few dozen of them would not be such a terrible blow to their population that they could not recover; it would not be too hard on their workforce either (even with their system). Why does Celestia value each individual so much as to risk her own well-being for them?

Queen Chrysalis does value the swarm, even the drones; I respect her for that even if I disagree with her methods, but if my death would have furthered the survival of the others… so be it. We have been in this twilight for so long, that if my sacrifice could help changelings -hell, even one- see that promised dawn so be...

Hey, that's it! The difference! We've been-

Crash. Crunch.

*****

A lone changeling landed in the middle of the square. Her foreleg was nearly shattered like an eggshell from the impact, barely holding together, and a large crack ran across her torso. The green colors she had been forced to wear faded as did her connection to the Queen of Hive Unity, returning to the red of Hive Love she had been born in.

Act I - Chapter 1 - Discoveries

*Beep!*
'... change... bandage...'
*Beep!*
'No... danger...'
*Beep!*
' Drop the shield...'
*Beep!*
'No.'
*Beep!*
'Do... mister...'
*Beep!*
'... shy, why... looking at me...?'
*Beep!*
'Do it.'
*Beep!*
'Alright!'
*Beep!*

I... it smells delicious! This is kindness! I have to eat as much as I can!

"Get back!"

Blegh! Hate! Wait, the kindness is gone!

'Please, no!' I try to say, but I can only cough. Why is my throat so sore? I feel like I'm on fire. What is that beeping and why is it getting faster?

"What's wrong?" I heard somepony ask.

'I'm starving!' "Hun-hung-..."

"Hungry?"

I try saying something, nod, scream, anything! I can't!

"She's crashing!"

"Starv-" Work, mouth, work!

"She should have all the nutrients in the IV!" Some other pony says.

"Lo- lov-!" Come on! I-I can't hold on much more... i-if I faint now, I will never wake up again!

"Love?"

"Yes!" The word shreds my throat like red-hot iron blades, but I need love!

"See? It's evil!" I hear a male say. "It won't get anything!" No! Please no! I don't want to turn into a drone!

"She is crying and very obviously in pain!" Please... not like that...

"Sir, she will die if you don't let us act!" Whoever you are, please help. "As a doctor, I will not allow you to kill somepony through negligence!"

"Fine! But at the first sign of danger, I'm taking action!"

"Eagh!" Blegh! The hate is tainting everything! I have to do something! Argh! My leg! It hurts!

"Why is she screaming?" The owner of this voice... is feeling... sad...

"Hat-hate... spoils-..." I can't go further.

"Shining, stop!" Being hated to death is just as bad; it's poison for my body.

"You stop having pity on a monster!"

"... please." I say... might be the last thing I say...

Just as suddenly, the hate stops. I breathe deeply, trying to take in as much kindness as I can. I-I haven't felt something like this before!

"Twilight!" A male yells, I think I know the voice. "Take this down!"

"You are killing her!" A mare yells back.

"It deserves it!"

"Sir! Captain or not, I will have you removed from the hospital if you do not stand down!"

I... I feel better. I think I feel worry, compassion, and yes, a little pity. There is also dedication, duty... what's that? Oh, I think that's the smell of cleaning products. Hospital, huh?

The beeping is slowing down, and just now I'm noticing that it's synchronized to my heart. Kinda hypnotic. I think I can rest for now.

*****

The doctors and nurses hurried to remove the bandages around the changeling's foreleg and chest, her trashing while restrained having aggravated the cracks on her chitin and causing her to bleed profusely again. There was little they could do beyond staunch the bleeding with magic, having no knowledge about treating the armor with anything other than time and disinfectant.

"You will never, ever say something like that again! You hear me!?" Fluttershy was Staring right at Shining Armor for the second time in as many minutes, the hardened soldier finding it surprisingly difficult to ignore her eyes. "Forget about the answers we could get, forget about how we feel about them, it doesn't matter! I will NOT allow you to hate somepony to death!"

Shining Armor tensed, trying to overcome the feeling of dread that rooted his body to the spot.

"All life is important!" Fluttershy yelled at his face, never taking her eyes from his. "What they did was wrong, but that doesn't mean you can kill them! You will not- I repeat- you will! Not! Hurt! Her! Understood?!"

"But it could-"

"She." The yellow pegasus corrected, and the white unicorn felt his will buckle under the strain.

"She could try to hurt us." He managed to get out. He felt... upset, just upset - the mare half his weight having somehow dowsed his anger - over the fact that everypony seemed to be against him.

"She will do nothing more energetic than wiggle in her restraints." The doctor chided him once more, changing a bandage around the sleeping changeling's head. "That is, if she doesn't want to lose her leg and bleed to death."

Fluttershy broke eye contact, and the stallion shook his head to regain his bearings. Shining Armor gritted his teeth, ears pressing against his head, feeling like the only pony with a whit of common sense in a madhouse.

The medic threatened to expel him, the guards and the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty promised to help, Fluttershy doing... whatever the hell she had done.

And his sister -his sister- had momentarily encased him in a forcefield.

That was the one that stung the most. He was trying to protect her!

"Shining, please, princess Celestia asked us to learn what we can from this changeling. You can't just kill i-her." Twilight corrected herself at the last second, though she could have done without the knowledge that the doctors had 'inspected' the changeling prisoner that closely. And she wished she could forget about the comments about her 'bits'.

"I'm trying to protect all of you!" He hissed, leaning forward slightly but retreating quickly when he saw Fluttershy's ear twitch.

"You can't do anything with that attitude." Twilight shot back. "And unless you forget, we are many more than her."

"What about her magic?"

"Even if changelings could get through the suppressor, and she were skilled to do so even if she weren't..." The doctor gently patted the changeling in the head, close to the jagged, sharp horn surrounded by a bandage and a rune-engraved silver ring. "She is in no condition to cast anything; her horn is nearly completely broken at the base. In unicorns, recovery could take weeks, if not months. We have determined that changeling horns are made of alicorn, just like a unicorn's, so the treatment is the same."

"Shining. Stop, that was just grasping at straws." Twilight demanded. "You're being irrational, ever since you heard about the changeling in here you've been too aggressive and short with everypony; I know you are still hurt, but revenge isn't going to help anypony."

Shining Armor... sighed in defeat. "You're right. This is an opportunity we can't waste. These green bugs-"

"Red." Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"What?"

"This changeling is red." Dash pointed at the small part of the barrel what wasn't covered. Indeed, red chitin could be seen peeking through. "You mean you've been so set on taking your anger out on her that you didn't even notice her color? It's been three days."

The Captain of the Royal Guard-turned prince did a double take.

"I didn't see any red changelings in the attack." He said dumbly. "Or any color that wasn't green and black."

"And yet ponies said she came from the direction of Canterlot."

"Fine, I-I'll calm down." Shining Armor sighed and released tension on his shoulders that he hadn't realized was there.

Twilight smiled sadly. She loved Shiny, she truly did, but she knew he shouldn't really be here. She couldn't understand why Celestia hadn't ordered him to go away yet, or stopped him from virtually bullying his way through the guards already assigned. He simply was too emotionally involved to think clearly.

Not that she wasn't involved, too, but at least she wasn't spouting death threats and saying that the changeling deserved to bleed to death on a hospital bed.

*****

Uh... I don't feel too good. And the beeping is back. Joy.

"Easy there, you have lost some blood." I hear somepony, and felt a light touch on my shoulder. I feel a trickle of... care.

OK.

I try opening my eyes, and I'm pleased to say that there is no blinding light there to greet me. It's covered by the shadow of an unicorn stallion.

"Don't move, you are injured; we don't want you to hurt yourself further with your restraints, either."

I'd say I'd rather not be here, but other than a little bit of apprehension I feel honest concern from him so... what the hell, I'll take it easy. I can't feel any more changelings in the area, so I must be blocked off from the exterior by something semi-magic-proof, be it on my horn or in these sterile-white walls around me.

There is still a flow of hate fouling up everything, but I don't feel like it's going to make me sick just yet.

I blink and... notice one of my eyes isn't opening.

"Band-age?" I manage to say. He thought about it for a second, trying to catch the meaning of my words... err, word.

"Around your horn, head, torso and foreleg." The caramel-colored stallion said. That explains it, I must have a bandage over my eye. I hope. I can still feel it's there, at the least.

Speaking of eyes, I think I can retract my lens - it's not like I'm going to use a disguise anytime soon.

The move earned a gasp from the doctor.

"Look at that, she has eyes like the queen's!" Some other pony said.

I turn and see... the six mares that were captured while running towards some build- oh! Right! Shining Armor's sister and her fr- aww, drat. Wait, that white and blue unicorn...

Friggin' hell...

No wonder everything is tainted with hate.

"How... long." I break into a cough, and the unicorn doctor helpfully gives me a glass of water, placing a hoof on me to stop me from moving. I must be quite the mess.

"You have been here five days." No wonder I was so weak.

"Others?" I ask, and he just shook his head. So I'm the only one that was captured? Embarrassing.

"Start talking, changeling." Shining Armor barked, and I could feel the hate radiating from him.

"You hate me... you're poisoning me. Why should I give you... anything?"

"Because he's going to control himself and hear you out, right, brother?" A purple unicorn with a starburst cutie mark said, glaring slightly at the recently-wedded unicorn.

"Fine." He said, but he did not even try to reign in his emotions.

The lavender mare made a bunch of signals... I think she's asking for everypony to be quiet. She pulled out a quill and notepad and prepared herself.

"Why did you invade?" Well, nopony can say that was unexpected.

"I... I think the power went to her head." I said. "We've been at the edge of starvation for so long... I think Queen Chrysalis got it in her head that we could get more."

"Starvation?" A canary yellow pegasus asks, and I think that my interrogator must have thought the same thing, since she didn't do anything.

"For love, yeah... more and more changelings are turning into drones lately." I sigh.

"And... that is bad." She said, obviously wanting me to go into further detail.

"Food helps keep our bodies healthy, but without love? The body consumes what it can to support itself. Our Spark degrades into nothing." I said, and a brief silence comes over. I need to explain this? "We lose our minds and wills."

That shocked... pretty much all of them; Shining Armor forgot to hate me for a moment there. The yellow mare starts tearing up, and a pink earth pony hugs her to console her. The pegasus then released huge waves of compassion, directed at me, and radiating everywhere.

This is crazy! Everypony felt the same! Even Shining Armor gave a wisp of pity. The prize still goes to the crying yellow mare, though.

"I-I had no idea..." The lavender mare... Twilight something... nearly dropped the notepad.

I was feeling better by the minute - sure, if the way the doctor acted was any indication, I was a mess... I don't dare to move. Nope, I won't move until I'm told it's safe.

"The name of the changeling queen is Chrysalis?" She asked, trying to steady her trembling quill.

I nod. I miss being under Queen Concordia...

"And... yours?" I.. huh... I guess that with all the excitement we forgot the introductions.

"Iridescence." Then the unicorn (Twilight Sparkle) presented herself and her friends. A rainbow-maned pegasus called Rainbow Dash, an orange earth pony mare called Applejack, a pink earth pony called Pinkie Pie, a white unicorn called Rarity, and the pink-maned pegasus that was supplying me with kindness was called Fluttershy.

She pointed at her brother, but I spoke before she could say it.

"Shining Armor. Chrysalis wouldn't shut up about how sweet he was." He snarled at me, and a wave of hate made me gag.

"Big brother, stop..." Twilight pleaded, and he just huffed and turned away slightly, but kept an eye on me.

Like if I was in any condition to do anything.

The door opened, and in strode Princess Celestia.

Oh goodie, as if I wasn't in deep enough trouble.

Twilight beamed, and warmly greeted the princess of the sun. And then she returned the greeting and said 'my faith student' and I felt dizzy with the implications.

The white, regal princess turned to look at me... and her face was neutral. Her emotions were very neutral too, but I could feel a little disapproval coming from her. She stood to full height and her wings opened to hit me with the entirety of her imposing presence.

"So this is the red changeling? I hope you are feeling better." She sa- wait, red? Oh... right, I don't have a connection anymore, so Chrysalis's magic must have ran out inside of me.

"A little." I manage to squeak out.

"I am princess Celestia, what is your name?"

"I-Iridescence." I am dead. I am so dead!

"Is your foreleg better?" She asks with a little genuine concern in her voice.

"I-I don't know, I don't want to look."

She hummed. Gulp. "Well, it seems your armor there broke quite severely, and so did your chest and horn."

"M-my horn?! I thought I was just-just blocked!" I-I can't- I mean, I am going- I need to breathe, I can figure out how long it'll take- STUPID BEEPING!

"Calm down!" She said, actually a little worried. "It's partial!"

"I- partial?" I must resist. I must not look.

"Your horn did not break off." I- alright, breathe. Deep in, slow...

She cleared her throat, so I focused my attention back on her. She gave me a few moments to recover.

"Why is it that there were no reports of red changelings, yet you flew in from Canterlot?" S-straight to the point! S-she is- I hope I'm not getting into any more trouble.

"I-I wasn't born under Chrysalis's house." I said, and the princess raised an eyebrow. She looked over to Twilight, and she whispered 'the name of the queen'.

"Is Chrysalis queen of all changelings?"

"No."

"You have a queen of your 'house'?"

"Yes."

"So, why follow another?"

"Uh... well, Chrysalis's house started gaining more power, so the other five sent her workers so that we might get more resources, and also in exchange of love so neither we nor the rest of the houses have to starve."

Twilight passed her notes to the princess, and I could feel the horror that she felt! She gasped and her eyes widened upon reading the fate that befell so many of my brethren, her demeanor changing drastically for those few moments.

"So... When I was taken in, we had to change our colors to hers, but I guess I ran out of her magic." I shuddered. "I nearly starved there."

I felt... a little compassion coming in. I guess we were wrong about most things about ponies, then. Princess Celestia sighed, then regained her composure. I can still feel her emotions a little bit... she's good at hiding them, it seems.

