Leaving the Egg Chamber behind the group of four went to the next place; the Hive Chambers. Entering the group found Rhino in his usual place on the raised dais in the center of the room looking over the crystal's hologram, with a hoof on his chin and his elbow resting on his other hoof. Rhino's ear twitched and he looked up to greet his guests.
"Hey there Dragonfly, I see you brought our guest, showing them around?"
"Yes I am, still looking over some upgrades?"
"Well actually I'm trying to find what we are missing to upgrade the Hive from Tier Zero to Tier One. Me and Spotter have been working together on this but so far not much luck."
"Well just do your best, and try not to strain yourself, you'll give yourself a heart attack." Dragonfly's smile showed he was messing with Rhino, who gave a playful scowl back.
"I'm not that old."
The two Changelings laughed as the three Ponies looked around the chamber, eventually finding themselves talking to the other Changelings there.
"If you'll excuse my bluntness, what are you?" Belle asked the Plated Soldier.
"Well miss, I'm a variant of the Soldier Breed called the "Plated Soldier". Think of us like a version of the Equestrian Military's Earth Pony "Ironclad unit" just Changeling rather then Pony." The male Soldier Variant said
"Oh, Okay." Indigo spoke next.
"That would explain the armor, though I feel it was designed to invoke something from its shape."
"Well you would be right on that, the armor was designed to resemble the appearance of other Changeling Breed called the "Juggernaut". In terms of statics our armor grants us a whooping +90% Armor and Defense with +60% Magic Defense."
The three Ponies eyes widened in surprise at that.
"Wow, most of the weapons and spells used by the Equestrian Military wouldn't be able to get passed that." Dancer said.
"I would not want to encounter you in a dark alley." Indigo voiced his thoughts.
"Agreed." Belle spoke.
"Well I see you three are already getting to know the other Changelings in the Hive." The four looked over to see Dragonfly and Rhino smiling at them, the former having spoke.
"We were wondering what sort of Breed he was." Belle said.
"So Dragonfly, what is this chamber used for?" Dancer asked.
"This place is the "Hive Chambers", The Hive Chambers is used to change Drones into the various breeds of Changelings. Most Changeling breeds start their lives as Drones, they enter this chamber once certain criteria had been meet. The chosen Drone(s) then enter special cocoons that would change them into whatever variant that had been chosen over a brief period of time. Like for example: If a Drone showed more skill in battle then his or her clutch mates, they could eventually become a Elite Soldier, Shock Trooper or even a Royal Guard if the requirements were met just to name a few."
"Really, interesting way of creating troops. And you said that most Changelings start out as Drones?" Indigo asked.
"Yes Rhino, if you please..."
"Of course. Drones are the lifeblood of a Hive and the most numerous Breed, without Drones the Hive would not last. Although most Royal Changelings tend to forget that fact. Anyway, nobuggy really knows why most Breeds start out as Drones. I think it might be so when their new Breed is chosen they can take what they learned as Drones into their new life, at least that's my theory. Only a few Breeds are hatched as their type for one reason or another."
The three Ponies nodded in understanding, then Dragonfly spoke up.
"Sorry to drag you guys out but there is still more to see."
Rhino waved them off as the group left, as they did he chuckled and waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.
"Think the Hive might have two Queens in the future?"
There was a laugh as Hurricane came out of hiding, Dragonfly had asked that the Founders stay out of sight for the time being, he wanted to surprise the three Ponies at the end of the tour.
"From the way the two Mares were looking at him I would think so."
Rhino chuckled as Hurricane joined him on the dais.
"The question is how long, we Changelings could quite easily sense their attraction to him."
"Well from what I've seen Dragonfly isn't dense."
"No, I think they're just taking it slow for now, get to know each other better."
"Make's sense, it took a long time after I met my wives before I married them."
"To be fair you guys were dealing with a lot at the time."
"True, but it was worth it."
Hurricane leaned towards Rhino and asked.
