> The Substitute Demon
>  by Reykan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Nightmare Used Substitute. Substitute Weathered the Blow.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was over. The elements had been awakened. The brats the Nightmare had dismissed as powerless before It, that the Nightmare had toyed with like a cat does with Its prey, had awakened the only force on the planet that could stop It in Its current host. The Elements of Harmony. It would be purged from Its host, and left to rot for the rest of time in some light-forsaken vault. Everything It had worked for would come crashing down around Its stolen ears, because It refused to take a threat seriously.
'No no no no, I will not fall to... that's it! As the Moon's fall led to my rise to power, so will the fall of another save me from defeat!' With every ounce of magic she could rob her host of, she called upon the Substitution spell. With the Elements active in this world, taking over was beyond It for the moment. It had no followers, or none that It had found in the day It had been free, and there was no effective method of hiding Itself once It was purged. No, It would need to look beyond Equis, perhaps even beyond the veil? The amount of power would be staggering, but what did It care? It would not be left to deal with the spell's backlash.


'Let misery beget misery, find the fool who will fall in My place!'



With a brilliant flash, moments before the Elements were unleashed, the Nightmare was gone.


<-(0)-> 


Nathan was not having a good day. The 27 year old college graduate was late to work due to traffic and engine issues, caught an earful from his boss, the store manager, and even some customers that the previous employee had left waiting the second his shift ended. His bills were due,  and the cute girl three apartments over decided he "was a really good friend." Finally, most of his favorite games were down for either patches or server maintenance.
'Man, how could today... Whoa, almost tempted fate there. That was close. Hey! Half Life Three was released today! Miracles do happen!'

Thus, fate passed him by. His roommate, Ted, was not so fortunate.

"Dude, what else could go wrong today."

Thus the spell of the Nightmare, a creature that thrives off of the misery of others, found its target.


<-(0)-> 


Ted blinked a few times, recovering from a strange sense of vertigo, then immediately saw stars. It felt like someone had shoved railroad spikes into his skull, followed by cracking him in the forehead with a baseball bat. It was one of the most random and excruciating things he'd ever experienced, and left him confused. What had he done that would cause such pain? He'd not gone drinking in months, being too busy with his studies. Shaking his head, his vision finally cleared, leaving him even more confused.  One moment he was staring at his computer whin- I mean complaining that his favorite game servers were down, and the next he's staring at what looks like a scene from that little girls show that was all over the internet.

'Did I pick up a virus? I was sure I scanned my computer after I browsed those image sites last night.'

Before he could vow to replace his Norton with something that actually worked, the cartoon characters fired a beam of rainbow light at the screen. No, wait, they fired it at him, he thought a moment later. He could actually feel the heat of the beam as it approached, and could feel the overpressure it caused in its swift travel. Just as the beam struck, he released a manly grunt of fear. 

No, he didn't scream, and he'd fight anyone who said otherwise.  Just as everything went white, he came to two conclusions:  'I'm never tempting fate again,' and 'God did my voice sound girly'.


<-(0)-> 


The next thing Ted was aware of was someone talking. Who, he couldn't tell, and he couldn't seem to find the energy to open his eyes. Actually he couldn't seem to find the energy to move anything. Not only that, but he felt wrong. Stiff. He also couldn't make out what they were saying. The strangest thing about the whole situation was that he swore he felt something move his shoulder in an impossible direction, and the sound of something moving out of him. Crying followed, some cheering, then strangely loud footsteps growing more distant each moment. Soon the jumbled voices left, leaving him alone in the dark. Blind? Paralyzed? Deformed? Maybe he was dead, after all no one truly knew what death felt like. It was possible, considering how numb he was feeling. It reminded him of that time he had to fight the Minotaur Myrmidon squad near the town of Bushels. It had been a close thing, but victory was hers, though her neck was injured badly.

Wait a second, when did he fight a minotaur? 

Focusing on the odd memories led him to some sort of line. Perhaps a partition would be a better word? On the one side was Ted, 26 year old college student, Criminal Justice major, son and brother to his family of four other individuals, and video game enthusiast. Partaker of carbonated beverages and devourer of hapless snacks. Loyal patron of the great Lord Gaben. And when he could find some people to play with, destroyer of the hopes and dreams of the warriors and rogues brave enough to attempt his D&D campaigns.  On the other...

It was more like walking into a library than taking a stroll down memory lane. Memories that weren't his, impossibly organized. Decades of studying spellcraft, cultural nuances of alien societies, country names and governments which had no analogues on earth. Even if he was stuck here for a long time, at least the information would give him something to do. Maybe he could learn how to make a stick glow like Gandalf? Or maybe he could learn to summon a Scamp? Or make an ice patch where that jerk who ran over his bike was driving. Yea, and learn how to shoot lasers out of his eyes! Ok, that last  one may be a bit much, going by the types of spells he was seeing here, but he had nothing better to do for now. Oh, and he'd always loved dragons! There was an entire shelf over there dedicated to them. All this information should keep him busy for a while. This wasn't just some place that some people were visiting for the first time in hundreds of years, right?

Right?


<-(0)-> 



'I was wrong. So very, horribly, excruciatingly wro-ho-ho-hoooong.' Ted sobbed in boredom.
Time had no meaning to him in his current predicament. There was honestly no way he was alive, going by how he still wasn't hungry or sleepy. How long had it been; had any time passed at all? Truthfully, it was meaningless in his current state. Darkness, silence broken only by  the sound of some stone falling in some far off place, something bumping into some part of his body as it walked by; the last had freaked him out at first, but it stopped being important after the forty-third kick to his thigh. Besides, if he was alive, whatever had kicked him would have eaten him already. Was he truly that far out of the way that no one had noticed him? Was the myth of the dead not being able to pass on until they were buried true?

Ted was running out of mental options. The library of memories was a lie, once one looked closer. Like someone had tried making a quick copy of every book in the library of congress, and thrown them into a bus hoping for the best. All the sections were there, but he had found Dracadonian ethics with the spells, a remedy for sore wings with Minosian customs, and a healing spell under offensive fire spells. Sure, some cultures viewed fire as having purifying or healing effects, but he doubted that was why the spell was in that section. He even found something about unicorns celebrating Christmas! While reorganizing the memories had taken some practice and a great deal of patience, Ted was reaching the bottom of the barrel of things he could do to keep his sanity. Not only that, it was only possible to do so much with all the holes in the memories. Even worse was when he tried going over a memory that had a name he didn't recognize. He was fairly certain the original mind wasn't thinking of a German Shepherd made of diamonds holding a spear. I mean, how would it hold the weapon with a paw? It was a recurring issue with trying to remember someone else's memories. He kept running into inconsistencies, as everyone's ideas of experiences are based off of what they already know. Sure he got the jist of things, but there was only so much he could do with the swiss library of memories he had to work with. He felt like he was trying to put together a puzzle with only half the pieces, and most of those were broken!

After he'd managed to piece together a good amount of the actual memories of the individual he'd somehow ended up sharing memories with, he had a decent idea of what happened to him. The woman, a Lunacae Nocturnas, was either insane, or an alien. Probably both, considering her memories. He'd found quite a few of them that were nothing but hours upon hours of depression and self-loathing. Finally, in a fit of despair, she'd exhausted herself venting in a remote desert. Afterwards, she was attacked by a parasite that called itself Nightmare. It whispered sweet nothings in her ears endlessly, and when she fell far enough, it was able to suppress her will altogether. It then let her watch as it waged war against someone, a woman with floating hair, her sister perhaps? Yes, sister seemed to be the right title, it was the same he felt for his older sister. Finally, in a big battle, the older sister did something to make time pass really fast. The next memory was of reversing the stasis, of restarting the war, and finally of ending up losing to some heroes. The last parts were honestly the most vivid of them all. He could smell the musty scent of the castle, feel the chill of the wind on her skin, feel the weight of the armor he wore. Some heroines were unleashing some magical maguffins that would save the world, and the Nightmare used a substitution spell. 

Wait...that son of a bitch had grabbed him from his comfy chair and left him to get hit by whatever doom-cannon was being directed at it! Worse was the fact that the Nightmare was currently free to wander his home in his body!

This of course left him with the question: If the Nightmare had his body, and Lunacae was being saved by the hero's, thus probably had her body back, where was he?

Ted was broken out of his musings, and his descent into boredom induced madness, by the sound of approaching voices. His soul once again filled with hope at being discovered, he eagerly awaited whoever was coming. Hell, he'd welcome a conversation with Wilson at this point.
'I'd get some coffee ready for you, but I'm feeling little stiff at the moment, heehee.'

"I'm telling you, it's around here somewhere. The scrying spell specifically pointed out the throne room of the old castle. No, not Canterlot castle, this one. Spread out and look for it." A few grunts of affirmatives followed raspy's orders followed by a ton of footsteps. Good gravy, did they have an entire search party out here? 
'Aw, that's so sweet, you didn't have to do that for me!'

"Ma'am, I found it! Looks like it got scattered off of the dais."

"Excellent work, brother!" The entire search party seemed to converge on his position in a matter of moments following the announcement. "The Nightmare's Raiment's! Soon the Mistress of Living Shadows will live again!"

'Heeheehee, they're cultists...I hope they like surprises. I like surprises. They make me feel happy, unless they're a bad surprise, like a parking ticket. This one time I got a ticket for parking...'

Had the cultists any clue of just what they'd truly found, there's a good chance they would have just left the armor where they found it. It would have saved them all a very large headache in the near future.

> Foals are Friends, not Food
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had been a while since the cultists had found his immobile form, and while he was still incapable of movement, merely being in the presence of other sapient beings again did wonders for him. Though some may wonder, "Ted, how can you be sure they're cultists?" to which he'd respond "Elementary, my dear idiot, did simple believers in a deity talk constantly of 'Spreading her darkness to all lands?" No, they didn't." They also didn't usually chant, hoping for horrific nightmares as gifts from 'their lady'. The big cheese seemed to be trying to bring this Nightmare character back, using the armor Tedna was sealed in as a medium

'Wait, Tedna? Why would I refer to myself as that? Oh hell, the memories, I'm going to end up with a brain stew if this keeps up. First things first, if these guys succeed. Find a way to reinforce the mental wall between my memories and that girls. Otherwise I may end up walking into the wrong bathroom.'

It took a while, but eventually, the room his prison was held in was once again filled with cultists, all eagerly awaiting the word of El Queso Grande. This time felt different though. There was a hushed energy in the air, as if they were getting ready for something big, and it was contagious. Even not being able to see what was happening, Ted found himself growing excited as well. He may finally be getting out of this damned prison!

"Sisters and brothers! Long have we toiled to bring back our mistress from her wrongful imprisonment! Tonight, By the darkness of the reborn Moon, we return unto her what was stolen so many years ago. A vessel to call her own! Before this night is through, The Living Nightmare shall walk again amongst the waking world!"

The guy certainly had charisma, if nothing else. Soon the chanting started, though he couldn't make out a single word they used. Soon after the chanting had settled into a smooth rhythm, he started to feel a strange vibration in the air, and energy that he'd only felt in the memories of the girl. Before he'd felt them, he'd wondered what she'd meant when she'd described magic, now though, many of those descriptions made sense. It was an energy that was just... different from anything he'd felt back home, something that pierced even the haze that even now was attempting to smother him. 

'Holy shit, are they actually pulling this off?'

As the chanting and the buzzing of magic reached a crescendo, Ted felt a pull, like water being sucked down a drain. Once the pull reached his, 'head' everything blurred before coming back into focus. Sharper actually. He could clearly hear the weary but excited voices of those that had been working to free him, he could smell the old musty scent of a cellar, as well as a strange smell he couldn't identify. It reminded him of a farm, only... not? Finally, for the first time in who knew how long, he opened his eyes, and got a good look at his current location.

'Huh... actually, that kinda makes sense, considering some of the terminology Lunacae was using, not to mention the cultists using 'pony' in the place of 'body' or 'one'.'

Tuna found himself staring into a room full of alien cultists- pony alien cultists, mind you- and despite the oddity of the situation, compounded wit the fact that he found herself looking like one of their kind, albeit larger, dark haired and maned version, she couldn't bring himself to panic. Stranger things existed her memories, after all. The implements they'd used for the ritual, small braziers that still smoldered long after the ritual had been completed smelled strongly of strange herbs. Candles scattered throughout the room had long since burned out, leaving nothing but lumps of wax. The room was stuffy, almost to the point of being claustrophobia inducing, but the hope he felt directed at her form...

Damnit, he was doing it again.

Speaking of the alien princess' memories, they would probably come in handy about now. With the proper physical context, he pulled some memories of the host, as he had dubbed the lady, and cautiously stood up. Going by the reaction some of the cultists had to this, he may as well have promised them all immortality. Some cried, some laughed, others a combination of the two while hugging the pony next to them. The faces were alien, yes, but the emotions expressed were surprisingly easy to read. Untold hours of work seen to a job's completion. Maybe it had something to do with the ridiculously sized eyes? He was brought out of his thoughts by the approach of El Cultist Grande. 

"We are at your command, Mistress of Living Shadow. Your will be done." The robed pony said, bowing low.

'Yea, deffinately think I'm the parasite. Great-wait, did he say-' A quick check of his black-furred lower body scared him briefly, before a double-check of the hosts memories on anatomy confirmed that while he couldn't see it, yes, he was still male; even if 'it' looked really weird at the moment.	Releasing a sigh of relief, he allowed himself to slump a bit, before turning back to the pony bowing before him. 'I can't wait to see his face, haha!' "Master actauly, I require a room to rest in. And nourishment. I still have some recovering to do, though you have done more than I'd expected." He could play the bad guy for now, he supposed. How hard could it be?

The head cultists face was a warzone of emotion. Loyalty to his god/goddess fought with confusion. Finally urged the stare of his mis-master, he acted. "Gleam! Show the m-master to his room. Blur, fetch a meal from the kitchens. Tell Slop to prepare it, as well."



<-(0)-> 



It was slow going on the trip to his temporary quarters. The temple/castle/place was genuinely interesting, and being about four hundred years old, he could pretend it was 'after his time.' Just as he was becoming comfortable with his new form of locomotion, his guide opened a door to a larger room. It was lavishly decorated, compared to the rest of the rooms he'd seen, though that wasn't saying much. The place as a whole was pretty run-down. Now that he thought about it, so were the inhabitants. Looking at his guide, he looked closely at the robe fitting around her frame, and could almost make out bones against the tattered clothing. It, actually, it kinda broke his heart, seeing someone that hungry, still willing to do whatever they had to.  The mare looked up from her bow, before immediately returning it to the ground, seeing him staring at her. God's above, it was too much for him, he had to do something...

"Do we not have adequate supplies?" he asked her.

"W-we make do with what we have, y-your darkness" She answered, studdering slightly. 

He pressed on. He had to do this right, to not destroy their hopes. After all, the only thing binding them together in this misery was the hope that they'd summoned a big bad. Sure some of the cultists seemed like the type to do that for the hell of it, but this one? What would drive someone like this to try and bring back a literal demon? "That did not answer my question."

She was visibly shaking now, terrified of how her answer would be received, so once again, she attempted to divert it. "Our s-state won't interfere wi-"

"Do not Dance around the Question, Knave!" Ted's voice boomed out, blowing the hood off of what was freshly revealed to be a guant and dirty cherry-red unicorn mare. "Are supplies that hard to come by at our current location?" 
"N-no sir!"
"Than why do my followers starve?"
"T-the jungle, sir. Every expedition we lost at least one forager. One group was never heard from again. N-none of us are fighters, not very good ones, and it was just safer to stay here and finish the ritual!"

Ted fixed the mare with a flat look. They were barely making it, most of them probably running on nothing more than fumes. "An improperly maintained blade can be just as dangerous to the wielder as to his enemies. We will resupply tomorrow, once I've rested and have studied the local flora and fauna. Bring the relevant tomes to my chambers, Post-Haste!"

With an undignified squeak, the mare bolted down the corridor, leaving a very confused Ted in her wake. He was never that loud, nor did he ever use intimidation like that. It was almost like he was acting...

'Like a different person... I still need to reinforce that partition.' Scrambling ungracefully onto the bed, by all that is good did it feel nice, Ted hunkered down, dug through his gracious hosts memories, and set to work.



<-(0)-> 



'... A bit more power here, attach a fortification array to that spot there, make the mana in this particular array flow... counter-clockwise? No, clockwise, counter would drain the array, causing more memory leaks down the road.'

While having some hundreds of years old mage-ruler's memories in his head certainly caused some problems for him, he was using freaking magic to solve the memory issues he'd been suffering from for a while now. A few respectful knocks brought him out of his musings, focusing his attention on the door. It opened, revealing another robed pony pushing in a care laden with strange, but surprisingly good-smelling foods.
'Right, different physical form, different diet.' While his human memories were telling him that half of this stuff was inedible, his nose and his hosts memories were quite adamant that everything before him was not only edible, but it would taste downright delicious. Pastries of different shapes and sizes, several pasta dishes with tantalizing sauces, a silver tea-set; all of the dishes and implements bearing a moon and star motif. 
That was when the head cultist rolled in it, the special treat they had prepared for their mistress' return. There was no way around it at this point, whatever or whoever it was he'd been swapped with was the literal pony bogeyman(mare?) made flesh. Tied up on the second cart was a small child, staring at him in abject terror.

'Nope. Nope, nope, so much nope. All aboard the Nope-train to Fuck-that-istan.'

Keeping his face as straight as he could, he stared at the pink maned, green furred filly, before turning to the leader. "Why is there a foal in my salad?"

"Le-legends spoke of your, er, preference for small foals as a, um, snack, your darkness."

Using his ever-expanding knowledge of magic, he floated the child right up to him. The foals eyes widened, wavering with fear. She probably would have soiled herself if she was capable of it, but there were several suppression spells on the little girl. She barely had enough control to breath and blink.

'The diabetes is real'

Staring a hole into the little filly for a few minutes, he'd finally found the relevant memories, and spoke. "The problem with legends, Head Cultist in Charge, is that only the most spectacular are worth remembering. Thus, they are often blown out of proportion. One time, one time only did I threaten to consume the first born of one of my enemies. It was an intimidation tactic, and it worked." Ted then turned to the leader. "No, I do not regularly consume the flesh of children. And before you try to infer it, I don't eat them rarely, either. Leave me."

Once again the lead cultists face was torn with confusion, but he loyally obeyed his master. The others followed his lead, leaving Ted alone with a veritable banquet and a terrified child, the latter still floating in his magical grip. Looking back to the meal, his stomach grumbled. Setting the foal down on the bed and dismissing most of the suppression spells holding her in place(those stopping her from ruining his perfectly comfy bed-sheets could stay in place for now), he grabbed a few dishes and some silver utensils, and started to dig in. Nearly as soon as the suppression spells were gone, the filly darted to the other side of the bed, burrowing into the small pile of pillows to try and hide, leaving only her tail to tell him where she'd gone. The food was delicious, though if that was because of his hunger or the fact that he'd not eaten anything in who knew how long wasn't important to him. Absentmindedly, he spread a sweet smelling jam on a slice of bread, floating it over the pile of pillows, he asked. "When was the last time you ate?" His query was answered with silence, though he could see eyes under those pillows, shifting between him and the offered toast.
"Do you have a name?" He tried again. A strangled squeak, accented by the fillies tail being pulled into her fortress. Seeing he was getting no-where with his attempts, he shrugged. 
"Squeaker it is." Ted said, before returning to his meal, the toast now lying near the pile of pillows.



"Rose"

"Hmm?"

"Daddy called me Rose, you can't change my name!" The little filly was now poking her head out of the pillows, glaring at him.

'Anger, huh? It's better than paralyzing terror, I suppose.' "Rose huh? I don't know, you're not that pretty. Maybe dandelion?" He said, teasing the little filly. 'Step one, distract.'

"Rose!"

"Ah, thorns, that's why he called you that, huh?" Ted asked, snickering slightly at her outburst. "So Rose, are you hungry?"

Almost faster than he could track, the filly darted out, grabbed the toast, and disappeared back into Fort Pillow. Ted smiled. Kids will be kids, even if they're aliens. Unless they were xenomorphs, he supposed. Or honey badgers. Or... 
'aaand now the happy's gone. Good job, Ted'

Before he could find himself entertaining thoughts of all the horrid pictures of babbies he'd seen on the interwebs, the door opened with a squeak, drawing his attention, as well as the attention of his right ear. 'Ok, that's going to take some getting used to.'

Gleam entered the room with a cart piled high with ratty books, moth eaten scrolls, and time-worn maps. The other two robed ponies helping her with the cart, upon closer inspection, were looking just as run-down as Gleam was. Taking a few snacks for the kid off of the cart, he waved the ponies to the cart.
"I've had my fill. There's plenty left over, share it with your fellows. I won't hear of food being wasted." Ted watched the shocked faces of the cultists, one hungrily eying one of the sandwiches he'd left untouched. Yes they were cultists, but until further notice, they were his cultists, and no one could convince him they didn't need all the help they could get. It was why he'd asked for the information. Tomorrow, he'd personally be escorting the foragers. God have mercy on whatever thought his little cultists looked tasty.

...He would have none.
> Dreamweaver
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted spent the rest of the day, and most of the evening learning of the local terrors. It turned out the cultists had commandeered an old, rundown temple deep in a jungle literally on the other side of the planet from the place he'd originally been when he was dragged to Equis by the Nightmare. While the foliage was thicker and the monsters weren't as magically inclined as those in the Everfree, the local predators made up for this with numbers and viciousness. That wasn't to say he hoped to not see any. Apparently, a chupa-thingies fangs were all but revered among the Sharp-Talon griffons to the west, and alchemists paid heavily for vine-snake venom. A local plant, disturbingly similar to aloe from earth, was unsurprisingly an excellent healing agent. Not to mention most of the plants in the area were edible to herbivores, barring the occasional poisonous vine or mushroom. Yes, the resources his followers needed were here, they could work this out. It would just require some patience and an angry demi-god jealously guarding the gatherers.
Eventually, sleep called to him, and he started shifting around, trying to make himself comfortable in his new body. The little girl had finally fallen asleep in her pillow fort after eating a bit more, curling up into herself and letting out little snores every now and again. Careful not to drop any pillows on her, he grabbed a few and started making himself comfortable. It took a good five minutes, but eventually he found a position that allowed him to settle in for the night.

'Ah, sleep my old friend. Good to see you again, it's been way to long.'



<-(0)-> 
 

'I know it's been a while since I've slept properly, but I'm pretty sure my dreams were never so... plain?'

Ted had become aware soon after dozing off, and found  himself floating in a strange cloudy void.

"Seriously, it's so boring and empty. It could at least-' 

Before he'd even finished the thought, the world around him twisted. Suddenly, he found himself on a beach, watching the sun set as the waves rolled endlessly against the shore. It was beautiful, but the sudden alteration of the environment had placed a spark in his mind. If he could replicate a beach so easily, what else could he do? Quickly, he thought up a new location, and, for lack of a better word, pushed. The world twisted once again, and he found himself standing on the bridge of The Executor, Imperial officers going about their business, apparently oblivious to his current... winged... human form? It meant something, didn't it? Maybe a visual of how he currently thought of himself, a mix between his birth form, and his current form?

Truthfully, it wasn't of great importance to him at the moment. No, he had other things he wanted to try. He had a new toy, and he was going to exploit the living hell out of it. Wearing a predatory grin,  he thought of one of his favorite shooters, and pushed.



<-(0)-> 



The stranger walked through the alien hallways, a shadow upon the marble, gold, and strange metals as she continued her search. It had been almost forty years since she'd seen a dream, the traitors dreamless-sleep array leaving the dreamscape an empty void. Truly, the Traitor was thorough; when she'd found she could still dream-walk, she'd thought her ability had been overlooked. But it was not to be. The Traitor didn't need to stop her dream walking. No, the stranger was free to wander the void as much as she liked, she would never find another being on this plane of existence. Who would she dream-walk to when there were no dreams?
It was why she was drawn to this dream, starving for contact as a beggar approaches a banquet. She wanted, no, she needed to talk to somepony. Somepony other than that smug... nag, that had imprisoned her and her sister. She was pulled out of her mental wanderings when her physical wanderings were cut off by a horde of strange, white and gold colored bipedal golems running by her. At least, they appeared to be golems, some of them seemed to move too smoothly, too organically to be any form of golem she was familiar with. As they approached the far door it opened, deafening her with the sounds of a great battle. She followed the strange constructs, hoping to find the dreamer.

Turning a final corner, she barely managed to duck as the upper half of one of the more organic golems flew over her head, ending it's abrupt flight pinned to the far wall, stuck there by some unknown means.

The shadow had lived centuries, and had seen her share of battles. Nothing prepared her for what she witnessed before her. Neither the griffons in their bloodlust nor the dragons at the height of their rage compared to the absolute savagery she witnessed here.

'How, how can this not be considered a nightmare?'

The golems target was at last visible to her. Encased in an orb of ice was a strange, beautifully crafted double egg-shaped container, which seemed to contain additional bipeds, though they seemed to be in some type of magically induced slumber. Standing on a small pillar inside the orb, another strange biped moved, twisting and turning at impossible speeds. Each motion was accompanied by a loud crack, similar to thunder. With each report, another golem would fall, bearing large holes in what for most bipedal creatures she had seen would be vital areas. Standing below the first defender, was a second, this one apparently responsible for the orb of ice, as every now and again it would shoulder it's crossbow, spread its arms, and reinforce the spell with yet another layer of ice. The third reminded her of a griffon berserker, tearing through the golems ranks with reckless abandon, claws of light separating some of the golden creatures- there was no way a golem let loose that much blood-from shoulder to thigh, or cutting through the torso, leaving the two parts to tumble free of each other. The strange light weapons the golems wielded, while they left scorch marks upon every surface they struck, didn't seem to even cause the berserker to flinch.

Despite all of this, it was the last defender that held her eyes, at least when it was visible. It's blade flashed out, cutting large swathes through the ranks of the golem army. Every now and again, it would discharge a burst of energy, causing the light-weapons of the golems to spark, some even melting, forcing them to drop the useless weapons and draw glowing batons. What drew her eyes to this creature in particular though, was unlike his fellows, he was flamboyantly colored, despite obviously favoring stealth; bright orange and blue accents with just a splash of red. Second was the fact that he was the only creature bearing an emblem of any kind, a small dove resting peacefully on the back of a large white and brown raptor appearing on his shoulder.
The final thing that caught her eye were the wings. Jet black wings adorned the creatures shoulders. Originally, she'd thought them ornamental, till they'd flapped as he made a ridiculously high leap over the heads of some of the larger golems, striking  the weaker targets as he flew overhead. But no, they were certainly a sign that this was the dreamer. Firstly, because no other creature in the dream had them, and even with them, he was a grounded creature. Second, they were underdeveloped, a sign in dreams that the dreamer had undergone changes they had not yet reconciled.

Soon, the last golem fell, frozen solid by the cryomancer. Three of the warriors took defensive position around the pod, while the fourth sat down against  one of the golden guard rails surrounding the pod, breathing heavily. Despite being in a dream, the creature seemed exhausted.
"Ah, an amateur dream-manipulator." Suddenly, the creature was staring straight at her, and she realized she'd spoken aloud. Then again, when one spends several decades locked away from any form of contact, one is bound to make a social blunder or two, right?



<-(0)-> 


Ted could only stare in shock at the intruder in his dreams. Across from him stood a creature that was at the same time a complete stranger, and yet as familiar to him as his own family. No, she was closer to him than that. If he was completely honest knew more about her than he knew about any of his family back home. After all, seeing her here in his dreams, there were a few memories on the other side of his partition that were screaming at him 'That's me! That's what I'm supposed to look like!' 

'Damn, I thought I'd properly sealed that, gonna have to double check it in the morning.'

Willing his helmet away, he gave the intruder a tired smile, beckoning her closer. "No need to hide in the shadows, princess. It doesn't suit one of your standing."

The shadow slowly came closer, stepping out from a dark overpass into the light, revealing a form he'd seen in the mirror so many... 'Dammit, stop that.' "I won't hurt you miss Nocturnas. Something that I can help you with? Actually, perhaps you can help me; do you have any practical experience partitioning memories?" If he was completely honest, she didn't look very healthy. Not as bad as the cultists, mind you, but the last memory he had of her, she was nearly twice the size of her current form, and her eyes. There was a hunger in them, a desperate need for sapient company, one that he himself had just begun to feel before the cultists had made off with his prison to the temple.

'What is it with these things looking so scared and hurt all the time that it takes all of my willpower not to pick them up and hug the stuffing out of them?'

The alicorn's confusion only grew as she stared at him, closing the distance between the two. "How do you know my name? I'm certain I've never met you before, and few address me by my full title, especially in this age."

Ted could only laugh at her, the absolute ridiculousness of the situation still settling upon him. 

Here he was, controlling a dream well beyond anything he'd heard possible back home, speaking to an alien he was beyond-intimately close to, seeing as he had a good chunk of his head filled with her memories. He was hoping to learn enough from her about the powers he was, for lack of a better term, borrowing from her, to properly separate his memories from the ones he'd been left with before he ended up with a brain casserole. Seriously, who knew what going home in his current situation would do to him. Was the human mind even capable of containing several centuries of memories?

At the indignant glare being leveled at him from the alien, Ted finally managed to compose himself, wiping the sweat and tears of laughter from his face wit the back of his glove. "I'm sorry, the situation, it's just too much." He chuckled a bit, getting the last of it out of his system. Walking up to the blue alicorn, he kneeled down to her height, offering his hand in greeting. "My name's Ted Fredston, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Lunacae Nocturnas, though you already seem to know this." She said, cocking her head slightly. 

He merely smiled, he really needed her to relax, she was the one with the answers he needed. "So Luna, what brings you to my humble dream? I'm afraid I'm not up to date on current events. Perhaps you could you fill me in?" With another quick blur, the golden halls they stood in were replaced by a park near his home, complete with a blanket set on the ground and drinks. "I'm always happy to meet new ponies." 'Especially when they hold the key to keeping my sanity.' He thought to himself. No need to mention the cultists, or the Nightmare, or anything like that. Just two individuals enjoying a nice conversation over a wonderful selection of drinks. 

'Oh sweet, is that Mountain Dew?'
> "..And then I Jumped out and Yelled 'Supplies!"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted sat on the blanket, sipping his favorite drink, listening to the princess ramble. Well, ex-princess according to her. He'd gotten a few tidbits of current information before she'd decided to try the strange drink her companion was partaking of, and that's when he learned a very strange thing about lucid dreaming in a world with magic.

"...And then I was all depressed, and wanted Tia to let me make the night longer and she said 'No, Luna, that's not the way we do things' and I got all mad, and I asked again later, and she said 'Luna, bother me with this again, and no moon pies for a week' and I was like 'Tia, that's mean, we don't take your angel food cake from you!' and she was all like 'Yea, but I don't act like a spoiled brat' and I cried for a few days and then I got angrier, and went out  to vent on some rocks and....'

It turned out that being the owner of the dream, you could influence the effects of items in your dreams. If you knew a drink had alcohol, and knew the effects alcohol had on people, you and anyone else in your dream could get drunk. Or in this case, if you knew a drink had more caffeine than was healthy...

'Good god, what have I unleashed.'	On the one hand, he already had an idea of how the story went. On the other, it was nice to have some of the holes in the memories filled in by the jittering alicorn. Besides, she seemed like she needed this. He'd let her keep going for a while. Right after he changed her drink out for some Sprite.



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"So  finally, after the Nightmare failed to stop the girls, they managed to activate the elements and purge the parasite from my mind. It cost me the majority of my power, and I was left almost the size of a  filly once again, but it didn't matter to me. I was so grateful, after being a passenger in my own body for so long, being able to move my own hooves again nearly brought me to tears. Then my sister showed up, said she forgave me, that my *hic* actions weren't my own, and that she wanted her sister back and... and. *sniffle* I was just so happy."
The story seemed to be approaching it's end, and the caffeine's effect was winding down as well. Ted finally had most of the story that led up to his appearance in this world, though there was one detail that still bothered him.

"What ever happened to the armor?" He asked her.

"What armor?" The princess looked genuinely confused for a moment, still rubbing the tears from her eyes, before realization dawned upon her. "Oh, the armor the Nightmare crafted? I-" She paused, her face scrunching up in confusion, attempting to remember what was done with the relic. "I don't remember, actually. After the incident was over, my sister and I never spoke of the parasite again. I thought it faded away without the Nightmare's will to maintain it. If it didn't it may still be in the throne room of the old castle."

They really didn't give the armor created by a mind-parasite a second thought? If it was him in that situation he'd have had it either melted down into a block of metal, and launched into the sun, or sealed it in the deepest vaults he could find. Ah well, in this case, he'd let it slide, since it meant he was free now. And, you know, not in the sun. "Oh, ok. What's happened sin- after the Nightmare was purged?" Ted asked. This was what he was actually looking for, current events. Well, besides needing a mentor in mental spell-craft. 
The princess smiled once again, enjoying being able to ramble, and opened her mouth to speak before the world around them rumbled. "Drat" She muttered. "It seems our time together has come to an end, Ted. Please, enjoy your day, I will do my best to seek you out tonight if you dream again. It has been nice to be able to talk to somepony again, even if they are a bit," She smiled warmly." well, strange." 

"Take care, Luna."

The dark alicorn nodded as she faded from the dream, and soon, the rest of the world followed suit.


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Ted awoke back in his bed in the temple, and almost immediately used a flash of TK to pull the curtain on the nearby window shut. He forgot to close it last night before he'd drifted off, and now he paid the price. Being woken up at the frackin' crack of dawn. As he looked around his room at the various tomes and notes that were scattered over the and began picking them up, sorting them by what he judged were the most relevant to his situation, he felt a tug on his left wing. Turning to the sensation, he almost choked.
Curled up against his side, using the wing as a blanket to ward off the nights chill, Rose had apparently migrated to him over-night seeking warmth. He tried lifting the wing once or twice, but damn was she determined to keep her blanket. The absolutely adorable pout she made as she pulled the wing back to her didn't help him, either. No, he'd end up studying a bit more right here. It was fine, there were some spells he wanted to test before he headed out today, anyway.

About ten minutes into his practice, the door creaked open, and another cart was pushed into the room, this one with breakfast on it. Once again, the chef seemed to have outdone himself, and Rose apparently agreed, as the smell seemed to rouse her from her sleep. She sleepily blinked a few times, before leaning into Ted's side as she slowly woke up. Upon seeing the color of the fur she was lying against, the process was accelerated exponentially, and she darted back into the ruins of Fort Pillow.

'Can't win them all' Ted thought, taking a few pancakes from the cart. Making sure he had enough for himself, his current charge, and a guest, he dismissed the cart and the servants (honestly, he couldn't think of all of them as cultists, anymore. Some of them were just too soft), leaving them with the order to make sure the gatherer's were ready in two hours, and to have Gleam sent to his room as soon as she was available. That would give him plenty of time to eat, and finish his practice with a few spells he found that may be useful on the trip. Setting aside a few pancakes on two smaller plates, he was about halfway through with his own meal when he felt a hoof prodding his side. Rose had come out of her fort, and was staring right at him.

"You're... not gonna eat me, are you? They said that you would. That I was gonna be a snack for her, but your not her, right? So your not gonna..." 

Pulling her over to the pancakes, he chuckeled at her logic. "No, Rose, I'm not gonna eat you. Foals are too crunchy, and they'll give me indigestion." At her splayed ears and fearful eyes, he sighed. "I'm kidding, Rose, I don't eat kids. Or foals, or children, or any other small, still-developing creatures."

It was apparently the right thing to say, as the filly relaxed slightly, moving to eat the offered pancakes. As she was finishing the first one, a knock came at the door, and Gleam stuck her head in through the slightly open door. "You wished to speak with me, sir?"

Ted smiled, beckoning her inside. "Great, you're here. I'm going to be headed out soon. I want you to watch Rose while I'm gone." As he was standing up to make his way over to his private bathroom, a thought occurred to him. "Gleam? Are there any other foals here? Or was Rose the only one to be, uh, sacrificed?

"Um, there were a few others, but Shadow Weaver said that we'd be kicking them out. Said we don't have the supplies, so they're not worth keeping around if you don't want them." The mare answered.

"I see" Ted said, Shadow Weaver, was that- wait, how did he talk to the guy three or four times without learning his name? "I assume Shadow Weaver is your leader?" 

"Y-yes sir. Well, he was, sir, before you were brought back, sir." 

'Dear god, she's already falling apart on me.' "Gleam, I want you to do something for me, ok? It's very important. Don't let Weaver throw the foals out. I want you to tell him that the children are under your care. Per my orders. Can you do this? Can you keep track of them while I'm gone?" The mare stared at him like he'd grown a second head. The nightmare caring about the wellbeing of foals? It was supposed to eat them, not watch over them! "Our numbers are thin, Gleam, we need every able body we can get. I won't throw away valuable followers over simple resources. Besides, that problem will be remedied by tonight." Finished with his speech, he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. That actually sounded well thought out, despite the fact he pulled the reason out of his flanks. Suddenly, however, his self-congratulations were cut short as a problem made itself known. Before him stood an alien toilet. One he had no idea how to use, and he really didn't want to pull from Luna's memories of how to... that would be awkward. Oh, who was he kidding, there was no way this wouldn't be awkward.

Now that he thought about it, didn't Rose still have a suppression spell or two on her? 'Ah, that would be best removed in here.' He thought to himself. 'I'm so sorry, Gleam and Rose, but the next few minutes may not be the most pleasant. For any of us.'


<-(0)-> 


'It could have gone worse, I suppose.' 

Ted was currently trotting to the main entrance, currently the only one that the Followers of the Night hadn't blocked off due to the lack of manning. Would it be pony-ing? No, that didn't sound right, what would they use in that situation? Walking up to them, seeing them strapping up with all the spare satchels they could carry, he smiled. As far as he could tell from his study session, there wasn't much out there that could take on an alicorn, so as long as he kept track of all seven of them, everyone would make it back just fine. They had to all make it back. His followers desperately needed the morale boost, much less the supplies. As the gatherers made their final preparations, Ted did a final check on the spells he would be using today. There would be no surprises when he cast any of the spells he'd planned to use today, he'd already tested them.
There were actually holes all over most of the spells in her, no, his memories, but comparing them against each other in the apparent forty or so years he was trapped in the armor, he was able to fill in most of the holes. Actually, he'd been able to patch the vast majority of the spells he had in that way. Except that healing spell; he still had no idea what the safety attached to it was supposed to be, and until he learned that, he wasn't touching it. No need to accidentally give someone cancer trying to heal them. Or grow another limb on their shoulder. It would look kind of bad for his reputation of a God-horse if he did that.

Gathering a few satchels and vials of his own, he cast the tracking spell on each gatherer, and together they set out into the jungle. They stopped just outside the temple, as the door was closed and barricaded behind them. Those who were chosen for this were terrified, eyes darting around, ears pricking and shifting at every sound the jungle made. This would be it for the Followers, for his ponies. There was no room for error on this mission. No retries, no undo's, and no backtracks. If he lost them, he'd lose everyone in the temple as well. These ponies needed the morale almost as badly, if not more than the supplies. 
No, this wouldn't do. He focused, and let some extra magic into his eyes, an intimidation spell Luna had used a few times, from what he remembered. It would suit his purpose here. Trotting into their midst, he addressed them.

"Our supplies are low, and we are going to gather as much as we can in as little time as possible." Every one of the ponies' eyes were glued to him, one even dropped all signs of fear seeing the display of raw power from the being that would safeguard their journey. "We will be making two trips today. The first is to the glade to the east. We will be gathering various greens and grasses for nourishment. We will fill our bags, before returning here. After that, we will head to the south. There is a large number of fruit trees in that area, as well as a healing spring. We will gather as much fruit as we can, and take a few vials of the water for the sick. Remain in sight at all times. If someone calls you, especially if you do not recognize the voice, let me know. Do not wander off on your own. Let's Move."
> Resource Farming
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted and his merry band of dwar-ponies quietly made their way to their first destination. The place wasn't too far away, but judging by the nerves of his followers and the number of life signs he kept sensing with his detection spells, there was little doubt in his mind that things could become nasty very fast. The ponies that had been selected for the job, whether it was by volunteering or drawn straws, were an odd group, two pegasi, a unicorn, and four earth ponies. One of the pegasi he'd not even recognized as such, until her wings rustled against her robe, matching the color of the brown robes almost perfectly. The unicorn was revealed when he'd ordered everyone's hoods pulled back, reasoning that while it was fine in the safety of the temple, the hoods would only impede their sight in the jungle. He may have been capable of detecting the animals wandering the forest, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Every set of eyes was another chance of spotting danger before it reached them. By the time they reached the field, he was actually starting to cramp from being so tense all the time. 
He refreshed his life-detection spell, and seeing all the blurs hidden in the grass, set off a few loud magical explosions slowly radiating away from their location. Most of the signatures scattered, tearing off into the wilderness and away from the loud and bright explosions Ted was assaulting them with. One, however, decided it had taken offence to being disturbed by something smaller than itself.

One moment everything was going fine, the next Ted was staring at the largest animal he'd ever seen in his life.

Out of the grass rose a giant snake, easily three feet wide just behind the jaw, and only increasing the farther down the body one looked. The snake looked at the disturbance, flicking its tongue, before slowly moving forward, rearing back to strike at the delectable targets.

In his shock, Ted almost forgot his primary duty; protect the gatherers. A single whimper from one of the snakes intended victims snapped him out of his stupor. He grabbed the first spell he could think of and launched it, just before the beast lunged.
A blade made of condensed shadow, about half a foot across, formed in front the dark alicorn, launching forward into the snake's head. The blade struck its target, embedding itself about an inch into the snakes temple. Ted was once again left in a state of shock. The blade was supposed to be made of solidified shadow, capable of cutting through even solid stone. So where did he go wrong? A moment later his answer came, as the spell collapsed on itself with a violent detonation, sending the snake into a rage as its temple and eye were subject to abuse, spraying a light mist of blood over the field. 
'No, no time right now.' The alicorn tried summoning multiple blades, hoping to end the threat by overwhelming the beast, but could only manage three blades at once, the first detonating upon the creation of the fourth. Shaking off the ringing in his ears caused by his close proximity to the explosion, he would just have to make do. With a shout of challenge, he started throwing the blades at the snake, summoning another when they struck. The blades continued to detonate as they were replaced, but after suffering several bleeding spots along its upper body, the snake managed to counter attack, whipping its large head around and sweeping it to the right, catching Ted off guard. The black alicorn was thrown from the clearing, and the snake gave chase. Picking himself up unsteadily off of the ground, Ted barely had time to cry out in shock as the snake clamped down on him, nearly breaking his ribs with the force of its bite. A few adjustments and the snake had managed to work the alicorn into its throat. Already winded and dazed from the bite, panic began to set in.

'No, oh hell no. I'm nobodies lunch, you shit. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!?'



<-(0)-> 



Twitch could only watch in horror. The giant snake had eaten The Nightmare, and now it was looking at them. If He couldn't defeat it, what hope did they have? A quick glance at his companions only made the situation more hopeless. Fear, debilitating fear and hopelessness was all he saw, was all he felt. There was nothing they could do. 

Suddenly the snake cocked its head to the right,  before lurching to the left and batting its head against it's torso. Finally, it began trying to bite itself, making lunging strikes at its own body, as if trying to eat its own stomach. That's when Twitch heard it. The sound of muffled explosions. The snakes scales already battered and bloody from it's own assault, began shifting, pushing outwards. Suddenly there was a pop, and a geyser of blood launched from a newly formed hole in the snakes body, followed by another, and another. The snake thrashed around, rolling through the trees, bashing itself against trees and rocks and scattering the gatherers, doing anything to stop the assault, but eventually it succumbed to the wounds. With a horrid squelching noise, a hoof emerged from the discolored and bloated section of the snake, followed by a head. The Nightmare gave a gasp, before coughing and retching up the blood it had been submerged in. A few tugs and tears of the snakes already damaged hide, and the alicorn fell to the ground, shakily rising to it's hooves. Still coughing up blood, The Nightmare approached the snakes head. 

Throwing a final shadow blade into the snakes eye, which even upon detonation elicited no reaction from the snake, their ragged god spoke. "Next time you *Cough* try to kill someone, don't try to eat them unless *hack* your, sure they're dead." With a final gasp, the Nightmare spat in the creatures damaged eye. His breathing finally steadying, he turned towards Twitch and the others, eyes falling upon each of them in turn. "Where's the seventh? There were seven of you." A mare at the back of the group hurriedly ran to a fallen log, and pulled a trembling stallion from his hiding place. Shoulders slumping slightly, the Nightmare lifted itself back to its full height, though one wing sat awkwardly on His back. 
"Well? We came out here to get supplies. ARE YOU GOING TO STAND AROUND ALL DAY GAWKING OR ARE YOU GOING TO DO YOUR FUCKING JOBS?" Nightmare snapped, blowing the ponies away and sending Twitch and his fellows running back to the fields, gathering what edible greens they could. That had been the single most terrifying thing the pegasus had ever seen, but the Nightmare had won. He had killed something that Twitch and his fellow ponies wouldn't have stood a chance against. Maybe, just maybe, their situation wasn't as hopeless as he'd begun to think. Maybe Shadow Weaver was right. Maybe the Nightmare was the answer to their problems. Maybe they'd survive this after all.



<-(0)-> 



Ted watched as the ponies scattered back into the field. Well, more like he watched the blurs his tracking spell had highlighted, as his vision hadn't quite cleared yet. Nor had the ringing in his ears from so many explosions in an enclosed space. He was probably going to need some of that healing water for himself after that fight. His body was starting to shake a little bit, coming down from the battle-induced adrenaline high, and he turned to the snake. That had been the single most horrific thing he'd seen or done in his life, and honestly, he didn't think Luna had done something like that either. Technically, she could have dealt with the snake much more easily, in fact she could probably tell him what he did wrong with the blades. He was actually looking forward to talking to her some more, maybe learning something about alicorns and magic in general. Yes he had memories, but it just seemed to stick better when he heard her say it. Maybe it was because of his constantly wavering opinions on the memories. Sometimes they were a curse that he tried to seal away, sometimes they were a boon he tried accessing. 
Returning to the task at hoof, he removed a few unblemished scales from the snake, as well as four of the larger teeth. If Monster Hunter had taught him anything, it's that you did your best not to waste your kills. Unfortunately, the snake had done a number on itself, and most of the ribs were cracked or downright shattered. Looking for signs of magic, he did find a small dissolving satchel deep in the creatures gullet, along with some pieces of clothing and buckles he couldn't identify. Though the contents were unidentifiable to him he did manage to find a small sealed tube that contained a note.
It was a summons to a landmark nearby addressing five individuals. Guessing the satchel had belonged to at least one of those on the list, that left four individuals that were meeting near his base of operations. Creatures that had experience in the jungles, unlike most of the ponies he was leading. It would definitely pay off to find out who they were, and even if the creatures were a threat, they would know about it, rather than be caught off guard. Grabbing himself a decent chunk of the snakes flesh and wrapping it in a few fresh cloths after draining it of most of the free-flowing blood, he stowed it in a satchel, while the teeth, scales, and message went into a second bag. Finally he filled a vial with a small amount of the snakes blood, stoppering the bottle and setting it in his vial-holder. How the vials and jars had survived the fight he couldn't tell. He turned from the debris of the snake, and headed out to the fields with his charges. All things considered, he was slightly disappointed the snake didn't have any money in it.



<-(0)-> 



The rest of the process had been rather slow. The ponies had gathered as much food as they could fit in their bags, and the few that finished early were sent back out to help their fellow gatherers while he searched for nearby alchemical ingredients. Luna had dabbled in the topic, so he knew the basics, and Shadow Weaver had been adamant that they had a suitable alchemy lab with relevant books on the topic. That just left the fact that the lab had absolutely nothing in the way of supplies, much like the rest of the temple. 

'Oh, hey, I recognize this, it's mint!' The number of plants that were similar between the worlds still baffled him sometimes. Most of them were unidentifiable, as alien as the inhabitants of the planet, but  there were a few that had analogous shapes and properties, in fact aloe, one of the first plants he'd recognized and grabbed, was supposedly a lot more potent here, possibly due to the magic in the environment. For the most part though, he was just grabbing whatever he could get his magic on. He could figure out what was useful and what wasn't in the safety of the temple. Doing one last head count of his ponies to make sure they were all still accounted for, he called them back and they headed back to the temple. One stop down, one to go, and going by the throbbing in his wing, the faster they reached the second location, the better.



<-(0)-> 



The gatherers bags were swapped out at the temple, and while he'd managed to get most of the gore off of himself by the time they'd reached the door, one of the ponies that answered the door had immediately put a hoof up to his mouth, barely suppressing a gag as he saw his bloody leader. Shadow weaver showed up moments later, sprinting to confirm the return of the gatherers and was almost dancing around Ted with joy, the sight of the embattled alicorn perfectly matching his idea of the Nightmare. While the gatherers were much more certain of themselves for the second trip, Ted had let loose a few shadow blades into the jungle when something had startled him, still reeling from the aftershocks of his first real life and death struggle. After chasing off what appeared to be a chupacobra, a frightening looking creature that looked like some strange combination of snake and cat that had nearly grabbed one of the ponies to the rear, Ted got his first view of the healing glen.

The place was peaceful, relaxing the minds of all who entered, and Ted noticed the chupacobra that had attempted to attack them earlier lying down by the water drinking. The gash on its rear right leg healed as it lapped at the water confirming the properties of the pool. Despite the creatures proximity and the fact it had attacked them earlier, he couldn't bring himself to attack it, and the predator made no move against him or his charges. Not willing to risk them, he directed the ponies to gather some nearby fruit while he grabbed some of the water. As the pegasi worked with the other ponies, retrieving the fruits from the higher branches while the unicorn used it's magic to lower the fruits into his bags, Ted approached the water, levitating four vials out of his bags. Reaching the shore of the softly glowing lake, he dipped his head in, taking a long pull, and immediately felt his aches being eased. A slight pull in his shoulder told him that the injury was soothed, but he'd need to get it reset before it fully healed. He lowered the vials into the water, and as he raised them full of the healing water, he stopped. The chupacobra was growling at him, and some other creatures were looking none too pleased at his current course of action. Pouring the water out, he watched as the wildlife went back to their neutral stances, a large crocodile-like creature not even reacting as it was used as a sunbathing stone for a large bird.
'I hate that, there's always a trick, isn't there. I either have to fight off every damn thing here, or we don't get the water.' Looking around the water's edge, he noticed a few large aloe plants. Walking up to them, and using a small metal blade to remove a single frond, he watched the animals in the area, and breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't react. While the water was off limits, the plants were ok, it seemed, and though he doubted it would be as potent as the healing water, the large aloe frond should be at least twice as potent as the other ones he'd found.
He returned to his gatherers and took one last headcount, before they headed back into the forest. The animals of the refuge watched them leave, but none made move to pursue them. If they wanted to use the healing spring for their injured and sick at this point, they would have to bring the sick to the water.



<-(0)-> 



The sun was just beginning to set as they came in sight of the Temple of the Shadows. It was a welcome sight for Ted, as his wing was starting to ache again, and the days trials had left him tired. The door was unbarred, the cultists entered, and Ted walked in as well, telling them to make sure everyone was supplied with a decent meal. If needed, they would go out again tomorrow. He then passed his bags to one of the cultists who was standing nearby, instructing him to bring everything but the snake chunk to the alchemy lab. The chunk was to be given to the chef. He didn't know why, but the longer he looked at that snake back in the forest the hungrier he became. Odd considering he looked like a horse, but there were stories of pegasi eating meat in ancient myths, so why not. If he had the energy, maybe he'd show up at the dinner tonight and learn a few names. Depending on how far the supplies stretched, he would either be doing this again tomorrow or messing with the alchemy laboratory to make some elixirs, if he had the proper work environment.

Speaking of healing, he also needed to get that wing reset. Ted shook his head as he made his way to his chambers. So much to do, so little time, and so little information to do it with.  Lifting his right wing a little and seeing the gore still attached to it, he made up his mind. First things first; a bath to get this disgusting ichor out of his fur. 
> Party Like it's... What Year is it Again?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was not a pleasant task, washing himself after his expedition. The bath was cold, the cultists didn't have much in the way of hygiene tools, and soap was apparently a luxury here. They had some soap, yes, but with how many times he had to cycle out the bath water to get the blood out of his fur, it wasn't worth using until he was certain he'd gotten all of the blood out. Walking down the empty hallways from the infirmary, he shuddered at the memory. That poor bath tub, it would probably be stained red. Those poor brushes, they'd be trash if they weren't the only set he had. That poor unicorn he'd tasked with helping him remove the gore, traumatized if the look in it's eyes was anything to go by. Those poor pegasi he'd had making multiple trips for more clouds for bath-water. The only positive of the situation was that there was a drainage duct connected to the bathing area, so the filthy water didn't have to be dumped out the window.





Ted scrubbed and washed, used magic to remove the bits that still stuck to him, and eventually even had one of the cultists that had helped set up his bath checking his wings for more bits of gore, but he couldn't get it out fast enough. The adrenaline that had kept him going, and the mission that had distracted him was over, and he'd snacked on a few fruits to sate his hunger while traveling, but now there were no more distractions, just the horrid feeling that he'd never be clean again.
'Oh my god, I think I still have some in my mouth.' Grabbing the toothbrush off of the wash-basin for the fifth time in an hour, the alicorn once again set to brushing the ichor out of his teeth, the poor unicorn he'd grabbed looking even greener around the gills as it pulled yet another bloodied scale out of the alicorn's feathers. 





Visiting the infirmary had been even less pleasant, but the process of getting his wing reset only took about three minutes. The doctor, Head Trauma, was unsurprisingly as crazy as Ted had assumed, though the earth pony stallion had the wing sitting in it's proper place with minimal effort. It was the conversation afterwards where the doctor had freaked Ted out.





The wing didn't take Head Trauma long to reset, and while the doctor set Ted up with a sling, the earth pony was only too happy to discuss his favorite medical practices.
"Ah'm telling ya, there's nothing better than leeches fer sickness. Those little fellas are the closest thing to a cure-all ya'll ever find, yer' darkest-ness! Small, easy to care for, and they don't ask ya for nuthin' but love, see?" The stallion stuck his hoof into a jar full of murky water and removed it only to reveal his pets, about twenty leeches writhing around while latched onto the hoof. "Ah use them every day, last time Ah was sick was five years ago!"
Watching the disgusting display, Ted managed to suppress his gag reflex. It was a good thing he'd held off heading to the dining hall until later, as his stomach had nothing to lose. A thought occurred to him watching the things inflate. "How are you not passing out from blood loss?"
"Passing out from blood loss? That's silly, what idiot told ya that would happen if ya used leeches? No, Ah've been keeping my cuties fed this way for about six years, never had any issues, though there are more of them now than there used to be. It's strange, so many ponies come by saying things like that, you really should look into getting that rumor dispelled."

Ted was speechless. 'This is our doctor? This is the guy we trust our lives to if something goes wrong? Oh sweet singing stars, just how badly staffed are we?' "While I understand you love your little, er, pets-"
"Damn right Ah do, why does everpony hate 'em? They're adorable!"
"-I ask that you keep that as a last resort, Trauma. Uh, no need to use that kind of treatment on everyone."

The stallion watched him for a moment, before breaking out into a grin "Oh... Oh I see, save the best for last! Gotcha, your darkness-est-nish. Won't be letting just anypony get this kinda treatment unless they're on deaths door. Though it will mean Ah'll have to feed 'em mahself a bit more often." Nuzzling the mass, one of the leeches latched onto his nose. Undeterred, he cooed at the blood-suckers. "No I don't mind that at all, no I don't. Who's mah favorite squishy? You are! Yes you are... yes you are.'

Ted slowly walked out of the infirmary, doing his best not to draw the attention of the doctor from his pets. The next chance he got, he was going to find out if any of the other cultists had knowledge of medical practices, and if none did, well, there was always kidnapping, right? Better a doctor that was actually sane that may resent them than that thing in there.





All the trauma aside, mental or physical, his ponies were fed, and he'd learned several valuable lessons. Patched spells are bad, snakes are squishy on the inside, fur is much harder to clean than skin, and ponies are crazy. Actually, that last one wasn't something he could judge, seeing as the only thing stopping him from devolving into a brain stew was bubblegum, duct tape, and happy thoughts. 

Eventually the alicorn managed to wander into the dining hall as the nightly meal was being served. The room was fairly spartan, a buffet of greens set out on the right side of the room, tables that reminded him of picnic benches set up throughout the rest of the long room. Ponies sat in groups all over the hall. All except one.

At the far end of the dining hall, on a raised throne, sat Shadow Weaver. Truthfully it didn't surprise Ted that the guy would set himself up as higher than everyone else, what surprised him was the sheer audacity the guy had. Seeing him on that throne, laying on his back... no, this wouldn't do at all. As he made his way to the throne, the background chatter started to die down, bringing the attention of others, leaving a cascading silence to fill the room. From what he could see, there was only one throne, and Shadow had made it clear that the cultists saw Ted as some type of dark god. Hell, his current form was probably due to the alicorn magic used to create the armor, as he was fairly certain humans had no magic of their own. That combined with the worlds celestial mechanics, that it was alicorns that guarded the solar cycles, and his presence was basically viewed with the same awe as Thor appearing in a burst of lightning in downtown Chicago.

So why the hell did Shadow have a throne, and where the hell was his? If you're going go so far to play the cultist, at least go the extra mile and set up a throne higher up than yours. Even if it's only symbolic, you showing that you're just ruling until your god is returned. Maybe set it at the right side of the higher throne, putting yourself as your rulers right-hand man? Instead, the guy had set himself up as the ruler, and was sitting his lazy butt on a throne while gorging himself while Ted was out there getting intimately familiar with what snakes smell like. Here's a hint, they smell worse on the inside!

Finally reaching the throne, he stood just in front of it, waiting for some type of reaction from the cultist. Shadow didn't disappoint him.

"Why are you in my light? I'm trying to enjoy my meal, peon. Unless you have something to report it can"

"Peon, you say?" Ted asked with a toothy grin. Oh he was going to enjoy this. 

Shadow Weaver nearly jumped out of the seat, scrambling into a seated position. "Y-your Malevolence! What a surprise to find you here!" Before the Unicorn could say anything more or leave the throne it became enshrouded in a dark aura, and raised up off of the ground.

"May I ask, Shadow, why your throne is so high? And tell me, little pony, if you are truly just a follower; where is the throne higher than yours?" Dumping the unicorn out of the throne, Ted set it back on the dais, before walking over the sputtering cultist. It was a bit higher than he would have liked, but he wasn't in the mood to try fixing that at the moment. Sitting his exalted behind down on the lordly cushions, he turned back to the dining hall, and while he enjoyed the now familiar warring emotions playing across Shadow Weaver's face, it was the other inhabitants that made his day. Every eye in the room was on him, at least until he looked back to the hall. After doing so, most of the cultists immediately dropped into bows, some merely lowering their heads, others outright leaving their seats and prostrating themselves on the floor. 'Okay, that's cool, but enough of that'	"Aren't you here to eat? Isn't that what we went out today for, to make sure we had food? Eat. Shadow, did the chef know how to prepare the steak?"

"Yes, your darkness," the slightly flustered Weaver responded, before turning to a serving pony. "The master wishes to enjoy his meal. Tell Slop to make sure it's ready." Deciding it was better to cut his losses, the head cultist made his way for the exit, only to be stopped by his name being called.

"And Shadow Weaver? Don't let me catch you doing this again. If you claim to lead those gathered here in my service, you will not place yourself above me. Are we clear?"

The unicorn shifted uncomfortably, every eye in the hall still watching the exchange. "Yes your highness." He said, before turning and leaving the dining hall.
Looking around at the still silent dining hall, Ted asked "Is there a rule against enjoying yourselves?" He waved a hoof at them dismissively. "Go back to your meals."

By the time his steak arrived, the dining hall had surpassed its previous volumes, with several more ponies filtered in, all hoping to catch a view of their leader. Some of them even broke out drinks which Ted was fairly sure were alcoholic. As the server brought the dish to him and uncovered it, Ted's mouth was watering. Finally, some decent meat. Sure some of the ponies looked downright horrified when Ted tucked in to his meal, but it didn't bother him. No, whoever said revenge was a dish best served cold had no clue what they were talking about. It was best served piping hot with a light basil garnish.

'Oh, wait. Maybe not all of them heard about yesterday. If so there's a good chance that some of them think it's a kid on my plate. Eh, I'll take care of it later.'

The adoration of the ponies amused Ted, in a strange way. Part of him had no idea what he should be doing here, kept telling him 'You're a frackin' normal guy stuck on an alien world. You are losing your mind!' But there was another part, the part he'd been relying on more often than he'd like to admit. Luna was a ruler of ponies for centuries, and even if she wasn't as popular as her sister, she still knew how to get the job done. She knew how to carry herself in front of her subjects. He'd have to thank her one day, if he ever found a way to break the news to her. Actually, now that he thought about it, what was his relationship with her? Technically his current form was the result of the Nightmare stealing her alicorn magic. Wonder how that conversation would go. 'Hey your highness, I know this is weird, but magically and genetically speaking, I'm the son of the thing that possessed you and lead to you fighting your sister and almost destroying the planet. Technically it means I'm your son as well. Hi, kinda-my-mom!' Yea, that should be fun. In the meantime, he'd definitely have some questions for the lunar alicorn when he next saw her. 




> It's not the Truth, It's What They See
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The ponies had partied well into the night, but Ted was still exhausted from the days events. Knowing he may have to do it all again the next day left him more than willing to head to bed early. Those he passed in the halls were rushing to join in the festivities, though a few seemed to be more interested in private parties, if some of the looks that were being fired around the temple were any indication. Shaking the mental images conjured by such sights, he made his way to his own chambers, intent on seeing this day finished.
Just a few rooms before he reached his destination, he came across Gleam, leading a small group of about four foals. Most tried hiding behind her as he approached, but one came running up to him. Rose came to him, hugged his leg, and wished him goodnight. 'Blast, Rose 3, Ted 1' He thought to himself, leaning down to nuzzle the little filly. 

"Can I stay with you?" She asked. It was surprising, all things considered. The filly had spent most of the previous day hiding from him, now she found him perfectly safe?

"I can't Rose, I have something I need to do tonight. There's someone I need to talk to. I have some questions to ask her that may help us all. I met her when I was sleeping, and if she scares me while I'm sleeping you may get hurt, ok? Now, why are you so willing to hug me all of a sudden?" He asked her, smiling at her pout.

"Miss Gleam said you told her to watch us. She also said you kept the food ponies safe so we could have something to eat." Hugging tighter to his leg, she said "Thank you Mr. Nightmare." before scampering back to her caretaker. Wishing her sweet dreams, he didn't notice the confused look on her face, though he did hear her ask Gleam what a dream was. 'That's right, Luna said ponies haven't dreamed for a long time. Maybe she knows why that is.'

Arriving at his chambers, he took a quick glance around before struggling into bed. Two days as a horse hadn't made him any less awkward in some movements. The room was a lot cleaner than it had been when he left it earlier, though considering the mess, that wasn't saying much. At least he didn't have to worry about staining the bed sheets red, or having something squish while he got comfortable. Laying on the bed, he wondered what he would play tonight.



<-(0)-> 


'I am a ninja. I am invisible. They will not notice me.' Hefting his weapon, Ted smirked, eyes concealed by an odd mechanical looking Viking helmet. 'Until it is too late!' Whipping out of cover, he unleashed hell upon the dirty REDs, rocket after rocket flying towards his targets, sending many a RED bastard to their death. The last rocket, glowing with an ethereal blue glow, struck several of the enemies, showering the area with body parts.

"Welcome to the United States of YOU JUST GOT DOMINATED!" He shouted, adrenaline surging through his body. His allies moved forward, hoping to capture the first point when the fastest of the group screamed in terror, an electronic chirping pre-empting a hail of bullets that were impossible to avoid. Signaling his pocket, Ted reloaded, before rushing around the corner, his body becoming encased in a solid blue energy. The four turrets, stuck so close together it made him want to cry, were useless against his invincible form, and were quickly demolished, along with their caretakers. Before he could reload a second time, he heard a loud chime, followed by a voice from one of the many speakers around the area.

"We have captured a control point!"

Grinning, he charged forward once again. The reds didn't stand a chance. He turned the corner and-

The next thing Ted was aware of, he was back in his teams base, wondering what had happened. He'd blown up the turrets, turned the corner and...

...red spiked balls. Oh, that damnable one-eyed bastard would pay for that.





The fighting had stalled, leaving an absolute meat-grinder of a kill zone for both sides, neither able to press an advantage long enough to do anything, be it push the BLU's back or take the RED's final base. Just as Ted was thinking of ways to break the tie there was a shout from above. He turned to see the small dark alicorn once again showing up in his dreams. He smiled, thinking to himself 'Awesome, just the pony I wa-' before the Australian to his right was struck by a lightning bolt. Confused, he looked back at the alicorn, and all he saw was hatred.

"You thought you could lie to me, that you could hide behind that alien form?" The lunar alicorn shouted, tears in her eyes. "You cannot hide your aura, the magic that flows through you even in your dreams! You thought that I would be brought low by your lies a second time? Never! I will exact revenge upon you, for hurting me, for hurting my subjects, for hurting MY SISTER!" Luna screamed, mane flying wildly in an arcane wind, dark clouds forming around her while her eyes glowed with power. "LIAR" She shouted, launching a true shadow blade that neatly bisected a nearby team mate. "DECEIVER!" She screamed, launching a second blade that furrowed the concrete at Ted's feet. "PARASITE!" She accused, firing a stream of arcane fire at him,

Ted ducked back behind a door frame, muttering obscenities to himself. 'Ignoring the glow, it's just an illusion anyway, why the hell is she so angry at me? When did I lie to her, or hurt her sister? Why would she attack me all of a sudden?' His cover was struck by three more bolts of lightning. 'Oh hell, aura? Humans don't have magic so the only magic I have would be hers and the Nightmares. And since she's not running up to me to hug me and call me her son, I'm guessing she's thinking I'm the latter.' He frowned. 'I may know why, but this is my dream, dammit. You don't come running into my dream trying to kill me!' Swinging out of cover once more, he aimed his weapon at the other alicorn. 

"I'm coming for you, wizard!" He shouted, firing a salvo at the flashing ball of rage.

"Everybody, attack ze vizard!"
Suddenly Luna was under fire from both the BLU and RED teams, as they shouted nonsense at her.

"Oh my god, I hate wizards SO MUCH!"
"Your magic is weak, old man!"
"RUSSIAN TOOTH FAIRY HAZ COME FOR ALL YOUR TEETH!"

Tired of the idiocy, she prepared a gravity bomb, intending to crush the insolent creatures.

"Lookout, he has a book! He's going to read!" 

The princess almost lost hold of her fury at the absolute stupidity flowing from the creatures mouths, but managed to launch the spell, capturing four of them and crushing them to nothingness. Turning to the remaining fools, she noticed the Nightmare was missing. 'No, impossible, it wouldn't run from a fight, so where-'
"Always in the last place you'd look." 

Her search was cut off as a piercing agony made itself known between her wings. Turning, she saw the Nightmare once more, this time with a stub of a horn showing through his blue balaclava, his wings twice as large as they were last time, barely clearing his shoulders. The next thing she knew, she was ejected from the dream, tumbling in the void of the dream realm.


<-(0)-> 



Once more Ted found himself standing in an endless void. To say he was angry would be incorrect. No, he wasn't angry, just frustrated. The princess was one of his best chances at figuring out most of his problems here, maybe even knowing if it was possible to return home. Sure he wasn't a god or demi-god or whatever role alicorns filled here back where he was from, but surely his sister needed to know at least. Would his mother still be alive after forty years? Would she believe him if he said he was her son? Or had she accepted the Nightmare as her son? Was the planet even there anymore? What if the Nightmare had destroyed the earth? Based on what he knew of it, that would most likely be its goal.
He shook his head. If that was the case, the blasted thing had almost four decades on him to fulfill it's plans. He just hoped the earth was still there if he figured out a way home. Looking around himself, he was about to start another game when he noticed them. The void wasn't one anymore. There were small lights nearby, like Will-O-Wisps floating near him. Four more were off by themselves but close enough to see; two of them close by, a third near those, and a fourth off by itself. No, the fourth wasn't by itself, but the fifth was so weak that the two were indistinguishable from each other. What was this? Where did they come from? Perhaps the inhabitants of this plane sensed him. He had no real training with this dream realm thing besides what little he could glean from broken memories, so if something attacked him here he would be a sitting duck.

As quickly as it came, his paranoia left. One of those closest to him seemed to be calling him. Leaning closer and reaching for it, he found himself in a small cabin, tidy and cozy, a small fire burning in the hearth. He heard a pony nearby, and wishing he was in his alicorn form, found himself to be wearing that form a moment later. Not a second too soon either.
Trotting in with a tea kettle was Gleam, humming happily to herself. She looked at her unexpected guest, smiled, and asked him "Good evening sir, would you care for some tea?" At his nod, the unicorn levitated the kettle over to the fire, before heading back to the kitchen, returning with a tray of crackers. "I'm afraid I haven't had much time to bake lately, I've just been so busy!" 
"It's fine Gleam, I'm glad to see you enjoying yourself. Tell me, is this your first dream?"

The unicorn giggled at him. "Oh no, sir, I've had dreams before, when I was a little fi-" Suddenly her smile died on her lips, and her eyes were wide open. "B-but, we don't dream anymore." She stated, looking around the cabin. Looking back to Ted, she said. "I don't understand." 

'Neither do I, honestly, and my only possible source on alicorn magic and dreams is currently trying to kill me.' It would most likely be best if he pretended to not understand the question, though. It would avoid the uncomfortable questions for now. Smiling, he answered another question. "Don't understand what? Why this is a dream, and not a nightmare? Tell me, would you be able to watch Rose and the others if you didn't sleep tonight? Would those foals want to stay here if the first dreams they ever had were nightmares? No, Gleam, the nightmares are for my enemies." His smile deepened, showing off his irregularly sharp canines. "Our enemies."

The mare seemed to consider the answer, before nodding. Turning to the tea kettle and levitating it off of the fire, she looked back at her guest. "Could I interest you in some tea?"



<-(0)-> 



It was impossible. She refused to believe what she was seeing. Walking up to it, she reached out a hoof to the orb. The world shifted, leaving her in a green field with four ponies in it. One was a little filly, dancing and prancing happily around two others whose faces seemed blurred. The fourth was the Nightmare. Well, what she assumed its alicorn form looked like. It sat off to the side, watching the filly as she jabbered happily to the two unknown ponies. Did the little filly not realize the danger she was in? The Nightmare was right there, it would destroy everything in moments. Before she could stop the green foal, it rushed up to the Nightmare, even going so far as to set its hooves against his legs to lift herself higher. The dark alicorn turned from its vigil, and while the outsider braced for the worst, nuzzled the filly and told her he would keep watching for the bad ponies.
Luna felt her rear legs give out watching the exchange. Sure it was a dream representation, but such a thing had to come from somewhere. The dream was near where the Nightmare was currently residing, on the other side of the planet from Equestria, so the filly most likely had seen the Nightmare at least once. Was it lulling her into a false sense of security? Perhaps Luna's presence stopped it from becoming a full fledged nightmare. As she was about to settle on the last, the little green foal noticed her, and running up to her assaulted her with questions.
"Oh, hi! Who are you? I'm Rose. Are you Mr. Nightmare's sister? You look a lot like him. Do you want to play?" The reference to being related to Mr. Nightmare left a bad taste in her mouth, but she agreed to play with the filly. She needed answers. The field wavered a bit, and a small part of it was suddenly a flat play-area with a small ball. The filly rushed over to the ball, before launching it at the princess, who caught it and returned it to the filly. It was a simple game, often used by young unicorns to improve their strength and reaction times, but it was always entertaining watching children play. Even at her darkest hour, children had brought her hope.
"So tell me, young one, where did you meet Mr. ahem, Nightmare?" 
"Oh, some bad ponies brought some of us out to this really far place, one said we were gonna be snacks." She said, frowning slightly at the memory. The ball was forgotten in her grip, slowly drooping to the ground. "They tied me up and put a bunch of spells on me so I couldn't move, and brought me to him. They said he would eat me... but he didn't. He said they were wrong, and sent them away. He gave me some delicious toast with this amazing jelly on it, it was soooo good!" The filly rambled, her mood improving every moment. "Then I fell asleep hiding in his pillows and the next morning I woke up next to him, Miss Gleam said it was because it gets cold at night, and even though I was pulling his wing he didn't say anything, he just let me have some pancakes. Then he told Miss Gleam to watch us and he went to protect the food ponies. One of them said he fought this HUUUUGE snake! He was using all these cool spells and it tried to eat him and boom! He blew it up!" She shouted. Rose was practically dancing around Luna at this point. Suddenly she stopped, thinking about her current location and the words spoken to her earlier. "Hey lady," She asked, poking one of the princess' forelegs. "Is this a dream?"
Recovering from her confusion, Luna nodded. 
"Are you the one he was going to talk to?" Rose asked "He told me he wanted to talk to somepony that could help him. That she showed up when he was sleeping. Is that you? Are you going to help him?"

The alicorn frowned. He had been preparing to ask her for help? After all he had done to her and her sister?

"Is that a no?" The filly asked sadly. 

Luna turned to the young girl, smiling sadly. "The Nightmare hurt me and my sister a long time ago. He took many things from me, and he knows everything I do. He is very, very dangerous."

Rose looked at her, confused. "That's not nice. Mr. Nightmare is nicer than a lot of ponies I know."

Shaking her head sadly as she walked away, the princess looked back at the filly. "That speaks very poorly of the world we live in, doesn't it?" Before the unicorn could respond, the princess faded from the dream.
> Jobs? Give me a List of Names, and Some Darts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was like the Temple of the Shadows had come alive overnight. Everywhere Ted walked, ponies talked excitedly to one another, sharing the dreams they'd had the night before. Some spoke of memories of home, others of hopes of adventure. Some even dreamed of finding that special somepony they'd spend the rest of their lives with. All in all, the ponies were ecstatic. All but one, and he made sure Ted knew about it.
"Your darkness, what madness is this?" Shadow Weaver raved, rushing up to Ted on his way to breakfast. Yes breakfast in bed was nice, but so was being around other people after being locked in armor. Ted turned to the cultist, confusion written across his face.

"Is there a problem, Shadow?" The alicorn asked.

Slowing to keep pace with Ted, Shadow Weaver was fuming. "Dreams! We had dreams last night!"

"And the problem is?" Ted asked leadingly.

"Dreams! Where are the nightmares? Where are the wails of despair carrying through the night? Why are ponies not cowering under their beds? Why do they laugh and converse about their dreams?"

The dark alicorn turned to the unicorn. "Shadow, the ponies here are running on fumes, if you didn't notice. As fun as it would be to torment everyone here, I would like to recover in relative comfort. Sowing nightmares amongst my followers would be like stabbing your own hoof because you thought it would be fun."

The two arrived at the dining hall and Ted, rather than waiting for a server to bring him breakfast, headed to the meager breakfast bar, much to the shock of the dining ponies. Gathering a plate and adding a few pancakes and some of the fruits that were gathered the previous day, he made his way to the throne. It wasn't that it was where he wanted to sit, but it was the only seat in the hall big enough for his flank. about half-way to the dais, he stopped, sleepily looking out at the cultists that stared at him.

"You think I want to wait for my breakfast? Screw that." Walking up to his chair, he sat down heavily, absentmindedly spreading some fresh jam on his pancakes. Some of the cultists hid smiles in their hoods, others chuckled, despite their best efforts to keeps straight faces.

"But sir, the tales told of-"

"Weaver, what have I told you of legends?"  Ted asked, turning to the persistent pony. "Speaking of followers, who's in charge of staffing?"

"T-that would be me, sir." Shadow said, caught flat-hooved by the sudden change of topic.

"Good, I'd like to see what jobs you have everyone assigned to later on. Who is the quartermaster?"

"The what sir?"

"Quartermaster? The one in charge of supplies?"

"Uh, Slop is in charge of rations, but other than that we really don't..."

The alicorn sighed. "Weaver, how many ponies are in the temple?"

"Uh, I believe about twenty six?"

"Weaver, there are thirty three ponies in this room, including you and I." Ted countered, staring uninterestedly at the pony. "I want you to either do this yourself, or find someone who is good at this sort of thing. I want you to get an individual in charge of general supplies, and I want a list of everything we have that may be useful, even if it's a bed. If we don't have enough beds find out if someone's good at woodcarving or basic craftsmanship. Do we have a... what's the term, war-room?"

The cultist's ears perked up at the question. "Oh, yes sir, based on the one in the Castle of the Two Sisters!" 

"Good, when you find the pony, bring them there, along with Trauma and Slop. I will also want you to send any books on construction. This is our home right now, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be stuck living in a hole in the ground."

"But sir, why not just attack Equestria?"

"I already tried that, Weaver, do you know how well that turned out? Not well at all. A new strategy is needed. We will fortify here, recruit who we can, and learn of our enemies and their weaknesses" 'If there's one thing I know, it's never rush in blindly. Not only does that never end well in most cases, Nightmare already tried that, and ended up getting its shadowy butt kicked.' Noticing the unicorn was still hesitating, he refocused on the cultist. "Any other questions, Shadow?"

"I, why do you care which pony does what? I've always just picked a pony at random. They do the job, we move on."

"What is this?" Ted asked, holding up a fork.

"Uh, a fork, sir?"

"Yes, a fork. Do you eat soup with a fork, Weaver?"

"No sir."

"Then why would you make a pony that loves sneaking around take care of the alchemy lab, when you need scouting done?"

Shadow Weaver started to respond several times, before Ted put an end to his floundering before returning to his own meal. "Get yourself some breakfast, Shadow, and then get these things done." 

The pony begrudgingly left, mind a whirlwind of confusion. The Nightmare was supposed to be an unmatched horror, what had changed?



