//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Dinner and Death // Story: Equestria’s Changeling Princesses and the Kinsbane // by vren55 //------------------------------// Chamelia allowed Mirage and Kyria to get settled into their new rooms before heading to the nursery to see her children. Although both Mirage and Kyria did want to see their aunts and mother, the ordeal they had been put through required some time to rest and recuperate. About two hours later, Chamelia had them join her in her private chambers for dinner. In the future… Mirage and Kyria knew that this comfortable, snug room adorned with cushions, cubby holes cut into the earthen walls for storage, and a bed basically shaped from earth and adorned with cushions, would become Chamelia’s mausoleum. It was a sobering thought, which they knew their grandmother picked up on, but if she did, she kept her silence. Instead, they were met with a nice supper that was quite intriguing to the two sisters. “I’m sorry that my mate, your grandfather, Facere, cannot make it today. He’s returning on a mission and will be here tomorrow.” She paused, glancing at them. “I am going to tell him about where you are from, though.” Kyria stuttered. “I… we prefer not, the timeline…” “Facere is my trusted consort and a chevalier. He can keep a secret,” said the queen. Seeing that Mirage and Kyria were still cringing, Chamelia sighed. “I will only be telling him, nobody else.” Mirage took a deep breath. “If that’s the case, then that’s fine,” she said. “Excellent. In the meantime, I hope some of these you recognize,” said Chamelia, gesturing to the spread. Mirage and Kyria glanced at one another. The food looked good and hot, but they weren’t sure what to make of some of the odd shapes, colors, or… things, and the fact that they seemed to resemble certain animals of the Everfree forest. Kyria bit her lip. “I’m sorry, but we honestly don’t.” Chamelia frowned and murmured to herself. The sisters could just catch the words “not even the squirrels…”  “If it makes you feel better, honeyed fruit bats do very much survive into the future,” Mirage said, recalling the many times their family had gathered around a table, sharing platters of that snack. The older changeling chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, of course the sweets would survive.” Straightening, she coughed officiously. “Well, we have changeling cave-bread, a nice flatbread we make from wild wheat harvested near the Everfree forest with fresh-picked apples and pears. Then we have squirrels smoked with Timberwolf shards, my personal favorite. There’s also Cockatrice sausage—you do know what a sausage is?” Kyria, who had a penchant for trying out the weirdest and strangest cuisines in Canterlot’s Restaurant Row (she particularly liked Zesty Gourmand’s new restaurant after the latter stopped being a reviewer and gone into cooking to try to “rediscover her roots”) licked her lips, and nodded so fast, it was almost like she was in sugar high. Mirage—who had been so traumatized by bad military rations that she had personally founded a new overseeing group to ensure the Equestrian Armed Forces had reasonable food— nodded, looking a bit pale, despite the fact that changelings couldn’t do such a thing without transforming. Chamelia snickered at seeing the sisters’ differing reactions. “Good. Glad that invention hasn’t been lost in the future. We then have some boiled black beans, fresh hay, and cave moss for vegetables. Finally, some nicely aged cheese with almonds.” Mirage heaved a sigh of relief and went for the more normal-sounding vegetables and cheese. Kyria arched an eyebrow, “Coward.” She went right for the cockatrice sausage. Chamelia took a smoked squirrel for herself. “So, I suppose you have some questions about me, your grandfather, and our children.” Mirage nibbled on a wedge of cheese and swallowed to clear her throat. “Well now that you mention it, we heard fairly little about our grandfather.” Chamelia blinked. “Tell me you knew his name at least.” “Oh of course. It’s just that…” Mirage frowned. According to what Aunt Chrysalis recalled, their grandfather, Facere, had died fairly young in their lifetime. So young only Chrysalis had the most vivid recollections of him and even then… some of her recollections were actually educated guesses. “You were a fairly overwhelming presence in Mom’s and our Aunt’s lives. From what we were told, you took care of them while Facere was “away.” We think he was serving as a chevalier on missions.”  