"Has Dragonfly ever, well... "bedded" a Mare before?"
"No... but he is familiar enough with the subject so I'd say their first time will be awkward but if the love I was feeling from the two is as strong as I think it is, it will be a night the three with remember for the rest of their lives."
Rhino paused rubbing his chin.
"I do wonder how he will react to the two in swimsuits though." Hurricane raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?"
"Dragonfly has a thing for swimsuits, though he prefers the full coverage, high-waist style ones. Don't ask me why as I don't know, but I do know that if he sees the two in swimwear, he's going to get turned on quite badly."
Hurricane smiled
"Funny enough I was, and still am, the same way. If I walk into the bedroom and see my girls in swimwear I know that they are in the mood for a fun night."
The two shared a laugh as the other Changelings in the room just rolled their eyes with a smile.
The next place Dragonfly showed them was the Hive's Heart Chamber, The three Ponies could only stare in awe of the gigantic crystal that dominated the three-level area. Dragonfly smiled at their wide eyes and dropped jaws.
"Impressive isn't it? What you see before you is the "Hive's Heart", the most important structure of the Hive."
Belle recovered and turned to him, Dancer and Indigo following soon after.
"The Hive's Heart? You mean the Hive is alive?!" Her shock was rather clear, as was the others.
"In a way; The Hive's Heart is the place raw E-Energy is purified and for lack of a better word, "pumped" through the Hive with the veins you've seen around the rooms."
"I was wondering what those were. How does this tie into that?" Dancer asked, Dragonfly cleared his throat and explained.
"it works like this; as I mentioned before, areas were creatures live have E-energy gather in the air and after a certain point it seeps into the ground. In the case of Ponyville, which our Hive is underneath, the crystals spread around the cavern the Hive is built into gather the energy in the ground. These crystals then directs that energy to the bottom of the cavern where it pools into what I would call a liquid form, and from there the crystal on the Hive's tip at the bottom since its either built like or into a massive stalactite hanging in the center of the cavern brings up that energy through the Hive and into the Hive's Heart, the heart then "pumps" the energy through the tubes and veins, feeding the Hive and us Changelings with a constant stream of E-energy."
Dragonfly drew in a breath as the others looked back at the Hive's Heart. Dancer then walked up to it.
"It's beautiful." She reached out with a hoof but stopped before touching it and turned her head to Dragonfly.
"Is it safe to touch it?"
"It does have a defense system within where it will shock somecreature if they try to harm it, but as Belle asked the heart is alive in a sense and it knows you are not a threat to it Dancer. I wouldn't call the heart sapient but there is some sentience in that crystal."
Dancer nodded and turned back to the crystal, hopping Dragonfly was right, she reached forward and gently touched her hoof to the surface of the crystal. Instead of a shock like she expected, she felt a comforting warmth travel through her hoof as a faint light green energy gently crested her foreleg.
"How does it feel Dancer?" Belle asked her sister.
"I... I'm not sure how to describe it. It feels warm, like laying next to a fireplace on a cold winter day with a mug of hot chocolate, and I can feel energy flowing through me. It doesn't hurt, in fact it feels nice."
Dragonfly spoke up then.
"That's because as the heart knows you mean no harm to it, it is gently feeding you with E-energy."
Dancer removed her hoof and stared at it for a second, then looked back at Dragonfly while setting her hoof down.
"Do you know what pure E-energy will do to a Pony?"
"I don't, I know it wouldn't harm them but as the only Pony I know of to be exposed to pure E-energy of any length of time would be my father, and since I have no clue where he is..."
"We can't ask him if anything happened, what about Seeker?" Indigo asked.
"Seeker wouldn't know either, he only saw my dad once in a while both due to dad's job as a Royal Knight and Seeker's own work." Dragonfly said with a shrug, he then gestured for the three to follow.
"Come on, time for the next location on the list."