<-(0)-> 



Ted walked into the war room, levitating a plethora of scrolls, maps, and tomes, as well as his own notes, behind him. The war room was spacious, with a large table in the middle that had a map of equestrian currently displayed across it, complete with markers on several larger cities. Making sure nothing was being done with it currently, he swept the map and markers off the table, holding the markers for a moment and rolling the map up for storage. Waving his hoof in front of him to dispel the dust that had come off the map, he placed the map of the Kharazi jungle on the table, before placing a large marker on the Temple of the Shadows. He placed smaller markers to the south and east of the temple, a cross by the healing spring and a wheat sprig by the glade. Then, pulling two troop markers out, he placed them in two locations. As far as he could tell, they were the locations the other dreams had been. One was actually within an couple hours walking distance to the east, just north of the glade, if he translated the dream realm distances correctly. That was the one he wanted to check first, as there seemed to be an injured individual there as well. The others were near the location described in the note, so it seemed most had arrived at the meeting place, besides the unfortunate individual that had run afoul of the giant snake.

Just as he was familiarizing himself with the local area, Shadow Weaver, Head Trauma, and a pegasus wearing a chefs hat walked in. 'Slop, if my I had to guess, though where the hell did he find a chefs hat here, and why is it the cleanest thing around?' "I assume this is Slop? Nice to finally meet the one responsible for that fantastic brisket last night. I was worried you wouldn't be able to work with meat, being an herbivore."

The heavy purple Pegasus smiled widely at the praise "It was truly a challenge, sir! Never before have I had the pleasure of working with such an exotic ingredient. Meats of all kinds are banned in Equestria, and they lean heavily on any country that does not comply with their own standards. It has put them at odds with most of the carnivorous races, as you can imagine, but the queen wields enough power that she tends to walk over any who cause problems."

Ted was confused by the revelation. 'She won't let carnivores eat meat? What kind of idiot are we dealing with here? Alright, she's on my shit-list. You don't deny someone bacon.' He paused a moment. 'Are pigs sapient here? Damn, I don't think I could eat something that could ask me how my day was... even if it was bacon.' "I take it you're here as the provisions quartermaster, and Trauma is the medical quartermaster. Shadow, do you know anyone who would be good with staffing and equipment?"

"Yes sir, I told her to come here as soon as she was able to."

As Ted was about the ask who it was, there was a thunderous approach from the hallway, followed by a muffled "I'm first! I win!" Pulling the door open with his magic, he found four foals outside the door, a breathless Gleam running after them.

"I'm sorry sir, I came as soon as I heard you needed to talk to me, but the foals have just been bouncing off the walls this morning."

"There he is!" the alicorns legs were suddenly besieged by the foals, all four looking up at him, Rose actually trying to climb up his back to get closer to him.

"It was so cool! You said to have pleasant dreams, and we all had dreams! I've never had a dream before!" Rose said. Her energy was reflected in the other foals, as well, a colt and two other fillies.
"Neither have I, I dreamed I was in a pool of ice-cream!"
"Was it chocolate?"
"Ew, no, strawberry is better!"
"Is not!"
Levitating Rose off his back, he lifted the other three with her, and looking at all four he addressed them. "I'm glad you're all having a blast, but we're busy here. I need you to let us work for a bit, ok?" He put the four foals in a corner of the room with a few pony figurines and house markers, leaving them to play for a while. Turning back to the gathered adults, he looked at Gleam.

"I'm glad you want to help, Gleam, but if you're going to do this, try to find someone to help you with them. Head Trauma, do you keep a running tally of medical supplies?"

"Course Ah do, sir! Got a spare list here!" The Earth stallion pulled a list out of one of his bags. The list was dismally small, considering how many were in the temple by his estimate, and the number could be higher. Some bandages, a few doses of antibiotic, and the plants he got the day before. Oh, and his leeches. A list of all his leeches. Individually accounted for.

By name.

Barely suppressing a shudder, he turned to Slop. "How is the pantry doing?"

"Not as terribly as it was yesterday, sir, but the gatherers are supplying all of us for 3 meals a day, so we will need another supply run in two days at the latest. With more supplies coming in, I've been able to relax the ration Shadow Weaver had in place, but we're still not doing all that well."

"Has there been any activity, like enemy patrols?" Ted asked.

"No, sir, not that we've seen. I assume the ponies that tried to follow us met a terrible fate, as have several of our own." Shadow answered.

Nodding, the ruler started leafing through a book on basic infrastructure. "Can we clear out the area directly around the temple?" At the unsure looks of the ponies around him, he asked. "What? What's the matter? We need room for buildings. We can't all live here for ever, and we'll need crops. Foraging is well and good but it only works for so long."

Shadow answered him. "Sir, the forest here, it's like the everfree. It's terrifying, honestly."

Ted quirked a questioning eyebrow.

"Sir, the forest, the clouds, the animals, they all move about by themselves. This land, it's not something ponies can survive in, it can't be beaten. We've pulled plants out of the temple, only to find them growing back a week later! The clouds outside? Nopony is moving them, they drift as they please!"

The alicorn sighed heavily to himself. This is something that scared them? If he was honest with himself, the world Shadow just described was not only scary in its own right, it was downright boring. Who the hell had the free time to move clouds and control grass? "Weaver, let me tell you a story. There is a world out there, an entire planet that is like this jungle." At the horrified looks of the cultist, he rolled his eyes. "From deserts, to oceans, to tundras, to jungles, no one creature can exert anything but physical or mental influence on another, as there is no magic. On this planet, there are creatures as smart as you and I. They don't have fangs, or claws, or scales, or shells or anything like that, and yet they managed to dominate the entire planet. There is almost nowhere on that planet you can go that will not have a few of these creatures scraping a life out of whatever they can manage. They have nothing but their intelligence and a stubborn refusal to die. If they can conquer a planet that's done its damnedest to wipe them from history, we, with magic and some ingenuity, can figure out how to survive in the jungle." Facing the others in turn, he addressed them once more.

"We are not as bad off as you seem to think. For one, we have no political enemies near us, none that would bring an army to our doorstep, at least, so we can direct all of our attention to the wildlife. I'll be going out later with a group to start clearing the area around the entrance so that there will be no ambushes there, and I want someone to organize an inventory of all the supplies we have. As I told Weaver, I don't care what it is, if we can use it for something, it gets added to the list. While we're clearing the area, we'll see if there's anything else edible nearby, too. No need to waste food when we're so short. Weaver, you're good at spells, I know that for certain. Are there any wards that you know that you can use to keep out enemies? Even an early warning system would be nice." Ted chewed his lip, thinking. "Anyone else have any ideas?"

At Trauma's raised hoof, Ted clarified "Something that doesn't have to do with leeches?" Trauma's grin fell, as did his hoof.

With no ideas being put forward by his ponies, Ted dismissed them, before turning back to the map. It would be best for all involved if he had a chance to memorize the local area. Sparing a quick glance at Head Trauma as he departed, He found himself humming an old tune.

"...In the Temple of the Shadows he's the finest doc by far. He got his degree by watching House and Scrubs and E.R...." He chuckled to himself. Yes, the first chance he got, that guy was going to be placed under someone who knew what they were doing. If he could find someone like that in the middle of this god-forsaken jungle, at least.

> Clearing Jungles and Jungle Clearings.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Having planned out a few important buildings, such as barracks, a smithy, a large storage building for things too big for the temple, some farm plots, and even a small wall directly around the temple, Ted went looking for Weaver. He would need some help with clearing the area outside, and there was something that had occurred to him recently.
He found the unicorn with Gleam, talking to ponies and writing down what they excelled at. For some reason, though, this involved all the ponies dropping their robes. Approaching the oddity, he noticed that all of the ponies had weird tattoos on their rear ends. A quick scan of Luna's memories said the tattoos were normal, that they displayed what the pony was good at, and despite the Ted-part of his brain's objections, that they occurred naturally. Suddenly curious, he turned around and glanced at his own backside, only to be greeted with plain black fur. So he was the odd man out here? And what would represent his ability to lead a bunch of insane cultists?

Brushing aside the odd thoughts, he approached Shadow and pulled him aside. "Shadow, I have two things I need from you. First, what ever happened to the armor I was pulled from?"

"What ar-Oh! It should still be in the main ritual chamber, your darkness. I had it cleaned up and set as a display there."

Ted nodded, "Second, I want a group set up for clearing the outer perimeter. It will give us better visibility as we leave, and eventually I'd like to get some sort of lookout system set up. If you need anything from the local area for those rituals or arrays that I asked for, add it to the needed supplies list I have in the war room. Even more helpful would be if you added where they can be found." Nodding to the ponies Gleam was still working with, he asked. "Are you done with any of them? I'd like to get an escort to the ritual room. I've been there once, and I was in a bit of a haze at that point."

"Of course, master. Blur!" A young yellow female pegasus rushed over Shadow's call. "I want you to escort the master to the ritual chamber. He wishes to see his armor. And by the shadows, put your robe back on!"

Blur flew back over to grab her robe, wrestled it on, then ran back to Ted. "This way, Mr. Nightmare, sir."

Ted only grinned as he followed the pegasus. Rose's name for him was getting around it seemed. 'Mr. Nightmare. Sounds important. I like it.'



<-(0)-> 



The journey was fairly quiet, though the pegasus was back in the air as soon as she was out of sight of Shadow Weaver, hovering back and forth through the hallways as she led the way. Walking back into the room of his, well, rebirth sounded cliché, but there really wasn't anything else Ted could call it at that point. The armor was there, fixed in a sitting position looking down upon all who entered the chamber. The inside of the armor was unnaturally dark, despite the light filtering in through the shattered windows. The sharp scent of the herbs used in the ritual still hung in the air, and judging by the lack of dust, the room was being kept in top condition. A movement to his left brought his attention to three ponies as they cleaned the room. Even with his presence among them, the cultists still found this room important.

Approaching the armor, Ted levitated the helmet in front of him. No wonder the princesses had forgotten about it. For some reason, unless it was right in front of him, his thoughts just seemed to slip off of the blue metal. Part of the magic of its creation perhaps? It wasn't the right size, made for both a more slender figure as well as a larger one. Looking at the armor now, he was just shy of looking it in the snout if he stood directly in front of the armor. Still, the armor felt familiar, as something he'd been stuck in for so long. Using his TK to turn it around, he closed his eyes, and tried putting it on.

To his surprise, the next thing he felt was the armor settling perfectly on his face, covering him as if it were custom made for him. He repeated the process with a leg brace, watching this time as the mystic metal seemed to flow around his foreleg, settling on him perfectly. He knew as soon as Luna had mentioned the Nightmare had created the armor with her magic that the armor would be magical in nature, but to reshape itself to his form? Levitating the entirety of the armor from its stand, he quickly donned the rest of it in a whirlwind of magic. He felt a little stronger with it on, a little surer of his steps, and strangely enough, he could barely hear his own breathing. Actually, he couldn't really hear Blur's breathing either. Glancing back to the pegasus, he found her face-down on the temple floor behind him, prostrate in front of the dais. Walking off of the raised platform, he approached the pegasus, not hearing a single hoof-fall despite the metal hoof-covers. Not only that, but all of the shadows in the room seemed deeper, and he could feel the shadows like they were an extension of himself. Was it the armor? Impossible, the Nightmare was long gone, and it never took the armor off, so there was no need to put some type of defense on it. Taking off the armor with his magic, he watched the shadows of the room. They were still there, still called to him, but it was faint. The armor had just amplified the effect. It had amplified his power.
Setting the helmet back on his body and the rest of the parts to his side, he reached the groveling pegasus. This was getting old fast. If they feared him, they wouldn't be able to talk to him. If they weren't able to talk to him, they wouldn't be able to deliver news and help him learn of the world. Luna was too kind to do this, and the Nightmare would have killed the mare where she lay. He'd have to do this on his own.





Blur was terrified. The second the Nightmare had put on the helmet, everything seemed a bit darker. As He pulled on the bracer, the rooms light levels once again dropped. Finally, with a whirlwind of His dark aura, the light in the room seemed to cease to exist for a moment, before returning, though weaker than ever before.

"Look at me, Blur." He commanded. The pegasus shakily raised her eyes up to meet His, though she stopped at His snout. Immediately, she dropped back down. She had no idea what she was doing here. Some of them said he was kinder than Shadow Weaver had said he would be. Buck, Weaver said the Nightmare was female. But seeing the display, and no longer able to even hear her own breathing, she could only assume he had been biding his time until he was strong enough to leave.

She jumped as a hoof touched her, before it lifted her muzzle to look right at Him. His eyes were sunk into the helmet, slit pupils gazing out of darkness right at her. She knew He had the teeth of a predator, and after the lights began to dim, the ponies cleaning the room had run in fear. She was alone with the dark god, and He was focused on her. A sudden pull brought her even closer to the large alicorn.  He was almost twice her size, with magic, and a grip on her, there would be no escape. Just before she could start to cry in fear, though, He spoke to her.

"Blur, are you scared of me? As I told Rose, and as I told Gleam; the nightmares, the fear, that is for our enemies." His wings wrapped around her as he pulled her into His barrel. "The darkness can be scary, but it's not the darkness we fear. It's what could be in the darkness. The darkness can also be peaceful, it can be comforting, it can be safe. We don't sleep in the sun, we find our rest in the shadows."

Pushing her away just a little bit, he leaned down to her level. "My ponies have nothing to fear from me, Blur. Remember that, and hold it as truth in your heart." He said, before putting the armor back on and leaving the chamber. Blur watched Him leave in a stupor. She'd thought He was going to kill her, despite everything she'd heard about Him. She'd let her fear stop her from seeing the truth, the real truth, not the one Shadow Weaver preached. The Nightmare loved her, He loved them all. She wouldn't let her fear stop her again. There was only one pony in her life that had made her feel that safe, that spoke to her like that and held her close. It was that name she would now associate with the Nightmare.

She wouldn't let her fear stop her from serving her Father anymore. She would do anything she could to help Him.

Both the alicorn and the pegasus were so mired in their individual thoughts, neither noticed the shimmer of magic that had flickered to life during the Nightmares speech, nor did they notice the emblem that now adorned his flanks as he left.



<-(0)-> 



Walking away from the ritual room, the alicorn could feel a strange surge flow through him. Thinking about it, he'd felt something similar when he'd killed the snake in front of his ponies, but the surge was minute. This one wasn't much stronger, but the armor amplified the feeling enough to draw his attention to it. Did it have to do with Blur? Probably, considering his speech to her was the only thing he'd done since breakfast. What it was, however, he couldn't even begin to wonder.

Arriving at the entrance to the temple, he was greeted by at least fifteen ponies all eagerly waiting for him, with packs and a few makeshift blades on them. Seeing his approach, the ponies quickly lined up by the door, and all bowed as he reached them.

"You all wish to help with the clearing of the outer courtyard?" Ted asked them, his question answered by bobbing heads. There were too many to keep an eye on the foragers and watch the ponies clearing the courtyard at the same time. Deciding to split the job into parts, he picked out a gathering team, and ordered the others to gather any wood-clearing tools they could find. Honestly, why they hadn't brought them to the entrance in the first place was beyond him. The trees weren't going to just fall over and split into useful chunks if they bucked them enough.

Stepping outside into the humid jungle, he placed his tracking spell on the ponies and addressed the seven gatherers for this mission.

"Alright, same rules as before. Keep in sight of each other at all times, don't wander off on your own, and if you hear something that bears investigation. Do we have a pegasus with the group?" A single raised hoof answered his question. Ted turned to the pegasus. "Keep above us, there's not much in the upper canopy that will attack a pony, so you will be our over-watch. If you see something that doesn't look right, you let me know. If there's no time, just yell the direction." Turning back to the whole group, he continued. "Hoods down. We're searching for anything useful around the temple before we clear it. Let's go."

The gathering run was fairly quiet for the most part. Every now and again Ted would move ahead of the group, or drive away a particularly nasty looking animal, but nothing seemed very eager to take him on or to make a swipe at his charges. About an hour into the expedition, the group had searched a good quarter of the area directly surrounding the temple when something worthy of note occurred. A chubacobra slinked from the shadows, about ten feet from Ted. The alicorn caught his breath, staring straight at the predator, getting ready to blast it with a spell the second it made a move for his ponies.

However, the creature didn't make a move for the ponies behind him. In fact, the longer Ted watched the thing prowl by, the more he realized it never even looked at him. As the creature left, he turned to the gatherers, and noticed they were all standing in the shadows of the trees they were under, and those very shadows seemed to pull around them and cover them from prying eyes. As the danger had passed, the ponies started panicking about their current situation, some even jumping out of the shadows that shrouded them from danger. 

Ted admonished them, as the animal was still nearby. "Shh, remain calm." he whispered. Since when had his powers been that strong? The second he'd noticed the creature, he'd thought of hiding, and he had. Not only that, he'd apparently hidden the entire group along with himself. He'd spoken those words to Blur in an effort to calm her down, to comfort her, but this was a world of magic. Perhaps shadows did have their own strength? Yet another thing to add to his ever growing list of concerns.

After waiting to be certain the danger had passed, the ponies continued the journey. There were plenty of usable plants, be they vines for weaving, a few edible greens, and even more exotic herbs for the alchemy laboratory. Eventually, the group arrived at the entrance of the temple once more, and Ted released the ponies to deliver what supplies they had gathered to the proper locations. Ted had a lunch brought to him while he inspected the equipment of those who would be clearing the jungle with him. Most of the tools were fairly rundown, rusted, and overall not what he would like to use.

"Definitely need someone in charge of weapon and tool maintenance." He mumbled to himself as he hefted an ax with a rotted handle in his magic grip. Applying a bit of pressure, the handle snapped, causing several nearby ponies to jump, and drawing the attention of all eight workers. Holding the two pieces in front of him, he decided it was time for a lecture.

"Tools are important. They help us complete tasks that would otherwise be impossible with our own hooves. But just like our bodies, we need to keep them in proper condition. If this ax had been swung, and snapped when it hit the tree, there would be a good chance of injury, be it from the pony using it colliding with the tree, or the ax head flying off and striking someone. Our medical supplies our limited as it is, ponies. I want you to check your tools for rot before using them out there, understand? And if there are injuries, report them." Turning back to the door, he led them outside.



<-(0)-> 



After seeing Luna use the arcane fire spell, he'd been sure to double check his own version. At first he'd thought he'd messed it up as he had with the shadow blades, since the fire was stuck as the color of his aura. As the princess showed, however, the magic was based on one's aura, so in his case, the flames came out as strange flickering shadows that left the ground scorched. Ted had been cautious with the spell for the first few minutes, but the foliage was so thick in places that even his magic flames were quickly snuffed out by the vegetation if not constantly reinforced. This didn't bother him, though, in fact it allowed him to enjoy himself, though he was careful to avoid any trees that may be useful. It allowed him to unleash the magic he'd been using on and off at a higher level, higher than he'd even managed against the snake, as the fight the day before was brutal, but was ended quickly. He torched large areas around the temple, stopping only to cast a glance back at the ponies felling trees near the entrance and checking the tracking spells he had active on the workers.

After clearing a good portion of the front entrance, including scouring the stone around the doors of plant life,  Ted returned to the entrance of the temple and ordered all gathered wood brought in for the day. It was getting close to dinner time, and there was one more thing he wanted to accomplish today. His new ability and the armor would only make it easier. Of course, being able to fly would make it a cake walk, but he wasn't going to trust muscle memory for something that complicated. The size differences between himself and Luna were enough to make him almost trip several times when he first started walking, so he could only imagine the issues that would come with flight. Turning for the glade, he did his best to pull the shadows close, before taking off at a brisk pace to the east. The dreamers over there were both weak, and wouldn't last long without help, but he didn't know where their loyalties were. That was something he planned on addressing posthaste.



<-(0)-> 


It took him a good two hours to reach the location, but eventually he found a small cave that was partially concealed by moss someone had pulled over the entrance. The cave had a few signs of habitation, like discarded fruit cores and pits around the fire pit. What drew his eye however, was the apparent source of the weaker of the two dreamers. In a strange pod towards the back of the cave was what was once a cultist, though it was horrifically maimed. Taking a closer look, he couldn't fathom how the creature could still be alive, as he couldn't even identify its gender through the injuries. 

His inspection was cut short as something else in the cave awoke.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The voice was strange to him, an odd buzzing undertone to it. Finding the speaker hiding in the shadows in the back of the cave, Ted had little trouble seeing the creature, despite the low light. It was an insectoid pony, holes in the legs, though it may have been better to say it had holes where it's legs should be. Even the creatures body had holes, leaving the creature with a pockmarked appearance. Stepping forward and releasing his hold on the shadows, the alicorn all but materialized in front of the bug-pony, a frown on his face. Sitting between the creature and the exit, he addressed it.

"Did you do this to this pony?" He asked, gesturing to the pod. The insects eyes followed his hoof, before returning to him. It shuffled uncomfortable for a few moments before answering. "I-I put him in the pod, yes, but I didn't hurt him. He, he'd be dead already if it wasn't for the pod, actually. He and a few other ponies dressed like him were looking for food, I think, and they didn't notice The Swarm."

Ted gave a puzzled glance at the pod, then asked the pony "What's The Swarm?"

"It's a big group of ants. The Swarm is what it's called, because there's just so many of them that nothing else can even come close to describing it. He was the only one who made it to the river. Even then, The Swarm had torn him apart badly, and despite my best efforts, I can't grow back lost limbs." The bug answered, looking sadly at the pod.

"He's still dying, isn't he?"

The bug slumped at that question. "Yes, and then I'll be back to square one. Or I would be if I had the energy to leave. I put a lot of energy into the pod, hoping keeping him alive would keep me alive. It did, but I haven't gotten nearly enough positive emotion from him to make up for the energy I used."

The answer confused the alicorn. "What do you mean you haven't gotten enough positive emotion out of him? You make it sound like you use it like a power source."

"I do. I'm a changeling, we live off of the positive emotions of other creatures."

"Like a vampire?" Ted asked.

The creature cringed at the comparison. "Not really, we just, you know, absorb the energy that's being given off."

Ted's eyes widened slightly in understanding. "Oh, like a solar panel, right?" At the creatures confused look, he tried again. "It's something that takes the suns energy and turns it.. into... oh, that's right, you guys don't have that here. Uh, oh, I got it, like photosynthesis in plants." At the changelings continued confusion, he explained further. "The plants absorb the light given off by the sun, and turn it into energy of their own."

"Yes, I think that sounds about right."

"So, how does that work? I mean, do you use some type of spell, or do the emotions just kind of, well, flow into you?"

The insectoid pony's mouth opened to answer several times, before it shrugged. "I've honestly no idea how it works, it just does. I know we can actively feed in times of desperation, but that won't help me here. You're an alicorn, and he's dying."

"Where are the others? Surely there are other changelings out there you could stay with. Even if you can't feed off of each other, wouldn't you be safer in a larger group?"

"I don't know where they are. Years ago, the pony leader caught a bunch of changelings, and used a magic array on them. From what we were able to find out, she wanted to find a way to strike at our queen. She rode the link the queen uses to give us orders and help us find each other and poured thousands of Thaums of pure mana into the link. The- the last I heard from Mother was her screaming, then I never heard anything again. Then the ponies came for the hive. Many of us managed to escape, but we weren't infiltrators. Things only went downhill from there. Any time a group of changelings would try to form a new link, they would be found within a day. It was just safer to be alone. I was revealed one day, ratted out by another changeling. They'd apparently caught Chitter, and told him they'd let him go if he told them about other changelings. They didn't, though, and I barely got away. Eventually I ended up here." Laying down and curling up on the floor, the changeling closed it's eyes. It was waiting for him to kill it.
Ted was still thinking about the things it had revealed to him, though. The more he heard about this queen, the more he began to understand why a group of ponies were willing to summon a creature of pure evil back to the world. Worst case scenario, world is still ruled with an iron, well, hoof. Best case, the two superpowers wipe each other out, or at least are left weakened enough that someone else can finish the job.

Unfortunately, while the bug could be dealt with at his leisure, the pony in the pod was a different story. Turning to the pod, he asked the changeling. "Can he be moved? There is a healing spring nearby, if I can bring him there it may work." 

The changeling shook its head. "I know the spring you're talking about. It accelerates healing, but it won't save him. The damage is too great."

"Can you think of anything that would work?" The alicorn asked.

The changeling shook its head again. "Not close enough to matter. There may be some decent healers among the villages way to the north, but the closest is a weeks travel. He wont last a day once he's moved."

"So there's nothing we can do?" At his question, the changeling shook its head. Ted sighed. "Open the pod." The insectoid pony immediately whipped around to face him. He met its glare with one of his own. "He is a member of a group of ponies that came together in the temple and freed me from my prison. I will see him laid to rest." At his insistence, the changeling started to leverage itself up, but stopped when a crack resounded through the cave. Looking at its leg, Ted could see the shell starting to crack, the chitin so thin at that part of the leg that it couldn't support the creature anymore. "I take it the holes in your legs aren't supposed to be so large?"

"It's, uh, usually a good indication of hunger..." The changeling answered with a wince.

"I swear, what is it with you ponies and wandering around the jungle starving all the time." He muttered, levitating the bug pony onto its hooves and near the pod. With a little effort, changeling managed to break the pod open. Almost immediately, the occupant of the pod started to thrash as the anesthetic effect of the pod was interrupted. The changeling bit into the pony's neck, and the pony slowed its thrashing. Ted could only assume the venom had some type of muscle relaxant and pain reducer. He'd ask in a moment. Closing in on the broken pony, he leaned in and addressed it. 

"Shh, what's your name?"

The pony made a few attempts to sit up, and Ted admonished him for his efforts. "You're in no condition to move. What's your name?"

"F-fast par. Parcel." The pony wheezed out. "Who. Are you? What happened to. The ants? The others?"

"Parcel, my name is Nightmare."

At the mention of the name, the ponies unseeing eyes widened. "They. Those idiots pulled it off." He said, his face breaking into a smile.

Ted laid down next to the pod, leaning close to Parcel. "Yes they did. You were hurt badly. But I want you to know; you and your friends are under my protection."

"Just. Just keep Tulip safe. That's all I can ask." Ted was about to reply when the pny continued. "I saw what happened. To the others, I know. What happened to me. I- I can't even lift. My head. Or feel my legs." Parcel said, head drooping back into the pod as the last of his strength faded.

"Rest easy, Fast Parcel, I will see to it." The alicorn replied. He pulled the pod closed again, and casting his life detection spell to be certain the pony was no more, rose to his feet. He levitated the pod to the back of the cave, and grabbed the changeling in his magic.

"Do you have anything of yours in the cave?" At its direction, Ted levitated a small satchel over to the two of them, and walked out of the cave with his burdens. The sun was beginning to set, so he would need to move quickly. Casting one last glance at the cave, he conjured several shadow blades, throwing them into the overhang of the cave. The blades, now a good two feet across, crashed into the caves ceiling before detonating with at least twice the force of his blades from the previous day. Suitably weakened, the cave collapsed, burying the pod and the pony inside it deep in the cave.

Walking outside, he set the changeling on the ground in front of him. "I have several questions. Your answers will determine you fate. I'll Know if you lie, so just tell me what I want to know. First, what is your name? Also, you mentioned a friend as a he, so I assume you have a gender. I can't tell your gender, so which are you?"

"M-mirage sir! Female!" The changeling squeaked, still shaking in fear from the amount of power she'd just witnessed thrown at her previous home for a simple burial.

"Good" The alicorn nodded. "Did you use venom on Fast Parcel?"

"Yes sir... I-I only did it to stop him from thrashing so much. I'm not a fighter, so my venom isn't strong enough to hurt a pony, just slow them down."

'She's also so weak her legs are breaking under her own weight.' Ted thought to himself. "Finally, will you follow my orders? I offer you the same protection I do to all those in the Temple of the Shadows. Will you follow me?" He asked with a resonating voice.

Mirage was thunderstruck. He was offering her refuge? "I-Why? Why would you let me live? Ponies always attack changelings on sight!"

"You kept one of my ponies as comfortable as possible until I could find him. Your reasoning was for your own survival, but you still did something for me. Now, will you accept?" He asked her.

"Yes, yes please! I don't want to die out here!" Suddenly her eyes got brighter. Hope was something he was beginning to recognize, with all the times he'd been seeing it reignited in ponies. Ted smiled at her, mentally assigning her the same importance as the ponies at the temple, thus letting his concern for their wellbeing include her. It apparently worked, and the holes in her legs seemed less gaping than before, though the changeling passed out afterwards. He lifted her onto his back, put her satchel into a spare compartment in his armor, and took off at a brisk pace back to the temple, once again pulling the shadows to him. The ponies may take issue with the changeling, and he'd keep a close eye one her for now, but at the very least, she would keep things interesting. Besides, she was a source of information, just as much as the ponies were. More so in fact, as she had information that no other pony in the temple had. Habits and tendencies of a culture that embraced the shadows from birth. What better teacher for his ponies than a creature of the darkness?

At the very least it would be a giant "Fuck You" to this queen he'd been hearing about. She was really starting to piss him off.
> Be Cautious of what you Wish for.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Bonus AN. As some of you have noticed, and for those of you who haven't this is your warning, I use the HRs not as a scene transition, that's what my symbol thing is for, but for perspective shifts in the same scene. /AN)


While the trek back to the temple was uneventful, the arrival at the temple was met with mixed reactions from the ponies. The changeling had awoken shortly before Ted reached the temple, and was a mess of nerves. She swore up and down that the ponies would drive her out at the first chance, that some may even make an attempt on her life. She was still too weak to hide her form and even with a strong dose of his emotions she would be long in recovering. When he walked into the temple, he refused to admit it aloud, but her fears seemed validated .Some ponies fled at the sight of the changeling, or cowered behind the nearest available object, including other ponies. Some took aggressive stances, as if they intended to fight Ted then and there to get rid of Mirage. Others just seemed curious as to why the Nightmare would bring such a creature back to the temple. Steeling himself, he pulled the weakened bug off of his back and set her at his hooves, before addressing the ponies.

"This is Mirage. She did me a great service by finding and caring for, to the best of her abilities, one of our own who was injured in the forest. Is Tulip here?" At the negative, he asked someone to find her. Moments after a pegasus left to find her, he returned, an orange earth mare in his forelegs. "Tulip?" he asked, receiving a nod in confirmation. "I was asked by someone, someone who was very hurt, to keep you safe. Do you remember Fast Parcel?" The mare nodded at him, eyes already watering. "He was hurt very badly when he went gathering, the only member of the lost forage team to survive the initial attack. Mirage pulled him from the river and did her best to treat him, but she could only do so much. I'm sorry, by the time I found them, he was already dying." the alicorn stated, head lowering in respect for the dead.

The watering turned to actual crying and Tulip turned around and stumbled back into the temple, a few of the other ponies going with her to console the grieving pony. Turning back to those still remaining, he spoke. "For doing me this service, Mirage was offered a place here in the temple. She will be treated as any of my followers, am I clear?"

There were a few grumbles, a few glares at the changeling, which she cringed from, scooting back into his forelegs. Surprisingly, however, not all the ponies were against her presence. One came right up to the changeling, a bright smile upon her face.

"I will make sure she is set up with a proper bed, master. There's more than enough room for a second bed in my quarters!" Blur said, a smile on her face. Ted was surprised, but the pegasus wasn't cringing away from the changeling like the others, so she wasn't just pretending to be nice. Hell, she walked right up to Mirage and used a wing to support the changeling, leading her down the hall to the sleeping quarters. As she left, Ted cast a tracking spell on the changeling, letting all the unicorns and even a few of the more intelligent pegasi and earth ponies know he wouldn't be allowing the bug-pony to suddenly disappear from the temple. "She is under my protection just as you are." He said to those still standing around the entrance. "Pass the word that she is to come to no harm, physical or otherwise."

As the ponies dispersed, Ted walked to the kitchens. It had been a long day and his lunch was eaten while working. Nothing would be better at the moment than a hot meal.







The Nightmare was insane.

That was the only thing Mirage could think at the moment. Did it really think the ponies under his control would let one of her kind wander the halls freely? Changelings were driven out at best, actively hunted at worst. Why did he think they would let her be just because he told them to? Even stranger than the unexpected kindness and the caring concern Nightmare had shown her, was the emotions of the pegasus walking beside her. She could taste the tang of fear on her, even as the yellow pony held her up with its wing, but it was faint, all but drowned out in confidence. What left her so certain the changeling wouldn't hurt her? The ponies were always telling each other stories of the creatures that would leave a pony an empty husk, or worse, turn them into blood-sucking bug ponies.

Everywhere she'd gone since the Hive fell, she'd tasted it in the air. Fear, be it for the future, for the unknown, or whatever it was that scared ponies. She herself had felt it so many times over the years, be it from a near discovery, or seeing a desperate lesser-hive found and captured. Changelings weren't meant to be alone, they needed the assurance of other minds bound to theirs, if only superficially. The link between hive mates wasn't full fledged telepathy, but it let them find each other, to identify each other even in disguise. Only Mother could talk over the link, directing them as they were needed. But Mother was silent, and if the Queen had her way, Mirage would never hear her Mother's voice again.
"Mirage, are you alright?" The pegasus asked her, drawing her from her thoughts.

"I'm fine, just remembering Mother." She answered. "Nobuggy has heard from her since The Surge."

The pegasus stopped, and hugged the changeling as best she could. 

The changeling tried pushing her away, but being so weak failed miserably. "Why do you trust me? Aren't you worried I'll drain you dry, or turn you into a changeling as well, or some other silly pony story?" Mirage asked.

Blur just smiled. "Father said you were one of us now, and I trust Him with my life." Releasing her hold on the confused bug-pony, the pegasus walked a few more steps before opening a door, revealing a spartan bedroom with a single ragged bed. Mirage grabbed a blanket from the small basket near the door and made her way to the empty side of the room when she was stopped by a hoof.

"I don't mind sharing my bed with you, Mirage. It's the least I can do, to welcome a new sister."


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While his dinner was late, Slop was only too happy to serve him a meal. In fact, he offered to have it brought to the alicorn's room, seeing as the dining hall was mostly empty. He made a stop at the war room on the way to his chambers, removing the two markers by the glade. With any luck, he'd get a better idea of where the other creatures were, and possibly even what they were. It wouldn't do to walk up to a group of the Queen's guard, after all. Finally reaching his bedroom, he was surprised to find Slop already there, pushing the cart up to the door and preparing to knock. 
"Thank you, Slop. It smells delicious as always. As I told Shadow, if there are any ingredients you need, make note of them in the war room, along with a location if you are able to." Using his magic to pull the cart from the chef, he opened his door, and walked into his room.

The only major difference in the room since he was last here was the armor rack that was now sitting by the mirror. He would have to ask Shadow if that was the his idea. Thankfully, it gave him somewhere else besides the floor to put the armor, as he didn't plan on sleeping in it. The power boost was nice, but it certainly didn't compare to the softness of blankets and pillows. Pulling a few strange vegetable cakes from the cart and eating them as he divested himself of his armor, he once again lost himself staring at the helmet.

The ponies in the temple were looking to him for leadership. What experience did he truly have? Certainly he had experience, but it was, for lack of a better word, borrowed. Some may even say it was stolen from Luna, even if he wasn't the one who took the memories. The cultists also viewed him as some sort of deity. While it wasn't a comfortable topic to dwell on, he knew morale was important, especially in the conditions the ponies were living in. To reveal the truth to them could break the group, and then he'd be stuck on an alien planet, as an apparent bogeymare, and alone as well. 
Gleam and the foals, Blur, the ponies he'd taken into the forest for supplies, they were growing on him. A part of him wanted to keep them safe. Was that what being a parent was about? He'd never had children of his own, having to work full time and take college courses as well left him with little time to pursue relationships, and his idea of relaxation was blasting idiots into colorful bits on his computer. Perhaps that was what was happening. He was starting to see them as lost children, in need of protection. Desperately in need of reassurance, with how bad things were going for them before he arrived.

Setting the helmet on the rack, he glanced to the mirror in the room, for the first time since his arrival truly taking in his new appearance. His teal eyes bore slitted pupils, like a cat's, and he could see even through the darkest shadows in the room, his short mane was an extremely dark blue, just a few shades shy of black, while if his fur were any darker, it would drain light from the rooms he walked into. He was taller than any of the ponies he'd seen out there to date besides Luna and her sister. As best he could tell, if the ponies in the memories were the same height as those he was guiding, his head was only just now clearing Celestia's shoulders. That was another thing, he realized as he lifted a pillow. He'd been growing since he was released, far faster than was natural. Already the pillows that had allowed for him to comfortably rest almost half of his body on them were now approaching the size of throw pillows by his frame of reference. How much more would he grow? Would he eventually reach the ridiculous size of the princesses in Luna's memories? Tuna didn't know the answer to this, she could only guess at what would happen in the future.

He did it again, didn't she? At least his confusion was limited to memory diving now. Sighing, he started walking back to the bed when he saw it. Where just earlier today there was nothing but a blank patch of fur, a strange image was now visible. A tree bearing a celtic shield on its trunk was prominently displayed on his butt. It was actually kind of strange seeing it, and left him feeling embarrassed. He'd never gotten a tattoo, and god forbid his sister saw this. She would never let him live it down. She'd probably call it a tramp stamp, or something like that. Anyway, the shield he could understand, but what was the tree for? He'd have to find out later. Maybe the cultists had a book on the symbolism of trees. Not likely, but it was worth a shot.

Quickly finishing his meal, he bathed and returned to his bed. It was already past sunset, and though the ponies had plenty to do over the next few days, and the foraging run the day before had been quite successful. He still had some studying to do. Spells to learn, maps to memorize, anatomy of species to study, and an alchemical primer to read up on. The ponies would survive if he slept in tomorrow.


<-(0)-> 



Sunset had long passed when he finally retired for the night. As wonderfully informative as it was learning that he should preen his wings every morning at the least, sleep was something he wasn't ready to give up on just yet. Yielding to the sand man(mare?) once more Ted found himself floating in a white world populated by glowing orbs of light. Looking around, he could feel the emotions of some of them. Happiness, love, joy.

Fear.

Approaching the sickly yellow-tinted orb, he touched it, and was soon in a pony town he didn't recognize. What he did recognize was the changeling attempting to hide under a cart as ponies looked all around, many bearing makeshift weapons. Approaching Mirage, he pulled her out from under the cart, and despite her thrashing, managed to pick her up. "Calm down, Mirage. I'm not going to hurt you." The changeling immediately stopped and looked at him in confusion, her mind finally registering that something wasn't right.

"They aren't here, you know. They're nowhere near you. They won't be able to do anything to you, understand?" He said.

The changeling spared one last glance around, before turning to him again, the ponies wandering off into the distance of her dream. "She was right." The changeling mumbled. "I swore she was insane but she was right."

Ted frowned at the accusation "Who was right?"

"Blur, sir, she was going on and on about how you would keep us safe. I thought that she was full of hot air." Pushing away from him, she bowed low. "Forgive me, master."

"There's nothing to forgive, Mirage. You've been running for a long time, haven't you?" he asked sadly. "You don't have to run anymore. Once you recover, I want you to find Shadow Weaver or Gleam. Tell them your talents and experiences, and we'll find a place for you."

The changeling winced, not meeting his eyes as she rose to her hooves. "Changelings aren't like ponies, sir. We don't have special talents."

"Not marked on your flanks, perhaps, but there's always something you can do that I can guarantee you'd be better at than a pony. Spying on our enemies for one, though we have no need for a spy at the moment. Do you know anything about building?"

"Most changelings help maintain the tunnels if they find damage, sir, but other than that-"

"Then you already have more tunneling experience than I do." the alicorn cut her off. "Eventually I'd like to get some sort of foundry running on the temple grounds, and a foundry needs a mine. You could help design it, or inspect it for weaknesses, since you know what to look for." He smiled at her. "Don't assume you have nothing to contribute. Everyone has something to give, even if it's just an additional set of hooves. I'm sure you'll think of something."

The town around them had faded, leaving the two in a dark cave. Laying a hoof on the changelings shoulder, he bid her good night, and left the dream.



<-(0)-> 



Returning to the world of white, the alicorn looked around. There was one dream in particular he was looking for. It took a while, but after thinking the ponies name aloud, he saw one dream pulse. Floating to it, he entered the dream, and found his vic-er his good friend, Shadow Weaver. Walking up to the pony and catching Weavers eye, he almost laughed as the pony started bowing and groveling, still lost in the dream. "Weaver, stand up." The pony jerked, and rose to his hooves. Looking around for a moment, realization dawned on his face. Ted only gave the cultist a fang-filled grin. "You told me you don't like dreams, right Weaver?" The unicorn was backing up now, shaking his head back and forth. "Yes, that's what I thought, you don't like them. It's a good thing I'm here to save you from yours, isn't it?" He circled the pony, grin only growing wider, showing a maw of impossibly sharp teeth. Manipulating this dream was easier than he thought it would be. "Well, I do have things to do tonight, so as much as I would love to entertain you, I've other dreams to visit. Some of them are quite interesting, you know. Therefore, my good friends here will be taking over. Mister Mane? Mr. Head? Do me a favor, and make sure Weaver here is comfortable."

From the shadows stepped two figures. The first a large pony, just shy of Ted's height. The pony wore a suit, with fur as white as snow. As it approached, its featureless face was split by a nightmarish grin, bladed teeth filling its mouth. The second wasn't even a pony, a strange bipedal creature that was clothed in a ragged and bloody cloth. Dragging along behind the creature was an obscenely long, rusty blade, and the creatures face was obscured by a large chunk of angular rusted iron.  The two creatures closed in on the screaming cultist, and Ted smiled as he left the dream. After all, he gave the little pony exactly what he wanted. He would have no reason to complain tomorrow. Now there was one more thing he wanted to do, before he just started picking dreams at random.

Looking off into the distance, he spotted the dreams of the three individuals well outside the temple. The fourth was nowhere to be seen, but if they were smart, the last would be keeping watch. He approached the dreams, trying to get a feel for the minds that created them. Mirage's dream had been, well, different from the dreams of the other ponies. Like the ponies' dreams were circles, and hers was a triangle. The dreams before him were sharper, more intense than even mirage's dream had been.
Just before he entered one, a fourth started to fade into existence beside the others. Ted frowned, if that was their watch, he just fell asleep. This could end badly for them. He had just decided to wake one up when one flashed red, before all four disappeared. Ponies didn't wake up that fast, they faded from the dream-realm gradually upon waking. He left the dream realm, finding himself back in his room in an instant. His armor was upon him a moment later, and he blew open his window, jumping out onto the angular surface of the temple's exterior. They were under attack from something. Either he could aid them and win their hearts, or if they were agents of the Queen, he would finish them while they were reeling from the attack. Either way, before the sun rose this day, the last unknown beings in his lands would be accounted for and dealt with.
> A Daughter's Fear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	At the speed Ted tore through the jungle, some may have said he was flying. He'd barely struck the ground when the shadows around the temple enveloped him, silencing his passage and obscuring him to even the most alert watchers. But flying was not how he traveled. He didn't have the time for trial and error now. He would make the journey the fastest way possible at the moment. A full gallop through the jungle. He didn't see it, but the vines and vegetation could not find purchase on his form, seeming to slide off of it, or in some cases through it. He was on a mission, and nothing would stop him from accomplishing it.

Soon he heard the sounds of combat, though it seemed to be winding down. Since he wasn't even feeling winded, he kept moving, tearing into the clearing like a whirlwind of shadows. The last remaining attacker came into sight, a creature that appeared to be a giant flying cockroach with split mandibles gaping widely as it dove at its target. Two remained standing, the corpses of several of the beetles littering the area. As it flew at its target, Ted caught it with his magic, slamming the monster into a nearby tree with a wet crunch. Knowing that beetles tend to be resilient, he launched two shadow blades at the insect as well. The blades detonated against the tree trunk he'd pinned the bug to, showering the tree and the area around it with bug guts. Turning to the dreamers, he let the shadows fade from his form.

One was a griffon, wearing what looked like leather armor and bearing several blades, though it was currently using its claws to fight. The second one that was still up looked similar to a pegasus, but the wings and eyes were different. Bat wings adorned the creature's back, and its pupils were slitted like his own. A thestral. Luna's memories had references to them, and said that they were extremely loyal to her, but after her fall, there was no mention of them. It left a strange sensation in his heart, like finding a child you'd thought lost forever. At Ted's appearance the griffon drew a blade, but the bat-pony dropped into a bow.
Ted walked up to the thestral, a male as far as he could tell, and spoke. "No time for that, little one. Where are the other two?" Immediately, the two smaller creatures attention was directed to a second injured thestral, attempting to bandage the wounds of a younger third thestral. Ted breathed a sigh of relief, before focusing on the first two. "There was to be a fifth among you, wasn't there?"

"What do you want, alicorn?" The griffon spat the word as an insult.

"Amald! Stop it, don't you see his eyes? There was only one alicorn that ever bore such eyes in the ancient legends." The stallion said with zeal. Turning to Ted his gaze became less certain. "Though the Nightmare was a creature of anger and hate. How are you so calm?"

Ted stared at the thestral for a moment, a smile forming on his muzzle. There really was no backstory on the Nightmare, just legends of fear and eternal night. Even the memories he shared with Luna had her avoiding ponies as Nightmare Moon. The thing that was never brought up was why. What would drive the lunar princess to such madness, such horrific action as trying to end the world?  A backstory was something Ted had gotten very good at creating. "A brain, even an alicorn's is not made for holding two minds. When I found myself trapped with Luna, her anger and grief nearly crushed me. Unlike her, I was a creature of action. I lashed out at the apparent cause of my pain, and sought safety in what I knew. The night was my home, and I sought to be safe." Ted explained. "The elements separated us, but my body had long since succumbed to death. Thus I was left in her armor for decades. Ponies seeking my aid revived me in this form. Even now I'm affected by Luna's touch." he said. "Yes I was the one who lashed out in our madness, but I can now think my own thoughts. Once again I am able to offer protection to those who seek the shadows. Now I ask again, were you expecting a fifth."

The griffon and the first thestral glanced at each other uneasily, before both turned back to him and nodded. "Your friend did not make it. I am sorry, but I found a note referencing this location in the gullet of a large snake. The note was fairly damaged, but considering the condition of everything else, it's a surprise it was legible at all."

The griffon's face hardened before it spoke in a strong, masculine voice. "I assume you killed the creature, then? Did you keep anything from it? A fang or scale, maybe even the skull?" Ted nodded in response, and the griffon's expression softened slightly. "Would you mind if I had a piece of the creature? There is a rite to preform for this sort of death. I don't know who you are, but... it would mean a lot to me if I could be certain that Truda's rest is peaceful."

"I gathered several items from the creature after I managed to kill it, including a nice chunk of meat. It was delicious, actually, and deliciously ironic, considering it tried to eat me." Ted answered, smiling at the griffon. "My ponies call me Nightmare, though my own name has been lost to me, and I currently preside over this area. I'm afraid I don't have proper staffing to keep the area patrolled, however." He said.

"Amald is my name." The griffon said, before gesturing to his companions. "The stallion here is Swift Screen. The mare is Whisper, and the colt is Dart."

Ted looked at the two injured ponies for a moment, before turning back to the griffon "The colt was on watch?"

"I take the blame for that one. I assumed he would be stronger than he was, and able to fight off sleep. I was wrong." Amald said, sparing a glance at the injured colt. 

Ted nodded. "There is a healing spring nearby, it should mend any injuries you received during your battle. But first I must ask you, what do you hope to accomplish here? Why did you come to this land?"

Swift answered first. "The Queen is mad. She said we were tainted by Luna during her madness, and set about purifying thestrals, at least that's what she called it. Some of our elders attempted to explain to her that our race predates the princess' fall, but she would hear not a word of it. Said we were confused, and she would help us, and make us better. That there were only three pony races, and that any others were mutations. She went on to purify the elders right in the throne room. From what I heard, the process is excruciating, and some end up broken because of it. I won't let her do that to my family."

"High-Talon isn't what it used to be" Amald said when his friend had finished. "I left when the Griffon Queen gave in to the Mad Queen's demands for demilitarization. This included the destruction of most weapons, even heirlooms. The pony queen has become so powerful that any kingdom near her country's borders has no choice but to give in to her demands. Those who don't? Well, it was only temporary, but the entire city of Boga was trapped in stone for two months as an example to the rest of the world. And no one has heard from the Crystal Kingdom in years."

Ted nodded. "The temples doors will be open to you, if you wish. Now, would you like to head to the spring now, or take your things with you and find a new camp later. I'm not certain this is a good place to stay anymore, as I'm sure the reavers will start to stink soon. That will be both unpleasant, and draw scavengers we do not wish to deal with."

The group agreed upon packing up the camp, and followed the alicorn to the healing spring, where they allowed the waters to mend their wounds. Swift pulled out a bottle to take save some for later, but was quickly admonished by Nightmare, who told the stallion what had happened when he had tried to take some of the water. Waiting for the group to finish their inventory check, the dark alicorn decided to explore the glade a bit. The aura around the area would assure the safety of the dreamers, and he was feeling a pull. A need, like something was calling to him. Someone needed him.
The group paused in their discussion, looking at the alicorn. The emblem on his flank was giving off a faint light, and Whisper only barely noticed the colt starting to follow the glow like a moth to a flame in time to catch him.

Walking down by an obscured creek, he heard whispered mutterings, he could practically feel the panic in the air. Parting a final set of reeds, he came across a pair of changelings, though one seemed to only be a baby. The other was frantic, eyes darting around the clearing it stood in, muttering about a need to keep moving. Approaching the pair, he readied his magic to grab the young shape-shifter, if it tried to run. A likely course considering its fragile mental state.

Deciding to forgo the diplomatic route and risk losing the lost child, he seized the panicked changling in his aura, and turned it to him. It immediately began thrashing and yelling, before throwing the young nymph away, which he barely managed to catch. This left both young changelings in a panic, the younger now crying from the rough handling. He heard the others enter the clearing, and turned upon hearing a blade being drawn. "Put it away, Amald. They're children." 

"They're parasites." The griffon countered.

"They are sapient beings like you and I. Keep your xenophobia to yourself." The alicorn reprimanded. "Besides, they are my prisoners. If you do anything to harm them, I will consider it an attack against myself." Returning his view to the changelings he stepped forward, pulling the younger one close first, before lying down on the ground and pulling it under his wing. Focusing emotions seemed to work on Mirage, so he repeated the process on both changelings. The nymph settled down shortly afterwards, sleepy after eating a full meal of concern and care. The older of the two had finally stopped thrashing, and was now just staring at him with wide eyes.

"A last meal? I heard they let prisoners have it ,but Tick said ponies don't give last requests to changelings. What do you want? I don't know anything about the hive! I didn't even want her! I couldn't stop it, I didn't want the Link! Tell me how to turn it off and I will!" The young shape shifter ranted.

The Link must have been what Mirage mentioned. Ted remembered that she had said that changelings were found whenever the connection was made. Did that mean that this changeling was being tracked? A quick glance at the magic in the area showed that something was trying to lock onto the foals, but was having difficulty doing so. Cocking his head to the side, he pulled the other closer, before covering them in the nearby shadows. Immediately the spell lost any hold over the changelings, and releasing them did not bring it back. It seemed that the only reason it was able to keep a lock on them in the jungle was due to its pre-existing connection to the tracking spells targets. Looking back at the children, the older had passed out once under his wing, adrenaline no longer keeping since the tracking spell was no longer bearing down on its mind. He lifted them up, and set them on his back. It seemed to be getting common for him to do this, but despite the connotations of allowing himself to be ridden like the animals from his home, he couldn't find issue with it. His older sister had carried him, as had his parents. It was not someone riding a beast in this situation. It was a caretaker providing the support their charge needed. 

"If you are ready, I'm heading back to the temple. I would rather see these nymphs to safety before too long."

Amald was looking uneasy at the idea of sharing residence with the changelings, though the thestrals seemed surprisingly calm. "Sir, the tales told of changelings waylaying ponies and leaving them emotionless husks, were they wrong?" Swift asked.

"I have only met one other so far and she has done nothing to earn my ire. In fact, she helped one of my ponies who were injured, though the damage was well beyond her ability to help." He stated. "Even if we discover them to be dangerous at a later time, I will find a way to help them. I feel no drain when I feed them."

The dreamers were silent for the rest of the trip, baring hushed whispers behind Ted's back. It didn't concern him though. He'd left in a hurry, and had to get back before the ponies did anything stupid in his absence. Considering their track record, he didn't have long before he would need to intervene.



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The cultists were relieved to see him walking up to the temple, almost as relieved as Ted felt to find the temple still standing in one piece. The ponies he led looked shocked by the strange creatures following him, and most looked a little put out when they saw the changelings nestled in his wings. Why was the Nightmare gathering more of the bugs?

'I want to start my own ant farm.' Ted chuckled to himself. 'In all seriousness if they live underground then they must be diggers, and that is something were going to need.' Looking back at the sleeping nymphs, he corrected himself 'Well, we'll need it in the future, at least. No need to rush their childhoods.'

"I want these four given refuge for the day, they may decide to stay or leave once they are rested. In the mean time, send a breakfast to my room, as well as Mirage. I wish to discuss something with her."

On his way to his chambers, Ted noticed a pony slinking by, desperately trying to avoid his gaze. A foolish thing to do, considering he could see just as well in the darkness. Closer inspection revealed why the pony was trying to avoid the alicorn.

"Oh, good morning Shadow Weaver! I trust you slept well?" Ted asked, his face beaming and his voice entirely too jovial.

Weaver cringed from his presence, trying to will himself into a wall. When the alicorn decided to await a response, and his attempts to squeeze through the walls were met with failure, the unicorn merely dropped into a grovel. "Forgive me, master! I spoke in confusion and wayward ideals! Have mercy on your humble servant!"

"Do not make this mistake again, Weaver." Ted said, finally continuing past the shivering unicorn. Walking into his room, the dark alicorn stripped himself of his armor once again, using his magic to remove most of the grime that covered his hooves and used a small towel to clean up his two sleeping guests. He then hopped onto his bed, catching up on his interrupted sleep while keeping the nymphs close by. Until he found a place for them, he'd need to keep them under watch. Before too long, his rest was interrupted by a light knocking on the door.

"It's open, enter." the alicorn called. The door slowly opened to reveal the face of Mirage poking into the room. Her body looked better than the night before, if only just. Already the holes were not as gaping as before, though some he could still put his own hoof through without touching chitin. "Just the pony I wanted to see. I have a question for you, several actually. Do you know anything about caring for foals and nymphs?" 

"Y-yes sir, I.. I was a Nurse-mother before the hive fell. I helped care for the younger changelings." Mirage said, walking into the room. Ted closed the door behind her, and lifted a wing, revealing the nymphs to the older changeling.

"Excellent, then you can help us take care of these young ones." He said.

The shape shifters reaction was almost immediate, though not what he'd expected. As she registered what the two dark forms under his wing were, the changeling screamed, pinning herself against the far wall. "No, NO! By the First-Mother, keep them away from me! I don't want to feel it happen again!"
> Our Past Gives Birth to Our Fears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted was shocked by the changeling mare's reaction. They were children, lost in the forest, and her response was to beg him to keep them away from her? Hell, afterwards she started ranting about how he needed to throw them out, that the nymphs would draw the Queen to the temple. She was supposed to be a caretaker of young, how could she make such demands?

He stepped off his bed, pulling the covers over the nymphs and stretching his wings before approaching the panicked bug-pony. 

"Mirage. Mirage, calm down and look at me. The spell can't track them here, I made sure of it before I brought them back. The tracking array is too far away." He leaned in and nuzzled the mare. "Why are you so scared of them?"

The changeling was still barely intelligible, now muttering to herself about how they wouldn't get her, not after all she did to escape. Sighing, Ted pulled the changeling under a wing, much like he did with Blur, and tried once again to calm her down.

"Mirage, listen to me. I said the array lost track of them when I found them. I felt it scanning for them, and it passed by after a few moments when I took them into my care." Using his wing to pull her in closer, he asked her. "What happened, Mirage. What happened to your hive that has you acting this scared."

"I can't. I don't want to..." after an encouraging nuzzle, she tried again. Glancing over to the two foals, the bug-pony haltingly started to speak. "W-when the attack first hit the hive, they, did something, something that sent pure fear down the links we shared with Mother. Most changelings were left in a blind panic, before she severed herself from the hive. When she did that, I don't know, something happened where half of the hive went berserk. The other half scattered. I was part of the latter half. It took me, I think it was two days before I could finally shake off the fear that was left over from the connection to Mother. When, when I went back to where to hive was, it was crawling with the pony queen's guards." She glanced over at the nymphs. "I heard the guards saying the queen specifically wanted a bunch of the eggs saved, maybe even a proto-queen if they could find and subdue one, but our hive didn't have one. Princess Zelus had recently left to start her own hive, and a new royal egg had yet to be laid. I, I found out why they wanted the nymphs the next time I got near a big city." She said, burying herself under his wing.

"They, the ponies were using the nymphs as living changeling detectors! The nymphs, they don't know any better, they instinctively form a link with any nearby changelings. It's always been a matter of survival, since a nymph without a link won't be noticed and cared for as well as those with a link to the hive. The ponies turned it against us though; anytime a nymph would react to a pony, they'd hit them with a disruption spell, and catch the changeling! It became almost impossible to enter big cities, and smaller towns were wary of any new ponies entering them because of the pony queen's decree on changelings. Each town had at least one unicorn who could cast a disruption spell, and every time a new pony wanted to stay in the town, they had to be checked. We, we were being starved out of Equestria, so I left. I started running and didn't stop. I, the one time I did, the one time I found a town with a few changelings in it, one of them was captured, and they offered to let him go if he ratted the others out. He did, and I barely got away. Last I saw of him, he was being carted off with the others he ousted, screaming at them for going back on their agreement. He was just a bug to them, what was a promise to him?"

Mirage was finally calming down, though she was keeping Ted between her and the nymphs. "It's always been bad for changelings, we're viewed by most races as monsters at best, mindless parasites at worst. But the turn things have taken since the new pony queen took over has been lethal to the hives. I don't want to run again, I can't do that anymore. I'm literally as far from home as I can get, I have no hive, I don't know what happened to Mother, I have no family. Master, please don't let them find me. Don't make me run again." She sobbed.

"I told you, Mirage, I will do everything in my power to keep everyone here safe." Ted finally said. "I won't ask you to care for them, as I had planned, but I want you to be available for Gleam if she has any questions regarding their care. She will have almost no idea how to treat them, or what to expect. Do this for me, and you can stay as far away from them as you like. In fact, I'd like some of you guys to start excavating a small tunnel in the storage space by the kitchens. We're going to need more storage until we can safely get the jungle cleared and some buildings set up. Can I count on you to oversee that project?"

The changeling brightened up at the idea of being underground again almost instantly. "I-I'll do my best, Master. I wasn't the one in charge of planning the tunnels, though."

"Don't worry about that." The alicorn said, smiling at her improved attitude. "The tunnels are already planned out, just follow the plans in the war-room. Shadow Weaver will have all the details on the project. Go see him."

"Yes Master, I won't let you down!" The shape shifter said as she ran out the door. Ted wasn't sure if it was the prospect of digging or getting away from the nymphs which added to her speed. Speaking of which, he turned to the sleeping foals once more. 

"Now then, how the hell am I going to get Gleam to agree to this?"



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Surprisingly, Gleam had little complaint about the request, taking the giggling nymphs into her hooves and cooing at how adorable the foals' chirps were. He made it clear to her that while Mirage would be available for questions regarding their care, to keep them clear of her, as she'd been spooked badly by the nymph detection points from pony towns. The mare grew pale at the mention of the checkpoints, looking back to the nymphs.

"Oh my stars. I-I never made the connection before. They, the guards were using children to..."

"Just keep them safe, Gleam. The large number of ponies here should solve their hunger problems, so you shouldn't have any issues in that department. If you do, bring them to me. Oh, and keep them clear of the abandoned storage room near the kitchen, as that's where Mirage will be working." Ted told the mare, before turning and heading back to the main entrance.

It was well after breakfast, and there was still so much more forest to be cleared. Not only that, Mirage had mentioned other towns to the north. After researching the older maps and talking to Shadow Weaver (after the unicorn had stopped begging forgiveness), he learned that there were several abandoned towns nearby, and even an old port town near the sea to the west. It wasn't too far, and the possibility of finding abandoned tools or equipment was too much for the alicorn to pass up. After planning a route, he had Shadow set up an expedition to the town for the following day. Heading back outside into the oddly temperate jungle, he once more started burning away the thicker vegetation, leaving the larger trees to be claimed for wood. It soon became mindless for him, the spell not taking much effort to maintain, and soon, Ted found his mind wandering.

The Nightmare wasn't a name, he knew this. It was a title. He had no name, as far as the cultists knew. Using his own name would be odd as well. With names like Shadow Weaver, Twitch, Fast Parcel, Gleam, Luna, and Celestia, Ted was an anomaly, much less his full name, Theodore. Not only that, what kind of god or demi-god's name was Ted? He'd be laughed out of Olympus! Not to mention he wasn't just Ted anymore, with memories of what appeared to be an extremely long-lived species also in his head. How long did alicorns live, anyway? The memories he had from Lunacae were jumbled enough to not have any reference of time in them, though she'd specifically told him she was banished to the moon for a thousand years. Her sister was also one of the first to greet her when she came back, so Celestia was at least a thousand years old herself. No living thing that Ted knew of grew to be that old, barring trees and simple organisms. How old would he grow?
Before all of this began, Ted was less than middle-aged. Now, he had a couple-hundred years of experience, even if they were a mess, on top of his life, then forty years stuck in a stasis-like state in the armor. How old would he be considered at this point? Did it truly matter if he would live for hundreds of years? Could his Human upbringing stand up to the trials of such a long life? Shaking his head, Ted sighed, knowing that it truly didn't matter at the moment. He was older than most of the ponies he was watching over, and younger than the princesses. Relative age would have to do for now.

Turning back to make sure the ponies were gathering the nearby trees safely, he finished scouring the area within a few yards of the entrance of vegetation, before returning to the entrance and just watching his ponies. Did he really just think that? He knew he was caring for them, and keeping them safe, but to claim them as his own seemed a bit far. Then again, Luna seemed to do that fairly often, as did her sister. Maybe it was just an instinct inherent in his new form? It came naturally enough, almost like using his magic to levitate things instead of holding them with his hands. Or maybe he was only confusing instinct with muscle memory he gained from Luna's memories? Was there even a difference? So many questions, such a deep need for answers, and the one with them wanted him dead. Maybe he could look for Tia when he slept tonight? She was certain to be a good distance away, but he'd found Shadow Weaver easily enough once he focused on the unicorn. The only remaining question would be would it work on someone who currently wasn't dreaming? Luna had said that most ponies were not able to dream due to something the Queen had done. It was worth looking into, at the very least.

He was suddenly bumped by an earth pony dragging several large logs into the temple. The sun was beginning to set after the days work, and the ponies were making their way back to the safety of the temple for the night. Funny, Ted couldn't even consider most of them cultists anymore. The only one who truly fit that description anymore was Weaver. Grabbing several of the larger logs in his own aura, Ted followed his ponies into the temple. Dinner was fairly uneventful, though he did see the older thestrals and the griffon eating in the back by themselves. Blur and Mirage were once again sitting by each other, the pegasus talking animatedly to the shape shifter who seemed to be trying to keep a straight face. Weaver was seated with a few other ponies Ted had yet to learn the names of, and Gleam was keeping all the foals at the same table, though she seemed to have picked up a helper along the way in the form of a young thestral colt. Finishing his meal, he turned to head to his room when he was stopped by nervous stallion.

"Uh, excuse me, Nightmare, sir. I, that is, we were wondering, if you could, recognize our herd." The Earth Stallion asked, hugging an equally nervous earth mare to his side. Ted stopped cold, staring at the two, no emotion on his face. It took him nearly a minute before he could relate Luna's memories of the term herd to the proper analogue in human culture. They were asking him to preside over their wedding. 
The complete lack of reaction did no favors for the earth pony couple, as the nervous smiles slowly faded from their faces. "Uh, never mind sir, sorry to bother you."

"Wait, I was just caught flat-footed." Ted said with a start, motioning for them to stop. At the confused glances of the couple, he tried again. "I was caught off guard. I cannot say I've had anyone ask that of me before."

'What the absolute hell is the world coming to when people come to me for marriage vows?' He thought to himself. "Do you have anything to exchange?" At the affirmative nods of the couple, he forged ahead. "Okay, I think I have an idea. Tomorrow I've got an expedition to oversee, but after that I don't have anything planned. Decide on a date, then let me know. I'll compare it against anything that comes up in the meantime. The ritual room should work, right?"

The mare looked jubilant, but the stallion nervously asked him, "But sir, the ritual room, it was the place of your rebirth. W-we wouldn't want to-"
"Nonsense, it was the place of my rebirth, and it will be the place of the creation of your family. It's also not being used for anything at the moment, as far as I'm aware. Besides, it will be something to brag about to the grandfoals, right?" Ted finished with a smirk. 

"G-grandfoals?" The stallion gibbered. Ted almost felt sorry for the guy as the mare dragged him off, giggling to herself. Yet another thing the alicorn needed to study up on, he supposed. He couldn't remember Luna having done a wedding before, so he'd have to read up on it himself.

The things he did for his ponies.
> Where One Exists, So May Others
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted spent a few hours researching pony marriage customs before actually retiring for the night. They were surprisingly simple, and while it probably wouldn't be professional, he'd written some notes in case he forgot a line or two during the ceremony. The couple approaching him had been a sucker punch, but now that he thought about it, they probably wouldn't be the last couple to ask for his blessing for such a thing, considering both his position as ruler of the temple slash country that he was in right now, as well as the deific status that the ponies attributed to alicorns. Actually the only surprising thing was that they had built up the courage to ask him, considering the legends surrounding the Nightmare. Surely the creature was a terrible thing if Luna could be scared so badly by her presence in the dream realm.
Mentally berating himself for falling into the gender confusion again, and double checking his mental wards, Ted was stopped short as an idea occurred to him. He was not in a good way with Luna's memories combined with his own, and he had magic to combat the effects. What hope did the Nightmare have of doing the same with a mortal human brain? He now knew what magic felt like, and not once in his life had he ever felt anything like the buzzing energy that completely saturated the planet. Surely such a thing would be noticed by researchers at some point if it existed. Luna's memories of the Nightmare said that it would use magic to alter the host to allow it to continue functioning properly, so what would it do if it didn't have access to magic. The mental imagery of his body in a padded room while wearing a straight jacket and gibbering madly didn't sit well with him, but considering the alternatives, and the fact that he was actually fine? There were worse possibilities. It also reinforced for Ted the necessity of getting his head sorted out. There was no possible way for him to survive going home in his current condition. Even if he never found his way home, he could at least stop referring to himself as a her every now and again. He'd avoided doing it in public so far, but he didn't trust his luck to hold out. Not when said luck had him stuck in a world of magic and ponies.

Setting aside his research for the night, the dark alicorn once more bedded down for the night. This would be his forth foray into the dream realm, and while he was tempted to use the time to plan a better layout for the temple, the hope that he could find answers was just too much. Slowly fading from consciousness until he once more found himself in Dreamscape, he focused on her name. Surprisingly, he got a ping, though the distance was quite far. It took him a long time, just how long he didn't know, as time seemed odd in the dreamscape, but eventually he reached the location of the ping. Settling down in the area, he focused on memories of his target. White fur, a glowing smile, always there to lend an ear to her troubles... Before Tuna knew what was happening, a small light had started to form, the dream orb slightly larger than those of her ponies. Lost in Luna's memories of her older sister, she dove in, desperate to see her once again.



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The next conscious thought Ted had was of confusion, followed by embarrassment as he put the pink maned and white furred alicorn down on the grassy hill of her dreams. It seemed that while he was focusing on the memories Luna had of her sister, he'd been swept away in the tide of emotions they'd elicited, driving him to snatch the smaller alicorn in a crushing hug before either of them knew what was going on. Finally back in control of himself, he noticed that his dream form had once more faded into a hybrid of both lives, this time his humanoid form modified by in a light fuzz of black fur on his arms. How long before both lives reached balance, and what would that truly end up looking like? Was it possible for a two minds of such different potential to reach balance?

Celestia, meanwhile, could only stare at the newcomer in confusion. First she'd found herself in a dream, something she'd not had in years, then this strange creature rushed her and collected her into a crushing hug, claiming how much she, though the creature seemed male, had missed her sister. The creature had even called her Tia, and spoke in the older dialect Luna had favored so much upon her return. What was this thing? She almost missed the cutie mark on it's shoulder, an odd place for it, but considering the alien physiology, it could be ignored. An oak tree, with a strange circular symbol in the center of the trunk. Her first thought had been the Nightmare, but the dream was nice, and the Nightmare had merely copied Luna's mark.

"Who... What are you?" She settled upon. It would at least get the ball rolling, if nothing else.

Ted had by this time finally managed to reel in the surging emotions of his sealed side, even going so far as to triple the amount of magic used to keep the princesses memories separated from his own. The price of not knowing much about Tia was worth not rushing over and hugging the life out of her again. "I, uh, apologize, Tia. I've had memory problems for a few days now, or have noticed them in the last few days. My name is Theodore, Theodore Noc-Fredston, though my friends call me Ted. I'm a human, or, well I was one at one point. I'm fairly certain my current form, and problems, stem from a mutual, shall we say, acquaintance of ours, though my experiences with it are second-hand besides the event that brought me here."

When the princess cocked her head in confusion, he tried a more obvious explanation. "The parasite, princess." Celestia's eyes widened. Not only did it know the Nightmare, it called it a parasite, and there was no way the Nightmare would refer to itself as such. The creature had a god complex that made Sombra's look like a childhood fantasy.

"You know of the creature? I thought the elements had banished it, purging it from my sisters mind." The small alicorn said

"From what I've managed to put together, it used some type of swap spell on me, switching places with me the moment before the elements struck. I was pulled from your sister the next moment, stuck in the armor with an absolute mess of a memory dump and a pounding headache from the spell's backlash despite no longer having a head. I've only recently been able to wander around again."

"The spell she felt before the elements..." Celestia breathed out. "My sister spoke of a powerful spell the nightmare used just before the elements cleansed her, but it had no noticeable effect, besides the horrific recoil they suffered as a result. When she attempted to discern the spells target, it merely led her back to the armor, so she assumed it failed." Thinking about this for a moment, she turned back to the hybrid before her. "You have been stuck in the armor for all this time? How did you not go mad?"

"I uh, actually, I think its equal parts not having a temporal reference while stuck in the armor, and having hundreds of years of memories to try understand."

"Is that why you, uh" The alicorn mumbled, her white fur tinged a slight pink. Even if it was a dream, it was the first contact she'd had in decades.

"Yes. I'm, sorry if I lose myself in them every now and then, humans only live about a century at the most, the memories I've had to deal with span several of my lifetimes. Sometimes they get the better of me, as you saw." Ted said, scratching at the odd fur on his arm. "It doesn't help that I'm also finding myself dealing with instincts that are alien to me."

"Yes, I noticed your form. I can't say I've seen anything like it before, although it looks..." Celestia muttered, taking another glance at the creature before her. At first it had just seemed alien, but after learning it was no longer merely 'human', she noticed something. "You are an alicorn?"

"Yes, though I think that has to do with the magic involved in giving me a physical form here. Cultists were trying to resurrect the Nightmare, and ended up freeing me." Ted said. "My best guess is that the lack of magic from my own world meant that my magic is a combination of your sister's and the Nightmare's. I guess that would make you my magical aunt?" He asked with a smile.

The princess giggled lightly, before her tone turned much more somber. "I would be honored, but I don't deserve such a title. I have failed my little ponies, I have failed in keeping them safe and now they suffer under the iron hoof I helped to create. To this day she demands each year that my sister and I give to her our powers, leaving her the sole ruler of the world. She has weakened us, but the power of the cosmos is not within her ability to steal. Unless something changes soon, however, I fear my sister or I may end up breaking eventually. She has eternity to wait, after all."

"I've spoken to your sister recently, I don't think you need to worry about her giving in anytime soon. She has way too much fight left in her. This Mad Queen, you know her? I've only heard of her atrocities second-hand from the cultists and those that have come under my care."

The princess nodded sadly. "She was once a mare I proudly called my beloved student. I do not know when she fell, but she was twisted by her anger, she lashed out at those she once called friend, and eventually used her knowledge to trap both my sister and I in our prisons until we gave her our power once more. Those she once called friends she turned to stone, preserved for all eternity to power her arrays. The self-preservation of the elements to those bound to them is strong, strong enough to protect them even after they were returned to the Tree of Harmony. She used this knowledge against it, placing dangerous arrays that, should they fail, would destroy the bearers utterly. The elements therefore continuously pour power to those poor conduits to keep them safe, only furthering her schemes. I- I can't help but wonder where I went wrong, what lesson I didn't teach her." The princess uttered on the verge of tears. "I did so much for her, I raised her higher than any before her, and she struck us all down with the power I'd gifted her with. The element of Magic, she was always meant to bear it, but I knew she could be so much more."

Ted took this in silently, mind already hitching on a niggling detail that refused to leave him alone. "You said this girl, she suddenly turned on everyone she held dear to her?"

"Yes" The princess nodded. "Even her own brother, he was left a husk of his former self, his mind burned away as she attempted to purge him of controlling magics that did not exist. She said he was turned against her when he spoke against her actions, said that he was no longer himself. I, I've never been so ashamed as the day she came to my prison with that smiling puppet following her." She said, burying her face in her hooves.

"This sudden change, it doesn't ring any bells? Doesn't set off any alarms, or give you any sense of deja vu?" Ted asked leadingly.

"I-What are you talking about? What could possibly have turned her to such-"

"TIA!" The pink and white princess' confusion was interrupted by the furious shout of her sister, the lunar alicorn arriving in the dreamscape to find her sister staring wide-eyed at her, as the creature that bore the Nightmare's aura pointed a single digit in her direction.

"Tia?" Luna asked, confused. "Tia, what did it tell you? Did it hurt you? FIEND! What did you do to my sister?"

Ted ignored the raging diarch, never taking his eyes from the alicorn sitting before him. "The Nightmare that took your sister is gone, I'm fairly certain of that, or at the least indisposed. The world I'm from lacks magic, after all. It may be my human paranoia speaking, but the problem with monsters, Celestia, is that where there's one, there may be more."



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Far above the kingdom of Equestria a lone figure stood proudly, surveying her kingdom with smug satisfaction. It left the balcony, passing the guards now donned in amethyst armor and bearing her crest on their chest. It was satisfying, seeing such obvious displays of her rule. The Queen walked her halls alone, no need for guards with the pure power she wielded. Once the Sun and Moon caved, she would finally have it all. The elements would no longer be needed, and she would dispose of them, lest they find some way to break her hold on Magic. The Queen passed by relics of her victories. A griffon blade ceded to her by the Ruler of High-Talon, it would soon be the only remaining griffon-made weapon in the world. The Shield of the Shattered Horn, an ancient relic of the Minotaur people, one she'd threatened once or twice to melt down for a new bath faucet when the 'taurs got uppity. Finally, a large blood ruby in the shape of an eye, the largest of its kind on the planet, said to be the actual eye of the first Broodmother of the dragons. Even the arrogance of the fire-lizards was nothing to her power. The biologically grown crowns of several changeling queens, removed to their absolute agony, and to her auditory pleasure. Finally, the Raiment of the princesses, both the golden armor of the Sun, and the purple armor of the Night. Armor that she had personally removed from those two when they'd fallen to her magical arrays. Oh how sweet victory was.
Finally done with her daily trot through her collection, she retired for the night, laying down upon the finest silks. She would preserve a few of the changeling drones from her experiments, after all, no need to lose such finery just because she got overzealous with her pursuit of science. Laying down for the night, the Queen laughed to herself at the idea of how far she'd come in so little time. Yes, the future was certainly looking bright.


If any had bothered to look upon the shadow of the queen, they would have sworn it was heaving, as if wracked by sobs. But that would be impossible, as everypony knew that shadows don't cry.
> What's in a Name?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Tia, what did it tell you? You know as well as I that the Nightmare speaks only in lies and false promises." Luna rushed Ted and Celestia's position, placing herself between her sister and Ted. "I'll destroy you, you hear me? Never again will you sway me with your honeyed words. I'll-" Her rant was cut short by white forelegs wrapping around her, pulling her into a crushing hug as her sister wept openly for the first time in centuries. Pulled off her stride, the moon princess floundered. "Tia, what's wrong, please tell me. You did this to her, didn't you? It wasn't enough to bring me pain, you have to mmphmrg." 
Celestia cut her sisters rant short, holding her muzzle shut with her hooves. "Stop it sister, he has done me no harm." Hugging Luna again, she continued. "He merely brought to light a fact that I somehow missed." At Luna's skeptical look, she clarified.  "Twilight, sister, she may have been possessed. In fact I'd bet my last thaum of magic that she is. The shift in personality is so similar to what you went through, so much sharper in fact, I don't know how I didn't suspect such a thing earlier."

"But Tia!" Luna said, almost in a whine. "He's our enemy, he's the reason for our misery!"

Celestia shook her head. "I can not see it. The Nightmare never missed an opportunity to strike at me, nor did it miss a chance to stroke its own ego. Theodore has done neither." Tia nuzzled her sister. "He's also the reason we can finally talk again after so long. Besides, look deeper, sister. What does your magic tell you? Do you see his cutie mark?"

Ted blanched at the term. "Is it ok if I call it an emblem, or at least something less, I don't know, feminine?"

Celestia giggled merrily, wiping away a few stray tears, but Luna seemed less than jovial. Sensing that her younger sister was about to launch into a second rant, the white and pink alicorn pulled her sister close once again "Theodore, would you give us some time? We have much to discuss."

Ted frowned "I came here for a reason, believe it or not, Celestia. I'm not in a good way at the moment, and there's so many questions I need answered, I just..."

As the hybrid attempted to continue, the solar alicorn struck, eyes growing round and watery, her lower lip trembling as she held her sister tightly.
'Oh, god.' Ted thought. "Fine, fine. Do what you need to, I'll be over here." He mumbled, wandering off to the far side of the grassy hill. Laying down in the lush grass and feeling a wonderful breeze, Ted dozed off, barely registering the feminine chatter.