"So, this 'Queen Chrysalis' acted of her own accord?"

"I... I think? The whole 'invasion' thing was done five days before the wedding, so I guess?"

"You planned a whole invasion in five days?!" Twilight screeched, making me wince.

"T-the plan to feed off them was older, and didn't involve anypony getting hurt or anything!" I said, and Shining Armor's hate rekindled.

"Then what happened!?" He yelled at me, and I-I think I'm going to vomit...

"Shining Armor." The princess made him stand back just with his name.

"I-I think she liked it... a lot... I mean, even queens run short on food lately. Going from scarcity to such abundance so suddenly must have been too much for her, and she got greedy. Every house had to rotate their gatherers." I shake my head lightly, and can feel a restraint tugging my neck, but it was placed over bandages so I didn't notice before. "I was sent scouting from time to time, and got drafted for the invasion! I-I wasn't supposed to leave the hives! I just- that's not what I do!"

I think- AGH! My leg! I can't even bring my hooves to my face! The chain is too short!

Twilight levitates a paper tissue to me and wipes away my tears... I can't even do this? Why not throw me in a dungeon already?

"What did you do?" Princess Celestia waited until my sniffling died down to ask things again, how considerate.

"Ponies might not be comfortable discussing most of those things." I reply. And it's true, I doubt they want to learn about changeling... what do ponies call it? Birds and... something, I think it's a bug.

"Hmm... what could you tell us?"

"Uh... I sometimes took care of the young... I recounted the old tales, and sometimes even scary stories, like about Discord."

The ponies shuddered... is that a hint of disgust coming from the princess?

"Well, I'd tell them he was sealed by the Elements of Harmony, and invariably some would ask me what would happen if he were to return..."

"Ha!" Dash scoffed. "If he returns, we'll just get the Elements and seal him again!"

Why is the princess feeling panic? And why is Dash so confident?

"You talk as if you could just go fetch them at will - they've been lost for nearly three thousand years! They got scattered through the world when Queen Harmony died using the Love Crystal and the Elements to defeat Discord!"

"Liar!" Shining Armor yells again! Stop it with the hate! "Princess Celestia and her sister defeated Discord!"

"Shining Armor! Stop!" The princess ordered, and Shining Armor was taken aback... but...

Wait... wait! "No... that can't be..."

"Iridescence..."

"You were there." I said, and even through her stony facade I can see the anxiety in the princess's eyes. "The reason we never found them was because, when Queen Harmony died... you stole the Elements from her."

Act I - Chapter 2 - Secrets and lies and truths

"You stole the Elements from her."

It all fits! The stories of Discord's era said that Queen Harmony gave her life to help what could have only been the pony princesses and seal Discord! When the chaos ended, and search parties tried to find her, they were told that she died and that the Love Crystal and the Elements were scattered... it didn't matter, since as long as there was that Spark of Love, even if the Elements' physical vessels had been turned to dust the Spark that resides with every being would restore them - should they find a worthy Bearer.

Or do something weird like being passed spiritually or whatever it is that magical constructs of untold power do when their flimsy physical bindings are set loose.

Countless changelings sought them, looking for them the world over. None succeeded, obviously, but left a legend...

But if they were stolen by ponies, then no matter how hard we looked for them, they would not appear. They simply aren't there to react to anything.

The Love Crystal... I don't know, that one was different. Maybe it did get destroyed.

My accusation was like dumping a pail of ice on them. I can feel a tingle of static combined with the bite of frost that comes from shock.

Before the explosion of feeling could even start, Celestia hung her head low, which I guess made the others think something was amiss.

"What happened that day?" I ask. I admit that I am still quite surprised myself, feeling strangely numb to emotion.

It faded quickly, though.

"Hey there-"

"What happened?" I ask again, feeling how the liquid in my veins began to boil. I think Applejack was the one who spoke. "Did you kill her for them?!"

"No!" Celestia staggered back slightly, and from the shearing cold of fright she was giving off I could at least tell she was sincere about this. "She gave us the Elements..." She trails off, and I can tell she's burdened by the memory... but I'd have to be stupid to not realize she's still hiding something.

"How did it happen?" The chains hold back my neck... I would try to bite her otherwise. "I don't care what happens to me now, I need to know!"

"Uh... princess?" Twilight looked at both of us in turn, and I could tell from her emotions -rather, their absence- that she still hadn't processed what she was hearing. "W-what is happening? Iridescence, what do you know about the Elements?"

Celestia closed the door, and I think she cast a spell to silence what was said inside the room. Curious how I never noticed when the doctor left our company.

"The Elements are six." I say, trying to ignore the pain from the cracks in my chest. I can't! I have to lay back down... ugh. "Trustfulness, Empathy, Positivity, Charity, Unity and the most important one without which the others don't exist... Love."

Twilight mumbled... 'Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic.'

"Love and magic are the same thing, regardless of whenever or not you are a changeling." I say, tugging my one good foreleg in an angry and fruitless attempt to vent. And my wings are starting to burn from the effort of trying to spread them... stupid reflexes, like I could intimidate anything in my state. "The Bearers do much more than embody their Element; they inspire it and instill it in others. They are the most potent and beautiful magic constructs ever crafted by changelings."

"Liar!" Shining Armor yells and jumps next to my bed to yell some more. I am not going to let that happen, even as the hate is burning me from the inside.

So I spat at his face. It's black in color, which is never a good sign.

He rears up, fully intending to strike me. The golden aura that surrounded him the next second had a different idea, though.

"Shining Armor. I ordered you to stop." She says as she drags Shining away. There are many emotions in Celestia's voice, the major one being annoyance , with sadness thrown in as well. I am going to focus really hard on her - if she keeps lying, I'll know. I hope.

I-I feel the vile rising, but it's still stuck inside of me. With my horn blocked, there is only one way out for it. I might not withstand his next outburst.

"But... how can they be changeling magic?" The white one... Rarity asks.

I... I just close my eye. What kind of story has Celestia fed them? I am tired, but I can't just sleep yet - not until I know everything. Until they know everything.

"How can they be anything but changeling magic? They react to emotion, for Pit's sake!" I can feel the anger inside me... I need to do something or it'll hurt me. I hear shuffling. Whatever. "They are just like us, only attuned to a specific aspect, and without any limit in distance or reach. You can't hide your feelings from the Elements."

"But... why can ponies use them?" Uh... Pinkie asked. I blink. Celestia hasn't told them anything, but to think they don't know this?

"Ponies can feel things, no?" Seriously, it's the stupidest question. The finer workings of magical objects escape me but I can at least tell the young what a Focus does! Well, Earth ponies don't have much use or interest for like... nearly anything magic related, but I know there are things out there! "It doesn't matter what you are, as long as your soul can truly feel the spirit of the Elements within itself, they will react."

"That's why the six of us were chosen?" I- what?! I'm in the presence of the Bearers?! All six of them at once?!

"Yes." I respond pretty much automatically. I-I can't even think about what this all means. This must be what they felt when I accused their beloved princess of stealing from the dead. I must endure, though.

"Queen Harmony was the greatest heroine in our history..." I say, all the while my anger had been replaced by... nothing. Nothing. There is just a hole left behind. I squeeze my eye shut. "Discord's chaos was affecting all sentient life and made it incapable of love - he was killing us. Drones are the body's last attempt to preserve itself; if the shortage continues, then they just starve and die. Discord's influence was so bad, we were almost wiped out."

"She was a heroine... and it's all a lie." I open my eye again and see she's... feeling guilty? She's trying to disguise it, and if she were just three paces back I wouldn't be able to tell.

"Why did she give you the Elements?"

"I-I- she was injured, already at death's door."

"Go on, speak. Thousands of years have passed, so I'd like to think we deserve to know; the Bearers just as much as us." I am being rather curt to the pony that just minutes before nearly scared me to death, but I find out I don't care about her anymore.

"You... you are right. If color relates you... then you are of her house, and I should have remembered sooner." I... I still want to hit her, but I have to know!

"Discord did not lay your queen low." She at least had the decency to look me in the eye. "One of his more dangerous..." She shuddered. "... creations performed the foul deed."

*****

"Well, that was entertaining!" Discord laughed, peeling off what looked like the charred remains of his skin from his face, his features completely untouched underneath the blackened cover he had torn off. "I admit you are quite fun to play with! You keep getting smarter, more creative! But you'd better go to school and practice some more if you want to go anywhere."

The white winged unicorn gasped for breath and shakily laid down on the ground, next to her dark-colored sibling. The two of them had hit him with everything they had... and it hadn't been anywhere near enough.

"Well, there are a few mountains that are just asking for a mustache -maybe a beard- or maybe polka-dot lipstick? In any case, see you once you get better at fighting! Maybe in a thousand- no, two thousand years!"

*****

"Sister, do not focus so much on his words." Luna -then, just 'Luna'- laid a wing over me.

"We gave our best, and our best was not even an inconvenience." I said, recalling the events that happened seventy-three days ago... each of which had had a length numbered in minutes. We had been traveling with no set destination for some time already - not that direction mattered much right then. My ears perked and swiveled about when I heard the sound of magical bolts being thrown.

We both looked up. A flash of rainbow colors blinded us momentarily, and the earth trembled as a wave of colors and a sound not unlike an explosion traveled over us... leaving us feeling better. Not quite a hundred percent... but better.

The rush of air and shaking earth tried to send us down, but we kept our balance easily enough.

When our eyes cleared, I saw an enormous silhouette fading like ashes to the wind. I recognized it moments before it vanished forever, and could not believe somepony had the magic to slay such a beast! It had to have been magic, of course.

"Sister!" Luna took to the air and called me with urgency; I was unsure as to what could have caused such agitation, but I had -and still have- complete faith in my sister, and so I spread my wings.

As I followed, I suddenly became very aware of the land surrounding me. There was nothing remarkable about the forest.

It was a boring, normal forest.

The trunks of the trees were bark and wood, instead of candy; their leaves green and lush, instead of feathers.

The forest floor was concealed by undergrowth, instead of serpentine paper strips.

*****

"... and I noticed the land around us was restored as I took flight. My sister was of the opinion to investigate, she had seen something fall from the skies as I had identified the... behemoth that was struck down by your queen."

"What kind of beast it was?"

"One of madness and hate, that is all I will say. None remain; they could not survive outside the sick, distorted world Discord made of ours."

*****

Luna and I spotted the fallen figure with ease. A dot of black and red amidst brown and green. Trees had been toppled by the fall, and the body had scored the earth somewhat.

We landed, and the figure snarled at us. She was of a similar build to ours, but she was a smooth, glossy black all over, and her horn was very sharp and twisted around itself instead of curving gently like ours. Her eyes had slits like those of a cat's, and were of a striking red color... so was her hair, and a section across her barrel. Her hooves had holes going through them, and so did her hair, tail and insectile wings otherwise not unlike a dragonfly's. She had a pair of sharp fangs...

... and she was lying on her side, blood pooling around her.

Even as she threatened us, I could not help but feel the need to do something.

"Why feel something for a stranger?" She said, her voice reverberating as if two had spoken inside a cave, before she coughed blood.

"You are injured." I said, trotting over to her side. "We cannot ignore the plights of others."

The black creature chuckled.

"Do not move." Luna said, fearing she would aggravate her state. I tried looking over her with magic...

"It is only by the power of the Crystal that I still draw breath, making the love of my pe- Hack! people course through me, sustaining me." She laid her head on the ground, coughing slightly, and I was too focused to see the crystal she spoke of. "It cannot last for long, not with Discord still roaming. I will die failing to even face him."

"Please, do not say that!" Luna spoke gently and with a smile on her face, even as her eyes filled with tears. "Discord will fall, and all shall live without fear! There is always hope!"

"There isn't, not for me." I looked at Luna and shook my head - too much inside her had taken damage, and only the magic she spoke of made her lungs fill with air and not blood. "But if there is no hope, then nothing is lost by trying."

She looked at us in turn. "If you truly wish to bring him down, for the sake of love and peace... then take the jewels I carried. They are the Elements of Harmony, from which I take my name."

She closed her eyes, her horn glowing a soft pink.

"Hear me, oh Mother of All. I return to you my Spark. I am Harmony, Queen of the changelings. Let love be felt by all the same as I feel it."

*****

"Her horn began to glow, and she recited... something that might have taken me too long to understand." Celestia shook her head. "There was a bright flash, and both knowledge and strength flowed into us. Not much, but we knew what to do with it. When we laid our eyes back on her... she was still."

"So she did give her life to help you. She used a memory spell and recited the prayer herself with her last breath." I mutter, the void inside of me growing a bit more.

"Prayer?" Shining asked, and at least he's not hating any more.

"Do you not say some last words before sending your dearly departed to their final resting place?" I say... I did not intend to sound hurtful, but these redundant questions are starting to bother me. "You have yours, we have ours."

"We then knew that the jewels did. One represented and drew power from those who are dependable, true to their word and to themselves."

"Honesty, and y'all call it 'Trustfulness'... Ah get it." Applejack said. Which reminds me of how hard Queen Morphosai is taking the current events, and with this invasion thing added to the pile, I imagine that she's yelling Chrysalis's ears off.

"Another from those who concern themselves with others, and themselves draw their strength from it for the sake of others, putting them before themselves."

"Umm... Kindness... and changelings call it Empathy, right?" Fluttershy said... explaining why she felt such pain when I told her about drones. Queen Flitter is also... hey! Their names are similar!

"One for those who fill hearts with hope and happiness, helping them when they are distraught or unwell."

"Positivity, and then Laughter!" Pinkie chimed in. Even with all of this going on, she still smiles... reminds me of Queen Joy.

"One for those who give something of themselves to those who don't have it to call their own."

"Generosity, and Charity." Rarity said... I hope Queen Laque is alright, she might rule house Charity, but she's still very young.

"Then one for those who stand by their ideals, and the forces binding them to one another."