Dragonfly showed them the Archives where they met Darter and Spotter, Dragonfly's Private Quarters (Belle and Dancer getting excited on the fact he had a hot tube) with his Bedroom, Personal Archives, and the Magic Room. After some time they when back to the Throne Room. Watching out of sight of them was Platinum and Clover, neither wearing their cloaks.
"What do you think Clover, think that Bluebelle and Diamond Dancer are going to be Dragonfly's mates?"
"Maybe, its still early so we would have to wait and see, but I do think that the three of them will become mates from how will they're getting along with each other."
What the two Unicorn Mares didn't know was that Hurricane was coming down the steps behind the throne, not wearing his armor, and stopped once he spotted the Mares with their backs to him. He soon gained a large smile as a thought came to him, he carefully crept up behind the Mares and slowly leaned forward. Once he was close enough he playfully nipped Platinum's rump just behind her left Cutie Mark then quickly did the same to Clover on top of the base of her tail.
"Wah!!!"
"EEP!"
Both Unicorns, startled by the sudden bites, teleported down to the Throne Room floor, in full view of the three Ponies, and turned to Hurricane who had a very large, shameless smile as he flew down.
"Hurricane! What the hay?!" Platinum shouted at him with a nasty scowl and a large blush appearing over her face while Clover's face also had a large glowing blush which she covered with her front hooves. She knew that Hurricane knew that she loved have her tail pulled and nipped.
"Well sorry girls but when I see you showing me your pretty flanks I can't help myself."
"We were not showing our flanks to you, we just weren't wearing our cloaks!" Platinum all but shouted at him, her own face turning even redder.
"Well I believe our guests would like to met us." Hurricane walked between them, his wings stretching out to brush playfully against their Cutie Marks as he passed by them. Both Mares gave a cute squeak at the touch, and batted at him with their tails, though he just chuckled as he dodged out of the way.
Speaking of the three guests, they just stood there with their eyes as wide as they would go and jaws on the floor. Indigo recovered first.
"Co... Com... Comman... Commander Hurricane?!?!"
"Princess Platinum????" Belle said unable to believe her eyes.
"Clover the Clever???" Dancer breathed out, in complete shock.
"Yep, in the flesh." Hurricane said smiling, the three Ponies just stared before Belle turned to Dragonfly, who had a large smile of his own.
"Dragonfly, how in the name of Harmony do you have the very Founders of Equestria here??!!"
Dragonfly chuckled.
"That has a bit of a story to it; you see..." Dragonfly recapped the Everfree mission for them, explaining how they had got to the city to get whatever Chrysalis had wanted first, which had turned out to be the Founders. How his group had found and freed the six of their stone prisons, and how they were now living in the Hive, wanting to wait until the time was right. At some point during this explanation the other three Founders joined the group along with Rhino, Darter, and Spotter.
Belle, Dancer, and Indigo recovered from their shock, taking in the story. Finally Indigo spoke.
"You have a talent for attracting the interesting company, do you Dragonfly?"
"That I do, though I do have to admit that you are taking this better then I had expected." Belle spoke next.
"Considering the stories Nebula told me about Chrysalis, the fact that you got to the Founders first is what I'm sure Aunt Celestia would call a major victory and for me personal; I know your Hive would treat them as friends so no worries on that front." Dancer voice her own agreement.
"Then I hope you three understand why this needs to be kept under wraps for the time being." Dragonfly said.
The three Ponies nodded their heads, though they did ask why they needed to keep Celestia from knowing. Dragonfly chuckled as he answered.
"I want to surprise her when the time is right."
After hanging out for a short while Dragonfly showed the three Ponies the Hive Interface, the three watching in amazement as Dragonfly pointed out each feature. Belle soon mentioned that Celestria would have absolutely loved something like this. Soon however the time came for them to return to the Cozy Rest. Dragonfly, Belle, Dancer, and Indigo gathered under the Teleporter.
"Thanks Dragonfly for the tour." Belle said as she and Dancer hugged the Changeling who returned it.