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"Theodore? Theodore, we wish to speak with you." Ted was brought from his dazed state of being by the persistent poking of the pretty pink pony princess. Sitting up and looking to them, he saw Celestia smiling mischievously, while her sister seemed more irritated than angry. Before he could say anything, the white alicorn spoke. "We have come to an agreement. Since our time is short tonight, Luna will answer some of your questions tomorrow night, though she has some question of her own before she will agree." With that, the two turned to Luna, who stared at Ted with a steady frown.

"My questions are simple. First, why did you inflict that nightmare upon a pony you claim to guard?"

Ted smiled. "Shadow Weaver is the only real die-hard cultist there, and insisted that the ponies should have been having nightmares. So I obliged him. He didn't bother me about it after that."

Luna did not seem amused, though Tia was hiding her muzzle behind a hoof at the answer. "Very well. Why did you hug my sister? She said you first entered her dream speaking in the dialect I favored upon my return, and even called her sister. Why is this?"

Ted nervously scratched his arm. "It's honestly one of the reasons I want your help. I've been having memory problems. The Nightmare, it left me with... I'm pretty sure it left me with a shredded mess of your memories when it switched places with me." He explained, uncomfortable with the reveal. How do you tell someone you remember things they did? "I managed to use some of the memories of spell-work to make an improvised barrier, but every now and again I have, uh, leaks."

Celestia giggled openly now, nudging her sister towards Ted. "Do it. Go on, Lulu, it's only proper!"

Luna turned to her, horror written across her face. "Absolutely not! I'd sooner consign myself as Discord's concubine!"

"Luna, it's not nice to leave a colt like this. Besides, it will only work if my guess is right." The alicorn said, her grin getting wider with every moment.

"There is no way in Tartarus, I refuse to-"
"Woona..."
"Tia, I won't simply-"
"Woooooooona"
"FINE!" Turning a blazing glare at Ted, Luna walked up to him and of all things, hugged him. No, it wasn't just a hug, it was like she was grabbing him, searching?

Opening her eyes, she cast one last glare at her sister while holding Ted, followed by a quiet "I will get you for this." before turning to the hybrid with a strange smile on her face. It was odd, not one he expected, and her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment, before she spoke.

"Dark, Umbral, Aegis, Shroud, Shield..."

What was she doing? Why was she spewing these words?

"Brother, Barrier, Shadow, God, King..."

The more she spoke, the more words she added to her list, the more his heart hammered in his chest. She was doing something to him, looking for something, and he could not for the life of him break eye contact with her.

"Wraith, Justice, Father, Loving, Zeal, Lost, Son, Alien..."

After a while, and after countless words, Luna's eyes lost their glazed appearance, and she stared deeply into Ted's own eyes.

"Cimmerian" She said, before her eyes drifted shut, and she leaned into him limply. Ted held onto the insensate alicorn, casting a confused glance at Celestia, who seemed unable to contain her excitement.

"I knew it! I knew it the moment you came into my dream that you reminded me of Luna! The aura, the speech, the memories you mentioned. You even said that in this world you were an alicorn, and that your old world lacked magic. So your aura is a copy of hers." The alicorn rambled, unable to contain her glee.

"What the hell was that?" Ted almost yelled, bewildered by what had occurred. "What were all those words? What was that whole thing?"

Celestia finally calmed herself down enough to approach the confused man, and spoke softly and kindly. "All creatures on this world are linked to it in a way that is impossible to define." Planting a light kiss on his forehead, she smiled as the dream faded. "Welcome to Equis, Cimmerian. And welcome to our family, nephew."



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Ted woke as the dream fell apart, his body covered in a cold sweat. Even as he looked around his room, he swore he could see the words Luna had spoken the previous night scribbled and scratched all over the walls and furniture. Stumbling over to the sink, he washed his face in the cool water and looked into the mirror when he saw it. Instead of his reflection, all he saw was that last word. It didn't make sense, magic was a world unto itself but this was borderline hallucination. Eventually, the words faded from his sight, though the last one Luna had spoken, the one Celestia had addressed him by, seemed to hang around the longest. Eventually, he trusted himself not to start randomly hallucinating enough to make his way to the dining hall, donning his armor on the way out of the room, and grabbed a simple breakfast for his journey before heading to the entrance.
He needed time to process what he'd seen, what he'd heard the night before, and he had none of that yet. Later. He would set aside some time later, once he'd helped the ponies as much as he could and they would be fine without him for a day or two. Approaching the entrance, he found some of his ponies were already there, and Shadow Weaver had several of the satchels and bags he'd been using on the previous expeditions. It took some patience, and a lot of help from two pegasi and a unicorn to get all the bags situated with his armor, but eventually the expedition was ready to go. Looking over the ponies gathered, he took a quick headcount, pleased that Shadow had set aside the usual number. Seven individuals; two unicorns, four earth ponies and a- oh boy.

"Hello, Blur." Ted said with a tired smile. "How long did you pester Shadow to let you go with this expedition?"

"Hello F-Master, not too long, just about two hours!" The yellow pegasis replied cheerfully.

Chuckling to himself, and giving his usual commands for the expedition, the ponies went out into the jungle. No hoods, pegasus on over-watch, watch each others backs, report strange findings to him. Their destination, the small port town by the ocean. Ted knew better than to hope for an uneventful trip. Instead, he hoped for good luck, and the safety of those he took with him.



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It surprised the alicorn when his group found the old town with little trouble, and set him slightly on edge. Sure some predators were prowling their route, but none got close enough to even stall the march. Calling his ponies into a semi-circle in front of him, he ordered them to search the town for anything of use, from usable furniture to salvageable supplies to signs of inhabitance. The ponies dispersed into the town, though it barely registered as such, having only four buildings besides the storage shed by the dock. Luckily, one seemed to be a primitive smithy, and Ted immediately set about digging through the various rusted implements for anything he could use for his own building once it was built. It wasn't much, and the tools were worn, but he eventually managed to get a few hammers and tongs, shaped to fit pony hooves, oddly enough. He even found a few bits of unused metal throughout the building, and an unfinished blade that seemed to be made of iron. He took a few measured swings with it, holding it in his magic as Luna had so many times before, before sliding it into a strap near his rump. It wouldn't help offensively, but at the very least it would be usable to physically block an attack.

As he was finishing his search, which yielded a few scraps of armor as well, he was signaled by Blur, who rushed inside claiming to have found something. She led the alicorn to a small fire pit, nothing special about it except for one small fact.

The ashes were relatively fresh, and all around the fire pit were paw prints, paw prints that vastly outnumbered the hoof prints near the log that was rolled near the fire pit. And spots. Small black flecks against the log and rocks that filled the dark alicorns mind with dread. Confirming that Blur had not landed near the fire pit, and asking the same of his other gatherers, Ted pulsed his Life detection spell, mentally cursing the fact that he allowed himself to get so caught up in the salvaging that he'd stopped watching his back. The tree line lit up to his senses, revealing at least eight creatures all slinking closer to the village under the cover of the dense foliage. Pulling the cultists behind him with his aura, and flaring his own to visible levels, he challenged the stalkers.

"I know you're there, reveal yourselves or I'll set the entire forest ablaze!"

Slowly, one advancing ahead of the others, all eight came into the clearing. They were brutish looking creatures, hunched over with scraggly fur and smashed faces resembling dogs with their bared canines. Some held clubs, others crude blades, and one merely held out its curled paws, the sharp claws probably more dangerous than some of the weapons used by its fellows. They all wore a hodgepodge of armor and clothing, some with barely enough scraps to cover their vitals. Any confusion over their intention was destroyed the moment the large one opened its mouth.

"Alpha not speak big pony with little ones." Said the largest of the group in broken Eng- no, broken Equestrian. "Wonder if it taste better than others. Get tired of stringy meat after so long."

Ted's face contorted with disgust. Carnivores he could understand, but to consume sapient creatures? That was something he couldn't condone. The thought of the ambushed pony that had been here before them, screaming while tied to a spit was all the motivation he needed. Shrouding his ponies in the shadows of the nearby buildings, he drew the unfinished sword and summoned his shadow blades. Before the largest even had the time to order an attack, the blades reached their line, detonating as they reached the gnolls. Two fell to the initial strike, one nearly bisected by the now-obsidian black blades and the other losing half its arm to the detonation of the blades. With a shout, the gnolls charged, three more falling to the barrage before they reached the alicorn.
Being this close, Ted fell into her memories, leaping back with a powerful flap of her wings and igniting an arcane inferno in her previous position, boiling one attacker that was a second too slow to react. A gnoll managed to sidestep it, and swung its club, only to have the attack parried by the unfinished blade Tedacae had drawn, before striking the creature with a buck that sent it into a nearby building, shattering the wall and possibly the creature with it. Turning to hunt down the last attacker, hir world turned to burning agony, the feeling of burning stakes being dragged across his pelt tearing a scream from his throat. He stumbled, stars in his eyes, before his vision returned to see a screaming yellow pegasus furiously beating his attacker into the ground with her bare hooves.

Recollecting himself, and making certain that all of the other gnolls were dead or no longer a threat, he stumbled over to the screaming mare, pulling her away from the gory mess she was making of her foe, and wrapping her in his wings, even as her screaming anger turned to sobs. As he felt the adrenaline leaving his body and allowed himself to come to terms with what had just happened, he was stopped cold by one word he repeatedly heard in the mare's blubbering.

Father.
> Where There's Smoke
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Father. Blur, the little yellow mare he'd found to be so undyingly loyal, had called him her father. Not only that, but she'd apparently viewed him as such for a while now, possibly from the incident in the ritual room. The mare had willingly housed a changeling despite the fears most had of the bug-ponies, and now that he thought about it, she'd almost called him such just as they'd left. In hindsight, there wasn't much else he could imagine she'd almost said besides father. Was he worthy of such a title? Ted didn't think so, but that would not stop him from doing his damn best to fill that role.

A father guides, a father protects, a father comforts, a father provides.

He already did these things, and while he felt that he still fell short of the title, he would do all in his power to rise to the level his ponies needed him to reach. So he picked up the weeping Pegasus, and carried her down to the ocean. He washed the blood from their fur, and hummed a soothing lullaby, one his mother had whispered to him so long ago. The words were lost to him, but in the memory was love, and in the melody was peace. Sure that he'd done all he could, and reasonably certain he'd calmed himself down as well, he set the mare on the ground amid the gathered ponies, before mindlessly looting the bodies. 
It disgusted him to turn to such practices, but the ponies were desperate, and anything helped, even the twisted cudgels of the bandits. It didn't take him long to sort through their gear, and there was not much of use, or at least not much that he wished to touch or would let his followers use. A few gems in small pouches, a rusted sword and two cudgels, some strange salve that he didn't know the origin of in a few tubes, and several salvageable metal plates from their armor was distributed amongst the gatherers, adding to whatever else they'd found amongst the wreckage. afterwards he ordered the bodies gathered and burned in a small pit in the sand. This village may have been abandoned by its previous inhabitants, but it could be useful in the future. Close to Home, small, some of the buildings were not too rundown, and if he managed to expand his following enough, he would need a port under his rule. Why clear a new area when the place was already set up? Thus he didn't want the problems that came with several corpses scattered around the town while rotting and spreading disease would bring.

The ponies looked decidedly green as they followed his order. One unfortunate stallion even vomited when the gnoll he tried to pick up turned out to be less attached to it's leg than the pony suspected. Eventually the clean-up was finished, and Ted called the ponies back to him, before picking up the sleeping form of Blur and settling her on his back. Doing one last headcount, he led the way back to the Temple, his mind awash with the details of the fight. It had gone well, ridiculously well, in fact. He'd nearly wiped the bandits out when one had scratched him. What bothered him was the placement of the strike.
The claws had struck the armor, he was sure of it. Even now his flesh throbbed in silent agony of the perceived damage, but not a single drop of blood flowed from any wound. In fact, according to memories of Luna's fights, the alicorn should be able to endure even worse injuries with little to no discomfort. Thinking back to one of her fights, he remembered she was stabbed by a rogue cryomancer's horn, and she had whipped around and crushed the idiot with her armored hooves, not even slowed by the injury. So why did such a glancing blow incite such pain? Why did the pain seem so much worse than it was? The only difference between Luna's fight and his was the armor.

The armor.

The damned armor that the Nightmare had crafted, that left all of his senses and abilities amplified. That had to be it. The bastard had for some unknowable reason left it as an absolute all encompassing amplification effect, including pain. Why though? What good was armor if it left the bearer in agony every time it did its job. It wasn't like the Nightmare could simply shunt the pain elsewhere, right?

Oh...

The more Ted learned of this creature, the more certain he became that if he ever found it in any incarnation, its suffering would be incomprehensible and eternal.


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The walk back to the temple was again quiet, though seeing how he had the scent of blood on him, and not his blood but the blood of several other creatures, it seemed most predators identified him as not worth the trouble. That or his flickering aura of anger and the deepening of the shadows as he passed scared the piss out of even the more fearsome creatures they passed.

Ted's mind was working overtime, imagining new and wondrous things he'd do if he ever found that damnable parasite, and the ponies following him only did so out of fear of being left behind in the jungle and knowing that his anger didn't seem directed at them. They just made certain to stay several paces behind the alicorn as his tail flicked in agitation every so often. No need to kick the hornet's nest, after all.

Drawing closer to the Temple, Ted found himself growing more agitated as time passed by, and several ponies noticed the odd glow of his cutie mark, the light intensifying as time dragged on. The alicorn's senses went on high alert; something was wrong. 
Picking up his pace, he started weaving through the woods at a light trot, but the knot in his stomach persisted. Faster. The cultists were now running full speed trying to keep up with the dark alicorn. It still wasn't fast enough. Gripping the mare to his back with his wings, he took off at a full gallop through the forest, cushioning her against the impacts of his pace with is wings and magic. Finally, he caught sight of the Temple and his ponies.

Catching sight of them as they were led out of their Home by a large group of gnolls, bound by ropes and chains. Finally his eyes fell across the foals, locked in a small cage on the back of a large gnoll who every now and again poked a pony with its weapon, prodding the stallion along. Treating him like a slave, like an animal. Attempting to break his followers.

His children.

His vision went red, and Ted knew no more.



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Pain was the first thing she noted as she came back to consciousness. It was odd, as it had been a long time since she'd suffered from physical discomfort. Lifting herself from the large bed, she gazed around her. Her armor was set upon a stand, though it's magic seemed off to her senses, and she seemed to be in a temple of some sort, though she had no memory of entering it.
'Strange. Though we do wonder to where our sister hath wandered. We cannot detect her.' Rising from her bed, she felt odd, heavy, too large and bulky from what she remembered. Looking in the mirror, she nearly screamed. A stallion? Why? It made no sense! Why was she-

'It's not right.'

"Reveal thyself, intruder, lest we unleash our wrath upon thee!" She spoke to the voice, shaking the nearby windows.

'I'm not her. She's not me.'

There it was again! Looking around the room, the alicorn could not find the speaker. On the verge of blasting the room with a powerful spell to rid herself of the pest, her eyes fell upon her, no, his flank. An oak tree with a strange circular symbol on it.

'Too far. Went too far, almost drowned.'

It wasn't her mark. The name that came to her mind when she saw it was not hers either. Cimmerian. Darkness. What was going on? Why was she so weak, why were her memories so damaged? She took several deep breathes, closing her eyes, and focusing on her mind. There was a partition. A wall. Focus there, yes, almost.

The next moment, he opened his eyes, and lurched backwards onto his bed. He'd fallen so far he'd nearly not been able to come back, nearly lost himself in her. Shaking, he looked himself over, confirming that he was once again in control of his body. There was no time anymore. Even if it had saved him earlier, the memories had to go. God help him if he fell that far again. There would be nothing left of him to protect his po-

Before the thought had even finished, he'd rushed out of the room, pinging the life detection spell and following it to the greatest concentration of beings in the area. All of them were gathered in the dining hall, and he raced there at full speed, ramming the door off its hinges as he forced his way into the room. He looked around at the gathered ponies, all eyes upon him. He counted as many as he could, noting every face he recognized. Even the griffon and the thestrals were there, though the griffon looked like he'd been through a mulcher. Before he could ask for Shadow, or even a head count, every head lowered in a bow. Some went further, prostrating themselves before him, others muttered praises into the cracked stones of the hall. Finally, his gaze fell upon Shadow Weaver, though the pony seemed to be trying to melt into the floor the second his gaze met Ted's. Slowly, the dark alicorn picked his way through the gathered ponies, taking note of the bandages some bore, the cuts, the black eyes and bruises. Every injury was noted and filed away. Mirage was in a corner, openly weeping but not shoving away the nymphs hysterically clinging to her side. He would need to talk to the changeling after the incident was concluded. She was already weakened by her experiences in Equestria, and would need the support.

"Is everyone accounted for, Shadow?"

The cultist shakily rose, pointing a hoof at Gleam who had a small ratty notebook in her hooves. Turning to her, he took a few steps closer to the mare, the foals around her looking unsure at his approach. The mare took what was supposed to be a steadying breath, before she spoke.
"A-all are accounted for, Father."

"Any injuries worth noting?" He asked flatly.

"No, n-nothing more than cuts and b-bruises. Amald received the worst of the damage, though Tulip's poultices seemed to work." At his inquiring gaze, she explained. "After she lost F-fast, she started studying in the lab. She's a natural herbalist, and became adept at creating a potent healing paste. She said the ones m-made with the larger aloe seemed stronger."

Ted nodded. "And the gnolls? I do not remember much of what happened."

"We haven't seen a trace of them... e-even the, the ones you chased into the Temple." The mare said, just barely suppressing her tears.

"Alright. Bar the doors tonight, and I'd like those who are least injured to rotate guard shifts tonight. I must retire for the night. I have things I need to sort out." The alicorn said. With that he turned and left the ponies, many not rising from the floor till long after his hoof-falls had faded from their hearing. He'd been there when they needed him. When their hope was lost He'd appeared, wreathed in blazing shadows, terrible and wonderful to behold. He'd scattered their tormenters, driven them off like simple thieves into the night. The Nightmare guarded them, he protected them. As he left, they thanked any deity who would listen for their Father. Some offered their thanks directly to His name.

And the Pegasus, Blur; she spoke. As soon as she found her voice, the yellow mare spoke, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. She spoke of their wonderful Father, who watched them, who loved them, who would make any sacrifice to keep them safe. The One who would comfort them in their troubles, who found joy in their happiness, who would wipe away their tears and drive away their fears. He who loved them all, regardless of past or race. He who protected all those who willingly called Him their Father.

The mare spoke, and those gathered listened. And none listened more intently, more fervently, more zealously, than Shadow Weaver.
> Pick your Poison
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	He was busy when she arrived, working the strange world she once again found herself in with a desperate purpose. Busy, attempting to distract himself. She'd seen Tia do it many times before. Her sister often fell into such actions when something weighed heavily on her mind, but she could take no action to alter the outcome of the event. Odd seeing this, thing, this human, doing such in his dream. Did he not have any more of the insane humans to while away the time?

Approaching Cimmerian, Luna took note of his creation. It was a blocky construct, seemingly some sort of building. Judging by the textures she saw, it appeared to be made of some sort of stone. Following as he rushed inside, she noted that even the insides of the building had been given excruciating detail, signs marking storage rooms, bedrooms, the dining hall, and one which pointed to something called "The Ritual Room". When she finally caught up to him, he was in one labeled "My Room", and was attempting to get the odd materials to replicate what looked like a vanity. She coughed lightly into a hoof, drawing his attention from his work, and before she even had time to react he was upon her.
"LUNA! I can't do this anymore! I almost lost. I need an answer for this now, NO MORE PUTTING IT OFF! I don't want to lose myself to the memories. If I'm not me, I may as well be dead, you need to help me with this, now!" He yelled at her, any sense of patience gone.

"Cimmerian, please. Calm yourself. I cannot help you if-"

"No! My name is Ted, Theodore Fredson, you hear me! Not Lunacae Nocturnis, not Cimmerian, not Nightmare, not any of those other damned names! My name is Cimm- Damn it! I can't, I won't I..." The hysterical creature ranted and raved, horribly confusing the lunar princess. Just the other night he'd been the picture of patience, allowing Tia and herself to not only discuss their situation, but just be there for each other for the first time in years. Now the stallion seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown, in fact it was possible that it was occurring as she watched.

"Ci- Ted, calm yourself, I cannot help you if you are thrashing about like this!" She attempted, yelling over his mad ramblings. It seemed to have no effect, so she bit her lip, swallowed her doubt, and pulled the hybrid into her barrel. It was awkward, holding a creature nearly twice her size, but slowly he seemed to calm,  and eventually she tried again. "I told you I'd come to help, C-Ted, what happened? What has you in such a state?"

"I... I almost lost it. I, the ponies I, that freed me were attacked." He said shakily, tears rolling down his furry face. "Gnolls, from the jungle struck our base when I was away. I came back to see. To see the bastards leading my ponies away in chains. Something happened, I lashed out at them. I'm not sure, I think one got away. No, I let it go. It was smaller, weaker. I let it leave as a warning to its pack. Then I went upstairs and collapsed in my bed. When I woke up, I... I" Ted choked for a moment, eliciting a soothing stroke on the back from the smaller alicorn. "When I woke up, I wasn't me. I was her. You. I called myself Luna, I. Fuck, I was looking around confused about where I was. I was wondering where my sister was, and why I was a guy. I, I don't want that. If that's what the memories do, I don't want them." Ted turned to face her, tears slowly falling from his eyes. "They're not mine, they're yours. Take them back, please. I don't want to lose myself like that again. I can't do it."

Luna just pulled him close again, going through her spells. The Nightmare never lost itself in her memories, as the creature seemed just as long-lived as she. Taking a preparatory breath, she pushed Ted away, looking him in the eyes once more. Memory spells were tricky, and she would need to asses the damage personally.

"Ted, I want you to listen very closely. I would like to search you, but I need your power to do it. The Traitor has left both me and my sister very weak, and this spell is currently beyond my mana capacity. Will you help me, and allow me to learn of the damage done to you?"

The hybrid seemed to consider this, no doubt still weary of her since her earlier attacks. Truly not her best moment, considering what her sister had goaded her into discovering. After a while, he seemed to decide upon his course, and he nodded to her, wiping away a few remaining tears as he finally calmed. She knew why; he was hoping for a cure to the madness. Unfortunately, there likely wasn't a fast fix for this. Not if she knew the nightmare as well as she thought she did.

"Good. Focus your power to me."

"I, I don't know how to do that" Ted muttered.

"Think of what you wish to do and let the memori-"

"No! No, I won't do that! That's how it happened last time, I can't-

"TED!" Luna shouted. "Calm yourself. Think of what you wish to do. They will guide you, but as long as you keep control of your emotions, they can do nothing more. I am right here. Help me to help you." She said, finally drawing a nod from the larger being, before she found a large surge of power flood her presence. Quickly forming the energy into a spell so it wasn't bled off by the Traitor's arrays, she cast her spell, and dove in to the lost stallions mind.



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'Calm. I am myself and no one else. I remember taking walks in the park. I remember playing video games. Yes, that's good, it's not something she'd ever had a chance to do, those are all me. Breath.' Ted was doing his level best to keep himself calm while the alicorn, now in his arms, did whatever it was she needed to do to help him. 

It wasn't much, but he had hope she would find something useful, something that could be used to stop his leaks, his slips into that other self. After what seemed an eternity of staring at the business end of a blue alicorn, the glow died down, and Luna hugged him quickly before separating from him.
"Thank you C-Theodore. I, well, I apologize for my earlier actions. The spell the Nightmare used seemed to be a modified version of an old infiltration spell used by unicorns centuries ago. Amongst mortals, the memories can cause headaches and confusion in movement, but otherwise tend to be fairly simple to repair. In your case, however, the memories were, for lack of a better word, broken. I believe it was because it attempted to use as little mana in the memory part of the spell as possible. There is also the fact that the swap was with a  creature that lived so much longer than your own species." The natural alicorn explained. "I did reinforce your own wards and managed to fix a few errors I saw, but it is still a temporary solution. It will also make it more difficult to draw on these memories for aid in the future. Are you certain you wish to be rid of them?"

"They almost drove me mad!"

"They also let you keep those you protect safe." She pointed out. "While I do not like the idea of somepony else remembering my past I, I will not fault you for this." Luna said, climbing into Teds lap and hugging him once more. "We will discuss this in greater detail at a later date. We will also see about getting you a proper magical education, rather that broken mess you are working with at the moment." Suddenly she grew a devious smile. "I do like the altered shadow blades, however. I first thought you'd ruined them with your patchy repairs, but seeing them in action, I would like to try them myself one day. They seem as though they would be entertaining to throw around. Good luck, Theodore, and please, do not fear the name this world has given you. It is yours, just as surely as the one your mother on Earth gave you."





As Ted returned to the waking world, Luna lingered just a moment longer, watching the old location of her new charge.

'Tia was right,' She thought to herself sadly 'If one were to test him magically, he would seem like a son to me. And no mother should let her hatred for the Sire color her views of her children.'



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Slowly, consciousness returned to the dark alicon in the Temple of the Shadows. Lifting his head and looking around, he found he was not alone. In the corner of the room, curled up on a few blankets sat Mirage, the nymphs still pressing themselves against her larger frame. He was torn between happiness at the convenience of the changeling being so close, and sorrow at the circumstances that led to her being in this situation. Since it hadn't failed him yet, he decided to let his instinct guide him, levitating the group of bug-ponies over to his bed, and nuzzling the mare awake. As she came to, and realized her situation, he decided to take the initiative.

"Why are you on the floor in my room? I know we have other places that would be much more comfortable."

The changeling floundered for and explanation for a moment, before looking back to the nymphs at her side. "They, the gnolls put us together, and they linked to me." She said, barely a whisper.

"And can you cut the link?" He asked.

"I. I don't need to. I felt it. The presence others spoke of. It passes by every now and then, like some bird of prey. But it didn't see us." She nuzzled the smaller of the two, smiling faintly. "And the closer we are to you, the less we feel it."

"I see." Ted said, taking the new information into consideration. Was he passively shrouding them? He knew he could hide his followers from sight if he focused on it, but detection magic was another ballgame. He'd assumed it was the distance from the array that led to the magical presence passing over the changelings, losing them in the jungle, but according to Mirage, the closer they were to him, the greater the effect. Which meant it had nothing to do with the distance from the array.

Smiling at the implications, Ted stretched a wing over the group. "In that case, I will tell you what I wanted you to do earlier. I want you to help Gleam with the foals. You already have experience taking care of little ones, and I'm sure you two can inform each other of what the other's species may need."

"But Master, the tunnels, I still haven't finished them." The shape shifter objected.

"There are others that can do the work, Mirage. You can still help them, I just want you to focus on something more important." Fixing his gaze on the nymphs, he asked her. "Do they have names?"

She shook her head. "No. Not only are they too young, only a queen has the right to name nymphs. Even then, they usually don't receive their names until much later."

"That's silly" The alicorn muttered, nuzzling the waking foals. "What will we call them if we need to talk to them?" 

Noticing something behind her, Mirage turned to see a faint glow from the mark on the alicorn. Whipping back to the nymphs and the Nightmare, she saw the same glow in his eyes, as he looked deeply at the nymphs. "Adamant," he muttered, gazing into the eyes of the older nymph, before turning to the younger one "Gem." The younger foal giggled happily at the attention, latching onto the alicorns muzzle with its hooves before attempting to bite him. The teeth were too small though, leaving the newly named foal to gum the alicorn a few moments, as the glow faded from his eyes.

Blinking a few times, he turned to the changeling, confused, but she didn't see it. She was bowing, her head in the blankets. Suddenly, the alicorns stomach rumbled, distracting him from his questions. Sensing an opportunity, the mare grabbed the nymphs and left, citing a need to check in with Gleam about her new position. Still a bit dazed, not certain what had occurred, and slightly disturbed by the similarity to what Luna had done to him a few nights before, he  rose from his bed and went to the dining hall. Questions could wait. Now that his mind was clearer, he needed to asses the damages the bandits did to the Temple the day before.





Only queens could name nymphs, that's what she'd always been told. She'd seen pony Namings though, and recognized this as something similar. Perhaps it was because he was a male, perhaps that was why the effect was so muted. Or maybe because he was an alicorn. Or maybe there was something to the ravings of that  mad pegasus. She'd been right before, after all.
The queen that named a nymph was often its mother, hay, her own Mother had named her shortly before her last molt as a nymph. To see the one so many were starting to call Father do something not even the strongest queens could do, though? It shook her to her core. He was not natural, he was not of this world. He flew against every law, every fact of life the changeling mare held dear. But she wasn't scared by this.
No, she wouldn't be afraid. He watched her, after all, gave her a chance. He guarded their link. She'd lost her Mother, but she'd found a Father.



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The damage was minimal, it seemed. Shadow and Gleams reports were both certain that the repairs would only take two days at the most, as the only damage seemed to be doors and furniture. With the influx of wood from clearing the area outside the temple, those ponies with skills in carving were already churning out replacements for the damaged items, while the scraps were turned into arrow shafts and pikes, by order of Amald. Ted liked the griffon. Amald recognized the lack of weapons and saw this as the perfect opportunity to rectify this shortcoming. The food supplies, by some miracle, were undamaged, and they would be fine for another few days due to the foraging that was done around the Temple before they started clearing the underbrush. The medical supplies were running dangerously low, however, even with salvaging blankets and the thestrals tents for bandages. They needed to head to one of the villages to the north soon, before things degraded any more. The valuables from the bandits would help a bit, as well as the giant snake parts Ted had kept. Surely someone there would love to have such a trophy.

The planning was interrupted as an earth pony stormed into the war room, shouting one word; Gnolls. Ted was down the stairs and tearing down the halls to the door before the three ponies even knew what was happening. Opening the door and walking into the late morning sunlight, he was greeted by the sight of nearly forty gnolls all gathered in the clearing ahead of him. But they didn't draw weapons at his approach. Instead they pushed forward twelve emaciated captives of various races; Ponies, another changeling, a griffon missing its wing, and, to Ted's confusion and slight amusement, three zebra. The gnolls kept their heads low, one haltingly approaching him with its good paw held out and no weapons visible on it. Its pelt was riddled with old scares, it's left paw hanging limp to its side. It addressed him, not raising its head from its bow.

"Apologize. Did not know were under care of Dark One. Won't make mistake again. Take offering. If not enough, offer some of pack. Hold nothing back. Swear."

The voice sounded like and old male, surprising since the creatures seemed to follow the law of biggest is boss, and there was no way this was the strongest in the group. That's when he noticed the state of the rest of the gathered gnolls. Some were elderly, greying patches of fur scattered over their pelts. Others bore injuries that would impede combat, a missing eye, a mutilated arm, a wooden stump to replace a missing leg. Finally were the females. Normally he wouldn't have been able to identify them, but some seemed pregnant, while others were actually carrying pups on their backs.

"Do you rule your pack now, or are you just speaking for your Alpha?" Ted asked, returning his gaze to the speaker.

"Rust be Alpha when better." The gnoll said, gesturing to the shaking form staring at him from its place on a litter." Hope. Only one back. Warn us, Elders remember rules. Assemble, give tribute, apologize, survive."

Noticing those gathering behind him, he turned and addressed his ponies, gesturing to the captives given in tribute. "Clean them up before you bring them in, get them some food, and some beds, but keep them in Medical until we're sure they're not sick. We don't have the supplies to counter an epidemic at the moment."

Several of his followers rushed ahead, herding the shell shocked captives away from the middle of the clearing. He saw the shadows of several pegasi as they took off looking for clouds, and heard the commotion of the captives murmuring to themselves, unsure of what was to happen to them.

"Will your pack survive?" He asked. They had attacked his ponies, certainly, but some of those out there were children.

"W-we live. Need hunt more and less now. Less pack, less hunters." The elder said in the gnolls broken speech. "Why ask? Hope to take more, till too many?"

Ted could see the fear in the elder's eyes. The gnoll had promised to hold nothing back, and he was therefore in his right to do anything with them, right up to and including disbanding the pack, he assumed. That wasn't his goal though.

"I want one, or more if it makes the trip safer, of your pack to come here in one week. They will guide me to your Den. Understand?" Seeing the fear clouding the elders eyes, he spoke again. "I will not destroy your home. As much as I may desire to, as much as I feel it would be deserved, such actions are not vengeance, they are overkill. Those who attacked my ponies were dealt with, besides the messenger, and he served his purpose. Between now and then, however, if I hear of your kind eating ponies, or changelings, or griffins, or any creature capable of speech, I will change my mind. And I will burn your Den until not even ashes remain. Am I understood?"

The elder nodded, every third nod punctuated by a scraping bow, before the entire pack took off into the underbrush. The situation seemingly diffused, Ted sighed, turning back and walking back to the temple entrance, passing by the shocked stares of follower and captive alike. Suddenly a stallion to his left spoke up, Twitch, if he remembered correctly. 

"F-father, I don't understand. Why did you let them go?"

"Did you see them, Twitch? There's no fight left in them, just a need to survive. I won't kick a dying stallion just because I feel he wronged me in the past. I know it was scary, but I hurt them much more than they hurt us. Their friends, their families, they won't be coming back."

"But they attacked us, I mean, look at them!" A mare next to Twitch said, pointing a hoof at the captives. "Those things wanted to do that to us!"

"So you would do the same to them?" Ted asked, frowning at the mare who ducked behind Twitch. "I will not stoop to that level. My followers will not stoop to that level. I will learn what I can next week, and I will see if they can be taught better. If not, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. However, I like to hold onto the hope that deep down, we're all better than our instincts. Besides, before you had me, what was it that kept you going, little pony? It was hope, wasn't it? Hope that after all this suffering, you would have something to show for it. Would you deny another such hope, when not so long ago it was all you had?"

With that he left, walking back into the temple. He had so much to do, and the captives only added to the urgency of the trip north. Maybe...maybe it was time he put his pride behind him, and asked a pegasus for help with flying. Oh yes, and he knew just the one to ask. No way she'd pass up this opportunity. The only issue was how to explain his inability in the first place.
> Spiritual and Physical Health
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Ted made his plans for later that day, he headed to the infirmary to give Head Trauma warning of the injured that would soon be sent his way. Walking down the hall and sidestepping a few of the logs that were being kept in the halls until a better solution could be found, he walked in to see the stallion muttering darkly over some notes.
"Trauma? What's going on?"

The earth pony looked up from his notes, then looked back at them and shook his head. "We're out of clean bandages, that's what. I've gotten a few unicorns to use cleanse spells on the less dirty ones, but as of now we're going to have to start recycling them.

The alicorn frowned at the revelation. "Could any sheets be salvaged for more? I know it's not ideal, but until we can find another source, it will have to do. In fact, as long as you leave me with one set, you have my permission to use my own linens for that. I won't die because my sheets aren't changed each day." 

"Ah suppose that would help for a bit." Trauma muttered resting his muzzle on a hoof. "Ah'ma be straight with ya, sir, if'n it weren't for Tulip and her poultices we'd be in a mite rough spot right now with the rough-housin' the gnolls gave us yesterday. Those funny little pastes she whipped together made fast work of most of the smaller injuries, and gave those who got mangled pretty badly a good chance at full recovery, but she can only throw so many of those together, and I think she just about exhausted her supplies, not to mention herself." The stallion said, gesturing to an occupied bed. On it lay a pale orange female, with a wet cloth over her eyes. 
"She went and knocked herself out pushin' to make more o' that stuff, surprised she didn't pass out in the lab. Least she had the decency to make it somewhere somepony could find her. A horner brought her in earlier, said she was out-cold in the halls." Head Trauma said, shaking his head. "Ah know supplies are gonna be scarce for a bit, but if'n ya can put medical supplies higher up on yer priority list, I'd be mighty grateful. Can't make bread without 'ngredints and all that."

Ted nodded, then spoke to the earth pony. "I actually came to warn you. The gnolls appeared again today, this time releasing some captives to us in tribute. Most of them don't look injured, just starved, but I want you to check them all. Send for Mirage if you need help with the changeling, and Amald if the griffon gives you problems. Other then that, treat them well. Remember, though, don't let them eat too much. The last thing we need is starving people eating our supplies until they're sick, and wasting them by puking them all over the place. And see if you can figure out what that paste we recovered from the bandits does. If we can use it, I want it added to our stocks. If it's useless, destroy it. We don't have time or space to waste on things we can't use."

"Ah remember hearin' 'bout that. Keep the gorgin' to a minimum, got mah word." The doctor said, though Ted noticed his eyes flick to a tub in the back.

"Trauma." The pony turned to him. "No leeches. They don't need to lose any blood. I don't think they could take it."

As Head Trauma's ears fell, Ted left, eager to find his flight tutor, though still unsure how to ask for the lessons. 

'Yea, I can't fly because a week ago I was a bipedal omnivore from a planet devoid of magic.' he thought sarcastically to himself. 'Oh, even better, I'm just a parasite that stole some of Luna's memories, and now that I have my own body her muscle memory doesn't work for me.' That would go over as well as a chainsaw juggling contest on St. Patrick's day.

Finally arriving at the rooms, he walked down the hallway, taking note of the names carved into the doors. Passing by room after room, he started noticing something.

More than half of the names were scratched out. He had an idea of what it meant, but it was confirmed when he passed by a room with two names he recognized.

Ebony
Tulip
Fast Parcel
Breezy Days

'How many have they lost coming out here?' he wondered to himself. The sheer number of names crossed out was like a stab in the chest, though he knew a few of them were merely moved to other rooms so that they didn't have to sleep alone. Finally he saw the room of the pegasus. Moving the tattered curtain that blocked the room in lieu of a door, he found a single mat on the ground with two distinct piles of linen. One had a few yellow feathers around it, the other a few blue-ish strands of silk caught in the sheets. Sitting on a small slab of wood serving as a table sat a damaged picture frame, holding a tattered black and white photo. Ted lifted it, and saw the family inside. He recognized Blur, but the rest he didn't remember seeing. Looking at the back of the photo, he found four names written in faded ink. Three of which were on the door outside the room.

'No wonder she's so desperate.' He thought to himself. 'This is literally all she has left. The Temple, it's her whole world right now.'

Turning to leave the room and setting the picture back upon the table, a shimmer from the bed caught his eye. He walked back to the bed, and lifted the pillow in his aura. What he found underneath left him both confused and a little embarrassed. A black feather, larger than any he'd seen on the pegasi in the Temple was stuck into the bottom of the pillow, a few tufts of yellow fur scattered about the length of it.

'That's... when did she..." As much as he wanted to take it with him, he found his eyes drawn back to the family photo. 'I, I guess I can let this go. I think, I think she needs it more than I do.' It was difficult sometimes, this charade. It made him feel exactly as Luna had described when she'd attacked that second night, but he had to keep going. The ponies couldn't handle the truth, they wouldn't survive a world-shattering reveal such as that. After everything else they'd surrendered or lost, he couldn't even consider tearing away their last lifeline like that.

Setting the pillow back down, he left, wandering room to room, his journey revealing no sign of the mare. He'd just decided to study in the library and was heading up the stairs when he heard it. The voices of ponies coming from the ritual room. Curious he started down the steps, though as he got closer and could hear the words being spoken, he became curious, and pulled the shadows closer. Silently, he walked down the last steps and into the chamber, which was surprisingly occupied with his followers. What surprised him even more, however, was who stood on the dais in the back of the room.

"...and I have felt it. The passion with which He cares for us, the love He has for us, His desire to see us through each day. And we all have seen it, the fury He has for those who seek to harm us, for those who stand in His path, the vengeance He brings down upon our enemies."

Standing on the raised platform was the target of his search, speaking with her heart ablaze with zeal to the gathered ponies.

"Even today, the beasts that attacked us the day before returned seeking His mercy. They offered Him tribute, even their own lives! Did He strike them down as so many would? No, He forgave them, asked us to forgive them, and seeks to raise them to greater heights than they could ever hope to achieve on their own."

It was mesmerizing, and slightly creepy. Ok, that's a lie, it was extremely creepy hearing Blur preaching about him. Sure he felt the need to protect those in the temple, yes he wanted to see them happy, and he most certainly would do anything he could to comfort them if they had no one else to turn to. But this? This was going beyond hero worship. The mare sounded as if she was speaking of a God. Each 'he' emphasized, seeking wisdom in his words that he didn't truly think was there, finding comfort in his mere existence.

'I was just starting to think about how they were too normal to be cultists, too.' The alicorn thought with a depressed sigh.

It went on for a few minutes longer before Blur finally stepped off the platform, and most of the ponies turned to leave. Ted was surprised when he saw Swift Screen leaving amongst the others, happily chatting with several other ponies about the sermon. 

Yes, that's what some of the ponies called it.

A sermon.

Finally, Blur was the only one left, milling about the room making sure the place was spotless, as if a fleck of dirt in the room were an insult to His name. Maybe he was worried about this for nothing. With the passion Blur spoke earlier, she would most likely jump for the chance to help him. Heck, she may be willing to kill if it meant being the one to help him. 'Maybe I shouldn't be tempting fate like that.' Dropping his cloaking, he cleared his throat, causing the mare to jump and turn to him.

"Father! It's an honor! How can I help you?" She replied cheerfully.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something in the next few weeks, Blur. I, can't seem to remember how to fly properly. Would you be willing to-"

"YES! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but yes! Oh, I would love to help you regain the skies! Just ask, just let me know when you have the time, and I'll be there!"

Watching her so passionately speak to the crowd, seeing the happiness they found in his home, Ted found himself making a decision there. Once more the ritual room was a place where he learned something important.
'I won't leave them to drown as the world tries to wash them away. If they need me to be a god, I'll be the best god this world has ever seen. When they're strong enough to stand on their own, they can do as they like, but until then. I'll watch them. They can call me whatever they like, and I'll watch my ponies, my changelings, my thestrals. Whatever the race, if they come to me, I'll help them.'  He thought to himself. Thinking back to what he'd seen in Blur's room, he spread a wing, lighting it with a light magic pull until a single black feather came loose. He took it in his aura, and levitated it up to the yellow mare.
"Thank you Blur, I want you to have this. And if you ever need someone to talk to, or just someone to hold you, you know where I am."

Ted walked away after that, the mare nuzzling the feather with cheerful tears falling freely.





She'd been speaking of her Father from her heart, from the depths of her soul, and those He'd gathered in His Home listened to her. She was so happy, able to bring peace to her fellow beings, so happy to have a purpose outside of an extra set of hooves or delivery service for a change. She had a family again, a Father who loved her, and brothers and sisters who would help her. Even if some of them weren't ponies. The changeling, Mirage, she was nice once you got past the weird soft chitin and bug-like appearance, she'd even seen the changeling's true eyes, not those yellow covers she always kept over them. They reminded her of Fathers eyes, actually, though they were yellow-slitted rather than teal.

She was spooked out of her mental wandering by somepo-someone clearing their throat. Blur whipped around to see Him stitting there, smiling at her.

"Father! It's an honor! How can I help you?" She replied cheerfully. Did he see her speaking earlier? Did he find her words pleasing?

"I was wondering if you could help me with something in the next few weeks, Blur. I, can't seem to remember how to fly properly. Would you be willing to-" he asked her, only to be cut off by her explosive response.

"YES! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but yes! Oh, I would love to help you regain the skies! Just ask, just let me know when you have the time, and I'll be there!" Blur was practically dancing on her hooves at this point, her wings ruffling with barely contained energy.

"Thank you Blur, I want you to have this. And if you ever need someone to talk to, or just someone to hold you at night, you know where I am." And with that, he floated a single black feather to her hooves. She stared at it, almost not daring to believe he would give her such a thing, to make such a promise. Many ponies knew the custom of gifting feathers was important to her kind, but few realized all the implications, some making dirty jokes if they saw the exchanges between family. But she knew. The feather of a father was a promise. A promise to return to his home, to be there for his children. And Father had just made such a promise.
As the alicorn walked away, she held the feather close, tears falling freely. She'd lost so much over the years, but now she had Him. And He would always be there for her. She believed it with all of her heart and all of her mind.

She had to. Hope in His strength, His love was all she had left.



<-(0)-> 



The alicorn spent the rest of the day in the library, studying  basic magic spells and arrays to give himself something to work with should he ever truly be rid of the other alicorn's memories. Levitation, light, a small fire spell. It wasn't much, but it was a start. He also wrote down the array for his shadow blades, should he lose access to the memories because of the reinforced seal. He relied heavily on magic now, it wouldn't do to have his lack of understanding the energies he used end up being the reason his followers got hurt.

Stopping by the war room before turning in, he left orders with Shadow Weaver once more to set up an expedition back to the field. He was going to have to make a long trip north soon, and he would not leave his ponies to go hungry. All the stops were to be pulled out for this one. Getting the actual full number of ponies in the temple, 43 (not counting the tributes), he ordered that the expedition would be staffed with 18 gatherers this time. Amald would also be brought along for added security, and Shadow volunteered as well, citing his knowledge of several offensive spells. When Ted prodded further, the unicorn admitted to wanting to witness the sight of his first battle in the jungles. Turning to leave, Ted stopped just short of the entrance, and turned once more to the cultist.
"Weaver, how many did you start this expedition with?" He asked.

"Uh, I think we had just over one hundred, sir. Yes, one hundred and eight. A few more joined us on the way, but... the jungle didn't take kindly to a bunch of ponies walking through it. Even with magic and numbers, we really didn't stand a chance."

"When you have the time, Weaver, I'd... I'd like a list. I want a list of all the ones we've lost. Just, leave it by my bed, ok?"



<-(0)-> 



As he prepared for bed, he was surprised to find two of those he'd rescued in his bathroom, volunteering their services as servants. They claimed to had worked on large estates for lords before. Not wanting to turn down more help cleaning his still somewhat alien form, Ted allowed it, the pegasus stallion and earth mare siblings being more than happy to let the alicorn relax while scrubbing him down. Eventually he was pronounced clean, and after drying off climbed up on his bed, only to have the servants ask him a very weird question.

"When was the last time you preened, sir?" Swift Service, the pegasus, asked him.

At Ted's confused look, the stallion began to share the expression.

"Preen?" The mare, Humble Hostess, said, attempting to clarify. "Checked and set your feathers?"

"I, uh. Not since I was released from the armor a few days ago. I, actually I forgot about that." It was a lie, of course, Ted didn't even know how that would work. He'd seen birds preen, true, but how do you preen with a mouth full of teeth? Not only that, what would you do with the feathers or bits of feathers that got stuck in your mouth?

"Normally it's a private thing, but we can help you with it if you like. I don't think you have any family here that could help, do you sir?"

Ted shook his head. "No, go ahead." He watched closely as each approached a wing and began setting the feathers, sending strange sensations through his wings. He'd honestly not put much thought into them, spending most of his life stuck on the ground, but now he could feel them just fine. He watched the ponies as they worked,  making note of every detail; how to follow the pattern of the feathers, the amount of pull to use to test the strength of each feather, even using a hoof afterwards to make sure a row sat smoothly. Eventually they finished, to Ted's both disappointment and relief, and they gathered the discarded feathers before making for the door. Weaver and Gleam had apparently already assigned those who passed Trauma's examination to rooms, and with nothing else to do, the siblings were going to turn in early for the night.

'Well that felt odd.' Ted thought, shifting his wings once more. He could feel them with more clarity now, even shift individual parts with a precision that shocked him. 'Good news all around though. For one, knowing the sensations for the wings should help with learning to fly. Second, thank god I was lying on my stomach for that.' The servants probably knew full well what was happening to him as they worked, as they said they'd done this for an older stallion they'd worked for, who had no close family to take care of him. Not to mention he knew he heard Humble giggle a few times when he'd shifted uncomfortably, eyes widening when he'd realized just what the sensations were doing to him.
'Definitely one of the stranger things I've experienced so far. Maybe I'll ask Luna if having others help with that is normal.' 

With that final thought, and one last attempt to shift himself to a less-awkward position, he drifted off to sleep.
> Their Love Gives Him Strength
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Entering the world of dreams once more, Ted watched the twinkling forms of his follower's dreams. It was calming to him, watching the shifting colors in the empty expanse. He was so engrossed in the mesmerizing display, that he didn't notice the Princess of the Night's presence until it literally shoved him, prompting him to return to his own body and create a dream for them to converse in.

"Hello Luna." Ted greeted. "Ready to answer some questions yet?"

"Hello Cimmerian." At his angry stare, she giggled daintily. "It is your name surely as Theodore, there is no reason to avoid it. Besides, any who are connected to magic and learn it will prefer it over any other name you may use." Luna grinned maliciously. "It would be a shame if some of your dreaming subjects were to hear it, would it not?"

Before Ted had a chance to tell her off, the lunar alicorn changed topics. "Unfortunately, though teasing you is entertaining, we have more important things to discuss. I notice you are much more calm tonight. How do you feel?"

"Better than I have in the last, forty years? I don't know what I should call it, time didn't really flow for me in the armor." He responded.

"Good. I wish to teach you something before we discuss anything else. I trust you have begun studying magic yourself, correct?" At his nod, she smiled. "Excellent. Think of the partition you hold in your mind, you should see a new array there."

"I see it, two smaller arrays in the center of a larger mess, right?"

Luna frowned at his choice of words. "That mess, as you call it, will allow you greater control of your ability to access my memories." Summoning a dream-diagram of the array before them, she explained. "Each array is easily activated by pushing energy into the one you wish to use. The array in the nine o'clock position is the full seal. Only what you have personally learned or natural abilities will be usable in this state. The three o'clock array allows full access to the memories, with all the boons and dangers inherent in such access."

"Right, so don't use it." Ted said, turning to the princess.

"This is serious, Cimmerian. The memories come with a price, it's true, but I saw the dreams of your subjects this night. You guard them jealously. I have no doubt that if you had to, you would dive headlong into those memories once more." Before he could protest, she raised a hoof. "There is nothing wrong with that, Cim, and should you fall, I will be here. So will your ponies, should you let them."

After a brief moment, Ted just nodded.

"Good, now, before we begin I wish to show you something. If you could, please shift the dream to represent the dream realm."

Curious what the princess was getting at, Ted did as he was asked, looking around at the twinkling dreams that surrounded them once more. Luna looked around, before she raised a hoof, pointing towards the distance.

"Over there. Do you see them?" Ted gazed in the direction she pointed, and noticed a few faint glimmers in the distance, almost unnoticeable at such a range. "An alicorns powers do grow naturally over time, Cimmerian, but such growth may be supplemented by the love of our ponies. Subjects, in your case. Your following increases, and thus so does your sphere of influence. Tia and I are known globally for our works, but our mana is currently stunted by the arrays of the second nightmare. You however face no such limitations. As your following increases, so too will your power. You have noticed it, have you not? More strength throughout your body, perhaps an increase in your physical size. Even simple spells may end up being easier to use, or much more effective. Because of this, I will warn you. Should your name become public knowledge, watch your power carefully. Where one day you have one thousand followers, the next day five hundred more may choose to place their faith in you. Not to mention should your name become too common, the Mad Queen will notice you, no matter how well your powers shroud you. You have great potential, but you are nowhere near ready to face her."

Seeing as the princess was done, Ted took a moment to digest the information, before asking if she would field a question he had.

"Certainly, Cimmerian. What do you wish to know?"

Scratching his arm uncomfortably, he decided to bite the bullet, getting the question at the forefront of his mind out of the way first. "Preening. Is it, uh, normal to have others do it for you?"

Luna once more adopted an almost predatory smile, giggling immaturely at his discomfort. "Ah, such wonderful followers you have, willing to go to such, intimate lengths for their leader." She said. "I suppose hygiene is as good a topic as any to start our lessons on."



<-(0)-> 



The lesson was like his Health class from high school, if said class were taught by a magical pony princess that giggled and laughed at any mention of genitalia whatsoever, and seemed to revel in his discomfort. The fact that she was more than willing to show him examples of any action, no matter how intimate, through her memories only made it more unbearable for Ted. He knew some of this was probably buried in his head somewhere, but some of it belonged in the depths of his mind, buried beyond his reach. The new alicorn had no desire to know the sensations that went along with, well, sex. Especially when they originated from a female. That was a can of worms best left in the closet.

"And be certain that you watch the grooves of your horn, as well. I understand that it too can be sensitive, especially when magic is channeled through it, but such discomforts are the price of magic, I'm afraid." Luna stated, finishing the lesson for the night. She'd been horrifically thorough, though it was probably something that would be important to know, since he would be stuck as an alicorn for who knew how long. "I must ask, have you adjusted well enough to notice your subjects?" At his confused stare, she chuckled once more. "Yes, Cim, I mean that way."

Ted flushed slightly, already having had enough of the lessons for a year. "No, I haven't. I can't really look at them like that, I mean, they're like kids to me, and well..."

"Yes?" The princess prodded, waving a hoof to indicate he should proceed.

"I'd be worried of, well, breaking them."

Booming laughter was his response, Luna clenching her gut even as she rolled over on her back, tears flowing as she rolled around the dream-world, much to Ted's chagrin. 

"Seriously, I'm like three times their size, Luna! I want to lead my ponies, not snap them in half!"

The princess stopped to listen to his outburst, before she continued with a renewed bout of laughter.

"I, I'm sorry, I just remembered my sister's reasoning, for not taking a pony as a consort. I believe she said something about a wheat sprig blowing down a hallway? " Luna said, giggling madly, trying to contain herself and failing utterly. "I, I've always used disguises or transformations when the mood struck me, but Tia isn't as good at such arts. She tends to favor power, much like the celestial body she guides."

Wiping tears from her eyes, the lunar princess bid him farewell. "Oh, I've always loved hearing the embarrassment of younger beings over such topics. It has been a pleasure, Cimmerian, but I must be going. I will not be available for the next week or so, as the Mad Queen will be visiting us soon, and I must cleanse my aura of your influence. My sister must as well, so please do not seek her counsel in the coming weeks. I will let you know when it is safe."

It certainly wasn't what Ted wanted to hear from his best source of information, but it didn't surprise him. Murphy still liked to mess with him... Did the ponies have their own version of Murphy's law? He was pulled out of his musing by Luna one last time.

"Cimmerian, should you find the time, I ask that you keep an ear open for news on, on my niece." She said in a much more somber mood. "Neither Celestia nor myself have heard word of her since the Nightmare told us of the fall of the Crystal City. Should you hear of anything regarding Cadance, please, do what you can to help her. Of the three of us, she has been hurt the most by the newest nightmare's actions."

"I'll keep an ear to the ground, Luna. I promise, and thanks."

With that the princess left him once more, to watch the twinkling lights of his followers. He would investigate the new lights tomorrow, the dawn was too close. He could feel it.



<-(0)-> 


That morning Ted put his new knowledge to the test, practicing his preening in front of the mirror with the door locked. It still felt weird, and looking closer at his horn he could see dirt in the grooves as Luna had predicted, despite his bath the night before.
"Yet another thing to get used to in this form." He mumbled to himself. "I still can't believe she asked me that."

Breakfast was once again a simple affair, and before long the gatherers were ready to leave. The entire journey was absolutely mind-numbing, with the only things of note being Amald catching several snakes and dressing them in the field. Ted paid close attention to the griffon's movements, asking questions and even trying some of the techniques himself, to the warrior's surprise. It was messy work, but the idea of once more enjoying a slab of meat was more than enough to drive the alicorn on. Shadow Weaver spent most of his time surveying the previous battle scene, the corpse of the serpent reduced to bones by local scavengers already. Many ponies seemed to perk up after seeing the bones, despite the danger they represented. After all, they also represented the strength of The Nightmare.

The supplies were gathered, one unicorn even pointing out a strong type of leaf that Ted and his ponies had missed during the previous expedition. It turned out the leaves could be used as makeshift covers, bandages, or even roofs of shelters if prepared properly. Knowing the need for such things, Ted himself ended up carrying a large bale of them, bound and strapped to his back by nearby vines. Before long the expedition had returned to the temple, this time finding not a twig out of place. The supplies were distributed, and Ted took the last few hours left in the day to clear the rest of the area on the west side of the temple of underbrush. Mentally he was already drawing plans for the area. A smithy, a storage building, possibly even additional housing. As the night came upon the land once more, he checked the abandoned storage room, now almost completely torn up to reveal a gently sloping tunnel into the ground. It wasn't deep, but it also wasn't even close to done. Hopefully the new changeling stuck around long enough to help with the digging, since Mirage was now Head of the Nursery, having had previous experience with young and no further reason to avoid the nymphs.

Dinner was served and finished, with Ted watching several groups of ponies walking down to the ritual room even as he headed up the stairs to his own quarters. He knew where they were headed, as Blur had taken off as soon as she'd finished eating, the elated pegasus practically, no, literally floating out of the dining hall in a cloud of bliss. He lost himself in his thoughts on his way to bed. Nightmare, Father, Cimmerian, Theodore. All names he currently held, though some more grudgingly than others. He was tempted to take Luna's advice on this one. She'd been right before, and had so much more experience with this sort of thing. Personally it almost felt like abandoning who he was prior, but was that really the case? Carefully, almost fearfully, he took a peek through the princess' memories on the topic, even as he pulled himself into bed. 

Princess of the Moon, Dream Guardian, Silent Blade, Mistress of Illusions, Star Mother. All titles the princess held, all different names from that which she knew was her own. Yet she answered to them all. Why? How could she be so unconcerned about her name?

Then another thought struck him. Why was he so protective of his own? Why did he fight the name given to his new form, even as he withheld his birth name? Why was he so scared of new titles and names?

Such thoughts clouding his mind, the dark alicorn drifted off to an uneasy sleep.
> A More Elegant Resource Run for a More Civilized People
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Falling asleep was easy when your mind transitioned to another plane. There was no staring at the ceiling for hours, hoping sleep would eventually claim you, or counting sheep, ponies, or what-have-you. The dreamer transitioned easily, and Ted was thankful for this. Looking about the freshly formed dream world, he noticed a few of the orbs far removed from his own followers, and made his way to them. The dreams were a good distance north, as far as he could tell, but what struck him was the dreamers themselves. They were a ragtag bunch much like his own followers, consisting of several thestrals, griffons, and assorted ponies. Finally, something caught his eye; once more he saw a presence forming in the dream world, larger than those of ponies and griffons. Such things seemed to be creatures that were more powerful than the average being. Curious, he shifted his dream-form to that of a thestral, keeping only his eyes and his emblem the same as the waking world before he dove in. Luna and Celestia were kind enough, but the lunar princess was right. No need to blow his cover so soon.

He found himself in a cave of sorts, the air pleasantly warm and the area he found himself in spacious enough to fly. He rose from the ground easily, allowing the dream to do the flying for him, and took off towards the dreamer. Follow the increasing detail, the action, that's where you will find them. That seemed to be the constant of dream-diving.

Gliding into another chamber, he saw the dreamer, though it was nearly ten times his size. A large blue-scaled drake sat in the middle of the room, resting easily upon its hoard. Ted was speechless with giddy excitement. A dragon, a living and breathing scaled monstrosity from myths and legends was before him. Certainly his foray's through Luna's memories had alerted him to the possibility, and he knew most could be bargained with, but to actually see one in the flesh-er, dream-flesh? Making certain there was no mistake here, he glided around the chamber, and seeing no one else, he made up his mind. Alighting upon the beasts snout, he cleared his throat.

Immediately the dragons gold reptilian eyes opened, gazing about the room. Slowly it lifted it's head, Ted easily maintaining his position, and looked about the room.

"Damn, I thought so. I haven't been here in years." The drake rumbled. Focusing on the creature on his, at least Ted thought it was a he, nose the dragon frowned.
"You're not part of my dream. A dream walker, oh it has been quite some time. Tell me little one, do you know the source of these dreams?"

"I may, I may not. The answer depends upon who wishes to know, and where their loyalties lie." Ted answered. The drake couldn't actually hurt him here. Maybe apply some mental trauma or some ghost-pain certainly, but no damage could be dealt. Luna proved that when she was ejected from his dream via spy.

His words were greeted by a chuckling, as the creatures eyes rose in mirth. "Wise words in these days. You speak of the Mad Queen, correct? Dragons have no love for her, not even the one she raised, bless the hatchling's heart. If you, hypothetically of course, know the one responsible, do pass on my thanks, as well as the gratitude of a few residents of Port Zerris. I am Sahkest, Quartermaster of Port Zerris. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"Simmer." Ted lied easily. "You say you are the quartermaster? I assume you would know how much you have in the way of medical supplies and medicine, as well as cloth? Our group is falling short, though we have gems and coin to trade. I myself would also be willing to trade a few trophies for additional supplies. I'm certain they would be worth something to the right buyer."

"Trophies you say?" The dragon rumbled. "As in things salvaged from a defeated opponent?" At Ted's nod, the dragon lifted a claw to his lower jaw in thought. "I suppose there would be some who would be interested, depending on the creature. Your best bet would be the griffons of the town. Many like to keep such trophies, even if they are not claimed by, well, honorable means. Also, a word of warning, caravans passing the southern side of town have come under attack from gnoll bandits, and we have had a few ponies disappear in town. My gems would be on changelings trying to eke out a living just outside town, though we've found no actual proof."

"The gnolls should be no issue, besides long-term patrols that we may come across. Our people recently repelled a large attack, leaving only one survivor. They promised no more attacks after such a display." The alicorn-turned-thestral explained. " As for the changelings, I'll look into it when we arrive. We already have several shape-shifters amongst our numbers, and they seem content."

"Are you certain? Changelings invite trouble these days, often in the form of the Mad Queen's attention."

"I am." He answered lifting off of the dragons snout. "They work hard and are given love freely by our people."

"I see." The dragon said. "And Simmer? I look forward to meeting you in the waking world. In your true form of course." He added with a grin. "And perhaps the dream-weaver could add a dragoness or three to my dreams as well."

Ted was caught off guard for a moment, before nervously chuckling to himself and leaving the dream. How could Sahkest tell? Was there some way to read auras inside dreams? Wasn't dream diving something all creatures with the desire and knowledge could do? Certainly his connection to Luna made it simpler for him, but surely he wasn't the only one.

'Blast it all, just when I think I have the upper hand, someone kicks me in the balls.' He muttered, returning to his physical form for the night.



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The three S's. Shower, shit, shave. Well, Ted was down to two it seemed, as alicorn's didn't have beards. Not that he could tell at least. Nonetheless the dark alicorn was easily falling into a rhythm of morning habits. Soon he had finished his breakfast, and had Shadow Weaver and Gleam setting up the expedition. Ten on this trip, not including him and a few captives who wished to return home. The supplies gathered the day before would last about a week if rationed properly, as he'd tasked Slop to do, and everything they didn't need and could easily transport was loaded up into bags and prepared for the journey. It would take about two days by his judgment, Mirage's claims of the closest city being weeks away only due to her hysteria at the time.
He told Shadow that in the event of the gnoll and its escort arriving before he returned that they were to be given a room. It wasn't ideal, but the supplies were needed badly, and with how badly he'd spooked the bandits, he was sure they wouldn't complain too much. All told, the group numbered 18, including the injured griffon and all three zebras. Apparently they belonged to a mercenary group and a caravan company, respectively, and were interested in returning to their employers.

Just after lunch they left, packed down with all the valuables they could scrounge, Ted's Trophies, and enough supplies to last them the journey and the return trip, to be supplemented by foraging on the way. After traveling until nightfall, the group set up camp, two ponies on guard shift for several hours at a time while Ted kept watch of the dream realm. He intercepted a few gnolls that were camped along their path, and after some observation, left their leader with an order to return to his den. The next day the caravan set out at dawn, Ted taking up position to the right of the column, waiting for the possible visitors. Just before lunch, the caravan stopped, the alicorn facing a small group of six gnolls, his horn already glowing.

One stepped forward. "You say beat Alpha last night." It barked. "Prove!" With that it charged him with its club raised, only to be swept aside in an avalanche of forest debris glowing with Ted's aura. Approaching the stumbling creature, Ted shoved it down and set a hoof on its chest, pinning it to the ground.

"I know you have a need to prove yourself, but your pack needs you back at the den. Bring your hunters with you. Rust needs all the help he can get." He said levelly, before backing up from the gnoll.

The gnolls eyes widened at the name. "Rust Alpha? But... we go." Rising and turning to his pack-mates, it repeated the words. "We go! Back Home!" The rest of the patrol took off into the underbrush after their leader, leaving the caravan to watch as Ted rejoined them.

"Well? We're burning daylight, let's go." Without a glance back at the scene he left behind him, Ted continued on the path to the port town.



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As dusk fell once more, the caravan finally came in sight of their destination. The pace was increased slightly, and before the sun set, they were walking up to the gates of the town. He could see pegasi and griffons gathering near the gates, and orders were being shouted back and forth before a louder voice resonated, ordering the gates opened. As they parted, a large blue drake walked out, about the size of a single story house. It walked easily out the wide gates, casting its eyes upon the caravan, before settling upon Ted, before it broke out in a grin. Seeing the dragon approach, Ted walked ahead as well, meeting halfway between the gate and the jungle.

Ted looked up at the dragon. "Sahkest I presume, unless like myself you like to play it safe. I seem to remember you being taller."

"No, Sahkest is in fact my name, though some call me Blue-scale Burner." The dragon said merrily. "Unfortunately, my hoard is nowhere near the size it used to be, and I've been, how to put it, downgraded a bit. What about yourself? I think the eyes and emblem are the only things you got right, Simmer. If I'd known an alicorn was visiting, I may have set up a proper welcome."

"I take offense to that." Ted responded. He gestured to his form with a hoof. "I'm certain my mane and fur color are the same as well. Anyway, I had no way of being certain of what I was getting myself into, so I tried a disguise. We can chat later though. We seek lodging for the night, and supplies before we head back. Can you accommodate us?"

The blue dragon looked over the caravan before nodding. "The inn has a large room for such traveling parties, though I recognize a few of your party as locals. How did you end up with Berne anyway?" He said leading the group into the town.

"After the gnolls attacked they offered some captives in tribute. The griffon was one of those given to us."

Soon the party reached the Inn and entered a large dining hall with enough room to house even Sahkest comfortably, and sleeping arrangements were made. After being asked about the trophies he wished to sell, Ted pulled out one of the large fangs from the serpent. The welcoming expression of the innkeeper and even Sahkest's smile faded as they all looked at the tooth, watching as Ted set it upon a table, joined by another and several scales that were larger than the dragons own natural armor.

"Sun and stars, Simmer, you weren't kidding when you said some would be interested in these prizes." The drake said, reaching a claw to pick up a tooth. "It's from one of the Kharazi giants, isn't it? The snakes large enough to easily swallow a griffon whole." The drake gazed at the other trophies before smiling. He turned to Ted, and offered him a deal. "Promise me the set, and I'll cover half of your supplies myself, at a minimum of three hundred and fifty gold pieces, to a maximum of six hundred." Several patrons' jaws dropped at the offer, which Ted took to be a good thing.

"Is that all?" Ted asked, drawing a frown from Sahkest. "I can live with that, besides, the canines are still in my room." Ted responded with a smile. As the dragons frown became a look of confusion, he continued. "I wanted to keep something from my experience. It took me nearly two hours to wash the gore out of my pelt, and I swear every now and again I can still taste the blood."

"These aren't the canines?" The drake asked. He looked back to the scales, before smiling. "Fine, I believe I can understand that sentiment. We'll discuss numbers tomorrow though. Rest well."

As the dragon left, several ponies behind Ted breathed sighs of relief, finally relaxing in the absence of the large being. Despite offers of cheap meals, the alicorn had his followers keep to their own supplies to reduce their bill. He still had no idea what the lodging would cost, even though it was now just eleven people including himself. Most of the freed tributes left as soon as they entered the gates. Ted wouldn't be surprised if he never heard from them again, but most had sworn an oath to keep the temples location and residents a secret. Those who didn't? Well, not everyone who wanted to go on the trip did. It meant doubling a room as a cell, but Pivot Pelt wasn't going anywhere for a while. Not that Ted would ever trust someone who's name was literally another way of saying turn-coat. Seriously, what was with these pony names sometimes?



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The night was quiet, and Ted once more watched the dreams of those around him. He'd found Kest's dream easily enough, and while he felt a bit dirty afterwards, he shifted the dream as had been requested. He might as well stay in the drakes good graces. Maybe Kest would even send a trade caravan or two his way in the future? 
Turning his attention from the town, he noticed another odd presence off to the south-east. It was larger than a pony, but surrounded by, for lack of a better term, blank spots. The presence itself was faint, unable to form an actual dream and almost feral.  He poked and prodded the presence a few times, and it returned his attention by attempting to bite him. How it could latch on to his dream-self he had no clue, but it would be something to ask the drake about the next morning. Eventually he grew bored, and cast his presence back to the Temple, curious how his followers were doing. Mirage, Gleam, Shadow Weaver, even Pivot were all still where he left them, so he made ready to return to his own form when he noticed an absence.
In his room there was an emptiness that just seemed to call him. Approaching it, he felt much the same way when he returned to his own body. Eventually, curiosity won out, and he allowed himself to slide into it. The next moment, Ted found himself opening his eyes back at the temple.

Confused, the alicorn attempted to move, only to be greeted with a strange creaking noise and the realization that he was stuck. Looking around he saw that he was back in his own room, next to the vanity and the armor stand by his bed. No, he was directly where the armor stand was. Casting his sight downward, he saw a shifting shadow flowing through the Nightmare's armor.

'My god, that is so weird.' He thought, shifting the armored hoof-covers slightly. With a second attempt, the boots came loose, making a quiet thud in the room. Attempting to step forward, he felt the strangest sensations running through his body as the armor got caught on the stand and his shadowy presence flowed around the wooden posts. Curious, he attempted to move a small book near the bed, and was rewarded with an extremely weak glow, though the book did move slightly. Grinning widely, he released his hold on the armor and flowed back into the dream realm. 
He made his way back to the town, and seeing nothing of interest, barring the bright pink dream of Sahkest, which he would not touch with a ten foot pole, he set himself up with a dream of his own to pass the rest of the night. After all, nothing was more calming than the sunset and the sound of rolling waves.



<-(0)-> 



The next morning greeted the caravan fairly kindly. Ted allowed the followers to head out into the city while he talked about needed resources with Sahkest.

"Right, so we've got a request for ten bolts of basic linen, two boxes of various medicines, three boxes of nails, four tool sets, several repair and sharpening kits, basic supplies for a smithy, a cart to carry the heavier supplies for said building..." Or rather his representative. It didn't take long for the alicorn to start tuning the griffon out. After all, Ted had read the damn list five times, and that was after he'd finalized it with Gleam, Weaver, Slop, and Trauma. He knew every item on that list, and could recite it verbatim. He really didn't care to hear it one more time.

Suddenly he was pulled out of his musing, and off of the ground, by a large arm dragging him into a hug. "Ah, Simmer my friend! Good morning to you. You and yours are welcome in Zarris any time!" Kest boomed. Dropping the alicorn, he happily walked further down the dock to the quartermaster's office, leaving a confused griffon and an embarrassed alicorn. Ted just covered his muzzle with a hoof.

"I don't know if I should be happy I've helped trade relations with the nearest port town, or be embarrassed that I basically pimped out the dream world to do it." He muttered, before taking note of the two individuals standing outside the office. One was a griffon in well worn, but impressive looking armor, the chest piece decorated with three diagonal claw marks painted across the chest. The next was a unicorn in a business suit of all things, the pudgy stallion attempting to cool himself with a paper fan, uncomfortable in the warmth of the jungle. Seeing Ted, the griffon approached, addressing him with a quick salute of a claw over his chest.

"Jaecar, of the Talon Company mercenaries. I assume you're the one that returned one of our own last night? Simmer, I think Kest said was the name you were using? We'd like to extend our gratitude for the return of one of our own, as well as the neutralization of the gnoll den hitting this area. My boss wanted to extend his personal thanks as well. Herrick Talon offers his services at a discount, should you ever require them. Ten percent, good for four jobs, not to mention the gold bounty on the gnolls. From Berne's words there wasn't anything left of the mongrels, but he estimated at least forty attackers, so that's ten gold a head, five since no physical proof. Add in the return of one of our own, and word on the final whereabouts of two others. Mr. Simmer, I'm pleased to present to you three hundred gold pieces." The griffon removed three bags from his side, dropped them on the ground between them, and gave another salute. "I hope you enjoy your day, and should you be in need of our services, don't hesitate approach any Talon branch office." With that the mercenary took to the skies, leaving Ted to stare at the three bags that he assumed had the aforementioned three hundred gold. Levitating the bags and opening them to confirm the contents, he set them inside one of his larger pouches.

With the departure of the griffon, the unicorn approached. "Afternoon, Mr. Simmer. I'm Gold Stacker, of the Northern Equis Trade Company. We oversee the larger caravans and even a few smaller trade routes like those used by the local towns. I've been authorized by my local branch to forward you a reward of one hundred fifty gold pieces for the safe return of several of our caravan members. This reward has already been passed to Quartermaster Sahkest as an advance payment for any and all goods you should like to purchase during your visit. Should your settlement ever pass two hundred members, please be sure to fill out a caravan request form at our local office." As the pony moved to leave, Ted tapped his shoulder.

"I hope it's not too much of a bother, but I'd like my actual species kept off the record, if you don't mind. Also, I have a pony in my possession, one Pivot Pelt. Do you know anything about him?" Ted requested, though it was more of a demand with the force of his words.

The unicorn just grinned though. "Sir, while the N.E.T.C. was founded in Equestria, recent political movements have alerted us to the, erh, preferability of other states for our base of operations. Especially in lieu of several seizures of company property by the Canterlot Royal Guard with refusal to reimburse us. Evidence of smuggling my flank. I myself am a natural borne Equestrian patriot." His grin became more malicious suddenly. "That's why I signed on for other sites as soon as the recent direction our fair country was going was apparent. That being said, I will pass the request to my local employers to keep your location and race off of any documents that come close to Equestria and its protectorates. In fact most of our documents for these smaller incidents don't even include race or location, just names. As for that little weasel, I can have my employers send an escort to retrieve him if you like, or you can bring him along next time you make this trip. He may be a pain in the flank to work with, but we keep him on a short leash. I dare say, however, that nopony here would be terribly worried if he was never heard from again. Good day, Mr Simmer, and Celestia's Sun shine upon you." His message delivered, the pudgy business pony left, trying to use a small paper fan to cool himself the entire way.

After seeing to a few more preparations and leaving the most zealous cultists with the gold, Ted set the rules for his followers. A grand total of one hundred gold was the amount allotted for random purchases of useful gear from the bazaar, useful to be discussed with at least three other ponies before the purchase was completed. Forty was to be used for a decent meal that night, and the rest was to be guarded for the remainder of the trip by three ponies at all times with rotating shifts. Ted himself grabbed a quick bite to eat from his own rations, and purchased a generic long sword from the port's smithy before heading out of the city to the source of the emptiness. It didn't take long for the vegetation to shift, seemingly becoming much more hostile only a few miles from the city. Drawing the shadows closer, Ted disappeared from natural detection, creeping through the underbrush like a wraith.

Finally, he came across a small cave clawed into the ground. It looked strange, though he recognized a few pieces of chitin scattered around the inside. He assumed changelings molting, until he came across the husk of a dead changeling, the holes so large it seemed the body had just fallen apart. Finally he came across a large room, filled with the same pods he'd seen Mirage holding Swift in, though these held several ponies of varying race, all seemingly deep asleep, only a few seeming to have any obvious injuries. He proceeded into the chamber, knowing Mirage had been unable to see him while he held the shadows close to his form.

'My video game senses are tingling.' Ted thought, looking around the chamber. 'No one would leave so many pods unguarded, unless they're out hunting.'

Suddenly, a spell struck him in the back, throwing him off balance. 

"Fuck!" 

He stumbled slightly, though he was sure a normal pony probably would have been unconscious the moment the spell hit. It didn't make sense! The other changeling couldn't see him, what was different in this situation? Before he could recover, something landed on his back, and a pair of fangs sunk into his neck. He felt the warm trickle of blood flowing down his neck, as well as a burning sensation tear through his body starting at the bite. There was also a strong, strange pull on his aura from behind him, and the world swam out of focus.

Desperately, he thrashed about, attempting to dislodge his attacker, even digging through Luna's memories hoping to find something useful for the situation. Each time he tried a spell, something lashed out at his horn, sending stars across his vision. He dug through the memories for what seemed like an eternity, but he found himself quickly running out of time and energy. Shaking, he finally hit the stone floor of the cave.

As darkness claimed him, the teeth in his neck easing out and the grip around his neck finally slacking, his last thought was 'Dammit all, I should have seen that coming a mile away.'
> Uh, Sir? You Have Something on Your...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	In the beginning, there was darkness. And Ted did gaze upon it, and saw it's splendor, its wonderfulness, its welcoming comfort. and said unto himself 'This is nice.'

He did attempt with all his might to open his eyes, but they remained sealed. Thus discouraged he did say 'Fuck it. I'm still tired.'

The stallion did then return to his slumber.


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Loading..........................*
Attempt at consciousness:2

Ted.0 OS loaded, running startup

Alicorn hardware-update improperly installed, please contact support. Continuing start up.

Magic...................offline
Touch...................offline
Hearing................offline
Sight......................offline
Smell.....................offline
Taste.....................offline

Exception:errantdreamer.dert385xdewqupct073.Acervent8612*

Error. One or more vital systems damaged/missing, please contact an administrator.

Start up failed. Returning to standby mode.

....................*



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'...Ow.' Ted thought, slowly returning to consciousness. It was an odd return, all things considered, even compared against his so called revival by the cultists and his return to consciousness in an alien body after the substitution spell. What made it stand out was the absolute lack of, well, anything.

'I can not for the life of me bring myself to care that I was mugged. I can't worry about what time it may be. I'm not worried about what jumped me. Because of this, I know something is wrong and should be panicking. But I just can't.' The alicorn thought to himself.

Suddenly an ear flicked, and he noticed a sound, then a weight on his back. ' Is that snoring?' Dragging his head along the ground, he managed to catch a glimpse of what jumped him the night before. Still sitting on his back, passed out with its fangs still stuck in his neck, was a changeling, its mouth open and horn stuck in the dirt, leaving it in an awkward position that, in Ted's opinion, would probably leave it with a cramp after it woke up. Lighting his aura, which was still weak from the attack, he shakily stood up and managed to remove the fangs from his neck. The attacker was still slumped over his back, but that just meant he didn't have to drag it back to town by the tail. Who knew, maybe there would be some sort of reward for that?