"So... Loyalty... yeah, I guess I can see why you call it 'Unity'." Dash scratched her head as she spoke. Queen Chrysalis was always good at gathering changelings to support her.

"The last one was less defined, but we could feel it was both the binding force and the source of the others... we named what we did because we felt it was the source of all magic."

"Love... is Magic." Twilight had a pensive look on her face, and I can't avoid tearing up thinking about Queen Concordia.

*****

"Hmm? Back already?" Discord said, raising an eyebrow with the sound of rubber put to glass.

"We are better prepared this time." I said.

"Oh Celestia, so delightfully naïve. You don't get it, do you? I have more power than you, and as such, you should just let me have my fun." He chuckled. "Maybe if I were to put it to song?"

He struck a pose, but before a single note had escaped his throat, the Elements had engulfed him. We knew what they were doing - probing, testing his heart... they found only insanity. Had there been a piece of good inside of him, no matter how repressed, they would have drawn it forth.

They did not find anything. He refused to change his heart, despite wielding powers pertaining to change itself, and so the Elements punished him by making his body the same as his heart.

Cold, unfeeling stone.

I know it was that same... effect? Quality? It was what saved Luna. They found her kind heart, and made it surface, shattering the armor created around her body the same they did the one around her heart.

*****

"... the same as his heart. Cold, unfeeling, unchanging stone."

"What happened to the Love Crystal?" I ask, fearing that the answer will be...

"It is lost to us." ... that one. There is more, but I think that can wait - the Elements are more important.

"But why lie to the changelings?" Fluttershy asked.

"It took us long... far too long... to truly understand the Elements, and until then we feared that they might turn on us wielding their power. But mostly because we feared their reaction to finding them bound to us, instead of one of them."

"What." I say.

For a moment, I don't understand why everything is blurry, but then I find out I'm shaking with rage.

"Quick, restrain her with magic before she hurts herself!" Fluttershy cries out.

"Celestia! You imbecile!"

*****

The changeling prisoner shouted with all of her strength, then threw up a black slime and promptly lost consciousness.

Author's Note

Celestia's POV parts are her recalling the events for herself, with conveniently-modernized dialogue, before speaking out loud.

Act I - Chapter 3 - Outside the walls

The golden, shimmering aura of magic surrounding the changeling retracted quickly upon contact with the black vile that she had expelled. Celestia hissed in irritation - it was cold, and it burned like ice, while also feeling unbearably hot. The sensation was kind of a magical feedback, but why?

"Oh my goodness! She's choking!" Fluttershy squeaked, hovering to the sputtering changeling and tilting her head to the side, allowing her to cough out all of the viscous substance.

"Ouch." Fluttershy said, more out of the unexpected irritation of her hoof than actual pain, upon getting some of it smeared on. It was like Pinkie's hot sauce, just chilled. She stuck out her tongue in disgust and wiped herself off on the bedsheets.

"Ow, burny!" Pinkie said, trying to help Fluttershy to clean the mess. "But cold at the same time! What's with that?"

Whatever complaint Shining Armor had planned was forgotten instantly as he stepped on a blob, replaced by a pained scream and frantic shaking of his stained hoof. Twilight tried using her magic to separate it, but the black substance dissipated into smoke as soon as she tried to get ahold of it. Not quite what she intended, but she would take her victories as they came.

The Captain huffed and tried to catch his breath as the pain receded.

"What was that? Why did it hurt so much?" He snorted, scowling.

"Well, she doesn't hate us!" Pinkie said, watching as Twilight's magic cleared the spills.

The princess stood there, slack-jawed, as her mind deciphered the meaning behind the implications. She - her actions... actions meant to keep everypony safe, had made the changeling on the bed hate her to the point she fell ill, throwing up a liquid that might just be concentrated hatred. Why? What was she missing? She was overlooking something, but what?

*****

"Making the final report is going to be a nightmare."

The doctor looked over another stack of notes taken on the changeling, adding one of his own; most of them had further annotations on the sides whenever something new popped up, often by different doctors.

One such note read: 'Subject changeling is covered in interlocking plates of durable organic armor, composition similar to chitin with trace amounts of magic - enough to point to innate structured flow. This would explain the flexibility of the armor when moving, yet becoming rigid when struck. Subject presents extensive injuries on left foreleg indicating main point of impact with the ground after crash-landing from Canterlot. Leg armor had to be reshaped and held together with magic until special bandages could be adhered - method of treatment unknown, as is recovery time; recommended to have patient stay off injured hoof with special equipment. Patient might know enough about own physiology to estimate time of recovery.'

A side-note adds: 'Changelings are reported to become stronger with energy gathered from ~~love~~ (evidence suggests all positive emotion). If not only spellwork, but all natural abilities are enhanced with the additional energy, then Subject's reserves might have reinforced the body to withstand the trauma in a similar manner to a pegasus's. Further injury is observed, however, Subject's survival would be unlikely in case of chest injury as extensive as the leg's.'

It connected to another: 'Subject regained consciousness on fifth day of stay. Initial reaction was apparently produced by exposure to empathetic energies upon removal of Royal Guard's Captain and Prince of Equestria Shining Armor's shield spell upon persuasion by resident Element of Harmony, Chevaleresse, and Local Wildlife Manager Fluttershy Thundergust (~~Additional observation:FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED NEVER ANGER FLUTTERSHY~~). Shield spells can stop this energy; evidence supporting this claim comes from observations made upon its removal - changeling patient reacted negatively to hatred when previously she had been unaffected by its presence, then stabilized upon having the source surrounded by another shield. IV removed; physical nourishment is stated to be 'secondary' in changelings, patient regained strength quickly from positive energy.'

The doctor wrote on the back of the note: 'Lack of energy affects the changeling mind negatively, stated to be happening across their entire race regardless of status. 'Starvation' said to turn the changeling into a 'drone' lacking a mind or will of their own - event described as the consumption and degradation of the changeling's 'Spark'. Perfectly smooth shield spells are to be avoided from now on, as Captain's Shining Armor's insistence of keeping the changeling under a shield 24/7 nearly 'killed' the patient before she even regained consciousness.'

Another note: 'Subject's horn presents significant fracture. Tests indicate the horn is composed of alicorn, the same as any unicorn horn. Treatment underway is standard procedure for such injury. Subject's magical capabilities are yet unconfirmed and are likely to remain so for a period of time, pending results of judgement by the Equestrian court.'

'Armor across the barrel is red in color. Color implied to reveal affiliation to a specific changeling 'house' and is implied to be altered by the house queen upon transferal, with reversal to natural-born color once queen's influence is removed. Green is representative of the house of the invader queen, Chrysalis. Name and number of different houses unknown.'

'Subject's legs and wings present the formation of holes, going through the appendages. Functionality is apparently unhindered. Purpose unknown. Further study required.'

'Subject's eyes are covered with a secondary eyelid, red in color, apparently transparent from their perspective. Eye underneath has red iris and reddened sclera, comparable to changeling queen's green-hued iris and sclera. Eyes have slits, like those of a feline or a dragon's, hinting at highly developed low-light vision.'

'Subject has no mane or tail hairs, however, close inspection reveals small growths. Subject may have removed own hair, though reasons are as of yet unknown and subject to speculation.'

'Broken fang healed successfully, recuperative spell restored it without causing further sickness.'

A note at the bottom had many parts struck out, and appeared like it had been through many attempts at rewriting it: 'Subject is female. Anatomy not that different. Catheter placed successfully. ~~Discussion of changeling reproduction with patent upon recovery.~~ Bad idea. Could get graphic. We are doctors, can't be that bad. ~~Just how graphic are we talking about?~~'

*****

"Oh, but Shiny is there... oh, but what if something happens to him?!" Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (or just 'Princess Cadence' to the those who aren't one of the pedantic fools of the 'high circles') paced around her room in the palace.

She was too distracted, wallowing in increasingly fatalistic scenarios, to see when a dark blue wing interposed in her path.

"Oof!" She was then unexpectedly taken in an embrace by the proprietor of the wing.

"Niece, you worry too much. 'Tis but a single changeling." Princess Luna said, feeling how the pink pony slowly stopped struggling.

"What if something happens? What if the changeling attacks? What if the other changelings try to rescue-..." She asked, only to be silenced by the tightening of the hug.

"Celestia herself is there, and the changeling is reported to be suffering from extensive injury. I would like to think my sister is not careless enough to allow the same mistake to happen twice, least of all with a convalescing opponent." Luna said quite resolutely, her neutral voice clashing somewhat with her action.

Cadence bit her lower lip - news of the changeling's capture traveled quickly, but those of the injury were a little fuzzy. There were those that said it wasn't that big of a wound. Some said the leg had all but exploded outright, blood everywhere and all that. She was still scared of changelings, but she wouldn't wish such things even on the changeling queen... she hoped. If the changeling in the hospital had been that queen instead of some random one... would she be able to wish for her safety? Or would she be wish her further harm?

She heard the rumors, of course, that changelings had been spotted fighting other changelings... but all they did was confuse her. She wanted answers.

She needed them. Only the truth, the full truth, would help her to even start to sort out her feelings.

*****

"Fleur? Fleur! Dear, where are- oh, there you are!" Fancy Pants walked into their room of the hotel that would host the night's party in honor of the quick reconstructions of the district, smiling at the white-coated, pink-maned unicorn model.

His smile faded when he saw her looking through the window with an expression of sorrow. The magnificent red curtains only highlighting her slumped figure, and the opulence of the decor only made her misery and loneliness more prominent and tragic.

"Oh, dear, what is wrong?" He trotted over and placed a hoof on her shoulder with all the care and grace of a true gentlecolt.

She turned at him, then she looked out the window once more.

"It's the changelings, isn't it?" He said.

"I... I'm afraid, Fancy." She said, eyes scanning through the streets. "You've heard, right? About the captured red one?"

He nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"I fear that all of this could start a war, or a hunt... I can't help but worry."

"My dear, I have taken... precautionary measures." Fancy Pants said. "We'll be safe."

Fleur de Lis shook her head.

"It's not us I'm worried about." She gestured outside. "It's the changelings out there, in the streets. I... they..."

Fancy Pants stroke her back reassuringly, kindly waiting for her to voice her thoughts.

"Fancy... they have to get out of Canterlot." Her gaze hardened. "They aren't safe here anymore, and I cannot rest knowing I'm being protected while they suffer. I have to do something."

He gave her a soft laugh, and with a tender hoof turned her head to face him.

"That is why I love you so, my beautiful, kind Glimmer."

"This is too much." She sighed. "First I learn of my mother's passing, and because the news was months late, I couldn't be there for her last rites... did I tell you she had another-?"

"Few more children, yes dear." He nuzzled her neck, soothing her, and chuckled. "Your kind can be a little more active in that front than us."

"The day before the... invasion... I learned that my youngest sister took her place." Tears started to run down her face. "What if she has to get involved in this conflict? I never met her, but she's far too young to have to deal with this! Hive Unity might just have made a great disaster, and even got a changeling from Hive Love captured somehow. I'm worried; she's still family..."

Fancy Pants closed the door and curtains with his hooves, rather than with magic, leaving them in half-light, and then he locked the access to prevent unwanted visitors.

"Please my dear, let me see you eyes... those eyes the color of your heart."

Fleur de Lis, rather, Glimmer Silk, blushed lightly, looking away for a moment before closing her eyes. When they opened again, they were a striking gold color, and the whites of her eyes had taken a yellow tint anypony but Fancy Pants would have considered unhealthy...

The blue-haired unicorn simply stared into them... admiring the waves of color and tiny sparkles that even in the diminished light reminded him so much of sunlight dancing on endless fields of golden wheat. Oh how he loved those eyes, loved gazing inside them, seeing the generous soul they belonged to. Sure, even with her pretend ones he could see the beauty of her heart, but only like this he could say he truly saw her Spark.

"My dear Silk, you have my word that I shall do everything in my power to aid your friends; I had foreseen you would say something like that." He drew her close, voice falling to a whisper. "I expected no less of a golden noble of Hive Charity."

"Thank you, Fancy." He pulled her closer still.

"And if there is something I can do for your sister... I'll gladly do so." He felt her hot breath on his face.

"I hope I can meet Laque under happy circumstances." She said, touching his nose to hers.

"Me too." Then they closed their eyes, and their lips met.

*****

Uhh... I heard venting hate 'wasn't pleasant'; I wasn't warned it felt like I got bucked in the head after getting wasted.

"Hey, she's waking up!" Thank you, rushing water, for informing me of my state... wait, I forgot I'm not alone... sheesh.

It took however long it took for the world to come back into focus, the too-short restraints making their presence known by preventing me from rubbing my eye. Flutter-something is next to me... how nice.

Flutter... Flutter... Fluttershy! Yes! And there's Pinkie, and-

"Celestia." Ugh, it hurts to knit my brows.

She looks... pensive. I can see it in her eyes; she's confused. I groan unintelligibly for a few seconds, so I take a few moments to compose myself.

"The Elements have been hidden here all along?" I ask.

"They faded into myth for a while." Dash said... they kinda did so too for changelings, but spending so much time at the hatcheries I ran out of interesting stories quickly, and I didn't like to repeat them too often, so I turned to the old tales. Heck, even Queen Concordia only listened to them because Queen Harmony was her ancestor - I think she might be mine too, then again, her heir had numerous offspring and made it so that half of hive Love can claim or suspect that; kind of difficult to track with certainty.

"And now? Your homes?"

"Uh... no, a vault in Canterlot."

Wait, what?

"Why? I mean, without their Bearers, they are shiny baubles, and the Bearers are... alright, they are very special by themselves, but you don't learn to use a sword just to leave it where you can't get to it. Seriously, it... no, it does make sense... you were hiding them from us."

Celestia nods, and I groan again.

"You don't know anything, Celestia." I barely managed to catch myself and stopped short of calling her an idiot... wait, I think I already insulted her to her face... "Ugh. Like it'd kill you to ask."