"No problem Belle, what do you want to do next?"
"Well... is that offer for tea still available?" Dancer asked.
"Sure is, how about you Indigo?"
"I could have some."
"Okay, here we go." Dragonfly activated the Teleporter, as he did the three Ponies turned to the others and said their farewells and soon the energy from the Teleporter washed over them and the four were gone from the Throne Room.
A few months later
Dragonfly let out a light sign as he watched the scenery pass by, Belle had invited him down to Canterlot to meet the rest of her friends and just hang out. She and Dancer had been visiting more now that Celestia had relieved a number of Belles duties so she could have more free time to hangout with him. Dancer had told him that once the season came and she would have to go out on tour with her group, but Dragonfly understood that and had told her he wouldn't dare try to take that from her.
He bit back a yawn as it was pretty early but he did't mind, he had gone a few days without sleep before.
He leaned back in his seat, thinking about his relationship with the Mares. It had been at least four to five months since he had met them and he was wondering if they should take the next step. That was something he would need to talk about with them first. Now, he wouldn't be the first Pony (or Changeling rather) to be in a relationship with more than one Mare, far from it actually. While Ponies forming Herds wasn't as common in current times as it was long ago it was still fairly common, the only real requirements were that each Pony consented with each other and that each had the option to back out if they wanted to. Herding had in fact been used in older times after the first Heart's Warming because at the time the Ponies had lost many Stallion to the point that there was around seven Mares to one Stallion, thankfully as time went on the ratio evened out so now most Ponies went into relationship with just one partner though again Harding was still fairly common.
That wasn't the only thing that had happened in the passed few months; Seeker, Rhino, and Spotter believed they had found a lead on the item they needed to upgrade the hive to Tier One. The Founders had also been given their new disguise bracelets and now the six had a house in Ponyville and had adapted well to the town, Hurricane had gotten a job on the town's weather team handling the more dangerous things like lightning, Pansy found herself working with a Mare by the name of Fluttershy, Platinum was working in the Town Hall with Mayor Mare, Clover was teaching in Ponyville's School house, and both Smart Cookie and Puddinghead were working at Sugercube Corner. Dragonfly had also brought up a few Drones to help around the Cozy Rest, allowing him more free time like now to visit Canterlot.
His ears perked as he heard the Conductor call out that Canterlot Station was coming up shortly, he adjusted his scarf as the train slowed to a stop and once the initial rush had slowed he stepped off the train and looked out to the city. Dragonfly had only been to Canterlot a few times back when he was colt, the city was beautiful in its own right but the emotions he could sense here didn't feel right. Most of the city was fine, it was towards the richer parts that "False Emotions" as they came to be called appeared. Dragonfly hated that area as False Emotions were not as good as the real thing and they tasted like old chocolate, one hundred year old chocolate.
Dragonfly was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a voice call his name, turning his head to the left he saw none other than Sparky Gears coming towards him, dressed in her Royal Guard armor. He smiled seeing her.
"Hey there Sparks, come to collect me." His smile showing he was joking. Sparks laughed lightly.
"Why yes, Belle sent me to met you and bring you up so you wouldn't get lost, or have trouble getting in the palace with the guards."
"Well thanks, let's not keep them waiting, lead the way."
The two walked though the streets talking about various things.
"So Sparks, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? I would like to get to know you better as a friend."
"Sure Dragonfly, what would you like to know first?"
"Well... how about some of your family, if that's alright."
"Sure, as Blue might have already told you I was born to a Dracony Stallion and a female Griffin, how we don't know but I did have a good Foalhood, bearing the usual bullying though that was actually rare. I think it had to do with my dad being a Royal Knight and my Mother being a former Squall."
That surprised Dragonfly greatly.
"A Squall?! Griffin Special Forces?!"
"Yep, she retired and settled down after she met my dad."
"If you'll excuse me for asking but, how did that happen, aren't Griffins rather mean and cranky?"