Letting his sense of equilibrium return, he walked around the chamber, breaking open pods and dragging the sputtering captives out into the cool air. Many seemed to be in the same state he found himself, just sitting around with no motivation whatsoever.  Others showed just a hint of fear and confusion; the former at his passenger, the latter at their current location. All of them seemed to lack the capacity to do much more then stare at the walls at the moment though. Apparently, when ponies didn't have any emotion or drive, they became incapable of movement. Ted worked in retail while studying, though, and was used to working with no real motivation or energy.

Eventually, he gathered all the ponies and their gear in the center of the cave, ordered them to put their stuff on, and follow him.

"Why would I do that." One of the prisoners asked. "You've got a bug on your back, and I don't know you." Some muttered agreements, others just dozed off. Some were already asleep, snoring lightly while their heads bobbed with their breathing.

"Because your current options are consist of 'stay here and hope something worse than a changeling doesn't find this cave' and 'follow the big guy out of the cave and back to town.' Ted responded. As soon as he did, he turned and started walking to the, for lack of a better word, nest in the back of the cave. There were a few things he thought might be useful, but in his current state, he couldn't do much more than throwing things into his bags until he couldn't carry any more. Satisfied there was nothing of value left, he grabbed three chunks of a pod, slid them onto the changelings fangs and over the horn, and trotted out of the cave. Most of the ponies seemed to follow, and those that didn't were piled on the backs of others that had recovered more energy since their release.

Entering the light of the setting sun, Ted stopped just before the underbrush grew too thick, and started grabbing vines. He hefted the bug off of his back and wrapped it up like a birthday present before settling it back between his wings. No reason to take chances, though he wasn't sure how effective the pod would be at stopping magic. Then he turned to count the ponies following him. 

'I swear these guys are useless without a flag bearer or some obvious leader.' "Alright, keep up. If you see something, say something. Or don't. Not my business if you get eaten or dragged off." With that Ted started scorching a path back to the town, the use of his mana seeming to help burn away the lethargy as surely as the underbrush.

'Bleah, at least I'm not falling asleep anymore.' he thought absentmindedly. The pace was slow, but no-one really seemed to be capable of much more. Eventually, he heard something ahead. Cutting the spell off, he stopped and listened, ignoring the ponies that bounced off of his leg in an almost cartoonish pile up.

"I told you I heard something. It sounded like fire over there." A voice said. Ted focused in the direction, and noticed a few ponies and griffons wandering through the jungle. "I still don't see why this guy is so important. I mean, what dip-stick goes searching for disappearing ponies on his own?"

"I do, dumbass." Ted said as loud as he could, which wasn't much at the moment. Nevertheless it got the search parties attention. Before long the guards were moving to Ted's position, many walking past him to take account of those behind him. 

"So that's the bug? I thought they were smaller, and worked in groups." A griffon said, poking at the changeling on his back. The griffon then turned to Ted. "So if you beat it up, how did it drain you?"

"I didn't beat it. I just recovered faster. Well, recovered enough to be able to move." The alicorn responded. It would have been embarrassing, were he capable of feeling that. Twice now he'd won only because of endurance. The snake had him in its throat, with little to no air, and the changeling had him on the cave floor with no emotions. Both times he really should have lost, but both times he ended up recovering enough to basically walk out of the jaws of defeat. Literally, in the snake's case.

"Wait, so what knocked it out?" The griffon asked, as the guards herded the ponies back to the town under close supervision. Ted took a moment to ponder the question, before starting to follow the group, turning back to the guard and answering the question.

"Gorging, I think."


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"Hahaha, let me get this straight, you walked into the jungle by yourself to find the cause of the problem, got jumped by the changeling, and woke up with it sleeping on your back?" Sahkest had been at the gate, ordering the changeling properly secured with a nullification band and chains when he saw the captive.

"The fangs were still in my neck when I woke up." Ted added, the two walking back to the Inn.

"You, Simmer, are one crazy Son of a Sea-Surge. Lucky, too. I don't even know how you found the nest, much less made it out there and half-way back without something jumping you."

"Karmic balance" Ted replied, voice still dead of emotion. "I lost everything dear to me recently. I better get some breaks every now and then."

The drake turned to look at him, confusion written across its face, before it turned back to the path. "Well, I hope things start turning around for you. They certainly have for me! I've gotten some nice dreams, made a new trade partner, and soon I'll get a nice bonus from that proto-queen you captured. Be happy to split the bounty with you, since you did find it."

Ted stopped walking all of a sudden, the blue-scaled dragon stopping to look back at him. "Bounty? Who has a bounty on changelings?"

"Royal Equestrian Guard. Send a queen, proto-queen, or even nymphs to their nearest outpost and they'll pay handsomely for them. Gotten rarer lately, though. Been about, four years I think since anygons claimed a bounty for one."

Ted just sat there a moment, thinking about this new information. Mirage never mentioned a bounty, though they didn't apply to her. Still, Mirage said it was through captured infiltrators and gatherers that the Queen had been able to strike so strongly at the changelings. Not only that, what was she doing with them? Being a science fiction fan, he could easily see Celestia's corrupted student experimenting on them, possibly twisting them into some B-movie monsters, or turning the queens into broodmares, existing only to create an army for the already powerful ruler. The last thing she needed was another source of power.

"I want the changeling." Ted said finally.

"You what? Do you know how much that thing is worth? The last queen was a torn up mess, I saw the pictures in one of Herrick's image crystals, and she was worth almost five million gold coins to the Equestrians! The one you found? Absolutely pristine! We could argue the price up to almost fifty million before they'd even start to object!"

"Yes, let's give the megalomaniacal alicorn who holds the sun and moon princesses captive and probably already has half a dozen changeling broodmares in her dungeons yet another source of shapeshifting soldiers." Ted responded flatly. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not add to her already ridiculous power-base. You do know she's not going to stop with the countries around her right? All of this-" He waved a hoof, gesturing to the town "She wants it all under her control. Absolute order, absolute 'harmony'. She's the second Nightmare Moon. A happy pony with a good idea that was twisted into a shadowy mockery of what she stood for."

Sahkest narrowed his eyes at Ted, speaking quietly. "And what would you know of that, Nightmare? Yes, I heard those ponies that follow you talk. Saying 'thank the stars it worked', and 'The Nightmare's been an absolute blessing'. You accuse the Mad Queen of being a Nightmare, when those who follow you say you yourself are one. Not only that, I may have only been a hatchling at the time, but I remember well the stories of the atrocities Nightmare Moon committed. I also remember the descriptions well. A dark alicorn with slit teal eyes, who seemed to flow out of the shadows, able to traverse the world of dreams as a pegasus does the skies. Who are you to accuse the Mad Queen of being what you already are?"

Ted frowned at that, the smallest hint of anger flaring up in his mind. Suddenly the shadows deepened around them. Sahkest looked enraged, assuming an attack but Ted cut him off.

"It's to cut out eavesdroppers. I know what they call me. I was accused of the same damn thing by Luna when she first realized where my aura came from. It looks just like the parasite that attacked her. You know why? Because I didn't have magic of my own. My world is devoid of it." The alicorn said, rage slowly burning brighter. "I was sitting in my home, upset because some fucking game I liked wasn't working, and the next thing I know I'm getting blasted by the Elements of Harmony because that thrice-damned parasite swapped places with me. But you know what? I can't go around saying that. Did you see them when we walked in? The ponies with me? Did you see the state they're in?" 

The dragon nodded absentmindedly, having difficulty wrapping his mind around what was just laid out before him.

"Those tattered robes, the slightly gaunt looks, the weariness in their eyes? That's a fricken' improvement. They had nothing out there. They had nothing, so I gave them hope. I promised to watch over them. I protected them from the jungle. I even let them dream again." Ted was almost yelling at this point, despite his fatigue. "And you know what? Do you know what happens if they find out the truth right now? What do you think happens when a bunch of ponies holding on by a thread find out that the last string they have is a lie? That the Nightmare was truly the most disgusting creature to walk this world that I know of? They'll snap, that's what. Half will leave, if they don't outright attack the others in madness." Ted took a step towards the dragon.  "I won't let that happen. Tomorrow, we, you and me, ol' buddy ol' pal, are going to take a look at that changeling. If she can be helped, I'm taking her with me. If not, we're putting her down. And you aren't going to say anything. You know why? Because if you speak a fucking word of this to another soul, every single dream you have from that day forward, you will be greeted not by cute little dragonesses awaiting their big muscular mate. No, you'll find a bunch of nice burly dragons waiting for their favorite prison bitch to get back. You understand me, Sahkest?" Ted spat out, nearly burning with a black aura.

Still in shock, the dragon just nodded. Ted smiled as warmly as frozen nitrogen at him "I'm glad we've come to this understanding. I'm going to bed before I rip out some unlucky bastard's spine and beat him/her/them to death with it."
" Why is my anger the first damn thing to start coming back?" The alicorn muttered as he walked away.

For his part, Sahkest just stood there, mind still trying to come to grips with what he'd just heard. The part about the Mad Queen being a second Nightmare Moon made sense, as did the part of it being unnatural. But everything else? Simmer had even said 'his planet'. Was it an alien? Were all alicorns aliens? It would make sense, but no, he'd heard the Mad Queen was a normal unicorn at one point.

"I'm done." The dragon finally muttered to himself. "No way am I thinking about this while sober. Time to bust out the tankards in the basement." With that, the drake headed home, purposefully ignoring every word he'd heard that night. It just wasn't worth the headache.



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The night really wasn't what Ted would call memorable. Sure there were a few dreams that were so shiningly happy he felt the burning need to drop in and set everything in sight on fire, but by dawn the majority of his emotions seemed to have recovered, even if they were severely stunted. He decided to splurge for breakfast, ordering a bunch of pancakes and sausages, confusing the owner of a restaurant until the food arrived, where Ted grinned widely enough to show the wicked canines his form was graced with. As Ted destroyed the hapless meal, a few bags of gold passed claws, much to the displeasure of their former owners. It seemed many were certain the large pony had no clue what he was ordering, and would be horrified when his meal arrived. Instead, the meat was the first thing he hit. Ted watched the exchanges out of the corner of his eye, and amused smile creeping onto his face. It lifted his spirits even higher to realize he was finally able to laugh about such stupidity again. The entire experience was almost over, and it would have been considered depressing if he'd even been capable of sadness. Instead it was just a void, one he happily relegated to memory.

Finishing his meal, and savoring the delicious flavor of the last pancake, Ted paid his bill and left the building, heading to the port's stockades. Sahkest was waiting outside the building with a burly looking pegasus, both with bored looks on their faces. Noticing the alicorn's approach, the drake looked at Ted and spoke in a sleepy voice. "I was wondering when you would finally show up. Let's get this over with." 

Together the three walked down the large halls of the prison, many of the cells empty, a few holding a group of passed out drunks. Finally, they came to a magically reinforced door, guarded by a griffon and an earth pony, both equipped with mundane weapons and magic nullifiers. At the command of the warden, the door was opened, allowing Ted and Sahkest to enter.

The proto-queen was still sleeping, against all odds and despite the smell of the prison. Noticing a bucket nearby, Ted grabbed it with his magic, filled it from a nearby pump, and splashed the water across the queen's face. The changeling sputtered and coughed a few times, before she managed to focus enough to notice her current situation, as well as the two large beings that stood in the doorway. The proto-queen switched between the two once, twice, three times before her eyes finally locked on Ted, seeing as he was standing closer.

"How do you plan on figuring this out?" Sahkest rumbled.

"Simple, we do a few pain tests. If she's feral, she'll just growl and thrash a lot. Only problem there is she'll be useless to my experiments. If she's recovering? Plenty of entertaining things to do with a young proto-queen." Ted said evenly, watching the changeling for any reactions. The dragon behind him shifted uncomfortably, still unsure of the alicorn's stability, which he'd been questioning since the night before.

Hearing the words of the dark alicorn, and sensing the fear and discomfort from the dragon, the shape-shifter bared her fangs, before making a half-hearted lunge at the two. Her reaction was short lived though, as Ted broke into a wicked fang-filled smile, his wings flicking with excitement.
"Only a sapient creature hoping to be dismissed as feral would react like that. Not to mention you didn't throw yourself against the chains all that hard." He said, stepping closer to the proto-queen, who backed up to the wall.

Leaning in closer to the prisoner, he chuckled at her and spoke one word.


"Gotcha!"
> One Shadow Does Not Lie to Another
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	They were finally ready to go back to the Temple of shadows. Ted and the cultists were gathered by the gate after a brief lunch, loaded down with supplies and, surprisingly to the alicorn, some gold as well.

"Look, I'll even let you have one of the fangs, I promise."

"You better." The dragon huffed, looking at the muzzled and leashed proto-queen tied to a wagon. "You have enough gold tied to that wagon to return me to half again the size I was in my dream. I know it's your prisoner, but it's still my nullifier bands it has strapped to its horn."

"I know, Sahkest, Providence, you won't let me forget. But you've already been hit once for having too large a hoard, haven't you?" Ted asked. " What's the punishment for a second offense?"

The dragon's smoldering anger subsided, deep thought evident on his face. "I don't know." He turned to look one last time at the changeling, before puffing a bit of smoke out of his nostrils. "Fine, maybe it wouldn't work out. But what about the link? You know its going to try to build a hive, don't you? It's in their blood."

"I'll deal with it when the time comes. For now the advantages well outweigh the risks." Ted responded "I think she can be a boon to us. The queens are supposed to be around the strength of an alicorn, after all, and we need all the help we can get."

"And what would those boons include, hmm?" The drake asked with a sly grin. "They also say the queens rut with exceptionally powerful males to improve their brood. That wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it? Nor the fact that she'll be the closest thing to an alicorn's size around? I've been around a long time, it's not as fun trying to enjoy special moments with somegon half your size. Can't go all out, after all."

"W-what?" Ted sputtered. "What the hell are you talking about? That, that's not the reason at all." Rubbing his temple with a hoof, a strangely soothing motion considering the fact that hooves were pretty hard, he finally groaned. "Oh my god, Kest. Keep working the numbers here in the port. Comedy is not your thing." Seeing the ponies starting to head out, Ted started after them, turning to throw a parting shot at the dragon. "And stop thinking with your second head so much, the one on your shoulders is going to start rotting from lack of blood flow."

A booming laugh was his answer, even as the blue-scaled dragon and the guards entered the town and closed the gates behind them.
Ted shook his head, eyes going over the supplies they'd managed to score on the trip, everything from cloth, medicine, tools, everything they needed for a smithy, and even a small chest of toys for the foals. That last one he was pretty happy about; such a thing had slipped his mind till the last minute, when an older mare in the group had brought up the expenditure, saying she'd gotten the others to let her take the coins at the assurance that they had nothing to do with it. Ted was perfectly fine with that, and commended her for remembering the kids. He'd kind of lost them in the blur things had been lately. Hopefully things would be easier after this trip. They seemed to look up to him and deserved some attention.
"Aw hell, I still have that gnoll expedition to do." the alicorn muttered. 



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The caravan made decent progress, though Ted had to lift the smithy cart several times when it became stuck on roots or bogged down in moss. Just before sunset, the group made camp for the night, though to Ted's disappointment, they'd only covered a fraction of the distance back to the temple.
"At this rate the trip back will take three days. Wonderful. We'll probably be arriving after the escort." The alicorn once more rubbed his temples. There was just so much to do. So much to do, and every one of the ponies around him were counting on him. Depending on how the trip to the gnoll den went, he may end up with even more beings to look after.
'I swear, I'm starting to feel like a glorified baby sitter.'

Finally, his eyes rested on the proto-queen, muzzled and with her wings tied to her grey-plated barrel (would it be an abdomen in her case?), and a lead going from the muzzle to a back-post of the cart with the smithy supplies. She looked pretty ragged, not as bad as Mirage had been, but it looked like she'd been in the state longer. Standing tall, her eyes wouldn't quite clear his back. The same plates that had been relatively soft on the other changelings were thick and hard, built to withstand abuse, though her smoke-colored eyes seemed out of focus. 
'I suppose I'd be pretty depressed too, in her position.' He thought.

Walking up to the changeling, he loosened the muzzle a bit. She still wouldn't be able to bite with it covering her mouth, but maybe he'd get a better idea of her mental state. Grabbing a canteen, he floated water through the muzzle, intent on making sure she was watered properly, only to have the changeling bite the floating drops, causing him to wince as she literally bit his aura. Shaking the unpleasant sensation off, he looked back at her to see gleeful vindication in her eyes.

"Is that anyway to thank someone who saved you from a fate worse than death?" Ted asked her, cocking his head to the right. "The drake, he wanted to turn you over to the Mad Queen." The changeling shifted a few steps back at the mention of the name. "Good, so I don't have to explain what that would entail. I'm not up for giving her another toy, or possibly another broodmare, though." Ted stepped closer to the changeling, matching her retreat. "I'm curious about your kind. How do you feed on something that my people don't find quantifiable? How do you draw nourishment from something as fickle as emotion? How deeply does the Link connect a queen to her children?" The changeling's lead stopped her from backing up anymore, but Ted stepped right up to her, till he stood over the shaking shape shifter. "There are many ways to get the answers I want. But do you know what? I prefer the ways that benefit both parties."
Ted started circling the proto-queen, poking a chitin plate here, grabbing a rear leg to inspect the shrinking of the holes up close, or just staring at the changeling. He didn't need to actually do this, but she was acting kind of wild right now, or just barely sapient, and he wasn't going to have her ambush-victory leaving her thinking she was stronger. Completing his circuit, he spoke once more.

"In fact, my curiosity of your race is the only reason you're alive right now. If you truly were feral, I would have had you put down. I'd rather destroy something like a feral changeling queen than allow that nag to get her hooves on even more power. She doesn't need it, nor does she deserve it." He said. "Now I know you're tired of hearing me preach, so I'll step off my soapbox in a second. However, I do understand that you need emotions to survive. I also understand that most other classes of changelings can get by on what they pick up from ponies around them. So I want you to think long and hard on your answer for my offer. I offer you, any changelings you take under your wings, and any nymphs you may call your own, a home where they can walk among ponies openly. I offer you the chance to work alongside ponies, earn their affection naturally, and never have to lie to my ponies ever again. I offer you, young lady, the chance to have what no other changeling queen has right now. A hive. A hive that is safe from the Mad Queen."

"L-lies."

"Lies?" Ted asked. "Why do you think I lie to you?"

"Pony lie. Always lie. Offer help, call guard, keep secret, call guard, promise ignore, c-call guard. Lie, lie, lie! Say changeling always lie, d-deceive, but lie even for lying." The changeling spat, baring her fangs.

Ted shook his head. "I could say I'm not lying, but that wouldn't mean anything to you would it?" The shape shifter shook her head, giving a negative response. "I thought not, so instead I'll do this. When we arrive Home, you will give me your answer. Regardless of your answer, when we get there, I will remove your bindings. In the event you chose to stay, you will be given a room of your own, if you wish, or you may even use the one of the storage tunnels to make a nest of your own. If you chose to leave, you walk away, and if I ever catch you looking at my ponies, or shadows forbid, capture one, I will turn you into such a fine mulch, I'll be able to spread you over the entirety of the temple courtyard. Am I clear?" The proto-queen shrunk in place, unable to actually respond. "Good." He said, before picking the changeling up. Holding her was a bit awkward, but he managed it, and focused as he did with Mirage and the nymphs. It wouldn't be as much, not with his not really trusting her not to do something stupid, like try to drain him actively again, but after a minute, Ted loosened his grip on the changeling, setting her back down on the jungle floor. Using a hoof to raise her stunned expression to meet his eyes, he spoke.

"I don't hold your diet against you, changeling who's name I still don't know, and should you ever be in desperate need like you were in the cave, I would gladly go through that drained state again for your safety. But next time you want to suck me dry, at least take me on a date." With that, he turned and left, leaving the shape shifter to stare blankly ahead.

He took the fact she just sat there with a shell-shocked expression as a good sign.



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After another day and  half of marching the trip was completed(Ted nearly screamed his thanks to the heavens for that). The cultists made their way up to the temple, Ted leading the way, and the door was pulled open, revealing a nervous pair of ponies that had been set to guard duty. Seeing just who was outside, however, they quickly alerted the others, and soon almost the entirety of the Temple's occupancy was outside. As ponies unloaded the carts and moved the supplies to their final locations, Ted approached the smithy supply cart. The proto queen was still restrained, but was looking around watching all of the commotion. In fact she seemed to be confused by the ability of the ponies to ignore her existence, some unloading the supplies off of the very cart she was tied to as she watched. Her eyes whipped around even as Ted started untying her from the cart to see an undisguised changeling helping unload some linen bolts.

"I told you earlier, didn't I? I  said that changelings were welcome here." the alicorn stated once more, unhooking the muzzle and  untying the ropes. The shape shifter however just watched the other changeling, completely unresponsive to Ted's presence. Soon, the last ropes came loose, and he reached up with his hooves and pulled the nullifier off of her horn. Seeing the movement so close to her muzzle, the proto-queen seemed to finally focus on him, then on herself and her missing restraints.

"I kept my end of the bargain, little lady, now it's time for your answer."

The changeling just looked horrifically confused, looking at the ponies working, some watching the display as they worked, then turning her gaze to the other changeling even as it flew back into the temple, its hooves full of supplies.

Seeing Gleam trying to direct the flow of ponies, Ted walked over to the mare, leaning in closely. "I want you to send Mirage and the nymphs to the storage tunnels, can you do that?" His tone confused her for a moment, before she caught site of the bewildered changeling still standing near a cart. She hesitated for a moment, before nodding.
"I'll send the message on the next pegasus I manage to get my hooves on, Father."

"Thanks, Gleam. Has the gnoll arrived?"

"Y-yes, father, he arrived last night. Well, two of them did. They were given a room as you requested, and they kept to themselves for the most part, though Amald explained to them they were welcome to leave to hunt if they desired so long as they checked in once a day. You actually missed them by about two hours. They should return tomorrow around lunch though." The mare chuckled. "Plenty of time for a bath and a good nights sleep on your own bed."

Ted smiled warmly at the mare. "Thank you, Gleam. Heaven knows what we'd do without you."

Turning back to the gaping changeling, the alicorn gave her a slight shove, drawing her attention back to him.
"I want you to follow me for a moment."  He said, before turning into the temple, looking behind him as he entered the main entrance to make sure the mare was keeping up. Satisfied that he wouldn't lose her, he turned right and followed the hallway, past the dining hall and the kitchen, till he found the dug-out storage room. Slowly he walked down the incline, looking back once more to confirm he still had his tail. The ponies had been busy in his absence, and even now there were signs of more digging to be done once the supplies were taken care of. Finding a completed tunnel, the dark alicorn turned around and sat down in the dirt.

The proto-queen was just meandering through the tunnels, scratching here, smelling the wall there, pushing this rock, and casting a spell against that section of wall. Finally she looked back at Ted.

"Solid."

Ted blinked, confused. "Excuse me?"

"Digging is solid. Changeling oversee?"

"Ah, yes, in fact I asked the one in charge of this tunnel to stop by."

The shape shifter gave him a questioning look, but was answered moments later by gleeful chittering. A small nymph ran up to Ted, pouncing on his foreleg and attempting to gnaw it like some strange chew toy. Gem was joined moments later by a gaggle of giggling foals, all running up to Ted and happily welcoming him back. Rose especially, latching onto his other leg and refusing to let go, even as he raised it off the ground, to her delight. Finally, Mirage came trotting into the rooms, looking harried, but almost shining in the low light of the tunnels.

"Good afternoon Father, you wished to- see me?" The changelings voice suddenly strained upon seeing the proto-queen. "Father, may I ask why you have a proto-queen in the Temple? They don't share power. With anyone. Ever."

Ted smiled at Mirage "You're absolutely right Mirage, and ponies and changelings never live side by side. Nor do they work together. Nor do ponies name changeling nymphs." He chuckled "It just doesn't happen. Not the way of the world, after all.

The changeling opened her mouth to retort, but instead turned to stare at the larger mare.

The proto-queen for her part was just silently staring at the foals. There they were, nymphs and foals prancing around the larger pony like it was the most natural thing in the world, one even tugging on a wing for attention. No disguises, no lies, just a couple of young beings enjoying life. Not only that, but the way the two changelings moved, the way they intercepted each others movements so perfectly, she knew they were linked. Finally, she looked back at Ted, who just watched her with a smile on his face.

"N-no lies?" Ted shook his head in a negative.

The proto-queen took one last look around the empty tunnel, dragging a hoof idly through the dirt, then turned back to the alicorn.
"Nest here. I, I stay."

"I'm glad to hear that. However, remember that while I'm happy to give you a chance, many will not trust you. Ask for directions to my quarters if you need me. For now I'll leave you to get comfortable. Ask Gleam for some bedding if you'd like some, and for your things. They should be in a small sack marked proto. Mirage, on one of the supply carts is a chest marked foals. If it's not there, ask Gleam. Send it up to the playroom will you? I'll take over for a few hours. Come on, kiddies, stay nearby." Ted chuckled as he led the foals out of the tunnels, two still attached to his forelegs, two more following suite with his hind legs as he started up the stairs to the second floor. A few more turns, and the playroom was in sight. Ted led them inside, making a mental note to have the linens around the room changed out, and gathered the foals in a semi-circle around him.

"Alright brats" Ted said with a grin. "We just got back from a long trip, and we picked up a lot of important things. But Miss Goodhooves brought something to my attention while we were there." At that time, a stallion trotted into the room, depositing the chest just inside the doorway before leaving. Ted grabbed the chest in his aura and brought it before him. 

"The last few weeks have been scary, but things will get better, I promise. And because you've been good, these are now yours . I expect you to say thank you to Miss Goodhooves when you see her, ok?" With that, he opened the chest, revealing a bottom lined with crude toys. They were nothing compared to what Ted was used to seeing, but at the moment they were all the ponies had access to. 
'Sad sometimes, how my sister and I complained about not having the shiniest and newest things. These guys are happy with having someone else to play with.'
The alicorn spent the next few hours doing nothing more than simply watching the foals run around playing with their new toys, levitating one or two through the air, or teaching them a few games from his own childhood. It melted his heart, seeing Gem chasing another foal, a red pegasus colt named Brick of all things, after he'd tagged her in a game of duck-duck-goose.

'Half didn't even know what a goose was.' He thought sadly. That was something else that had to be addressed. There was no one to teach them anything. Granted there weren't many, but that would likely change soon, considering the PDA's he was seeing in the halls. Not only that, the couple had finally approached him again, asking to be wed after his trip to the gnoll den, and as soon as they'd finished speaking, he'd had four other requests, one even being a literal herd with three members.

'One minute I'm working out diplomatic relations with another town, the next I'm expected to know how to officiate marriages. More studying, yay. I swear we never escape it, even after getting dragged to an alien world.' Ted thought forlornly.
> I Leave You Guys for a Week
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After dinner, Ted returned the foals to their room and back to Mirage's care, promising to stop by when he found the time. He then spent the next few hour agonizing over the rules of officiating a marriage, and all the details that entailed.

'So similar to an earth wedding and yet so different.' He thought to himself. With literal Gods walking the planet, not to mention some of them ruling countries, the idea of marriage was more of an official thing than a religious one. This meant that the officiate was often someone who was granted that power by the ruler of the country, not someone who was a member of a religious caste. Not only that, but to have one of said rulers preside over a wedding was one of the highest honors one could receive, usually reserved for other individuals of great  political clout or, in Celestia's case, whenever she could slip out the doors unnoticed. Ted was amazed at the official list the author had managed to pull together for the number of times the solar princess had shown up out of the blue and asked to preside over weddings, even as her court waited for her to return from lunch.
'She really did love weddings.' He thought to himself. 'Shame I can't talk to her about this, she'd love to hear this. In fact, I'm sure Tia would be more than happy to teach me every damnable detail I need to know. She probably has them memorized.'

Certain he wasn't going to get anymore information to stick for the night, he made his way back to his room, the bath already drawn and the twins waiting for him. He relaxed into their care, allowing the stresses of the week to wash away along with all the dirt and grime. It was wonderful having a bath, even if the water was lukewarm at best. After soaking for a short time, he emerged from the bath, drying off with a few older towels before moving back to his room. Halfway through the doorway he stopped. 

"H-hungry."

In the hallway door was the proto-queen, looking at him for another meal. He took a step towards her and stopped, taking in her current appearance. She'd obviously been busy setting up her new nest. Dirt was caked into every hole, her chitin was dull and her mane and tail were ragged and greasy. He looked back at the tub, just about to be drained by the twins, and back at the changeling, a wicked grin playing across his face, even as the shape shifter took an uneasy step back.



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"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad" Ted said with a grin, the proto-queen shivering slightly under one of his wings. Hugs worked well for feeding the others, so until he learned more about feeding habits of the changelings, it would be his go-to method. Not only that, she'd been pretty angry when he'd thrown her in the tub and had Humble and Swift give her a good scrubbing. Thinking about it, he'd even decided to leave the bath open to the rest of the Temple's residents when he wasn't in the room, since the public one had crumbled under old age and they didn't have the know-how to repair it yet. Maybe having access to a tub would spur some unicorn to add heating runes to the tub? It wasn't like he was in his room all the time, no reason to keep such a wonderful thing to himself. Besides, four to five ponies could bathe in the tub at once. Maybe Gleam and Shadow could set up a rotating list?

"C-cold."

Pulling her a bit tighter, he chuckled at her expense. She looked a lot better, even if she was pissed at him, and despite her race the two servants had been more than motivated to scrub every last inch of the proto-queen down. She probably wouldn't have stayed in the tub for a minute if Ted hadn't made it part of the deal; she gets cleaned, then he'd let her feed off of him. She'd begrudgingly gone along with it, and barely let the serving ponies dry her before she'd jumped onto his bed, pulled a wing over her back and demanded food and warmth.
Finally not shivering anymore, she buried as much of herself as she could into his side, and soon stopped moving, apparently dozing off.

'Wonderful,' Ted thought shaking his head, staring at the planet's largest tick. 'Even if she tries to overthrow me, I'll be safe. I'm way to valuable as the royal pillow and buffet. She's adorable like that, too. How old is she, 14? Yea, cute kid.' Trying to wake her up to go back to her own chambers didn't work, so eventually he just settled down, dozing off comfortably on his big soft bed.

Gleam was right, nothing beat sleeping in your own bed. Even if someone else claimed your wing as a blanket.



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The night was relatively uneventful, though Ted noticed a strangely high amount of pink dreams. He avoided those, and brushed against any yellow dreams, easily pushing away nightmares. It was becoming simple to him, almost instinctual. When the morning arrived, he ended up having to disentangle himself from his attachment, to her grumbling displeasure.

"Warm." She mumbled, trying to pull his leg back into her chest. Finding a few loose feathers with a quick pass of his magic, he held them over the proto-queen, before sending them brushing all over her body, darting in and out of areas that were lacking chitin. She shrieked, springing out of bed and away from the dark alicorn, hissing at what was brushing against her. Her anger turned to confusion and embarrassment when she saw the floating feathers and the laughing alicorn. She stuck her tongue out at him, drawing a raised eyebrow from Ted when her childish raspberry was done with an almost snakelike tongue, and darted out the door, nearly running over several ponies in her path.
Finally free, he stretched and checked himself in the mirror, straightening out his growing mane and even taking a look at his own tongue in the mirror. Chuckling, he touched the tip of his nose with his tongue, then lifted his leg up and licked the underside of his elbow, or at least the joint that was most similar to it. Mentally promising to get not just a haircut, but all of them cut, he made his way to the dining hall, where his breakfast was interrupted by an cheerful Slop, thanking him for picking up the spices. Afterwards he watched as the logs claimed from the jungle earlier were slowly prepared in the halls, being cut into boards and planks for use in the buildings outside. Some stone had also been pulled from the tunnels for the forge, a unicorn and earth pony working the stone chunks into proper shapes for when the building was ready to go up.



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During lunch the gnolls arrived, and Ted picked up his bags on the way out the door. The armor would allow him to keep an eye on things while he was gone, so he'd set it on his bed with orders that it was not to be moved. It wasn't very useful if he was stuck on the wooden posts designed to hold the armor up. The gnolls were both males, the larger calling itself Buster, and introducing the smaller as Auto. Leaving the Temple, the canines lead him  to the north east, their pace nearly twice that of the caravans and gathering runs Ted had manned before. The two gnolls easily led the way, darting through the underbrush with practiced ease. 

Finally approaching evening, the escorts were getting jumpy. Ted first thought they were getting ready for some sort of ambush that was prepared for him when it finally reached him. The smell of smoke.
"Faster, I want to know what's going on." He told the guides, picking up the pace to a quick trot. Soon the group broke into the clearing just outside the den, and were greeted by the sight of a massacre.

All around them the bloody remains of gnolls were scattered, though the majority seemed piled onto bonfires that were slowly burning out. Death hung heavily in the air, nearly drawing a dry heave from the alicorn. However he pushed forward, past his guides and cast his life detection spell, going from faint glow to fain glow, checking to see if there were any survivors. Finally, he found himself just outside the main entrance, having no luck besides a few jungle reavers that hissed at him and flew off to other bodies. Stuck into the ground at the entrance to the den was a single banner, bearing three white claw marks. Ted just stared at it, almost instantly recognizing the symbol.

'Oh my god.' he thought 'I never told Sahkest or the mercenaries my plans for the gnolls, just that we drove them back with heavy losses inflicted on them.' It didn't take much imagination to figure out what had happened next. Having one of their own returned who knew the location of the den, the Talons had decided to put an end to the raids once and for all, razing the den while it was weak. He'd told the gnolls he'd help them, and while he was gone they were wiped out because of his ignorance.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!' he berated himself, renewing the spell deep in the den, but receiving no hits. Ted searched for what felt like hours, before coming back to the entrance, to find his guides howling at the moon in long, mournful tones. Ted approached them, letting them howl for a bit before laying a hoof on the shoulder of the Buster, whispering to him.

"You should see if you can find anything you need from the area. Afterwards you two are more than welcome back at the Temple."

The canine just whimpered in response. "Should been here. Helped pack."

"No, the ones who attacked your den, they were strong. Very strong. Bigger soldiers, better weapons, more complex tactics. You'd be dead as well. So don't throw this away." Ted stopped, ears swiveling to a sound from the shadowy underbrush. He saw what was there, and smiled, pointing a hoof in front of the despondent gnoll. "Besides, they'll need your help. We'll stay here for the night, salvage what we can, and head back tomorrow."

Out of the underbrush, drawn by the howling, were several smaller pups and three injured survivors, who luckily only seemed to have a few cuts on their pelts. Ted brushed past the guides and approached them, sitting down before the survivors and questioning them about the attack, afterwards repeating his offer to them. The remaining den members huddled together on the outside of the battlefield that night, mourning their losses and recovering from the ordeal. Ted kept watch all night, not daring to interrupt them while he felt the crushing guilt of being partly responsible for the destruction.

The next morning the group left a trail marker pointing any survivors to the Temple of the Shadows, and after gathering what little was left, they made their way back. The entire group was silent for the duration of the march. The survivors from what they'd seen, the guides from guilt of not being present to help, and Ted, from his growing sense of self-loathing.

He couldn't help but feel he should have done something more, that he could have done something different or said something to the mercenaries to prevent this disaster. Because he returned the griffon, the gnolls were destroyed. Because he'd not thought of the possibility. The possibility that his actions would impact more than just those he was living with. Ted had made a grievous error in judgment, and the gnolls had paid the price. 

'True their own actions before this set it up, but still,' He thought shaking his head as the Temple came into sight. 'I can't help but wonder if I could have prevented the loss of so many lives.'
> Kings Weep Not for Their People, But No King is He
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The band of survivors walked up to the Temple dragging their spirits behind them. Ted gave the ponies he passed at the entrance the order to allow the canines to make use of the Temple as they needed, and to allow the injured access to the medical room, and walked past  those who greeted him in the halls with dull eyes. He'd been so stupid, even knowing there were things out there that could rip this small band of survivors apart. He'd even appeared in full view at the port. If news reached the Mad Queen of his existence, there was nothing that would protect his ponies. Dropping his bags by the door, he climbed into bed, not even bothering with a shower despite the bloody field he'd traversed. He just didn't have the energy at the moment. It wasn't physical fatigue, he'd not felt that often since his release from the armor.

No, the alicorn was weary of every mistake he may have made so far. Had it been wise to invite the changelings in to the Temple? To date they'd caused no problems, but there was only five, including two children. Was wiping out the bandits truly necessary? Could he have driven them off without killing them? What about the trip to the port? Should he have put the expedition off, at least until he could properly disguise himself? Then there was the trip to find the missing ponies; there were a hundred ways that could have gone wrong. Honestly, Mirage had noticed his presence, even if she couldn't see him. Of course something running on instinct could pinpoint his location by the scent of his emotions.
Then there was something he'd realized when he saw the bodies outside the den. The bandits that had attacked him in the forest, and even the snake before that had been messy. He'd been covered in gore after fighting the snake and while it had been gross, it hadn't made him nauseous. Even ripping into the bandits at the beach he'd been unaffected by the death he'd dispensed upon the attackers. Why? It was the first time he'd killed a sapient being, the lead gnoll making it obvious by even speaking to him. So why had it not struck him?

'Because it wasn't her first time killing in self-defense.' He realized. Once more, Luna's memories had helped him, this time in a way he'd not even able to fathom at the time. They were so strong sometimes, so terrifying to his mortal mind, and yet they'd done so much for him. What would he have done if he'd not had them to fall back on? He'd never have made it out of the ritual room without falling on his face, first of all. The snake would have killed him and his ponies, dooming the rest of the Temple's residents to starvation. The gnolls would have either made off with his ponies for food or slaves, maybe him as well depending on how his assault against them went.

More and more he reflected on his situation, and so many ways things could have gone wrong. Further and further into the darkness his mind fell.



<-(0)-> 



The changeling caretaker had heard of it within a few moments of Father's return from the den. Spreading almost as quickly as news of His return was news of the dark cloud that seemed to hang over His head. She herself had tried getting close to the alicorn, but had started to feel nauseous even from the hallway outside his room. She wasn't sure what to do to help him, but she didn't seem to be alone.
Gleam was standing in the hall as well, looking at Father's door with a worried expression, one that couldn't even begin to match what the shape shifter could feel radiating off of the mare.
"Do you know what happened?" Mirage asked the unicorn. "All I've heard so far was he got back and he's upset. That, and if I get any closer than this, I'll get sick from the depression Father's radiating."

"You can sense that?" The mare asked. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Father returned from the den with a few more of the canines than He left with, some of them scratched up pretty badly. They were also sad, but Tulip managed to get one to talk while she was helping Trauma bandage them up. It seems the den was hit by a large group of armored griffons and ponies a day or so ago, leaving the place in shambles."

"So He feels it's His fault that a group of bandits got attacked in what was most likely a retributive strike, why?"

"I can only assume it's because He hoped to turn them around." Gleam responded. "He saved us, didn't He? Even you and the nymphs would either be dead or wandering the jungles still if not for His help. Instead your free to walk around the Temple, the only changelings on the planet that can do so in their birth form, as far as I know."

The changeling winced at the mention of her previous condition. "Fine, He wants to help everyone. But what can we do?"

"I don't know, Mirage." She said, shaking her head. "I think for now, we just need to give Him some time."



<-(0)-> 



'What about Mom and Dad?' The alicorn wondered drearily. 'Are they even still alive? Even if I manage to stabilize the area enough to put time into finding a way home, would it even be worth it? It felt like a few weeks at most, and it was forty years, but even then does time pass the same here as at home? If this worlds time flows differently, is the earth even still there? Or did the sun explode by now, wiping away the last traces of everything I knew?'

'My work, my home, my life, even my name isn't really the same here. What do I truly have anymore? At the end of the day, what is Theodore Fredson left with? Simple answer.'

'Nothing.'



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Buster, a large gnoll, his hunched form easily hanging over the ponies, pondered his current situation. He was by no means the most intelligent of his den, nor was he the dumbest. He knew that the den was gone, that it would probably never be used again, that in such a case, the survivors would be left to wander the jungles until they were picked off by the local fauna or fell to starvation, injury, or old age. The fall of a packs den was the fall of a pack.
But the big pony, the pony's Alpha, he didn't like that. He told Buster to follow, and follow the gnoll did. The canine didn't have anything else to do anyway. Buster was, by law, Alpha of what was left of the pack, but he had no idea what he would do with such a position. There were no elders to ask for advice, there were no hunting packs to set up or lead. Why was he still here? Why did he and the others cling to a life that had no purpose?

'Because pony Alpha say so.' He thought. 'Pony Alpha know what he doing, so Buster follow. Buster supposed to be Alpha, but follow pony Alpha.'

"Buster not Alpha." He mumbled sadly to himself, looking around the medical room at his patched up pack mates. Ponies had helped them, even after pack attacked them, because pony Alpha said so. Now ponies were sad because Alpha was sad. They didn't line up to challenge the Alpha, they didn't pack up and leave with others to make a new den. Some waited for their Alpha to feel better, some tried finding things to cheer Alpha up, others just did what they were supposed to, because Alpha needed them to do good work. 

'Alpha is strong.' Rust had told some of them what the Pony Alpha had done, how he had torn through the pack's hunters like a claw through a layer of leaves. 'Alpha leads pack.' The big pony lead the smaller ponies, he told them where to go and what to do, and they did it. Even the not-ponies listened to him, because he was Alpha. In the end, even Buster had followed the Alpha, because he didn't know what to do. But Alpha knew. Alpha always knew what to do.

'Pack trusts Alpha, follows Alpha through life to death.' He would help Alpha. He'd tell the others, too. If they didn't like it, they could leave. Big pony already said pack-mates can go if want, so Buster give them same choice. Alpha would find something for Buster to do, and Buster would follow Alpha. Just like Buster had always done. Nothing would distract him from his duty.

'Hope Eve stay. She pretty.' 

Ok, almost nothing. Buster was sure Alpha would forgive thinking about her.







Auto's eyes tracked every movement in the medical room, watching as the ponies finished working on the last injured gnoll.

'Stupid ponies. Why we still here, why we not take them yet?' he thought to himself. He watched as his larger pack mate, Buster, relaxed against a wall, dozing off as if he were back in the den.

'This not den, he stupid? Maybe catch stupid from pony, but Auto not. Too much brains. All pony's fault. If not fight back, not lose so many of pack. Then not lose to what attack den. Bet big pony knew about attack, that why ask send Auto away, so not be there to help den.' The little gnoll was seething with anger, looking around the medical area. It was against everything he knew. The ponies healed the sick, not kicked them out. The ponies knew nothing of fighting, and were only good as slaves and meat. Why did Buster follow big pony? Looking around at the remains of the pack, he made his decision. He'd challenge Buster for position of Alpha, then lead the pack away from stupid ponies. Find new den, become strong again. Maybe take some ponies with as slaves.

His attention was dragged to a mad giggling, seeing crazy pony trotting happily to his desk with a blood bug attached to his nose.

"Maybe not take slave, not have place to keep anyway." The gnoll muttered to himself.



<-(0)-> 



Even as lunch passed, a unicorn worked feverishly in the war room. There were buildings to design, crops to plan, resources to allocate, not to mention figuring out where to put all of the things still sitting in the courtyard before the storm struck. Looking out the window, he could see the rumbling  clouds in the distance. They awoke a fear in the unicorns heart for a grand total of three seconds, before he smothered it, remembered the Nightmare's words.

'If a race of magic-deficient creatures can learn to live with no control of the weather, so can I. Let no one say that Shadow Weaver was shown up by a creature with not a single mote of mana.'

He went back to his work, scribbling out a few lists before rushing out into the hallway and hoofing it on to a passing pony, ordering them to deliver it to Gleam. Wondering how he would seal the war room and the library against the rain, his question was answered by a buzzing noise, as a changeling flew about the outside of the room, rubbing a strange goop into the cracks in the temple before blasting them solid with its fiery magic. The creature worked quickly, sealing the cracks and attaching wooden boards held in place by pegasi over the holes.

'Maybe the Nightmare was onto something when He kept the bugs.' He absentmindedly thought, watching as within minutes, the war-room's walls were sealed against the coming storm. The Nightmare did so much for him, He vindicated Weaver's existence. The Nightmare's resurrection proved to him that he wasn't just following some fairytale, that change was possible. The Nightmare confused him, it was true, but he realized why he had so many problems trying to understand his ruler's ways. Weaver was attempting to understand the mind of a God. As if a mortal could ever hope to understand that!

'Not only that, His Darkness even explained to me why He helped us, and I brushed it aside like the heathen I was.' He thought, shaking his head. 'Truly He could have struck me down for my stupidity right then and there, speaking against His will. But once again He knew better, as He always does. I will not let my Lord down again.' The nightmare was in His room resting, recovering from whatever ailed Him, but His wishes were clear. The Nightmare wanted this place to be a refuge for ponies, thestrals, griffins, changelings and the, ugh, gnolls, or whatever else showed up at the temple, then fine.

Shadow Weaver would make this place the best Celestia-damned paradise he could.



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Everything you know is gone. Everything you cherish has withered away. Everything you love has long since crumbled to dust...



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She spread another layer of wax over another patch exposed dirt, before igniting her horn, leaving only the sealed substance that would keep the chamber warm and dry. The entrance was also rounded now. If water rushed into the basement, much of it would be directed away from her nest. She took another look around, observing her progress so far, and smiled. Food was plentiful, she had a nest she didn't have to actively defend, and all-

*throb*

The changeling winced, clutching her head with a hoof. Shaking off the pain, she snarled, storming up to the second floor. She pushed through the nauseating field of depression, and bucked open the door to the room Safe/Warm/Food was staying. His current mood was driving her mad, well, mad again, this time with the pain the waves of depression were causing her. She'd begun relying on the large kind of/not really prey. He offered everything she needed, and asked only that she not hurt his hatchlings. She even saw the hatchlings of other queens in the halls, not just ponies and cat-birds. He would treat her hatchlings the same, right? So she'd made a passive link to him, allowing her to taste his emotions no matter where he was, and funnel just a little of it into herself, allowing her to feed whenever she was hungry.

Now that link was the cause of her pain. His depression was rolling off of him in waves, driving the changeling hatchlings away, causing the pony hatchlings to emit bitter sadness, and worst of all was funneling depression right into her, giving her indigestion. Slowly, the alicorn turned to look at who had just kicked his door, and she swung at him.

*Crack*






Ted could only stare in confusion as the proto-queen glared at him, hoof still raised from where she'd back-hoofed him across the face. Slowly he raised his left hoof, touching the now-tender spot on his cheek and pulling the hoof away, checking for any blood.

"Disgusting, bitter. Giving me headache and scaring hatchlings away. Stop it." She hissed at him. It was all Ted could do to just nod along, wondering where the hell she'd come from. Finally, she rubbed her own muzzle with a hoof, before speaking again. "Say want to learn of us? Learn of changelings? We taste emotion, each different to us. What you feel before? Bitter, disgusting, almost make me sick. Had to push through to reach you, room still spinning. Do again, I do more than hit. You scare all hatchlings in Nest." Finishing her rant, the changeling turned for the door, unsteadily making her way to the hallways.

'Oh my god, I can't even be depressed without hurting someone here, how messed up is that?' Shaking his head, he rubbed his temple with his right hoof, wanting to avoid rubbing the tender spot. 'God dammit, just leave me to my mise-'

There was a flash of black and grey from the doorway, a painful impact near his eye, and Ted's world spun as he was thrown from the bed.
> Marriage and Leadership
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

*BZZZZZZZZZZ*

'I should be angry right now, even if that punch didn't leave so much as a bruise.' Ted thought to himself.

*ZZZZZZZZZZ*

'I should be furious that she bit me again, this time using some type of muscle relaxant.'

*ZZZZZZZZZZ*

'I should be smashing her face along every wall on the way to the door, then throw her out into the jungle before mulching her, just as I promised.'

*ZZZZZZZZZZZ*

'But I'll be damned if this isn't the best I've felt in years.'

The alicorn was lying limply on his bed, with the proto queen sitting between his wings, the loud buzzing of her wings the only sound in the room. The same buzzing that was giving a wonderful massage to his back. His physiology had long ago worked the venom out of his system, but the pleasant numbness the buzzing was leaving in his muscles took up the venoms job, leaving him capable of moving, but lacking the motivation to do so.

"Much better. Not taste so bad now. Not scare entire nest anymore." The changeling mumbled into his neck, apparently starting to doze herself. It really didn't matter to Ted, though. Nothing did at the moment.

As he dozed off to sleep, his last thoughts were 'At the very least, she's useful for back massages.'



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The next morning was just all around better for the dark alicorn. Sure he still had a cloud hanging over his head, and didn't have much in the way of energy, but at least he was no longer in that downward spiral. Ted remembered reading about such things in psychology, but to actually experience it? Looking back at his fears, most of them were downright excessive. What the hell would he do if a meteorite hit the planet in the time he was gone? What would he do even if he was there? Jack diddly, except die along with everyone else. The major emotion that clouded him today was embarrassment. It had taken a still-recovering changeling that could barely speak full sentences to pull him out of his spiraling depression.

Eating a small breakfast, he watched the ponies in the dining hall chattering quietly, shooting him the occasional glance. The proto queen was right; his depression seemed to have spilled over to all of those he was watching over, leaving the normally chipper ponies in a somber mood. It left a bad taste in his mouth, a different kind of depressed. He was dragging everyone around him down. Luckily, it was a type of depressed humans learned to deal with. Finishing his meal, Ted stood up and addressed those still in the dining hall.

"I'll be heading to the ritual room in half an hour and will be there until lunch. I will take an hour or two break for said meal, then I will return to the ritual room for another three hours. Should anyone be ready, meet me there with your partner and I will perform any weddings or acknowledge herds. Please pass the news on to the others."

Saying his piece, the alicorn left the dining hall and headed to his room to freshen himself up. He still looked like he'd been to a battle ground, with blood on his hooves and the smell of ash and death faintly stuck to him. That was no condition to preside over weddings in.

"Swift. Humble. get your flanks in here!" He yelled, leaving a slight rumble in the stones of the temple. It worked though, as soon enough both ponies came rushing into his room.

"I look like shit and will be presiding over weddings shortly. I need a bath STAT, and would like to look and smell like I did not just roll through a graveyard. Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated."

Both ponies gave a salute, one hoof going over their chests, and the two set to work. 



<-(0)-> 



"Do you have the gifts?" Ted asked the couple before him. At their nod, he turned to the stallion and continued. "Temporal Flux, do you accept Brook Ballad into your heart, to guard and cherish not 'till her death, but your own? To love her and keep her and any you may bring into your family? To accept her counsel and provide her with your own in times of doubt?"

"I-I do, Father." 

"And do you, Brook Ballad, accept Temporal Flux into your life?" Ted asked the mare. "Do you promise to love him and cherish him till death takes hold of you? Do you swear to treat him and any family you two may make or find in this life not with the love that is traded between friends, but an undying loyalty and love that inspires those who see it?"

"Yes! I do!"

"Then by my right as sovereign of this land, I ask that you exchange gifts, kiss, and be recognized officially as the Ballad Family."

There were many similarities between a pony wedding and the one or two religious weddings the alicorn had witnessed as a child. There was an exchange of gifts, in human weddings this was the rings. Being that the temple was in the ass end of no-where, he'd changed that to gifts, basically anything that could be exchanged(couples were promised the chance to have a redo at a later date if they wanted to use bangles or horn rings once things improved). There were a few witnesses, the best mare, and the exchanging of vows. But there were so many differences. The couple wasn't expected to stick around and chat, as they had business to attend to after the wedding, though a few did delay to be witnesses or aid in the weddings of their friends. There was also the fact that many of the families seemed to take the mares name. That had been confusing, till he remembered that ponies were matriarchal after so long being ruled by the princesses.
Next  there was the lack of many religious overtones. Most weddings he'd heard of had something related to spiritual oaths. It was for that reason he wanted the Till Death Do Us Part in the wording, even if it wasn't verbatim. Next was the fact that the one presiding over the wedding was apparently supposed to rattle off whatever came to mind during the vows, as there were no set vows to exchange. Then there was the length of the weddings. They were wonderfully concise, usually taking about an hour each, instead of the full afternoon affairs that some human weddings turned into. Some of that could be explained away by the fact that there would be no receptions and families were not around to dote on the couple, but Ted took it as a blessing.

Another difference was the fact that sometimes there were multiple ponies forming a herd. Out of 14 weddings, he'd acknowledged two herds, both consisting of two mares and a stallion. The wording for them were the same as regular weddings, but the vows and exchanges went three ways. He'd wondered if there should have been something about avoiding favoritism, but it turned out even mentioning it was taboo, as the family was not only supposed to avoid it, avoiding favoritism was expected in a herd setting.

The weddings were also strangely fun to preside over. Ted expected to be bored out of his mind doing this, but each pony was either terrified and nervous, or nearly hopping around the dais with excitement. Then there were the looks he was seeing shooting around the room. He'd probably look into some type of sound dampening spell tonight, and make sure the nursery had one over its wall as well. Don't need those poor kids getting kept up all night, as he was almost expecting would happen if he did nothing. Ted grimaced at the thought. He had no desire to explain to Rose, Adamant, and the others why the older ponies were wrestling in bed.

As the last new family walked out the door, the poor stallion almost being dragged out by his tail by two mares, Ted found his mood properly lifted. It was the main reason he set this up. A nice distraction, and a mood booster for both him and his followers.

'Mission accomplished. Probably head out tomorrow to restock. Slop said the supplies were starting to dwindle again.'

The dark alicorn had avoided buying food from the port( aside from seeds for crops), knowing that the money would be infinitely more useful being used for other things, things that his followers couldn't make or find out here in the jungles. Trotting up the stairs from the underground ritual chamber, he was met by two creatures. One was the largest of the gnolls, leaning against the wall waiting for him. The other was the changeling that had been given to him by the pack as tribute. The changeling stepped forward first, bowing and delivering a message.

"The proto-queen requested that you visit her in her nest after dinner. She said she needed to discuss something with you." Afterwards, the changeling, whose name he still hadn't learned, took off. 

'Blast, I still don't know half the ponies here. Now I also have gnolls to learn about. I can only guess how odd their traditions and rules are. One way to find out, I guess.' Ted thought to himself, turning to the large canine patiently waiting for him.

"Are your pack-mates doing well?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you Dark One." The gnoll muttered. "I Buster, current Alpha of Swift-paw pack." The gnoll hesitated for a moment, before dropping to all fours, ears splaying to either side. He drew a club and placed it on the ground in front of Ted. "Seek home for pack, but not know how to lead. Ask pony Alpha if he help. I not leader. I guard, warrior, scout. Follow orders, not know how to give."

Ted just stared at the gnoll for a moment. It took stones to admit that, and he could empathize with the guy. Leadership wasn't something everyone could do. Hell, the only reason Ted was leading was because none of the ponies seemed to have the foggiest when it came to it, barring Shadow and Gleam, and even those two only seemed to come up with short term goals. There was no vision, no dreams of where they would go in the future. A leader needed more than charisma. A leader needed to give his followers a reason to get up in the morning. To give his followers hope that tomorrow would be better, even if they had to wait through many bad tomorrows to see the improvement.

"So you wish to join us here? What does the rest of your pack think of this decision?" the alicorn asked.

"Not ask yet. Not sure how. How tell them not good enough, tell them not strong enough to help? Pony Alpha smart, yes? Tell Buster, how tell pack not good as Alpha?"

"I'd be happy to help you, Buster. It's a very hard thing to do, telling others your not fit for a position. It sometimes takes a special kind of strength to do something like that. Are there any other pack-mates who you would follow, who you would prefer lead in your stead? If so, I suggest nominating them and stepping aside."

"Only other strong pack-mate be Auto. He not, not right in head. Not think like Alpha, always want to fight. Get pack killed."

Ted nodded, he'd seen the other gnoll, and Auto did seem very aggressive, baring his fangs at anyone who looked him in the eye like he was looking for a fight.

"I think I have a solution for you Buster. Tell your pack-mates to meet me in the courtyard."



<-(0)-> 



There were a total of seven adult gnolls that showed up in the courtyard following Buster, two more still not allowed to move  under Trauma's orders. Soon, they were all seated before Buster and Ted. Watching them looking at him with a mixture of fear and hope, he smiled.
'My allies will look to the shadows with hope, and my enemies morale will fall with the setting sun.' He thought, before frowning.

'Where the hell did that come from?' Shaking his head, he took a final glance at the gathered canines before speaking.

"Buster has asked me for advice and I was more than happy to provide it. He claims to be unworthy of his current position, something that is difficult to admit. However, his reluctance to lead leaves you all in an odd position, so this is my offer. If any of you wish to stay here, you will follow my orders as Alpha. If any of you object, you are free to leave at any time. If any of you harm my followers, I will not only kick you out, I will leave you in the jungle tied up like a nice little snack for whatever predator finds you." Ted said to the gathered canines. His gaze lingered on several of them, though he ended up staring at the smaller male identified as Auto by the end, watching the little gnoll seethe with rage at his words.

"No, not listen to stupid pony. Challenge Buster for Alpha." The raging gnoll yelled.

"Buster is not the Alpha, as you'd know if you were listening. Your challenge is useless. If you'd like to leave, you may. However, if any of the pack wishes to stay here, they are welcome to." The alicorn said calmly, fully expecting the outburst after Buster's warning. "Those of you that stay will follow my orders as you would an Alpha, as you will while you stay here."

"No! Pack follow me. Pony not Alpha, pony weak. Challenge big pony!" Ted only stared in confused silence at the angry ball of fur. Had the gnoll really just challenged him after the alicorn not only wiped out their raiding party, but offered them shelter? He sighed and turned to Buster.

"So what are the rules for a chal-"

Before the words were out of his mouth, he felt claws digging into his barrel as Auto latched onto him, biting and clawing anything he could reach, but barely breaking the alicorns skin. Giving off a burst of energy that threw the pest off of him, Ted watched as the gnoll picked itself up and quickly rushed him again. As Auto prepared to launch himself at his opponent once more, the alicorn fired a small explosion between them, similar to those he used to chase predators from the fields during harvest runs.
The gnoll staggered, shaking the stars from his eyes, and looked up to see a tail. He barely had time to bring his arms up in a block before a single hoof bucked him into the jungle underbrush. Turning to watch the area he'd launched his attacker into Ted shot a question to the gnolls.

"Is this an 'until one side yields' fight? Or am I expected to kill him?"

"C-can be either, Dark One." One of the females answered. "Alpha's usually leave injury on pups that attack when not ready to lead, discourage stupid attacks. Auto have many, but ignore each one."

"So it may be best..." Ted shook his head. More blood isn't what he wanted right now, but he wasn't going to leave an insane mutt to stab his followers in the back because he didn't have the stones to put the damn thing down, nor was he going to let a rabid gnoll with a score to settle wander off and direct a larger force to his followers just to spite them. The alicorn's ears flicked, and he formed a single shadow blade. Auto burst from the jungle in a frenzy of teeth and claws, rushing his target with fangs bared and drool running down his fur. Just shy of his target, the gnoll collapsed, his body bleeding freely from the horrific gash in his torso, his right arm nearly entirely disconnected.

The gnoll had run straight into the shadow blade Ted had formed between himself and the jungle, the spell almost invisible in the growing shadows cast by the trees in the setting sun. It was not the outcome the alicorn wanted, but it did emphasize the problem the pack would have had with Auto as the leader.

"A berserker is a terrifying thing to face on the battlefield, but even more horrific is a leader with those kinds of ideals." He said, turning from his expiring opponent and facing the pack. "Buster knew this, as did many of your elders. In fact, I'm sure some of you at least had the idea that Auto being Alpha would have been a bad thing." Some of the gnolls nodded, others merely staring at the alicorn who seemed unfazed by the trickles of blood flowing down the front of his barrel. "The offer stands. We could always use fighters, and I'm sure Amald would be willing to work with you during your hunts. If any of you wish, we will be going out gathering tomorrow. Bring a bag and a weapon, and we'll get you supplied with some decent food. In the meantime I ask that you treat those also living here with respect, and I ask that you deal with Auto's body as you see fit. I've no experience with your people's customs, and have no idea where to begin with burial and death."

With the gnolls situation seemingly handled, albeit not in the way he'd have liked, Ted headed to the dining hall for a small meal, though he'd make a quick stop at the infirmary on the way. The scratches were tingling, and there was no way he was risking an infection from a mad gnoll. Then he'd find out what that proto-queen was up to. Maybe sometime along the way he'd decide if he was going to smash her through a wall or hug her.



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After picking at his meal for a good ten minutes, Ted made his way to the newly constructed nest. The death of yet another gnoll on his ha-hooves left a bitter taste in his mouth, despite the creature's apparent insanity. Arriving at the tunnel he'd given the larger changeling, he was surprised at just how much she'd accomplished.

The tunnel now had a lip at the entrance, presumably to keep debris in or out, and the entirety of the chamber had been covered in a strange black hardened material he'd seen in the shape shifters' nest by the port. Wandering into the nest, this time also watching the ceiling, he found the proto-queen sitting in the back on a raised platform that was covered in a blanket. Though at first she seemed asleep, as he approached, her eyes opened and she raised her head to watch him approach.

"You here, good. Finish while making ponies happy, nest ready at last." The last statement came out almost as a giggle, the excitement she was feeling obvious. 
"Need one last thing. Come close." She said, beckoning with a hoof.

Ted just stared at the changeling. "Do I have stupid written on my forehead? Each time you've gotten close to me you've either hit me or bitten me."

The changeling seemed to deflate at that jab, before allowing her wings to float her off the bed and onto her hooves before the alicorn.

"Promise to not hit or bite." She said, making an X across the front of her carapace with a hoof. At Ted's raised eyebrow, she rolled her own, and added to the list. "Also promise not hurt or incapacitate in any way. Have need. Want to visit during next few days, keep full. Queen that has much food becomes stronger after final molt from proto-queen." She stepped closer to him, almost cuddling against him. "Keep link safe, yes? Stronger alicorn make stronger queen, stronger queen make stronger alicorn. Help each other, both get stronger."

"And what believable promise can you make that you'll still help me after you become a queen?" Ted asked.

Suddenly she giggled, bouncing back onto her bed. "This." She said, sticking out her serpentine tongue, with had-

Ted whipped his head to his side, using a hoof to raise his mane to his eyes, before looking back to the proto queen. She'd taken a small clip of hair from his mane while sitting by him even after promising... alright. Technically she didn't hurt him, so she didn't lie, but she seemed to love skirting the boundaries.
"Why did you steal my hair?"

She pulled the hair into her mouth. "Secret. Promise it not bad. Think you like. Mother mention this before, before she went away." She giggled once more before swallowing, smiling mischievously at him.
"Not get back now, yes?"

Ted rolled his eyes. He'd ask Mirage if changelings had any weird hair voodoo that he should worry about, maybe ask Luna if such magic even existed on this world. Otherwise the proto-queen was still valuable, and if things worked out he'd have a loyal and powerful ally. Surely putting up with her shenanigans over the next few days would be worth that, right?
> Proper Plot Care
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had been four days since the proto-queen first stole that clip of hair from Ted, and he'd assumed the changeling wouldn't be too much of a problem. Yes she seemed a lot more touchy, tended to show up for meals at inopportune times, and was generally as clingy as a small child, but it wouldn't be much longer. The previous night had seen her slowing down, her eyes looking a bit glassy, her steps a bit more wobbly. Actually, that was probably why she was so clingy. Her final molt seemed to have left her weak, and he was the largest and safest thing in the jungle.
Looking at the sleeping changeling curled up under his wing, he chuckled. Yes she was a pain in the flank, that didn't stop it from being funny when she teased the other changelings or made fun of Shadow for tasting weird. That last one he assumed was the fact that Shadow Weaver seemed to be obsessed with enacting his plans to construct the buildings around the Temple of the Shadows, sometimes even foregoing sleep to work late into the night. Ted had ordered the stallion to bed several times after waking up and finding him drooling over the maps in the war room.

Stretching his wings, still stiff from his first few practices with Blur, he went through his morning rituals before nudging the proto-queen, waking her up to tell her he was taking off, but she didn't react. Confused, he tried again, louder, before escalating to shoving her. Still the changeling didn't react. Worried something was wrong, he flashed his life detection spell, breathing a sigh of relief when the shape-shifter glowed under the spell. Trotting out the room and down the hall, he entered the nursery and approached Mirage.

"Mirage, do you have a moment?" He whispered, seeing the foals still sleeping. 

The smaller changeling nodded sleepily, following him into the halls. Finally getting back to his room, he sat before his bed, gesturing to the still insensate proto queen.

"Is this normal, or is something wrong with her?" He asked. "I've tried waking her up, but she doesn't even flinch."

Mirage sighed, before flitting around the larger being, poking and prodding here, rubbing a hoof there, muttering to herself all the while. Finished with her observations, she landed next to the alicorn once more, before turning to face him.

"If you decide you don't want her to become a queen, now would be the time to act. She's undergoing the final stages of her last proto queen molt right now. From what one of my sisters told me, they're pretty deep changes, so the proto queen usually hibernates through them to avoid the discomfort. Of course, by discomfort I mean gut wrenching pain. I think she said the final stage only lasts a few hours, she'll wake up later and break out of her old chitin a full fledged queen."

"So nothings wrong?" Ted asked.

"No, nothing's wrong, except with your head. With all due respect, of course." The shape shifter replied, staring at the hibernating proto queen.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he thanked her for her help, before heading to breakfast. There were some things he needed to check on today before he met with Blur in the courtyard.



<-(0)-> 



Walking out into the morning sun, the alicorn noted the buildings finally going up around the Temple. The smithy was about half-way complete, still missing the outer structure but having all the important parts already set up, like the forge and the anvil. Inside, directing the final placement of tool racks and storage bins for metals were an earth pony mare and a gnoll. Walking up to the building, the gnoll responded to him first.

"Can Spot help Dark One?" The canine asked.

"Hello Spot, how are you and Sterling handling the things here?"

"Almost done, Dark One. Pony know much about metal, but not like make weapons." Spot explained. "So Spot learn, then make better claws for pack. Pony make what she want, Spot make what he want, everydoggy happy!" 

"Good to hear. We need some decent armaments for everyone while we're this deep in the jungle. Let Sterling know I stopped by." Having said his piece, Ted continued on his inspection. The outdoor barracks wouldn't be used to a while, but it gave them extra living and storage space once it was completed. Until they either left or the group grew, it could possibly be used for a merchants quarters until they built an actual inn.
Ted smiled at that thought. Ponies, changelings, griffins, dragons, thestrals, gnolls, creatures of all walks of life sharing a drink and a good story over a hearty meal. That was something he could back. He may not see it in his lifetime, but it was still fun to dream of it. How would this place grow if he did his job right? No world-ending mistakes, just a small group that barely qualified as a village growing into an honest to god city. Generations growing up, looking to the old temple and saying 'That's where it happened, that's where my great-great-great grandpa and grandma helped summon Cim-Theodore, the one who helped them, who presided over their wedding, and who turned this place from an abandoned temple in the middle of the jungle into the home it is now.'
How long would he live in this current form? Luna and her sister were damn near immortal, so surely a bit of that longevity would rub off on him. He was betting it would add at least a hundred years to his life, maybe two if he was lucky and didn't push himself into an early grave with stupid mistakes. He frowned then, the thoughts of life and death drawing him back to thoughts of home. He still wanted to go home, but would he survive it? Unless he managed to get Luna's memories not just sealed but outright removed, they still posed a threat, not to mention the fact that he didn't want to just leave the cultists in the middle of the jungle with no protection. At the very least he wanted them settled to the point of being safe, maybe even look into actually pushing against the mad queen, freeing the alicorns and those ponies she was using to power her arrays. He wanted to help this world, not just those he happened to be able to see and speak to.
Then there was the issue of dimensional travel. How much did they actually have researched on the topic? Did the ponies have the ability to trace things back to their point of origin? If not, how many years would it take to find his own home? Would anything he knew back home even be there by the time he got back?

Ted shook his head. He'd already traveled that path earlier, he didn't need to revisit it just yet. Going back to his inspection, he came across his first major request that was already nearing completion. Before him stood a large plot of land, cleared over the last few days of lumber and food, being tilled and seeded for farming. From Gleams estimates, the smaller plants would be harvestable within two weeks, while the trees were several years down the road. The bushes would, if treated properly, be usable by the end of the season. Ted shook his head at the thought. The idea of a pony's magic accelerating crop growth beyond anything hundreds of years of science could accomplish blew his mind if he stopped to think about it. It was also a wonderful relief to hear the foraging trips would be cut down in the future. Around the fields a small barrier was being erected, wooden fences lined with simple deterrent arrays to keep pests and rodents out of the fields. Walking the perimeter of the construction, he talked with his followers, new and old, and generally attempted to get an idea of where morale sat. Overall, it seemed that the ponies were happy, their current situation better than they expected to find in the middle of nowhere. The gnolls were harder to read, though he was thankful for their efforts. Many stood guard throughout the work zones, keeping watch for predators and bandits, while several pegasi had set up a cloud-based lookout over the Temple of the Shadows. His current goal was to be able to inspect that building as well, but it was currently beyond what he felt safe trying to do. Baring his fangs in a grin, Ted headed off to his next stop. It was time to visit his favorite little zealot.



<-(0)-> 



"...and remember to check your feathers' alignment before each flight. Most pegasi memorize the feeling of their feathers after a few years, but you don't really have that luxury. You forgot yesterday and ended up crashing because of it." Blur said, running a trained eye over Ted's wings and pointing out any misbehaving feathers. It was part of the training he'd asked her for, a 'Don't do it for me, let me know what to do and how to do it, then tell me if I do it wrong' set up. He was becoming a bit more comfortable with setting the feathers, though doing it with his mouth would always remind him of the times he'd get hair in his mouth after a haircut. He'd spend several minutes spitting and sometimes even wipe his tongue off, only to sputter after the taste of mud from his hooves ended up in his mouth.
'Sometimes I really miss my hands.' he thought forlornly. Magic allowed for more precise movement of many more objects, it was true. However, Ted had yet to learn how to use it to wipe feathers and dirt from his tongue.

"Ok, we're going to start by hovering a few paces off the ground." Blur said, taking flight.

Ted followed her up a few feet, the basic takeoff never really giving him any trouble. He'd looked up a spell for observing mana flow after the disaster of his first practice in which he couldn't even get any lift, speculating that magic was involved in keeping creatures as aerodynamic as a brick in the air. His gamble paid off in spades, allowing him to observe the individual beats of Blur's wings driving not only air, but magic downwards as well. After figuring out how to get the magic flowing to his wings, he'd managed to launch himself nearly forty feet into the air on accident. Only a quick shift to a more shadowy form kept him from sustaining any injuries from that mistake.

'Moving forwards is like the breast stroke, turning is done by shifting the wings while in motion, unless you're at a stand still, then its a slight shift of the wings on each beat, left is left wing pushing forward a bit and right wing pushing backwards a bit, right is vice versa.' Ted reviewed. The mechanics were a nightmare to learn, on top of everything else he was having to learn, like the basics of magic from an old tome he'd snuck out of the library when no-one was looking, or local geography( thank god for boy scout map reading classes). Still, the ability to move as quickly as a bird, able to respond to any threats in his land was just too much to pass up. What if things had gone badly for the griffon and the thestrals? He'd have been too late to help them, even moving at top speed. If something else happened in his territory, Ted was going to be able to respond like lightning.

Blur circled him a few times, watching every movement of his wings. "Ok, now try moving forward a bit. Remember, its all about the twist of the wings and where you push the magic."

Ted complied, slowly inching forward, before reversing his wings, throwing the magic forward a bit to counter his momentum. Slowly, he then started twisting to face the smaller flyer too lost in his concentration to see the grin on her face. It was about control at this point for him, as his power was well beyond what pegasi usually have. Taking a deep breath, Ted started pushing down with a little more force, slowly rising higher into the sky. He still had his human fear of heights, and that would only distract him in the future. Ignoring Blur's confused attempts at getting his attention, he slowed his ascent, and opened his eyes.

Jungle. As far as he could see, the trees stretched on forever. Rotating to the west, he spotted the ocean in the distance, the top of the abandoned town's guard tower barely identifiable over the trees. A quick look north left a small speck in the distance, a shift of colors alerting him to a boat either coming in to port or leaving for another dock. It was breathtaking, something he only ever saw from either a plane or the top of a skyscraper. And it was all under his own power. He could feel the winds, he could probably even go and touch the clouds if he had the mind to. 
Smiling, he brought the shadow-form spell to the forefront of his mind. It was something he'd wished he'd thought of several times over the last week, but as they said, hindsight was twenty-twenty. Slowly giving himself some forward momentum, he spread his wings and allowed a steady stream of mana to flow, leaving him in a slow glide.

'Hold them steady, mana output at about point five percent for this kind of thing. Don't panic. If you start to fall too fast, add more. Don't panic. After a while, twist to the left, pull the wings up a bit while angled to turn, and then allow yourself to level out. Don't panic.' He could vaguely make out the sounds of beating wings, but didn't look, for fear of losing his concentration. 
'Holy hell, I'm actually doing- no, focus, that gets people killed. Turning, turning, level-whoa, level out, ok. Now more gliding.'

After returning to the airspace over his original training spot, he started flapping again, throwing himself much higher than he'd anticipated.

"Shit!" 'Don't panic. Don't panic, panic and you die. It's the magic output, you're not gliding anymore, turn it down.'
The alicorn's ascent stopped, followed by a quick increase in downward momentum. 
'Too low!' Before he hit the ground, he activated the shadow-form spell, leaving a dark blur to bounce off of the ground.

"Father!" Blur was at him a moment later, trying to check a shuddering shadow for injuries, only to be spooked when the color returned to the alicorn with an explosion of sound.

"Hahaha, oh my god, that was sick!" Ted laughed, rolling back onto his hooves. "That was bucket-list material right there, fly under your own power. And the view! The sooner I get this under control the better, I can't wait to get this licked!"
Finally becoming aware of the fact he'd just scared the color off of a Pegasus, Ted took a few giggling breaths to calm himself. Still giggling quietly, he picked up the spooked mare, and gave her a fierce hug.
"Thanks, Blur. I'm sorry if I spooked you, but I got a bit carried away. I promise to warn you if I get any more dumb ideas while practicing, ok?" A murmer and a nod were his only response.

"Alright, well, since we just finished that wonderful workout, how about we get some dinner, ok?"



<-(0)-> 



Dinner was uneventful, though the alicorn would continue to burst into giggles until the rest of the adrenaline worked its way out of his system. The rest of the evening was spent on spell-craft and geography, as well as meeting up with Gleam and Shadow as they brought any major issues to his attention. Seeing the two spending so much time working together, Ted had jokingly asked if he'd be presiding over another wedding in the future. Shadow had almost immediately dismissed the idea, citing not having the time with the community sitting on the edge of disaster seemingly every day. Gleam seemed to stare at her fellow unicorn for a few seconds after the comment though, earning a chuckle from Ted, and a request for at least a week's notice beforehand. Fighting her blush, and sputtering a few times, the unicorn countered.

"What about your Changeling pet? She's been practically attached to you for the last few days. In fact I've not seen her since last night." Afterwards, the mare immediately covered her mouth.

Ted just laughed at the jab "She's cute for her kind, yea, but she's still young and, I don't know, she's still recovering. Not only that, she's going through her final proto-queen molting right now, so she's weak. If I lost most of my strength for a few days, I'd stick close to someone I trusted as well." Smiling sadly, he looked up from the maps to Gleam. "Don't be afraid to speak your mind, Gleam, you and Shadow, hell, everyone here is a family. If something bothers you, speak up, if something looks stupid, say so. I don't need to end up losing people to a stupid mistake because someone was too scared of my ire to warn me of a danger in my plans. You two are advisors here, not royal yes-men."

"S-sorry, father, I just got a little carried away." Gleam stuttered out. "And, thank you. It's nice to see everyp-everyone smiling again. It was getting bad before the ritual."

"Some of us thought it would get worse afterwards, actually." Shadow muttered, not looking up from the document he was pouring over. "You know for a fact I was one of the ponies in that particular camp." Suddenly he stopped, staring Ted in the eyes. "I fully expected to die out here, either by the claw of a monster or at your own hoof. I'm... still working out how I feel about the current possibilities for the future."

Ted looked at the stallion with sorrow in his eyes. "How you were before, Shadow? Running headlong into what you thought was certain death? I appreciate what it did for me, but never let yourself fall that far again. It's why we keep other's by our side. It's why I keep pushing you all to try for a better future. What you were before was a person without hope, right? That's why you came out here, why you tried bringing back a being that you thought would kill you out of boredom. Without hope, we can't live. Hope is why we get up in the morning. Hope is why we push through the aches and pains of each day. Hope is why we continue, even when we have nothing, because when we lose hope, we die. We may still be alive, walking the world as others do, but we're not actually living that life, are we? Without hope, we're just an empty shell, waiting until the day death takes us."

Shadow Weaver chewed his lips a few moments before standing, removing his cloak for the first time in Ted's memory. Underneath was a lean, battered body, several signs of scaring showing through his coat.
"I was always the odd one out, Father. A name like Shadow Weaver, and everyone assumes I use necromancy or dark magic. Even Celestia's school for gifted unicorns wouldn't have me. I aced the exams, had the power they required, but they took one look at me, at my name, at my cutie mark, and said I'd destroy the country if I ever got the chance. That with the proper training the only thing I'd manage is to be the next Sombra."

Ted glanced around the table at the now displayed image, an image he recognized from the spell books as an array. The details didn't make sense to him, but all things considered, the story didn't seem that farfetched. A pony's name seemed to be linked to their magic, as was their emblem, a direct display of their talent manifested through their magic. A pony with a dark name and a strange symbol on their rump? People had been burned at the stake on Earth for less.

Cocking his head slightly, the alicorn asked one last question. "I assume you know what the array does?"

Shadow chuckled turning to look at the mark once more. "It's a shielding array."