The older queen nodded. “You are right about him being away from the hive for a lot. Facere is… I trust him more than any other mate I have ever had in my life. He’s not only loyal, but highly capable, able to stay calm under situations where even I panic. He’s also highly respected amongst my drones.” “Was he a good singer?” Kyria asked suddenly. “Our Aunts strongly remember a male changeling singing to them, but we’ve never been able to pinpoint who.” “He’s not dead yet, young Kyria! But yes… he is an excellent singer. When he was courting me, he wrote me love songs, which he would sing, unabashedly, in front of every changeling. It’s one of the reasons I fell for him and took him as my mate for life.” Kyria couldn’t help but squee at that, and even Mirage smiled wistfully. “Speaking of which, how are my two granddaughters doing in that department? Assuming standards of beauty haven’t changed too drastically, I expect you two to be courted by some very handsome changelings.”  Changelings can’t blush, but the two sisters were… not very good at hiding their reactions to the question. Mirage’s prompt seizure of a piece of cave bread to fill her mouth was a dead giveaway. Kyria on the other hoof, moaned. “Grandma, really? You sound like… You sound like Dad!” “Not your mother? I expect her to be eager for the continuation of her line,” Chamelia cackled. Lips puckering into a pout, Kyria groaned. “Mom is used to having her relationships scrutinized by too many eyes and is very understanding. She doesn’t ask unless it’s important, or she notices something is wrong, and we don’t tell her unless we want to. Dad on the other hoof wants to be super-supportive. I mean… he snuck up on me during a date I had with Klause to ask if I needed insight into the male mind! I was so embarrassed!” Chamelia could not help but cackle like a witch, which was only spurred on by Kyria’s attempts to burrow her head behind her hooves. Mirage couldn’t help but snigger as she recalled that memory. “You can imagine how mortified I was when I found out he had ambushed Klause to ask if he needed advice on the female mind and on how to court changeling queens!” moaned Kyria. Actively holding her stomach, Chamelia shook in mirth. “Oh, great Creator! My son-in-law sounds fantastic! Alternia, you chose excellently!” She smirked at Kyria. “So, tell me about Klause?” “Well, he’s a…” Kyria abruptly clammed up, looking petrified and… from what Chamelia felt, a little more than scared. Chamelia blinked. She wasn’t scared of whoever this “Klause” was. She could read when changelings were remembering someone they were scared of. No… if Chamelia had to guess, she had just realized something about her love. “Oh, is he a pony?” asked Chamelia. Kyria sighed and nodded because Klause was indeed a pony, a stallion she had met at Twilight’s School for Friendship. They’d hit it off right away and were soon about to celebrate their first anniversary. “I am going to need some time to get used to this idea, but as long as he makes you happy, I am happy for you,” Chamelia said.  “Weren’t you considering integrating ponies and changelings with Celestia around this time?” Mirage asked. Chamelia’s gaze whipped over to Mirage, eyes wide. “You know about that too?” “Celestia is my godmother, well, one of them,” Mirage said, rather airily. “Let’s not talk about that subject anymore because Celestia and I have only ever discussed that idea in jest just once,” Chamelia remarked. She took a sip from her drink. “Getting back to the topic at hoof, Mirage, tell me about your special changeling stallion,” she said, grinning, and looking increasingly like a fox. Mirage swallowed, thought for a moment. “Mare actually.” Chamelia blinked. “Pardon?” “I am in a relationship with a changeling female. A very pretty female changeling called Furtiva,” Mirage said in a calm tone, glancing at her Grandmother. Her aunts and her Mother had told her that same-sex relations then were uncommon in the past, but accepted. Yet, the odd look her grandmother was giving her... Chamelia seemed to realize that her granddaughter was staring at her, and shook her head. “Sorry, I have no qualms about your relationship. I am just extremely surprised because most young queens want to think about starting a family and securing their line early on, even before they ascend. In fact, the best way they can ensure they have the followers they need to start a new hive is by courting a male changeling and having a few changeling sons and daughters before leaving.” “Oh, huh. I didn’t know that,” said Mirage. “But yeah… I am twenty-one now and Furtiva and I have been dating for five years. Ever since we finished—I mean, ever since we finished our warrior training.” Mirage pursed her lips. “I would like to show you my photo of her, but there are a few pieces of technology in it that would probably wreck the timestream.” This was because Mirage and Furtiva had taken the photograph in uniform, besides the airships that they commanded for the Royal Equestrian Airship Service.  “I can tell you that she has an infiltrators build, grey eyes and was quite a bit of a loner. She had difficulty trusting others and so was very shy. It took a while before she opened up to me.” “Hence her name,” mused Chamelia.  “Yes, though, that was the name she chose for herself. Her parents were rogue changelings who lived alone until they were killed by pony fanatics.” Mirage cocked her head. “They called her Ophi, but we suspect that was a pet name.” Chamelia sighed. “That’s unfortunate.” She frowned. “Hold on, if Alternia rules Equestria with Celestia and Luna… Oh Great Hive Mothers. How much love does she receive? How much love do you two receive?” Chamelia blinked and shook her head. “I think I will refrain from asking more questions, or thinking about the future for the moment.” “How old are our Aunts, and Mother now?” Kyria blurted out. The topic of her daughters made Chamelia smile contentedly. “Chrysalis is five years old now. Alternia is four and Simulacris and Belladonna are two and one respectively,” said Chamelia. “Chrysalis seems to be the bossiest daughter I have ever had. Even at five, she is already rounding them up, with Alternia as her loyal second in command.” Mirage and Kyria shared a knowing glance. It was a little different in the future, but the two older sisters still tended to lead the pack. “I suppose we could tell you this,” said Mirage. “As you know, all four of them are still alive and—” she blinked. “Chamelia?” The older queen had risen to her hooves, her eyes wide. “Grandmother? What's wrong?” asked Kyria, touching Chamelia's flank with a hoof. “Follow me! Hurry!” screamed Chamelia. She opened a portal and galloped forward, diving in. Kyria didn’t hesitate and dove in after her, Mirage following her closely. They arrived at what was a small nursery. Was being the emphasis. It was ripped apart. Several changelings were dead, blood pooling into the carpeted floor. There were two cribs thrown aside, along with two beds whose sheets were flung away. Crowding through the doorway were several changelings in mail. The changelings all had dark blue eyes and coal-colored carapaces. At the group’s head was a changeling queen with navy-blue hair and eyes. To Mirage and Kyria, she seemed older than Lamia, but younger than their mother and aunts. Not that that meant a lot due to how changeling queens age. Facing them were the few turquoise-eyed changelings that were still standing, who had formed a line in front of a corner. They instantly brightened at the sight of Chamelia. But for Mirage and Kyria, it was who was behind these changelings that held their attention. For in the corner, protected by their guards, and were four changeling queens. Belladonna and Simulacris, still swathed in blankets were wailing uncontrollably, despite the best efforts of a four-year-old Alternia, who was frantically trying to hug and kiss them calm. Meanwhile, a five-year-old, Chrysalis, her green hair tied in an adorable braid, stood defensively between her sisters and the attackers. It was she who screamed “Mom!” at the sight of Chamelia.  “It’s going to be alright,” said Chamelia, smiling grimly, her eyes fixed on the intruders. “As for you all, make your peace with the world, for I will remove you from it today.” The queen sneered. “You will try, Chamelia.” Bolts of blue magic struck Chamelia’s quickly-raised shield of green. Muttering murderously, Chamelia surrounded herself in a blaze of green magic and charged forward. The blue queen managed to just teleport aside, but a changeling who hadn’t managed to get out of the way was run over by the enraged mother, who trampled him under her hooves. What was left wasn’t worth describing. “Kyria, protect them, I’ll see if I can help,” hissed Mirage. Kyria started. There was a detachment to her sister’s eyes. Her features were so cold, that she didn’t recognize her. It was so shocking, that Mirage had to give her a nudge. “Move!” she hissed. Nodding, Kyria galloped to the guards, who let her through to her younger aunts and mother. “Hello, I’m… I’m your… I’m a friend of your mother’s,” said Kyria, smiling widely. “You got Donna’s hair,” said Chrysalis, blinking. “Yes I do,” said Kyria, glancing back to the battle raging behind her. Chamelia and the strange queen were both surrounded by the blazing spheres of their own shields, throwing spells against one another. But the traitorous queen wasn’t fighting alone. Barrages of spells from the changelings smashed against Chamelia’s shield, which also had to hold against lances of white magic. It was keeping the scowling Chamelia fairly preoccupied. Meanwhile, six changelings rushed Mirage, who moved forward, her horn blazing blue.  