"I understand where that's coming from, most Griffins are that way though not all. Mom is actually very friendly, more Pony-like then Griffin-like if you know what I mean."
"Oh... okay, sorry if..." Sparks merely held up a hoof to stop him.
"Don't worry about it. You are hardly the first one to ask and mostly like not the last either, you are however one of the kinder ones." Her face formed into a scowl. "I've heard more blasted jokes and insults about my parentage in guard training then I can count, especially from the Nobles. I cannot tell how close or how many times I've come to throttling them through the face from their remarks."
Sparks let out a sigh as she calmed down.
"Good thing for my parents training me when I was old enough, that helped more times than I could count."
"I hear you on that, my dad hated most of the Nobles." Dragonfly said.
"Come to think of it, so do most of the Royal Knights." Sparks added.
"So what about your dad?" Dragonfly asked, wanting to change the subject, with Sparks was happy with.
"Well Dragonfly he's an engineer, that means he solves problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. He solves practical problems." She reached up to adjust her helmet.
"Fr'instance... How would he stop some big mean mother hubbard from tearing him a structurally superfluous new tail? The answer... use a crossbow. And if that don't work... use more bow."
She smiled as she looked at Dragonfly.
"Like his little heavy bolt, tri-shot, little ol' number designed by him... Built by him... and you'd best hope... not pointed at you." Sparks finished by booping Dragonfly on the tip of his snout with a large smile. Dragonfly rubbed his nose and smiled back.
"Sounds like he and a friend of mine, named Rhino Beetle, would get along just fine."
"Most likely, from what Blue, Dancer, and Indigo told the rest of us."
Dragonfly blinked as he noticed Sparks emotions flare slightly as she mentioned Indigo, he focused on it for a second then a sly smile appeared on his face. Sparks raised an eyebrow at his expression.
"Dragonfly? Why are you smiling like that?"
"You have a crush on Indigo." It was more of a statement then a question. Sparks blushed.
"I forget you can sense emotions, but yes... I do have feelings for Indigo, so does Blades. The two of us have talked and we are willing to form a herd with him but we're not sure if he would be okay with it."
"Hmmm... you two really like him that much?"
"Yep... he's our group's "Little puppy", great medic but his shy nature drew me and Sparks to him. We do tease him but we are careful not to take it too far."
She and Dragonfly looked up to see they were at the palace gates, Sparks lead Dragonfly through and into palace, moving through the rooms until they reached the main dining hall where breakfast was being served. Belle was sitting with her friends though Dancer was no were to be seen, he spotted Indigo and Blades just fine but the other three he didn't know. The group looked over as Sparks slowly maneuvered them over to their table, making sure to not bump into anypony. Once he was close enough he got a good look at the new three Ponies;
The first was an Earth Pony Mare with a leaf green coat, rose red mane and tail tied up with blue ribbons, and yellow eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a bundle of roses. As Dragonfly sat down next to Belle this Mare give him a friendly smile. The next one was a taller then normal Pegasus Mare with a snow white coat, long crimson and tail that gently swayed long the floor, and beautiful emerald green eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a bunch of silver roses. She gave Dragonfly a wink and a flirty smirk. The last one was a Winged Thestral Stallion a good head taller than most Stallions and had an dark grey coat, the trademark deep blue webbed mane, wings, and tail and a dark yellow eye. His Cutie Mark was a picture of a sunset with a large dust devil in front of it and over his left eye was a black eyepatch. He gave Dragonfly a slight nod though the Stallion's face remained neutral.
Once Dragonfly and Sparks sat down a maid came over to the former as the others already had their meals.
“Sir, would you like anything?” He gave her a gentle smile
“As much as I would love some food, take your time. I know you're busy, and I don't want to overwork you.”
“Oh, it's no problem, sir. What can I get you?”
“Just some oatmeal, maybe an apple. And some tea, too. And please, call me Dragonfly. I never was one for formalities.”