The conversations turned more work related and lighthearted after the revelations. Having a pony as rough as Shadow baring his soul like that to him left Ted feeling a bit at odds with his own worries. Here he was, worried about a second name, one that probably fit his new form better than the 'Mr. Nightmare' thing that was going around, and one of his followers couldn't even introduce himself without others classifying him as an evil sorcerer.
Bidding the two a good night, Ted headed to his room, ready to get some sleep. Opening his door a bit, he was reminded that it was currently in use. Walking up to the insensate changeling, he nudged her once more, before turning to the door, wondering if he'd have to sleep elsewhere. Right next to a comatose person was not how he planned on spending his night, and he wasn't sure if moving her was possible or healthy. As he reached the door though, one of his ears flicked. Turning and approaching the proto-queen, he leaned in closer, hearing small creaks and cracks coming from the chitin.

Suddenly the entire length of the changelings back was ruptured by a large crack, the ashen plates separating to allow the proto queen to escape the older exoskeleton.
'Queen now, I suppose.' Ted thought to himself while backing up a few paces.

As she worked her way free, he noted her new skin seemed a bit darker than it was before. Then with a gasp, she pulled her head free, allowing a clean and full, if short, mane to fall free. Writhing free of the last bits of her prison, she finally managed to separate from the shell, slumping onto the bed and breathing heavily. All the while Ted could only stare at the absolutely bizarre situation unfolding before him. Then it hit him, the reason she stole that clip of hair. Her mane was darker, almost an ashen blue, while most of the plates actually seemed to be missing, or thinner than they had been as a proto queen. Finally, after a few moments airing, the chitin darkened a bit, leaving her ash-white plates a dark blue-grey instead.

Eyes finally coming into focus, she spotted Ted and grinned. Weakly, she brushed a hoof, bearing only slight pock-marks instead of holes, through her short mane.

"Enjoy watching mares struggle out of their old clothes?" She asked him in a rasping voice.

Ted merely stared at the changeling and her discarded shell, before trotting closer, earning a larger grin from the newly molted queen. Lifting a section of his bedding in his magic, he held it in front of her.
"You ruined my sheets."
> Queen Huggle-Buzz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	For a few moments the two just stared at each other, the changeling queen in confusion, and the alicorn in exasperation. Finally, Ted stepped into the hallways, returning a few moments later with clean linens. Before the queen could respond, he grabbed the edges of the dirty sheets in his magic, pulled them free and wrapped them and their contents up, including the queen, and levitated them to the floor. He then applied a fresh batch of linens to his mattress. Luckily, the goop didn't seem to seep through the sheets and blankets into his matress, so their was no long term damage, but he wouldn't be surprised if the sheets the queen was currently struggling out of were ruined. Walking past her into his bathroom, he came back out with a few wet rags and towels. The second the queen's head breached her prison, she was smacked in the face with a wet rag.

"Phht-blech, what are you doing?!" She yelled, attempting to bring a hoof to bare to stop the assault.

"Your disgusting, and can barely walk. If you think you're getting back on my bed like that you've got another thing coming." Ted responded, pulling away a few parts of the sheet and slapping more rags onto her form. The bath wasn't ready, but one of the unicorns had managed to get a simple heating array on a bucket, allowing him to make enough warm water to wash his face in the mornings. Slowly the bucket became more disgusting, and the changeling less so, until circling the shivering bug, he couldn't find any more of the slime.
Finishing his route, he was about to say something, but was confused by her expression. She just stared emptily ahead, shuddering every now and again. Poking her garnered no expression, and shoving her nearly sent the catatonic creature back into the soiled linens. Not willing to just put her back in the empty and cold tunnels below the temple, Ted set her on the mattress, wrapped in a blanket, and sat on the other side. He'd need to look into getting a larger one, it seemed. He was still growing, oddly enough, and the pillows and towels he used before were getting smaller as time passed. Ok, so they weren't getting smaller, but relative to him, everything was getting smaller.

Slowly dozing off, he noticed the queen give one more shiver on the bed next to him. Sighing, he pulled her a little closer, letting his body heat keep her warm. She was an insect, right? They didn't generate their own body heat as far as he knew. It was probably why she was so cold despite the warm water. She'd been shivering almost the entire time he was wiping her down. Hopefully by the time her chitin hardened she'd be a bit more resistant to the cold.



<-(0)-> 



The next morning started normally for the alicorn, though he did have to free himself from the surprisingly strong grip of the queen. Breakfast was wonderful, a few of Slop's vegetable cakes with a side of whatever meat the gnolls, griffin and thestrals had found the prior day. The ponies in the hall chattered happily, a good sign to him, and several seemed quite attached to those they sat next to, as he saw many nuzzles and kisses between followers. Ted grinned at the displays. A person only started actively pursuing love when their other needs were met. Therefore, such displays meant he was doing his job, right? Unfortunately, there was not much more he could accomplish with his current amassment of followers at the moment. Things would have to be allowed to settle, the ponies would need to finish the plans he'd already laid out, and he'd need to expand his influence, either by recruitment, a dangerous route considering it publicized his presence more than he already had, or allowing his current followers to, well, multiply. That was safer, but unlike real time strategy games, a foal was not born at full strength, and the mother would be all but incapacitated towards the end of the pregnancy if it was anything like the human process. Before he could let his mind segue into the genetics involved in a pegasus and a unicorn having a child, he was approached by Mirage, the changeling scowling as she drew near.

"Couldn't wait for that, could you? Her chitin wasn't even properly hardened before you got your hooves on her, I'll bet. I knew, I just knew there was a stupid reason you were keeping her, but for something as simple as that? It's shameful, that's what it is! The highest form of a changeling reduced to, to that!"

"Mirage what are you talking about?" Ted asked the raving shape shifter.

"What am I talking about?!? I, I... You don't actually know, do you? Oh by the First Mother, you really don't. But, but I could sense them from the nursery! The pheromones! The queen was throwing them off like she was... Like you were, well, claiming her last night!"

"Claiming her? What the- oh, oh no no no, I never touched her like that, the thought never reached my mind. No, all I did was knock her and her old shell off my bed, clean my sheets, and wipe that mess off her. She was cold afterwards, so I let her stay with me. She's going to have to go back to her room after this is all settled and her new shell hardens. The only reason I've let her stay so long is because she's been weak the last few days."

"Wiped her, wait, you touched her after she molted?! Do you have any idea how sensitive chitin is after a molt?" At his confused stare, the changeling buried her face in her hooves. "Stars and Sun above, you really have no clue."

"Wait, are you saying that I, by wiping her down while she was still soft I..."

Mirage nodded "I could smell her from down the hallway. So could the nymphs, but I don't think they knew what was going on, just that a queen was nearby, which made them happy. Of course, I'd react the same way she did, if someone hit every point on my body right after a molt."

"Oh my god, she wasn't cold she was... oh my god." Ted wasn't sure he should laugh or cry at this newest bit of information. "Anything else I should be worried about? Anything else I should avoid doing to avoid unintentionally molesting some of my followers?"

Despite the absurdity of the situation Mirage chuckled. "Changelings are most sensitive after a molt, but otherwise it's the same rules for pony contact. We also happen to keep some sensitivity from our horns or wings when we shape shift though, so watch your hooves. I don't know anything about griffins or gnolls though, we were always told to avoid them. Griffins hate changelings with a passion, something about having no honor, and gnolls? Well, this is the first time I've seen them, they don't come close to pony cities."

"And dragons are a bunch of horn dogs, right? I mean, I know I've only run into one, but he seemed really preoccupied with finding a dragoness to keep him company." Ted said with a grin. Sahkest would laugh himself hoarse if he heard about this incident. Suddenly his grin fell. Oh god, Luna would never let him hear the end of it. She'd probably also go into explicit detail of all the spells she'd learned over the years to 'improve the experience.' Nope, there was no way he was letting that mare get that from him.

Shaking his head, he returned his focus to the smaller changeling mare. "No, Mirage, I didn't do anything to her intentionally, nor did I know about your kinds sensitivity after a molt." He chuckled a bit, before a thought struck him. "Speaking of doing things, how have you been sleeping? I've been keeping a sound dampening spell over the nursery these last few days."

"For which I've been extremely grateful, Father. Grift says he's been having a hard time sleeping, though I don't think it bothers him all that much. I offered to let him sleep in the nursery with me, but he's getting fat off all the emotions flying around the dorms at night. A few more days in there and he'll be too fat to fly. As much as it pains me to admit this, we may need to start storing some of the emotions were picking up. I'd ask the queen, but I'm not really ready to talk to her. Could you mention it to her? Maybe ask her if she would mind a part of the nest being used in that way, or even an extension built into the nest for the food storage? I'd ask Gleam for a place, but while she's been nice to me and the nymphs, I don't think she's ready to see that. It tends to, well, scare most ponies."

Ted nodded. "I'll ask her, though I don't know when. I'm probably going to be avoiding her while I figure out how to apologize over this whole incident."

Just then the background chatter slowly started to die, drawing the two's attention to the entrance. Trotting up to Ted with a large grin on her face was the changeling queen. She passed Mirage without a second thought, before stepping onto the slightly raised platform Ted's chair sat on, and planting a kiss on the shocked alicorn's lips.

"That was wonderful, thank you." She said, before giggling and trotting off, slowing about halfway to the door to look back and wiggle her flank at him, before continuing out the door.

The alicorn just sat there, staring after the queen, jaw hanging open even as every set of eyes in the room was on him. Mirage snickered, than exploded into a full out laugh, before turning to him.

"Yea, good luck with that."



<-(0)-> 




"I swear, the more time I spend on this planet, the less sense it makes." Ted muttered to himself, reading yet another spell book in the library. No matter what scenario he put through his mind, he couldn't think of a way to break it to the queen that he wasn't actually interested in her. He was a busy stallion after all, and she was, well...
'A half-starved bug horse that I pulled out of a creepy cave and held on to in order to spite this evil in the sky I've been told about so often.' Actually, it wasn't all that true. She certainly was looking healthier than the skeletal thing he'd carried into the port about a week or so ago. Not only that, most of the plates didn't follow her through the molt. Did that mean she felt safe here, willing to drop her natural armor on the belief that she didn't need it anymore? Why would she think that?

Ted's face hit the desk a moment later, his horn goring the hapless book he'd been reading. 'Because she has a big strong demi-god to protect her now. So having a more attractive form would trump self-defense in this case.'
He'd asked for this. He'd literally gone up to fate and said 'Hey, since things are going so smoothly, think you can spice things up for me again? It's getting too close to normal over here.' And fate, being the gigantic dick it was, looked at him and smiled, saying 'Sure thing, pal! How about an amorous bug thing you know nothing about? No, don't worry, just be nice and shit will happen on its own. After all, the entire changeling race is hunted just for existing, surely helping her won't cause any issues!'

"I asked for this. I asked for this so hard."

"Asked for what?" A voice said as hoofsteps reached his ears. "And why are you killing a spell book with your horn?"

Ted raised his head to look at the visitor, only to have the book slide down his horn, further obscuring his vision. Lighting his horn and attempting to pull the book off, he stopped about half-way to his goal, wracked by alien sensations that sent shivers down his back as the book rubbed against his actively channeling horn. Defaulting to his hooves, he managed to finally get the book off, spotting Shadow Weaver trading books on farming for books on construction planning.

"I've done that before." The unicorn said. "The 'getting things stuck on your horn and trying to take it off with magic' thing. One learns not to do that fair quickly, or we learn to do it faster. Strange feeling. Heard some unicorns enjoy it, though. Just gives me the chills."

"Only the most recent oddity I've run into. It turns out changelings are very sensitive to touch after molting, and I used wet rags to wipe the goop off of the new queen right after she molted, sending her to changeling nirvana."

"Not sure where or what nirvana is, but I don't think your talking about the state of Neighvada, right? I'm going to assume it's another term for Elysium. The open fields in the sky?" The alicorn nodded. "Well, your Darkness, I guess you're just going to have to stallion up and talk to her about it."

Ted stopped short, the smile falling from his face as he looked at the pony that a week ago was practically cowering in his presence. The focus seemed to bring the fear back into Weaver's eyes, uncomfortable doubt turning quickly into an almost hysterical fear.

"I, I'm sorry, Master!" The stallion said, dropping into a grovel. "I don't know what came over me! I've been getting too lax in my prayers, and allowed myself to fall from the path! I promise to say my prayers every morning like I should be, I'll even go to Blur's sermons more often if you want I just-"

"Shadow!" Ted cut the rambling unicorn off. "Relax, you just surprised me. I took no offense to your words." Seeing the pony twisting to lock an eye from his prone position with the alicorn, Ted smiled. "In fact, that kind of thing is why I asked you and Gleam to be more relaxed when it's just us making plans. What good are advisors if you ignore what they say and harm them for disagreeing with you?" Ted laughed at a returning memory, looking back at the unicorn who slowly picked himself up off the floor. "I just remembered something. Next time we make a large-scale plan, we'll get Rose to take a look at it before we implement it, ok?"

"W-what? Why?"

"Rule twelve: One of my advisors will be a small child. Any flaws in my plans he or she can find will be corrected before implementation." Ted said, still chuckling. "It's a list from long ago, a long list of things that most rulers forget. These things often end up with the ruler dying in a painful and ironic way. When our workload lightens up, I'll share some of them with you. If nothing else, it should give you an idea of what to watch out for so you can warn me. When I read them before, it was for a laugh or two, but the more I think about them, the more I want to write them down. It's actually why I want everyone to be happy. Happy followers are loyal followers, unlikely to let a hero who wants to kill me even get into the Temple."

Shadow just stared at him for a moment, eyes glazed with the simple idea. The Nightmare was inspiring fierce loyalty, he knew that from watching Blur preach, and when he'd asked her, she'd not shown any hints of a mind control spell. That zealotry was one hundred percent natural. By making his followers happy, he didn't have to show his power every day to cow the masses. They followed because he was better than the alternative.

Ted chuckled once more at the lost look on the stallions face, followed by what he imagined was enlightenment, before turning back to his book. 

The one with a hole right where he was reading.

"Fuzz nuggets."



<-(0)-> 



At last, the alicorn sat before chamber the queen had taken as her nest. The tunnel now even had a door stuck to the strange material that covered the chamber, allowing the room to be fully closed off from the rest of the Temple. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door, waited a moment, then opened it.

"Visiting me again already?" The queen asked coyly, her grin visible by the reflection of light on her fangs. "I thought you'd at least wait until the sun went down."

"I'm not here because of last night. Actually, forget that. I am here because of last night, that and something else, just not in the way you're implying." Ted responded, walking up to her as she was building separate sections to the tunnel. She looked a bit darker now that her outer shell had time to harden, though he swore he saw some short fuzz on some of the softer plates of chitin.
"First things first, are you ever going to tell me your name, or am I going to have to call you Queen Huggle-Buzz? Because I will."

The mare stopped dead at his statement, whipping around with a snarl. "If you ever try to call me something like that, I will feed you your own wings!"

"Then give me something to call you." Ted said, unaffected by the explosion of anger.

The queen calmed herself, before trotting forward to meet him. "How about a trade, hmm? Mine for yours?"

"Nightmare." Ted said. The queen immediately turned her head and made a gagging noise.

"Please, at least put some effort into the lie. I can taste emotions remember?" She said.  "Not to mention that name, it doesn't feel right. I've felt names before, warm, safe and delicious, and that wasn't it."

Ted raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but was silent. His own or the one Luna gave him? Would his original name read as incorrect to magic senses? Technically, he didn't feel like the new one was his either.

'Why not both?' 
"Theodore Cimmerian Fredson." He answered. Maybe that would work, using it as a middle name. He knew many people back home had middle names, and he didn't. At the very least it gave him someplace to put the new name.

The queen seemed to chew this information for a moment, most likely trying to verify it in her own way, before nodding.

"When a queen molts, her name becomes clear to her. I am Queen Pandinus." She said, raising a hoof. Ted met the hoof with his own, grasping it with his hoof's pastern and locking it around hers. The queen looked confused at his positioning for a moment, before nodding at the surprisingly strong grip it yielded.

"Thank you, it's a pleasure to have you here. The second thing I'd like to discuss was our, contact last night. I was approached by Mirage this morning-"

Pandinus giggled at the mention of the mare "Ah, the clutch-nurse. She doesn't like me that much, does she?"

"As I was saying," Ted continued. "She approached me this morning and told me about the sensitivity of your kind after a molt, and I'd like to apologize and clear up the confusion. I didn't mean anything other than kindness, and hope you forgive me for the touching you in such a way without permission." He said, bowing his head slightly. "I've not found an interest in you, nor am I looking for a, uh, partner at the moment. Sorry for any confusion." Turning to leave, he was stopped by a giggle.

"Really, now? If that's what you can do without trying, I can't wait to see what you can manage with some actual effort."
> Everything the Light Touches
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted stood before the entirety of his following, even Queen Pandinus finding a place among the gathered, though he was certain it was to make more lewd gestures at him as he gave his speech. She'd been fairly persistent, taking every available chance to flirt or flaunt herself at him (It turned out that yes, a changeling queen could in fact lick their own horn). Ted took a few breaths to steel himself. He hated public speaking, but this was the future he'd been damned to live. Bracing himself, he stepped onto the makeshift podium that had been set up on top of the Temple of the shadows. Standing tall and proud in his armor, he spoke in a loud, clear voice.

"Followers, I want you to look around you." He said, gesturing the completed smithy, a small storage barn near the finished crop fields, and a larger warehouse styled storage building. "A month ago from today, several ponies gathered in this place to pull a monster from its prison, hoping it would attack the one on the Equestrian throne. A month ago, they learned that the being they received was nothing like they predicted, that it was more than they had hoped for. Instead of doom this being offered them protection and leadership. Instead this being gave them hope when they had none, helped them fill their empty bellies, and gave them the things they needed to mend their wounds.
"Last month they were told to lay aside their prejudices, to welcome into their home beings of other races, some of whom had actually attacked them days before. To accept into their home beings who were used to scare them into behaving when they were young with promises of abduction and torture. They learned that these stories were just that, stories that only stopped them from learning the truth, that these beings were like them in so many ways. They learned that everyone, no matter their race, wants to live comfortably with their loved ones, to have purpose and goals. Everyone wants to have a place where they can lay down their heads at night, not fearing a midnight assault, or wondering where their next meal will come from, if it comes at all. But most of all they learned about hope. Hope saw them through the jungles to this place they now call home. Hope kept them alive even as they fled everything they knew. Hope kept them alive, even as they left their friends and family, unable to live in the world they once loved. And hope is what they followed, the reason they followed a stranger after the devastation of their home.

"Those buildings behind me? I didn't build those. I didn't gather the wood, or shape it, or write the blueprints for the buildings. You all did that. Shadow Weaver and Gleam, you two have done so much for this place, this, I'm overjoyed to call it this, this home we have here. We owe you much for your efforts. Amald, your training of our guards is progressing wonderfully despite what you may say, and I look forward to the day when I can sit on my flank as our finest blade-bearers guard the caravans and gathering expeditions instead of having to watch them myself." He smiled at a few chuckles from the crowd at that remark. "Mirage, thank you for watching the foals. Our children, the foals, the pups, the nymphs, the chicks and cubs, at the end of the day that is why we forge ahead, isn't it? To make this world better for them. To make it so that one day, our children, grandchildren, or however many greats are required grandchildren can sleep peacefully, never fearing hunger, never fearing oppression, or hatred based on who or what they are.
"That is my dream for this home, this town, this, Stars willing, future city. A place where ponies and griffins and changelings, where gnolls, dragons, thestrals, and zebras can walk down the paths, waving to those they meet, not fearing another race because they're different, not seeing a new face and assuming hostility because that face is not one of their own race. I want you to learn strength from this home we have. Mastery over the lands and skies from the ponies. Mastery over the dangers of the jungles from the gnolls and griffons. And mastery over the underground from the changelings. Each contributes, each can find a place, even without a talent pasted on their butts." A cheer from a few gnolls punctuated the statement. "We will not survive the coming days, nor will we survive the next year. We will not survive a decade, or ten, or millennia.

"We will not survive, because surviving implies that we only barely make it through our days. We. Will. Flourish! This town will continue to grow, from the contributions of our current population, or the influx of those looking for a better life. We will continue to grow, because there will not be a single being that won't look upon what we have here, and want to be a part of it. We will grow, because there is no better insult to those you left, to those who promised you harm, than to live well, to live a happy life. And we will make this our home, our city, our country!" A wide smile appeared on the alicorn's muzzle. "That is why for the next week, there will be a bucket in the dining hall. Write what you want the city to be called on a scrap of paper, and add it to the bucket. If you are incapable of writing, ask another for help. It is not something to be ashamed of. It is why we are here, to improve ourselves. And if I see my name in any form for the name of the city, I will personally burn the vote, understand? This is supposed to be about us, not me. Thank you all for everything you have done. Now go! Slop has been working on something special for today. Be sure to thank him on the way out. And ladies? Last I heard, he's still single."
The final comment got a reaction from the chef, who pulled his large hat over his face to try to hide his eyes.

Stepping off the dais as the followers made their way to the dining hall and the prepared foods, he was met by the changeling queen, who was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

"I don't get it. Your the king, right?" Pandinus asked him. "You rule this place, you say what happens, and they follow, like any nest. Why do you need to do something that bothers you so much? How do those words help?"

"It's the difference between our species, Din." Ted told her with a smile as they both headed for the stairs. "They don't follow me like changelings follow a queen. They don't follow me because I'm their ruler. They follow me because they know I'll do everything in my power to guard and to guide them. I'm not their king. I'm more than that." The alicorn stopped just before the first steps, turning to face the queen. "I'm their Alpha, their leader, their confidant, their guardian, and if they truly want me to be, their father. Yes I feel strange having random ponies calling me that, but if it's what they need to feel safe, it's a small price to pay. What do I get in return? Their loyalty, their love, and the knowledge that they stay by my side not because they're afraid to cross me, but because they feel safe here, or because they know they can go farther here than anywhere else." Having said more than enough for the day, the alicorn headed down into the Temple to join in the festivities. Queen Pandinus just stood there a few moments, digesting what he'd told her. Suddenly she grinned, a particular response to one of her comments now being shed in a new light.




"It would make perfect sense, Cimmerian, a king needs a queen after all."

"I'm not a king, Pandinus, now stop it, I have too much to do right now."




The changeling queen smiled as a new method of attack occurred to her. "Not a king, but a Father... very well, I can work with that." 



<-(0)-> 



Ted was seated in the courtyard, not on a raised chair, but on a simple cushion amongst his followers, his armor left back in his room. In the place of honor for the celebration sat three cushions on a raised platform, currently holding the three he'd given special commendations to during his speech. Shadow and Gleam both seemed uncomfortable with all the attention, but Mirage just beamed under the focused affection.

'Ha, it's probably an all you can eat buffet up there.' He though to himself. The changeling had come a long way, even starting to gain a healthy pudginess despite dropping the majority of the emotions into the growing stockpile in the queens nest.
'It suits her. All matronly females should have a bit of weight to them. Makes them more intimidating when they're disciplining the kids, and leaves more to hug when they're dishing out affection.'

Motioning to Slop to proceed, the chef disappeared into the Temple before returning with a cart that had several large barrels on them, followed by the dragon that had provided the kegs. Well, provided as in flew them out here while picking up the promised snake fang as well as payment for the drink. Ted had negotiated for the drinks a few nights prior via dream walking, planning on making it a more memorable occasion by allowing his followers to truly cut lose. Upon hearing of the impending party, Sahkest had offered to fly the booze out to the temple personally, provided he was allowed to partake. Those on guard duty were saved a keg of their own, to be opened when everyone else had recovered and he could find replacements for them. He wanted no reason to get the guards jealous, so they were promised a personal keg and a full day to enjoy it, along with a smaller feast provided by Slop's new assistant.

Watching the party that was taking place around him, he was shoved by a large claw, which then presented him with a mug of something that smelled quite potent. Shrugging his wings, the alicorn took a hearty gulp of the offered beverage, only to gag at the burning sensation it left in his body.

"I gotta say, whelp, I was worried when you walked off with that ratty-looking bug. But I'll be damned if you aren't still alive with your emotions all intact." The dragon said sitting heavily on the ground beside him. "I also will say... Damn, I didn't know they could change that much in a few weeks. She actually looks sapient now."

As the dragon turned to face him, Ted nearly reeled from the potent smell of alchohol on the dragons breath. "And I gotta know, whelp. I gotta know this. How is she?" 

"Sahkest, you're drunk. Go lay down."

"Oh come on, whelp!" The dragon said with another shove. "Don't tell me you haven't even touched her! That's why you nabbed her right? Whisked her away from certain death or torture or whatever the hell the Mad queen does with 'er toys, to satisfy that raging beast that no mortal mare could contain!" The dragon shouted, before bursting into drunken laughter. Ted merely folded his hooves over his head while laying on the ground, accepting his fate.

"Sadly, he has not, despite my best efforts to remedy the situation." Ted could almost hear the smile in Pandinus' voice.

The dragon just stared at the changeling, looking between her and the alicorn repeatedly.

"Your joking." He turned to Ted once more. "She's joking right? You have somethin' like that struttin' around your house and you haven't even tried to- Wait, despite your best efforts?!? She is asking you to plunder her shores, and you haven't?!? Are you gay? Seriously, that's the only reason I can think of."

"No, Kest, I'm not, god, I've been trying to get this place supplied and I'm not looking for that right now. I mean, this is still weird as hell for me to be thinking about."

"That's why you don't think about it, idiot! You grab a couple more drinks of this here wonder-brew, knock 'em back, and drag her to your room. Hell, she'll do the dragging if you let her, if what she's sayin' is true!"

Finishing his drink, Ted lobbed the empty glass across the field, not even noticing as it landed on a unicorn's horn, much to the delight of its comrades. "Am I the only living creature in this damn jungle that doesn't think with his dick?" He yelled at the dragon, before turning to the changeling. "Or her vagina? Don't think I'm sexist, I'll rant at both of you equally! I need another drink, where the fuck is my cup?"

"Just grab another, that's why these parties have so many extra's. The damned things grow legs sometimes." The drake responded,

Taking the fresh mug from the dragon, and using the drakes special keg to fill the mug, the alicorn chugged the drink, downing another half a glass before staring at the remainder. Across from him, the young queen carefully sipped the concoction, before smiling and throwing back the rest of the glass and pouring herself a second.

"The hell is this stuff anyway? It tastes like shit."Ted thundered, spooking a few nearby citizens before they laughed and returned to their conversations.

"I dunno, some mish-mash of boozes they serve in my favorite bar. Best one was pick, pocky, pogo, I don't know wha' the scales it was. Only thing strong enough to down a dragon even when diluted with other crap they mix it with." The drake replied, finishing yet another mug.

"I don't give a flying fuck what it is, I want another glass." Filling his mug once more, the alicorn slammed back the entirety of the mug, before standing up and shakily making his way to the Temple. He passed Pandinus, before turning and grasping her with his magic even as she squeaked in shock.

"That's how you do it, whelp! Take her to your room and make her yours!"

"Use your other head every now and then, dipshit. I'm going to my room, she's going to do that buzzing thing again, and I'm going to bed!" Ted thundered, the queen giggling drunkenly in his slipping magical grip. Seeing the queen slowly sinking despite his amazing magical abilities, the alicorn set her on his back, only taking three tries before he successfully landed the changeling between his wings. Pandinus didn't seem to mind the attempts though, merely giggling and buzzing her wings as she rose and fell with each successive attempt.

After much stumbling and yelling at a step that had dared trip him, the foolish step cowering under his hooves as it should, he finally made it to his room and stumbled into bed.

"Alrit, Huggle-bzz, make wit te buzzin'." He mumbled, his face half-buried in blankets. His only response was a soft giggle, followed by the changeling on his back making some kind of purring sound while cuddling into his back.

"Close enough..." Ted muttered, slowly drifting off to sleep. He could yell at her for her lackluster performance later.
> ...Is Wracked with Pain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Father? Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but we seem to have an issue." A male voice cut into his sleep, then his skull. Ted slowly opened an eye, only to flinch and hiss at the light filtering in through the windows. His movement earned a second hiss of displeasure from somewhere behind him, whatever was on his back latching on tighter before burying its snout in his fur to avoid the sunlight.

"Close the curtains. And get me some water." He croaked out. The sound of trotting hooves on the floor was thankfully muffled by the carpeting surrounding the bed when the stallion passed nearest the bed, but soon the clip clop returned, jamming nails into his skull. The light receded, before the ungodly noise receded as well, leaving the alicorn to doze off once more, massaged by the light buzzing purr on his back. 
A Thought pierced the veil of fatigue that had gripped him. 'When did I get a cat?'

Soon the clip clop returned, followed by a too-loud voice. "I brought the water you requested, father." The voice punctuated its statement by slamming a large pitcher on a desk beside the bed. Before Ted could berate the idiot for yelling when he had a headache, another, much louder hiss came from his back, followed by what sounded like someone hocking a loogie. Immediately, there was a panicked stumbling and muffled screaming, which only irritated him and his cat more.

Opening his eyes, he caught a glimpse of Swift Service rolling around on the ground, a large blob of some goop stuck to his face. The Pegasus was valiantly attempting to remove the substance, but was having no luck whatsoever.
'That looks like that stuff the changelings... oh.' Turning around, he was greeted by the sight of a changeling queen using him as a teddy bear.

'That's right, I don't have a cat. I had a dog back home anyway. Dogs are better.'
"Pandinus." He received no response. "Din, take that stuff off him, or at least make sure he can breath."

Her response was to burrow further into his neck, mumbling "Bright lights, loud sounds, they hurt us."

"Pan, he's going to suffocate. Take it off."

Grumbling, the queen lifted her head and focused on the flailing stalling, flash-hardening the paste into a resin, before gripping the resin in her magic and slamming the stallions face into the bricks of the floor. The resin shattered, and the servant took a deep, gasping breath, even as his eyes rolled from the impact. Ted almost laughed at the comical sight, settling for a simple smile, gripping the pitcher in his aura and taking a few deep swigs. Satisfied, he went to put it back, only to have it snatched by a grey burning aura that brought it to the queen.

"If you spill any of that on me I'll throw you out the window." Turning to the recovered Pegasus, he settled back down on the bed. "Please be more quiet when most of the Temple has a hangover, ok? Now for what reason are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?"
"Actually, Sir, it's past lunch time, and the issue is your uh, dragon friend. We found out where he disappeared to last night." Swift tried to explain.
"...And?"

The Pegasus shuffled nervously "He seems to have managed to lodge himself into one of the watch towers on the roof."

Ted blinked at the Pegasus, attempting to picture the drake packed into one of the half-crumbled towers. It was funny, but it also raised several questions. First, what possessed Sahkest to try that, and second, how the hell would they get him out without destroying the damn thing?

Resigning himself to his fate, Ted slowly rose from his sheets, the muffled complaints from Pandinus as she tumbled off of his back and attempted to make herself comfortable without her source of heat being dutifully ignored. "Fine, I'm up. Send for a keg of water, some pain killers, one of the gems from the treasury, and some cooking oil. I'll *yawn* take a look at the damage."

The Pegasus saluted before rushing off to gather the materials. Ted started towards the door, before casting one last longing glance at his bed.

"Life sucks." He muttered, walking out into the halls.



<-(0)-> 



"How the hell did he manage this?" Ted asked softly, squinting in the midday light. The towers were more like additional rooms with an entrance and raised windows for observation, but they were part of the original construction and had their uses. The dragons tail and a wing were poking out the entrance and a window, but the rest of the drake was obscured by his chosen hiding spot. Truthfully, the damage didn't seem to bad, but the alicorn could see the drake possible ripping through the already weakened roof of the structure if he flinched from the pain of the sunlight. It was why he'd sent a passing Pegasus for a few large leaves and Grift. The changeling would be able to fasten the leaves to the dragons eyes, preventing any bad endings for the tower, and then they'd wake him up.
At least that was the plan. The dragon was comatose, and no amount of prodding was moving him. Even yelling and a swift buck to the nose by a Pegasus did nothing to rouse the drake. So Ted decided to proceed without his help. Turning to his gathered workers he made sure everything was ready.
"The oil is applied?"

A Pegasus slapped a hoof across his chest. "He's as lubed up as we could make him without more room. Also tried not to just dump the stuff, Slop is already upset about this."

Ted nodded, turning to the earth pony beside him. "Vines secured?"

"Eve had some strong knots, said she'd grown up using the vines and knew what they could handle. Shouldn't have to worry about them giving under duress."

"Good, I want two flyers to guide the wing into the window so it doesn't cause too much damage. Positions!"

Ponies and gnolls took up vines lashed to the dragons tail and legs, setting themselves in ready stances.

"PULL!"

Almost immediately he stones started creaking, the drakes form stressing the time-worn structure, but it held fast. Soon the drakes legs, then his front claws came sliding out. Next were the wings, guided by several Pegasus on each wing.

"STOP!"

As quickly as it started, the operation was over, leaving the tip of the drakes snout still inside the tower. The changeling queen had spat a globule of that green paste when she was disturbed, he didn't want to find out if the Temple was rated against dragon fire. Congratulating his followers on a job well done, Ted trotted up to the drakes snout, the jug and gem both held in his magic. After entering the tower, Ted waved the gem around in front of the dragons large nostrils, earning the first response from the dragon all morning. Food always dragged him out of bed, why wouldn't it work for others? The dragon made a few half-hearted attempts to snap at the floating gem, but soon gave up, opting instead to reach an arm around and slowly lift his improvised blinders, wincing slightly even in the shade of the tower.

"Cim? The hell are you doing in my room, I coulda' sworn I flew back home after the party."

"If you've decided to claim one of my Temple's towers as your room, you should ask first." Ted said quietly, before offering the drake the water jug. Sahkest downed it quickly, finally removing the leaves from his eyes and looking around in confusion.

"I'll be a wyrm, I'm still here." The drake muttered, laying his head back down. Ted just smiled. Sahkest wasn't going to be walking away from this unaffected, not after making him get up with a hangover.

"By the way, you owe us for dislodging you from our tower. You were buried in it so deeply we needed cooking oil to get you out. So you owe us a new barrel of oil, labor for about fifteen workers for an hour's work, and an extra for a rush job on a holiday." Smiling widely and showing off his fangs at the drakes dumbfounded expression, Ted patted him on the snout.

"Don't do stupid things that make me get up on my day off."



<-(0)-> 



The day was largely uneventful, not counting the enraged dragon threatening to sit on the storage warehouse, and despite the headaches and illnesses involved, the followers managed to survive the day. Like the guards there was a chef that wasn't involved in the partying the night before, as well as a pony that had been studying medicine under Trauma (Luckily, the mare had yet to pick up any of his obsessions). Otherwise things were quite, many citizens sleeping the day away. Even the children were exhausted from the late night, leaving Mirage with plenty of time to recover from her binge, though she did make several trips to the storage chamber throughout the night.
Sitting at a random table for the last meal of the day, Ted nibbled idly on a simple meal of roasted vegetables. It wasn't what slop could pull off, but he really didn't feel like hunting the stallion down just because he wanted a better dinner. It wasn't like he was even that hungry today anyway. Just unbelievably tired. Slowly making his way back up stairs, intent on heading to bed early, he stopped at the foot of his bed, all emotion falling from his face.
"Are you telling me, that you sat here the entire day?"

"I won't tell you, if it bothers you that much." Pandinus mumbled from the bed. Signing, Ted climbed into what was quickly becoming his side of the bed, the changeling curling up next to him as soon as he stopped shifting. He'd given up on kicking her out, as she always found her way back into the room, complaining that the tunnel was empty, cold and quiet. Not only that, the one time he'd left a guard by the door, she'd come in through the window.
His only saving grace seemed to be she wouldn't cross the line of intimate contact. He assumed it was to prevent the emotions she pulled from him from souring, but it was his only respite when it came to the bug.
'I guess it's true what they say. You can get used to anything eventually.'

Slowly he drifted off to sleep, the buzzing purr of the queen massaging his side. At least there was that. Worst case scenario, she made a good unwitting masseuse.
> Dreams of Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Pandinus returned to consciousness the next morning knowing exactly where she was.

It was where she'd strived to end up since becoming a queen and she'd quickly made it her nightly target, but being in Cimmerian's bed was unfortunately only half of her goal. Unlike most ponies, when Cimmerian said she could sleep with him, they did exactly that. The prudish behavior of the alicorn was frustrating, in more than one way for her. There he was, an alicorn, the ultimate form of a pony, and she couldn't do anything to convince the fool to allow her any fun. Certainly she could have avoided the strange drink the dragon was dishing out and attempted to seduce the alicorn in his drunken state, but to do so without being intoxicated herself would have been suspicious considering her past agenda. So she'd tried some of the beverage and immediately attempted to purge it from her system, to give the illusion of consuming a great deal of it.
The trick backfired horribly. The drink seemed to latch onto her magic, increasing in potency the more mana she poured into purging it. She was at one point even drawing emotion from Cimmerian in an attempt to flush the cursed drink from her system, but it only made the problem worse! Before she knew it she was giggling like a fool, even being used as a personal massage tool by the equally drunk alicorn. A perfectly good chance of seducing him with little consequence wasted by that damned brew.

She scooted closer to the still sleeping form, basking in the warmth and compassion that he seemed to radiate most of the time. He was working to make this old temple a utopia of sorts for all races, and by her standards it was already fairly close. Changelings walking the hallways with no disguises, openly conversing with those they met along the way. Food was plentiful, most ponies not hiding their emotions from the shape shifters for fear of losing them anymore. Even the other races provided some nourishment, though not nearly as much as the ponies. They were a herd species, and much more likely to seek out bonds with those around them. It was why as soon as they were comfortable, they started forming family groups.

Pandinus shifted uncomfortably as her mind came back to that topic, looking back at her barrel and flanks. Her first clutch was ready to be laid, and she'd made little progress in seducing the alicorn. She would just have to lay them, though the drones would be little more than direct clones of her. It wasn't the most desirable of situations for the queen. Drones hatched in that fashion truly lived up to their names, almost entirely reliant on the link for everything from orders to reacting to different situations. Free thinking changelings like Mirage and Grift were what she wanted, but to lay a clutch of those, she needed a mate.
Certainly, she could have tried seducing any of the pony males in the Temple, or maybe even one of the other species if she was feeling adventurous, but Cimmerian was her goal, and she had learned much about him lately. She knew he preferred that strange, almost alien name he introduced himself by instead of the one she could feel was his Given name. She also noted that there was an oddity about his magic prowess, the alicorn using advanced spells one day then studying basic arrays the next . The thing she watched closest, however, was his reaction to families.

He was monogamous. Certainly, he allowed ponies to form herds if they wished, but there was an unease, an unfamiliarity to the situation that she could just barely pick up. The best source for powerful children was monogamous, so she had to be as well. As much as she would love to grab the nearest stallion and finally allow herself to lay her clutch, it would likely damage what little progress she'd made. That left the question of why? Why was the alicorn so uncomfortable around herds? It was almost as if he'd been raised in an entirely monogamous society. Impossible, as even the strictest of the pony cultures had allowances for such relationships. Thus she was left with trying to work with what she had. A body ponies would kill for, magic ability beyond the most powerful unicorns, and the ability to conform her shape to whatever she found would help her goals. For some reason, it didn't seem to help with her current target. Still, the conversation the morning before had been eye opening.

'If only I'd thought of that earlier.' She thought to herself. He was looked to as a father figure by most of the ponies by now and even a few of the gnolls, even if they used his name. That was something Pandinus had quickly spread throughout the Temple upon learning his nest was still calling him The Nightmare. Why he was hiding it was beyond her, but it mattered little at the moment. He was a father figure, so she would allow the nest to push them together. After all, if a family has a father, there should be a mother as well, right? The very ponies he guarded would do the work for her.

It was a certainly a step down from what her mother had pursued, but she couldn't help but not be bothered by the situation that much. Her children would be more powerful than any queen's before her, her hive would be undetectable by the pony queen's arrays, and unless something happened to cause too much damage the alicorn's emotional state again, her children would be well fed. If accepting the alicorn as an equal ruler to her was the price of such boons, so be it. She would see her species rise from the wreckage that damned alicorn on the Equestrian throne reduced them to, and First Mother willing, may even find a way to strike back at the whorse who had destroyed her mother's hive.

She smiled, her fangs poking out from under her lips. Revenge, power, and love. Looking over the sleeping alicorn, she giggled as less pure thoughts began to cloud her mind. The long wings wrapping around her, the powerful hooves holding her close, the toned haunches pressing up against hers as he-

Suddenly she jolted from her musings, an uncomfortable shifting in her body screaming for her attention. As much as she hated the idea, this clutch would be fatherless.







Ted, or Cimmerian as the more magically inclined followers were now calling him thanks to Pandinus, was jolted awake by the sudden shifting of his bed. Almost jumping clear of his bed, he only caught the dark tail of the changeling queen as she darted from the room in a blind panic.
'What in the world happened to her?' He wondered, slowly slipping out of bed. He'd have to check up on her. Having someone about his size and power was nice, after all. Maybe someday he'd trust her enough to explain why he couldn't accept her advances. The shape shifter certainly made shooting her down difficult enough for him.

It was still early in the morning, a time Ted normally hated being awake at. That didn't stop a good portion of the ponies from being up and about, though the other races seemed to posses their own disdain for such early hours. He kindly greeted those he passed, and they returned his greetings with their own, though some expressed concern for the panicked state his consort had been in during her flight from his room. Ted had even heard one pony muse to his fellow that she'd finally gone too far, earning the stallion a cuff on the head from his friend and a reminder to not say such things in public. If it weren't for his growing concern about the queen, Ted may have added to the punishment as well as asking where they'd heard she was his consort, but for the moment he allowed the grievance to slide, descending into the tunnels holding the queen's nest. Pushing the door open and using his connection to the shadows to enhance his vision, he walked into the final chamber where he was greeted by a strange scent, and the sight of the changeling queen collapsed on the floor by a small bowl-shaped indent on the floor. A bowl that was currently full of what he assumed were changeling eggs.

Thus Ted's concern for her health died in a fiery train wreck against the reality of what he was seeing.



<-(0)-> 



For the longest time, the alicorn was stunned into silence. Eggs, the mare he'd let convince him to share his bed, though without the shenanigans she seemed to be pursuing, had just laid eggs. Were they his? Did a changeling not need to actually engage in, well, that with a pony for them to be considered a mate? Or was it the hairs she'd taken? He knew she'd gotten the new color from the hairs, but had the queen managed to pull some type of genetic material from it as well? How did that even work? What would the nymphs look like? 
Suddenly he had the mental image of strange, half changeling, half human creatures wandering the halls, giving fanged grins and looking at him with slit pupils. They talked and laughed, and he even picked one up, before turning to his mother, introducing the little one. His mother took one look at the little girl, and screamed in terror.

He shook the image from his head. 'Mom probably wouldn't be too happy with alien hybrid children.' He thought, looking over the clutch. If they were his, they would likely be closer to his current form. Alicorn changeling hybrids than? What would that do for a race that could already impersonate the different pony races? Given the Mad Queen's hatred for the race, he couldn't help but smile. How would she react to that? One of the races she tried crushing, now elevated to her own level, now sharing genes similar to her own. It would almost be worth the danger to show up in her court one day with one such hatchling just to see her expression first hand.

'Remember those bug ponies you tried to wipe out? Here's one that's a hybrid of their own race and yours.'

The queen took that moment to groan, finally returning from her impromptu nap. Ted made his way closer, levitating the slowly shifting queen to her bed. He'd get answers from her before he fell into panic. He'd done that enough times in this world as it was. Besides, the biology of the shape shifters was still a mystery to him. 
The moment she could manage to look at him, she had that same shit eating grin he'd seen her adopt so many times before. He frowned, knowing exactly what that meant. It usually preceded her saying something that left him feeling incredibly embarrassed or confused, sometimes both.
"There for my first molt as queen, there for my first clutch. You seem to like being around for my firsts. It's a shame your not keen on sharing a first with me."

It took a significant amount of willpower, but Ted pushed through his desire to sputter incomprehensible gibberish at her jab.
"Are you alright?" He managed to force out. "You bounced me when you took off, and I thought something was wrong. I didn't really expect, well..." He trailed off, looking back at the eggs.

"I'd tell you they were yours, if it would get you over your aversion of the idea, but I'm sure that damned clutch nurse would be more than happy to tell you the truth, especially if it caused me trouble. No, they're not yours." Rolling her eyes at the confusion that clouded his eyes, she elucidated. 
"A queen lays eggs regardless of whether she has a mate or not. The drones will be direct clones of her, though their strength and power will be diluted, and they're not capable of much more than following orders. The perk of laying such drones, even if the queen has a mate, is they mature quickly and require little nourishment to function. If a queen were to find a mate, however, the eggs would hatch into the drones you see upstairs. Fully formed personalities, capable of surviving independent of a queen. Depending on the donor, the changeling will prefer different forms. For instance, I assume Grift's father was a pegasus, seeing as his preference of a winged form and his love of flight, while I would think that Mirage's father was a unicorn, since she seems much more magically adept than other types of changelings. I've only heard the story, as Mirage refuses to allow me access to the nymphs, but I would place Adamant as an Earth pony father, if the stamina and resilience I've heard about is anything to go by. As for Gem? I can't say, she hasn't displayed any specific abilities, though her slow development is proof she isn't a fatherless drone." Shakily, the queen rose from her bed, making her way to a small container that seemed to hold a liquid, before sinking her fangs into the sac and drinking deeply.

"If you knew you were going to be laying eggs so soon, why did this seem to take you by surprise? I would think you'd have been ready for this. In fact it looks like you had this place set up for such an occurrence for a while." Ted asked, even as he watched the bizarre ritual.

Draining the pouch dry, the changeling made her way back to the eggs, a strange sloshing noise reaching the alicorns perked ears.
"I tried to hold off on this clutch, I held off as long as possible, actually. It was why I was caught unaware this morning. Even in the best circumstances, eggs must be laid. After all, what is a queen without her subjects?"

Reaching the pit, she looked down at the eggs, and in a softer, much more quiet voice, she said. "What is a mother without her children?"

"You didn't want the drones? The ones that rely on the link, I mean."

The changeling shook her head. "They are best for menial labor or a display of force, often used to intimidate enemies while the actual hive flees. But they are not the children I wished for. Nevertheless, they are mine, and I will watch over them." She then made a gurgling noise, before spitting a glowing white and pink streaked goop into the pit holding the eggs. After she'd finished, she curled up around the pit, eyes locked on the eggs before her.

Ted stared at the now glowing pit and the eggs for a moment. "What do you use them for? The drones I mean. Digging, caring for nymphs, foraging?"

Pandinus smiled "Digging and simple errands mostly. I'm surprised you didn't immediately try to get me to make you an army."

"They may not be as intelligent as the other changelings I've met, but they're your children. I'm trying to avoid being an evil tyrant, and that's a step in the wrong direction."

The queen nodded. "Doing so is suicide for any queen. Because they rely so much more heavily on the link, it actually causes feedback to the queen when one is killed. The discomfort is minor at best, but it's noticeable.  That's why when they're near the end of their lives, they disconnect from the link on their own, mentally shutting down the moment the connection is severed. Mother once told me of a changeling queen, so driven to madness by hunger, she raised an army on the emotions of the wildlife she managed to capture. She invaded a pony city with them, intent on finally relieving the terrible hunger she'd suffered for so long. When the ponies managed to mount a counter attack, throwing her army from the city, she suffered horribly. They found her in a crater days later, barely alive but catatonic from the feedback of several thousand drones dying under her direct command." She shook her said sadly at the memory of the lost queen. "So no, I cannot give you an army. I will not do that to my children. Thank you for not asking that of me."

Looking over the swirling colors she continued to speak "Happiness and compassion isn't as potent as love, you know. But it will be more than enough to allow them to grow healthy and strong. They will have more food here than any hatchling in my mother's hive ever had access to. No hunger, no fear of whether or not the collectors will be discovered and not be able to meet the demands of the hive." A few tears fell from her eyes as she gazed into the hypnotically swirling colors. "Never having to chose which of their brothers or sisters will be a bigger help to the hive, when there just isn't enough love to keep all the eggs properly saturated with love..."

Sensing the changelings depression, Ted curled up beside her, laying a wing over her as he'd done with other ponies and even the few gnolls who'd sought his help. She'd helped him when he was depressed, and he would be damned before he allowed her to flounder in that darkness by herself. Despite the quickly souring mood, one question nagged at him.
"If you wished for intelligent drones, why not find a mate?"

"I did, he's just less than willing." She responded, glaring at him, though it quickly melted into a sad smile. "We look for a mate who allows our hatchlings to survive in the different situations they may find themselves. In areas where they will be subjected to physical hardship, an earth pony would be the preferred father; if the changeling would need to be a better flyer, a pegasus, and so on and so forth. So what happens when the father is an alicorn?" She asked, her smile strengthening. "What situation would my children not be able to adapt to? And one who not only provides me all the food I require and cares for me enough to nurse me back from that broken shell I was, but whose own magical aura shields me and my children from our enemies!" Suddenly, the smile dissipated. " You are the reason I don't grab whichever drunk stallion I find in the dining hall after nightfall. You and your damnable preference for monogamy!"

The alicorn's eyes widened in surprise at the statement. He'd not mentioned anything like that to any of his followers, allowing them to pursue whatever relations they found best.

"Don't think you can hide it from me. You're uncomfortable when the topics of herds come up. I spend almost every day feeding on your emotions, you fool, you think I don't notice such things?" She said with a sneer. "Certainly you don't show it, letting your hive do as they wish, doing what makes them happy, but that doesn't stop you from feeling discomfort at the sight of a herd, or hearing about another joining a preexisting herd."
"What is it you want me to be? What do I need to do, what do I need to be to earn your love? I know you don't find me unappealing, I've tasted the barest hints of desire when I tease you! What do you need to hear before you'll let me taste the strongest, purest emotion a changeling can consume?" The queen stopped just short of yelling at him. "Why? If nothing else, let me know why you keep turning me down."

Ted was floored by the comments. He'd known her long enough back home to maybe be an acquaintance, and yet here she was demanding a reason for his evasiveness like he'd friend-zoned her for five years! Granted, he'd probably done more for her than any other being alive or dead besides her own mother, but still! Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked at the queen. She trusted him, she had to at this point, his allowing her to stay being the only reason she was alive and free, not being carted off to some unknown fate or dead by the claws of the port town's mercenaries. He knew she'd seen the looks they'd given her as he'd brought her out of the town, despite her state at the time, and being as attuned to emotions as she claimed he was certain she'd felt them too.

Perhaps he could return some of that trust.
"Do all relationships on this planet move faster, or are my people just extremely slow?"

Pandinus opened her mouth to unleash a scathing retort, but stopped short, the words registering a moment later.

"What?"

"The ponies started marrying as soon as they felt safe, and you're acting like I've been dodging you for several years." He said, before letting loose a heavy sigh. "It has nothing to do with your appearance, Din, but your goal. My mother and father, they didn't get along after a while. They argued, complained about each other, the works. But they stuck it out, because they wouldn't leave me and my sister with a broken home. So I made this promise to myself. If my parents were willing to stick around so that I could have both of them growing up, there was no way I would leave a child of my own without a father." He explained, staring at the eggs.
"I, I still plan on looking for a way home when this is over." He said sadly. "No matter how long that takes. Tell you what. Tonight, we'll talk in your dreams, that way there's no chance of someone eavesdropping and getting the wrong idea."

Nuzzling the changeling, he added. "Of course, I'm sure you know this information is to be kept to yourself, unlike some other information you've gained access to in the past."



<-(0)-> 



The day passed quickly, nothing of major importance drawing the alicorns attention besides plans for clearing more jungle for expansion and a possible investigation into a nearby populated temple that was brought to his attention by a small group of gnolls that were finally returning from an extended hunting trip. Upon hearing of Ted's strength from Buster, they followed the gnolls example, not knowing what else to do with the destruction of the den. Ted welcomed them just the same, offering lodgings in their choice of the large room the other gnolls had converted into a makeshift den, or the storage shed, currently empty aside from the cart that had been used to haul the larger smithy supplies. Finishing up the last thing his primary advisors wanted to bring to his attention that evening, the alicorn turned in for the night. He had promised the changeling queen a better idea of his inability to accept her, to put it kindly, obvious interest. 

Slipping into the dream realm, he quickly found the nearest large source of dreams, before diving into the warm glow. Appearing in the dream world of the queen, he quickly found himself surrounded by hundreds of changelings of all shapes and colors, each flitting about on urgent business. Following the detail once more, he soon found himself in a throne room of sorts. In the middle of the room sat the changeling queen, though that wasn't what drew his eyes. He was instead focused on the throne. Or rather, the pair of thrones that sat on the dais.

'As if her flirting didn't make it obvious enough.' He thought with a depressed sigh. She was beautiful, in an alien kind of way, but he really wanted to go home at the end of all of this. And he'd be damned before he sired a bastard child.

"Din, it's time." He said, approaching the throne. The changeling smiled warmly at his appearance, before it seemed to click. She blinked owlishly a few times, before looking around her, then back to the alicorn.
"This is a dream?"

"It is. We can talk here without interruption. With your permission, I'd like to shift our location." He said, taking a seat before the queen.

At her nod, the dream world faded, a strange beach forming around the two of them.





Pandinus staggered slightly as the world shifted around her, the twisting of the world leaving her gut in a knot. Eventually she pulled herself back to her hooves, looking around the exotic landscape Cimmerian had chosen for their conversation.

"A beach on Sanibel Island in Florida, my family went here a few times on vacation." The alicorn told her.

"I can't say I've heard of the place, though I admit my knowledge of geography isn't what it could be." The queen said, looking around at the strange scene. There was a sense of something amiss as she gazed at the scene, something infinitely important that she couldn't place.

"I didn't think you would, in fact I'm pretty sure I'm the only being on Equis who's been here." He stated sadly, drawing the queens gaze. What she saw, however, wasn't the alicorn, but a strange creature with clothing, lying against a tree, enjoying the sunset. The creature focused on her, still keeping that soft smile before gesturing to the sunset in the distance.

"Welcome to Earth, Queen Pandinus."

Then she saw it. The moon was in the sky with the sun. It was something that only happened a few times in recent history, usually when something had gone horribly amiss and both princesses needed their full power for whatever danger they were engaging. Yet here it was, and the creature, she was sure it was Cimmerian now that she'd heard the voice, wasn't in the panic that such a sight would send most ponies into. Blinking, she focused her gaze on the strange moon, her mind registering more inconsistencies. The moon's surface was cratered differently than the one she'd seen while traveling under the cover of the night. Not only that, it didn't seem to glow with a light of its own, barely visible in its position by the setting sun. Through all this, the creature beside her gazed contentedly at the sight, as though it were completely normal.

'It probably is.' She idly thought. 'He did say this was Earth, like he was introducing the planet itself.'

The alicorn was an alien. Were all alicorns aliens? No, the one who'd linked with love had been born  a pegasus, and the Mad Queen had been a unicorn before her ascension. So what was he?

"There was a movie that was titled something similar to my current situation. A Series of Unfortunate Events." The creature, no, Cimmerian said. " Right person in the wrong place, or right person in the right place, if you listen to Shadow or Blur. I left this behind when I was brought to Equis, Din. As much as I want to help you all, to make a place where anyone can be welcomed, regardless of species, I need to try to get back home. I have family here." Cutting off her response, he continued. "Preexisting family. It's the other reason I'm not, uh, looking for that kind of relationship right now. I don't want to have to choose. I don't want to have to choose between letting my mother know I'm still alive and kicking, or keeping my promise to never abandon a child."

There it was. The reason he'd been shooting her down for days on end, despite her best efforts and even a few rumors started while holding the form of other ponies. She wanted to call him a coward, unwilling to make such a choice. She wanted to grab and kiss him, making a decision like that with the wellbeing of her clutch in mind, no matter how wrong it was. Her mother never saw her lovers a second time, that wasn't the reason she didn't want him to leave. He was her Safe/Warm/Food. He was literally the personification of a changelings idea of home.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a second presence entering her dream. It confused her, as it tasted familiar to her, the same way Cimmerian tasted when delving deeply into his memories. Looking to the location the presence was manifesting, the changeling saw a dark female alicorn forming in the dreamscape.

'Luna' Pandinus realized. Was she here for Cimmerian? No, the changeling wouldn't allow it. Placing herself between the intruder and her benefactor before either could react, she hissed threateningly, even flaring her wing covers to add to the effect. The reaction she received from the lunar alicorn was not what she expected, nor did it give her much in the way of confidence.

Luna merely raised an eyebrow at the queen's display, before stepping forward, flaring her own wings and allowing her dream-self to manifest in her full splendor, passing the queen's height by several hooves. The changeling shuffled back slightly, not expecting the shift in size, but attempted to maintain her stance. Then the alicorn began observing her. She walked around Pandinus, as if inspecting a cart before purchase, even prodding the queen's flank at one point, earning an indignant if confused yelp from the queen.

"So" Luna said, turning to Cimmerian. "This is consort your subjects speak of? While I am certainly not a fan of changelings, I must say she is a superior specimen from what I've seen of their kind." Taking a seat on the sand, the alicorn nodded, while Cimmerian merely buried his face in his strange claws. "Despite my apprehension when I first heard of your choice, I believe I can sanction this relationship. After all, her first reaction was your safety. Tis a rare thing to see amongst her kind, so her interest must be genuine." She turned to Pandinus, offering a hoof in greeting. "I am Lunacae Nocturnis. May I know the name of the one pursuing Cimmerian's affection?"
> Goals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted wasn't paying attention to either of the two females. It was safer this way. No letting them get a rise out of him, no allowing them to see a prod getting a reaction out of the alicorn-returned-human, and definitely no paying attention now that the two were strangely quiet.

Wait, that last one was a bad thing.

Finally tearing his gaze from the sunset, he found himself face to face with Luna once more, the alicorn once more at her reduced stature.

"Ci-Ted? I would like to request a chance to speak with my sister. I know you can reach her, and being able to speak with her after the Nightmare's visit would likely help her stay strong. I now have an escape, something to do to pass the time, but my sister is not so lucky."

"She doesn't know how to dream walk?"

Luna shook her head sadly "I've attempted to teach her a few times in the past, but she always broke the dreams she stepped into, attempting to use more force than is necessary. It is the personality trait that always prevented her from doing so. She has become much more subtle with her words over the centuries, but her magic style is the same as it always has been."

Ted took a moment to let the idea sink in. He had nothing against the princess, in fact she'd helped line up the lunar alicorn as a mentor of sorts for him. So he kind of owed the solar princess.

"Sure, I'll do it. It doesn't take me long to find someone when I know who I'm looking for. I could probably find your sister's student if I looked. Find out one way or another if I'm right."

Luna shook her head. "Please do not risk it at the moment. If you can find a way to release my sister and I, then I wouldn't mind helping you stop the Mad Queen, but until then, you give us a connection to the outside world. You are in a way our window to the rest of Equis."

"Fine, I'll get it set up. Will she even be asleep?"

"Yes, the interrogations we are put through are quite long and exhausting. I personally have been asleep physically for two days. Seeing as my sister was personally involved with Twilight, it is probably worse for her. Please hurry, I can't stand the thought of her being alone for too long."





Pandinus watched in confusion as Safe/Warm/Food faded from the dream, off to visit what she assumed was the Princess of the Sun. The princess took a few breaths before focusing intently on the queen, causing Din to take a few cautious steps back.

Luna grinned wickedly at the changeling, the miniature alicorn practically prowling up to her. "My sister's dream will be available shortly. I would give him five, ten minutes at most before she is receptive to us. That means you and I have ten minutes just to ourselves."

The queen was on the verge of panic. Ten minutes alone with an alicorn who dream walked on a regular basis? There wouldn't be anything left of her, in fact she'd probably be in a worse condition than when she'd first attacked Ted! She had to-

Suddenly the princess lunged at her, earning a strangled yelp from the changeling. Cracking her eyes open, Pandinus spotted Luna latched onto Din's muzzle, grinning at the changeling like a psychopath.
"Tell. Us. Everything!"

Pandinus' panic slowed at the statement. "What?"

"Everything! We require vast detail! How did you meet him, how did you learn you wished to pursue him, how did he react, what actions did you take to win his affection, I must know! All of it, in excruciating detail!"

The shape shifters response was filled with such inspiration it would be repeated for centuries to come.
"What?"

Luna finally backed up a bit, her grin fading a bit. "I have nothing to ponder these days. Before I was imprisoned I guarded the dreams of the entire planet. Now there are barely a thousand dreamers in the world, not including myself. Do you have any idea how excruciatingly boring it is? The only thing I have to entertain myself with these days is meddling with the dreams of ponies, and even that can only be done during the day where I am. Otherwise I am subjected to an immortal's greatest enemy. Boredom. So speak, make words! I will know everything I can! Oh, this will be so fun!"

Queen Pandinus was lost. The alicorn was mad! "Why would I tell you such things? I'll not help you learn of him, he's mine!"

Luna merely laughed. "I have no interest in him, not in that way at least. I have been helping the young one. Teaching him of his body and our world, hoping that one day he may release my sister and I. What of you? Certainly he's done something for you recently, for you to be so possessive of him." Her smile thinned just a bit. "So what are you doing to help him?"

"I plan on allowing him to rule with me." The queen said, anger in her eyes.

"Oh, good! A demotion for helping you!" The alicorn chuckled in amusement. "He already rules his subjects, even the changelings accept him as their ruler."

"Grift answers to me!"

"Yes, one of four, though the other two are young. Tell me, what would happen if you were to leave? Would the changeling still follow you when your link was no longer protected by Cimmerian's magic? Would the changeling still follow you if you did not have access to the abundance of food Cimmerian provides for your hive?"
The alicorn circled the changeling, her smile gone. "Food. Shelter. A home. Acceptance for your race you will find with no other ruler. He has given this to you, and that is only the things I know of, what else has he done for you?"

Pandinus winced, the memory of her almost feral attack on the alicorn coming to the forefront of her mind. She could almost hear, no, she could hear her growling  as she jumped the invisible source of emotion that had entered her nest. Turning to the princess, she saw Luna gazing at a window, displaying the attack she'd been thinking of.
It was over. The alicorn would destroy her, leaving her the shuddering mess she'd been before this all began. Maybe worse.

"Ah, I see."

Pandinus opened an eye to see the alicorn still gazing at the memories, this one of her first time in the alicorns bathroom. As she was cleaned, she caught a glimpse of her self in the mirror, and Luna paused it with a touch. It was her just after her release from the cell, with barely two days of low amounts of emotion given to her, since Cimmerian was still recovering from her attack and didn't trust her. She was dirty, gaunt, her mane and tail in tatters. But worst of all was her eyes, giving off barely a spark of intelligence. She never wanted to be that hungry again.

"Fear. That's why you cling to him, isn't it?" Luna said, approaching her. "You fear what could happen if he abandoned you, fear what would happen if you didn't have his protection of the link." The alicorn began circling the changeling, the smaller creature still making her feel infinitesimally small. "You fear the possibility of returning to that state. Fear the hunger, the loss of self." Finally the alicorn finished her circle, sitting before her. 
"I've known loss myself, young one. If not for my sister, I may have been lost after my return from exile. Everything I knew was gone. The only thing that remained was my position and my sister, and my position was in a tenuous situation at best. Only by a great deal of political experience and placing her own position on the line did my sister save me from the ire of the nobles. After all, if one of the immortal rulers of the country had fallen to darkness, what is to say the other could not fall to the same fate? By having two on the throne, one does not hold too much power, and they may keep their counterpart in check. Because my sister did this for me, the moment I was strong enough I began returning to my duties. I held court, allowing the backlog of citizens requesting audience to voice their concerns. I entertained dignitaries while my sister took her first vacation in centuries. I even lectured at her school while she was busy with an emergency, so she did not feel like she had abandoned her duties, even though it was in the middle of my sleep schedule." Luna smiled sadly at the queen. "But the most important thing we did for each other was to forgive our mistakes. Not the mistakes the other made against us, but the mistakes we made against each other. That is where the fear comes from, correct? You fear that he still holds your attack against you."
Luna cocked her head quizzically. "What is your goal?" 

"My goal?" Pandinus asked. "I, I want his love. I want to know what it tastes like, what it feels like to not have to steal it. It's all so much better, so much more filling when he freely gives it to me, so what would love taste like? How much strength would it provide me and my children? Is that bad? Isn't it what ponies want when they look for a mate?"

Luna closed her eyes in thought for a moment, before smiling again. "Perhaps that is where our understanding differs. Love is your goal, and what happens when you reach that goal? You wish for more. Love should not be your goal, it should be your reward. It is what you want from your lover, in return for your care and affection. You fear him leaving you? Give him reasons not to. Advise him, offer an ear for his fears and worries." She grinned wickedly all of a sudden. "Offer him a chance to relieve stress."

"I, I have... repeatedly, actually. If not for the fact that I can taste an undercurrent of desire when I tease him, I would have thought him a colt cuddler." Pandinus said, dragging a hoof in the sand. "He actually just told me why he's been saying no before you arrived. He said he wishes to return home after all of this."

The alicorn was silent a moment, chewing this revelation. "He said that, did he?  I do not know as much about traveling worlds as my sister, she was much closer to the mage who studied such things than myself, but I will speak to him. There is an important detail he seems to be missing."

Pandinus brightened up. "He can't go back? He'll stay here?"

"Cease your celebrations, fool! Were he to witness your joy at his expense, what would he think of you?" The queen took a few steps back at the outburst. "You wish for his love? Seek to bring him happiness, not cheer when his misfortune benefits you. Truly this situation can become advantageous for you, but if you are not careful, it could ruin you just as quickly." Just then Luna's left ear perked up, and she looked off into the distance. "We must continue this another time, my sister calls me. I will visit every now and again, and we will discuss your progress. If you have questions, I will aid you." Luna pulled the changeling into a firm hug. "My sister and I can offer little but council and training in our current situation. You however are free to aid him in whichever way you find necessary. Make that your goal, ahead of merely bedding him. I am sure you will see better results. Now come, I wish to introduce my sister to you! Oh, Tia is going to love this!" The alicorn giggled, before she pulled Pandinus across the dream realm with her.



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It didn't take Ted long to find his target, and as soon as he was certain he was close, the dream started taking form. He entered even as it began to take shape, and was immediately pulled into a powerful hug.

"Thank you! Oh thank you so much, Luna sent you didn't she? Oh, I cannot believe we didn't see it before, her posture, her speech, everything about her was wrong. I Just, I don't..." The rest of what the alicorn had to say was incomprehensible as she devolved into sobbing, leaving Ted to pull her into a winged hug. This was supposed to be a goddess to the locals, right? Yet here she was, blubbering like a lost child into his barrel.
'Then again, everyone needs a shoulder, don't they?' He thought, pulling her closer. 'And she spent the longest time being the shoulder everyone else needed.'

'When the world starts crushing you, who does an immortal goddess turn to for support?' He thought sadly.
'No one.'

Thus the alicorn waited, allowing the princess to vent. She cried, and he comforted. She despaired, and he reassured. She clung tighter, and her held her closer.

Finally wiping away a few remaining tears, Celestia finally pushed away from the darker alicorn. 
"T-thank you, I'm sorry I put you through that, I-"

"Don't apologize." Ted cut her off, pulling her in close once more. "You and your sister have done a lot for me. I'm happy to return the favor, even if it's just acting as a snot rag." He said with a grin. The smaller alicorn chuckled at his words, and he continued.
"All I ask, is that you continue to help me, and if I need it, return the favor. After all, you and a drake I've met from a nearby port town, are the only ones who didn't attack me during our initial or follow-up meeting. Unless staining my fur counts as assault. Personally, I don't trust him as much more than a companion, though."

Celestia chuckled, even as she pushed herself free of his grip.
"I understand. I've met a few gentledrakes in the past, and while they can be wonderful company, the moment something shiny or female becomes involved, they tend to be easily distracted."

"So it's not just that idiot? I swear, that guy was either talking money, or females."

"Oh stars no, I do remember this one dragon I met, he was convinced he was Creations gift to females! Kept trying to convince me that "Once you ride the bad drake, nothing else will satisfy." I'm not kidding, he actually said that!" The princess said with a giggle.

Ted merely hooked his hoof around his muzzle. "I don't think Sahkest would do that but-"

"That was him!" She shouted. "Blue scales and a love of drink, right? I can't believe he's still around!" She giggled, clopping her forehooves together in glee. "Tell Him, heehee, tell the bad drake that Sunny Days remembers him, nor did she think he lived up to his talk."

"Wait, you mean to tell me you actually-"

"Sister! It is wonderful to see you again!" Luna said, taking her sister into a bone crushing hug. "I feared the worse when I saw the feather! Are you alright?"

"Feather?" Ted asked. "What's this about a feather?"

"The Mad Queen, she likes to taunt us, flaunt our inability to stop her from committing her crimes." Luna said softly. "She brings trophies, newspapers, whatever she believes will get a rise out of my sister and I. Her most recent present was a few long pink feathers."

Ted pondered the meaning of such a thing a moment, before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, it doesn't sound familiar."

"How could you- right, your memories began before Luna was introduced to her." Celestia said sorrowfully. "The only source of feathers of that size and color would be my niece. She was a pink alicorn, the alicorn of love."

"The one from the Crystal City you mentioned earlier." Ted said, frowning at the implications. "What happened to her?"

"We do no know for certain, only that the Mad Queen was extremely smug for, in her own words, breaking the alicorn of love." Luna said with a stony expression. "I fear for her, Cimmerian, more than my sister or myself. Please, if you hear anything of her, and can aid her without compromising yourself, do so."

"On a different note, sister, I have somepony I'd like you to meet." Luna walked in the direction she'd come from, drawing the attention of all the residents to the third guest in Celestia's dream. "Sister, be known to Queen Pandinus, Queen of a mighty hive of one changeling." The alicorn said with a mischievous smile. Pandinus shuffled her hooves, muttering something to Luna.

"Oh, our apologies, Queen of one changeling and seven eggs." She corrected, breaking into giggles.

Celestia merely gaped at the changeling before her. The princess had seen one or two, but neither prepared her for the sight. The changeling was not quite at the size of a fully empowered alicorn, but what caught her attention was the holes along the queen's body. Rather, what drew her attention was the fact her shell was nearly devoid of them.
"Why did you bring her here, Luna?" She finally asked, still inspecting the uncomfortable shape shifter.

"You cannot imagine how glad I am that you asked, dear sister. Pandinus, the adorable little hormonal creature she is, is currently pursuing your nephew's hoof! Oh, we had a nice, long conversation about it while waiting for Cimmerian to open your dream to us, and we discussed much about her goals. After all, I wished to know why a young queen was pursuing a stallion that is everything but my own flesh and blood. A mother should always attempt to get to know the mare pursuing her son."

Even as he buried his face in his hooves, Ted could see the changeling shrinking from the miniature alicorns, her shell somehow seeming slightly more pale than it was moments ago. 
'I will never understand how that works. Ponies blushing through fur is weird enough, but seeing the color drain from her face through chitin?'

Ted watched the sisters talking to each other, both about, and to the squirming changeling. Every now and again, she'd throw a pleading look his way, but the sisters just wouldn't leave her be. At one point they even ushered the poor bug away from him, so they could speak to her without his presence. It was extremely strange to him, and left him uncomfortable. He knew Tia liked pranks, and both of the sisters would be bored after spending so much time trapped in their individual prisons that they'd be chomping at the bit for any kind of entertainment, even if it was at the expense of their benefactor. The slowly rising noise of conversation brought him back to reality, or at least the dream version of it, and he turned to see the princesses approaching once more with Pandinus, though the queen was somehow sporting both a blush and was still slightly pale.
'Don't question it, just go with it.'

Celestia trotted ahead, greeting him with a smile. "Upon further inspection, I second my sister's opinion of your chosen consort. I also believe you would be in a much better condition to lead your ponies if you just took her to your room and-"

"Stop right there, princess." Ted interrupted her. "I've already told her why that's not happening."

Celestia's smile dropped slightly, but she continued on a different topic. "Yes, she told us. She also spoke of goals, both hers and your own. How she has done much to garner your attention, even if my sister and I find her attempts entertaining and cute, if a bit misguided." She smiled at that last thought, before her expression became serious. "She also told me of your desire to return home. I understand your desires, but I must ask you two things first, Cimmerian."

Ted's heart was in his throat as she finished her statement. There was no context in which that could be considered a good sign. Not trusting himself to speak, he merely nodded, prompting the princess to continue.

"The first is; how old was the rest of your family? You said that humans live for at most a century, correct? And it has been nearly four decades since you were lost to them. I truly am sorry for asking this, but would they still be alive? Even if they are, would they have not laid your memory to rest by now?" She asked him, eyes glistening with pain.

For his part the larger alicorn said nothing, having already considered the possibility. It could be true, it could be worse. That wasn't what drove him on. It was the not knowing that was truly hurting him.

"Next I give you a warning. The farther you get from our world, traveling through others, the harder it becomes to find your way back. Even when guided by a master of traveling between worlds, the worlds we saw were still saturated with magic. To travel far enough to find a place devoid of magic? You would never find your way back to us. I do not believe the Nightmare had any intention of returning, knowing we had the strength to defeat it. Should you pursue it, you would not see Equis again."

Ted nodded, knowing that it was a possibility. That was part of life, right? Risks were expected to be made for rewards.

"Finally, the form you now take, an alicorn, is a being of the strongest magics, second only to the titans and the fiends in sheer capability. As such, your body renews itself continuously with the magic in the air. Have you ever seen a fish that has been removed from water, nephew? That would be your fate once you reached those fringe worlds, even those with traces of mana. You may never even reach your goal, your power running out before you reached the correct world." Tears falling freely, the princess voiced her final question. "Would you, Cimmerian, be willing to relegate yourself to a certain death with no guarantee of finding the correct world, much less making it to a world as devoid of magic as you believe your own to be?"
> Low Blows and the Love of Children
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted merely looked ahead for a few moments, absorbing what the princess had told him. It still didn't seem impossible, hell, humans did the impossible on a regular basis, it was why they started replacing the word with difficult or improbable. The problem was that it wasn't going to be something he could accomplish by studying magic for a while and taking off on his own. The word pipe-dream came to mind, in fact, as it seemed like something that would take a long time

"Maybe find a way to get gems to convert sunlight into magic? It works with electricity." He mumbled to himself, scratching his chin with a hoof. "Would need a lot of those, leave them every few worlds with a gem that holds a beacon spell, if I end up lost I could just follow the beacons home. Problem there would be doing the enchantments, which I have no clue about, and the materials, hell, maybe something holds spells and magic better than gems?"

A flash of ashen flames pulled him out of his musings, and his jaw dropped. Pandinus sat before him with a scowl, wearing the form of Blur.

"Are you forgetting something? Like the ponies that so desperately cling to you in the jungle?" She said, eyes narrowed with anger. "What happens to them once you get the knowledge and materials, will you leave them to the Mad Queen?" Suddenly she shifted once again, taking the form of Rose. "Or perhaps you could explain to the hatchlings why everyone is suddenly giving up, why the gnolls have turned on each other to decide the new alpha, and why the changelings have scattered to the far corners of the world?"

"Din, that's not fair. I'm not going to be doing this as soon as I get the information."

"Oh, here's my favorite!" She said, returning to her own form. "Explain to me how you are not making a liar out of yourself. You promised me a home, a place where I could build a hive among the other races you welcomed into your nest. Would it be your nest after you left? Would any ponies stay there? Would my hatchlings be safe from the Mad Queen?"

"I wont leave until she's dealt with." He answered.

"How long will that take? And will you leave right after? Because I will tell you right now, that will destroy this world." She said. "Mother told me all about the connections between races. It helps us avoid them, or pit them against each other if it becomes necessary. Do you think it is the Equestrian military that keeps its country safe? No! It is the fact that there are two, now one of the most powerful magic-wielders on the planet on the throne! Do you think you can leave the princesses in charge after her defeat? The other countries won't wait for them to recover. You leave after removing the threat of the Mad Queen, those ponies will be slaughtered and their lands divided amongst the other countries. What of this city, this country you seek to build? Did you not days ago tell your followers you hoped to build it into a country? They follow you because alicorns are not just powerful, they are enduring."

"The power vacuum alone would destroy all semblance of peace, Cimmerian." Celestia interjected. "You will be removing the most powerful ruler on the planet, leaving yourself at the top of the ladder, and then you will leave as well. Luna and I will take years, if not decades to recover our full strength, especially since I believe our ponies faith in us has been shaken."

"It will be worse if he leaves, sister." Luna said. "The public will see two alicorns engaged in combat, just to see the victor abandon them to their fate." She turned to Ted. "Would you trust two weakened members of a race to keep you safe, after two others destroyed all semblance of stability?" She shook her head. "Even these questions are assuming you can match her strength, and she has years of study and growth on her side, as well as an army sworn to her service. You have, what, less than one hundred followers in the middle of the jungle?"

Pandinus nodded. "We just recently started farming our own food, well, the ponies did, and the gnolls hunt with the griffon and thestrals for their meat. The only thing we have in excess at the moment is emotion, and that is because we only have five changelings feeding at the moment. We don't even gather enough to warrant a trade caravan from the nearby port town. We need to make the trip ourselves."

Ted stomped a hoof on the ground, fuming. "So what, I'm supposed to just give up on my family?"

Celestia and Luna both looked uncomfortable at the outburst, but it was Pandinus who had the answer.
"No, you fool. I expect you to take care of it."

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she explained. "Do you think your followers refer to you as Father because it is your title? Truly, I believe most started out that way, but many call you that because they have no family besides those who work beside them. By accepting you as their father, they feel safer, they know someone is watching out for them. I've even asked some of them why they do it. One stallion, Carver, told me he did it because everypony else did, but eventually it just felt right, as you truly felt like a father figure."

Ted's anger faded at that, but he pushed forward "What about you? You're supposed to be a leader changeling, what if I put you in charge after I left?"

The changeling barked with laughter. "A changeling queen, on the Equestrian throne, finally in the hooves of our species not through war, but because it was given to us!" She laughed even harder, earning scowls from the alicorn princesses. "They do not follow me, nor would they, even by your orders. They tolerate us because you tell them to. And star's forbid you leave before the Mad Queen is dealt with. My hive's link would bring her forces to our doorstep within a week, a month tops, and I will most likely be captured by her, if not killed." She said, her gaze turning venomous. "Because I will never stand to abandon my nymphs."