The princess was already thinking about her options and her next moves.  First, what were her weaknesses? The majority of her military training was either command or airship focused. Her peytral did have an emergency shield that would deploy automatically, but it could only activate twice a day before it drew on her love reserves, which were not infinite. She was an excellent shot with her Wingcolt revolver and Lilyfield Carbine, but she didn’t have the carbine, and revealing the revolver was not a good idea at this time. What did she have? Close Quarters Combat (CQC) and magic training developed in response to a series of catastrophic military failures that resulted in Equestria completely reevaluating, restructuring, and retraining their entire military. She wasn’t going to be winning any prolonged duels, but if she focused on taking her opponents out as quickly and as efficiently as she could…           The changelings were trying to come at her from different angles, and they all were putting up semi-circular magical shields in front of them. She had to wrong-foot them, and smash through their shields. She leapt off of her right hooves, her wings gliding the rushing air, closing on the leading changeling to her right. His eyes widened, but in a practiced motion, he raised his shortsword to chop at her shoulder            As soon as he arched back, she fired a thin lance of magic right at his vulnerable head. It was simply a beam of force, but Mirage had practiced this spell many times, and had put a considerable amount of her power into it. She also had a very specific target. The beam smashed through the shield, and slammed into the changeling’s head, whipping his head back and dispelling his shield. His eyes already rolling backward, and so he didn’t see her swing use her magic to swing her silver-handled cutlass. The weapon’s honed edge smashed into his neck, and Mirage could hear the soft crunch of carapace giving way. It took little effort on her part to hack at his neck again, but she had to yank at the blade. It had got caught in the flesh and broken shell. The changeling slumped to the ground with a thud, but the princess was already moving on the second changeling. This changeling paused, eyes wide at what had happened to her comrade, but she was snarling and raising her short spear in front of her. Her shield glowed even brighter as she poured more magic into it.          Mirage didn’t try to duel her. She knew she didn’t have the more advanced weapons training they had. Instead, she flexed the muscles in her right legs once again, and twisted her body at right angles to her momentum. Her target was one of the changelings trying to surround her, away from the spear-wielder. He’d just dropped his shield, his horn glowing as he was trying to cast some kind of spell. The changelings were yelling in warning, but Mirage didn’t listen. Her eyes were on the targeted changeling, who cut his spell off and used his magic to swing his axe, the blade scything through the air towards her barrel.            She’d intercepted his blow with her cutlass, pushing her blade downward to deflect the axehead away from her. The hit was hard, but she only momentarily felt a pinch at her horn’s base. As she planned, she braced her rear legs, flapped her wings, and pushed herself off of the ground. One part of her mind focused on keeping her opponent’s axe pinned, as she breathed in, and pulled her forelegs back. Before she suddenly snapped them forward with her exhale and felt her horse shoes briefly halt, before they suddenly overcame the soft resistance that was the smaller changeling’s face. The changeling staggered back, its legs almost crumpling beneath it, whilst green blood poured from its noses. Moaning incoherently, the changeling backed away, the dark blue glow around his axe fading as it dropped toward the floor. Mirage immediately seized the axe, surrounding it with her bright blue magic, and swung. The axehead curved upward in an arc, and came slicing down, into the changeling’s head. Mirage didn’t