“Oh! O-of course, Dragonfly. My apologies.” She dashed off before he could get a word in, next to him Belle chuckled.
"She's new, still has those first day jitters and wants to make a good impression."
"Well I can understand that, when I reopened the Cozy Rest I was having the jitters as well." The snow white Pegasus spoke up.
"So Blue, are you going to introduce us to this handsome gentlecolt?"
"Oh right. My friends, this here is Dragonfly Wings, the Stallion I told you about. Dragonfly, you already know Blades, Sparks and Indigo. The others here are Graceful Petals," Belle pointed at the Earth Pony Mare. "Rose Silver," She pointed at the Pegasus Mare, "And Rose's twin bother, Dusk Storm." She point at the Thestral, who had a wing over Graceful Petals' back as she was leaning into him.
"Pleasure to met you all." Dragonfly said. Each gave their own greeting as the maid from before came back with Dragonfly's meal, he thanked her and the group started on their meals. Some of the other creatures, mostly Ponies but some others like Griffins, watched the new Pony in Bluebelle's group, curious about him as his manners, kind attitude, and respect towards the staff seemed to be right out of a fairly tale.
Once they were finished and another maid took their dishes Dragonfly turned to Belle.
"So were is your sister Belle?"
"She got called into her dance group last night, something about a show coming up in a month's time. That reminds me, Dragonfly, would you be interested in going to see that show?"
Dragonfly looked at the table a rubbed his chin for a moment, he then asked.
"What sort of show is it?"
"It's a mix of different types of dance with Diamond Dancer performing the ribbon dance with her group."
"Well... sure. I'm curious about this show and I would like to show Dancer my support." Belle smiled widely.
"Oh she will be so happy to hear that. Thanks so much Dragonfly."
Said disguised Changeling blushed and rubbed the back of his head bashfully, the others chuckling with Dusk giving a slight smile. Suddenly, the doors to the room were flung open as a certain Stallion strode through. Blades, Dusk, and Sparks instantly tensed as the former slowly bared her teeth and the latter two reached for their weapons.
"Good morning, peasants! Where is my breakfast?" Blueblood demanded, trotting over to the table the group was at and sat on the other side of Belle, who looked ready to blast him through the wall.
“Just look at this terrible service, am I right? Nobility such as us shouldn't have to be kept waiting. I'm surprised Auntie Celestia hasn't fired every last one of them.”
Dragonfly just stared slack-jawed at Blueblood, not wanting to try and sense his emotions. He noticed that the others looked ready to pound the Stallion into the floor and they certainly wanted to if their own emotions was anything to go by, Blueblood then noticed Dragonfly when the latter spoke.
“You do realize you just came in completely unannounced, right? Nopony, or creature for that matter, could cook that fast, not even you.”
“Hmph! And who are you supposed to be? Some commoner my sister pulled of the street.” he replied. Belle and the rest of her friends bristled at that remark, Belle jumping to Dragonfly's defense.
"I didn't pull him off the street! He is a successful business Stallion and my friend!"
"Oh really? Well what business is it then? Selling rocks."
"Tea actually." Dragonfly calmly said, not at all fazed by Blueblood's insults.
'No wonder Belle and Dancer can't stand this guy, I know Rhino would have beat this guy to the curb.'
"Ha! A commoner's drink, nothing like the fine wine we Nobles have!"
Dragonfly glanced around; Sparks, Blades, Rose, and Dusk looked ready to attack Blueblood in half a heartbeat while the others were glaring at him with a mix of disgust and hate. Dragonfly decided to do something before something really bad happened, he had a idea after all.
"How about a simple deal?"
Everypony around him looked at Dragonfly in surprise, Blueblood arcing an eyebrow.
"What sort of deal?"
"You go make your own breakfast, and if you can have it done five minutes I'll leave Canterlot." Dragonfly laid out his part, but before he could layout the other part Blueblood smirked.