"But it doesn't matter." I say, the numbing effect of the emotional purge managing- wait, it's fading; I'm getting mad again. "I just hope that you got to use them even if you betrayed them, and that whatever you did with them was worth giving up authority second only to the house ruler and instead becoming responsible for every major disaster that has struck us for the past three thousand years."

Wait, why is Celestia crying? Why do I feel like I'm forgetting some-? Princess Luna! She's also involved!

I hope Celestia doesn't lash out and kills me for this.

Author's Note

First note: The things that can pop up huh? I didn't know Fleur was a changeling until I started to write it! That scene went through a couple of rewrites, and with the part where she waves at disguised changelings now gone the house colors aren't there. I'm going to put them here, along the name of the current Queen.

Trustfulness - Morphosai - Purple.

Empathy - Flitter - White.

Positivity - Joy - Blue.

Charity - Laque - Yellow.

Unity - Chrysalis - Green.

Love - Concordia - Red.

Note the second: I know 'that' sounds like an excuse to write something to justify the M rating, but it is part of her life.

Act I - Chapter 4 - Not Enough

"Why should we believe you?" Shining Armor almost growled the sentence. Haha! Joke's on him, I can tell he's more doubtful and distrustful than actually angry - he knows lying won't do me any good at this point. He and Twilight tried to soothe a still-overloaded with information Celestia.

"Why wouldn't you?" I knew I messed up even before I felt the heat of his anger.

"You made me say horrible things to my sister!" He shouted. "When she tried to warn us, your queen made me renounce her!"

"You. Did. WHAT!?" I say, and Twilight cringed.

"I did nothing of the sort!" He defended, fuming. I felt his hate resurface little by little, but I just smile.

"Oh, you didn't know?" I say coyly, and though he tried to mask it with rage, he could not hide the doubt in his eyes - not from a changeling; not him, not Celestia. "Did you know that queen Chrysalis and her house aren't exactly known for their mental manipulations? It's not their role. They are good on the defense of the hives, getting Scorpans and Salamanders and whatnot off our backs, but they aren't exactly master-level mind-benders. They can get good with practice, but as I said, this was sudden."

His doubt nearly took solid form now, and I knew he'd wait until I had explained (or messed up) to say anything. Celestia was still pretty much out of it, her mind off thinking about something else.

"Part of the reason Chrysalis had me scrounging for love more often than my previous house was because I can use memory magic." That, and a good lay produced lots of energy, but they don't need to know that. "Since it's a bit of mind magic, through a series of letters, she had me review the lies she had been feeding you all."

Why not ask around the group if the plan is solid? She's not that self-absorbed; queens like that don't last- no, they don't get to be queens or even go past having a fancy name. She asked the transfers to her hive. She asked me. After all, she wanted the day to be perfect... our collective insanity got in the way, however.

Ho... Shiny is going to hate what I'm going to tell him!

"For others... well, they were simple. They amount to: 'I am the bride', 'I am flawless', and 'you want to protect me no matter the cost'." The other mares cringed... well, I hated doing this to them, but who knows? Purple changelings keep going on and on about 'what happens when you get caught' and that telling them the truth could bring some closure or whatever. Especially if they are doing the 'replace a departed pony they don't know has passed' routine.

"If you, Shining, had been one of those, then abandoning Twilight would have meant that either you thought she needed some alone time, or that you'd rather leave her than hurt her; even with her power the mind magic wouldn't be able to make you act that against your own role or self." The others seemed relieved somewhat... I can't even imagine what they must have gone through if they did anything under Chrysalis's spells. Well, Celestia is simply too powerful; Queen Chrysalis could only do so much...

"Basically, she made you look the other way when she did something strange, and dismiss those who said otherwise."

*****

"Applejack, was it?"

"Yes princess. Pleased ta meetcha."

"Could you come over for a bit? I think there's something on your hair."

-----

"Fluttershy! What are you doing in the gardens all by yourself?"

-----

"Pinkie Pie, I'd like to discuss the music, could you come with me for a moment?"

-----

"Ah, Rarity, I suppose you want to take my measurements... lock the door, I don't want interruptions; it's a waste of my time."

-----

"Rainbow Dash, I heard you were going to perform a 'Sonic Rainboom', could I talk to you in private? I have a little special request."

-----

"Ah, Cadence, my dear niece, nervous about the wedding? Just a few more days to go!" Celestia smiled at the pink pony, then raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling well? You have been acting a little... strange."

"Oh no, far from it!" The pink princess cheerfully replied, then her face settled on a smirk. "I've never been better."

The smaller pony then looked at the princess of the sun up and down. "I could ask you the same, having stressful days at court?"

Celestia allowed herself a small chuckle and a twitch - she caught herself before she made a grimace. "Something like that... old Flare feels his projects are overshadowed and being ignored; he's a little addicted to attention." She whispered the last part, even though there was nopony with them.

"I have been practicing a stress-relief spell just for this kind of situation!"

"That is quite alright, my dear." Celestia politely declined, bowing slightly in an appreciative gesture. "It would take more than a stiff professor's cries for attention to affect me."

"Please... you are going to oversee the ceremony yourself! Princess Celestia of Equestria, performing the role of the pony who is to pronounce me a married mare! I simply must repay you, even if it is something this simple." The younger pony insisted, walking forward ever so slowly.

"Oh, alright, if it is so important for you..."

"Don't worry - it's more subtle than my other spells."

*****

I smile smugly, knowing shining Armor is going to utterly despise what's coming. Hell, even now, the wheels in his head are turning, and he doesn't like where they are taking him.

"Your's had to be much more subtle - even more so than others, since you shouldn't over-complicate the suggestion spells by having to include two ponies, you know? Having the others overlook your strange behavior as well would be too much." Oh... here it comes! "Before she was able to make you unable to hold the shield, she told you: 'I am your fiancée', 'You see my actions as lovely', and the one you're going to hate the most: 'You are going to defend me as only you would'."

Oh, the look of a hater that realizes he's no better than that he hates is... pretty horrible tasting. Great, I feel guilty now, but he wanted the truth? He got it. And he earned it by being a jerk. Ugh, I wish I still had use of my horn, and my hooves down on something solid... I think I'm going crazy again from being half-blind, if I thought I would enjoy his reaction. Shining Armor looks like he's stopped breathing, and Twilight looks really hurt. So much for 'nothing protects like the truth'... well, seems like few things are as painful.

Sometimes... I wonder why we are the way we are, with all the secrets and lies and all that jazz built into our very selves.

"Congratulations, the one chance you had to break free, and you wasted it by being the kind of monster that would rather disown his family than doubt his life." I say, blearily looking at the textured ceiling of the hospital... give me a dark, smooth hive over this sterile white any day of the week. "I heard there is a special place in Hell for traitors like us three."

"T-traitors?" Fluttershy stammered.

"Madness from near-starvation is no excuse, I shouldn't have agreed to the new 'plan'. Shining you just heard..." I turn to Celestia, and all I feel is that emptiness again. "Celestia was given the dying wish of a Queen of old... and just spat on us."

"It wasn't my intention." She said, tear tracks still on her face.

"You knew what the Elements were used for!" I say, a little more forcefully than I'd like."You could have said something! You could have done more!"

Her eyes widened, and whatever she's thinking about must be quite intense.

*****

"Luna, stop!" Celestia cried out, the servants fearfully hiding behind the throne, due to the being blocking the gate.

"I am Nightmare Moon!" The black creature roared. "Those ungrateful worms shall learn respect! The night! Will last! Forever!"

The mare laughed madly, lightning shone through the hall as thunder punctuated the severity of the situation.

A stallion tightened his grip on a mare, covering her eyes as if to spare her her fate should the creature of darkness decide to strike them.

"That will destroy everything!" Celestia yelled, the maids whimpered behind her.

"So?" The... monster in front of her said. "They shall appreciate Us, or perish!"

"You cannot be serious!" That couldn't be Luna! She... Celestia knew she was unhappy, but that was too extreme! There was no way she would have missed signs of something that dire!

"I meant every word, dear sis-sister." The black mare said, the stutter accompanied with a twitch.

"I will not allow you to do this." Celestia spread her wings and stood firm.

"Then di-...! I will ki-...!" Nightmare Moon seemed to be choking on her words, and shook her head from side to side. "I shall get rid of you!"

The black horn began to shine, prompting Celestia to guard her servants, but for some reason Nightmare Moon's spell struck a pillar, shattering it and causing the servants to huddle closer together.

The way the mane of stars and night trashed about, her erratic demeanor, it all made it clear. Celestia saw that Luna was still there... somewhere.

The problem was reaching her... their powers were too closely matched for her to try anything! It could kill both of them!

The Elements... their lights had been dimming ever so slightly during the centuries, but they were still the most potent form of magic she had access to.

*****

Traitor to the Elements? Would that be the reason... No, no... NO! It- it was all for Equestria! It was impossible to know!

*****

Celestia charged her magic, not having time to catch her breath nor tend to her injured wing. The flight to the old castle now in the middle of the expanded Everfree Forest had done a number on her as her ene-opponent turned more aggressive and accurate in her attacks, making her fear she was losing her sister to the Nightmare. Equestria wouldn't survive Nightmare Moon... she had to do something! And she would not let Luna's hooves be stained with blood by some demon wearing her skin! She had to use the Elements of Harmony... on her sister.

Hiding the Elements in the old castle, under the pretense of being an ordinary old statue commemorating harmony, was a rather cunning, if simple, plan. Leaving them there was even easier. Rogue weather and wild beasts from the encroaching forest made for an excellent deterrent, and she hoped time had done its part...

The jewels shone in response to the magic she was pouring into them, but to her dismay there was no blinding explosion of light. She had little time then. She pointed her horn and fired.

They connected with one another.

This was... wrong, on many levels.

This presence was too dark. As much as Luna was attuned to the night, she also was the moon and the guiding stars; she was light as well as darkness. This? This was just a... a deep hunger, all too eager to consume.

There!

She threw her magic, and as much power from the elements as she could muster, at the part where the darkness tried to tear into another essence. She could feel it... that was Luna. She tried to surround it with purification magic, but it simply wasn't strong enough, the darkness eroding away the protective shield, anxious to resume its feast.

She could feel the Elements fading away from her grasp.

'No!' She mentally yelled. 'Please! Help me save my sister!'

She pleaded and begged, all the while pouring as much power as she could into the frail bubble that separated Luna from the evil madness.

The Elements grew dim.

'She's been there for me for millennia! I can't lose her like this!' She pushed and pressed and forced as much of herself into the spell as she could.

It wasn't enough, the beast still had too strong a grasp on Luna.

She threw herself at the darkness. 'Save her!'

She roared as she fought and tore through the abomination of magic, giving it a target other than the lonely princess of the night. 'I don't care what happens to me! Save her!'

The Element of Magic became brighter, slowly but surely.

For her sister and the world, Celestia fought with fury unmatched, mind focused into a single goal as her power was released with unrivaled ferocity upon the Nightmare. Sheer vehemence preventing the monstrosity from overtaking the shield.

She wouldn't last forever, though. She could die if she tried to do anything more -like separating them- as well.

So be it! If her life would rid the world of that thing, so be it! She would banish Nightmare Moon to save them!

The Element of Generosity flared to life, quickly followed by the rest of them. A wave of light coursed through the immaterial plane the sun princess found herself in.

The wall separating the two essences grew in strength until it was made impenetrable to the Nightmare, it being unable to comprehend the forces giving the shield its strength. Celestia was left alone as the blackness was pushed away from herself...

The moon and the stars came to her aid, lending power to the spell, as the Elements created a second wall around the demon.

A prison.

Celestia watched in abject horror as four stars wove her banishing spell into a net on top of the seal of the thing possessing their mistress, then connected it to the moon...

And pulled.

Princess Celestia stood alone in a ruined chamber, inside a weather-worn castle, in the middle of a forest full of deadly creatures.

Her mouth hung open in shock as her wide-open eyes slowly turned to the night sky.

Six lifeless stones fell to the ground as the magic powering them became dormant, but for the time being that event went largely unnoticed by the princess.

Rose eyes began filling with tears as they took in the sight of the full moon.

Engraved upon her surface, there was a silhouette of a mare with a horn.

Only one thought remained inside her mind.

'I could have done more.'

*****

Cele-princess Celestia gave off such a strong feeling of sorrow I was starting to feel sluggish. A part of me still wanted to yell at her, though it was getting smaller with each wave of misery that washed over the room.

Shining Armor was trying to speak, but the shame made him unable to even look at her sister.

Twilight was torn between the princess and her brother, though the other ponies comforted them. Ponies rely much more on physical contact... of course, I've experienced it while disguised, but not like the display in front of me, and certainly not from another changeling. The differences in society, huh?

Yeah... the education needs some updating - ponies gave me sympathy, for Pit's sake! And Fluttershy is comforting the princess while Pinkie is trying to get Shining Armor to stop brooding.

I'd like to yell some more... say stuff like : 'The Elements were at the center of everything! With them the Crystal kept us safe and fed! You ruined us!' But I don't wanna, I'm not feeling well... and that's a little speculation on my part anyways, since I've been piecing together things from the tales of the pre-Discord era.

I'd like to see her reaction when I tell her stuff like... comparing her to Discord or a windigo... the Fall alone caused great disasters as each hive did stupid things in search of power like trying to tame Scorpios instead of killing the starry bastards.

I'm getting ideas of revenge again, aren't I? I need a little more energy, before I do something really dumb.

I feel heavy... the beeping is getting slower... oh, the princess opened the door and there he was! The doctor! He's speaking, but I can't make out anything. Something about my blood? Yeah, it's red, what of it? I'm no longer under Chrysalis's influence, or else it would be green.

My forehead is itchy, right around my horn.