even need to use much of her magic to break through the carapace. Momentum and the sharpened axehead split the skull easily, though, it didn’t actually kill the changeling. Still, he was screaming, backing away, but Mirage wouldn’t let him. It required a bit more power but she easily lifted the mortally wounded soldier up, and with a flick of her head, threw him at his comrades. The four remaining changelings split. Two diving right, two diving left, buzzing their wings to get out of the way. They narrowly dodged the thrown changeling, and quickly landed, but didn’t charge her. Rather, they inched back together, slowly, all their weapons raised in guard. Their breaths were quick, eyes fixed on Mirage, and the princess could sense their trepidation, and fear. “Group up! She’s not like other queens! She’s not going to go with fancy sorcery!” snapped one of the changelings, the spear wielder. Mirage couldn’t help but smirk. Well that explained why they had split themselves up. They must have thought she was going to be fighting more like her aunts, or her mother, using powerful, area-of-effect spells to smash through their group.  “Get a group shield up, hurry!” snapped the changeling officer, and the four’s horns glowed as they layered semi-circular shields on top of one another. Mirage took the opportunity to examine her remaining opponents. Two changelings had shortswords. One had a spear, and the other a short-hafted poleaxe. She could see them tense, and their eyes were on the spear-wielding changeling, who must be their group’s officer. If they thought she couldn’t do fancy magic, well that was going to cost them dearly. First, she had to take out the officer. Luckily, modern experiments with shielding spells and layered shielding spells had revealed a weakness which Mirage could exploit. Semi-directional shielding spells, like the one that these changelings were employing against her, were easier to cast and so could be stronger against magical attacks. These changelings probably knew this, which is why they were casting these shields and layering them to try to block her piercing spells. However, modern shield experiments had revealed that semi-directional shield spells didn’t actually block certain spells that didn’t require a physical magical connection. To put it bluntly, Mirage could actually grab the caster behind an unenclosed shield with a levitation spell. That, was precisely what Mirage did. Eyes focused on the changeling officer, she took a deep breath and focused her magic into her horn. A blue glow surrounded the officer, whose mouth opened to warn her comrades, but the princess wasn’t going to let them react. She yanked the officer to the left, smashing her into the soldier to her right. He staggered, dropping his shield spell. The officer struggled against Mirage’s grip, and dropped her shield to try to surround herself with her own magic. The effort made Mirage grunt, but she managed to yank the officer right, pulling her into the rest of her group. They were moving, but flailing legs got tangled and they were flipped over.  Mirage dropped the officer back on the ground, and before they could all recover and put their shields back up, she fired another spell—an overcharged piercing spell—which smacked into the officer’s barrel. The blue magic hit the changeling with a thunk and the officer screamed. Holding onto her forward barrel, she collapsed to the ground, dropping her spear. Although Mirage winced at her opponent’s dying cry, she was already making her next move. Funnelling magic through her horn, she seized the changeling with her magic, and moved her to block  two of the changelings. She briefly remembered how disgusted she once was when employing such a tactic, but the fact of the matter was, she was outnumbered and she could not afford to squander an advantage. Still, Mirage felt a tremor of discomfort buzz through her as she faced the changeling on her exposed side. Said changeling was roaring in fury, and charged at Mirage, levelling a wickedly sharp, short-hafted poleaxe.   Mirage quickly seized the fallen officer’s spear with her magic, and swiped it at the changeling’s legs. To her credit, the charging changeling managed to jump into the air, her wings buzzing her over the spear. However, Mirage scythed the spear’s head upward and back down, applying more magic onto the shaft of the weapon. The weapon slammed onto the changeling’s polearm and snapped in half, making Mirage grunt as the feedback pinged back into her horn. Still, the weight of the blow also made the changeling stagger, and she stumbled back. The princess used that opening to throw a horrendous hack with her cutlass. The blade sank into the wide-eyed changeling’s side. Without hesitation, Mirage ripped the blade out and hacked again, this time at the changeling’s neck.  