“Fine, I'll take that deal! I'll go make my own breakfast, and if I can't have it done in the five minutes I expect my incompetent staff to have it done by, which I certainly will, I'll give you some of my stocks in a few wealthy businesses!”
That really surprised Belle and her friends, Dragonfly meanwhile just smiled.
"We have a deal then."
"I look forward to sending you out." Blueblood said haughtily as he turned and stormed off into the kitchen, the cooks yelling something about him not being allowed in after a pudding incident of some sort. Belle rounded on Dragonfly.
"Are you crazy?! If he wins-"
"He wouldn't." Dragonfly said calmly, belle and the others blinked at him.
"What do you mean?" Graceful asked, Dragonfly just smiled.
"Just watch."
The group looked at each other then Sparks shrugged and they waited, Five minute passed with smoke starting to come from the open door, then ten followed by the smell of something burning, then twenty…
BOOM!!!
Everycreature in the room nearly jump out of their skins as a large fireball shot out of the kitchen followed by panicked screams to put fires out, crashing of objects and the sound of an extreme angry Head Chief roaring at Blueblood.
"YOU BUCKING moron!!! I don't care if you're Princess Celestia's nephew! You were told to stay out of the kitchen after the pudding incident! I only let you in for that deal you made, and I jut knew you @#!$% would trash the place you &*#%^!" That round of the Head Chief roaring at Blueblood lasted at least another ten minutes before Blueblood stomped back out of the kitchen, thoroughly humiliated, covered in black sot and bits of his mane and tail of fire, summoned a few papers of stock ownership in his magic, and indignantly tossed them to Dragonfly before trotting off.
Belle turned to Dragonfly who had a large triumph smile on his face.
"Dad told me that Blueblood couldn't cook to save his life, even if he had an hour to do so." There was a slap as Belle's hooves met her face.
"I completely forget about that, even if he was successful he would have poisoned himself."
Their company just started laughing, Sparks giving Dragonfly a slap on the back.
"You clever lad! You tricked him into a deal that you knew he couldn't win." Dusk added his own thoughts.
"Aye, and ya're walking out quite a bit richer." He turned to Belle, "I like this lad."
Dragonfly got up and offered to help clean the kitchen up, which the chief were happy to accept, it took close to an hour to fully fix up the place but the kitchen staff appreciated it none the less. Once Dragonfly was done he washed up and met back up with Belle and her friends, as they were leaving two guards approached.
"Dragonfly Wings is it?"
"Yes."
"Princess Celestia wants to see you, don't worry it isn't about Blueblood. Bluebelle, the Princess wants to see you and your friends as well."
"Did she say why?" Belle asked.
"No, just that it was a private meeting. Please come with us." The group fell into step behind the guards, leaving quickly. As soon as they had left the room, a few visiting nobles began chattering among themselves again.
“He knows the Princess well enough for a private meeting, and he got Blueblood to humiliate himself? Just who is he?”
"While I'm not sure about his name, he did say he sold tea."
"And he knows Princess Bluebelle well enough to be invited to sit with her, perhaps Gold Bar or Blue Diamond know him."
"From the way they were sitting, do you think they might be attracted to each other?"
"It's possible, though we would be wise not to interfere in that."
"Especially considering what Black Death did to the last one who tried to force her into marriage."
Every single Noble in the room shuddered at the thought, they did not want to get on that Stallion's bad side.
"Perhaps I ought to offer him a share of my stock too, as a gesture of goodwill!”
“Perhaps we should show him around the city. I could offer him dinner at my restaurant, it has a five-star rating!”
“Not if I invite him first!”
"You do realize Dragonfly that by humiliating blueblood like you did, you're going to be fairly popular with the Nobles." Belle was saying.
"Really? I thought they wouldn't care."
"Believe it or not, most of the Noble are actually pretty decent folk. It's only a few of them that are bad, like Jet Set and his wife Upper Crust. Now those two are some of the worse ones though thankfully they don't have as much power as they think they do."