"Let's see, blood chemistry is compatible... this medication should help you." He said, now next to my bed, before sticking a needle in me. Well, if it's medication, who cares?

"Her heart rate is dropping far too fast." Huh... I feel a trickle of sympathy again. Things are getting a little blurry.

I want to go back to my hive... back home...

'Iris? Are you alright?'

Que-Queen Concordia?! I missed you! Oh, my Queen, it's a pleasure! Why are you speaking like a pony? Is that a nickname? Oh well, I don't care.

'I don't think you are feeling very well.'

Nonsense! I'm just a little tire- oh! Your hoof is touching me! Yay!

'This is too much excitement for you...'

No! Please, don't leave me! I-I learned about the Elements today!

'You should rest'

No! Remember? Those of us who listened to the tales dreamed with being the ones to present the Elements to the Queens! We didn't care about being their rightful Bearers, just bringing them back was enough! But they do have Bearers now!

'Shh... do you need anything?'

Oh! Don't worry- well, I'm feeling weak, I'd like some Love Honey...

'Honey?'

No- well, if that's all we have? Alright. I know things are rough. Can... can I get a hug? See, ponies give those to each other when they aren't feeling well, and- and I know they might seem unnecessary among us, but I'd like to feel a little closer to the hive.

'Like this?'

I'm scared. I can't feel anything. I'm sad, mostly because the ponies around me are sad. Chrysalis did something bad, and I got hurt. Please, please don't leave me again. I can't feel you. I just need a little more love... yes, just like that... thank you.

I've been isolated. I get the energy but I can't feel you. I'm scared.

*****

Doctor Stable's horn dimmed, the spell he had readied becoming unnecessary.

"That was quite the scare." He said, listening to the changeling's heart monitor - slower than the average they had measured previously from her, but constant. "She said something about 'the ponies' being sad, right? Maybe it had something to do with it?"

"She thinks I'm her queen; her original one." Fluttershy said, a crying changeling nuzzling her softly when she approached to hear her mumbling better. "She's afraid."

"Wait... if their blood is saturated with magic, but changelings are starving... shouldn't there be more magic inside them?" Rarity mused, letting go of Twilight slightly.

"That would make magic their blood instead of their actual blood." The doctor said, shaking his head... changelings invalidated a great deal of the usual protocol. In this case, he would usher visitors outside to get the patient to rest, but if he did he would risk the life of the patient! And it didn't stop there! If their mental stability was threatened by 'hunger', and the invading queen went crazy from switching to abundance so quickly, then it would be a rough road to recovery... and it seemed that she said something that affected everypony else during her daze.

Celestia took deep breaths as the rest of her body worked on autopilot; the composure she had trained for thousands of years shattered upon receiving a blow that struck too deep and too hard on wounds too old to bear.

"She's very afraid. Pony buildings are too bright and 'squared'... it-it seems changelings aren't made to be alone for long." Fluttershy cooed, trying to calm the changeling by patting her gently on the uninjured parts of her body. "There, there, Queen Concordia would like you to rest."

"I-I need to think." Shining Armor said, mind still reeling.

'As only you would.'

Those words would haunt him.

'... even if you betrayed them.'

Those words would haunt her.

Act I - Chapter 5 - Council

"Let love be felt by all the same as we feel it."
-Central tenet of Hive Love-
*****

Shining Armor stumbled through the hallway of the hospital.

He was unarmored; technically speaking, he was off-duty. Then again, that didn't stop him when he almost-literally blazed through the guards.

He was reminded of something the princesses had said... about the council.

Needless to say, some of them didn't like him, mostly because the guard was always on top of them and their 'pet projects', preventing them from expanding their 'operations'.

Again, needless to say, they swiftly tried to use the opportunity to get the princesses to doubt him and replace him while the dust hadn't even settled yet, hopefully with somepony less competent. Obviously it didn't take, regardless of how much they tried to cast his abilities into doubt by saying how untrustworthy he was, how he had been fooled and controlled.

Princess Luna was quick and oh-so-eager to remind them that they had been fooled themselves, and if -if- that was grounds enough to replace the Captain of the Royal Guard (a position requiring much trust), then it was doubly so for a member of the council (who are supposed to be trustworthy at all times, since they had to make sure that everything that happens, happened for the benefit of the citizenry), and all of them would be replaced as well - effective immediately.

They sang a radically different song after that.

And, since the Royal Guard was so important, having accomplished many great things under his leadership... and even while spellbound, his addled mind was capable of casting the shield with strength enough to repel the invaders right until he was rendered unable to repair the shield... well, he was pretty valuable, and all who pushed so intensely for his removal were (teasingly) accused of having an agenda, or being under the control of the changeling queen, and would be investigated accordingly.

Princess Celestia gauged their responses to her 'joke', and those whose features held despair were actually inspected.

Of course, he already knew who the sleazeballs were - counterfeit articles, mostly art and wines? High Brow. Illegal animal trade, dangerous creatures in particular? Storm Front. And so on, so on; really, the only thing they were missing was an excuse to act.

An hour ago, the idea of those two-faced, backstabbing scumbags saying he was anything less than an excellent example of what the guard aspires to be and a model for the others would have left him in stitches... Now he just wanted to curl up in a corner and- No! He didn't want that! He-he wanted-needed to make things right! He wasn't the same stallion he was that day! He would prove it!

He had to, or his own conscience would drag him down.

Ugh! It was all that changeling's fault! No, he really couldn't say-... ugh! He'd deal with her later!

He needed to send a letter.

*****

Princess Luna rubbed her eyes in a very un-princess-like manner, having remained awake for... she had lost count, and couldn't be bothered to glance at a clock and do math.

Preventing Cadence from freaking out was more important right now, anyways.

Ever since Shining Armor got the message of the capture, he spouted a bunch of - rather gallant, she gave him that- hooey about duty and protecting her and his little sister, then he was off to the hospital they kept her in.

Right! The changeling is a female! Right! She knew that, she didn't forget.

On second thought, maybe letting Celestia go immediately upon receiving word of the prisoner's awakening was a bad idea... she had been very busy hunting Night Terrors that had stirred from the fears of ponies towards changelings, and rest sounded like a marvelous idea.

What had been the period of time between Nightmare Moon's release at midnight and her defeat? Eight hours, ten, tops? How many could she have called in that time? There were still many of her minions loose upon the dreams of ponies, and the stronger of Night Terrors were particularly deadly; thankfully, they were equally obvious. Tough job, sure, but so far she had handled them swiftly; sometimes even before they got somepony - they left plenty of shaken ponies, but not even a close call yet.

Back in the land of the conscious, though, Cadence was holding up fine. She looked determined, but strangely devoid of anger. Maybe her niece had believer her when she had said she saw a mass of changelings fighting one another, or she was that kind, or quite simply did not know what to feel anymore.

In any case, just the same as with her family, she had to remain steadfast in her role as a guardian of Equestria - both in body and spirit. She couldn't let ponydom reduce itself out of fear and hate. Exhaustion or not, she would keep her ponies strong against adversity and kind in the face of conflict.

A scroll materialized in front of her with a 'pop!', causing her to squeak out in surprise. Cadence started giggling a little; since it was a positive emotional display, Luna decided to let it slide without comment.

Still didn't prevent her from pouting.

First of all, she noticed that the scroll wasn't sealed, which was an oddity in and of itself.

She carefully extended it with a hoof...

*****

Only Fluttershy and Twilight remained with the changeling, the others having decided to keep the princess and Shining company. Well, there was a couple of guards just outside, but they didn't quite count.

Twilight wanted to go with her brother, she wanted to hug him and reassure him... but it was his feelings towards her what was hurting him in the first place; she could no more help him that she could put out a fire with oil. He needed to talk to somepony, yes, but that pony could not be her just yet. The whole thing made her want to strike... something in her frustration, but was afraid she would break something even if she didn't use her magic to do so.

All it took for the situation to get out of control was a lone changeling... mare? Whatever the term might be, she managed to break the tension and replace it with something ten times worse.

But she could not blame her, not completely, for telling what she knew. Right now Twilight would have preferred her to be defiant and refuse to say anything like at the very beginning... but fear, injury and hunger are powerful motivators; Iridescence certainly wasn't in any position to do much when her life was in their hooves. On top of that, she implied she wasn't the only one against the plan, but again, fear and hunger limited their options and clouded their judgement.

And now Shiny changed... or would that be, his changes were brought to light? He hated the changeling, enough to kill her, even if he did not quite act upon it consciously.

That didn't sound like the Shining Armor she grew up with. That didn't sound like the Shining Armor that earned his cutie mark defending her from bullies, or the Shining Armor that treated everypony with fairness and respect, be they ponies or zebras or Griffons or whatnot.

And Celestia? She requested to be left alone to think; not that Rainbow or Pinkie were capable of leaving her like that... She would have gone after her mentor and second mother as well, but Celestia had asked her, in such a pained voice that it was impossible to ignore, that she stay with Iris and learn what they could - or prevent her from coming to harm, either by others or by herself. It was obvious that the changeling was scared to death of Celestia, at least before the revelation, and didn't have a positive reaction to the guards either.

She could see the logic - Iridescence seemed to trust the six of them - and even to her it appeared like the best choice, but that didn't mean she had to like having to let two of the most important ponies in her life go away like that.

Iridescence, for her part, was still largely out of it, mumbling about never wanting to leave her hive. A couple of the chains restraining her were removed, and others lengthened, allowing her to curl up to Fluttershy. The way she kept repeating things made it obvious that merely being alone was torture, though nopony knew if it was like this for every changeling or just her.

Fluttershy was... just being herself, letting each whimper cut a tiny piece of her tender heart. The demure caretaker shifted a little, letting the changeling's head rest on her chest; letting her listen to her heart made Iris calm down considerably. She knew things, things that the others either didn't understand, or knew about in an intellectual level but couldn't yet apply like she did.

Fluttershy knew desperation when she saw it.

A cornered animal was very, very dangerous, and the changelings had been driven to a corner in the past years. Not to mention this 'Fall' and the 'War' Iris mumbled about. Coupled with the madness that came hoof-in-hoof with being low on food, Fluttershy did not need further explanations; she was quick to answer to her nature and allow her kindness to flow. She wanted to learn more about changelings.

Funny, first she went along merely because she didn't want her friends to face the scary changeling alo-... well, even with all of the added security in the hospital she wanted to be there for them. Then she couldn't help but feel scared for her when she saw her state. Even Twilight got over her anger rather quickly at seeing what had happened to the insect-like creature.

What Chrysalis did was still wrong, obviously, but it wasn't the first nor the last time desperation lead to extremely reckless decisions.

And, for some reason, Iris was utterly convinced that she would suffer a horrible fate; Iridescence feared death, and only slightly less than she feared turning into a drone.

She covered the changeling's head with a wing, blocking the lights Iris found so harsh, and finally got her to stop sobbing.

Doctor Stable came back shortly afterwards, a jar of honey levitating after him.

*****

The love gathered would hold for six months.

It would be at least twice as long before Morphosai stopped yelling at her at full-blast at every opportunity.

"Would you have done any different!?" Chrysalis yelled back, fangs bared, and the purple queen finally stopped scowling.

She'd like to say 'yes'. She really, really would... but knew that it would be impossible to predict her own reaction. Morphosai couldn't, for the life of her, know how she would act had she been inside Chrysalis's carapace. She just couldn't say she would stick to the plan no matter how delicious, nurturing, filling- oh... that love just had to be so good, didn't it? And since her changelings were more combat-oriented than the greens... she might have made a greater mess of things. She was, after all, just as much of a fighter as Chrysalis.

Covering tracks, defensive spells, toughness, magical interference... the green changelings were not quite as suited for a direct invasion as mixed-range offensive abilities. Yes, she knew that, without proper support from the other hives, hers were the better choice of the two for an attack.

"I don't know." She finally answered, shaking her head, now less... heated with anger. Physically, she wasn't that different from Chrysalis save for the color and mane-cut - hers was straight and shorter.

"Still, Chrysalis's actions have put us all at risk." A white-haired changeling queen said, the uncertainty making her voice unsteady as her posture - and with her lighter build, it appeared a stiff breeze would be enough to make her tip over. "The ponies are largely xenophobic, and might start to hunt our kind in retaliation."

"That... that's not all there is." The youngest of the queens said, causing the white queen's blood to chill further. "I've been told the ponies have captured a changeling that crashed in a town close to Canterlot called 'Ponyville'."

Chrysalis gave a start. She and her forces had been blown back to the Badlands, why had a changeling stopped at such a small fraction of the distance?

"What?!" The others vocalized their surprise, the feeling of static coursing their bodies.

Wait... Chrysalis remembered that she had stationed a spy there - nothing big, just to receive letters quickly and relay the orders contained therein to the rest of the hive so that she could remain inconspicuous posing as the bride. If the shield hadn't just pushed them out, but rather did so to the place they came from... with that kind of force, the changeling should have died.

"What I said. And it's likely that he or she has or is in the verge of starving, since they say it's of a different color from the invaders."

Chrysalis and the others fell silent, knowing the full meaning behind the implications. There were some ways in which a changeling could lose control of their disguise, but the base color was more than just the sign of affiliation - it represented the queen's influence and power! It symbolized the queen's duty to protect those in her charge the same way they would her!

"If-if they captured..." Queen Joy tried to voice the thoughts, but had a hard time of it, the lilt of her voice vanishing quickly. The heavy, bland taste of sadness had that effect. "Do you think the prisoner is already... a drone?"

A dark, heavy mood fell upon them, each picturing that last moment of a starving changeling when their eyes glazed over and their voice forever lost to the hives; they all have had to turn the colors around the barrel black as a mark that... that they had lost a light. Even young Laque had had to... brand drones.

Chrysalis struggled to remember which changeling had that been without having to ask the swarm; she knew there was something out of the ordinary about that one.