The blade shuddered, briefly, at the hit, and Mirage winced as she yanked it out, but she hadn’t the time to be remorseful. She moved, shifting her attention back to the last two soldiers. They were both armed with shortswords and were rushing her. One had raised their sword to hack at her. Kyria had been staring at her sister with wide eyes and her mouth was agape. Not that she noticed. Most of her just felt… like she wanted to throw up.  She’d never seen her sister in combat before and now she saw it, she wished she hadn’t. There hadn’t been a moment of hesitation as Mirage either killed, or mauled every one of those changelings. The sight of the two changelings rushing at Mirage made Kyria curse under her breath and she charged her horn. A flame spell would do, it would torch them and… It might kill them. Kyria hesitated watching as the changelings rushed her sister. Indecision gripped her muscles like ice. “Mirage! Look out!” But even before the first words of her warning were out, Mirage had grabbed the moaning changeling in her magic. Lifting the bleeding changeling, she threw him at one of the two remaining soldiers. For the other, she fired a fist of magic at the other changeling. The magical “punch” was blocked by a hastily raised shield, which prompted Mirage to switch targets. She went for the entangled changeling, and began to hack, cutlass falling, and rising. Kyria briefly shut her eyes as the changeling screamed for mercy,  but Mirage ripped his now dead comrade off of him and finished him off with a brutal stab – somewhere into his head because Kyria had looked away— and her sister was now turning to face the last soldier. The last soldier was hysterical. Being surrounded by the bodies of your dead comrades would do that to any creature. He was now throwing wild, desperate swings at her sister. Mirage parried them with her cutlass, her features stoic as her blade blocked a slash, from the shortsword. She twisted her cutlass to block a second cut, then fired another beam of magic that hit the changeling’s shoulder and cut the soldier’s leg so deeply, Kyria swore she could see bone.  The changeling, roaring in agony, charged Mirage. She stepped in, and swung down with her cutlass, forcing the stabbing shortsword aside. She also, used her forehooves to frame off her opponent and guide her charge out of the way. Out of position, the soldier tried to spin around, but Mirage hacked down on the soldier’s back, once, twice. Kyria stared as her sister trotted to her, green liquid dripping down her cutlass. “Kyria, get back to the children,” Mirage ordered, a cold sharpness to her voice. Kyria nearly did run to the children, but the magical battle behind Mirage… made her stand her ground. “But I want to help and Gr-Chamelia needs our help!” Mirage grimaced and her eyes narrowed as she examined the battle once more. Chamelia and the unknown queen were locked in a beam war. It wasn’t like the one their mother and Chrysalis had engaged in at the Canterlot wedding. Rather, the two queens (and the changelings trying to support the unknown queen) were throwing spells at each other to try to whittle each other’s shield down. Bolts of lightning. Fireballs. Beams of light. It looked like a fireworks display gone wild. Yet, there was a degree of control to the fight. Chamelia was striking at both the changelings and the unknown queen, but all were avoiding hitting the cave. Nobody wanted to trigger a collapse. Everything in Mirage’s training told her to order her sister out of here, but she knew that while she had spells, they’d need all the magical firepower they had for this. “Do exactly what I say. You’re going to help me shield us because you can’t shield us and cast spells at the same time. The moment your emergency shield goes up, you disengage. Understood?” Mirage hissed. “Yes, Mirage!” Kyria squeaked.          “Good.” A blue magical sphere surrounded them. Kyria did the same, putting her shield over Mirage’s. However, as Kyria stepped forward Mirage pushed her back.          “Stay behind me,” her sister ordered. Kyria nodded, and the two advanced. Luckily, Chamelia and the unknown queen and her allies were so focused on trying to hit each other, and not the remnants of the nursery, they didn’t notice Mirage and Kyria advancing on them. “Brace yourself,” whispered Mirage. Taking a breath, she conjured a fireball outside of their shields and fired it at the shield of the unknown queen and her allies. The bolt hit the shield, but it held and while a few of the changelings winced, the queen gave the two an unamused look, before firing two bolts of lightning.  Kyria thought she was ready for this, but the force of the impacts drove spikes of pain into her forehead.  “Hold it, Kyria!” Mirage hissed.          “I know! The power of an ascended queen is not to be trifled with,” Kyria stammered.          Mirage’s reply was a humourless chuckle, and threw a beam of magic that slammed into unknown queen’s shield. It was unfortunately retaliated with two blasts of magic. Kyria winced as the blasts slammed into her shield, but to her relief, Chamelia took the opportunity to return fire and force the queen to focus on her shield. This allowed Mirage to add another beam. Still, the unknown queen’s shield held, supported by the five changelings that backed her up. Yet, they had bought themselves enough time. Turquoise-eyed changelings were pouring into the nursery. They immediately started throwing spells at the intruders’ shield. The queen snarled and opened a portal in her shield. Chamelia, Mirage, Kyria, and the changeling guards continued to try to overwhelm the shields, causing it to crack, flake, but it held just long enough for the queen and her changelings to flee. Chamelia fired one last spell that shot through the portal that hit the queen, but it didn’t stop her from racing through and snapping the portal shut. “Is it over?” Kyria asked. “No. Not in the slightest,” hissed Chamelia. Breathing out, she cantered to where her children were, huddling behind their remaining guards. “Mommy!” cried Chrysalis, darting out past her niece - not that she knew about it -  she barrelled into her mother. Alternia was a little slower, and shakier, but she quickly threw her hooves around her mother. “They’re not hurt,” said Kyria levitating a whimpering Belladonna and Simulacris into Chamelia’s magic. She coddled them, cooing at the babies, whilst nuzzling her daughters. “We’ll find them, G-Camelia,” said Mirage. “I know we will.” Chamelia let out a deep sigh, and glanced between her granddaughters.  “Girls, this is Mirage and Kyria, they’re friends.” Kyria’s eyes widened. “Chamelia, I don’t think that’s a-” Her grandmother silenced her by shoving Belladonna into Kyria’s grasp. “Kyria and Mirage are very common changeling names, so you need not worry. In fact, one of my older sisters was called Mirage,” whispered Chamelia. Mirage was honestly more surprised that Chamelia was introducing them to her precious daughters, and pursed her lips as she tried to digest this trust. Kyria frowned. “Kyria’s a changeling name? Mom named me because she thought it sounded nice.” Feeling a little odd, Mirage frowned. “That’s what I was told too. Mom said that she always thought those names felt comforting to her.” The three glanced at each other, and then back to the children, who were looking awestruck at Mirage and Kyria’s silver regalia, and the two young queens. “Ki… Kria?” asked Alternia, trying to sound the words. “It’s Keer ria, Alternia,” said Chrysalis slowly, in a bossy tone. “Ohhhh, thanks Chryssy,” said Alternia. Chrysalis beamed, before rising to her hooves and bowing to Kyria and Mirage. “Thank you, Kyria, and Mi… Mirage.” Mirage had to swallow at the sight, and avert her gaze. “Thank your guards little one.” “Yes Mirage!” said Chrysalis, she trotted off to the exhausted changeling guards, whilst Mirage discreetly blocked the children from the view of the few dead changelings in the room. “I’ll deal with this, you and Kyria comfort them,” said Mirage, a lump in her throat as she glanced at the corpses. Chamelia, nodded tiredly, but her eyes were slightly narrowed. “We will talk later.” The two sisters were sat back in Chamelia’s chambers. She had, after a lot of effort, put their future aunts and mother to bed, and was now pacing across her room. Mirage and Kyria exchanged a look, it was eerie how much their mother was like her own mother, especially when they were pacing. Chamelia suddenly met the sisters with a narrow-eyed look. “Mirage, Kyria, you need to tell me if something like this happened in the future. I know the timeline is at stake but—” “That’s the thing, we haven’t heard of something like this happening from our parents. I’d think they would have told us if they remembered, but they never did,” Mirage said. The elder queen nodded. “Alright, but I assume that you two aren’t