The dark alicorn went to retort, but his mouth clicked shut a moment later, realization in his eyes.
'I spent so much time avoiding her propositions and flirts to avoid blood-related children I didn't even realize I'd basically adopted the entirety of the Temple.'

"Fuck."

"It finally sets in." The queen said, circling him. "He so adamantly refuses to abandon hatchlings, and yet there he goes, making plans to do exactly that. Did you truly not make the connection, even with almost the entirety of the Temple's population calling you Father?"

"They what?" Celestia finally asked, eyes wide with confusion.

"It's true." Pandinus said, coming to a halt to his left. "From what I've heard it started with a single mare, the one who holds sermons in his name every fourth day." Turning from the princesses, she stared Ted right in the eyes. "Tell me, oh Father of the shadows, where will the poor dear turn to when the only one she has left in the world leaves her?"

The male alicorn had no answer.

"I do not expect you to give up on your family." The shape shifter said much more softly. "Once I can do so safely, I will be looking for news on my mother. Until I can, however, I will live my life as fully as I can. I will not harm myself to find news of her. She would beat me with my own shell if I did so. As I'm certain yours would, or at least with something similarly based on your own body." Her gaze hardened slightly once more. "And should I hear of you attempting to make a one-way trip to your old home, I will bring your children to you, so that you may explain to them why you are making a suicidal gambit to attempt to find family members that may not even exist anymore."

Ted's eyes lit with rage at the threat. "You wouldn't dare. That isn't fair, it would crush them."

"So would your departure." The changeling said, meeting his glare with an even stare, "Besides, I am a changeling. If there's one thing mother emphasized, it was that if we are playing by the rules, we've lost."



<-(0)-> 



Ted's mood didn't improve much the following morning. He ate his breakfast in silence before returning to the war room. After spending several hours getting more and more frustrated as he replayed the previous nights conversations in his head, he finally launched a ledger across the room, where it lodged into a wall.

'I need to get out of here, need to find something to vent on.' He thought to himself, before his eyes settled upon a recent report. The gnolls had found an old mine nearby to the north-west while hunting, abandoned due to the inaccessibility of the area. There wasn't much there, as the miners hadn't dug more than a weeks worth of dirt and ore before it was abandoned, but he was planning on grabbing it once the forge was finished. As it stood, the place was overgrown with vegetation like most of the jungle, and would need to be cleared out.

Double checking the location, he headed for the exit, his mood slightly lifted at the prospect of annihilating everything in that area. Taking off as soon as he was clear of the temple, he slowly made his way to the approximate location of the mine. He found it fairly quickly, the hill it was set into given away by the rising of the trees in the area.

Taking a deep breath, and focusing on the few spells he had personally studied, not those he borrowed from Luna, he dove back into the jungle with a roar. The second he struck the ground, he threw a pulse of magic, dispelling the force of his landing into the surrounding area, sending several smaller trees tumbling from the impact. Snarling, he unleashed the flame spell at the highest intensity he could muster, vaporizing the vegetation in a cone before him, before sweeping the spell for greater effect. He held the spell until he felt his horn start to actually heat up, almost as odd a sensation as when he'd tried removing the book, before switching to shadow blades, throwing them haphazardly into the underbrush, delighting in the constant detonations that rang in his ears. As he'd expected, the blades were now larger than a pony, and some were even cutting through entire trees before destabilizing, shredding plant matter into so much mulch.

Giggling madly, the alicorn unleashed yet another torrent of flames on the surrounding area, the smell of burning wood and plant matter stinging his nostrils.
'What happens if I burn something that's hallucinogenic?' He idly pondered. Shrugging the worry off, he continued wreaking havoc to the landscape. Finally, he focused the flames upon several rocks. A vicious grin split his face as the rocks started melting under the absurd heat, quickly reduced to a molten goop. Dropping the spell, he started pulling at the liquefied rock with his telekinesis, even as it began to cool and harden. A tug here, hold the cooling rock there. Eventually he'd created a shoddy facsimile of what he assumed the nightmare would look like. Grabbing it with his magic, he hefted the statue up into the air with him, flying west until he approached the ocean.

Flying well above the trees, the alicorn took a long look at the ocean, breathing in the salty air. It was always  a treat to visit the beach. Maybe he could get his followers to set up here sooner rather than later? Plenty of important people back home had beach-side getaways, right? Taking one last look at his work of art, the alicorn rose a bit higher, before planting his forehooves on the statue. With a wicked spin, enhanced by slinging the statue with his magic, he launched the statue skyward and seaward. Stabilizing from his spin, he fired off five shadow blades, launching them on an intercept course with the flying target. His grin started to fade as the first three missed, then the forth chipped a section of the Nightmare's smug face. The final blade connected, however, detonating and sending shards of the statue splashing down all over ocean. Upon seeing the statues destruction, Ted unleashed a shout of triumph, both hooves raised awkwardly in the air even as he compensated for the awkward movement with his wings. Feeling a genuine smile grace his lips for the first time in a while, Ted turned and followed the beach north, hoping to use the abandoned port town as a landmark back to the Temple. It felt great to cut loose and let out that pent up anger, and blowing up the statue was just icing on the cake. Maybe he could do this every other week or so? Not the entire vaporization of a section of the jungle, but some kind of skeet shooting challenge over the waters.

"Wreaking destruction is way more fun than building up a town." He chuckled to himself, angling east as soon as he reached the rotted docks of the abandoned port. "Definitely feel better after that." Sure it didn't change the fact that he still had his problems, but venting his frustration on the jungle, jungle that would have to be cleared anyway, had left him feeling slightly more relaxed. Finally coming into view of the Temple of the Shadows, the alicorn landed lightly, a slight pulse of magic allowing him to land without so much as a sound.
'And he sticks the landing!'

Walking to the entrance, however, his attention was drawn to a crowd, shouting originating from the center. Followers rushed to and from the crowd, some pegasi flitting over the crowd to the center before rushing off again. Finally close enough to make out what was going on, he was shocked by the sight.

On a raised pedestal stood Gleam and Pandinus, the unicorn reading off her list to the queen, the queen directing the crowds with an authority he'd yet to see from her. What surprised him most, however, was that even as beings came and went, and the unicorn spoke, her concentration never faltered. As a queen for an entire hive, though, it was likely the changeling was literally made for this kind of role. Walking closer, he listened and watched, seeing the two on the raised platform easily directing the entirety of the workflow around the temple. Eventually her eyes rolled over his position, and she slowed for a split second before scowling in his direction and returning to her work. Ignoring the glare, he approached Gleam, the unicorn finishing her recitation of priority jobs to the queen and turning to face him.

"Gleam, I'd like you to make a note that the area around the mine discovered by the gnolls is cleared of vegetation. The area should be cool by tomorrow."

The unicorn's eyes widened for a moment and she muttered something about smoke and explosions before making a few scribbles in her notebook. Certain there was nothing he could add here, he headed into the temple, stretching his wings several times before he entered the halls. That was the farthest and the fastest he'd flown to date, and the strain was both painful and, oddly enough, refreshing.
'Probably because it's the first time I've felt any physical exhaustion lately.' Even then, it was more of a case of running an underused muscle group into the ground than actual exhaustion. Still, the burn was something he recognized from any workouts or runs he did back home, and the familiarity was welcome. Grabbing himself a late lunch, the alicorn made his way back to the war room, continuing his earlier work with a much better attitude. After a quiet dinner, the alicorn grabbed a few spell books from the library and returned to his seat in the war room, it serving as his office in a way; if anything came up, it was the first place his followers would look for him. Shadow Weaver came and went a few times, grabbing notes or double checking his calculations, but otherwise the unicorn was busy implementing his large-scale wards, designed to repel pests and predators alike. At Ted's question of if it would impact the gnolls, the pony responded with a negative, citing his time spent with Buster. Apparently he'd spent a full day scanning the gnoll, making sure that the wards wouldn't impact the slower, more predatory species.

"It surprised me, Father, but it seems that the gnolls may not be as stupid as I once thought They register at about the same level as a pony in sapience, despite their more feral ways." Shadow Weaver told the alicorn.

Ted nodded. "It's most likely the education available to them. Everything they know has been taught by word of mouth or by example, I think. I'd have to ask Buster, of course, but I don't think they had any official forms of education." The dark alicorn smiled. "Speaking of education, has anyone volunteered for teaching the children?"

"Miss Goodhooves seems to be interested, though she admits she doesn't have a formal education in schooling. She's already working on getting a list of materials for a classroom together. Books will be hard to get out here, but maybe we can put an order in at the port. Otherwise, she said she can start of basic mathematics in a few days, even if it's just to find out where they are."

Ted nodded. "We'll make the trip soon enough, and I'll see about getting a few books for her to study as well. Thanks, Shadow. How are your wards coming along?"

"Well enough, I've finished the planning stages, which unfortunately take a long time with spells and array's of this scale. I've also had to keep the power output low, so it doesn't draw too much attention. I know your power seems to guard, but there's no reason to push my luck." The unicorn explained. "I'm actually headed back out there in a moment, I think I've grabbed everything I needed this time, I should have the northern ward up by tonight. Just have to grab some guards on the way out, as the area's still overgrown."

Ted watched the mage leave with a grin, happy with the new information. With any luck, the children would be well taken care of. Maybe he'd stop by the nursery again after he was done studying. They always seemed ecstatic to see him. The alicorn chuckled at the thought, one would almost think they saw him as a-

"Fuck. Again." The alicorn buried his head in his hooves. The damned nag was right. He was so busy trying to avoid blood children he'd not noticed he'd adopted the entire temple. In fact, he'd made his choice the moment he let a pony rely on him, the moment he'd let that mare seek him for comfort. Blur was the first to call him Father, and with his constant ministrations to their well being, it was probably a matter of time before the rest of the temple started understanding what she was talking about and agreed with her.
"How the hell do you accidentally adopt an entire town?" He muttered. "Even worse, how do you do that without noticing?"

It bothered him, but what bothered him more was how unavoidable this all seemed. The ponies had put everything into pulling him free of the armor, what was he supposed to do? 'Ha ha, you guys screwed up, I'm not the one you want. See ya!' Then take off through the doors into a world he had no clue about? He couldn't stand the thought, it would be like finding a small, shivering, lost child on your doorstep, with tears in it's eyes. He couldn't turn them away, it would kill him inside.

Unable to continue with his studies, and the night fast approaching, he stepped out and walked across the path to the nursery, quietly opening the door which had finally replaced the improvised gate that had separated the room from the rest of the temple a short time ago. Mirage was tending to a few scratches on a hoof courtesy of one of three pups in the room, most of the others sticking to one of the female gnolls since they were too young to be separated just yet. As he entered the room, all eyes were on him, energy returning to sleepy eyes if only for a moment. The children bounced around him, all looking for his attention, the more adventurous seeking it by climbing higher on his body than their others, as if height would increase his likelihood to notice them. There was one thing that kept bothering him while in their presence though.

They all, without fail, called him Father. There was no use of Cimmerian, or Theodore, or Mr. Nightmare in this room. Hearing that coming from the adults, it felt more like a title, and he'd ignored the possibilities because of his assumption. But this was different. These were children, most separated from their parents with no idea of how to return home, if they even knew where home was. They had no connections to the outside world, and were completely dependent on the rest of the Temple's residents for their care. A Slight prick at his rear leg brought his attention from the rest of the children, his gaze finding the giggling form of Gem, her teeth still latched onto his cannon. He picked the nymph up, giving her a light nuzzle, and prompting her to latch once again onto his muzzle. She chittered and buzzed for a few moments before speaking, and Ted's eyes went wide in shock.






Mirage tended to the whimpering pony hatchling, the young under her care having quickly gotten over the squeamishness of her spreading her organic sealant over their cuts to prevent infections. As a Clutch Nurse, hers was specifically potent as a healing salve, serving to prevent infections, whereas a soldiers would be more adapt at securing prisoners, or an infiltrators would be more accurate, able to strike a pony with a launched wad of the mucus-like material. Such specialization required careful monitoring of the changeling during a molt, allowing minute injections of various chemicals as they were needed, but both the staffing and resources of the Temple were currently much too low to allow such changes here.
Looking over to the dark alicorn, having easily sensed him as he walked into the room, she huffed in an annoyed fashion, the hatchlings gaining a burst of energy at his presence despite the rigorous play-schedule she'd subjected them to. Luckily, it would be short lived, and they'd all sleep even more deeply afterwards. She continued her ministrations, soon releasing the filly back to the clutch, before she sensed a playful joy reaching her through the link.
Before she could place the origin, she saw Gem sneak up on the alicorn, before latching her fangs into his cannon, to his apparent discomfort. Still, the alicorn took the attack in stride, merely picking the nymph up, giving her an affectionate nuzzle, though Gem capitalized on the contact by latching her hooves onto his muzzle before he could retreat. The foal then proceeded to giggle and chirp happily from its perch, before it tried communicating in Equish.

"Dzz-chee!" Gem giggled a bit, nibbling on the alicorn before trying again.

"Deed!"

The alicorn stopped, focusing directly on the nymph, even as she worked her jaw, and Mirage could feel the shock and confusion from him.

"Dad!"

The alicorn just stared at the nymph, before a small smile formed on his face, and the mare could feel the intense rush of familial love pour out from Father. At first the intensity shocked her, but soon she started trotting over to the group, worried that the influx would be too intense for the nymph. After a while, he lowered the nymph to the ground, before giving her a light kiss on the head, right between her horn and ear. He then went through the entire line of hatchlings, wishing them all a good night, and even nuzzling the nervous pup that had approached him. Soon he'd finished his rounds, and was turning for the exit when he focused on her. The changeling stifled a gasp, simultaneously feeling as though she were being wrapped in the fuzziest blanket in the world and tasting the richest cream in existence.

"Keep them out of trouble, Mirage. We're looking into getting them some schooling before too long, so you'll have someone else assigned to help you with them. You should get some free time when that starts."

Not trusting her voice as her vision swam and the world took on a pink tint, she went to check on the nymphs, specifically Gem. The foal was giggling in an almost drunken manner, her eyes glowing with a pink light due to the massive amount of love her small form had been subjected to. Mirage pulled the excess from the hatchling, who quickly settled down amongst the others. She went to use the extra to make sure Adamant was properly fed, but even for him she had to pull a small amount of extra energy, lest he become bloated from the extra love while sleeping. Returning to her bed, she pulled out several small containers, one having just a trace amount of mixed emotions from when she'd begun teaching Adamant to give up excess emotion for storage. Feeling the emotions being pulled into a special second stomach and mixing with a plethora of chemicals that could actually hold the emotions in a physical state, she began spitting the excess love into one of the empty jars. She wouldn't taint something this pure with the other emotions already in the first jar. This was what her kind sought, what they cherished. Even as she topped off the jar, a part of her was furious with herself, demanding she hold onto it for herself. It was enough to keep her literally running for a year.

Shaking the thoughts off, she made sure the children were all asleep, before making her way to the dining halls. She needed to replenish her fluids, and possibly enlist Grift's help with the processing. If she didn't get rid of the excess emotion soon, she'd become too bloated to walk. If push came to shove, she may even need to visit the queen. As much as she didn't like the mare, the queen could hold and process more emotion than any other changeling present.

Just before she reached the stairs, she stopped, before walking just a little further down the hallway to Cimmerian's room. She snuck in, seeing the alicorn in the bath being scrubbed down by the two serving ponies. He just sat there as they worked, eyes closed with a serene smile upon his face. What had happened, she wondered. What was so different between everyone else in the temple calling him Father, and the hatchlings doing it? Shaking her head, she returned to her journey, wondering what the buzz was wrong with the alicorn this time.
> Turnabout is Fair Play
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted avoided speaking to the alicorns or the changeling queen that night, still lost in his own thoughts. A father. The little ones he was watching, those adorable little bundles of energy, had taken him as their father. True, most could be just following what they heard the other beings in the temple call him, but at least one of them had made the leap of faith. Gem had passed any pretense of using it as a title, and gone straight to calling him dad.
'Go directly to his heart. Do not pass suspicion, do not collect ire.' He thought with a smile. The little bug was adorable, hell all of them were, Rose being the first to sink her hooks into his heart. The difference was the filly knew her father was out here somewhere, she'd even talked of him so there was no reason for her to adopt the alicorn as such, but she still felt safer in his presence. The few times he'd seen her in nightmares those first weeks, she'd called for her parents. When that didn't work, she'd called Mr. Nightmare. Despite trying to figure out why she was having the night terror in the first place, it had pulled him to action, and he'd picked her up immediately, reassuring the foal that he'd keep her safe, even in her dreams. So it was with all of the children, their dreams being his first and last stops before allowing himself to relax on his own personal beach. It was his current location, laying on a blanket watching the twilight over the ocean, listening to the waves roll in endlessly. He'd felt Luna brush against his dream earlier, but he'd pushed back, not interested in speaking to her anymore. He didn't need any more convincing, and he certainly wasn't in the mood to hear about how glad she was he'd seen the light. He'd probably slap her right out of his dream if he heard anything close to that.

Finally, he felt the familiar tug of wakefulness and, deciding to have some fun, instead left his dream and possessed the armor. Soon his vision cleared giving him a view of two of the youngest children, Gem and Quartz, a unicorn filly  with pink fur and white mane, attempting to gain access to him, tugging at the blankets and trying to climb up to him. Grinning, the disembodied alicorn approached them silently despite his armored form, placing a boot below both when they made their leaps and lifting them onto the bed. Both scrambled desperately as they cleared the edge of their goal, before turning to thank whoever helped them. Both sets of eyes then widened in fear before they darted to his sleeping form, burrowing into his blankets and wedging themselves into his side.
The armor sighed. Alien sensations were becoming an expected part of his new role and form, but accepting them didn't make them  any less strange. He could feel the kids against his side, even as he watched himself sleep. Hearing a rustle at the door, he turned just in time to catch Mirage open the door, likely looking for the two escapees. The mare's eyes tracked the room before settling on the odd placement of the armor, before she noticed the ethereal glow and wisps of shadow flowing through it. Predicting a panic attack on her part, Ted chuckled.

"Calm yourself, Mirage" His voice echoed strangely, a hollow ring to the words. "It's still me. I am just testing a trick I learned a while ago. I haven't had much time to play with it. You're looking for Gem and Quartz, right?"
At the changeling's nod, he continued. "They're buried into my left side, trying to escape the haunted armor." He chuckled a moment. "Probably not the best idea, approaching them from behind when they're wandering places they shouldn't. Much less in a form they won't recognize."

After a moment of staring at himself, even poking his own nose with a hoof, a grin split his face, before he turned to the changeling, a false sense or irritation lacing his voice. 
"Who does this idiot think he is, sleeping in my presence?" He demanded of her. "I aught to belt him, but no, I have a better plan!"

Giggling like an idiot, the armor walked over to the desk, the metal horn glowing faintly, just barely allowing the alicorn to lift a nearby ink pot and quill he kept for note taking. A fanged grin breaking out of the shadows, he approached his sleeping form, before starting to draw on his own face, feeling the sensations even as the quill finished its circle, a perfect monocle over the right eye with a lined wire going up behind his ear. Finally, he added a curly mustache, snickering the entire time. It would probably be difficult to see at a distance with how dark his fur was, but it was noticeable enough up close.

Mirage just watched from the doorway, her jaw hanging open. She probably thought he was insane to do something like this. He'd always wanted to do this, but could never bring himself to ruin someone else's day. Finishing the other side of the mustache, he looked back at the changeling mare.

"Voila! A work of art, no?" He said, making a grand gesture at his now graffitied face. Still barely suppressing his laughter, he walked over to a side of the room he'd set aside for this exact purpose. Laying down on the cloth he'd set on the floor to keep the armor off the stone floor, his consciousness shifted, and he opened his eyes back in his own body. Looking at the Nightmare armor for a few moments, a grin still on his face, he greeted the shape shifter as if nothing was wrong.
"Why good morning Mirage, such a lovely day, isn't it?"

The changelings hooves immediately latched onto her own muzzle, a muffled snort her only response.

"One of the stranger things I've done lately, looking at myself from another position." Pulling aside the blankets, he ducked under his wing, whispering reassurances to the foals, slowly coaxing them out of their hiding place. While Gem was more than happy to take up a new position between his wings, the unicorn filly was wearily eyeing the armor, as if it would come alive and approach her once again. With a grin, Ted grabbed the helmet, levitating it over to himself. The filly panicked at the movement, once again diving below his wing, her muzzle the only thing he could make out before placing the helmet on his own head, the armor growing slightly to accommodate his ever-changing size. Looking at the child, he reassured her and eventually managed to place the helmet on her own head, though it nearly covered her nose to tail, just her legs visible underneath the helmet and a few spots of fur he could see through the nose and eye slits. He smiled, the helmet giggling at him as she tried to move with her new burden, an adorable tank that in all likelihood would bounce off the first obstacle it encountered.

Ted turned to the shape shifter. "I'll watch them, Mirage, I'll meet you at breakfast. If I don't get them back to you by then, I'll wait for you in the nursery with them."

The changeling nodded, preparing to leave, but a question hung in her mind. "Father, if you don't mind me asking... What happened last night? What changed? Everyone here already calls you father."

The alicorn removed the helmet from the filly, setting it back in its proper place, then turned to the mare. "Father is a title, Mirage, it is one that is often used as a sign of respect where I come from. At first I assumed the same from my followers, but I suspect some may not be using it as such anymore." Looking back at the nymph curled up on his back, he smiled. "But dad, dad isn't a title. Its a word we use to describe someone we trust more than any other, someone we believe will be there when we need them most. Someone who will check under our beds for monsters, will make sure we have enough to eat, and will do everything he can to make sure we can live our lives to the fullest. That's a dad, Mirage. And yes, it's possible to be the genetic parent of a child and never deserve to be called a dad. I've heard and seen plenty of examples. I plan on doing my best to avoid those."

The shape shifter tilted her head a moment, processing his words before trotting out the door. Ted chuckled, even as he watched the kids play. She probably would have been able to accept his words as a bit more serious if it weren't for the markings on his face at the moment. He closed his eyes in thought. It was hilarious when he did it, but now he had to figure out what to do while it wore off.

An amused chuckle resonated from his throat a moment later. Barring the changeling butting in, he had a brilliant idea that would probably keep him entertained the whole day as well as let him work on keeping a straight face under straining circumstances. The alicorn completed his morning routine, and picked the children up on his way out the door, pointedly ignoring the looks of confusion on the faces of those he passed in the hallways.

Step one; act like there's nothing wrong unless approached about the markings.



<-(0)-> 



Breakfast was the usual affair, though he'd gotten plenty of stares during it. He just smiled at the followers though, pretending nothing was wrong. It took a lot of willpower, but he was blatantly ignoring what they were staring at, at one point even asking a follower if he had something on his face. The poor mare's expression was golden, a desperate need to point out the markings warring with her inability to correct Father.

After dropping the foals off with their fellows, most giggling at him as he passed by, he made his way out of the dining hall where he was met by one of the faces he'd been hoping to avoid. Pandinus was scowling at him, walking towards him with purpose.

"What changed?" She muttered darkly. "What changed so much that Mirage and Grift had to come me for assistance in processing enough love to put a true drone into a love-coma for a week? If that clutch nurse was any heavier with it, she wouldn't have been able to keep walking, and that was after filling an entire jar with even more."

"Gem called me dad." He stated simply.

"So what? The rest of the hive calls you their father as well! Why do you do this to me? I swear to aid you, I offer myself to you, what more do I need to do?" She practically screamed, venting her frustration.

"Do you know what love is, Pandinus?"

"Of course I do. It is the strongest and most powerful emotion a changeling can feed on. My mother would have entered your servitude as well if it meant she could be given a few jars of it, much less the possibility of an endless supply of it."

"I'm referring to the connection between two beings, the willingness to do anything for that individual. A trust so deep that you willingly place your life in the care of another. The absolute certainty that no matter what happens, they will do everything in their power to both keep you safe and that almost everything they do will benefit you in some way." The alicorn explained. "And what is this servitude you're talking about? I've given you a home and food, and you complain that I don't give you more. Most would have thrown you out by now, but I'm not going to. Do you know why? Because I've learned a lot watching you, Queen Pandinus of the Changelings. I know that as your name suggests, the first thing you did when we first met was attack me, a sting if you will. I saw you just yesterday acting as one with such a title would be expected to act, leading my followers when I was not here, and I was ecstatic to see that. But you're missing something. I saw a glimpse of it when you laid your first clutch, a second meaning of your name showing through, but it was so faint, it might as well not even have been there."

The alicorn cocked an ear, an idea coming to him. "I want you to throw out the clutch."

A look of confusion at the sudden change of topic crossed her face. "What?"

"You said you are incapable of love, only consuming it. No child should be raised without a loving parent. They're not sapient, you already told me that. It's not like you'd be killing a living thing. Dispose of them." Ted told her, voice devoid of emotion.

"Those are my hatchlings. Sapient or not, they are mine, and I'll be locked in Tartarus before I abandon them!"

"I'm not budging on this, Pandinus. Get rid of them." Seeing the queen squaring herself against him aggressively, he merely sniffed before passing her, headed towards the tunnels. "If you won't get rid of them, I will."

Ted readied himself, even as he approached the door. The moment he opened the door, he heard a clattering of chitinous hooves on the stone floor, and knew she was coming. Ted shifted to a more shadowy form causing the changeling to phase right through him in her lunge. Returning to his physical form, he bucked her into the nearby wall, leaving a crack in it and a dazed queen on the floor, a small bit of blood dripping out of her split muzzle. By now their shouting had drawn several ponies and gnolls, the canines drawing their weapons at what they assumed was the changeling queen attacking their ruler. Queen Pandinus finally returned to her hooves, albeit shakily, and once more squared off against the alicorn, this time noting his reinforcements.

"Will you still fight for them Pandinus? Even knowing you will die?" Ted asked, his voice not betraying anything. The queen merely snarled in answer, lowering her head and drawing power to her horn.

"Put away your weapons." He commanded the followers present, before turning back to the queen. He chuckled darkly as he walked up to the still aggressively posed queen. As he neared, she lashed out, attempting to gore him with the dangerously glowing horn. The alicorn stepped back as she swung wildly before driving a hoof into her upper foreleg's joint, unbalancing her and sending her to the floor where he stomped a hoof on her glowing horn, the charge fizzling out as the painful impact resonated with the active nerves. Leaning down on the weakly struggling queen, he spoke with a soft voice.
"That, Pandinus, is love."
The queens struggles ceased as her brain tried to comprehend what he was saying. "Emotions are not just the energy you intercept or catch that give you energy." He told her, driving each point home with increased pressure on her horn. "They are the interactions between the living that tell us where we stand amongst our fellow sapient beings. That is what I felt for my children last night. That is what I'm beginning to feel for everyone in my home. If you truly want me to accept you, you will love my children as much as you love your own. There is no negotiating this. Love everyone in this nest as your own hatchlings, be another sister to my children, or leave."

He leaned even closer and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, his voice low enough to avoid even the sensitive ears of the canines. "Your pretty, and probably the only one here that I wouldn't have to worry about hurting, but if you try to use my children against me in an argument again, I will kill you."

The alicorn released the pressure on her horn and the changeling scrambled to her hooves, momentarily looking like she was going to take another swing at him, even though he could see her eyes still fogged from her initial introduction to the wall. Then she spun and darted down into the tunnels, likely headed for her nest. Ted took in a deep breath through his nostrils before releasing it in a huff. That had been downright cruel of him, regardless of her own vile tactics. Besides, with how she had cited some of the information she'd given him, he was certain at least half of her own beliefs and motivations were actually her mothers. There had been very few times when they had spoken that it actually sounded like her own ideals being put forth. Pandinus was in a position no queen had likely been in before, at least according to what he'd heard of their species, and was falling back on what she'd been taught. Alas, it wouldn't help her here.
She wanted something more from him? He was going to make her work for it. If she truly wanted it that badly, she'd find a way. After all, there was more to love than loyalty and energy. He'd seen a loveless relationship already. He had no intention of entering into one himself.
'They're called changelings. Let's see how well this queen can adapt to change.'
> Desperate for Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The queen fumed as she slammed the door behind her. Was he mad? Demanding the lives of her hatchlings in an attempt to make some point? She lashed out again and again, leaving cratered impressions in the first chamber of her nest. She lashed out till her hooves ached, till her chitin threatened to split. Panting heavily, she pushing into her sleeping area, and to the nearly hatched eggs she kept by her bed.

For a long time, the queen simply stared at them. He used them to try to teach her something, even if she didn't fully understand it. Would he still demand their destruction? The queen shook with rage once more at the thought of such a request. Oh, and stars forbid her mother ever learn of this, a changeling queen serving under a pony, willingly denying herself the pursuit of genetic material to better her hive for a single male. The old queen would either laugh herself mute, or beat her daughter into the dirt with her own withered hooves.
'For all the hatred I feel for him right now, I can't bring myself to truly try to kill him.' She thought to herself. She'd done more for him than her mother would ever permit, much less believe. She'd allowed herself to be placed below him while she recovered, and even after her recovery she didn't overthrow him, as he was much more useful in his current position. Certainly she could try to hypnotize the alicorn, she knew her species could do it, but would it work on something that was higher than a pony? What of the alicorns affection that fed so many changelings so easily? Would it be compromised? What of whatever spell he used to shield the changelings under his rule from the Mad Queen? Would that still work if his mind was not his own?

In the end she couldn't take those chances. No matter how much he frustrated her, Pandinus could not move against the alicorn without horrific consequences. Curling defensively around her clutch, she shuddered, first with rage, than with depression. She was a queen only in the idea that she was a primary bearer of her species and could maintain a link with hundreds of drones easily. In terms of actual power in this nest, she was less respected than the clutch nurse. Scratching her head behind the horn, she knew her crown would start forming soon. With her first clutch just about to hatch, it was only a matter of time. But what then? A hostile takeover wouldn't work here, and the other changelings, those who were independent of her, would not ally with her. By the First Mother's plates, the clutch nurse would not allow her near the nymphs, and Cimmerian supported her decisions on their care.

An odd sensation flowed over the queen as she sat by her clutch, and she reached a hoof to a strange tingle on her snout. Pulling it away, she found her hoof wet.
'And now my body is emulating emotions.' She muttered darkly, before her eyes widened. How could she cry if she couldn't feel sorrow? Was her own understanding of emotions wrong? If her understanding of them was incorrect, so too were the understandings of her entire species on the one thing that fed them.

With the revelation came an idea, one born of desperation. She couldn't think of anything else to do, there was no other way. Slowly a demented grin split her face, the queen giggling to herself at the solution that had presented itself. If the alicorn wanted her love, she would find a way to give it to him. No matter what the cost.



<-(0)-> 



Ted, or Cimmerian as more and more of his followers were calling him (those that refused to call him Father, anyway), spent the next few days distracting himself with his work, overseeing the construction of yet another building to house more followers as well as the preparation of the mine. The building would be a godsend to those who were unmarried, as some claimed the noise coming from the sleeping quarters was getting out of, well, grasping appendage. Having a soundproofing ward on his own room, Ted wasn't sure what the problem was, till he forgot to restore it one night. Afterwards, the additional housing became top priority.

"Ok, that should hold us for a while, even if we do get 30 more residents. How are we doing on supplies, Gleam?" Ted asked, turning from his notes to the unicorn mare.

"We're starting to run low on nails and metals, but the griffin and gnolls have been keeping the, er, pelts from their hunting, saying they can be sold if not used for clothing and bedding." The unicorn said, reading her own notes. "Tulip has also managed to accumulate a good surplus of potions and poultices, though I would suggest getting her some vials or possibly adding a glass blowing extension to the forge so we don't have to purchase them for too long. Being so close to the beach, glass shouldn't be that hard to make with the proper tools and instructions. Oh, I also must suggest a storage silo for grains as the next project and a way to make a cool storage area for preserving food soon."

"I say we make another set of tunnels like those below the Temple for the cold storage. Ask the changelings to seal a storage tunnel and get a door on the tunnel like Pandinus has, then get some cooling runes into the walls. That should work as a makeshift cold storage, though the changelings will want it a good distance from their nest. The cold could negatively affect them. Oh, and make sure it can be opened from the inside."

Gleam blanched at the idea. "Has that happened before? People getting stuck in a cold storage room?"

"More often than anyone would admit." The alicorn said with a sigh. "That's why I want you to make a note of that, I don't want any stupid deaths. I don't want any at all, honestly, but being this far out into the wilderness, it's going to happen. We just need to do everything we can to minimize the possibilities."

Gleam shifted uncomfortably a moment, drawing the alicorn's attention.
"Is there something bothering you, Gleam?"

"Father, I, I hate to be the one to ask this, but do you know what happened to the queen? No one has really spoken about the incident, I just heard she attacked you for some reason and you hurt her in return, then she locked herself in the tunnels. She hasn't been seen in four days."

Ted frowned. "Four days? You're telling me no one's seen her since she ducked into her nest? Did someone at least check if she's still alive?" The alicorn asked while standing up, worry starting to settle in.

Gleam watched as the alicorn's tail lashed a bit, and his wings seemed tense. "I, I went to check, but was stopped by some smaller drones at her door. They said she wasn't seeing visitors. I just stopped by again this morning, and they said the same thing, though they seemed a bit bigger. I didn't know they grew so fast."

'So they hatched, and it sounds like they've developed fast, just as she said.' The alicorn thought. "She said some things that angered me, and I said some cruel things in return. I lashed out at her, but left her to her own devices, giving myself some time to cool off." After thinking a moment, the alicorn threw his cushion against the wall in frustration, before making his way out of the war room. 
"Fuck, I hope she didn't do something stupid." He muttered, even as he galloped down the hall.



<-(0)-> 



"Mother is not seeing visitors." The drones told him as he stood at the door. They were larger than he suspected considering their age, and the oddity of two door guards speaking the same words in a buzzing monotonous voice was pretty creepy. Still, his concerns weren't going to wait on the changeling finally deciding she was ready to talk. In reality, he was lucky she didn't fall into depression or do something... drastic.
Activating his more ethereal form, he walked right through the guards, despite their best attempts to intercept him. The walls were damaged, most likely from the queen after their conversation. The fact that the drones weren't told to repair them set warning bells off in the alicorns head. Pandinus was meticulous about her nest. The cracks normally would have been repaired within moments of her noticing them. 
Approaching the second door that led to the queen's bed chambers and nest bowl, the alicorn phased through the remaining drones. Stopping at the door to look back at the drones, he noticed an odd expression on their faces.

Where once was an emotionless mask, there was now the barest hints of sorrow. Those closest stepped back into line with their fellows, before the entire clutch spoke in one voice.

"Stop the pain."

Eyes widened with worry, the alicorn dropped his shadowy form before tearing the final door off it's hinges, launching it into the wall of the previous room. Rushing into the final chamber, he was greeted by a sight that nearly made him ill.

Scattered around the bed were several glowing jars filled with various emotions, the colors swirling together as if there were some current actually present in the jars. Sitting on the bed, desperately gagging into a bottle was the queen. The bottle was nearly empty, but it's contents worried him. The liquid on the bottom of the jar, barely enough to wet the bottom, glowed a sickly green. Even as he watched, the queen spat another drop of the liquid into the jar. Finally stopping her task, the queen collapsed into her bed, wheezing with fatigue, her eyes dull and her mane matted against her form. But what truly scared him was the rest of her.

The holes were back. No, they weren't back, her body was completely riddled with the damned things. Looking at her now, he wasn't sure she'd be able to walk, much less stand. What the hell had she been doing these last few days that left her in such a state?

Sensing his concern the queen hissed and bared her fangs in what was likely her bodies desperate attempt to initiate a feeding, but she soon pulled back control, a dim awareness returning to her eyes. She giggled deliriously, before reaching a hoof out to the jar sitting on the floor beneath her.

"For you." She rasped, a smile on her face.

'Oh my god, she's snapped.' Ted thought, rushing up to the bed and carefully moving onto it, cautious of any jostling the paper thing creature on the bed. Finally in position, he relaxed over her, allowing his concern for her, his fear for any damage she may have incurred, and his hopes for her recovery to be his focus. He wrapped his forelegs around her own, sitting with his rear left leg pressed against her right. The queen relaxed in his grip, her survival instincts kicking in as she absorbed as much of the desperately needed food as she could stand, before she wretched, vomiting a multi-hued goop all over the floor.
Ted realized what was happening, and toned down his concern as best he could, though he didn't release his grip on the queen. After driving herself to the absolute brink of starvation for some reason, she was getting sick on the amount of emotion he was feeding her with. Still, he didn't release his hold on the queen, worried that she would try to leave and possibly finish whatever mad scheme had driven her to this state.

It took several hours, but eventually the sickly pallor of her chitin began to fade slightly, and her breathing steadied. Certain Pandinus was asleep, he allowed himself to fall into the realm of dreams as well, only now realizing her presence had been missing from the dream world as well.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid. What if she'd done something irreversible? What if that's what she did anyway?' The alicorn rebuked himself, entering the dream as soon as it solidified. The queen hadn't even had time to start dreaming before the alicorn was before her, dragging her dream self into a hug similar to the one he had her physical self in.
"You absolute idiot, what were you trying to do that nearly killed you? God, it was hard enough seeing you like that before, Din, don't do this to me again. Don't do this to yourself on purpose."

Instead of an answer, all he got were a few shudders before the dam broke. Pandinus fiercely wept into his barrel, unable to muster much more than the phrases 'I tried so hard.' and 'I'm sorry.' It broke his heart, and he couldn't help but feel responsible for driving her to this by their last confrontation.

Eventually he managed to calm her to the point of sniveling and hiccups, and he decided to try again.
"Why'd you do that to yourself, Din?" He asked softly. "Why did you starve yourself like that?"

"You, you said you wanted, said that I had to give you love if I wanted it." She whimpered. "So I tried finding my own, but I couldn't find it. I started, started draining off the other emotions, so I didn't have to dig through them to find it. I did my best, I swear, but I could only get a little. But it doesn't matter, it's not enough. It wouldn't even feed a true drone hatchling for a day." She sobbed, despairing at the failure to make enough of her own love.

Ted's eyes widened in realization of what was in the jar, before tightening his grip on the queen.
"You, that's not what I was asking for, Din. I can't taste emotions, that's your thing. I don't need physical proof of an emotions existence." The alicorn separated from the shape shifter, lifting her muzzle so he could look her in the eye.
"Gestures, Din. That is how other species show love. Actions we take. When you went to defend your clutch from me, that was a gesture that would be understood by those around you as love. A mother's devotion to her children. When Gem called me dad, that was her telling me she trusted me to keep her safe, trusted me with her life. That is what you're missing. You keep falling back on what you know about your own species when you try to get my attention, or assuming that we react to the emotions that are being released by others. That's not going to help you. It wouldn't help us." He said, pulling her back into a hug, chin resting on her head.

"But, you said you wanted my love, didn't you?"

"I wanted you to learn to love in a way I could understand. You're not just living amongst changelings anymore, Din. When you get better, I want you to watch the herds. Not the energy, that's something I can't see, it's something I don't truly care about. I want you to watch the gestures, the reassurances, the hugs, the kisses, the simple touches that they use to reassure each other every day. That's what I was asking of you."

"So, so I failed again. I almost killed myself for nothing." She said, beginning to droop again.

"Not true." Ted said, smiling sadly. "It wasn't what you had in mind, but it was there all the same. One of the strangest things you'll see in beings in love is their tendency to do things that hurt themselves in an effort to bring the attention of the target of their affections."
"I know it wasn't what you were looking for, but that is a better proof of love than anything else you've done for me so far."  Pushing away from her, the alicorn took a few steps back.

"I'm sorry, Din." He said, laying down on the dream cave's floor. "I hope with all my heart that you don't think I'd ever actually follow through with such a cruel threat, but those words should never have left my mouth, no matter how angry I was. I beg that you not only forgive me, but warn me when I cross that line with others."

"I hate it." The queen mumbled. "I don't want to. I want to hate you, hate you so much you feel it. That you taste it." she wiped a hoof across her muzzle. "I can't do this right now. Just leave me alone."

Slowly rising to his hooves, the alicorn backed away a few more steps. "I'll leave your dream, but I'm not leaving your nest."

"Why not? I don't want to talk to you right now, don't even want to see you!"

"Because I'm scared, Pandinus." He said softly. "I'm not leaving until I'm sure you can at least walk again, longer if I feel you may still be in danger. If nothing else, promise me you won't do this again."

The queen stared at him, anger in her eyes. "Fine. Get out."

With a bow, the alicorn faded from her dream.



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The next morning Ted refused to leave for breakfast, even refused lunch when Gleam brought it to the drones. After seeing the queen in such a state because of a misunderstanding of his request, not to mention the absolutely heartless method he'd used to try and get her to understand what he was attempting to teach her, he couldn't stomach food. Pandinus woke up a few times, but only for a few moments before drifting back to sleep. Most of the day was quiet, and looking back, Ted had wished it stayed that way. About an hour before dinner, the queen woke up once more, this time trying to get out of her bed. Ted guided her, and she eventually made her way to the egg bowl. The queen took her position, the alicorn holding the weak queen in place with a wing. Soon he heard the sounds of wet smacks on the ground behind them. After her laying the queen slackened in his grip, sending Ted into a panic. He called her, shook her, trying to get any kind of response out of the queen. Wondering what had gone wrong, he looked behind her to check her eggs.

And all he could see was her green blood.
> The Fate of the Lost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted sat in the medical room, the queen on the bed next to him. Mirage, being the closest thing they had to a changeling medic, was currently finishing her inspection of the injured queen. She didn't like it, but Ted could still see a bit of worry in her actions.

"She's lucky queens are so resilient or she'd be much worse off." The shape shifter told him, taking a seat next to the alicorn while wiping some blood off of her hooves. "As it is, she should recover, though she'll have trouble with egg laying for a few weeks. That's going to leave her miserable, as normally the process is painless and a natural part of a queen's life. If she ever gets to this point again, though, sterility is not only a possibility, so is death. What was she doing anyway?

Ted stared at the queen for a few moments, before levitating a jar up to the changeling, a thin layer of green slime on the bottom.

"That... that's not possible, changelings don't, they can't." The mare floundered for an explanation. "She, she actually...why would she do that?"

"I told her I didn't want to love someone who wouldn't love me back. I was trying to get her to understand the differences in our ideas of love. I just didn't take into consideration she'd interpret my words in such a self destructive way."

"So she tried to find her own emotions under those she ate?" The alicorn nodded. "She... oh wow."

With a look of determination, Mirage grabbed the jar in her magic, walking over to a supply cabinet and pulling out a clean container, though it was much smaller. Before Ted knew what she was up to, she knocked back the small layer of liquid in the jar, wincing as it entered her system. Focusing, she then started spitting a much less concentrated green goop into the jar. After filling it up about half way, the mare stopped, panting a moment with effort before slapping the lid back on the container.
"I thought I could get away with putting it into a smaller container, but that stuff's concentrated. Pure love of that strength would feed a small hive for several months." The mare shook her head, before floating the jar over to Ted. "She wanted to give you her love, but changelings don't do this kind of thing ever, so there's no way to know how to accomplish that. As it is, she managed to pull actual changeling emotion. It tastes horrible, by the way."

The alicorn looked at the glowing green jar for a moment, before popping the lid off and sniffing its contents out of curiosity. 
"So she'll recover?" He asked.

Mirage shrugged. Looking back at the queen, she shook her head. "If you really want to help her the best thing you can do is just give her your concern. It's your hope that she gets well, and a changeling body can react to focused emotions. The fact that it's for her actual form and not just her disguise will also help. I think it's why the emotions we've been getting here are so potent. Before I ended up here, I'd never really gotten anything from ponies except for fear, and I always ignore that. Negative emotions taste bad."

Hopping off her seat, the changeling made her way to the door. "I've left the hatchlings with Ms. Goodhooves long enough, I need to get back to them."

"Why do you hate her so much, Mirage?" Ted asked, turning from the jar.

As the mare turned to defend herself, he held up a hoof, forestalling her argument. "Don't tell me that you don't or that she's evil or something silly like that. The moment you saw her you were speaking against her presence. You'd already decided you were against her existence."

"It's not that, it's just..." Mirage looked behind the alicorn, frowning at the insensate queen.

"She's not from your hive?"

"I... yes. Queens never accept changelings of other hives except in the most desperate of circumstances, and the moment she can replace them with her own workers, she will. The only way a queen would keep the drones is if she claimed them as her own, and the process can have adverse effects on sapient drones."

Ted cocked his head at the Mirage. "That's why you've been keeping the nymphs clear of her? Your worried she may hurt them by trying to claim them? What does claiming entail, anyway?"

"It's joining the queen's hive and her link." The changeling explained. "Being a queen, she can influence those she's connected with, whereas for me and the nymphs it's just the reassurance of a nearby presence and allows us to find each other even in disguise. She would have access to everything a changeling is; your old hive's numbers, their location, their preferred collection sites, everything. In most cases, I've heard of queens suppressing a drone's personality, devolving them to those golems the queen has in her chambers at the moment. It's safer that way, as there's no risk of the claimed drone moving against the queen."

"Wait, is that normal? I know Pandinus mentioned being able to command the true drones easily, but can all queens do that suppression thing?" Ted asked.

"Of course."

"Then what's the difference in being in your mother's hive and Pandinus' hive? You said your hive was scattered, so there's no way to betray them is there? And your collection grounds were on the other side of the planet, if they even exist anymore." Rising from his seat and smiling, he approached Mirage. "I understand. It's not about what she can do to you, that you're not willing to give someone you don't know that kind of power over yourself, correct?" When the changeling slowly nodded her head, he continued. "It's fine. I don't know if I'd ever be able to trust someone so completely, even my own mother, much less someone who I don't really know all that well. Just the thought of someone being able to take my mind from me is a terrifying thing, as back home our minds were considered sacrosanct; holy and untouchable. However, that doesn't excuse the hostility, Mirage. This is part of what your kind, as a species, is."

The alicorn gave the mare a quick nuzzle, cutting off any response. "We're all supposed to be working together here, Mirage. As I said, the lack of trust is to be expected, but try to be a bit nicer. Talk to her, tell her why you don't hang around her, why you won't leave the nymphs with her. Learn about her, you may find you have more goals in common than you realize. The continuation of your species would be a big one." He said with a grin. Finishing his impromptu sermon, he left the room, the jar floating just ahead of him in a magical grip. He made his way up the stairs to his room, placing the jar on the nightstand beside his bed. It was a gift, no matter how twisted the method of its procurement was, and to throw it away was to insult the pain Din went through to give it to him.

'In the nose, out the mouth. Let the worries follow.' He thought to himself, following an old breathing exercise in an attempt to calm himself down. It had been nearly a day since he'd found Pandinus in that state, the sun just starting to set. The eggs were a total loss, Mirage saying that the starvation ended up stopping the queen's body from properly developing them. The drones that were already hatched, having no input from the queen, fell under Ted's jurisdiction by the queen's own orders. He'd had them finally repair the nest, then set them under Gleam's authority. That was a weird experience, as the drones were nowhere near the intelligence he was expecting without the queen to guide them. They did one task, then waited for the next order, and if the task was too complex, they would just stare at you, as if to say "Error: Command not recognized." Luckily the mare seemed to be able to understand this shortfall better than he could, as she soon had them fetching things, or providing support for other beings throughout the temple.

The alicorn finally allowed himself a light meal, his nerves calmed enough to allow his stomach to hold food, reviewed a few status updates from Weaver and Gleam, and finally passed out in his own bed.



<-(0)-> 



The dream world was a calming place for Ted now. To his knowledge he had no equal here, as Luna's power was stunted by the traitor's arrays, and she either didn't know of any creature that could match her or one did not exist. It was also his escape, a place to sit back, relax, and unwind.

"Why must you listen to this infernal racket while studying your lessons?" Luna asked, almost yelling over the sound of Ted's conjured radio. It was currently playing some of his favorite pop rock songs. Quite loudly, too, a calming reminder of his high school days. Of home. 

"I don't want to hear about my study habits from you, miss 'scream at the questions till they either give up the answer or are blown from the desk.' It's how I used to study, and it's relaxing to me."

The lunar alicorn reeled back as if struck, a blush forming on her face. "How did you know about that? What reason would the parasite have to take those memories?!? I swear, Tia still brings those nights up every now and again to embarrass me!"

The larger alicorn slowly raised his muzzle from the diagrams he was studying, staring at the ex princess with a stony expression. "You mean to tell me you did that on a regular basis?" He asked, voice tinged with disbelief. "I thought it was a one-time thing and that's why it was there." Burying his head under his hooves, he bemoaned his misfortune. "Why do I get stuck with the crazy one."

"Nonsense, I am the superior choice for such tutoring. My sister would either treat you like a foal or tease you mercilessly even as she taught you the spells. I can tell you this from experience." Luna said, before pushing a few more diagrams over to her student. "Add these to your practice sessions, though I suggest finding a place that won't be missed if this offensive spell misfires. It can be quite destructive, but will aid you greatly. Teleportation, this array here, is another useful ability to have once you have mastered it. Most battle mages that are capable of mastering it use it more than any other spell. Be weary of teleporting yourself while too close to the ground for the first few tries. Being an alicorn, you have the distinct advantage of being able to practice in mid flight. That is the preferable alternative considering your lack of a warded training room."
"With that I bid you good night, Cimmerian. May the stars bless your path." Having said her part, the smaller alicorn departed his dream, leaving Ted to store the spells away in some of the dream memory-space Luna had taught him to use. It was extremely useful considering she was the closest thing he had to a magic tutor at the time, and she couldn't give him physical copies of the spells.

Eventually the alicorn decided it was time to prepare for wakefulness. He left his own dream, making one last pass of his followers before turning back to his own form to prepare for the morning. Moments before he finished his rounds, he noticed an odd tingle, a presence inside the dream realm he'd not felt before.
Looking around, he realized it was not a presence, but an entire, by his guess, ship of new dreamers. The large group was just off shore of the abandoned port to the west, just beyond what he knew was the beach. At first he'd assumed the were pirates or bandits, looking for an abandoned port to restock on water and food that could be scrounged up without having to pay for such things, but this was dismissed as he approached.

Most of the dreams were nightmares.

This world was different in many ways, but bad guys didn't all have nightmares the first chance they got. Not at the ratio he was seeing aboard the ship. His first instinct was to calm the dreamers, but he needed information first. Bracing himself for the worst, he entered the first dream at full speed. The dawn was coming, and he didn't have much time.



<-(0)-> 



Blades and steel. Empty eyes and gnashing fangs. The droning buzz of insects in flight and the screams of those nearby. The first dreamer was almost hysterical, but he'd picked up some important facts. Changelings were what had driven them away. The second thing was that the refugees, that's what they seemed to be at least, were griffons.

'The demilitarization wasn't a move to making the griffons safer to deal with, it was preparing their lands for invasion.' The alicorn realized. The timing was too perfect, too precise for such a thing to be coincidence. The next question was why changelings?

Exiting the first dream and brushing against it in the dream world, he calmed the dreamer before diving into the next.

The next moment he was standing among a large group of griffons, all upon a mountain settlement. They'd all stopped, curious at the strange sounds from the eastern valley. Following their gazes, he saw the army as the dreamer had remembered it, a vast collection of shining chitin, of glinting armor and blades in the evening light. At the head of the group, a single equine figure turned around and motioned to the horde, and the air was suddenly alive with the sound of a thousand buzzing wings.
'This makes no sense.' Ted thought to himself, even as he watched the swarm approach. 'The Mad Queen was rooting out changelings, forcing them out of their homes. Mirage and Sahkest even said- oh fuck.' The alicorn's eyes widened in realization. The changelings weren't being executed, they were being captured. Taken prisoner by a species that had subverted the will of not one, but two alicorns, some of the most powerful creatures on the planet. How hard would it be to do that to weaker species? Actually, considering what Mirage had explained to him earlier, it would probably be easier to accomplish with the changelings en mass then with any other species.

"That would have been Din's fate. Mind probably shattered, pumping out eggs to fuel the Parasite's war machine. And that would have been the fate of the nymphs, their minds and bodies stolen to add another cog into the war machine." He muttered to himself, his rage building. Each of the changelings before him may at one point have been sapient beings, but their bodies were not their own. Their eyes were empty, and those that had anything in them at all were filled only with the greatest bloodlust. These weren't sapients. These were animals, trained from birth to be throw away soldiers, hatched for the specific purpose of subjugating another species.
How ironic was it now, that the species that none had spoken out for as they were slowly hunted to what many assumed was extinction were now the ones being used to incite such fear. If even a few had wondered what was happening to those who were carted away this wouldn't have been such a total surprise. Mirage was right though. No one watched out for the changelings. No one cared what happened to the bugs, they weren't intelligent anyway. Just a bunch of mindless parasites.
Ted shook his head, even as the army swarmed over the town, injuring those who they came across and killing those who resisted. To steal one's property was something he expected, he'd even heard of those who stole the identities of others. Yes the changelings did it, but that was for survival, not some sick enjoyment received by being able to ruin someone else's day. This however, was the theft of the mind, the body, and the very soul of the individuals involved. The drones had no choice, those that were sapient before. They were suppressed, most likely a passenger in their own bodies as Luna herself had been all those years ago. She wouldn't let others be subjected to that fate. Not after being subjected to that terrifying hell for so long herself.

Tapping a hoof against his head and giving it a shake to straighten his thoughts out, the alicorn left the nightmare, calmed the rest of the dreams he found, and made his way back to his physical form. He would meet them at the shorelines of the port town in the morning, and welcome the refugees to the area. He would learn what they knew of his enemy, and devise strategies against her.

The Parasite not only stole the body and soul of the creature it had possessed, but that of almost an entire race. It was one of the most horrific crimes he could think of, in this world or his own. The Parasite would find no sanctuary from his wrath when he was ready to strike. He would see that thing burn in hellfire eternally for Its transgressions, even if he had to personally provide the flames.
> Like a Good Neighbor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ted lifted himself from the bed, stretching almost lazily as he readjusted to the waking world. One of the greatest things about his new form was the lack of grogginess after waking. There was no dramatic shift in awareness while asleep, no slowly fading in and out of consciousness while waking, no spending ten minutes trying to lift his head off of the pillow. He woke up, and he was ready to go. It probably had something to do with the dream walking. The effect was diluted if he spent a bunch of time in his own dream and let his mind go blank, but if he was in a hurry and jumped right from the dream realm into wakefulness, he would be just as alert as he felt there.

The alicorn hopped off the bed and headed out into the halls. There were several things he need to get straightened out before heading out. Most importantly would be breakfast. He hadn't been eating much lately.
Ted winced slightly at the thought. 'Ok, head to breakfast, then check on Din.' He thought to himself.

Just before hitting the stairs, he heard muttering down the hall. Ted shook his head and walked over to the war room.

"I thought I told you to stop doing this, Shadow." He said, walking into the war room behind the unicorn.

Shadow Weaver jumped, whipping around to see who was speaking, before groggily looking at the windows. "Buck." he muttered, rubbing his eyes with a hoof. "I was just about finished with the plans for those watch towers you wanted. They're a bit more complicated than I thought they would be." Shadow said, gesturing to the papers scattered across the table.

Ted gave a quick look over the plans, before turning back to Shadow. "They look good, Weaver. I'll have to double check them later on today, though."

"What happened?" Shadow asked. "Normally you're still asleep at this time, that and you normally look over these things as soon as they're readable."

Ted chuckled at the unicorn. "I've really gotten that predictable huh? I'm going to the abandoned port soon, as I don't think it's going to be abandoned for very long. There's a boat just off the coast, griffon refugees from what I could tell from the dreams. I'd like to check on them. They've been through the grinder."
At the smaller stallion's confused expression, Ted explained. "The meat grinder, it's an expression that means they've been through some pretty nasty experiences. Many of them were experiencing nightmares last night, and many of those nightmares involved an invasion. The Mad Queen's made her move, I believe, and has struck at the griffon lands. Do you know where Amald is? I think it would help if he was there as well."

The unicorn nodded, pulling his notes and plans onto stacks. "I think he starts training for the guards a bit earlier. Something about teaching alertness at all hours. That and there's no one else awake now, so he doesn't have to worry about someone else getting hit by the trainees."

"Thanks Weaver, and get some sleep. You do too much for this place to be hurting yourself like this. I need you at your best, not dragging your f-hooves." Ted said before turning to the door. Making his way downstairs he stopped in the mess hall for a quick bite. Slop was already preparing the morning meal, so the dark alicorn didn't have to wait long for a warm breakfast. Finishing quickly, he made his way to the medical room and checked on the queen.

To his surprise, Pandinus was awake when he entered the room, giving him a half-hearted glare as he walked into the room.

"Well well well, came to grace me with your- what are you-Ack!" The queen was cut off as Ted pulled the recovering queen off of her bed into a deep hug, the sight of her bringing the memories of the swarm back to his mind, as well as the implications it brought to light. If he'd been just a little more desperate for money, or a little looser in his morals, there was a good chance the queen, and possibly the nymphs as well, would be part of that mindless army.

Pandinus stuttered for a moment, at a loss. The emotions pouring off the alicorn were not what she expected at the moment, and for the life of her she couldn't figure out what had led to this particular medley of feelings. "Cimmerian? What's going on, what happened?" She asked, confusion in her voice.

"I'm going to be going back to the abandoned port town, Din, there are some refugees that may need some help." He said, setting her back down and going over to the surplus medical cabinet. He'd told Head Trauma to set such a thing up so they could sell the extra poultices and potions that Tulip made, but for now it would serve a different purpose. One of an olive branch to the likely skittish griffons that would be making landfall soon. "They were driven from their home country if what I saw in their dreams is true, and by changelings."

"Impossible, there aren't any hives large enough for such an attack. As far as I know, this is the only hive on the planet with an actual link." The queen replied, her shock at the news quickly turning to anger.

Looking from the supplies for a moment, Ted gave her a sad smile. "Did you ever wonder what the Mad Queen was doing with those queens and drones she's been capturing over the years Din?" When the changeling failed to respond, he continued. "I think she's suppressed the drones, and is using them as shock troops and invasion forces. Mirage mentioned that ability to me when I asked her why she was so hostile to you. What makes it scarier is that the Mad Queen has been gathering any queen she can subjugate for unknown purposes, even going as far as offering a bounty for a queen or proto queen. I would bet she is using them as broodmares, a source of nigh-infinite soldiers that she can turn lose on anyone she deems unnecessary. The drones I saw in the dreams were frail things, many falling apart even as they tore into the griffon defenders, but it's quantity over quality in this case. The old 'ten thousand grains of sand wearing away at a stone' idea."

Filling the last spot in the pack with spare bandages, Ted slung it over his head and tightened the secondary neck strap, holding it in place. Finished with his work, he walked back up to the changeling queen. 
"That was almost your fate, Din. When I first found you, Sahkest mentioned the bounty. How the last bounty for a dying queen was still a very large amount, and how he was certain we could get enough for you to afford a small island. Each. Kinda scary, isn't it?" He said, giving a mock chuckle. "Could've had enough money to build this place up fast, wouldn't have had someone ruining my sheets or scaring me shitless when she misinterpreted what I asked. But the moment this day occurred, the moment I learned what happened to that proto queen I sold off? It would have killed me." The dark alicorn leaned in and gave the recovering queen a quick nuzzle. "When I get back, and if you're feeling up to it, we're going to have a nice heart to heart. No more asking things, we're going to write it out and include exactly what we think the requests entail. We're two different species from two impossibly different cultures, Pandinus. I don't want another misunderstanding costing someone their life. Ok?" Then, sporting an actual smile, he leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"And just so you know? Some people find a dangerous female attractive, so I hope you're not planning on altering those eyes or fangs."



<-(0)->



Ted walked out into the courtyard where Amald was overseeing the training of a few gnolls and ponies with a slight bounce in his step. Leaving the queen a blushing, mumbling ball of confusion had been strangely rewarding. He'd definitely have to do it again in the future. Of course, he still didn't understand how the hell a creature could blush through chitin. Maybe one day he would get enough free time to put these oddities to some good old fashioned science. The alicorn nearly giggled at the thought. Some of the things he'd seen here would make most scientists back home curl up in a corner and cry. Dragons, flying horses, a sun that apparently revolved around the planet, growing a full crop of carrots in three weeks, and an entire species that survived off of emotion, that actually drew nourishment from the opinions and positive attitudes of those around them.
'Truly, science doth weep at the mention of Equis.'

Drawing the griffon's attention, he greeted the soldier with a smile on his face despite the bad news he would have to deliver.
"Good morning Amald. I hope you don't have too much planned for them today, as I'm going to need you to head out with me in a moment. We have an opportunity to help some people who were recently scared badly, and I think your presence would ease them greatly."

"I was planning on running them into the ground this morning, but I suppose I can just have them do a couple laps of the temple in full gear. They'll have to take turns of course, Sterling and Spot haven't finished many sets of armor just yet, nor do they have much more material. That's been added to the list, by the way." Turning from the alicorn, Amald gave his orders to the trainees, explaining to them all he wanted them to accomplish. As he finished, Ted stepped forward.
"I'm certain you can do what has been asked without supervision. You've taken up this training to better defend the Temple and those inside. To slack in this training would be like slacking while on watch. Here you'll lose out on the exercise, on watch you'll be the reason for loss of life. Do your best and support each other in your trainer's absence. He won't always be there for you, after all."

Gathering his gear and a small sack of provisions, the griffon returned his attention to his leader. "Ready when you are, sir."

With a nod, Ted stretched out his wings, preparing them for the flight ahead. No need to injure oneself by rushing into exercise. Satisfied he was limbered up properly, the alicorn took to the air, heading away from first rays of dawn. As they made their way to the old port town, the alicorn explained to the griffon just why his presence would be needed.

"You're certain it was changelings?" The griffon asked.

"About as certain as I can be without actually asking them. I checked two dreams last night, and both had two themes. Running from something, and drones. Not like Mirage and Grift, like the drones Pandinus just hatched. The main difference was that these things were all foaming-at-the-mouth insane and ripped apart anything they could catch." The alicorn answered sadly. "Even those who surrendered were injured, though I think they lived."

The two reached the port town just as the sun edged over the horizon. Seeing no activity from the boat at the time, nor any activity in the town, the two landed easily on the old guard tower. They settled in to wait for a response form the ship, Ted laying down on the watch tower's roof. The passengers would be hard-pressed to spot them even with the sharp vision of griffons while the two sat with the sun at their backs. A few moments afterwards, Amald frowned.

"That's a griffon trading ship, those things aren't made for carrying a bunch of passengers. I'm amazed they made it this far. How many do you think are on it?" The griffon asked.

Ted closed his eyes in concentration. "I think I remember... there should be at least twenty five passengers, though I don't know anything more than they're all frazzled." A low rumble in the distance drew their attention to an approaching storm front, slowly advancing on the coast. "We can't wait too long. If they don't make a move soon, we'll have to be the ones to initiate contact. I haven't seen any motion above deck, have you?"

The griffon shook his head in a negative response before double checking his pack and making sure to secure his gear. It wouldn't do to lose it to a sudden gust. After another few minutes of watching the ship with no response, the two agreed to approach the ship. Moments later, they landed on the deck, only the light clacking of Amald's claws signaling their arrival, as Ted was drawing upon his powers to silence his landing. Turning to the griffon, the dark alicorn spoke in a low voice. "I'm going to keep out of sight for a bit, if things go south, I'll pull you out and we'll use the shadows to escape. For now, try knocking on the door."

Amald took a deep breath before approaching the door. There was no telling the mental state of those below deck, as the cargo ship was completely sealed from the inside, allowing no view of the passengers. Drawing up a talon, he struck the door to the cabin three times before speaking. "Anyone there? I was told you may require aid, and have come with some extra medical supplies." The griffon waited a few moments, and after getting no response, decided to try a different tactic. 

"In life we serve, in battle we are proven, in death we find honor amongst our ancestors."

The old griffon oath garnered a response from those inside, as slowly, the peephole was opened, allowing Amald to see the bloodshot eyes of the young griffon on the other side.
"Is, is it clear? The bugs aren't out there, are they?" The young tom asked with fear in his voice.

"It is, son. I haven't seen a changeling all day." Amald said with certainty.

"Are you alone?"

Amald frowned. "There's one more with me, but he's keeping his distance. Doesn't want to scare you any more than you've already been. He's actually the one who noticed earlier." At the sudden crack of nearby lightning, the elder griffon leaned closer to the door. "Listen, son. There's a bad storm on its way here. I don't know what condition your crew and ship are in, as I'm not a sailor, but the weather's going to get bad soon, can I speak to whoever's in charge of this ship? My friend would like to speak to him as well, and possibly find a place for your crew to weather the storm."

"I'll ask if he will see you sir, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.  Who should I be alerting him of, sir?"

Stepping back from the door and standing a bit straighter, Amald gave a salute with his left talon, placing it across his chest. "Tell him  Amald, ex-lieutenant of the  Storm Talons wishes to speak with him, as does my host and current liege, Lord Cimmerian."

The tom's eyes widened in shock, before he slammed the peephole shut, the skittering of claws and paws on the wooden deck speaking of the speed at which the younger griffon left. A cough behind Amald drew his attention to the veiled alicorn.

"Lord Cimmerian?" Ted asked him.

"What other title would you hold, sir? You are the lord of the Temple at this time, are you not? Besides, as much as I hate to admit such a weakness, we griffons are suckers for titles."

The alicorn nodded. "I see, and I assume the Storm Talon's were an elite group of some sort back in High Talon? Judging by the kid's reaction, they are, or were, kind of a big deal."

"We were the High Queen's Knightly order. If a dispute came about that the queen could not settle, we would travel there and resolve it. If bandits became more than a nuisance, we'd gather a force to wipe them out. We moved with the queen's blessing." The griffon sighed, shaking his head. "Queen Elsha is a wonderful ruler, and led my people well in an era of peace." 

'But she wasn't cut out for war.' Ted thought, picking up on the unspoken problem. "The Mad Queen planned this from the beginning if my guess is right. The disarmament of the griffon lands was in preparation for this invasion. It may take time, but I'm certain we can find a way to strike back at the queen. Most of her power was obtained by ambushing those stronger than herself, and separating those who could oppose her. According to a friend, she ambushed the bearers of harmony, then used the power she drew from their bonds to hold the princesses of day and night. The changeling queen's she's captured seem to supply her with a huge number of soldiers, and she personally wields a large amount of magical power. But it's all a very fragile deck of cards, with her magic power being the only solid base she has. Even that is surmountable. According to my friend, an alicorn develops faster with followers. Do you think she truly has anything more than mindless zealots in her cause?" He asked with a smile. "My own strength has been growing rapidly since my release, and it will only continue to grow in the coming days. I may be getting ahead of myself, but with enough followers and magic study, I could possibly overpower her on my own, much less with the sun and moon princesses working with me. As for the rest of her power base? Free the bearers, and she can't hold the alicorns. Interrupt the link to the drones, and they'll probably berserk, given their treatment and mental state. We already know I can counter some of her arrays, so I'll be asking Pandinus about the queen's link. If I can find a way to block that, her army is less than useless, they may wipe themselves out."

"Don't changelings share minds?" The griffon asked. "Have Pandinus grab one of the drones, and she can probably get all the information you'll ever need out of one."

Ted winced at the thought. "Mirage explained that one to me. Yes she could get the information, but she may also get whatever torment the Mad Queen's subjected them to over the years. I don't know if that's worth it. Some of the drones are pretty much empty shells, so she'd have to dig into their link to find the information, a link that has the tormented minds of hundreds of changelings that have been suppressed by the Mad Queen. That's even assuming she can piggyback the link like that, I don't think they work like network connections."

Amald was about to ask what a network was when the peephole slipped open once more. "I thought ya said ya were alone!" The angry voice of the captain all but snarled. Ted had to stifle a chuckle when he saw the eye patch on the old griffon captain. His good eye tracked over the deck, confusion marring what they could see of his face. "Who were ya talkin' to? And don't tell me it weren't no one, neither!"

Cursing under his breath, Amald faced the peephole once more. "I was speaking with my current ruler, Lord Cimmerian. He has claimed a nearby landmark and his followers have enjoyed a much safer existence since his arrival. If you would prefer though, I will speak with you inside the ship, though I ask that we make haste. A storm approaches." Amald said.

"No, here's fine." The griffon said, the sound of several bolts being undone. Once more Ted had to stifle a chuckle at the appearance of the captain. A tricorne sat upon the griffon's head, an eye patch was over his left eye, and, this one had him nearly in stiches, the captain had a peg leg where his right paw would have been.

"Captain Yael of the Gold Talon." The sea griffon introduced himself.

"Amald, ex lieutenant of the Storm Talons and current head of the guard at the Temple of the Shadows." Amald responded, once again saluting.

The captain gave the other griffon a searching look. "Temple of the Shadows, eh? Don't sound like a place ah'd like ta visit on a nice day, much less with a storm comin' in."

Amald chuckled at the response. "It's what it was called before a few ponies reclaimed it. It has since become a bit of a sanctuary by Lord Cimmerian's order, offering refuge to any who ask. And before you ask, the ponies are not out here because they enjoy the weather. Most of them were attempting to escape the insanity of their homeland just as I did, just as you have."

Captain Yael seemed to chew this information a moment, before nodding. "Fine, but I want to meet this Silmarillion guy first."

"When ever you're ready, sir."

With his cover busted anyway, and being cued by Amald, Ted took a few steps back, putting a respectable distance between himself and the older griffon before dropping his veil. The response was instantaneous.

"A pluckin' alicorn? You're servin' the same damn thing that put us in this situ-mph!?" Yael shouted at Amald.

Ted 's horn was aglow, along with a light aura around the captain's beak. "I would appreciate it if you kept in mind, Captain Yael, that the same alicorn who attacked your people also betrayed her own mentor and friends, imprisoning them all in various states of awareness. Do not judge a species by the actions of one individual. Especially one that has not even been an alicorn for a century. Didn't Celestia lead the pony tribes for several centuries with no major issues? I know my information is outdated, but I don't remember hearing of her meddling in the affairs of other species unless it would bring war to her country." The alicorn said, releasing his hold on the captain's beak afterwards.

"Won't even let me say mah piece, and ya wonder why I do-" The captain yelled, before being cut off by Amald.

"Enough!" The griffon guard yelled. "We have come offering aid and wish to know your answer before the storm hits, if you wish to spend this time throwing insults at us and wasting our time, we will leave. We could be spending this time on other tasks."

"Aid you say?" Another voice asked from the doorway. Turning from what was quickly devolving into an argument with the captain, Ted was greeted with the sight of an elderly griffon. From the voice, he assumed it was female, and the dress did help confirm his guess.
"I apologize for the captain's behavior, every now and again he seems to forget that we are not all sailors." Directing her attention to the distant rumble of thunder, she turned back to the alicorn. "I am Lady Thrisha of Frostborne Peak. Most of those below hail from that village, though we picked up a few stragglers along the way. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"I am Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, current ruler of the Temple of the Shadows sanctuary." He said, giving a respectful bow. "I've come here today to see what aid I could provide, and after taking into consideration the coming storm, possibly offer shelter in the form of a storage building and barracks that have just been finished by the main temple. It could house some of your number, whatever their condition may be, and I can even offer to open my infirmary if you need it. As a show of good will, I present you with this." Ted answered, offering the pack of medical supplies in his telekinetic grip.

The matron caught the bag, opening it and checking the contents. "Yes, we could use the bandages. The swarm did a number on some of our folks." She then picked up a small vial of Tulip's healing poultice, a smile gracing her beak. "Freshly made poultices, it's been a long while since I've come across something like this. Most hospitals these days employ magic or potions."

"So it is true, it was changelings who attacked your city?" Amald asked.

"Yes though they seemed, unnatural for lack of a better word. I've seen a few changelings in the past, and they never acted so animalistic. It was as if they were-"

"Their minds were suppressed, those that were sapient. The rest were mad with hunger and bloodlust." Ted finished.

"I was going to say feral, but yes, that seems- how did you know?" Thrisha asked. Squinting at Ted, she set aside the bag and approached him. Slowly, she circled the dark alicorn. "I've seen you before in ancient tomes, or an incarnation of you. You were the cause of the dreams weren't you? You bear the powers of the lunar princess, yet you offer shelter instead of ruination. How did you come upon the powers of The Nightmare?"

Ted chuckled at the griffon's question.

"A short series of unfortunate events." He said with a sad smile. "However, I learn to embrace this new life more each day. I would be happy to entertain your questions in full later, Lady Thrisha, but time grows short. If your people are indeed injured, I would not advise flying over the jungle in a coastal storm.

Thrisha gave a curt nod. "Than I humbly accept your hospitality, Lord Cimmerian. Most of our injured are still flight worthy, though a long flight will do them no good, and those that aren't can be supported by the others for now. I must ask, however, what species will we encounter at your home?"

Amald looked slightly uncomfortable at the question, but Ted answered stoically. "We currently have members of the three primary pony tribes, a family of thestrals, the remnants of a local pack of gnolls, and... twelve changelings."

"Ya what?" Captain Yael shouted. "Ya mean ta tell me ya got some of them mindless abominations wanderin' your home, and expect us to be okay with it?"

"Those in the Temple are true changelings, not those starving animals that were loosed on your city. The sapient drones have both proven themselves a boon with their superior digging abilities and their help in sealing the Temple against the storms that frequent the area. While you are here I will do what I can to keep Grift, Mirage, Pandinus, and the nymphs clear of your people, but this is their home as well. After the storms pass, I will ask that you either leave, or accept the fact that I will not turn anyone away based on race."

"The gnolls actually hit us with a raiding party last month, though the lord wiped out most of the attacking group in retaliation. Those that survived, he planned on pulling them into the fold. What was I you said, sir? Teaching them better?"

Ted nodded. "They were raised being taught that all other species are below them, that the only one worthy of respect was their own kind. Buster and his pack mates have served as our watch for the last few weeks while Amald trained an actual guard force. I have high hopes for them, they're adapting well."

Yael was furious. "Ah don't give a pluckin' hoot abo-"

"I understand, Lord Cimmerian." Thrisha said, cutting the captain's tirade short. "I'll alert the others to the situation, as well as the alternative at the moment, and be back with those who wish to accept your offer. There may be some complaints, but I think some of us can survive the ordeal until we can find a better alternative."

"There is a town about two days walk to the north of the Temple. That will be where I direct your people if they do not wish to stay, I believe Sahkest, the dragon Quartermaster, made the flight in a few hours." Ted added.

"Pluck it, why not just head dere now?" Yael demanded. "Won't have to deal with the damn bugs."

"While I'm sure you'd get to the port eventually, Captain Yael, I have wounded to worry about. The coming storm will not be kind to them." Thrisha said. "I will be back shortly, and hopefully with an idea of how many will accept."

"Before you go, may I have an idea of how many to expect? I'd like to give Gleam a chance to prepare."

The griffon matron cocked her head in confusion, but answered anyway. "I believe we have about thirty seven on the ship, including myself and the captain."

"So make room for at most thirty six griffons, got it." Ted responded with a grin.

As Thrisha descended below deck, and Amald and Yael proceeded to stare each other down, Ted stepped back to the mast of the ship and laid down, casting his consciousness into the dream realm.







Gleam was just finishing breakfast in the dining hall when a strange cascade of silence filled the room. Turning to the entrance, she was stunned as Father's armor walked into the room, looking around before the glowing eye holes focused on her. The armor then approached her, making its way through the crowd with purpose.
As it came closer, the mare could see the armor seemed empty except for the strange swirling shadows that moved through the internal cavities. Finally the armor reached her and to her surprise it spoke in a clear, familiar voice.

"Good morning Gleam. I apologize for the surprise but I can't physically be here at the moment. Amald and I are currently speaking with some griffon refugees to the west." The voice of Father echoed from the armor, causing hushed gasps and whispers to spread throughout the hall. "I would like to offer the storage building and barracks for their use until a storm passes, then they will be free to do as they please. I think a few will be moving on to Zarris afterwards. There will be at most 36 of them, though I doubt all of them will accept the offer. Please let Buster know we may need another hunting trip to supply them with a decent meal. Ah, one more thing, there's a nasty looking storm approaching from the west coast, so please prepare accordingly."

Even as the unicorn finally snapped out of her shock, she watched as the armor moved to speak with Mirage.

"Good morning Mirage." The armor said. "I'm sorry to do this to you and the nymphs, but there are a few griffons that will be staying with us for a while. Do you think you can keep Gem and Adamant clear of them? It will only be a day or so, and there's a storm coming anyway, so they won't be going out much during those days."

"One of these days that bleeding heart of yours is going to get us killed, sir." The changeling muttered, shaking her head. The armor just smiled somehow and chuckled at the changelings response.

"But Mirage, if I stopped caring, what would you guys eat?" The armor said, softly rubbing a foals head with an armored boot.

The changeling prepared a retort, but stopped, confusion written on her muzzle. "Right now? Nothing." The shape shifter said. "I can't taste anything from you right now, not while your speaking through the armor." The changeling frowned. "I must have missed it before since you were so close when you did this last time."

"Really?" The armor said lifting a boot to brush against the shadows that formed its chin. "I'll have to keep that in mind. I will need to speak to you and the other changelings about what happened to the griffons when I return. Enjoy your day, I need to get back to the ship." With that the armor walked back out of the dining hall, every set of eyes in the hall on it.

Gleam just stared, her eyes barely picking up the faintest wisps of a tail and mane that had manifested on the armor and were swaying with every step. The moment the armor was beyond their sight, the crowd burst into loud speculation, many asking the changeling if that really was the alicorn. Curious herself, Gleam trotted up to his empty seat and pounded an empty mug on a table.
"Quiet!" She shouted over the obnoxious noise of the dining hall. As the shouting and yelling died down, the mare looked over at the changeling matron, motioning her to approach the throne. As soon as she was standing next to the unicorn, Gleam asked Mirage the question on everyone's mind.