"I think I know..." She finally said. "I think it's a spy I placed in 'Ponyville'. I remember her because it was so unusual; a memory witch-"

"What!?" Laque was surprised - it was very irresponsible of Chrysalis to ask a spy like that to join a battle, since the finer points of illusions and indirect confrontations were lost on the straightforward (for a changeling) green queen.

"Calm down, she packs a mean bolt." Chrysalis snorted, and Morphosai just glared at her, the previously-forgotten anger started to warm back right up. "Get this - she can use plenty of force even for a red, but her magic isn't very good outside of manipulating pony memories, she's good at spinning tales, but she just wanted to stay in the hatchery!"

Concordia let out a scream of frustration, knowing just who she was talking about.

The other queens reeled back from the wave of emotion.

"I told you to keep her safe!" Concordia yelled, the eldest queen placing great power in her speech, and the others were brought to their knees, clutching their heads. Chrysalis gasped from the intensity of the wrathful heat.

Chrysalis tried to get back on her trembling hooves, but had to be physically aided by the one who had previously been screaming at her.

"I told you that she had a good bloodline." Concordia's emotions quickly dropped in temperature, as if she were made of and surrounded by nothing but ice. "Her magic is great for teaching hatchlings, or she could give a boost, or many other things away from the ponies."

"S-she- those s-same qualities make her a good spy." Chrysalis gasped as the oppressive presence of the large red queen receded with her emotions. "Like she has some yellow in her."

"Well, she is not. She most definitely is not. She has a severe case of Hive Separation Anxiety Disorder."

Chrysalis only muttered 'typical'; after all, she was born and raised red. In a hive. Most changelings, if not linked to at least a small ring, suffered from it; the separation causing their minds to turn against themselves after a long period without the reassuring feeling of the hives. Frequently. Only trained yellows had less than a fifty percent chance; for them, probabilities took a sudden plunge into just a couple of individuals out of a hundred.

"How 'severe'?" Morphosai asked, referring to the time before the isolation and lack of feelings of safety gave way to whatever insecurities the changeling had.

The red queen kept silent, eyes fixed into the ground, her muted emotions distant and bordering on melancholy.

"How long? Two weeks? One?" Flitter tried to guess, only to be met with silence. "Less?! Days?!"

Concordia, Queen of Hive Love and greatest spellcaster of the Six... hung her head and sighed.

"... Hours."

Once again the queens were shocked. They knew how bad a changeling forced into silence could get, being surrounded by enemies who would be merciless should they discover them, but breaking down so quickly?

"As soon as I learned of her ability, I tested her on her creativity. Imagine, one of mine, so proficient at altering memories! I still had to test her wit, but it had to be hers and hers alone. She did well, making a quick, consistent story, or making explanations, or justifying an absence, or even explaining how it would be possible for some pony to be seen twice, however... she quickly grew distracted, anxious; it got to the point that she started banging the walls of the chamber of silence after three hours."

'Help! Help! Please, the walls are getting closer! Help! Queen! I can't feel anything! Help!' Concordia bit her lips at the memory.

"Then started trying to break through them with her magic shortly thereafter, screaming."

The wards shimmered and groaned as bolts of force impacted the walls they were bound to, each hit preceded by an unearthly wail of pain and fear. It was too dangerous to open the chamber... it was supposed to prevent her from forming a connection and cheating, not drive her insane.

"Only to break down and bargain a way out of her 'punishment'." Concordia recalled the small changeling curling into a ball and crying among scattered papers, promising to do anything if it meant never being alone again. "She was a wreck, willing to debase herself to the status of a drone just to never experience that level of loneliness again; I had to ask Phantasma to erase her memory of the event."

Laque, youngest of the Six, went silent at the mention of her mother.

"I personally gave her the exercises, taught her the mental techniques, the self-distractions... but they will not hold."

"And now she's stuck with ponies! It's been days!" Joy trotted in place, dread chilling her to the core. "They don't even have to torture her, she's doing it herself! What do we do? What can we do?"

Chrysalis didn't say anything; her mind had nothing to say. The Queen of Hive Unity slumped in an absentminded stupor, in the tiny, soundproofed 'conference room' of her hive. She turned towards the Queen of the purple hive, sitting next to her, sending a trickle of determination for support... Morphosai was the only queen aggressive enough to go yell at her in person.

Right now, she appreciated it. Right now, she didn't want to know what it was like to not be able to feel a changeling physically next to her. Right now, Morphosai's heart sent little pulses through the ground that meant so much more than just information.

*****

*Pop!*

The scroll was sent.

*Pop!*

Pinkie Pie jumped, apparently, from within the cushions of a seat.

Princess Celestia felt a tug at the corners of her mouth. The experience repeated itself when she heard Rainbow Dash's hooves on the floor.

Pinkie didn't even have to do anything, her smile and her eyes spoke for her. To Celestia, with so much experience reading expressions both in court and out of it, even the guards were but open books.

Comfort. Support.

Love.

Well, the Element of Laughter understood that there wasn't much she could do, other than being there. She had made her mistakes, and she had to learn from them, and... and...

Pinkie placed a hoof over hers. Rainbow Dash looked at her with a sad smile, and something more in her eyes.

Loyalty. Hope.

Celestia sighed and laid down on a nearby seat, letting her weight fall since she wasn't in the mood to be delicate.

The guards at each side of the doors at each end of the hall made a small twitch. A flick of the tail, a trembling of the cheeks, flare of nostrils.

Worry.

*****

"Come now sugarcube, yah can get thru this." Applejack ignored the hoof-wave of dismissal from the white stallion before her. She placed a hoof juuust a little closer to him, watching how his ear flickered, but his eyes remained glued to the scroll in front of him.

She wanted to keep an eye on him. He had been told something ugly about himself, and the shock and denial wouldn't continue forever.

When he crashed, he'd come down hard.

Rarity knew that, too, and was trying to - not help with his letter, no! Merely... provide auxiliary consultation about who he shou-could see and speak of his problem. His parents, Cadence... she wanted to hold off suggesting Applejack and herself for a little while longer - they had little sisters of their own, after all- but the choice was, ultimately, his.

The guards unnerved Rarity a little, but she understood their presence.

Oh, how had things changed! And they gave no sign of stopping.

Author's Note

A small run-down of changelings and the differences between them. As ponies have the three basic races, so do changelings have a distinction between broods. A changeling can, and in fact, many do, have a talent or interest for an ability of a different hive - some transfer to said hive, or place their skills to the service of their current queen directly. Of course, an average changeling has plenty of skills, it's just that there are certain tendencies within their hive.

Love changelings tend to have high magic power, reserves, and can usually reach further with their spells than other changelings. They can technically use that strength for other things, like flight, but those things are usually better left to blue changelings. Concordia is the most powerful spellcaster of the six queens, and has the greatest distance in her spells. Rumor has it that she killed a baby Scorpio from so high up that no changeling could see her, and the thing never suspected it was in danger.

Positivity changelings are the fastest in general, though of course some prefer flight and others prefer hooves. They are excellent scouts and very dangerous up close and personal. Stealth, short-range spells and melee combat are right up their alley. Joy is the most agile flier of the six, is so fast and quick as to be untouchable and well-armored if a hit lands, and is deadly with hooves and knives.

Charity Changelings are good with illusions, mind magic, and other indirect methods of getting the upper hoof. Diplomacy and deceit alike are wielded with great efficiency to get what they want, making them great negotiators, spies, manipulators and actors. Laque is still young, but the art of disguise is second nature to her and is the best actress, and her skill with illusions is undeniable and so is her ability to cast complex and delicate spells.

Trustfulness changelings are great warriors, good at both ranged and close fighting. They can adapt quickly to changes in the flow of battle and can be just as cunning as any yellow changeling. Morphosai is a warrior queen and good with strategy, her fighting ability honed to the point of appearing precognizant, and her grasp of combat magic is very solid. Morphosai also encourages teamwork and group maneuvers, and are great support for any kind of team of any combination of changelings.

Unity changelings are really tough and good with defensive magic. Shields, counter magic, interference, and basically anything that prevents the enemy from harming them or their teammates. They have some good healers as well. Chrysalis is also a warrior, and is very, very tough; her magical abilities for combat are just as good as Morphosai's, and supplemented with strong healing magic. Chrysalis is also skilled at the time of getting the changelings together, and her hive is very tight-knit even when compared to the others.

Empathy changelings tend to have average abilities, save for something they specialize at. One could seem to be mediocre at fighting, but then could reveal that he or she is actually a really fast flier on par with a blue changeling with skills to match, while another might be hiding strong mind magic or an affinity for healing spells. Flitter might be seen as frail, but she is very fast at the time of casting spells, most of them either mind spells or healing spells, and her ability with disguises is also very good.

Changelings whose only colored portions are the eyes and the saddle-shaped portion of their backs are drones, though all teams choose a single color at time of deployment for the sake of uniformity, and may disguise themselves as drones or the drones as normal.

Act I - Chapter 6 - Discussions

"May the warmth of love cover us all."
-Central tenet of Hive Empathy-
*****

Rainbow Dash scuffed her hooves on the floor. Celestia had tried to stir some conversation, and she had, obviously, turned to changelings. The princess just couldn't get her mind to reject the subject... not now.

"... You cannot find changelings, you can only be found by them."

"Really?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head. "Not even with magic?"

"There are ways, but if you resort to them, you already know changelings are involved and where, and thus redundant."

"And the shield?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head.

"For the shield to exclude somepony while allowing somepony else one must be familiarized with the type of pony to exclude. Rejecting ponies that mean ill to a government official - or even Equestria itself - is, from a technical standpoint, easy if you have the training and expertise. The problem begins with Shining Armor himself; being Captain of the Royal Guard, thus being of such great importance, he cannot eliminate himself from the list... he has enemies that would gladly see him removed from their lives, and would not simply stop at politics - he has been actively sabotaged thorough his career. He has to take his own well-being into account, however, denying an uppity noble access or egress from Canterlot is simply too much - and measures to correct this and other problems are simply too demanding in terms of personnel, magic and logistics to be practical in the long term without there being an outright war."

Not to mention that it seems the shield wouldn't exclude changelings without ill-will. Not that that's a bad thing in and of itself, but if somepony found a changeling inside the shield it would be an incredible disaster. Too much risk.

"Can't you just... I dunno, test everypony?" Dash said, scratching her head. "Twilight removed a changeling's disguise with a spell back then."

A brief flash of horror crossed the sun princess's eyes.

"No! That wasn't a spell, not like that." Celestia knew exactly what they were talking about, and the idea of doing that filled her with dread. "A changeling's disguise is more than skin-deep; the only way to discover them reliably would be to search for feelings of unfamiliarity with the form. It's a waste, completely useless. Not only a recruit with fresh armor would provoke a false-positive; just like them, once they spend an amount of time in a new form they adapt and nothing will work."

"As for stripping them of their form... magic can be resisted. Any spell powerful enough to overcome protection spells or innate magical resistance will injure normal ponies." Celestia rested her head, the clock marking the maddening wait for a response of any kind. "Twilight only did what she did because she saw the changeling transform with her eyes. Anything else, we would deal with dangerous magic, injuries and many invasions of privacy. The country would tear itself apart quite quickly."

"So we lose either way?" Dash slumped to the ground, defeated.

For many years after she felt the last strand of the Elements slip in between her hooves, Celestia felt that way. It took a prophet to bring back hope. A prophecy, divination, the art of reading the weave of fate and destiny... 'four stars', 'longest day of the thousandth year', a pony 'walking the haze between day and night' and the 'bonds of the heart'. The promise that the Elements would once again shine with the glory they had - that they were supposed to have.

And now, all that remained was the memory of being rejected by them. It was not, as she once though, merely because she was but a single mare - numbers were important, but that was not the reason. It was not because of the conflict between her sister and herself dampening or impeding the use of the Elements...

They cut her out themselves.

They lent her their strength one last time, out of the sheer love she felt for her sister, as well as her unwillingness to let her harm a single being beyond herself. Then, slumber.

Waiting for somepo- someone who understood them better, who could embody them better... who could inspire them better.

And yet Twilight still thought the world of her.

'You only did what you thought was best for all.'

Really? Had she? She gave the queen a funeral in secret, but told her people she had... broken... rather violently. It was a plausible effect of channeling that much power, and certainly she had felt it, but it was just a lie. Had it been necessary? For her purposes, yes. For the good of all? Hardly.

At first, she had thought 'yes'.

Once she included the changelings...

*****

This was touched by another changeling.

It- the jar- it's- I doubt ponies have the need to stuff emotions into their food. Sure, 'made with love' and all that... magic latches onto things, and emotion- I mean, traces of the stuff are everywhere. Ponies are wasteful like that.

This? This was deliberately infused. I smell a trace of changeling...

I... I'm not... I know I'm not going to be rescued. A last gift? Oh... I-I should enjoy it for now. I might not get the whole experience, since my head feels full of cotton.

I still can't believe I thought Fluttershy was Queen Concordia. How embarrassing.

"Excuse me." The doctor said, apprehension evident in the way he tapped his hoof. "I know it might not be the most appropriate moment to address this kind of issue, but I have to speak to you in private. It won't take long, I promise."

"Alright..."

*****

Twilight paced uncomfortably in front of Fluttershy, who, for her part, simply rested on the seats.

"Well?" She asked her timid friend.

Fluttershy flinched at the sudden question.

"How are... things?" She added lamely. Twilight had been told she needed to work on her tact, since it sometimes slipped - innocently, but no less insensitive. Unfortunately, her speech suffered for it.

Fluttershy sighed. She had heard a lot - being so quiet herself, she long since learned how to hear, and hear good. Everything (that was said coherently) was rather... personal, obviously, but the little changeling was sinking into a spiral of depression.

Perhaps in some sort of literal sense. Shining Armor's anger had a very marked negative impact, who's to say her own emotions don't do that?