"Along with Blueblood?"
"Yep, speaking of that. Dragonfly, I'm deeply sorry about how he acted towards you, he is my and Dancer's brother and we do love him, but we only barely tolerated him and his attitude, and that was only for the sake of our parents."
"I can understand that, I can't guess what it was like growing up with him." Belle looked at the floor in sorrow.
"He... he wasn't always like that."
"Really? What was he like?" Dragonfly asked, genuinely surprised. Belle looked at him sadly.
"He was once a very sweet colt, until Grandmare got to him. Dad's mother wasn't a very nice Mare, and Dad hated her. She passed away about six years ago, good riddance, but the damage had been done."
"I'm sorry, about your brother I mean."
Belle Just walked up and hugged Dragonfly who returned it. They soon reached Celestia's private meeting room. The group sat around the table as Celestia dismissed the guards, Dragonfly and Belle told the story of what happened with input from the others.
"And then your guards brought us here." Dragonfly concluded, holding out his new stock papers to Celestia. “Think you can lend me a hoof with these?”
“Certainly, my little pony.”
"Speaking of that, Princess... you know what I actually am." That was a statement, not a question.
"I do Dragonfly, I've known since you hatched. When Nebula and Saber married I was Nebula's Best Mare, she also made me your godmother if it ever came to that. When Nebula told me you had died, I was horrified at the news. After three years passed, I heard that Nebula's shop the Cozy Rest had reopened again so I had to see for myself."
"I knew there was more to that visit then what appeared."
"Indeed, as you were looking at that list I carefully cast a spell that would allow me and only me to see your true form. Once I saw it was really you, it took all my self-control to not start jumping all over the place."
Dragonfly stared at her, taking all she had said in.
"Did... did Seeker know about this?" He slowly asked, anger slowly rising at the fact that his Advisor had withheld information again.
"Please don't be mad at him Dragonfly, it was my wish he didn't tell you."
"Then... if you are my Godmother, then I can't I..." Dragonfly's head shot up and his eyes widened as the memories came back.
Celestia smiled down at the Royal Nymph in her forelegs, Nebula had an arm around her shoulders.
"Beautiful isn't he?" Nebula asked Celestia.
"He is Nebula, I'm so happy you and Saber were able to have a foal." Celestia said as she nuzzled the nymph's head, who giggled at the touch.
"The Celestia, I was wondering if you would like to be his Godmother?"
Celestia's head shot up to look at her friend in shock.
"Really?!" She asked, hope shining in her eyes.
"Yes, with the threat Chrysalis poses Saber and I fear she might try to kill us. We want somecreature we know we can trust to look after and raise him should something happen to us. So what do to say?"
Celestia hugged Nebula, mindful of the Nymph, and replied,
"I would be honored to be his Godmother, what's his name by the way?"
"Dragonfly Wings."
Celestia smiled with a few tears in her eyes, she leaned down and nuzzled his head again.
"A great name for him."
Dragonfly blinked as the memory ended, finding the others looking at him in concern.
"You okay Dragonfly? You were out of it for a few minutes." Belle asked.
"Yea... I remember now," He turned to Celestia, "you were there, the day after I hatched. You held me in you forearms, my mom asking if you would be my Godmother." Celestia nodded, tears starting to fall.
"Yes, when I though you had died I had to close court for several days, I had truly thought that another one I loved was gone. I was so happy to know that you were alive Dragonfly, and I'm sorry I wasn't there that day-" Celestia stopped as she felt a body press against her and two forelegs wrap around her neck as a head rest on her shoulder.
"No need to apologize Celestia, it was for the best that you weren't there for if Chrysalis found out who knows what could have happened."
Celestia stood stock still for a second, then returned the hug as happy tears fell down her cheeks. Belle and the others watched with smiles and soon joined in on the hug.
New bonds had been made today, and old ones had been restored.