The changeling rolled her eyes at the question, a mischievous grin on her face. "Of course it was Father. How else did you think he managed to ink his own face so well a few days ago?" Father would probably find a way to get her back for ousting his prank but for now, listening to the raucous laughter that broke out in the dining hall along with the confused looks of several of the ponies that had tried to tell him he had ink on his face, Mirage decided it would be worth it. It wasn't like she ruined the prank when he was still messing with everyone else.
> That's Not What I Meant by a Heart to Heart, Put Down the Knife.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Not long after Ted returned to the ship, or rather his consciousness returned to the ship, Lady Thrisha returned from below deck followed by a small group of griffons. To Ted's disappointment, only about fourteen of the refugees were willing to accept the offer of shelter.

"Most were willing to accept until I mentioned that you had changelings at the sanctuary." Thrisha told him. "The scars are still too fresh, and for many the invasion was their first sight of the species. As you may guess, it did not leave us unscarred."

The alicorn nodded, turning to address the gathered crowd with a stoic gaze. "I understand Lady Thrisha has explained my offer, but I wish to repeat it. I am offering you shelter for as long as you wish to stay. Many of our number are refugees like yourselves, driven from their homes by their conscience or the actions of others. While I welcome you, I ask that you respect the fact that all species are welcomed in the Temple of the Shadows. As such, we have accepted several changelings into our number, as well as the remnants of a local gnoll pack. Once we arrive at the Temple, please treat all beings as sapients unless told otherwise. You are allowed to defend yourselves of course, but I will ask you to leave if you attempt to provoke any of the residents. If you don't leave after that, I'll see to the matter personally. As has been said my home is a sanctuary, and I will not have others causing problems where none existed before."

Ted's expression softened after he'd given the rules. "That being said, you will be treated kindly and fairly by my people, including being given access to any medical assistance we can give that you may require. Any who wish to leave after the storms pass will be given directions to the nearest settlement, less than a days flight from the Temple, two and a half days by land. For those who find themselves comfortable, speak to either myself, or one of my quartermasters and advisers and we will see about setting you up with a more permanent residence. Once we reach the Temple, any resident will be able to give you the names to search out."

Moments later the refugees were on the beach, any possessions they were not able to carry with them at the moment stashed in the remnants of the old inn, to be retrieved once all the wounded were safely transported to the Temple if time allowed. Ted found himself grasping two litters holding injured griffons in his telekinetic grip, levitating them along as he flew back home. It was odd thinking of the Temple of the Shadows as such, but as of now, it was the only place the alicorn had access to that came close to warranting such a title. As he took off into the atmosphere, powerful beats of his wings easily driving him to the head of the flock, he turned and watched as the Golden Talon raised anchor and headed north, hoping to beat the worst of the storm in a mad dash to Port Zarris. Though he was irritated at the captain, he wouldn't wish ill on him, and as he escorted those who accepted his offer off the ship, he'd wished the captain luck while telling him to seek out Sahkest, the port's dragon quartermaster for supplies. Taking one more look around, he watched the flagging refugees, before making his way to one towards the back. It looked like the young tom who'd been at the door back on the ship, and the dark alicorn noticed one of his wings was flapping at a slower rate than the other. Still doing his best to keep his grip steady on the two litters, he positioned himself under the griffon, motioning for him to land on Ted's back. His passenger secured, he once again pushed forward with all haste. The storm was just starting to impact the coast. Ted could smell the rain even as they moved away from the storm front. Time was short.



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The flock touched down in the Temple courtyard on a small area that had been specially prepared and marked for landings. As soon as the refugees had landed, Gleam and several other ponies began escorting the griffons to the barracks and shed. Ted himself left the litters in the barracks, seeing as the injured would need better protection from the storm. 

"How went the preparations, Gleam?" The alicorn asked. Even now he could here the faint rumble of thunder in the distance, and he could see the encroaching storm clouds over the trees.

"Grift and the drones managed to reapply sealants to both the temple and most of the buildings we've been working on. It's the true test of the construction now, unfortunately it's going to be done with strangers in the buildings." The unicorn explained, not looking up from her papers. "I don't like the idea, but if things go wrong we can move them inside. Worst case scenario, we've expanded the underground tunnels a bit for extra storage and Pandinus' drones have sealed them from rain drainage. We can move people down there if it gets bad."

Ted smiled at the mare. "Thank you Gleam. As always, you're a life saver. I'm going to need to speak with Lady Thrisha later on, so I'll be using the library for that unless it's being used for something else. If any of the griffons give you trouble let me know."

Walking away from the settling refugees, he was about to enter the Temple when he came across a familiar form. Blur was sitting near the doorway, watching for an opportunity to welcome the newcomers, but seemed unsure as to how to approach them. Sitting on the recovering vegetation, he was given his first clear view of the pegasus without distractions. Her mane, finally recovering from the ragged torn thing most of the ponies were working with when he first arrived, was returning to a light sky-blue color, an obvious improvement from the almost white pallor many manes had taken as starvation set in.  

Approaching the Pegasus with a grin, Ted snuck up behind her and wrapped Blur in a hug, lifting the surprised mare off the ground. Nuzzling the squeaking and squirming pony, Ted started laughing at her attempts to escape his grip. "Oh come on, Blur, I haven't had the chance to speak with you in so long!"

"F-Father! What are you doing!" The mare squeaked, futilely attempting to free herself from the alicorn's forelegs.

"Just saying hello to my favorite little nut-ball." He said while laughing. "How are you feeling lately, Blur? I see you finally dropped that old robe, that's good. Those things are just silly. Half of them are ratty and torn anyway."

Setting the confused and embarrassed Pegasus down, he finally saw her cutie mark. A red heart behind a small cabin.
'Loving home, oh god, no wonder she was so lost before.' The alicorn thought sadly.

Luna had explained to him what happened to ponies who found themselves distanced from what they loved. Some ponies became depressed, lethargic, and unable to function properly. Others moved on, though they would find no real joy in life till they found a way to continue pursuing their talent. Blur had managed to move on, pushing on till she found her way to another loving home. When she thought she found it, it didn't matter to her that she was accepting the role of a daughter of what many saw as a monster while she herself was an adult mare. A family was what she needed, and she dove in with zeal.

A sly grin played across the large stallions muzzle. "Has my daughter found a suitable stallion yet?" He asked, an eyebrow raising suggestively. The response was almost immediate.

"Wha- I don't, Father, I ca-" The mare sputtered and floundered a moment, before she stopped, a single word he said drawing the entirety of her attention. The yellow pegasus' eyes widened in shock.
"D-daughter?"

"Well, you've been calling me father for a long while now, so I don't see why I can't join in on it. Besides," he said, giving the mare a nuzzle on the cheek, "a father is allowed to tease his children much more than a ruler can tease his subjects."

As he stood there, a strange feeling overtook Ted. Everything else just stopped being important for a moment. The world faded out, and all he found to be important was the mare before him, a young lady in need of a father's love. Of reassurance, of care, of all the things she'd been missing for star's knew how long.

"I don't care who you were, my child,
It doesn't matter from whence you hail.
All I ask for is your love,
And I'll be the wind behind your sail."


The smile on the alicorn's muzzle softened, becoming much more loving as he scooped the mare up again, this time holding her up to his height, his forelegs allowing her to sit at his eye level.

	"You've lost so much on the journey,
And asked for nothing more than this.
What monster would I become, my daughter,
If such a simple request, I dismissed."

Blur sniffled, her eyes becoming watery at her Father's words. Soon she too was caught up in the moment, and spoke.

	"I've longed for just so long,
Hoping to find my Home.
I wandered from Canterlot mountains, Father,
To the Crystal Empire's shimmering dome."


	"After so long on the road,
I think I've found just the thing.
A family of strangers brought together
Under the loving guidance of your wings."

The alicorn kissed her lovingly on the head before sitting her back down, oblivious to the growing crowd that stared at the spectacle occurring before them.

	"A family you hoped for, my child.
A family you've long pursued.
Here in this Temple we've claimed,
I offer a place in mine, to you."


Ted lifted a wing, wiping away the last of the pegasus' tears before speaking to her once more.
"If ever you need to speak with me, Blur, do not hesitate to ask. I will listen to the fears and worries of all who reside within my home."

With that the alicorn gave one last nuzzle to the yellow Pegasus before walking down the halls to the infirmary. Though he wasn't looking forward to this talk with the changeling queen, he moved with an assured purpose. The followers called him Father, it was only right that he reciprocate.





Gleam could only stare at the scene that had unfolded before her eyes. Her mouth moved, but no words were formed. Eventually she shook her head, attempting to free herself from the aftereffects of the event, only to find the griffon noble by her side, tears in her eyes.

Reaching a talon up to her face, the older griffon wiped a few stray tears away before turning to Gleam. "I was hoping to speak with him regarding his plans for this place. I- I think I can hold off on that for a little while. You understand just what it was we have witnessed, do you not, Miss Gleam?"

Gleam nodded, not trusting her voice yet. The old griffon sighed wistfully.

"I'm not certain how I feel about it." She said with a light giggle. "On the one claw, I'm honored to have witnessed such an event. On the other, I worry that my bucket list is growing short." Turning to the unicorn mare with a smile, Thrisha posed a question.

"Tell me, Miss Gleam. How should one feel when they've witnessed most of the things they'd hoped to witness before they passed?"

The mare smiled, swallowing hard to make sure her mouth was still working.
"I, I suppose you start making a new list, Lady Thrisha."



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Ted stepped into the infirmary, immediately spotting his targets. Pandinus was still laying on a cot, though the holes in her legs were slowly closing up once more. Beside her sat Grift, the changeling looking a bit heavy despite the grueling work schedule Gleam and Pandinus put him through. Finally, keeping a respectable distance between herself and others, Mirage nervously paced between several cots. Her proximity to the queen and other drone did not seem to be doing her any favors. The moment he entered the room, however, all eyes were on him. It took a moment for the alicorn to remember that they could taste his emotions, so his current positive attitude was likely a beacon to their senses.

"Hello, thank you for being here. The foals are with Miss Goodhooves at the moment I assume?" He asked the matron changeling. At Mirage's nod, he continued. "I asked you to be here for several reasons. First of all, as Mirage can probably already guess we have several  refugees that will be using the barracks and storage building for shelter until the storm passes. They're jumpy, especially around changelings, so I ask that you all keep clear of them as much as you can. They won't be coming into the main temple, and the rain should keep the children inside anyway. That leaves you and Grift, Din. I know your feeling better, so I don't think it will be long before your back to causing me problems, right?" At the queens grin, Ted chuckled. "That's what I figured. The second thing I want to warn you of is the reason I'm asking you to stay clear of the griffons. They were driven from their home by a large swarm of changelings."

"That's not possible." Grift said. "The largest hive I'm aware of is right here, and there's no way that many changelings could have gathered together without being noticed."

"They were noticed Grift, the problem here is that they're under the control of another nation. Specifically, Equestria. The Mad Queen's army seems to be using them as shock troops, as Lady Thrisha told me she heard  from other survivors that the Equestrian Military arrived shortly after the swarm, taking any survivors they could find prisoner and claiming the towns for their ruler. Normally, upon hearing the state of the swarm, I would have dismissed them as a threat, as they sounded to be just barely alive. In fact, what I saw of them in the dream of a griffon earlier had their bodies failing them even as they struck the village. However, this is not the case."

"They can replenish their troops." Pandinus interrupted. "I can lay only seven to ten eggs every week or so, but if a queen were desperate, she could modify herself in a few molts to lay much faster. If she gave up moving entirely, she could pump out possibly one hundred drones a week, maybe more."

Ted nodded, grateful for the information. "Now multiply that reproductive capacity by an unknown number of queens the Mad queen's gotten a hold of, combined with the fast maturation rate of the non-sapient drones, and she could easily field large groups of these mindless things with no danger to her own soldiers or equipment." The alicorn finished.

Grift and Mirage were silent, the numbers being thrown around terrifying them almost as much as the idea of seeing so many mad, mindless beings of their own kind. Pandinus, however, chewed her lip in concentration.

"One thing about this bothers me though. For such a large swarm of mere drones, the queens would need to keep a constant hold on the swarm to prevent them from biting their masters hoof. However, with such constant losses, the minds of the queens would be shattered within moments of the attack beginning. So what is it that's keeping the drones in check? It can't be a link."

"My first guess would be an array of some kind, enforcing basic rules like 'listen to pony A', and 'don't attack ponies wearing B'. The only reason I say this is because everything else the Mad Queen has done has been through arrays, and she's proven herself to be extremely skilled in their use. Out of left field guess? An artificial queen of some sort, something loyal only to the queen that has the computational capacity to deal with several thousand changelings. Being artificial, the mental trauma queens feel may not do anything to it."

"An artificial queen? You mean like some type of golem controlling a hive?!?" The queen screeched, her eyes blazing with indignant fury. "That, that whorse would dare trivialize the Link in such a way? I'll clone that nag just to feed her her own still-beating heart!"

"Pandinus, calm yourself! This is only speculation, we have no way of knowing how it works without actually seeing the control method for ourselves." Ted said to her. "That is all you two need to hear." He said, turning to the two drones. "I'd like to speak with Queen Pandinus alone now."

Mirage rolled her eyes before hopping off a cot she'd claimed during the meeting, while Grift hesitated, looking to his queen for guidance. The queen bobbed her head to the door, prompting the shape shifter to head to the exit.

"Din, are you up to this right now?" The alicorn asked, his face a stone mask.

"I'm no hatchling, and it was my body that was damaged, not my mind." At the stallion's raised eyebrow, the queen huffed at him. "Yes I'm ready, speak your peace. The sooner I learn this information, the sooner I can find a way to drag you to my nest willingly. Or you can drag me to yours, it matters little to me."

The alicorn shook his head at the queen's antics, a smile breaking out on his face. "You know, most individuals don't openly state their intentions to drag a potential partner back to their bed."

"Well, I'm not most 'people', am I?" Din responded callously.

"Nope, you're something else alight. When I figure out what that something is, I'll let you know." Letting out a slight chuckle, Ted took a seat on the floor in front of the queen.

"Din, I know you're looking for two things from me, and I've asked for things from you in return. Do you remember what my requests were?" At Pandinus' nod he continued. "I need someone who can be there for me, Din. Not just because of what I offer, but because you want to stay here. You've already said you've noticed my preference for monogamy, but the fact is that my people are also supposed to be life-mates. Once you get what you want, what will you do with it? Will you take what you believe is yours and leave once the Mad Queen is dealt with? If that's your plan, I ask you to give this up."

Pandinus snorted at him. "After I get what I want? What, do you think I can store the results of a single mating like some biological memory crystal? Queens can use the seed of stallions so much more efficiently than most species, but I still need a source, and it does decay over time." She gave him a grin, running her forked tongue over her fangs seductively. "Not that I mind needing to harvest more over the years. As to the love you would give me? I, I'm not certain, actually." She said, gaining a far-away look in her eyes. "This hive already has something no other hive has had before; a surplus of emotion. There is no fear of our gatherers being captured or killed, no worries of the source going bad. Mother never mentioned a time in our history when the changelings were content, and I've never seen a heavy changeling before. I don't need your love so much as, I want to know what it's like. I'd be the first changeling queen of my hive, possibly in history to have a willing mate that offered his love without deception on my part. I did as you asked, you know. I couldn't go out there, so I had the drones watching for me. Watching the ponies that radiated love to each other. It was strange. Normally I feel anger, sometimes outright rage at the thought of that much love being wasted on creatures that didn't need it, but...but knowing it's possible? That someday I could have such a thing for my own?" The queen was shaking slightly, though if it was in anticipation or fear of loss, Ted didn't know. "I have so much right now, Simmer. I have a hive of my own, I have safety, more than my mother ever dreamed of, I have a stallion that looks at me with something other than disgust...I know it's selfish but I want more. I want love, real love that's directed at me! The desire to hold a mare, to feel her warmth, to see her smile, to press your lips against hers; I live off of such things, but it's never for me, it's never me the desires are for!"
"Can you even begin to understand that?" The changeling asked with desperation in her eyes. "The positive emotions we live on was always an empty taunt, something we could never have for ourselves, and love always tasted the sweetest even though I knew it was false. The emotions here are so powerful we gorge ourselves and do no harm to our hosts, because the ponies share it with us. It's so wonderful, so delicious, so full. I, I don't even know how to describe it to you." She finished, lowering her muzzle to the cot.

"Like taking a bite of the finest pastry after years of living on crumbs?" The alicorn asked, nuzzling the changeling gently. "Like being offered the most beautiful, softest robes after spending your life wearing rags? Like being healed of injuries you've carried with you all your life?" He kissed her softly on her lips, his smile so full of love she felt her vision begin to tint slightly. "Like finding a family after you'd found yourself alone in the world? This last one I know especially well, Din. It's because of you, as well as the alicorn sisters, that I've learned to accept my followers as a family in and of itself. I still want to see my biological family, or at least my mental-biological one, or whatever you'd call them, but I'll make sure this family is safe and well taken care of." 

Glancing to a magically run clock above Trauma's empty desk, the alicorn turned back to the queen with a slight bow. "Queen Pandinus, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?"
> When You Invite Someone to Dinner, Take Their Dietary Needs into Account
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dinner was strange that night, both by his own perception and in the eyes of those who saw him in the dining hall. Ted had chosen a bench amongst his followers, seeing as the throne really didn't allow for communal dining. The meal was good, a mix of meats and exotic vegetables he'd come to expect with their locally gathered supplies, the atmosphere was interesting, as the followers were happily chattering away. The only oddity in the scene was the queen, who currently had her nose buried in his shoulder.

He'd almost called her on it, strange as it was to him, but he decided against it. Taking another bite of the latest creation of the resident chef, he looked down at the shape shifter breathing deeply beside him, wings fluttering every now and again. Technically, he'd invited her to dinner, and currently, they were both eating. Her meal merely happened to be the emotions that he radiated. Chewing on the thought as well as his meal, he finished both and decided to start now.

"Would you mind taking your nose out of my shoulder long enough to engage in a dinner conversation?" Ted asked her. His presence at a table usually led to a quieter table as it was, and the odd actions of the queen wasn't helping ease the followers who were sitting with him. "I know you don't actually need to be that close to feed."

The queen opened the eye facing towards the table slowly, almost lazily casting her vision upon those also eating. Her attention left many shifting uncomfortably, most not knowing much about her. "They don't want to talk to me, and besides, what would I say to them? It would be a waste of time and effort." She said, dismissing his request and leaning back into his shoulder.

Ted shook his head in exasperation. Shifting slightly to warn her, he rose and headed back to the buffet, restocking his plate and retrieving a smaller plate with various small portions. Returning to his seat, he set the extra plate in front of the queen and proceeded to take a bit of his second dish of the day, a meat patty of some sort with a vegetable blend. Seeing the queen staring at the plate in confusion, he went forward with the plan.

"Changelings can eat solid foods as well, correct?" He asked her.

"Well, yes. How would changelings keep their cover if they were never seen eating?" The queen asked him, not quite getting where he was going with his idea.

"Then try this." The alicorn said, tapping a fork on her plate. "Tell me what you think of it, what you taste, what you find is better, that kind of thing."

Pandinus stared at the plate for a few moments. "This food doesn't do anything for me, you realize that right? I mean, yes I can taste it, it makes it easier to fit in if you can say things like 'This muffin tastes like strawberries'. It would give us away if we ended up saying something like 'This tastes like happiness and excitement' don't you think?" Seeing Ted raise an eyebrow in response she frowned, before scowling at him. "This is one of those cultural things isn't it?"

"It's not just my people, Din. From what I've seen, most species consider dinner conversations polite." The stallion grinned at her. "Even if you're feeding off of one of your conversation partners. Think of it as training in politics. If you want to your hive to keep having access to easily shared emotion, you need to learn how to make these connections."

The shape shifter scoffed. "If such things were important, my mother would have told me of them, don't you think?"

"So your mother anticipated you coming into the care of an alicorn? Of changelings being allowed to wander a small town undisguised?" Ted asked with a smile. "The world changes around us even as we speak, Din. We adapt to it, or we are left behind.  My people adapted to a hostile world, learning to become just as vicious as the world we were born on. When the world changed again, with no real predators to hunt us, we adapted again, doing our best to overcome the aggression that had been part of our survival for so long. Yes there are failures, but we learn more from those than our victories. I mean, Mirage noticed my presence despite my use of the shadows to mask my physical presence, but since I had no trouble with her, I didn't think much of it when I went into your old nest. After you knocked me out, the ability of changelings to see me despite my abilities was slapped in my face." Nudging the queen with a wing he spoke again. "Now try something. Besides, I may need someone to speak with others in my stead, and a changeling queen has much more impact  then a fluffy unicorn diplomat."

Still scowling, but now aiming her glare at the plate, the queen lifted a large chunk of some pastry to her face with her magic before taking a large bite of the item before chewing loudly, crumbs flying  from her as she ground the hapless snack up in her teeth. Tilting her head as she allowed herself to actually taste the item, the others at the table jumped when she hacked up the mess back onto her plate.

"It wasn't bad, kind of sweet, fluffy. A dessert, correct? Meant to be enjoyed after the meal?" At the alicorn's dumbfounded expression she merely stared back at him. "What?"

"We've got a long way to go..." Ted mumbled to himself with a tired expression, rubbing his muzzle with a hoof.



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"I really don't understand what the big deal is." Pandinus said, irritable after the meal/lesson in manners. "It's not like my body can process it, so what's the point of keeping the food inside? I already enjoyed the taste, which is all I can do with it anyway."

"I've told you similar things already, Din. It's about perception. Did you sense the disgust from those around you when you spat the cake back onto your plate? Many species only do such a thing when the food is either rancid or they become sick. As you've seen, we impose our own ideas of what is normal upon those around us. That's why they looked at you like that, and it's why it would be better if you kept the food inside until after your meal. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, not really, but I can get a bit bloated if I eat too much solid food. That entire experience was strange, and now I feel heavy." The queen said while poking a spot just under where a pony's ribs would end. "I don't think I've ever actually ate things like that just because I could. It was weird."

"I know it was weird, but thanks for sticking with it." Ted said with a smile. "We'll make a proper lady out of you yet."

The shape shifter stopped, looking at him with a confused expression. "Why would I want that?" She asked "How would that help me? Mother never mentioned these 'manners' you seem so obsessed with."

Ted stopped as well, wracking his brain for a way to make this appeal to Din. "It's, manners are about influencing how others perceive you. If you carry yourself higher, if you speak clearly and are polite or don't resort to violence the moment others act in ways you don't like, others will think you are better educated, they'll put more weight behind your words as they think the one speaking knows what they're talking about. I, ah! Think of it as a deceptive ploy. You're pretending to be more important than you are, and it makes others assume you have more power than you actually have. It's a type of bluff."

"A bluff? I suppose that would make sense." She said, raising a hoof to her chin.

"Oh, here's a good chance, when you're introduced, say 'It's a pleasure to meet you.'" Ted whispered to the queen, before turning his full attention to the pair coming down the hallway.

Gleam walked slowly beside the older griffon, both speaking sedately as they walked to the dining hall. Just shy of a collision, the unicorn mare noticed the alicorn and changeling, jumping slightly at the unexpected proximity. "Oh, Father! I was just looking for you. Lady Thrisha here would like a word with you."

"Of course, I trust things are being properly settled for your people?" He said, directing his attention to the griffon.

"Better than I'd hoped after the disaster that had befallen us, Lord Cimmerian." Thrisha replied with a wan smile. Turning her attention to the changeling, she asked "Who might this be? I don't remember ever reading of a changeling of such stature before."

"Ah, allow me to introduce to you Queen Pandinus, a changeling queen." Ted announced, directing a hoof to the queen.

"It, it's a pleasure to m-meet you." Pandinus managed to say, repeating the bow she'd seen the alicorn and griffon give each other earlier.

The elder hen nodded. "The pleasure is mine. If you wouldn't mind, lord, I would like a chance to speak with you when you have the time, as well as a chance to speak with a member of your local hive." Thrisha gave the queen a bright smile. "It sets my mind at ease knowing that I was right in assuming there was more to your people than the mindless creatures that drove us from our homes."

"That's fine, I'd be happy to speak with you. The library is this way." He said, leading the group onwards.

"Father," said Gleam, "I'm going to visit the dining hall and get a meal. I'll be there for a while if you need anything from me." With a bow, the unicorn mare excused herself.

The journey to the library was uneventful, the alicorn and griffon partaking in idle chatter on the way. Upon reaching the library, the group claimed a small table, Pandinus once more claiming a spot by the alicorn's side.

"The first thing I'd like to ask, if it's not too much trouble, is what you were discussing with Queen Pandinus?" Thrisha asked with a grin. "I'd also like to speak with her about the attack."

"That would be up to her." Ted said, a kind smile on his own face. "As for what we were discussing? I could say it wasn't important, but suffice to say we were discussing furthering her education."

"In what, might I ask? Math, Arts, Military movements?"

The alicorn shook his head. "Manners, actually."

Thrisha looked from Ted to Pandinus, then back to Ted before frowning in confusion. "I don't understand, she seems well mannered to me. She held herself well as far as I could tell, and while she sounded a little nervous, I suppose I would be as well after such a formal introduction. Especially if I was used to a more relaxed setting."

Pandinus just stared at the elderly griffon, her jaw hanging open. Ted however started chuckling at the observation, turning to the changeling. "There's an old saying back home, Din. 'Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then open your mouth and remove all doubt.' Silence alone can get you through some strange situations, as it leaves those around you to make their own assumptions about you based only on what they see. If I were to wander through a major city held by the Mad Queen and not interact with anyone, her subjects would make their own assumptions about me based on what they know. Some may call me a monster, based on my eyes and coloration, others may call me a god based on how some ponies seem to deify alicorns. Another good one to keep in mind in strange situations is 'when in doubt, pretend to know what you're doing.'"

The griffon's gaze passed between the two several times. "I don't understand. What am I missing?"

"Pandinus has no education in regards to how to carry herself around others, be they her subordinates, her equals, or her superiors." Ted said. "I ask, of course, that you keep this to yourself, though honestly it shouldn't be surprising to anyone. Can you tell me, Lady Thrisha, the last time any country sent a diplomat to speak to a changeling queen? We were just discussing the subject of manners, starting with table manners. After all, the rules are changing, right Din?"

The queen for her part was still staring at the griffon, still processing the fact that a single phrase had so easily swayed the elder female's opinion. Turning to Ted she spoke surprisingly quietly. "It matters that much?"

Realizing what may have been going through the queens mind, Thrisha responded first. "It does. How we perceive others is very important. The saying 'you don't get a second chance to make a first impression' is not just a silly phrase." She smiled at the changeling. "If you would be willing, I'd be happy to teach you a few things I remember from my time amongst pony nobles, as well as a few griffon customs. It may help you, as I can even explain to you why some things are so important. All I ask is that you entertain this old hen's questions every now and again."
"I was going to ask what your goals with the beings in this temple were, but after your display at the entrance of the Temple, I think my fears in that regard are settled." The hen said to Ted.

Rubbing his right fetlock over his left leg Ted chuckled nervously. "I uh, I'm still not sure where it came from. I'm not one for impromptu songs."

The griffon cackled at his response, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Oh, trust me, dear, it showed. The lyrics were inspired, as to be expected of a heart-song, but your singing left something to be desired Nevertheless, I was honored to be able to witness such a thing. I think the last heart-song was about fifteen years ago, at least according to what I've heard. There was a mare that easily began them, often expanding them to include her entire village from what I've heard, but she's since gone missing. After so long without hearing of her, I can only assume the worse."

Smiling at the good natured jab, Ted made his way over to a section of the library while the griffon gathered her thoughts in preparation of playing twenty questions with the nervous changeling. Finding the book he was looking for, he pulled it free in his magical grip and brought it to the table.
"Din, do you know how to read?" He asked in a whisper at the mare's ear. At her nod he set the book on the table between the two. "Then I think this will explain some things. Just don't try them on me without warning me first, it's a good way to lose someone's respect, and I'm sure Lady Thrisha would be happy to back me up on this, maybe even explain the times such tactics would be used. I'm going to go visit the children and head to bed. Good night, ladies."

As the alicorn walked out the door, Pandinus just looked at the book he'd left before her.


Politics for Derps: Using Words to Seize the Advantage.



Lady Thrisha took one look at the book and broke into laughter. "Stars help us, an empathic politician! Armageddon truly is upon us."
> Bonus Objective: No Alerts Triggered
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had become a nightly ritual for the dark alicorn. Every night, he'd check the dreams of the children, then of his subjects, then of those in the local area. Looking around, he made his final checks before trying once more to fulfil Luna's request. Focusing on the name, on the description he'd been given, he cast himself deep into the dream realm, searching for the missing alicorn.

Every night it was the same result. No response, not even the pull he got when he went looking for Celestia's dreams. He'd try this several times before calling it a night, trying again just before he woke up, if he had the chance. This night seemed no different. He cast out his consciousness, focusing on her name, on her color. He pulled himself back to his body. He cast himself out again, and pulled back to his body. No luck this night either. Preparing his own dream, Ted mentally came to a halt. A gut feeling, that's what it was. He knew his body reacted to things he couldn't understand, so he followed its instincts fairly often. One final time that night he drew up the name and color in his mind. Once more that night he cast his mind into the void of the dream realm...

...and felt something tug at the edges of his consciousness. He latched onto the feeling, trying to get an actual position. North east, well beyond Port Zarris. Ted frowned as he came to the place. The dream was underground, a cave of some sort? There were also the faint outlines of other beings nearby, though they were not his focus and beyond his reach, and thus would not dream.  He neared the orb, which had started taking on a sickly color he associated with a dream filled with fear. Preparing to help the target of his quest he-

"-IAN! CIM-   -AN!" A voice cut through the dream realm, shaking him badly. He was so close, but someone was waking him, and it sounded urgent. With a few choice expletives at the timing, the alicorn calmed the dream, pouring as much reinforcement into it as he could before mentally screaming for Luna. Certain she was nearing, Ted allowed himself to be pulled to the waking world. If it wasn't important, the idiot who had bothered him would be eating through a straw for a week.



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"CIMMERIAN! You fool, wake up!" Pandinus shouted, shaking the sleeping stallion vigorously.

"Damnit, Din, stop it! I'm here, I'm here." The alicorn muttered, shaking the disorientation off. Normally that didn't happen, but getting yanked from the dream realm like that left him hurting. Finally able to see straight, he looked over to the panicked queen, the look on her face worrying him as well.
"Din? What's wrong, why are you here at this hour?"

"I felt one!" The queen almost shouted. "Another link, and it's nearby! Oh fuck, Cimmerian, it's big, bigger than any link I've ever brushed against before. It's them! I know it is!"

"Shush, it's ok, Din, we'll figure this out, calm down." He said, stepping off his bed and pulling her into a reassuring hug. "Where do you think they are, and do you think they've found us?"

"They, they're to the west, a couple miles by my estimate." The nearly hysteric queen told him. "By the First Mother, Cimmerian, Thrisha told me about the invasion in detail. I don't want that, I don't want that for my nymphs! What am I going to do!"

"First," C-Ted told her, fully waking up with the seriousness of the situation "we're going to alert the Temple. I want everyone ready to head to the caves if they get closer. I know they can sense emotions, but hopefully the distance will help my dampening field cover them better than if they were in the open. Next, I'm going to try something." He said. Seconds later a pony burst into his room, trying to figure out what the racket was. Ted seized the opportunity, directing the stallion to fetch Gleam or Shadow. Finally, Ted turned to the queen.
"You can stay here if you like, I want you to explain to whoever shows up first what's going on." He told her, hoping back onto the bed. The queen stared at him in confusion as he returned to his bed, settling in for a long night. With a quick shift of his mental coordinates, he opened his eyes once more in a different corner of the room. The armor slowly moved about, silently allowing the alicorn to double check his maneuverability in this form. This wouldn't be a simple walk down the stairs to deliver a message, it would be a full mission against a superior force with the lives of his family on the line. Turning back to Pandinus, he saw the changeling gaping at his sleeping form. 	Suddenly, her shock shifted to rage, and she raised a hoof to slap him. As she reared back, he caught the hoof, causing her to rear around, fangs bared at whoever snuck up behind her. Ted merely smiled at her confusion.
"Can you detect this form?" He asked the queen.

Pandinus turned to his sleeping body before looking back at the possessed armor before suddenly Ted could swear he saw a light bulb flicker on above her head. He saw her concentrate a moment, before shaking her head in a negative.
"You plan on fighting them yourself?"

Ted laughed at the idea. "Oh god no, I plan on sneaking around and maybe causing some trouble for them, possibly even drawing them away from us. I don't know if I can get tired like this, but I doubt it. The only issue would be if it has a maximum range and if it drains my mana reserves, though I don't have the answer to either question. As it is, it will let me sneak around easier, as I can combine the shadow walking with the lack of emotions that changelings can pick up."

Din looked thoughtful for a moment, looking between the two versions of the alicorn, before nodding. "I, I'll talk to Gleam when she arrives. The hive was almost directly west of here, s-so it shouldn't be hard to find, not with the size I can s-sense from here." She said shakily. Slowly she walked over to the bed, hopping up and laying one of his wings across her back.

"Alright Din, I'll be back. Help Gleam and Shadow if they ask for help, ok?" With that Ted walked out to his balcony, stepping out into the blasting rain. It didn't bother him, though the sensation of the rain passing through his ethereal form was strange. With a single thought the armor faded into a mist, the shadow flowing quickly towards the abandoned port town.



<-(0)-> 


The alicorn heard them before he saw them. The buzzing sound first barely audible over the pounding rain and rumbling thunder, but eventually it became loud enough to nearly vibrate the armor. Coming into view of the abandoned port town, what Ted saw made his blood run cold. Hundreds of changelings flitting here and there, an almost impenetrable screen of chitin that circled the town in constant patrols.

The buzzing was almost deafening, the few ponies he could see wandering around in the purple tinted armor wearing covers over their ears. The changelings not on patrol were huddling in any shelter they could find, their minds still retaining enough sense to seek shelter from the raging storm. Most were buzzing their wings in a desperate attempt to generate heat to keep warm and awake in the cool weather. Many were failing.
Even as he approached the old guard tower, he nearly was struck as a drone fell from the side of the structure, its energy expended completely. Looking around the various buildings, he could barely make out the dark spots of bodies scattered over the entirety of the area, the ponies merely navigating around or over the bodies. Taking a inconsequential breath to steady himself against the sight, he walked into the occupied town.

He was already invisible and couldn't be detected by the changelings emotion-oriented radars, and there was a rain storm that made visibility even worse, but he took no chances. The alicorn moved silently from one form of cover to the next, attempting to find the highest concentration of guards. Eventually, in the old in where the griffons had stashed there gear, he found what seemed to be a leader of some sort.

"Yea, this is their stuff alright." The armored stallion said, rooting through the possessions of the griffons. "The damned feather dusters wouldn't go that far from this junk, no matter how desperate they are. You sure the mutant didn't say anything about where they were headed?" He asked another soldier to his left.

"Just that they went east, following a pegasus. Bird said it was an alicorn, but I don't see how that would be possible. The Queen's got two of them on permanent lock-up till they surrender their powers, and last I heard she let the pink one go because she wasn't a threat. Not much an alicorn can do with a cracked horn an plucked wings. That accounts for all the alicorns in existence. Besides, wouldn't the Queen's sensor array's pick up something that big?"

Ted barely managed to suppress a growl at the dismissal of the pink alicorn. Finding Cadance just moved to the top of his to do list if her condition was that bad. Not only that, she was within his reach now. He was all but certain he'd found her with that last dream dive. Hopefully Luna had made it to the dream, and managed to talk to her giving the poor thing a much-needed shot of hope. His planning was cut off as the one he'd mentally marked as the leader started moving towards the exit, passing by his shadowed form without a second glance.

"I'm going to head to the boat." The soldier, a unicorn now that he'd seen his face, said to his subordinate. As they passed by ted took note of the armor, looking for any control methods or protections from the changelings outside. All he could make out was a small rune on the right shoulder, something he vaguely remembered being a connection array  for joining multiple casters for powerful spells. It seemed they were connected to the actual arrays remotely, though unless they had a primary uplink on the ship, a good possibility given the size the array would have to be, he wouldn't be able to do more than redirect the army elsewhere.

'Here's hoping my karma doesn't consider itself balanced quite yet.' he thought to himself as he followed the unicorn from a distance. Passing by several patrols that didn't seem to concerned with more than staying out of the rain, the group he was shadowing slowly making its way to the docks, stepping over and around any fallen changelings with a practiced lack of interest. Suddenly another drone fell from the sky, this one almost landing on the subordinate, the soldier flaring his previously unseen wings in shock.

"Bucking tartarus! Damned thing almost fell on me!" He shouted, rearing around and kicking the body aside.

"Get over it, they're not heavy, even the ones with the plates. It won't kill you, not with your armor. It's why we wear it when working, remember? Though I'd talk to the ship's artificer about getting that array looked at, they're supposed to help divert the bugs before they drop so that doesn't happen." The superior said, never even slowing his pace.

The group made their way up a shoddily patched dock, Ted noticing most of the patching seemed to be changeling sealant that had been sloppily applied and solidified, a few patches of the goop still remaining liquid. The boat, surprisingly, didn't have much of a guard, just a single pony sitting under some oddly stacked crates, staring into the night. The box soldier threw the superior a quick salute as he passed by, but then returned to watching the storm, never noticing the wraith that slipped past him. Following the ponies into the hold of the ship, Ted ran into his first real obstacle.

The inside of the ship was actually lit by magic-storing crystals powering light spell arrays. It would mean much more constricted movement for the alicorn, but seeing as he may have a target, he made his way through the ship remaining silent. The one time he'd come across an area he didn't trust, he'd ghosted across the ceiling, avoiding the open doorways entirely. Moments after he'd floated over them in his shadowed form, a soldier had walked out of the right doorway, muttering darkly about having to replace a soldier on watch in the storm. 
"Damn bugs can sense anypony that gets near us. Not like I need to sit out in the rain for hours on end." He muttered as he trotted out of earshot.
Finally the alicorn made it to the cargo hold and main supply section of the ship. Both of the soldiers he'd been tailing earlier were there, one getting his armor inspected by a unicorn who was reapplying the array on his shoulder, double checking his work every now and again against a small metal plate on his desk.
The second, the unicorn superior, was speaking to another soldier, this one with a beard and mustache of all things, giving a report on the findings in the town.

"Given the fact that some of that stuff has probably been in their families for centuries, there's no way they'd leave it behind without being able to return. Worse case scenario we wait for them to come back for the junk and hit them while their exposed in the middle of the town." The unicorn said

The mustachioed pony merely scowled at the reports over his desk. "But we don't have any idea where they went or how far. 'The dropped a number of the rebels off at this point and those who stayed here went east.' How am I supposed to file this as a report?"

"There was also the claim of the griffon capt-"

"Yes yes, the claim that it was an alicorn that met them on the boat. The griffons are a superstitious lot. Toss a fake horn on a thestral and they'd be screaming about the return of Nightmare Moon. We'd have detected such an individual by now. It's not like there's a pegacorn out there that breaks detection arrays with his mere presence."

Ted just stared at the commander, his incorporeal jaw dropping in disbelief. Sure the world was a bit odd at times, but that kind of thing didn't happen in real life, did it? Turning his attention from the soldiers in the room, he looked around for the array. Passing by the soldiers and moving deeper into the ship, the alicorn stopped in the final room.

"If that's not it, I'll turn myself into the Mad Queen tomorrow." He muttered. The array was huge, with a single crystal focus at the center containing even more arrays in an impossibly complicated multidimensional array.
"I didn't even know it was possible to make them like that." he whispered to himself, awed at the sheer complexity of the array before him. There wasn't much inside the crystal he could understand, but looking over most of the other sections of the spell, he could spot safeties and surge diverters aplenty, all helping to avoid a meltdown of the large amounts of energy flowing through the spell.

"It's a nuclear reactor." He smiled, striking his hoof through surge protecting array after surge protecting array, while rewiring the safeties to not divert mana, but store it. He giggled even as he damaged the final protections, finally shoving his incorporeal hoof through the primary spell matrix and surging his own magic into a weak part of the spell. The effect was immediate. The large crystal began to creak and groan, large cracks spreading throughout its surface even as the mana began to build up. With the surge protectors gone and the safeties now storing the excess mana, the entire array was a large balloon of the most volatile gasses on the planet, and it was slowly expanding. Once it went critical, there wouldn't be much left of the boat.

Tearing down the hallway he'd come from, he solidified only long enough to grab the array off of the artificer's desk before fading back out and diving through the deck of the boat, ignoring the shocked shouts of the commander and his soldiers. The alicorn sunk like a rock into the depths of the ocean, the only thing he could make out eventually being the pull of gravity. Moments after his boots impacted the soft ocean floor, a pressure wave hit him from above. Looking up, he got a glimpse of what almost looked like the birth of a sun, the spell overloading in a fantastic explosion of raw energy that vaporized the boat along with a good couple hundred gallons of water, and flash-boiled anything unlucky enough to be in range of the heat wave. Even on the shore, many changeling drones and Equestrian soldiers fell to the explosion, the rain being turned to steam in a flash and cooking them where they stood.

With a bit of difficulty, Ted managed to finally break the surface of the ocean, following the upward tilt of the ocean floor to find the beach. Taking a look at the scene he now found before him, he found himself torn. On the one hand, the threat seemed to have been dealt with. On the other...

Drones lay scattered about, piles of bodies making some areas inaccessible without resorting to flight or his ethereal form. Farther away from the actual blast wave that occurred however, were the results of the loss of the link keeping the feral changelings in check. They had berserked from what he could see, ripping apart any living thing they could find, pony, wild animals, it didn't matter. When other prey was exhausted, they'd turned on each other. Even as he made his way through the gore spattered streets, he could still see some of the drones moving, weakly attempting to gnaw at the nearest body, hoping to find some way to stave off death even as their lifeblood left their bodies through grievous wounds. Walking past one in particular, Ted watched the changeling thrashing about in its death throes, the creature too lost in a blood rage to realize half its torso was missing.

There was just so much death. Ted couldn't go two paces without stepping on a corpse or dying body. A drone smashed against a wall here, a pegasus mauled there, an unidentifiable mass of bodies piled in a doorway of an abandoned house. It was a scene he figured would stay with him for the rest of his life. In some ways he hoped it would; it reminded him what he was standing against. This is what the Nightmare was promoting. The use of changelings are cannon fodder, and the extermination of all those who didn't or couldn't conform with her perfect world. This was the result of that agenda. Death dealt out to all those involved.

Readying himself for the trip back, feeling mentally exhausted from the ridiculous amounts of horrific scenes he'd been subjected to, he stopped cold when he heard voices speaking nearby. Pulling the cloaking ability over himself once more, he moved as quickly as he could, making his way to the voices. Coming up on the old guard tower once more that night, he noticed a large pile of dead changelings in the doorway, nearly blocking his view of several of the creatures huddled inside.

A small group of changelings sat clustered together in the tower, surrounding a small fire and huddling together for warmth under various torn blankets and cloaks. Moving closer the dark alicorn listened to their discussion.

"-telling you guys, there was something out there, and this one believes it is still out there." One said to the others. The group shared a few nervous looks before another spoke up.

"I am in agreement with his theory. The array was designed to prevent such a catastrophe." A second said, staring into the fire. "Such a meltdown was orchestrated by a third party, one that managed to evade over a thousand of our kind and walk right up to the control array."

"The question we must ask, then, is was its goal simply the destruction of an invader, in which we ourselves may now be its target, or was this targeted specifically against the forces of the Pony Queen." A third spoke, the buzzing voice  having the feminine tones he'd recognized as differentiating Mirage from Grift.

"The question this one poses, instead, is does this creature see us as a threat, as prey, or inconsequential?" The first asked.

"I'm not waiting for somebuggy else to find us." The female finally said, standing up and making her way to the door.

"Are you insane? You'd either freeze to death or get eaten!" The second voice yelled at her.

"Better than waiting for some unknown monster to find and kill us all, or waiting for Equestrian reinforcements to find us and re enslave us all! I don't know about all of you, but I'm pretty fond of being able to scratch my shell when I have an itch!" The female yelled back.

Seeing her get closer to him, Ted smiled, dropping the invisibility in front of the gathered changelings. Immediately they backed to the other side of the building, putting as much distance between themselves and the alicorn as possible.

"A-a-alicorn..." One managed to stutter out, lancing Ted with a spear of guilt even as his own hope was restored by the discovery of survivors.

The female, gathering her wits once more took a few uneasy steps forward, lowering her horn in an aggressive stance. "I don't care if it's a buzzin' Mind Drinker, I'm not going back, and I'm not dying without a fight!"

Ted sloppily sidestepped the mare's lunge before he was struck from behind, a blow from an unseen attacker knocking the helmet off of the rest of the armor. Immediately all movement in the tower stopped. The survivors stared in horror at the still standing armor, only now able to see that it was in fact, empty.

A moment later, Ted's echoing voice broke the silence.

"Well this is awkward."



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It took him the better part of an hour to convince the group of twelve changelings that his desire to aid them was genuine, eventually resorting to speaking of the stock of love those at the Temple had gathered, and the fact he knew what love looked like. Few ponies knew what love looked like when harvested by changelings, and fewer understood how it was processed and stored. This, combined with his apparent knowledge of their race and his proclaimed hatred for the Mad Queen, had the changelings willing to follow him to the temple. They truly had no other goal at the moment anyway, besides staying alive, and they had no knowledge of the surrounding area. Even in top condition, changelings could not survive on their own in the jungle
. The journey was slow, the changelings weak from starvation and slowed by the pounding storm. Several times they stopped to make fires to warm themselves, Ted drying the wood and starting the fires personally so that the changelings could conserve what little energy they had left. Hours later, a drone at the front of the group stopped, his ears perked up.

"What is it? What do you hear?" one behind him asked.

The drone continued to stare forward, not even turning back to answer.
"I smell love. Happiness too." He said. "L-lots of it." With that he took a shaky step forward, followed by another at a faster pace. Before the drone got too far, Ted nabbed him in his aura.

"There may be guards out watching for the Mad Queen's army. I don't need any of you running out there and getting killed because they got overzealous. I'll go first." Brushing aside a few more leaves in the underbrush, the alicorn took in the sight of the Temple of the Shadows and breathed a sigh of relief. Turning to the changelings, he smiled warmly as he could at them in his current form, before speaking in a loud clear voice.

"I welcome you to my home, lost ones. I offer you shelter, food, and should you accept, a home, a hive, and a link safe from detection from the Mad Queen."

Even as they made their way into the Main Temple, Ted found himself directing ponies away from the changelings, whose mouths were watering even as they greedily absorbed what concern they could from the few ponies that were awake at the early hour. Eventually Ted had directed them to the queen's outer room, asking them to wait there while he prepared something for them.



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"This had better be important Cimmerian, I'm still exhausted from the panic and preparations I was involved in last night." Pandinus told the alicorn as he lead her down the stairs to her room.

Ted merely smiled, looking back at the her as she trailed behind, sleep still having a grip on her. "Trust me, Din, this will be worth it."

Pushing open the door, he beheld with his own eyes the survivors of the blood-rage induced slaughter that had wiped out the majority of the force to the east.
"My guests, might I introduce you to Queen Pandinus,  Resident Changeling Queen at the Temple of the Shadows. Pandinus, these are the survivors that were freed when the link array was destroyed."

For a long while, neither party said a word, both sides just staring at each other in shock. One drone finally worked up the courage to respond, slowly walking up to the queen. He looked at her searchingly, most likely looking for something, before turning to his fellows.

"She, I don't see it. I think she's her." Returning his gaze to the queen the drone bowed low. "I humbly offer my service in trade for whatever aid you can provide. Even the smallest offerings of food would be an improvement from our previous conditions." He was quickly joined by four others, all swearing themselves to the queen in hopes of a better chance at survival. Pandinus merely looked from them to Ted several times, her mind obviously abuzz with the possibilities laid out before her. Taking a deep breath, she did something that threw the dark alicorn for a loop.

The queen levitated several jars of glowing liquids, one surprisingly being pink, considering how jealously she guarded any love she obtained, and left the jars on the ground before the survivors.
"Rest and recover before you make that decision. This, the love and happiness I'm giving you now is plentiful here. Those of us already situated here will not go hungry without it."

As the drones broke open the bottles, sometimes literally, and consumed the contents with gusto, Ted moved up behind the queen, curious.
"While I'm happy you didn't try to leverage them into joining your hive, Din, I need to know. Why didn't you force the issue?"

Taking a shaky breath, the queen looked him in the eye. "Because they're starving. Because I know how that feels. And because you didn't force me to join you." She said. "That's, love right? Giving something you like and not asking for something in return. Did I get it right?"

Ted smiled and gave her a hug, wrapping both forelegs around her. "It's a type of love, Din. It's the love we give those we don't know. Charity, or charitable love. And while they won't be able to feed you with it, they'll love you for it, I promise." He said quietly. "They'll love you for being willing to help them when they needed it, they'll love you for allowing them freedom to chose, and if they stay with you and you treat them well, like they're your own hatchlings, they'll love you for being their mother and queen."

The larger shape shifter slowly smiled at his explanation, watching as the drones ate their fill before curling up on the familiar texture of a changeling constructed floor, leaving Ted to wonder just how quickly a changeling could adapt and learn when they understood what they could gain from the information. If he wasn't careful, she may become a better family and leadership figure than he was.

Rubbing a hoof on the wing covers, he smiled at the scene of the resting survivors. "You did good, Din. Real good."



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Far away, in a small room lined with crystals and spell arrays, a small light blinked on the wall with a small note just after the name.

Control Array 3B: Not Responding/Connection Lost

In another room of the castle, another light was blinking, much to the irritation of the unicorn in the room.

Unit 4H: Late to Report: Unresponsive

The unicorn shook his head. Whatever idiot knocked out their communication array this time would be keeping the Queen occupied for at least a week. If he was lucky, he'd keep all his inside bits where they were supposed to be.
> Watch that Recoil
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After leaving the nest and the surviving changelings in Pandinus' care, Ted found his eyes drifting closed despite the fact he didn't feel physically tired. Though his body was capable of continuous exertion for days on end, at least according to Luna, his mind was still that of a mortal, raised with mortal ideas and with mortal weaknesses. As it stood, he'd need to sleep, and give himself some time to process the sheer amount of horror he'd encountered the night before. True most of the drones were downright feral, but there was no telling how many sapient drones there were near the blast. Now that he had a chance to think about it, he was plagued by doubt, wondering if he'd in fact done the right thing by destroying the ship. It wasn't a retaliatory strike from Equestria that he feared. According to the griffons they'd been driven out of their country nearly a month prior and were just now arriving, so even if the Mad Queen tried to send a team to investigate the disappearance immediately, it would be a while before they showed up, if they even knew the final position of the ship.
No, the issue was he'd committed himself to being willing to fight another country's army for the safety of those in the Temple of the Shadows. The soldiers weren't a bunch of bandits, like the gnolls. They were a military force, trained by and paid by a country to enforce the country's laws and policies, no matter how lax they were at security. Actually when he thought about it, the possibility of something sneaking past that swarm of ravenous feral changelings was infinitesimally small, so it wasn't surprising most of the lookouts weren't particularly alert.

Another problem was that the blast damaged the abandoned port pretty badly, he was certain of that. Even not being able to see much in the torrential rain, he'd walked on the glassed sand just shy of the waterfront. Add the physical damage to the fact that there were now bodies rotting in the rain scattered around the town, the bodies of the changelings pilled so high in some places they blocked buildings; it would set back his plans for reclaiming that town and putting it to use. As much as he wished to avoid doing so, he'd have to visit that place again once the weather let up and asses the actual damage.

With a jaw splitting yawn as he wandered into the dining hall, he made up his mind. Something to eat, whatever meal was relevant to the current time (it looked like lunch, actually), let Weaver and Gleam know about what happened, and head to bed. His mind made up, Ted grabbed a plate and hastily tossed a few sandwiches on it. He wasn't even in the mood to eat here. Heading to the war room and Shadow Weavers probable location, the alicorn didn't mind the stares. He just removed a threat to the town while they were all sleeping, warm in their beds. It he wanted to eat in his room, he'd eat in his own fucking room.



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Explaining the situation to his second in commands, both of whom were in the war room, Ted slowly made his way to his own bed, wings drooping slightly from fatigue. Setting the plate, remaining sandwich, and a glass of water on his nightstand, he made a note to clean the now gored-crusted and bloody armor next chance he got. A stray thought had him wondering how a bath would feel with it on, but it was quickly hijacked by a thought of a certain mare lightly grazing the neck armor with her teeth, causing a shudder to wrack his body.
'Stop it, man.' He thought to himself. 'No need to complicate things even more at the moment.' There was no denying she was physically attractive, but he almost felt like he'd be taking advantage of her desperation at this point. He'd let everything settle and see where the queen ended up mentally. Besides, the new drones, some of which he could guarantee would seek the safety and reassurance of her hive, would keep her busy for a while. He was just about to hop up on his bed, in fact he even had a hoof on, it when a knock came from the door. The dark alicorn sighed in exasperation, looking to the door and pulling it open, his drooping eyes taking in the unexpected form of a, once more, worried changeling queen.
"I'm getting some sleep Din. If there's another one of those hive things nearby it's going to have to wait."

"I just wanted to-" She started, before her ears perked up, sniffing at him curiously. Slowly her worried expression morphed into a grin.

"If you don't drop it, I'm going to say no to whatever it is you're going to ask." He told her.

Still smiling, she powered on. "So if I ask if you not to-"

"I'm closing the door if you don't tell me what you want now. I need sleep." He told her, voice still dead of emotion. He should have known the second a lewd thought entered his head she'd be here to sniff it out.

Pandinus pouted slightly at being shut down, but continued. "I wanted to know if you could stay with me for a bit." She said, dragging a hoof nervously across the floor.

"Din, what's wrong? You can tell me." He urged her, moving closer to the doorway.

"I... I bled a little again today." She said. When he failed to respond, she explained. "It, the clutch nurse was right. She told me I may have trouble after the incident, and she was right. It hurt. I know your tired, I can taste that, but I just..."

"Your hurting, maybe a little scared, and want your comfort food." Ted said with a tired smile. Looking back to his bed, he shook his head. "Fine." He grabbed a pillow and blanket off his bed, levitating them to his back before turning to follow the now smiling queen back down to the nest. 'Don't worry, sleep is coming' He thought to himself. 'I'm feeling pretty stiff right now, so a buzzing massage would be great.'

The first chamber of the nest was currently housing the still sleeping survivors, most of them already looking less sickly after they'd ate their fill. Stepping lightly past them, he followed the queen into the second room. The bed was a bit nicer than the first time he'd seen it, more linens on a raised platform that had a more give than he would have expected. He chuckled as he stretched out comfortably on the pedestal. It wasn't surprising he'd not thought of asking her about it last time, as he'd been a bit distracted. Pulling back the covers to get a good look at what he was laying on, he was surprised to see the strange clear film that had been part of the changeling pods, filled with a green goop that provided the give of the 'bed' he was on.

"Has one of these things ever popped on you?" He asked her as he laid down his head on his pillow, his wings fluttering lightly as he settled in.

"Um, no. The film reseals even if it gets punctured. It doesn't bother you, does it?" Pandinus asked cautiously. "One of the ponies saw it and they got kind of panicky. I think he was worried I was going to shove him into it. Not that I would. I don't want something moving around in my bed."

"I'm on an alien planet, in an alien body, surrounded by more aliens, I talk to other aliens in my sleep, I have magic powers, and I've met several mythological creatures." Ted listed off. "Sleeping on a puke bubble that doesn't smell and won't pop on me isn't that big of a deal at the moment. It also helps that I'm too tired to care. Now get on."

"What?" The changeling asked in shock.

"I said get on my back. We're going to practice some give and take. I'm going to give you safety and food, and your going to give me physical comfort. Ever since I got back and dropped my hold on the armor, my bodies been cramping up something fierce." He said. "That buzzing purr you do would probably feel heavenly right now."

Cautiously, the queen made her way onto the bed as well, resting comfortably between the dark alicorns wings. Settling in properly, she focused on the safety and warmth, a happy purr resounding from her throat. At Ted's moan of approval, the purr massaging his cramping neck, she started to buzz her wings, the much stronger vibrations being sent down into her living pillow, only to be echoed and bounced back from the jiggling bed, doubling the intensity of the massage.
The next thing Din was aware of was a strong wave of pleasure and contentment rolling off the alicorn, which she happily feasted on as her purring redoubled. Sure she wasn't very hungry at the moment, but he'd mentioned the day before how some creatures ate for pleasure. If he thought she should do it, she would. And his emotions were some of the best tasting foods she'd ever sunk her fangs into. Besides, the happiness could be saved for later. The new drones would need something to feed on until they made their own connections as Mirage, Grift and she herself had done.

Even as Ted drifted off to sleep, he heard the queen giggling happily as she buried her snout into the fur on his neck. It was good to know he'd finally gotten something besides drama from the queen. Honestly it was about time, and from the sounds of it, she didn't mind doing it. He'd call that a good trade off; food and safety for a massage.



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Ted was sprawled out on his usual private beach when it happened. He was so tired, letting his mind recover from the long night and the horrible experiences, that he actually didn't sense the mare until she impacted his dream-self.

"Cimmerian!" Luna shouted in his ear, clinging to his neck. "You found her! I saw her, I talked to her, she's alive! We, I mean you need to find her, help her!" She babbled, even as the stallions eyes slowly opened. "Are you alright?"

" 'M fine, just tired." He mumbled. "Didn't sleep much last night, had to take care of something after I spotted the dream. Hell, I didn't even get to check if that was her before I was woken up by Din."

"What happened?"

The larger alicorn brought up a memory, the picture of a mountain of dead changelings appearing in the air before them. Luna was silent, merely tightening her grip on his neck reassuringly.

"Pandinus detected another link nearby, a huge one. From what I could tell the Nightmare has all the drones being controlled by arrays, and there was a ship near us that had one of those arrays on it." He conjured the memory of the crystal, and Luna stared long and hard at it, a hoof at her chin. "I didn't even know you could do arrays that way, I thought they were all written down on paper or carved into armor."

Luna nodded. "Under normal circumstances they are, though  the more common way to do something like this is a joining array, allowing multiple rooms to be used if it's needed. This sort of thing is nearly impossible to do with any truly complicated arrays such as this one. It was most likely only done because the space available is at a premium." She said, gesturing to the floor in the image. "How did you deal with it?"

"I used the Nightmare armor. I used it to get past the changeling patrols, and messed with the safeties and surge protectors, turned the protectors into batteries instead and surged a weak point in the array."

"You caused a thaumaturgic melt-down?!?" Luna shouted at him. "Are you mad? That would kill anyone in the blast radius!"

"That was kinda the plan, Luna. The ponies around it were Equestrian soldiers, who could report my location back to the Nightmare. The rest were changelings being controlled by the array." He said sadly. "I know, at one point they were your ponies. But right now they'd put everyone I'm watching over in danger. We'll mourn them properly when we have a chance, Luna, but for now, I'm not taking any chances with them hurting my people."

"I, alright. But I still want you to try to avoid killing ponies if you can help it." She said.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going out of my way to murder innocents, Luna. That's not my thing. Those were soldiers looking for blood. Believe it or not, I think they killed the other griffons, be it by ordering their deaths or through negligence. I didn't see the other griffons in the dream realm, and they were supposed to be headed to the port to the north of us."

Luna sighed, hanging her head. "Very well, Cimmerian. I only ask that you remember mercy. It can be very easy for some to disconnect the horror of killing when they rationalize it properly, but that is also how we fall. You understand my descent better than most. Do not forget the lessons I learned, lest they cost you just as much."
"While I am glad your mission was successful, I must also ask that as soon as you can, you help Cadance. I've directed her to you, giving the name of the dragon and the port to your north as a starting point for her, she is weak right now, though she says she has somepony to protect her."

"Think she'll be asleep now?" Ted asked. "I mean, I'm tired, but if she's in danger or hurting..."

"No, I don't think so. She's getting close enough to you that it will be night for her when you're asleep, so right now I doubt it. Just introduce yourself to her when you get the chance." Luna said. "Rest well, Cimmerian. Magical exhaustion is nothing to dismiss for a being of magic such as yourself."

With that she left, leaving the stallion alone in his dreams. He dismissed the image of the crystal, still hanging in the air before him, before curling back up on the sands, summoning up a radio that immediately started playing an old favorite of his. He let his body go limp, and hummed along to the intro. It fit the scene well, he thought as he watched the waves roll in from the ocean.

"Livin' on sponge cake. Watchin' the sun bake. All of those tourists covered with oil..."



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After an indeterminate amount of time, the dream shuddered, a sign that someone was waking him up. The dream collapsed around him, leaving the groggy alicorn to slowly try to piece together his current location. He recognized the hive fairly quickly, took note of the faint purring still buzzing from his back. The only thing that seemed out of place at the moment was the chunky changeling giving him the stink eye.

"What do you want Mirage? I'm really not feeling well right now." He mumbled.

"I couldn't find Gem this morning." The changeling mare said, voice seething with anger.

The mention of the nymph being missing immediately brought Ted's focus to her. "Couldn't find her, wait, don't you have a link with her? How can you not find her?"

The mare pointed a hoof to his side." Because she decided she wanted to sleep with 'daddy' and the queen buzzin' linked with her! That nag stole her from me!"

The yelling woke up both of the other changelings, Pandinus looking at the smaller mare with a confused expression for a moment before her head darted to her left and down, the nymph giggling at her and climbing onto Ted's back to join her. Ted watched the hatchling for a moment, seeing Gem curl up between his wing and the queen. Looking at the queen he asked her if she knew it happened.

"I was asleep, Cimmerian, I didn't even know she was here." She said, leaning down to give the nymph a cautious nuzzle.

Turning back to the irate shape shifter, Ted scrunched his face in thought. "Can you take her back? Reconnect to her?" He asked.

"No, it doesn't work like that. The queen's link takes priority to a simple link between drones. Besides, now that she's linked to the queen, she's not going to be content with me anymore." Mirage explained, sending another glare at the queen.

"Stop it, Mirage. She didn't steal Gem from you, Gem bonded with her while she was asleep. That can happen right?" He asked the smaller mare. At her nod, he continued. "Then you can't blame her for this. It was an accident, and we'll work with it. Din? I want you to promise me something." He said, turning to the mare still on his back. "Promise me you won't suppress her unless her life depends on it, ok?"

He asked the question softly, but the queen could taste the force behind the request. In that way it was more of an ultimatum, his emotions telling her the hatchling's well-being was her priority now. Slowly, she nodded her head. "I promise." She said quietly, turning to give the nymph another nuzzle. She could hear Gem's childish voice over the link, the young mind reveling in the contact with two large parental figures.

Ted nodded. "If you have any questions about her, ask Mirage. She'll help you with Gem's care, right Mirage?"

The mare glared one last time at the queen before deflating with a heavy sigh. "Yes Father."
With that the clutch nurse left, Gem looking up long enough to chirp happily and wave goodbye before curling back up in in her spot. Seeing the mare leave, Ted turned back to Pandinus, a somber expression on his face.

"Your being trusted with her care, Din. She's not like the drones you already have. This one is like those you want, she's fully sapient and is a thinking drone like Grift and Mirage, like the ones sleeping just outside. She's going to rely on you to take care of her. I want you to guard her with your life, guard her with the same ferocity you guarded those eggs." He grabbed her head in a light aura, guiding it closer to his own. He bumped her muzzle with his, breaking out into a smile. "I know you'll do fine."
> Rainy Days and Mondays
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The storm held fast for nearly three more days, letting up on the second and finally passing entirely the morning of the fourth. Ted spent most of this time either in his room or Pandinus' nest, the latter being for another round of the mind numbing pleasure of the massages. The alicorn was chalking the cramps and pains up to overuse of the armor, which he eventually did get to cleaning up once he'd recovered enough. The days were quiet, the only occurrences being a few hunting groups, sometimes being joined by some of the griffon refugees, and a single gathering run for fruits by the oasis to the south. For the fruit recovery, Ted had decided to assign Grift with the group, asking the changeling to try using his empathic detection in the same way the Equestrians had used the swarm. It would benefit both the group and the changeling. The group was given added security, and the pudgy changeling was given some decent exercise.

Gem and Pandinus were with each other every time he saw them, the nymph seeming to do her level best to always be under hoof. Din took it in stride, however, seeing as she had something she'd been wanting for so long. Certainly the hatchling wasn't her blood, but Ted had made the queen promise to guard Gem as her own. Wanting to prove herself to the dark alicorn, she'd taken to the task with gusto; the young changeling didn't sneeze without the queen knowing about it. Her constant hovering over the nymph was aided by Mirage, despite the mares continued dislike of the queen, giving pointers and tips for the proper care of a nymph. Two days after the link between Gem and Din was formed, Adamant followed suite, having wandered into the queen's nest at night searching for his smaller friend.

The matron fell into a bout of depression after the loss of her link. She still watched the other children, wiped their noses, cared for any injuries. However she was merely going through the motions. Rose was the one who brought the issue to his attention a few days later, nudging his leg with a hoof as he was passing by. Having experienced such a thing himself recently, Ted was quick to jump on board with the filly in finding a solution. It was not going to be easy, unfortunately. Every single one of the survivors of the swarm were going to be joining the queen's hive, leaving no extra drones for Mirage to link with in the meantime, and leaving Ted to wonder what would become of his first changeling follower. Even as he was contemplating going to find her and to try speaking to her on the matter, it was taken out of his hands, so to speak.





In the children's room where the shape shifter kept her bed sat the queen, laying down on a spare mat to keep herself at Mirage's level.

"The nymphs have been asking for you, Mirage." Pandinus started, keeping a flat expression. "They keep asking me why Miss Meer won't come to see them. I know you don't like me, I'm fine with that, but I don't want them to feel snubbed because you're scared of linking with me."

"I have nothing to say to you." The smaller changeling said, looking past Din at the playing children.

The queen sighed. "I want them to be happy. Right now that means spending time with you. Help me make them happy, Mirage. You don't have to like me, I don't even care if you listen to what I say. You know a link doesn't overwrite your opinions."

The matron glared at the larger mare. "But you can over-ride my will, using my body as a puppet whenever you want."

"And what do you think Cimmerian would say if I did that?" Pandinus asked her, raising an eyebrow. "Do you think he wouldn't notice that? Do you think I would want to do that when I'm working so hard to prove that I'm worthy of him? Prove to him that I can be what he needs, what he wants? I've put up with that griffon's ridiculous lessons, though only a few make any sense to me. I've been reading that book he offered me, even though it feels like sand running over my eyes at times. I'm trying to learn to care for others. I was not raised this way, Clutch Nurse. My mother taught me to be the highest authority, she taught me to give orders, not make requests. She didn't teach me how to speak to others, since my drones would follow me no matter what. The only interaction with other races I'd been taught was seduction, so I could have access to an easy meal and a source of seed for my eggs. Advanced infiltration, military strategy, maybe even these 'politics' things Cimmerian's been having me learn were things that I never reached before the hive fell. I was nowhere near the end of my training."

Taking a steadying breath, Din tried once more. "I know I'm not good at this, Mirage, my mother said I had another three decades of training before she would permit my advancement to a queen. Three decades of nothing but training to learn how to run a hive that I don't have now. Do you know what that means for me, for my hive?"

Mirage was now focused on the queen, a confused expression on her face as she shook her head.

"It means that I'm having to improvise. For pities sake, even then half the things I know have been turned on their heads with out situation here. I have to take the things my drones knew about their hives to fill in the rest of the blanks. Everything I've learned so far about infiltration is what I've pulled from Grift." She scooted forward just a little bit. "Smoke said he was a guard, so that's hive defense, and the rest of the other drones Cimmer recovered were infiltrators, away from their hives when they were captured. I don't have any medical knowledge, or information on how to care for my eggs or hatchlings properly besides what you've taught me on Cimmerian's orders and my own instincts. I don't want to make any mistakes with them, I can't. Will you please help me?"

Mirage was confused by the strangely pleading tone. "I thought queens weren't supposed to show any weaknesses? Or did you not get to that lesson?"

"I had that drilled into me from day one, actually." Pandinus responded with a self-deprecating chuckle. "A certain alicorn has been teaching me otherwise. It helps that his lessons are accompanied by the most delicious meals I've ever tasted, while for my old lessons I was merely punished to not adhering to the rules. Cimmerian and Thrisha have both been quite insistent it's beneficial to reveal weakness to close allies and friends. Cimmerian even trading some of mine for his own. It was, strange to hear."

"What did he tell you?" The Clutch Nurse asked, ears perked in curiosity.

"That, little changeling, would be breaking confidence. They were also quite thorough in explaining to me why that is bad." Din said with a smile. Her face then turned thoughtful. "Trust is an odd thing, is it not? Thrisha said for most creatures, trust comes before love, so I need Cimmerian's trust before I can have his love. So no, Mirage. I will not do anything to harm you or any other changeling in my hive. I can't risk losing what trust I've gained so far. It's too precious to me, it's too important to my goals."

After a few moments of silence, the queen's face became a serene smile, an expression the matron found strangely relaxing. "I have an idea. Both Thrisha and the book have mentioned written contracts for agreements between two beings or countries that can't trust the others. How about we ask her to help us set one up, we can even have Cimmerian sign it as a witness."

"You'd be willing to go that far? Just for two nymphs that aren't yours?" Mirage asked cautiously.

"Cimmerian's gone farther, I can tell you that much from what he's told me. He has claimed every being in this Temple as a child under his care, or did you not hear of his moment with your friend Blur?" She asked with a smile. "He said I need to care for the Temple's residents like he does. For me this has mostly included the nymphs, but don't think I haven't seen you lately as well. We are born into a hive, always connected to other changelings in a way ponies can never comprehend." The queen finally stood up, moving to curl around the matron. Settling back on the ground, she leaned closer and spoke softly. "So when that link is interrupted, we don't feel complete. We feel empty, alone. I felt that way before Grift joined me, you felt that way before you bonded with those nymphs. Now you've lost that connection again, and you're not willing to follow them because of what could happen. I understand that, but I also understand that to be what my prospective mate seeks, I need to be willing to accept children that aren't mine." Pandinus leaned her neck over the changeling, pressing down on her back reassuringly. "That includes those who don't like me. It means accepting that I may argue with them, may fight with them, may even have to sever links for the good of the hive. But it also means giving every changeling I come across a chance. That's the least I can do. After all, the only reason I'm here to do so is because someone did that for me."



<-(0)->
 


Later that evening, after the Temple's resident alicorn had overseen the backlog of reports that had piled up during his recovery as well as the requests by several of the griffons for  more permanent accommodations. He'd sent a message to Lady Thrisha regarding his plans to have interviews of sorts with one or more changelings in the room, so the prospective residents knew exactly what they were getting into. He wasn't going to risk some sort of hidden trauma causing a griffon, a predatory species, to lash out at Gem or Adamant.

Finishing his meal, he noticed the children were in the care of Miss Goodhooves again, leaving him wondering where their actual caretaker was. Stopping to consider it, there were several missing parties. He checked the library to no avail, but soon heard familiar voices coming from the war room. The voices belonging to the beings he was looking for.

An odd sight greeted Ted as he walked in. The table was mostly cleared barring a single paper with fresh ink sitting in front of Lady Thrisha, a quill just being laid on the table. The old griffon had an excited smile on her face, a stark contrast to the straight face of both Pandinus and Mirage. However, while Pandinus was fairly calm, the smaller changeling was shaking badly. Warning bells immediately went off in his head, even as the griffon greeted him.

"Ah, Lord Cimmerian, Queen Pandinus was just about to send a drone to escort you here!" she said, a smile on her beak.

He was about to ask what was happening, when the griffon hushed him. "They're about to start."

Ted had no idea what was going on, but immediately stepped up to the gathering, pulling Mirage back into his barrel even as she started walking around the table to Pandinus. "Nothing happens until I know what this gathering is about." He said in a firm voice.

"I, I don't n-need you to watch ov-ver me all the time, F-father." Mirage managed to stutter out.

"We were just about to link." Pandinus said, giving the alicorn a confused frown. "She's been depressed since her link with the nymphs was severed, so I offered a solution."

"What solution, Din. If she's being threatened or forced into this, I won't be upset. I'll be angry. That's not something you want directed at you." The alicorn's face was a stone mask, but the changelings could taste the anger just waiting to be given a target.

Thrisha took that moment to clear her throat, shrinking back slightly at the glare that was leveled at her. "Queen Pandinus and Mirage asked me to oversee a contract between them, an agreement to not harm each other in any way after the connection is made. Seeing as Miss Mirage has been undergoing, as the two have put it, Link Withdrawal, it seemed to be a proper solution to their, issues, with one another." The griffon turned the contract to him, allowing the alicorn to read over the many bullets presented. Each side seemed to have been fairly thorough, describing what could and couldn't be done. "They asked that you be the primary witness."

Ted chewed on his lip as he finished reading over the entire document, watching for any loopholes he could find that would allow them to strike at each other, but they were very thorough. Nothing was left in the air or up to the involved parties, including a clause that prevented hostile action up to two weeks after the willing termination of the link by the queen, allowing Mirage time to leave without being harmed while preventing the drone from sabotaging Din's hive.

"I want to speak with Mirage before you go through with this." looking down at the mentioned shape shifter, he asked "Is that ok?"

She nodded, following the alicorn out of the war room and into the nursery. Ted wrapped her in his aura, setting her on her bedding before laying down in front of her, much like the queen had done earlier. Slowly her breathing steadied, the prospect she'd been fearing no longer immediately before her.

"Are you ok with what was on that contract, Mirage?" Ted asked her, touching his muzzle to her own. The mare nodded her head in response, so he asked another question. 
"What made you change your mind? I know you don't like her."

"I can't be alone again." She said quietly. "I know it may not seem like much to ponies, or any other being, but we're never really alone while we can hear our mother, our brothers and sisters, our whole family. Drones can't make out much, but it's there, always reminding us there's someone else out there. Someone we can trust implicitly. But here I am, avoiding a link because I want to find my own mother again. I want a link without the risk, but... but there's not even a guarantee mother is still alive."

"Joining Pandinus doesn't have to mean giving up on your mother." He countered.

The mare just stared at her hooves for a moment before sitting up and hugging his muzzle. "I know, but I still feel like I'm betraying her for my own comfort. Like I should be working harder to find her." 

"I know, Mirage. I felt the same way for a while, but I have to put off my own search until I'm sure you are all safe. Not to mention I've started seeing you as my responsibility." The alicorn gave her a few moments, letting a bit of his care for the changeling wrap around her before speaking one last time. "Are you certain this is what will make you happy?"

"No." The changeling responded almost immediately. "But what would make me happy is beyond me right now. So I guess I'll have to settle for content. For now."

"It's getting better for everyone here everyday, Mirage. After this is all taken care of, go talk to Rose. She knows you're not feeling very well right now, and she's worried about you." Ted said, finally breaking contact.

"I'll never understand how you can detect emotion without being able to taste it." The changeling muttered. "I know it's part of you, but it never made sense."

The alicorn led the way back to the war room, smiling. "We work with what we have. We don't have empathic senses like yours, so we learn to read body language. Some of us are better at it than others. I'm sorry I didn't notice your pain sooner."

Queen Pandinus was looking a little worried when the two walked back in, but a smile from them settled her worries. Ted took a place next to Lady Thrisha, grabbing a feather from his own wing and dabbing it in ink before signing his full title on the contract. Looking up from the contract, he spoke.
"Queen Pandinus, Mirage is placing her life and her mind in your care. Take care of both of these things as you would your own. Remember, she's not like your own drones. This also means that it is up to you to keep track of who you let into your hive. The nymphs don't have much in the way of loyalty or hatred for other queens from what I've seen, but Mirage mentioned drones joining other hives for sabotage. You are the gate to your hive's link, and you need to be weary of that.
"Mirage, take care of her hatchlings and eggs like you would your own mother's children. Teach her how to be a better queen, and if she does something wrong, let her know, preferably in private so you don't embarrass her. She's the face of your link, your hive. Do what you can to promote her cause, and you'll be pulled higher with her. I don't want to see either of you getting hurt from this."

At his nod in her direction, Mirage once more made her way up to the changeling queen. She still shook slightly, but being able to glance back at Father, whom she knew had personally gone over the contract, she seemed to feel a little safer, a little more certain of herself. The smaller drone walked up to the queen, they touched horns for a moment and...

Nothing.

Well, nothing as far as Ted could tell. They just seemed to stare at each other for a while, the two making whatever mental connections were involved in a link. Despite his disappointment, Thrisha seemed to be bouncing with excitement, giggling at being present for something no griffon had likely ever seen before. 

After nearly ten minutes of contact, the two finally shifted, Pandinus raising her head slightly, and Mirage swaying unsteadily once she was released. Ted immediately used a foreleg to support her, looking between the two cautiously. "That's it, right?"

"Yea." Mirage answered softly, probably exhausted. "It would have been faster, but she wanted information on hatchling care. There's a lot she needed to know, and she wanted everything I had on the topic."

"You need help getting to bed? I'm sure the kid's would love to see you, 'specially if you're not feeling so down in the dumps anymore." He offered softly. The offer was shot down, surprisingly, by Pandinus.

"She'll be staying with me tonight. Her connection to the royal link is still weak, and staying near me will help it develop quickly. Besides, I know two hatchlings who will be very happy to see her." The queen explained, picking Mirage up and setting the smaller mare on her back. The two wandered out of the room, leaving Ted and Thrisha on their own.

"But, the kids? Oh, whatever, I've got it." He said, heading to his room. He'd not spent much time with them lately anyway, and he had a surprise he'd been wanting to share with them. Being close to them would make it easier.



<-(0)->
 


Ted had soon taken over for Miss Goodhooves, much to the mares relief, and had even brought his blanket and pillows, planning on staying the night with them since their normal caretaker was unavailable. He taught them a few games he remembered from his own childhood, though sadly there wasn't enough room in the nursery for sharks and minnows. When the time came to finally sleep, Rose and the foals who he'd first met immediately took places by him, followed by the pups who were nervous but eager to be close to their new alpha. Ted just smiled at them, the proximity only making his idea easier. Making sure the last one wasn't just faking sleep. Ted cast the spell as he dove into his dream.

He found himself in the prepared fields, a snowy chunk here, a small beach there, even a small playground he'd recreated based on what he remembered from home, some pony friendly parts added to it as well. His attention was dragged from the world around him by the voices of the children.