"Well, she's... she's absolutely convinced she's going to die." She said it, bam, just like that, though she still recoiled just like Twilight did. "She... she thinks she's going to get tossed into a dungeon and then starve to death, or outright exe-executed."

She couldn't hold a shiver.

Neither could Twilight.

"Then... th-then she fears she's going to get dissected and studied in ways that will allow ponies to... to... all changelings..." She squeaked as the words got caught in her throat. Did she really think that of ponies? She thought of them as being cruel enough to... to eradicate all changelings just like that? It sent shivers down her spine once more, and a tear or two to her eyes.

"Then there's her parents." It was hard, but she could do this! She could... just... just as she had asked Iris to speak the troubles weighting her heart, she could try to gleam some way to help her. Twilight was pretty smart; she'd know something; Twilight knew everything.

'He- he hurt and ached all over', 'like fire', 'only the two of us', 'hungry', 'not enough.'

"Her father, uh... became a drone. She heard him and tried to help, but there wasn't enough 'love' for the both of them, and he just tried to save her... s-she remembers that still. She remembered how her father said he felt he was burning, then he couldn't move, then got quieter... then his eyes glazed over and she could not 'feel him' any more."

"So that's how she felt?" Twilight's mind quickly recalled something: 'I nearly starved there.'

'One with Love', 'didn't quite come back', 'salamander', 'size of the chamber.'

"And her mother did... something. Something about 'becoming one with love' and not being able to get all the way back. It had to do with a big salamander, and taking lots of magic to ki-get rid of it." Fluttershy winced in discomfort, but was able to understand the sheer danger even a hoof-sized baby salamander could do; one -just one- managed to torch the better part of an acre of White Tail Woods in a few seconds entirely by accident.

Gears started to turn in the lavender scholars's head. 'One with Love', 'Love and Magic are the same thing', 'my love will give you strength'... the sheer power she had felt when the barrier washed over her... this had to be added to her notes.

Wait, there was a sensitivity lesson there, no? It would be hard to ask about the subject if her mom died because of it. Drat, tact was hard.

'Happy', 'Queen', 'good care', 'lessons.'

"And her Queen took care of her a little, teaching her things."

The door opened to let the doctor pass... five days already with two guards posted at each door and he still couldn't quite adapt. Learning to dodge them was easy, since they were almost immobile in their dutiful watch. Not being creeped out was another thing altogether.

"Ah... yes..." He trailed off, blushing slightly. When the pair got closer, however, his blush intensified.

Swallowing, he knew he just had to avoid the issue. No big deal. It wasn't any different from doctor-patient confidentiality... even if she did ask him... he was getting ahead of himself. First, he had to stop thinking about it.

"Well, she is going to be fine." He spoke weakly. Dang, he just couldn't stop thinking. It was simply too... strange! Then again, it is said that it takes sentience to make an animal trip twice over the same rock, but he was determined to limit himself to one black eye from an angry, over-sensitive pony. Understandably, he was a little on edge.

"Is... is there something else?" Fluttershy asked, peering at him with those soulful eyes. What a gracious, kind-hearted mare.

That pony looked like a nice one, too, and with but a few words, he was sprawled on the floor with -in one of his colleague's expert opinion- 'one hay of a shiner'.

"Uh... she just, you know, needs somepony to keep her company." He began to blush again at the images his own words brought forth. "Physically, she's on her way. Mentally? She's scattered, or perhaps 'fragmented' would be a better way to say it."

He managed to get his facial temperature under control.

"She is nervous and detached, only to get overly concerned with the opinions of others in a second. She changed four times in as many sentences." Time to face up to... this. "She has too many things running through her head, and wanted me... me... to tell you that she might be awkward to get along with. It's an issue that is bothering her, severely, and would rather get out of the way as soon as possible; she feels incapable of breaching the subject with you, for some reason." The way he spoke at the end, it was obvious he knew the exact reason.

The two mares were confused. They weren't making this any easier!

"She will understand should you want to leave, given the differences in our respective societies." Time to stop stalling. "In the hive she was a broodmare, and she used to seduce ponies and sleep around a lot."

Twilight's eyes widened, and Fluttershy gasped.

He closed his eyes and flinched at the sound, gritting his teeth. Not the face!

No angry hoof came, however, so he opened his eyes. The fillies were a little pink around the face, but the lavender unicorn just chuckled.

"Oh, well! That's... interesting!" Twilight chuckled awkwardly, then blushed a little redder. Closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, she regained her composure and trotted towards the door.

"Alright, thanks for the... information. However, I would rather not leave her alone for any period of time."

Indeed, with just a few moments, the changeling had deteriorated further; she was now clutching her jar of honey like it was a lifeline, and kept muttering to herself. Her eye was unfocused, and she was curled on her side as tightly as her injuries could allow.

"Iris?" Fluttershy was deeply concerned. "Iris!"

"Buh?!" She shook her head, and she seemed more focused, though she still had that wild look to her. "Fluttershy! Good to see you!"

That smile was a little too similar to Twilight's in a 'bad place'. That wasn't a good sign.

"I would have cleaned- wait, I'm chained! Haha!" She moved around tugging on the restraint on her good leg. "And this isn't my room anyways! I mean, it's too... white! And the lights are ugly, and the corners are... are too... corner-y."

She pointed around the hospital room as much as she could, injecting cheer into her words despite the slight trembling.

"You mean 'sharp'." Twilight corrected.

"Right." She nodded, still trying to keep a smile on her face, and tried to stuff her face into the jar even though her fangs kept getting in the way.

Doctor Stable had no more doubts; separation did awful things to this mare.

Which was another thought... he no longer struggled to find a way to address her anymore. He'd just thought of her as a mare like any other.

*****

With a sigh, he exited the bathroom, which was the only place he could have enough privacy to look at himself in the mirror. His silvery, cat-like irises were now a more common green. He heard that though she had the same body type as any Worker, she had double-ringed eyes, which meant that she had some bits of royal blood -supposedly common among Love.

Ugh.

He had never even seen a hive city, and even then had seriously thought of just running away from... well, everything! This Canterlot mess made him afraid to be himself in his own home! But he couldn't run. He had gotten his degree like any other pony would have, liked his friends (like Doctor Stable, who tended to the brood-ling) too much, and was not about to go back on his professional standards even one bit.

That jar of honey was a bit of a gamble to... well, everything, but he could not leave her to suffer.

"May the warmth of love cover us all." He mumbled, remembering the words of his father. He might not be officially part of Hive Empathy, but if changelings didn't look out for one another... who will?

Wait... Stable was the doctor, and didn't seem to care that she was a Changeling... huh.

*****

"Those are worrisome news." Concordia said, looking away from her crystal ball in deep contemplation.

"We cannot let them use this magic against us." Morphosai growled, pacing around Chrysalis's own crystal.

They knew the story - all of Equestria knew it, really, so their spies knew too. Nightmare Moon was more than an old mare's tale, but the details blurred a bit to history; Celestia said that the creature had forcibly taken her sister into its exile, and when it returned, then six mares used the ancient pony magic of the 'Elements' to get rid of it.

Concordia had let out a disdainful snort. She had heard the old stories from both sides, she had guessed that Celestia had been there when Discord was defeated... not talking about the role Queen Harmony had played suited the changeling race just fine - it wouldn't do to let others know - but to name whatever pony magic weapon she had designed like that... fine, she had to admit it was a flattering gesture that Celestia had named her own artifacts after those of Queen Harmony despite appearing to be riddled with imperfections, but now it might get pointed at them.

Not good.

One of few silver linings to this storm being that for some reason -likely related to the stability of the objects or prevention of abuse from their wielders- they were kept separate from them in a location that proved to be vulnerable... sure, they could not be stolen by thieves, but neither could the bearers get to them quickly. Block the vault and Celestia's own barrier magic turns against them, and that was without taking into account how vulnerable to ambush anypony would be.

Tactical blunder - they would be safer somewhere closer to the wielders, or Celestia, given that she would be able to regulate their access more easily.

Another small-but-still-significant detail being that there was a lot of emphasis being placed on the ponies... it was a curious thing that implied that the pony version of the Elements could only key in to one pony at a time. Well, Celestia used all of them at once at some point, but if (IF) she made them, then it didn't seem that strange; this thing about passing them to individual bearers could be pointing out some design flaw regarding the way they were supposed to be used or even something similar to the changelings' own - the Bearer of Love could, if the conditions are right (or desperate enough), attempt to use them all at once.

(Of course, a single ordinary pony, even Celestia's prized apprentice, would find that attacking a creature as dangerous as Nightmare Moon or Discord alone to be suicidal, Elements or not. That is unless this apprentice had countless bonds of support, an indomitable will and spirit beyond most mortals, or was already close to that level of power.)

It could be a ruse, though. The changelings' Elements reacted to the feelings of... well, everything, and that meant that anyone could do something with them if they had the capacity to feel the Core of the Element (or if many others felt it for them). It was just that, being empathic themselves, the Elements reacted best with a Bearer that they 'like'. This pony version could be similar.

Still, the ponies would be under watch, and if -Gatekeepers forbid- they make a move to use their weapon against the hives... they would have to do something about one of them.

Easier said than done. This could very well require a hooves-on approach by the queens, with all the risks that implied.

Author's Note

What's with this 'oh, let's wave a horn around and solve all of our changeling problems!' thing that abounds? You won't find any of that here.

Act I - Chapter 7 - Stirring Thoughts

"May Love bring us levity of spirit."
-Central tenet of Hive Positivity-
*****

I-I'm scared, why are they nervous? Did the doctor tell them something? Of course he did! But what?

"Why are you scared?" I ask. "Is there something wrong with me?"

They are hesitating.

"There is?! What is it?! Am I going to die!?"

"No! It's not that." Fluttershy hugs me, and the full force of her kindness washes away my worry bit by bit.

The honey... it's delicious.

"We are worried about you; talk to us." Fluttershy's hoof feels nice on my fin. It's too bad soldiers have to shave their manes and tails, I don't think that shifting away hair is that much of a drain... though my reserves are deep...

"I just wanted to help... changelings can't feed each other, and-and I just wanted..." I'm whimpering, but Fluttershy is here, and it doesn't feel that bad.

"I... guess that we should have gotten my brother away first, to lest you rest and heal, instead of questioning you to get him to calm down." I don't know where did Twilight get a spoon.

"I don't know." I say. "I'm- I can't hear the hive, and-and-and..." I'm aware I'm breathing faster, but Fluttershy - bless her heart- has enough calm for the both of us. I think Twilight's ears perked up, but I'm not sure. "I just want to go home and tend to the eggs. I just want my Queen to look at me and tell me I did good."

Twilight sighs.

"Shh." Fluttershy coos. "We are here. You don't have to be lonely."

"Thanks." My voice is weak.

"You don't like silence, right?" I shake my head in response. I hate it. It makes me feel the walls are going to crush me.

"Do you think you can talk a little?" Yes, I recon I can.

"Wh-what about?"

"What kind of stories are there about the Elements?"

"Oh!" Dare I say, I felt a smidgen of happiness. "They were made with the work of the hives of old, when they made the Central Hive, as a means to keep the changelings fed forever. The raw emotion woven into each one granted them a bit of empathy too, and they could choose..."

"The legends say that to wield the Elements meant to have strange powers. Charity has an ability bordering foresight, seeing the paths things may take through time. It's like an ability to let you know just what is needed or what will be needed, before it has to..." Twilight is paying close attention to what I say, I wonder...? Does it even work in ponies? "Seeing the past and understanding what needs arise from it, or the future, to prepare for said needs. Chang- well, apparently anyone in need of the Bearer's help is 'in sight', as it were."

"And... Love?"

"They say it is to be one with Magic itself. Energy and objects, mind and body, the other Elements... all are within reach. It is to be able to understand the bonds between others, pure and beautiful as glistening silver..." Wait, bonds like silver? Ah! "And... and to be able to 'become one' with it to release a shining nova of power..."

I think I could hear a pin drop in here. Mom channeled one of the aspects of the Element, but didn't know how to stop or something.

"I know what Shining Armor and Cadence did back at the wedding."

I- my mind tells me one thing, but I can't believe it.

"A guard, of all ponies, managed to channel Love..."

The door opened.

*****

It could have been a lie.

She could have been trying to hurt him, and sabotage his relationship with his sister.

But... well, if -and what a big 'if' that was- if she was right... where did he go wrong? It had to have been the queen - she was being needy beyond reason, and maybe the stress got to him? He certainly was feeling it now. Each time she clung to him, not just when she was muddling his mind with magic or extracting his energy through the bond of love... each time, and he could not believe he hadn't noticed, but each time she was too rough, squeezing too hard.

Her words and jokes, at the time so melodious and charming that he would laugh with her, now were nothing but vain, vapid comments. She talked too much of herself, of how great she was and... and even when she spoke of how lucky she was to have him it sounded like a declaration of ownership.

He needed to hear the changeling speak again. There was no way she was telling the truth.

*****

Sometimes, when one expresses a desire to be alone, they don't truly mean it, and either want or need a friend that will follow them; others, they need the space or search for the one that could help them on their own.

Shining Armor had been the former the first time, but now he was the latter. He let the mares keeping him company alone, if anypony could ever be alone in a guarded hospital in any case.

"Trouble, sugarcube?" Applejack placed a hoof on Rarity's shoulder; the unicorn had been pensive.

"Something Iris said has got me... thinking." She turned to face the farmer and sighed. "Remember, about the Elements? About how the Bearers inspire them?"

"Yeah?" She figured it would be better to let Rarity speak at her own pace; clearly this issue was bothering her.

"How... how am I supposed to do that? I mean, I spend countless hours working on dresses, and all those gems I use? I could donate-" She was interrupted by a strong hoof around her pulling her towards her friend.

"Ah. Ah get it - you don' feel like yer generous enough." Applejack said, shoulder to shoulder with the other mare. Seeing her nod, she continued. "That's a buncha hooey."