averse to continue working with me to resolve this incident?” Kyria sighed. “No, but… Grandmother, I’ve had no formal military training. I was taught to defend myself, and if necessary, survive hostile environments. I do know some attack spells, but they’re basic. My shields are better, and I know some medical-related spells, and I have a well… a special weapon for last resort. But I’m… there’s a reason Mirage told me to stay back.” Mirage nudged her sister. “Kyria, don’t blame yourself for that. You’re a civvie-civilian, not a soldier. Besides, you did help me out when you could, and I also asked you to stay back I wanted the option of you casting a portal to get the young ones out.” Kyria nodded and then frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me to open a portal immediately?” Mirage arched an eyebrow. “Really. You really need to ask the dangers of being immobile in the middle of a battle after THAT you-know-what incident?” Kyria frowned, thought for a moment, and remembered how her mother nearly died mid-portal because Chrysalis chucked a spear at her while she was forced to remain stationary. “Oh! Right, sorry.” “No formal combat training? But you are nearly seventeen years old. Would you not need some military training to survive going out on your own?” Chamelia asked. The younger changeling queen groaned. “Can’t say, future-stuff.” “I do have formal military training,” said Mirage cooly. “I noticed that. What manner of training?” Chamelia asked, her eyes narrowing. “Sorcery, spellcasting, some close-quarters combat—” Mirage swallowed as her grandmother’s glare seemed to sharpen. “But mostly command training and training with a weapon that I can’t use in this time, unless in extreme situations. That same… special weapon Kyria mentioned.” Chamelia frowned. “Your grandmother’s hive was under attack, your mother and aunts nearly kidnapped and that wasn’t extreme enough for you?” Mirage took a deep breath and met her grandmother’s gaze. “Grandmother, as we’ve mentioned before, we are from far, far in the future. So far that weapons technology has advanced to such an extent that should we let you see our weapons… it’d rewrite the military paradigm.” The older queen held the younger’s gaze for a moment, before nodding. “I understand. Still, that means you two are staying at the hive.” Mirage grimaced but nodded. “But grandmother! You’ll be—” Chamelia sighed. “Kyria, I want you here to provide additional protection to your mothers and aunts while we are busy with this. Also, I know you may want to fight this intruder, but you have no formal combat training.” The elderly queen’s gaze rested on Mirage. “As for you, Mirage—” “Oh, I understand why. I probably don’t have the right kind of training to participate in the battles of your era,” Mirage said quietly. “That was not what I was going to say,” Chamelia said. Her eyes narrowed, and Mirage could sense her grandmother was feeling rather curious. “I was going to say I have never seen a changeling fight like you do. Where did you learn this… close-quarters-combat style of yours, and what exactly does it entail?” Mirage blinked and averted her gaze. “I can’t tell you too much as it involves the future. I can tell you though that it was part of my formal military training. It focuses on disabling or killing an enemy as quickly as possible.” Chamelia modded. “I noticed that. You cast spells but they were simple, and cast with a focus on speed.” “I know more complex spells, but…I’m not an ascended queen. I don’t quite have that power to use, and… while I can fight in close quarters, it’s not my forte. If the battle is drawn out… I might have difficulties keeping up,” Mirage said. Chamelia nodded. “Alright. If that is the case, and since you do have these… special weapons… I can think of no better place for you both to be than here, protecting your future.” “Yes, Grandmother,” said Mirage. “Yes, Grandma,” sighed Kyria. “Thank you.” Chamelia frowned. “I do wonder how would you start a hive without being able to defend yourself from rival queens? I mean, just because your mother rules Equestria, doesn’t mean there won’t be any queens to challenge you, or any other manner of threats to contend with,” Chamelia said. “Reasons. Future reasons,” said Kyria. She knew her smile was far too wide, and that her sister was groaning, but what could she do? Their grandmother muttered mutinously, “I am getting rather tired of those words. Anyway, I’m calling a Queens Council meeting to mobilize my allies against this rogue queen. But right now, we should all get some sleep.”