"Now listen to me." Applejack raised her other foreleg to stall her response. "You can give an' give 'till yer nuthin' more than a beggar... but that ain't th' path of a friend. And th' Elements are for friends, right?"

She got a confused look in return.

"That's one thorny path, Rare, like a martyr. Who in th' hay is gonna follow you like that?" Applejack smiled. "Sure, yer gonna inspire ponies, but yer gonna separate yerself from regular folk, no matter how much yah get close to them."

"I... am afraid I don't follow."

"Inspirin' one of th' Elements... Ah figure it'll be more like lettin' folk know they can be generous without makin' such drastic stuff. Sure, seems like we got chosen fer bein' cut from 'nother cloth, as you'd say..." This drew a small chuckle from the designer, encouraging Applejack to keep going. "... but while that might mean we're special, that don't mean we gotta dump everythin' and be a concept; that only happen in Twi's weird game books, and it never goes well for them."

"Thank you, darling."

"No problem. Just remember, yah can be special by bein' the best dang friend one can hope ta have. Bein' a pony more real than any other - one that y'all can see an' say 'Ah wanna be just like that'. That is what inspirin' means."

*****

"What is wrong with the guards?" Shining asked, full of contempt, and he's very upset.

Great, just what I needed.

"I've heard about the training." I respond. I figure that there is no harm in telling him - not like this is something that can be corrected in a day. "I heard of your little 'test'." I can't inject enough venom in that word.

"Endearing yourself to a little object or pet, then..." Ugh! Just the memory makes me taste vile!

"Hmph! So what? Every guard makes that test."

"And that is the reason Equestrian pony guards are the most susceptible to mental magic of all the races in all the nations." I still feel I need to spit out the foul thoughts!

Curious, now Shining Armor is feeling... pride and relief?

"Now I know you are nothing but a liar." He says... is this why the Queen keeps saying that hate is dangerous? I just want to knock his teeth out. "The guards are trained in mental-"

"Emotionally."

"Our control-"

"Thick walls mean nothing if there is a broken window." I feel a headache incoming. "I don't know much about warfare and tactics, and I don't know if you could have retaken the city after it fell, but I know that your..." Focus. Strength. You can say it, Iris. "... that 'pre-breaking' of the guards, while it produces functional soldiers, able to function in harsh situations... well, there is a reason why guards were being taken left and right. Six mares, six civilian mares put up more of a fight than scores of guards! And they were not the only ones!"

"W-what do you mean?" Twilight asked; she's looking between the both of us worriedly.

"They make a bond... then they make each pony soldier sacrifice it so that they won't freeze up if there comes the time they have to kill." I still feel shivers. "They violate or at least reject every single base principle of magic with that. That... that willingness to betray their bonds, and for orders, of all things, makes me wonder how on the Pit did those two trust each other enough to use magic on the level of an Element like that."

Hmm... Shining Armor is thinking again. Wait, is that Celestia I'm feeling? No, that's just her magic - she might be spying.

"Bah! Just leave, Shining. Magic is Love is Magic, and if you don't value the things that you let into your heart, then I don't want to talk to you. Come back if you manage to fix your head." I try to sink myself onto the covers, but Fluttershy is hugging me and I can't move that much. "I'm going to sleep."

I hear uneven steps. Maybe Shining is going to pass out, that'd make it up for nearly killing me twice in quick succession.

A nap won't hurt.

Author's Note

That 'embody a concept' thing that 'never goes well' from Twilight's 'weird game books' is (in this case) a reference to Exalted, where the Primordials, creators of the world, embody the things they represent to the detriment of everything else. Anything that falls outside of their purview... they can't think like that.

The machine one can, but only because he's been practicing for ages, and even then, he sucks at it.

Well, seldomly, the betrayal one won't betray someone... betraying his own nature.

This one is shorter because I'm putting in a lot of breaks, and I might as well release something. I've been having a bad series of days, and I shouldn't wait that long to release chapters.

Act I - Chapter 8 - A Collection of Sacrifices

"May love fill us and our desires.'"
-Central tenet of Hive Charity-
*****

A little filly was playing in the sand next to her parents. She had found a flower! It was really pretty, all blue and glowing and it made her just so happy!

Mommy said it was a really special flower called 'spellbloom' that held magic inside it! And dad said she could keep it! He used a spell to make a pot for it, and she hugged it.

Dad warned her of the desert rose, saying that they couldn't keep those because the wild ones were explosive.

It was rainy season in the forest, so it's border with the desert was safe, clear of Scorpans; it also was the start of Salamander breeding season, so they were waaaay over there by the volcanoes on the other side of the Desert of Glass Sand. It was provably the safest time in a decade or two to get close to the remains of the Central Hive.

The brave parties of explorers had found old spells and such - sadly, the really good things of the court mages, like controlling swarms of bugs and how to 'enhance' them, likely were in the library of the castle smack dab in the middle of the city proper. Much too dangerous.

But other things, less regulated, could be found in the outer parts of the city. Slowly but surely, they would retake the castle... they were getting closer.

Queen Concordia herself had been there to encourage the parties when they set out. She was currently high above, on top of a cloud, while the greens tended to the other visitors and their own Queen.

She liked the greens, they had their hive in the Badlands, that craggy strip of desert between the forest and the desert, just so that the things inside would stay there!

Scorpion stew was surprisingly yummy, too. Dad and mommy got to go to many places!

'Run!' She heard the call from one of the search parties. 'Scorpio! There is a Scorpio!'

The Star Beast was so large, even from where she was she could see its stinger peeking behind the rock and dunes. The yellowed, star-speckled appendage was swatting at the air, and a thin blue streak could be seen weaving to and fro. The great majority of Scorpios were mindless animals, following mere instinct, very unlike most other stellar creatures... she knew it had to do with the significance of the constellation and the representation of the scorpion... but she wasn't sure.

Dad wasted no time in grabbing hold of her and taking flight, as the soldiers quickly took to the air in formations - some landing on the huge outcroppings of rock jutting out of the sand. Mommy was somewhere out there.

Queen Chrysalis must have ordered her troops on her own, because she didn't hear anything. The green queen advanced until she was on top of the tallest dune, and began casting her spells - the blue streak popped out of existence in a green flash, only to wink back in behind the line of soldiers.

More and more changelings popped into being behind the soldiers and, once they gave the signal that all of them were safely away from the creature, she heard the call of her own Queen.

'Lend me your strength!' She said, and thanks to the height in her dad's flight, she could see that Queen Concordia was much higher than she had ever seen a changeling fly!

She could feel how her dad was directing his magic to Queen Concordia, and it was filled with his love for her. She wanted to help, too! She loved her dad, and her Queen too! She closed her eyes, letting her tongue poke out as she scrunched her face and sent a trickle of her magic; she could feel her flower, firmly in her grasp, leaking some magic into her for her use.

It was... a thing of beauty. She could feel all of the others right next to her, even when safely in her dad's embrace and so far away from them... like... like the stars... yes! Like the stars in the night sky, hundreds of dots lit up all around.

The clouds began to swirl, gathering around a black dot glowing a hot red. Queen Concordia allowed herself a smile; her subjects had absolute trust in her, and that was the reason she could protect them. Countless tiny sparks dancing like a sea of stars, filling her beyond fullness. She reached out gently, taking a little bit of what was offered and fueling her spell.

The clouds began to gather, darken, crackling with power as what should have been an ordinary thundercloud spell was taken to its utmost limits by hundreds of changelings working in unison. Concordia merely directed the energy, shaping it and just letting it flow.

Lightning split the skies, and the air sang with thunder; all according to the rhythm of a ghostly orchestra of arcane energies permeating a blood-red changeling. Her whole body encased in a crimson aura of power, she began her next spell.

The hole in the clouds let the sun shine over the rampaging Star Beast, a mere baby, but no less dangerous from it; a single eye was larger than Queen Phantasma, and she was the tallest of the changelings.

Lightning arced and danced around Concordia, and her spell was ready. Chrysalis gave the order to shield up.

The clouds discharged their power towards the queen of Hive Love, but suddenly bent towards the ground before reaching her, taking a red coloration.

The little changeling could see the red even through her eyelids, and the titanic peal of thunder would have knocked them out of the sky if not for dad's speed with the shield spell. It didn't matter; she knew she was safe.

The Scorpio had a hole blown clear through it, and began to dissolve into stardust. A bright sphere of light shot off into the sky, as the golden powder drifted away into the red and green queens, absorbing the stellar magics and sending it back to their subjects.

It took a small army to kill one, even if it was just a baby, but it just so happened that there was an army of changelings, and a pair of queens that took their strength from them.

*****

"Magic does require a sacrifice, but it must be a carefully-chosen one." Queen Concordia said, eyeing her subjects as they stood in line for the next part of their training in magic. "You have made me proud, discovering the point of this test."

The previous test had to isolate the changeling being tested; Queen Phantasma had offered to keep her eyes on a certain changeling - she had the convenient excuse of wanting to present Concordia to her youngest daughter, Laque. However, the changeling under observation, though she passed the test, had declined further advances; she felt magic would not be her strong suit, what with all her troubles.

"Remember this: Magic used without love is a waste. Treasure all bonds and never forget them, even should you find yourself having to reduce their influence over you, even should you find yourselves having to wield your magic in negative emotions."

She faced each of her subjects, and proceeded with the one old tale that everyone in the hives knew.

"Queen Amor, before she was queen and made the first hive as we know them, had very weak magic. After saving the one male she loved, the only one, the one she was madly in love with, she realized that magic used for the heart's desire was the strongest. Her preparations became the first Trials... to properly reach an understanding of magic, not merely learning spells; she discovered that holding certain things into her heart impeded her, and overcame them through the Trials. She wanted to help her kin, and would not allow anything to stand in her way, not even herself; she decided then, that to learn the proper ways of magic, she had to sacrifice her ignorance as to the state of her fellow changelings; giving us our deep connection with one another. In order to reach the highest level of magic use, she sacrificed her selfishness; this is the origin of our capacity to feel what others feel."

The ones to continue their training well beyond the basic education would spend... quite some time in deep thought, reflecting about their lives and what direction would they wish to take.

*****

Iridescence stepped out of the bathroom, the amiable mental 'buzz' of the other changelings in the building joined in a sort of mini-hive soothing her mind just as much as the warm bath.

"Feeling better?" The owner asked, setting a cup of tea for her. He was a changeling, so was his wife; they were from families that had chosen to live outside of the hives.

"Plenty! That last mare really irked me, though." She sorted, walking to the table as she returned to her changeling form. "She wasn't here even for a lay! She just wanted somepony to humiliate! Ugh, she should know that that was way out of line."

The green-coated 'stallion' nodded, frowning.

"She just... gah!" Iris shook, her silky red mane would need some styling, but she would take care of it later.

"Say... you said you were a Carrier, right?" The shift in topic would be jarring by pony standards, but the red changeling could tell that he intended for the conversation to turn to that long before she stepped out of the tub.

"Oh? Ready to take that big step?" Iris's eyes widened in anticipation. "Yes, I am. A reservoir is not something that just goes away, you know? And neither does a bloodline, but that's neither here nor there."

"I still can't wrap my head around how somepony with that much depth isn't a ranked spellcaster." He scratched his lemon yellow mane in confusion.

"Right! you are one, no? Facing fears and making journeys... What did you give up on the last Trial?" It was a personal question, sure, but being among changelings...

"An old pendant; it was just perfect, you know? It didn't even have any good memories, being just... just a reminder of difficult times - similar times." He had a neutral look on his face, which brightened slowly. "A little connection to the world, one I invested in, but held me back instead. Now? My will extends through and beyond that loss... and I found her."

"And now you intend to request my service?" She nudged his hoof, waggling her brow. "I figured Carriers wouldn't be considered much outside of a hive."

He tapped his hooves together nervously. "We... well, neither one of us can quite match your reserves, and any others that could that we know of have settled for other things and would be quite difficult to get on board the idea."

"Well, we just have to go get her. Too bad there aren't any Spellblooms around here... I still wonder what caused that many to just up and wilt like that."

*****

The additional weight of the moon and its seal had, those first few years, been a torturous, draining affair. She had gotten used to it through the centuries, to a degree - mostly by slowly changing the structure of the government and reducing stress born from nobles abusing their powers and having to deal with the resulting fallout...

It was getting close to the prophetized time... 'close' by her standards, in any case. Still years to go, but, sadly, she was starting to feel the strain once more.

She needed a strong plan in reserve, one that could catch anything that Nightmare Moon might try to sneak past her in her debilitated state. She... didn't think she was that affected, but she was not going to take any chances; too many variables, too many places and events that could get things spiralling out of control in the in-between.

She twitched near-imperceptibly as she listened to the two stallions locked in heated debate. They missed her stressed gesture. One of them, Starfall, was against his student taking one of the guard's tests, while the other, Silver Sword, having caught wind of Starfall's intention to ask Celestia to intervene, tried to demand that the colt take his duty as guard before his studies in magic.

Starfall had tried to get her to revoke the test before (assuring that it was not worth it), but this was the first time the teacher had something, rather, somepony, of personal interest in the thick of things.

She managed to placate Sword by saying that studies in magic would serve the Guard well, and Starfall had time and time again proven that he was more than capable enough to make important choices... and his students were always impressive.

But... she would not remove the test, allowing the instructors to do as they deem fit. If the instructors wanted to keep it, they could.

The plan she had to save her sister was... not as delicate as one would think without knowing the full scope of things, but she still needed as many reliable guards as she could get in time. She thought it was a bit of a mean test, but she couldn't risk any of the guards freezing up if any creatures of fear decided to... eugh! The sheer deviousness of their deceitful tricks made her heart ache...

It was just a test. She didn't see how it could be as bad as Starfall made it out to be - well, it conflicted with the way he taught, yes, but he was most likely exaggerating when he spoke of repercussions.

Author's Note

Amor means 'Love', if it wasn't clear enough.