"Whoa, what are you doing in my dream?"
"This isn't your dream, this is my dream!"
"This is so cool!"

"How are we all doing tonight?" Ted's voice cut through the chatter, drawing the eyes of every child there. "Yes we're all asleep, and for those who are arguing about it, it's my dream." He said with a warm smile. "I invited you here tonight for a little fun. The jungle can be a dangerous place, so tonight, you are free to wander the different areas here. Everything here is safe, even the water is breathable if you want to go in it. This night is my gift to you. Go on, get!" With a wave of his hoof, the alicorn dismissed them, the children darting off to explore the dream world in detail.

"Good night, Cimmerian." Luna's voice greeted from behind him. "I see, I was wondering why you asked about those spells and lessons."

"Hey Luna. I figured they needed a chance to cut loose. We don't really have anywhere to let them run free, so I improvised. The area is even set up to teleport them to the other side of the field if they go too far. Brick can fly for as long as he wants in a straight line; no walls, no fences, no one telling him he has to stop. The pups are welcome to dig all they want; there's a stone plate this place is set on, so they won't go too far. As for everyone else? Well, there's plenty of other things to do."

Luna giggled lightly "You're going to spoil them, Cimmerian."

"You girls spent all that time telling me I'm their adopted father already, I think that clears me to spoil my kids every now and again. I may try to do this every week or so, something for them to look forward to, you know? I just wish I had someplace like this in the real world to give them" Ted told her.

The smaller alicorn's response was cut off as a green and pink bullet sent her rolling.

"I found you again! Are you two friends now? That's great. Mr. Cimmerian is really nice and can you play with us too?" The little filly jabbered even as she clung to the lunar alicorn's fur like a piece of gum.

Ted laughed at the Luna's misfortune, enjoying the show before he too was interrupted, several snowballs whizzing through the air and striking him almost simultaneously. The strikes were soon followed by a shout of "Victory!" from the other children, who then screamed in mock terror as he turned to face them.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" He bellowed, pulling several snowballs from the snow with his magic. The poor fools were hopelessly outmatched. Ted had been pelting his friends with the powdery ammunition for years. With an evil laugh that would put Snidely Whiplash to shame, he stormed their pitiful barricades. Maybe later he'd teach them how to build a proper snow fort.
> All Work and No Play Leads to a Frustrated Cuddlebug
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next morning dawned crisp and clear for the residents of the Temple of the Shadows. The children excitedly yammered all the way to breakfast about what they did, what they saw, and what they wanted to do next time they had a chance. Ted, getting their cooperation by way of promising to tell them a secret after breakfast, managed to corral all of them long enough for Mirage to show up and take over. Looking over the shape shifter, he smiled at how much lighter her steps seemed. After Rose had mentioned the mare's depression, he'd watched her, seeing her drag her hooves, fatigue seemingly ever-present in her eyes. Now that lack of energy was gone, replaced once more by the kind warmth she held when watching the kids.

Even as the changeling mare took over, Ted stood at the front of the children's table, a grin on his face. "Alright kiddos, here's the deal. Once every two weeks or so, I'll do the dream world for you. In return, I need you to be good for Mirage, ok?"

The announcement was met with cheers from the younglings, some immediately turning their attention to Mirage to tell her of the awesome adventure they had the night before. Just before the alicorn left, he stopped near Mirage's seat.

"I'm glad to see you're looking better, Mirage. Let me know if you need anything."

With that, Ted left for the barracks, having already told Shadow Weaver to prepare for another trip to Zarris. The griffons were going to be leaving soon, or at least those that were going to leave were. The rest were going to be put through his litmus test.

"Hello everyone. I know those of you here have asked to stay with us. For that, I am deeply honored." Ted told the griffons gathered just outside the Temple. "The Temple has been growing steadily in both numbers and power lately, and I welcome anyone who wishes to stay. However, while I will not turn anyone away based on race, species, or past, I must also look after those who are already here. That's why I've asked for some help with this little gathering." He said, pointing to the doorway back into the Temple.

Queen Pandinus walked out into the morning sunlight, head held high and looking over the gathered griffons, taking a taste of each one in turn as Cimmerian had asked of her. The fear and anger she expected, but it was the hate she made special note of. Any griffon barely restraining themselves were what she was to look for. By her side walked Smoke, the changeling guard. He still wore his cloak, even inside the hive. The queen did no know why the alicorn wanted the other changeling, but she'd trust him on this. He'd seen fairly certain of the necessity of Smoke's participation.

There were only six of the fourteen griffons willing to stay, but the fact that even that many were willing to stay in a place that held changelings had cheered up the alicorn. He held by his idea of checking them, though. He wouldn't put his children at risk. Looking to the queen, she nodded at him, before taking a seat next to him.

"This, ladies and gents, this is Queen Pandinus. She is the leader of our local hive. I asked her to stop by, and to take a look at those who asked to stay. She's empathic, so she can tell me what you won't. She can tell me if you are just scared of changelings after what you went through, or if you feel all changelings need to die." He said, his eyes becoming hard. "The changelings that have already been accepted into the Temple have priority over new members, as do the nymphs that have been here for over a month. Those of you who are not willing to bury your hatred, or at least understand that the changelings were under the Equestrian's control can leave."

"Those things attacked our homeland." A griffon hen said, staring at the queen with burning anger. "You expect me to forgive them?"

"No, I don't expect you to forgive them. Because the changelings were just as victimized as you were. They were under the control of an array, holding the place of a queen's link with her drones and over-riding their minds. Tell me, what is the one thing you think of when you think of changelings, the one thing that Queen Pandinus is missing?" Ted asked, turning the interview into a bit of a lesson.

"Where are her holes?" One griffon, this one a tom asked. "All the stories tell of changelings being creatures littered with them. Even the ones who attacked us had them. Is it because she's a queen?"

Ted smiled, the question being exactly what he was fishing for. "She has no holes because she's no longer dying of hunger. Those holes, features the entire world seems to think is a defining feature of the changelings, are a sign of how hungry they are. No changeling here has them, except for those who've recently arrived." He explained, gesturing to Smoke.
"The second issue I take with your hatred is the belief that the changelings are your aggressors. Tell me, was it not the pony queen who demanded your disarmament, leaving you less than prepared for an invasion? You were set up for this months ago. I have proof the changelings are being used, as well. Smoke, your cloak please."

The guard looked from the alicorn to the queen, who nodded along, not sure where it was going. At her nod, the changeling pulled back the cloak, leaving several of the griffons eyes wide. On the front of the changelings barrel was a golden plate with defensive runes carved into it. Several smaller plates were scattered over the changelings body, reinforcing areas such as the chitin on his legs. The most disturbing thing of all of all however was that the plates were bolted into his chitin. 

"Sapient drones, like Smoke, are a bit hardier than the ferals the pony queen uses so often. When she captures one, she knows they'll take more punishment, so she may have her armorer slap a few plates on them. Cheap, easy, and it adds a few changelings that won't just fall over dead the moment they get punched. Din?"

"According to those who Cimmerian brought to us from the coast, the changeling swarms she uses have a relative lifespan of a few weeks to several months if they are kept fed on targets." The queen explained in a detached manner. The drones she was speaking of at the time were mindless, and the hatchlings of other queens anyway. "Sapient drones are much hardier, and often survive to be transferred to another swarm once the one they were in has taken too many losses and is 'redistributed' amongst the other swarms. They also tend to be able to use what little food they find much more efficiently. Smoke, how many swarms have you been a part of?"

"This last one made it six, my queen." The changeling responded, standing at attention.

Ted shook his head at the number. He'd only seen the plates after demanding the changeling exchange its ratty cloak for a new one if it was going to keep wearing something. After the revelation, he'd immediately taken Smoke to Head Trauma, directing the unicorn to give a thorough inspection of the plates for any infections. He'd since asked Pandinus to direct any plated drone to the infirmary once a week for such checks. The jungle was no place for such mutilations, and explaining to her the dangers, while frustrating, eventually brought her to his side. She didn't want infected changelings anywhere near her hatchlings.
"The Mad Queen seems to view all other races as less than her own, as you may have heard. She attempts to twist the Thestrals into a form she finds more pleasing, she uses the changelings as mindless attack animals for now, though I have no idea what her plans for the species will be if she manages to conquer the planet and no longer needs an invasion force. But I'm getting off track. The point is, I need you to understand that while here, you will meet many other races, some of which your species may not have the best relations with. I understand this, but those here live by my rule. They are not griffons, ponies, changelings, gnolls and thestrals. They are the resident's of the Temple of the Shadows, and as such are under my protection.
"Whether your stay here is merely for a new beginning, or you seek a home and family is up to you. I'm not certain if you've heard, but many here call me Father. I don't know how it started, but I have a guess. Regardless of the titles origin, I seek to live up to it. If you find yourself in need of assistance in any form, you need only to ask. Pandinus, how are they?" He asked, turning to the queen.

"Some fear, which is to be expected from what Thrisha told me of their experience, some anger as well." She said, before pointing to one griffon, the hen who'd spoken out earlier. "She's the only one I would worry about. I can taste no hidden anger in any of them, actually. Perhaps being blunt is not just Amald's thing?"

Ted nodded to her before turning back to the group. "You may stay, but remember, while I will defend those who live here against anything that may attack, that will go double for a betrayal from anyone who lives here. I can't afford infighting right now. If you have problems, either speak of them and search for a way to work it out, or stay clear of those you take issue with. Of course, with how small of a community this is, the latter solution may not be practical. If you do wish to change your mind and leave, we will be escorting the others to Zarris in a few days."

With that, Ted left them, feeling a little strange about the process he'd subjected them to. A full interview complete with what would back home be on par with a lie detector test. At the same time though, the griffons were different from the others who'd joined up to this point. The ponies were here from the start. They wouldn't leave, as living under his rule had been their goal from the start. The changelings were all falling in line under the queen, who acted like a hormonal teenager around him at times. If Ted still wore pants, she'd be trying to get into them every night. The thestrals were lost with no idea where else to go, and the same could be said of the gnolls. But the griffons? He knew they were more independent. They didn't seem to follow a central leader. Sure they respected Amald for his legacy and personal accomplishments, and Ted for his position, but the respect directed at the alicorn was grudging, at least until Lady Thrisha had asked about the giant snake. Afterwards, after the griffon had physically seen proof of the beasts size, and confirmed from several sources, including Amald, that he had in fact killed the thing himself, the griffons seemed a bit more willing to accept his leadership.
"It's a fricken species of Spartans." He muttered as he walked back into the temple.

Pandinus' ears perked at the grumbled complaints. "What is a Spartan? You're talking about the griffons, right?"

He nodded, walking back to the war room. "They were a warrior culture hundreds of years in the past back home. Best damn warriors on the planet, but lousy at almost everything else. Turns out, making all other professions into demeaning things not worthy of their time and leaving that stuff to slaves was a bad way to keep their economy running. They had to eventually change their customs when their way of life became too impractical. At least that's what I got out of reading about them." 
He was behind on his work, and with the rain cleared up, he wanted to get back to work preparing the grounds for expansion. Already they'd planned two more buildings for housing, these buildings being multi-storied barracks that even had balcony perches for the flying residents. Then there was the mine. A path needed to be cleared, leveled, and marked for both the workers and the supply carts to move through the jungle easily. It would have been simpler, the workers just going out and clearing the areas, if not for the fact the Temple was constantly using what little wood they harvested almost as rapidly as hey could drag it back. Ted wasn't going to let anything go to waste. Besides, he still wanted some kind of building set up near the mine, in case the workers were caught out there in a storm or something else that prevented them from returning. Maybe a room built into the entrance of the mine? No, it had to be above ground level of the mine. There was the possibility of gas leaks, from what he remembered from his history classes.
The alicorn was brought out of his planning by the sound of papers being shuffled near him, which was odd because both Shadow Weaver and Gleam were given the day off, his thanks to them for taking over while he was under the weather. He looked up from his work to see Pandinus rifling through some of the files, even going so far as to sort reports by priority and adding requests to the 'shopping' list.

"Din? You don't have to do this, I can take care of it." He told her, wondering where the queen had gotten it in her head to help with the reports.

"Nonsense." She replied. "The less time you spend here, sorting through this mess, the more time you will have later to do as you please. The happier you are, the more nourishment you provide." She looked up from her work for a moment, meeting his gaze. "I may not be good at this 'kindness for the sake of kindness' thing," she said, waving her hoof in a dismissing gesture "but my mother did believe in mutually beneficial opportunities. I remember several times mother passed the information of an expedition's route to another queen in exchange for one or two of the beings that were captured."

"That's fascinating, in an incredibly terrifying way." Ted said, a grin creeping on to his muzzle. "You're worried I'll spend too much time on this and not have time to spend with Queen Huggle-buzz?"

"No." Din said, standing up and turning her back to him. "I'm worried I may miss out on time I could be spending attempting to draw your eyes to the proper locations." She said, shaking her rear for emphasis. "Wouldn't that be a shame?"

Ted rolled his eyes. "You're going to be laying your next clutch soon, aren't you?"

"Yes, and molting soon as well. It will be nice to finally catch up with your size somewhat, though I think that will take several molts considering you still seem to grow a little every now and again." She said, moving to his side and snuggling up under a wing. "If I ask really nicely, and promise not to tease you too much, do you think you could, take care of me after my molt?" She whispered into his ear. "I'd certainly feel much safer with your hooves wrapped around my soft carapace until it hardens."

As much as the alicorn wanted to ignore her, the image she was painting was painfully clear to him, including the fact that she would be just as sensitive this time as she was the first.
'Dammit' He thought, even as he pulled his wings back in. ' she's probably already tasted it, too.'

As if to confirm his fears, the queen giggled, nibbling his neck. "Don't you dare say the idea doesn't appeal to you. I'm not asking you to rut me, even though I'd prefer that. Stars and sun above, a combination of the two would be divine. However, my body is screaming at me, Cimmerian. Even something as simple as that would help reduce my... needs."

He wanted to say no. He wanted to see how much more she would grow, how much farther her desire to pursue him would push her, but he'd given the queen nothing extra for her dogged pursuit of anything that would help improve her chances. She'd literally physically changed herself to better suit him, reducing her own personal defenses for his comfort. He sighed, using his wing to pull her in close and nuzzling her affectionately.
"Alright, fine. I'd rather not, but you've been doing everything I've asked of you so far. I guess I can return the favor thi-"

His response was cut off as the queen grabbed his head with both her forehooves, and smashed her lips into his.



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The queen laid her next clutch the very next morning, still experiencing complications during the process but this time being seen to by Mirage with no arguments between the two. By that evening, with her eggs settled and being watched over by her drones and being checked occasionally by the clutch nurse, Pandinus went through her second molt. Ted had directed her to do it in his tub this time, containing the mess to the bathtub. He even held to his word, seeing to the queen despite his misgivings about the situation. Din was on cloud nine, however, even convincing him to spend a few hours on the bed holding her as her shell hardened, both dozing lazily in each other's company.	Din held to her word, not teasing him that much during the process, but there was no denying she enjoyed every minute of it.

Especially his holding her while she was soft. If she purred with any more force, he would have worried about her tearing something.

By the day after, though, the queen was back to normal, albeit with an some additional height. She still only came up to Ted's jaw, but she was restricted in her growth, and had other things her body needed the energy for. The alicorn was certain the queen was far from done growing.

By lunch the team was ready, the griffons who were not staying having gathered all their belongings. What was left of their possesions that had been abandoned at the port was picked up by a small group of Din's new infiltrators, but it didn't amount to much. As they were making final preparations, the queen approached Ted, wearing a saddlebag of her own and having several drones carrying a changeling pod. Looking into the pod, Ted wasn't certain if he should laugh or feel embarrassed.
"I completely forgot about that guy." He said.

"Grift told me he stuck the pony in a pod after the fourth time it tried to escape. He maintained it, kept it out of the way, and nearly forgot about it himself on several occasions. I wanted to know if you wished to hoof it over before he's forgotten again."

"Probably best to do it now, though the way they talked about him they wouldn't mind if he never showed up again." Seeing a question forming on her lips, he cut her off. "No, Din, you can't keep him. It would creep out the other residents of the Temple. Not like you need it. There are plenty of other sources of emotion, and from what you've told me they're infinitely more filling."

The pod was tossed into the back of a wagon, covered with a few cloths and blankets to keep prying eyes off of it, while the two infiltrators in the group took the form of generic ponies, bland browns and greys that Ted found to be nearly too inconspicuous. Next Pandinus disappeared in a flash of ashen fire, a grey furred and blue maned alicorn standing in her place. He rolled his eyes as she pranced past the carts to the head of the caravan, enjoying the stares of every being in the area.

'This is going to be a long trip.' He thought. He turned back to Amald, Gleam and Shadow Weaver, the three being left in charge while they were gone. "You guys can forward a message to me through the drones if you need to. Din told me she can get full messages from them if she focuses. If you need me badly, I'll even grab the armor, so I'm never going to be that far. Take care of things while I'm gone, you three. We'll be back before you know it."

With that the caravan set off towards Zarris, the griffons to hopefully find a more comfortable place to stay, the Temple's residents for more supplies, and the dark alicorn to pass a warning off to both his dragon ally and the contacts he'd made in port the last time he'd been there. He was sure both would love to know what was going on. And he was even more certain the Talon mercenaries would love to get their claws on a copy of the array he'd recovered from the Equestrian ship. After all, any damage they could inflict would slow the Mad Queen down just a little more.


Oh, and he'd finally drop off Pivot Pelt. Not like anyone missed him or anything. He wouldn't be surprised if he was asked to keep the stallion podded.
> Lookin for Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The trip to the port was quiet, no animals willing to attack such a large group even at night. After two days of travel, the group walked into the gates of Port Zarris, once more being greeted at the gate by Sahkest. Unfortunately, the greeting was a bit strained.

"Cimmerian, I need to speak with you. Now. The Talon Mercenary's boss is waiting in my office as well. Something's happened, and it's big." The dragon said, worry evident in his eyes.

"The griffon homelands, correct?" Ted responded. "Most of the griffons that came in with us are refugees, looking for somewhere to start over." Turning to the disguised queen, he asked her to lead the caravan to the inn down the road.

Sahkest frowned, looking over the group and spotting the griffons. "We may not have room for them here. We've come across several smaller ships that were lost in the storm, and the refugees have kept to themselves. Whatever hit them, it scared them badly."

"I already know what hit them." Ted responded, following the drake. "I managed to see a few dreams while they were just coming in from the sea. Any Equestrian Navy ships? Oh, and was one of the ships the Golden Talon?"

"The Golden Talon was found by a patrol wrecked off the coast just south-west of here, no griffons on board, though there were some signs of battle damage. Hard to pick those out on a shipwreck, but the Talon scout's eyes were almost as sharp as his claws. Herrick swears by the scouts reports, too, says he wouldn't muck something like that up."

"I was worried about that." Ted said, even as they entered the office. "We had an Equestrian Navy ship just off the coast, at the abandoned port to the west of us. I think they caught up to the Talon, some of the soldiers mentioned capturing a ship of griffons. I don't think they left anyone on the ship, and there weren't any prisoners that I saw while on their ship."

"You managed to get on one of the hive ships?" A deep voice from inside asked. "I've been told that it's nearly impossible to sneak in, the changeling net is too tight."

"Cimmerian, be known to Herrick Talon, one of the four Talon siblings and the head of the region's Talon branch. Herrick, this is Cimmerian, the one who pulled your merc out of the gnoll den and crushed their military force." Sahkest said, introducing the griffon.

He was large, nearly as powerfully built as Amald, but seeming to favor speed over Amald's choice of power. Just looking at him, Ted knew he wouldn't want to be stuck in a battle against this guy. Giving a polite nod and locking a fetlock around the offered limb, Ted shook the griffon's claw.
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Herrick."

"Sorry, I forget that pony forelimbs aren't made for that kind of thing. You run into such a thing often?"

Ted chuckled at the idea of a pony staring at the offered talon in confusion. "I've had enough experience with claws, talons, paws and hands to know most of the gestures by now."

The griffon nodded taking a seat next to Sahkest, the drake motioning to a nearby cushion for Ted's use.

"We know that the changelings made a huge push out of nowhere, swarming over griffon settlements and driving those that didn't submit out of the country." Sahkest said, grabbing a quill and paper to take notes of the discussions. "Other than that, I haven't been able to get a hold of much. The refugees don't talk much."

"I've heard mentions of pony troops being behind the attacks, but other than hearsay, I've found nothing to confirm it. It wouldn't surprise me in the least, though." Herrick said, both then turning to Ted.

"Prepare to not be surprised then." The alicorn said. "The Mad Queen's using the drones as attack dogs, keeping them enslaved to an array to direct their movements. Remember how I told you I didn't want to give her anymore resources, Kest? Guess what, I have several changelings from a swarm ship that have confirmed that the Mad Queen's using those queens and proto queens she's subjugated as egg factories. Din's given me numbers, and it comes up to about one hundred eggs a week per queen without any other mutations, and that's a definite possibility as well. The number may be higher if she's messed with the queens herself. Most of the drones are feral, going berserk the moment the array is disabled from pain and hunger."

"That's insane." Herrick said. "How are we supposed to hold off those numbers?"

"By not playing fair." Ted answered, reaching into his bag. He set a small metal plate on the table. "This is something I managed to pull off the Equestrian Navy ship before I screwed with the array. After I messed with the array, I dove through the ship and the thing detonated, flash-frying most of the surviving drones. The rest went mad, wiping out the rest of the soldiers. By morning, there were twelve drones left alive. All twelve were sapient, and had banded together in a tower to better protect themselves from the ferals. It's from those drones I received the confirmation about the queens. However, before I reached the array, I saw this rune on the shoulder of every soldier. I had my resident spell-master look over it, I figured it may allow us some control over the drones if they attack us, allowing us to ruin the momentum such a large force brings with it. Shadow Weaver told me it's actually a signal rune, telling those under the control of the array that those wearing it are not viable targets."

"You mean the swarm will ignore someone with the rune?" Herrick asked, a devious grin spreading across his beak.

Ted nodded. "It puts you in the 'not important' category for the swarm. They'll not only ignore you, they'll go out of their way to avoid your path."

The griffon's smile fell for a moment as he settled into a business mode. "How much do you want for it?"

Ted slid the plate across the table to the griffon, a grin on his own face. "As much damage as you can cause the Mad Queen, that's my price. I've had Shadow Weaver copy everything he could get from the array already, he's setting up our guards with their own copies for their armor, and we're currently trying to expand it to an area of effect spell for the protection of a city or town."

"You're joking, right? The minotaurs would pay out their ringed noses for this kind of information. You're just giving it to me?" Griffon asked incredulously.

"Then you can give me a cut if it bothers you. Any and all trouble you can cause the Mad Queen will distract her from her plans. Her forces are so big right now, so bloated and so sure of their superiority they're the perfect target for hit and run tactics." The dark alicorn offered. "Hit her supply lines, hit the things she can't replace easily like the control arrays, hit the actual pony soldiers. Hell, the thought of her soldiers watching as the swarms ignore the minotaur soldiers is hilarious. Just be careful, the drones will attack anything they can sense once the array breaks or shuts down, including each other."

Herrick nodded, grabbing the plate and holding it almost reverently. "I can't tell you how many times she's stopped us cold with those drones. It will be nice to just walk past them and bash some heads in for once."

"You might want to build up a few defenses around here as well, Sahkest." Ted told the drake. "The Equestrians are getting bold. I'd hate to see your town get hit. You're kind of important to us, after all."

The dragon chuckled. "I didn't know anyone cared about me anymore, Cimmerian. I'll keep an ear-hole to the ground. I will ask you to look into taking some of the refugees off our claws. I understand you have changelings, and that's going to be a point against you for a lot of them, but we just don't have the capacity to keep them all here."

The alicorn put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Do you guys have any spare boats?" At their confused looks, Ted looked over to Herrick. "Tell me, how do griffons feel about fish? "



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Ted eventually managed to convince the two that the port to the west of the Temple could be made into a fishing town after it had been cleaned up and the docks repaired. He'd finished the meeting by ha-hoofing his list of supplies over to the drake. Even if nothing else came of the meeting, the Talons would hopefully make the Mad Queen's life absolutely miserable in the next few weeks in a drive for revenge. The inn was much the same as it had been the last time, offering a roof and warm meal, though the port's food stores were taking a hit with the large influx of refugees.  What little extra food they'd brought to sell off would net a good price, and they may even pick up more residents looking for someplace to settle. The abandoned port would likely end up housing a good portion of the griffons once it was fixed up, but until such a time, the Temple was the nearest community with room. Not only that, Ted's idea for the Temple didn't stop at it being a small port like Zarris had ended up. If he had his way, the Temple of the Shadows would be a city one day, and all cities needed a good number of citizens. He'd either have to wait until the population boomed, which would take years despite the best efforts some of the new herds were putting forth, or find ways to increase immigration.
'I'll set something up with Sahkest and the N.E.T.C. tomorrow.' He thought as he made his way to bed. He was caught off guard, walking to his bed, to find Din buried in his blankets, slightly shaking.

"Din? Din, it's ok, talk to me." He said, laying down in his bed next to her.

"S-sorry. Bad times here. Remembered was..." She trailed off, shaking her head rapidly attempting to dispel the memories. "I remembered the last time I was here, sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for that." He said, using a wing to pull her closer. "And yes, you can stay here if you need to."

The night passed in easy silence for the alicorn, more dreams were calmed then ever before, leaving him a bit weary by the end of the night, but he felt it was worth it. The issue for him came just before the dawn. While looking out over the dreamscape, he noticed a slight flickering of a dreamer, unable to sleep properly. Moving closer, he first thought the issue would be bad dreams, but the dreamer was actually just drifting in and out of sleep to much to make a proper dream. He circled the oddity a few times, before attempting to get a taste of the dreamer, some type of idea as to who it was.

'Pain, fear, sorrow, hope... pink fur.' Immediately, he returned to his body, making note of just how far the dreamer was. She was inside his field of effect now, and not that long of a flight from his current location. Waking several of the cultists and leaving them with orders to keep working on trading goods for what they needed. Walking to the edge of the town, the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon, he heard a ruffle of feathers behind him. Pandinus, still in her disguise was giving him a dirty look.

"Were you going to tell me you were heading out on some fools errand? Or did you forget what occurred the last time you tried taking care of something on your own?" She chided him.

The alicorn rolled his eyes, before taking off, the queen following soon after. The two of them flew for several hours, Ted just beginning to feel the strain when he felt he was nearing his goal. Pandinus dove down while he was still looking around, and he followed her to a small cave overlooking the coast. It was dark, but there was a sign of a fire the night before just outside, and both were not hindered in the slightest by the darkness; the queen because of her subterranean nature, and Ted because the darkness was kind of his thing now. As they entered a larger chamber inside, they both froze, looking for the source of an odd rumbling sound. Both dove in separate directions a moment later, as a large pair of hooves came down on their previous location.

Looking up, Ted was greeted by the sight of the largest changeling he'd ever seen. It was easily the size of a house, with enough armor plating to make a tank jealous.

"Why is there a giant changeling in a small cave?!?" Ted yelled over at the queen.

"It's a behemoth. They excel at digging, and are both the assault class of changeling as well as the hives final defense" She shouted from the other side of the room, she lit up her horn and launched a large chunk of rock at the giant, even as it bellowed in rage at their presence.

"Why am I just now learning about these things?" Ted yelled as he launched a volley of shadow blades at the creature, most diffusing uselessly against the runed plating on the behemoth's chest and neck.

"It didn't seem relevant at the time." Din answered, dodging a charge as the creature slammed into the far wall. "There hasn't been enough resources available to hives to maintain such a large creature for a long time. They're almost unheard of these days." Looking around the cave, the queen laughed loudly. "I want it. Cimmerian, hold it against the wall for a moment, I have an idea."

"Oh, yea, that shouldn't be a problem with a multi-ton monster with magic resistant armor." Ted shouted at her. Nevertheless he lit up his horn, not bothering with trying to grip the creature, but merely pushing it against the far wall with all his strength. The behemoth almost walked through the field as if it wasn't there, driving its hooves once more into the location Ted was occupying. The alicorn flapped his wings, throwing himself back and nearly stumbling on the uneven ground. With a grunt he tried again, this time using his full strength. The creature was pushed into the far wall and began to struggle, nearly breaking free before Pandinus swooped in, several stalactites with reinforcement runes quickly etched into their sides. She drove them into the beasts holes, pinning it against the far wall and leaving it in a daze before she landed on its snout, attempting to subjugate it and link it to her hive.

"Well?" Ted asked, huffing with exertion.

"Hm? Oh, you can let go, he has no leverage at the moment." Pandinus said, before turning her attention back to the giant changeling. "Odd."

"What's odd, you know, besides the obvious here." Ted asked her.

"It's linked already, not feral. A royal link too, much like my own. Why would the Mad Queen not chase the link down."

"Because she, she already got what she wanted." A weak voice called out from the back of the cave. Instantly the behemoth renewed its struggles, but the voice called out to it.
"It's ok, Vis. Calm down."

The behemoth's struggles stopped and it relaxed despite its odd position. Ted looked over to the voice, and was instantly in the air. He landed before the mare, smiling at her. "Are you Cadance? Your aunt has asked me to help you."

She smiled, though everything beyond her muzzle was hidden by a cloak. "Aunt Luna mentioned an alicorn out here, yes. She, didn't mention the changeling queen though." She said, her eyes going to Pandinus despite her disguise.

"How do you...oh, I see." Din said, walking up to the smaller mare while dropping her disguise. "I wondered what I was sensing."

Ted's question was answered a moment later as a head popped out from behind the alicorns legs, a small changeling nymph that clung to Cadance fiercely. Ted merely smiled at the hatchling warmly, his radiated happiness drawing a shy smile from the nymph as she relaxed slightly in his presence.
"We can move this outside. I can see what I'm doing here, but I'd much rather be in the open air for introductions."

The group followed him outside, Pandinus even removing the stakes from the behemoths legs and horn, thus allowing it to tunnel outside.  Once they were in the open air, Ted took his first good look at his newest charge.

The princess was ragged, her eyes showing a lack of sleep and her cheeks slightly sunken from lack of proper nourishment. Even with the cracks on her horn, visible now that her hood was down, she still carried herself gracefully. The nymph was small, but had the spark of intelligence in its eyes. The slit eyes were a fierce azure, while her dirty mane and tail were a multi-toned blue. The nymph wasn't starved, like many of the changelings Ted had run across, but she certainly didn't look particularly healthy at the moment.

As for the behemoth? Well, there really wasn't much to define it, besides the sheer size of the creature. When he'd mentioned it to the queen, she merely shrugged.
"The behemoths were created for battle. As strange as you may find it, sapience was never considered very important for its roles."

Ted then offered the princess and her companions the same safety he'd offered everyone else so far, the queen backing up his promises and adding her own experiences to the offer. It wasn't hard to convince the ex-princess to join them, Ted even offering to carry Cadance and the nymph back to the Temple. The moment Cadance decided to follow them, the behemoth rose, standing ready to follow at its own lumbering pace while the hatchling climbed up on the alicorn's back. Before Ted could walk over to pick her up, though, Din stormed over to her, hissing in anger.

"I knew something was wrong with that link." She said, gripping the mare's muzzle with her hooves. " Tell me how? How are you doing it?"

"Din, what are you talking about? What's wrong with the link?" Ted asked. He moved to take the queens hooves away when the queen brushed a part of the alicorn's ragged mane back, revealing a strange scar burned into the mare's fur.

"She's the source of the royal link, not the proto queen." Din said coldly. "That's why the behemoth listened to her. They're linked to you, aren't they?"

The mare just nodded, tears forming at the reminder. The other two changelings immediately responded, far faster than Ted knew should have been possible, confirming the queen's theory and causing Cadance to wince at the mental pressure of the hive's concern.

"Stop trying to comfort her." Pandinus softly told the nymph. "She is not like us, hatchling. Your pressing in concern only increases her discomfort."

The darker alicorn looked around nervously, not sure what he could do to help. "Anything you can do for her, Din?"

"Not here, not without a pod to heal the scars." The queen answered "And even then, if the array is deep enough, like burned into the bone, it won't just go away. There's a reason changelings find the idea of turning ponies into more changelings so absurd. The pony mind is not meant for this kind of burden, for this kind of communication. It would end up breaking most of them."

"That's why you've been having trouble sleeping, isn't it?" Ted asked Cadance. "You can't sleep properly over the noise."

The mare bobbed her head, still massaging it with her hooves. It left him at a loss of what to do.
"Din, is there any way to ease it off of her?"

"The only thing I could do for her here and now would be to allow her to link with me." The queen answered. "Right now she's the center of her link, and that pressure's what's hurting her."

"Don't." The mare mumbled out. "She's watching the link. She thought it was funny, watching me jump at voices that weren't there. Watching me cringe every time they try talking to me. She'll find you too if you link with us."

Pandinus scoffed. "I'm going to be subsuming your hive, drawing it into my own. My hive is protected from the Mad Queen's eyes by Cimmerian. I can prepare a small partition of the link if you wish. It will be a weak link, and only between us."

Ted nodded. "That's why she sent you out here, isn't it? She wanted to see how long it took you to go mad from the pressure."

"Or if I survived long enough to be turned on by Amare as a food source once she grew large enough." Cadance said, clinging tightly to the nymph with her forelegs. "She knew I wouldn't let Amare go, that I wouldn't hurt her. She's all I have left of him."

"We'll take care of you, Cadance, I promise, ok?" Ted assured her. "I'll even get Luna to help me later, we'll take you to see your Aunt Tia, ok?"

The mares face bloomed into a pained smile, hope just now starting to show. "You can do that? She, the queen put up that dream-inhibiting array."

"How do you think I found you, Cadance?" He said, nuzzling her. The poor thing was barely the size of a grown stallion at the moment, leaving him to tower over her. "I speak to Luna often, and have visited Tia a few times. I think she'd love to see you again." He looked up, seeing the queen approaching.
"I trust Din, and I want you to as well. She'll help you."

"H-how can you be sure?" Cadance asked, apprehension increasing as the queen stepped up to her. The nymph and the behemoth were growling at the queen slightly, unsure of why but knowing the queen's presence upset their own queen.

"Because she's too invested in bedding me to damage her chances by hurting you." he said with a grin.

"I'm getting tired of you using that line, Cimmerian. You're going to owe me big for this one." The queen said as she leaned her horn down to the pink alicorn's damaged horn. The queen's eyes focused on Cadance for a moment before she began, a grin creeping across her face. "I know, I'll help you now, and you'll teach me what you know of pursuing a stallion. After that, we'll call it even, ok? I'll even cut you from the link the moment you're ready, and you can go on your way, where ever it may take you." She whispered into the pink alicorn's ears.

The pink mare stared off into the distance, contemplating the option, before nodding. "Just make sure Amare and Vis are kept safe."

"The behemoth will be an issue, but I will do my best. Amare, though? I'll treat the proto queen as my own daughter." Pandinus said quietly. "I swear it to you."



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She giggled to herself, seeing the signal to a particular link finally go dark. She idly wondered what it had taken, whether the pretty pony princess had finally snapped and tried to kill them both, or if they ended up killing her. Maybe it was even some predator, bringing low the great demigod while she was weak from creeping insanity? Which end occurred didn't matter, as either meant the alicorn was out of the way, and if she ended up killing the nymph, she would shatter completely. She turned back to the report on the storm that some of her ships had stubbornly tried to sail through in pursuit of the griffon refugees. At least six ships were missing now, three of which were no longer even giving pings from their control arrays. Two more were adrift in the Mareianic Ocean, nothing allotting for their presence but the steady pinging of the control arrays. The last known positions and predicted routes were written out on a large map, but with the huge storm that had rolled through the area, completely beyond the control of the pegasi, there wasn't any guarantee the fools were alive. Even if they were, she'd have them tossed into the dungeons, maybe using them to further some of her more recent experiments. Feral changelings just didn't have any concept of pain. Not like ponies, anyway.

The attack had gone about as well as could have been predicted, though. What losses she did incur were either to the swarms, which were negligible, or due to idiocy and glory hounds. She had the mutant bird's lands, what did she want the mutants themselves for?
"The attack on High Talon?" She asked the soldier delivering the reports.

"No unexpected losses, Ma'am." He said robotically. 

"Good, as soon as the last bits of major resistance are put down, prepare the forces to hit the main Minoan fortress city. I want them cut off from every direction, full swarms watching every point of interest." She giggled to herself at how easy this was turning out to be. "It probably won't take half as long as the griffons did, the minotaurs live in a temperate area so the drones won't die so fast there."

"At your command, my Queen." He said, pressing a hoof over his chest before making his way out of the room. She watched him go, his blue tail contrasting wonderfully with his white fur and purple gilded armor as he walked out the door. She wished she'd thought of her current idea before she'd released the alicorn. Sure the nymph was a great idea. It was inspired, really. But she couldn't help but wonder how the pink alicorn would have reacted if she claimed the alicorn's stallion for herself right in front of her. It wasn't like it was her brother, after all. No, it was Twilight's brother.

That made it perfectly fine in her book.
> Blood Rage: Highs and Lows
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It took nearly an hour for Queen Pandinus to finally finish overtaking the patch-work hive. The other hivemates, weary and worried for their queen's safety, almost looked ready to move to defend the weak alicorn, but Ted managed to keep them calm, distracting them with his care and concern in the meantime. The nymph was adorable, entertaining herself by seeing what new parts of the dark alicorn she could reach by way of the proper application of hops and gripping with her hooves. Tickling the little hatchling, Ted was brought back to reality by the rumbling of the behemoth.

Cadance and Pandinus were separating, the alicorn slumping over in exhaustion as she was finally able to sleep. Pandinus caught the smaller mare in her forelegs, gently pulling her into a hug as the princess' experiences were shared with the queen over the link. "We need to get her back to the Temple, Cimmerian." She said quietly. "She, we need to rest." 

Before Ted could say anything, Pandinus flew up to him, took the proto queen gently in her jaws since her hooves were full, and flew up to the behemoth. The creature rumbled something at the queen, before turning and lumbering into the jungle in the general direction of the Temple.

"It's fine. I'll just, you know, make my own way back." Ted shouted after them. Looking around for a few moments, he sighed and spread his wings, following the coast on the way back to Port Zarris. It was a long, boring flight, as this time he didn't even have the queen throwing either innuendoes or insults at him. He came upon the port shortly after dinner, grabbing a bite to eat at a local dive that catered to mixed diet patrons. After an enjoyable meal, but nothing near Slop's cuisine, Ted headed out into the bazaar.
He found the rest of the residents of the Temple milling about the stalls, recognizing many even if he couldn't recall names. Digging into his saddlebags, he prodded around until he found the small money purse, given to him by Gleam. The mare had been resolute that he buy something for himself after all he'd done for the Temple, despite his repeated refusals. Unfortunately, as he approached the stalls, it wasn't what he could buy himself that had his attention.

"I'm telling you some of those ponies are changelings!" It was a large group of griffons, one standing above the others obviously trying to whip up the crowd. "We need to strike now while they're not ready. We'll force them to change, then we avenge our fallen!"

'Well, I know of at least one griffon that's not going to be allowed at the Temple.' He thought to himself, approaching the crowd.

"The bugs overran our homeland, they wander the entire world never having the gall to show their true faces! The parasites are even present here. How do I know this? Here's your proof!"	 With a sweeping gesture, a seedy looking griffon dragged a chained changeling into view of the crowd. The changeling, a male based on what Ted had learned of them so far, was dribbling a strange black liquid from its mouth, and was hissing dangerously even as it struggled uselessly against its bindings.

'I'd bet on hate. I've yet to see it, but I would guess that's what it looks like.' The alicorn thought, seething at the sight.

The changeling, sensing something from deep in the crowd other than the hatred and fear, perked its ears and started scanning the crowd. The moment its eyes hit Ted, the alicorn smiled warmly at it, gliding through the crowd without a sound. Even as the griffon continued to grandstand, several griffons gasped and muttered in confusion as he walked right up to the changeling and allowed it to feed on his concern. The shape shifter puked several times during the feeding, ridding itself of the black oily mess as its eyes started to clear.

"What the pluck are you doing, alicorn?" The griffon, finally noticing many of his audience no longer watching him, was now directing his anger at Ted.

"Feeding a starving slave." Ted answered easily, turning from the changeling. "Isn't owning slaves here illegal? What makes you think you have the right to chain a sapient being up?" He asked, his voice slowly raising in anger. "What sick joy do you get slowly poisoning and starving a creature that wants nothing more than to survive?" He jumped up on the platform the griffon occupied, wings splayed in an instinctive intimidation tactic. "You say they drove you from your home, your country? At least you had one! I've never once heard of a country of changelings. You mock them for not showing their faces? This is what happens to them when they do, they get ridiculed, enslaved, and murdered!" A low magical aura was burning around the alicorn as his rage grew, bearing down on the hapless griffon. "Witch hunts, that's what you're trying to organize. What of the actual ponies that get hurt in the process? Acceptable collateral? What of the changelings, already driven from their hives by the Mad Queen, already homeless and without family to help them? Their race has been slowly starving for centuries and no one took the time to figure that out. And now, now that they literally have nothing left to lose but their lives, you wish to take that from them as well?" The griffon took one too many steps back, falling off the platform with a surprised squawk.
"I've seen the creatures that drove you from your homes." He said, directing his attention to the crowd. "Most are mindless beasts, enslaved by the Pony Queen to magical arrays, those that are not feral are no longer in control of their own bodies. They watch each day as their body moves on its own, helpless to stop themselves. Do not direct your anger at the changelings, they are victims, more so than yourselves. At the end of the day, you still have your minds, your own bodies. Those under her power do not even have that! When freed, they will willingly give you any information they have on her forces for nothing more than the guarantee that it will be used against the one that tormented them. They would willingly give you tactics, patrol routes, numbers, plans, all of this for free! Yet you do her work for her, killing those that don't destroy themselves under her control."

The crowd just stared in shock at the glowing alicorn, the heavy aura radiating due to his anger slowly letting up, going from a searing wind to a stifling breeze.

"All they want is what we freely give to each other. Happiness, love, kindness, compassion, care, sympathy, the changelings seek these things out with more fervor than any other race. They literally cannot survive without interaction with others. Parasites? Are trees considered parasites when they feed off the warmth freely given by the sun? Is grass considered a parasite? What about you? Are creatures that feed on the flesh of lesser creatures, predators like ourselves considered parasites? No, we are not! We are all sapient beings, doing our damnedest to survive the day. Changelings feed off of your emotions. Did any of you even once ask if it actually did anything to the one being fed on? Or did you assume that if something was being gained, something else had to be lost?"

His aura faded a little more, and he looked back at the changeling, snapping the chain with a simple thought. He walked over to the shape shifter and spoke to it.
"Follow him to the inn, you may come with us back to our home." He said, gesturing to the pony that was watching from the back of the crowd. Seeing Ted point to it, the changeling in disguise waved him over, before starting to the inn.

"Don't let them escape!" The rabble rouser yelled, pointing at the fleeing changelings. Before he could do anything else, Ted once again flared his aura, this time grabbing the griffon right out of the air and slamming it onto the ground. The griffons squawk of pain drew the crowds attention back to the alicorn. A few griffons looked like the were readying to pursue the changelings, but Ted's reigniting anger stopped them cold.

"I will hear no more from you, Slaver!" the dark alicorn bellowed. "Speak once more, tell me once more how the being you chained and tortured must be killed because his brethren's bodies were stolen from them! Tell me how forcing a starving being to eat what amounts to poison for his race is justified!" He slammed a hoof into the ground, leaving a small crater. "Tell me, bird, how your life, the life of a creature with no compassion for any but his own kind, is worth so much more than the one you held prisoner!"

"Cimmerian, stop it." A voice boomed out.

The alicorn turned his glare on the interruption, his eyes finding the drake and several guards. "What do you want, dragon?" He spat. "Here to join them in their witch hunt? Perhaps if your lucky, you'll find something else to give to the Mad Queen, increasing her power even more. Won't that be worth the few shiny coins you get? Perhaps that will comfort you as she has your scales removed one by one! As she sends her mindless tides to consume everything you love and hold dear."

"Cimmerian, let the rage go!" The dragon shouted at him.

The alicorn scoffed at him, though. "What do you know of my rage, worm? We will not allow these, these insects to harm our own! He wishes to lash out like a wild animal, then we will put him down as such!
"Tell me, Sahkest. Why must a being not even of this world be the one who steps forward to end the suffering of an entire species? Why must an alien being, hopelessly lost, so far from home he may never see another blood relation again, be the one to provide shelter for those that need it? Why will no one on this fucking planet step up?!?"

The drake was alone in his approach, the pressure being exerted by the alicorn being too much for the guards, and most of the other beings had cleared out of the area by then. "What would the hatchlings say if they saw you like this?"

"I-" That seemed to finally reach Ted, his eyes going foggy for a moment as the pressure slowly abated. A moment later, he was looking around, confused. Seeing his chance, the griffon hobbled away as fast as his shaking limbs would carry him. "Sahkest, where did everyone, oh god, what the hell was that?" The alicorns legs buckled, forcing him to lay down lest he collapse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean, I just-"

"Relax, Cimmerian. I've had my share of blood rages before." the drake said as he approached the shaking alicorn. "I've also had worse, and I've had them for lesser reasons than seeing someone being tortured. Breath, think about what calms you, think about your home, think about those hatchlings that seem to mean so much to you."

Ted did as he was instructed, taking deep breaths while focusing on his followers, on the children. He needed to be ready for the next play date. Needed to find something for them to do next time, some game for them to enjoy. It took some time, but eventually the shaking stopped. With some effort, Ted managed to lift himself back up off of the platform. His legs were still weak, but he was once more in control of himself.

"Do you need anything? I've been through enough of those to know it can be a little disorienting." The dragon asked him, resting a claw on his back.

Ted shook his head. "No, no thanks. I'm still getting used to the, changes. Even after over a month I'm still running into new things. I'll be asking Luna about this later. I think I'm going to go lie down for a while."

Slowly, the alicorn made his way back to the inn, leaving it to his people to get the proper supplies. He passed the changelings as they spoke to each other in the main room, sitting amongst those left behind to guard supplies. Upon seeing Ted, the one he freed approached him and bowed deeply. Ted smiled at the sight. Even if he couldn't remember half of what happened after he stepped onto that platform, no one was hurt. The drake would have told him otherwise.

"Were you one of those with the Equestrian Naval ship?" The alicorn asked the shape shifter.

"This one was with one of the patrols, exalted one. It thanks you for your mercy and kindness." The changeling spoke, never lifting its head from the floor.

"It was my pleasure, changeling." Ted offered "There is a hive back at the Temple if you wish to join one."

The changeling raised his head for a moment, a bit of hesitation in his eyes. "This one... this one thinks it best if he avoids such connections for a time."

"That's fine. I understand that you may be a bit apprehensive of such connections for a while. No one will force it on you, though." With that the alicorn retired to his section of the room, flopped down on his sleeping mat, and dozed off. The blood rage, as Sahkest had called it, was the first time the alicorn was left physically tired. Exhausted was a better word for it. It was like doing a workout after several months of inactivity, and knowing how that usually ended back home, C-Ted was worried about what the morning would bring.



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It didn't take long for the alicorn to make his usual rounds. Finishing up with the dreams, he noticed a distinct lack of pink pony princess, but wasn't sure what to make of it. Was it possible for someone to be so exhausted they couldn't manifest a dream? Or perhaps whatever Pandinus had done left her in a sort of hibernation state? It was beyond his reach at the moment, so he set himself up on his beach and sent his mental ping to Luna. He needed to know if she had any information on what just happened.	Moments later the form of the smaller blue alicorn materialized before him, giving him a worried smile.

"Did you find her? I know I sent her in your direction, but the dream was unstable, even with the magic you poured into it. I really did not manage to speak very clearly to her." Luna said, worry evident in her voice.

Ted nodded "I found her, Luna. Sh-" His sentence was cut off as she latched onto his neck, nuzzling him desperately.

"Oh thank the stars and the moon and the sun, my sister and I have spent so many nights worrying over her, we need to tell Tia! She needs to know her niece is alive and well! Come, Cimmerian, we must make for my sister's dream at once!" Luna babbled.

"Luna, it's not that cut and dry." Ted told her, pushing her away slightly. "She was messed up pretty badly. The nightmare bonded her to two changelings, she hasn't been sleeping well, if at all because she constantly heard them in her head. Her horn was cracked and her wings were also kind of messed up, but nothing Din said can't be fixed. That's actually where she is right now. Pandinus took her back to the Temple with the changelings she was bonded to so she could be healed properly, in a safe place."

"You left her with a changeling queen? I, I don't know how that will work out." Luna said glumly "Her first experience with the changelings was when her wedding was invaded by a queen. The queen kidnapped her, and fed off of her husbands love. The queen was eventually defeated and driven away, but we never found anything of her army but empty shells."

"The queen that fed off animals." Ted responded, nodding his head. "Pandinus told me about her. She was driven mad by hunger, created an army of drones under her direct control, and attacked a city. The queen was defeated, but the recoil of so many true drones being killed so quickly broke what little was left of her. I'll ask Din if she knows the queen's final fate. Not sure how, but it may help Cadance to know that the one changeling that tried to hurt her was insane from starvation. Heck, you said she was the princess of love, right? If they could, I bet the changelings would build monuments in her image. They feed off of emotions, the most valued being love."

"I'd never actually thought of that." Luna said. "It makes sense, in a way. Of course this history with the changelings only makes the fact that she was trapped with them all the worse. What of her companions? You said your changeling queen took them as well?"

Ted nodded again. "The first was a behemoth, the blasted thing was huge." The alicorn summoned an image of the first changeling, causing the smaller alicorn to recoil in shock.

"It's monstrous!" She shouted, staring at it with wide eyes.

"I know, and it was set to Cadance and the proto queen as a guardian. Vis actually attacked me and Din the moment we came within striking distance, ambushing us. Kind of ridiculous considering his size, I know, but he was surprisingly good at staying hidden." Pulling up an image of the proto queen, he continued. "The other was... Luna? Luna, what's wrong?"

The lunar alicorn was staring wide-eyed at the other changeling, walking up to the image to get a better look.

"Y-your certain the mane and tail were of this color?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"Uh, yea." He answered uneasily. "She told me the queen thought it would be funny linking her to two changelings, and something about Cadance never leaving the proto queen behind. Wait, is the hatchling linked to someone? She said the nymph was all she had left of him." Ted trotted up to Luna, grabbing her away from the image with his forelegs. "Luna, who was Cadance was talking about."

"It, it was her husband. The proto queen has the same mane as Shining Armor does." Luna said, her eyes misting even as she turned from the image. "The Mad Queen burned his mind years ago when he stood against her, she shouted about how he was being controlled. Now she is the one who controls him. We, my sister and I, are quite certain the poor stallion is for all intents and purposes dead. That the monster that stole Twilight's body would continue to tarnish her brother's memory in such a way...Cimmerian, do all you can to help her." She said, tears dripping down her snout. "Tell her Tia and I would be there for her if we could, we-buck! When she begins dreaming again, let me know! I want you to set up the dream with my sister again, I will take her to see Celestia, Cadance will need all the help she can be given. And breathe not a word of this to my sister! She has nothing to do but stew in her thoughts, while I can talk to you nightly, or ask your subjects of her condition. Bringing it to Celestia's attention will only cause Tia grief right now."

Ted pulled Luna into a comforting hug. "I promise, Luna. I'll do everything I can to settle her in and help her injuries mend. As I said though, Queen Pandinus is the one watching over her right now. Din took over the link Cadance was shoe-horned into and put the alicorn into a quiet section of the link so she could sleep. Last I saw, Din was bringing your niece back to the Temple to be put into a healing pod. My guess is that she's going to either have Mirage watch over her, or have Mirage teach someone else how to do so. Cadance will be helped, I swear."

"You put a lot of trust in that changeling queen, don't you?" Luna said, wiping away her tears with a fetlock.

Ted nuzzled her gently in response. "She's never given me a reason not to. Even when she attacked me it was out of desperation, so I don't hold it against her. She's growing quickly, Luna. Pandinus is getting stronger and smarter each day. That queen is becoming everything I've asked her to be. Anything that wants to hurt Cadance will have to go through me, my followers, Pandinus, and her hive."

The mare's muzzle took on a devious smirk. "And yet still you wont let that poor dear have what she wants. She's fighting her instincts, you know. Since the day she stopped being a proto queen, her body has been screaming at her to seek a mate. You say she's made great strides, but what have you done for her? And I don't mean a home and meal, Cimmerian, you know very well you give that to any who would ask it of you. She's done everything you asked of her, has she not?"

"Yea, that and more." Ted said sadly. "She hurt herself pretty badly trying to follow one of my requests. She's still feeling the effects even today, bleeding every now and again. Mirage even said laying eggs may be a bit painful for a while."

"She'd give up her wings if it meant you'd accept her fully, you know." Luna said. "I'm not exaggerating either. I do not think there is anything on this planet she wouldn't give up for a chance to be with you. Even her instinctual desire to mate with several males to give her nymphs whatever advantage she thinks they may need. I'm not a fan of her species, but even I must admit that there is no being out there right now that is as dedicated to you as she is, at least that doesn't think of you as her father."

Ted shook his head, desperately trying to find a way to change the subject. As soon as one reached him, he jumped on it.

"What about Cadance? What do you thi-"

"Well, I think it would depend on several things, like how she feels about you," Luna said, putting a hoof to her muzzle  "how she may feel about Pandinus, and of course you'd have to get over your silly monogamy thing, but I think in the long run it would be wonderful for her."

Ted blanched at the idea. "I meant what about taking care of her! We need to make sure she's ok before I start worrying about that kind of, stuff."

"Dear Cimmerian, if you keep waiting for the proper time, it's never going to happen. As for Cadance, what she needs right now is love. She is the alicorn of love, and she has been deprived of it for a long while now. Merely being near your followers will begin to heal her. Introduce her to your most fervent daughter, Blur I think her name was. Or throw her in with the foals." Luna giggled at the idea. "Cadance has always loved foals, she was even a foal-sitter years ago."

Even Ted had to give a chuckle at the mental image of the pink alicorn, being washed away in a tide of overly eager pups, foals, nymphs, and chicks. Shaking his head to clear the silly image, he became serious once more.
"Before I forget, something odd happened today. Sahkest called it a blood rage. Have you ever experienced such a thing?"

The smaller alicorn winced at the term. "Was anypony hurt?"
When Ted shook his head, Luna sighed in relief. "I am sorry I didn't mention it before. It takes something we feel very passionate about to incite a blood rage effect in an alicorn. May I ask what it was?"

"Griffon was torturing a changeling." Ted responded darkly. "I almost smashed the idiot right there. He even had the gall to complain about how changelings never show themselves in public. Look what happened the moment he found one! The griffon tortured the poor guy, chained the changeling up and starved him. It's a no win situation; they hide, they're evil cowards. They show themselves, they're evil monsters. Both circumstances end with changelings being attacked on sight."

"I understand. This kind of thing is why my sister always tried to keep her distance from our subjects, an alicorn's rage can be quite potent, and quite devastating to those who incite it." Luna said solemnly. "You've proven yourself to be a fairly level-headed individual Cimmerian, just be wary of your temper from now on. It is much more potent than it once was."

The larger alicorn nodded. "Is there anything else I need to know about this blood rage thing?"

"Well, there is an after effect." Luna said, a devious smile creeping onto her muzzle. "However, since it's not dangerous, and my sister and I had to learn of it the hard way, I think it would be fine for you to learn the other effect first hoof."

Ted glared at her, causing her grin to widen. "I hate you some days. You know that, right?"

Luna waved as she left the dream. "Have fun Cimmerian, and do try not to spend too much time thinking of Queen Pandinus' flanks."



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The next day came fairly quickly for the dark alicorn. He was pleased to find that most of the supplies were gathered by noon the previous day, and that due to the influx of refugees, Tulip's healing poultices and potions were in high demand. Despite the good sales of their own goods, Ted knew they spent more coming to town this time than they made. It made it all the more important to get the mine running as soon as possible. With the exponential growth the Temple was going to be experiencing with the new refugees, the population was going to grow faster than... her hive and...

Ted shook the image of Din shaking her flank at him from his head. He'd been suffering from such images from the moment he woke up, and he was fairly certain it was an aftereffect of the blood rage, the low tide against the high tide of his anger yesterday. No wonder Luna thought it would be funny.
He took a deep breath, rolling his wings in their sockets and rotating his neck. He needed to get the caravan back to the Temple, then he'd find Din and... NO, He'd find Gleam and Shadow Weaver and file those damn reports and finally relax in his own bed. Then Din would saunter in with that devious little grin on her face and...

The alicorn slammed his head into a nearby wall to jar the images out of his head. 

"Sir is there something bothering you?" One of the cultists asked as he walked into the room.

Ted stared at the pony, even as a slight trickle of blood ran down the alicorn's temple. "Nothing a freezing cold shower wont cure." He muttered, walking out of the inn and towards the gate.

Despite dunking himself in the ocean before leaving the alicorn's wandering mind didn't seem to cool. In fact, it wasn't just the queen that he found himself happily thinking about. He hugged inn keeper as he left, he found himself giggling at random intervals and teasing everyone around him. It was like the time he'd been doped up on pain killers, only a hundred times worse because he wasn't tired. Hell, he felt downright overloaded with energy.
Even Sahkest had commented on the behavior, saying it was one of the stranger blood rage lows he'd seen. Ted's response; a laugh, a hug to the drake, and a promise to beat Sahkest within an inch of his life later if it made the drake feel better.

Walking through the jungles was even worse, as the caravan for some reason had lapsed into a dreaded companionable silence, leaving the alicorn alone with his thoughts, things he didn't want anywhere near him at the moment. After nearly two hours of this, he stomped his hooves in frustration, pulled up a location in his mind, and activated the teleportation spell Luna had taught him. Even as he disappeared in a flash, his muzzle had a crazed grin painted on it. He knew exactly how to make this day less boring.



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Pandinus sighed with exhaustion as she sat in front of the medical pod that had been prepared for the pink alicorn. Cadance was currently floating in a fluid-filled sac against the wall in her room, the calmed thoughts of the princess reaching the queen in a calm whisper through the link. The alicorn had information, so much information she could use, but her mind wasn't made for the transfers like Din had performed on Mirage. Trying to get that information would likely result in even more damage to her already-fragile psyche.
The behemoth was currently taking up residence in a newly dug cave just to the west of the Temple, close enough to respond to threats yet far away enough to not throw the Temples residents into a panic. She didn't want to try to introduce Vis until Cimmerian returned. The proto queen, oddly at ease in the presence of an unrelated queen, sat near the alicorn's pod. The hatchling was curled up at the base like some puppy waiting for its owner to awaken.
The strange situation left the queen in a bind. The young proto queen wasn't of her own blood, but by subsuming the makeshift hive, she'd linked to the young changeling. While her mother's lessons demanded that Pandinus eliminate the spawn of another queen, the hatchling was never even connected to its mother, something that was unheard of in the hives. A queen was always linked to her royal daughters up to the moment they left the hive to start their own. There was no imprint of another queen on the nymph, no predispositions implanted by another link. It was a clean template, a royal nymph that saw her as its mother, one that had responded to Pandinus' connection as the queen herself had once responded to her own mother.

It was an odd reflection, and so she left the hatchling alone. The ponies called Cimmerian their father despite no blood relations. Now the hatchling was all but claiming Pandinus as its mother, despite the lack of blood relations. It was what she needed anyway, a fast start to a strong hive as well as experience with hatchlings. Not only that, but the connection between the nymph and the alicorn was more than just a link. There was something about the nymph that caused the pony to cling to her, despite the pain the nymph caused her.

'In the nose, out the mouth.' She recited, having picked up Cimmerian's own calming technique. It worked well for her, actually. She giggled softly to herself, thinking of all the trouble she'd caused the alicorn so far. The little nips when he wasn't paying attention, the extra sway she'd place in her walking when she knew he was behind her, the innuendos she'd picked up from the ponies that caused him to flush, and most of all the little hints of lust she could taste buried just below the surface. She knew of no other queen that had such a potent source of love so close to them, one that they could feed on at any time. It made the waiting worth it, it would all be worth it in the end. She'd have pure love, like the hive now had pure happiness to feed on, how it had pure friendship and camaraderie to feast on.

Pandinus shivered in anticipation. She could just taste it now, the strongest love she'd ever tasted, given freely to her, with a strong undercurrent of lust, the soft brush of fur against her thin, sensitive chitin, the warmth of the large alicorn as he held her close against his barrel. She could taste it, she could smell it, she could see it- wait, why was the room tinted pink?
The queen blinked a few times, noticing the pink and red tint the room had taken on, and then noticed Mirage escorting the proto queen out of the room with a blush on her face. Why were they all leaving? The queen tried to buzz her wings in irritation, but something stopped the protective cover from opening, pressed against her back. Then she noticed the pressure on her own barrel, a weight on her back. Next came a slight breeze on her ear, even though she knew she was underground.

"Hello, my little cuddle-bug." A deep voice whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver. She was dreaming, right? Cimmerian was still at Zarris, at most he was on his way back, a two day journey.
"What's the matter, Pandinus?" He whispered, nibbling on her ear. "I finally come down here, looking to give you everything you've been asking for, and you don't even say hello?"

The queen's vision was a torrent of swirling pinks and reds. She'd locked her legs, scared to even take a step lest she stumble and fall over from the torrential flow of emotions being directed at her. She felt herself lifted in a familiar aura, and there was no more denying it. Even as he settled his stomach against hers, with her back on her own bed, she could feel her emotion-processing stomach bloating as it desperately tried to process the onslaught of emotions. She coughed a little, a few small drops of pink dribbling from her muzzle even as he kissed her passionately. She wanted to slow it down, but it was too late. After so long being hungry, she'd never learned how to avoid feeding on positive emotions. She opened herself to the link, allowing much of the overflow to rush to the drones, who immediately started storing it in the new food storage chamber. They were soon joined by every other changeling in her hive, all of them trying to keep up with the endless waves of love that were being absorbed by their queen. Even the behemoth, a creature who likely had never been sated in its lifetime would soon be full. Just before she whited out from the sensations, she felt him nip her neck, and ask her a question.
"The other changelings said a queen has the highest capacity for storing emotions." She heard him say with lusty amusement.  "How much love do you think one changeling queen can hold, Din?"









Even as the queen's mind was washed away by the torrent of taste and touch, one link she shared continued to take in the love. A few feet away from the two beings, a pod glowed a soft pink. A creature just as deprived of love as the changelings shifted with a smile, her cutie mark glowing softly in the low light.
> Oh My God, It's Everywhere!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Darkness. Quiet. Peace. Nothing disturbed the alicorn as he slept. It was probably one of the more restful sleeps Ted had experienced since entering this new world. He just felt so, so comfortable.

"...ther...ke up, Fa...."

His ears twitched at the sounds. Someone was trying to get him to move. Someone wanted him to leave this wonderful rest he'd finally found. Someone was about to find out if it was possible to live without any bones in their body.
Ted creaked one eye open, the comfortable darkness despite the wakefulness of the rest of the temple giving him a good idea of where he was sleeping. Trying to move, however, lead to him becoming aware that he was sleeping on his back for some reason, with an odd weight on his barrel.

"..tch where you step."
"It's ki...o avoid it all."

Looking down, he saw the sleeping form of the changeling queen passed out on top of him. Carefully, and to her vocalized displeasure in the form of an angry hiss, he managed to shift the strangely heavy queen off of him. This lead to another odd discovery. Even as he managed to roll himself over, his wings felt weird. Wet would be a better word, actually. Blinking a few times, he turned and looked at them.

Pink. The feathers were soaked in a pink fluid. Looking around the chamber, he found that it wasn't just the small area he was sleeping in. The room was littered with little puddles of the stuff. The alicorn wracked his brain for a few moments, trying to figure out what it was. He turned back to the sleeping changeling, and squinted at her. Rolling her over, he managed to avoid her sleepy grasps for the nearby warmth and noted a small line of pink dripping from her muzzle. Eyes widening in shock, he used a very gentle magic aura to open a single eye, and was greeted by a brilliant pink glow radiating from the queen's eyes.
There was only one other time he'd seen that kind of glow, and Mirage had mentioned changelings being able to store love externally by mixing it with fluids in a special chamber they had.

'Oh my god.'

He once more viewed the room, taking note of the dribbles and splatters of the pink fluid, leading from the sopping wet bed over to his current location, where a large pool had formed. He took a look at his fur, for the first time noticing the streaks making there way down his sides from his back, and the sticky feeling about where the queen's muzzle had been.

There was pink. Everywhere he looked he saw pink. Pink was love processed and made tangible by changelings. The only changeling in the room right now was the queen. The only source of the love was him.

"Oh my god."

The memories of the previous days were slowly trickling in; the rescue, the rage, the dream, the next day where he was slowly going mad with the images of the queen and...

'Oh god, I did that.'

Taking a breath through his nose dispelled all doubt. It wasn't as strong as he'd expected, but he could definitely smell the proof in the air. His first reaction was anger, first at himself, then at Luna. If she'd warned him about this, he could have, he at least would have been able to...

Ted blew out a long breath. Even if Luna had told him about this, it wouldn't have changed the fact that he got incredibly touchy after the blood rage. Hell, he'd given the drake a noogie before he left. He'd never done that to anyone, and he had a feeling Sahkest had never had it done to him, either. The outcomes from his emotional down swing could have been much worse.

'If I'd gotten it in my head to go after someone else, I could have hurt them badly.'

In that way, maybe it was a good thing Luna had managed to focus his wandering mind on the one creature that had been after him nearly since she'd arrived. At the very least, it was better then the results of him going after one of the other residents of the Temple in his intoxicated/high as a kite state. He winced at the mental image of an amorous alicorn hovering over the scared form of Blur or Gleam. if it was them, there would have been a good chance he'd have done more then make a mess of the room. As much as he wanted to strangle her at the moment, he couldn't be too mad at the lunar alicorn giving him a target that wouldn't get hurt.
Once more shaking his head, this time in exasperation, he turned to the source of his current wakefulness. The two stallions were shifting awkwardly while carefully avoiding the scattered puddles as best they could, though they weren't one hundred percent successful judging by the pink spatter on the smaller ones rear hoof. Seeing they had his attention, the larger one spoke.

"Father, a thousand pardons, but there's a problem." the first one said nervously. "Last night the other changelings started acting weird, and right now most of them are passed out in the next room. It, that room is actually in worse shape than this one."

"But that's not the problem." The second interjected, kicking his rear hoof uncomfortably. "There's a bunch of other changelings outside, along with this huge one right at the edge of the cleared area around the Temple."

Ted blinked at the mention of the behemoth. Why would Din leave it so close and not tell anyone about it?

"Father, that giant changeling, is it linked with the queen like the others?" The first one asked.

Ted rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. "Yes, why? And can someone get me some water? And make sure water is available for all of the changelings, you said the other room was worse, they may be a bit dehydrated."
Managing to get off the ground despite the fact that he was saturated in the pink goo, Ted slowly made his way to the door.

"I'm going to take a shower, then I'll take a look at the changelings." He told the two ponies.

They shifted anxiously. The smaller one spoke first. "Father, their numbers have been increasing since we first noticed them. Normally we'd get one of the other changelings to speak to them, but they're all uh, incapacitated at the moment."

"Look, there's no way I'm going out there like this." At their continued stares, his face hardened. "I'm not doing it."








Even as the alicorn left the room, Pandinus was waking up from both the earlier disturbances and to find out why her warm/soft pillow was missing and she was now on a cool and strangely damp floor. The queen managed to get her head off the ground after a bit of effort, and opened her eyes. She blinked in confusion a few times, seeing the entire world tinted a bright pink before breaking into a fit of giggles. Realizing she was feeling the effects of a love overdose, the queen forced the surplus from her vision, though it was much tougher than it should have been. Feeling an odd trickle going down her chin, she licked the love off her hoof before brushing it against her muzzle. It came back pink as well.

'That's not supposed to happen. I'm drooling love... oh stars I'm drooling love!'

Panic set in for a few moments before she realized that she wasn't leaking all the love she had; it was what she couldn't contain. Yet another world shattering occurrence due to that blasted alicorn; so much love in a single feeding that she, a changeling queen with the highest capacity for emotion storage was currently drooling love all over the floor. Judging by the amount scattered around the room, she'd been doing it for a while, too.
As memories of the previous night returned to her, the surprises kept coming. He'd ambushed her, almost immediately flooding her senses with the most potent and delicious emotions she'd ever tasted, all of them directed at her. After a few moments, she'd realized it was too much for her, that her body was quickly becoming full. She remembered opening the link, hoping to both redirect some of the emotions she'd been absorbing, and allow the hive to store what she was consuming but didn't need. It didn't help; the entirety of the hive soon succumbed to the love overdose just as quickly as she had.

'That's ridiculous.' She thought. 'Over two dozen changelings all left drooling the emotional overflow from a single alicorn.'

The queen stared in awe, taking in the sheer amount of love scattered throughout the room. Din had never even seen several jars of love of this strength, much less so much of it just scattered all over the room. The amount would be calling to her from miles away, but she was so stuffed with emotion, she couldn't taste the ponies above her. Tartarus, she couldn't feel the tiny emotional tether to the alicorn. Part of her screamed at the wastefulness, demanding she consume every drop and store it, despite the fact she couldn't even seem to move. It was enough to feed her hive for almost a year. Yet it was given to her, freely, with no disguise or lies needed. Not only that, but considering the fact that Cimmerian had not only moved her to leave, but not complained to her about any injury or fatigue? That much drain would kill a pony by normal harvest methods.

The thought terrified her; it left her feeling exhilarated. It left her wanting to flee the Temple and its impossible ruler; it left her wanting to do anything he asked of her if he'd just promise to let her feed like this one more time.

The queen once again attempted to stand up, only to notice just how heavy she felt. It was odd, another oddity of the morning. She looked back at her barrel and could only stare. The chitin plates, thinned to be less intrusive during contact were jutting at odd angles due to her bloated form. Even her thin chitin shell, having much more give than the plates, was stretched to the point of almost being painful. Wracking her brain for a solution, she pinged the hive, and only received nine responses. The first was the proto queen, who not only answered but walked in, eyes baring a pink tint and giggling softly to herself. Next walked in the other nymphs, Gem and Adamant, followed by the half-grown forms of several drones.

The drones she'd only laid a few days ago.

That was when she noticed the changelings were all the white of freshly molted shells. They'd used the overabundance of love to accelerate their growth. Pandinus' first reaction was to scold them, in fact her flush of anger caused all the changelings to take a few steps back form her. Pandinus' memories of hive laws said such frivolous use of love was punishable by either death or exile, depending on the queen's mood. However, with the current abundance of not only food, but potent love, she realized that would probably be the best way to regain her mobility.
Despite every memory protesting the idea, Queen Pandinus burned her stores of love to accelerate her growth. Minutes later, her shell split down the middle, and she pulled herself free of the confines of her less than a week old chitin. Then she did something even worse; she used love to solidify her shell, allowing her to move in spite of the softness of her new skin.

The queen giggled even as she finally stood up, consuming a good amount of the love pooled around her. Leading the nymphs into the next chamber, she ran into a pony carrying a pitcher of water, which she nabbed with her magic and chugged. She then went and pulled the excess from several of the infiltrators, ordering them to start cleaning up the mess and store as much of the love as possible. 

It was all going wonderfully for the queen. She watched the infiltrators cleaning for a while, wondering just how strong her hatchlings would be when a few stray memories floated back to her. The queen frowned, going back over the events that she could recall. Cimmerian had never really been that touchy before. What had changed?
The more she thought about it the more it bothered her. She started analyzing every detail, noticing the odd undercurrent in all the emotions she tasted from him the night before. They were all there, even the love of the rest of his hive, but it was amplified by a large margin. An unnatural margin in fact. She needed to talk to him, and soon.



<-(0)->



'I can't believe I'm doing this.' Cimmerian thought as he trotted to the courtyard. The urgency of the situation was bad enough to the ponies that he wasn't going to get time to take a shower, so he was left walking out into the sunlight still dripping love and smelling faintly of last night's activities.
Floating in his magic aura were several bottles filled with a little additional love, an offering to the changelings and a reason for them to join the Temple. The ponies weren't exaggerating when they said the first room was worse. With over a dozen adult changelings working to process the alicorn's blood rage induced love rage, the floor was almost flooded in pink goo, while the changelings were scattered about the room, either snoring in a puddle of their own glowing drool or cuddled up against one another. He'd grabbed a few empty bottles and filled them straight from the puddles, figuring the changelings wouldn't miss a few bottles. Besides, what would they do? Say he couldn't take his own emotions back?

That thought led to a very odd realization, even as he left the Temple. He'd noticed he seemed slightly bigger than he remembered being the day before. It confused him for a few moments, before he remembered what Luna had said about his growth.	Basically, alicorns grew when exposed to more love. The more love you're exposed to, usually in the form of followers, the stronger you get.

Ted had just spent the night basting in his own love.

Of course, logic told him that it shouldn't have done anything to him, but the fact of the matter was he was noticeably larger, even if only just. It left him wondering just how lucrative keeping the changelings around was turning out to be. Maybe he'd start adding some of that stuff to his meals? It would be considered changeling honey, right? Maybe it could be used in place of bee honey?

'I'm a growing alicorn, and I need my love.' He thought, chuckling at the absurdity of the notion.

Looking back at his still soggy and sticky wings, he silently hoped that the pink goo wouldn't stain. The world already had pink ponies, and a pink alicorn, it didn't need a black and pink striped alicorn stallion. Besides, what poor guy would be able to live as a pink alicorn?

Soon he came upon the behemoth, gently rumbling in its sleep even as a small swarm of changelings flitted about in the trees nearby. At his approach they all set their eyes upon him. Or rather, they set their eyes and noses upon what was currently making his feathers stick together. He set the jars down in front of him, offering them to the hungry swarm and was just about to ask for their selected leader when a call from the temple interrupted him.

The alicorn turned back to the Temple, soon seeing the ghost-white form of Queen Pandinus making her way towards him, looking at him with concern.

Most of the changelings scattered at her approach, not willing to get near her even though many watched from a distance, the sight of such a large and healthy queen drawing the eye of each one.

"Cimmerian, was something wrong with you last night?"

Ted blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"You tasted wrong." She said, stopping in front of him. "I've fed on you enough to recognize the difference. What changed? What made you suddenly change your mind?"

The dark alicorn shifted uneasily a moment, eyes going from the swarm to the strangely concerned queen. 

"I went through a blood rage the day before." He said, pawing the ground nervously. "Luna said there'd be a side effect, but she didn't say what, just said something about you to tease me. Or at least that's what I thought. The next morning I was overly bubbly and happy, which was the downswing of the blood rage. Part of me wishes it didn't end in, well, that but the other part says it could have ended badly." At the queens questioning stare, he explained. "I could have targeted someone else in my haze. Someone not uh, not capable of handling the activities of the previous night."

"But you weren't actually planning on doing that. That's what you're saying?" Din asked, no small amount of pain in her voice.

"No, Din, I wasn't. You're beautiful, you're becoming very kind, and it's a riot listening to you try to figure out why other races do things a certain way, like when Thrisha tried explaining to you why you don't just go around flashing the male you're interested in." Ted explained, a grin making its way onto his face at the last memory. "I've only known you for a month though. My species, the one I was raised as, we tend to date for a long time, making sure we're fine with our choice." He smiled warmly at her. "Though I find it comforting to know you noticed, and asked if I was ok. It means a lot to me."
Their moment was interrupted seconds later by the buzzing wings of the swarm behind him, the changelings all staring at the queen who not only walked among ponies without disguise, but walked among ponies right after a molt.

"Cimmerian, where did these drones come from?" Din asked, finally noticing her audience.

The alicorn gestured to the swarm. "The residents said they showed up earlier. I think they could smell the love in the hive."

The queen watched them for a few moments, before a single shape shifter approached her. "You live with the big pony?" It asked cautiously. "Who rules? Can only be one ruler, right?"

It took all of the queen's willpower to not snap out her ingrained response. Instead she looked uneasily over at the alicorn, before turning back to the changeling.
"I was invited to make my hive here under the rule of Cimmerian. He also provides most of us with our nourishment. The love you smell is his. I had trouble trying to absorb it all last night, and spent the night leaking it." She then walked up to the alicorn and pressed against his side, the top of her muzzle resting against the bottom of his. At the continued stares, the queen nudged Ted, whispering into his ear when he leaned down to her.
"Come on, Cimmerian, they don't believe it. Show me what you did last night when you first snuck up behind me."

"I don't know if I can replicate that Din, I was on the downswing of a blood rage. I was as high as a kite when that happened." The alicorn whispered back.

The queen blinked. "Surely you can at least..."

"That being said," he continued "I'm not going to leave you hanging out to dry in front of all these eligible drones, not after your show of support."

With that, the dark alicorn leaned in and wrapped his hooves around the queen, dragging her against his barrel and locking lips with her. He let all the positive ideas of  the queen flood his thoughts, including his enjoyment of waking up that morning with a warm weight pressed against his barrel.
Despite the queen's increased size, she once again started looking a bit full, this time the love showing by giving her still white shell a pink tint. It felt odd to Ted, doing such a thing in front of a large group and knowing every single changeling was staring at them. Odd yes, but not the worst thing he'd ever done, and the queen's purring was adorable no matter how large she got. Breaking away for a moment, he grinned mischievously and ran a hoof over her still soft flank.

The queen gasped at the contact, glaring at him. She leaned closer and whispered to him "Don't start something you won't finish, Cimmer."

The swarm called for their attention before he could continue teasing her though, many of the changelings hovering uncomfortably close to the two, and one too many drooling over the love currently caking the alicorn's wings. The queen took over from there, pushing away from him.

"Food is not an issue for the changelings here. The only thing we need is resources to build a city, from food for the other races, to workers for a mine we wish to start. There is much to do, and any who wish to stay are welcome to do so." She touched her horn to several drones, dousing them with her surplus of love, before also pushing forward the jars Ted had brought out earlier. "Share this among yourselves; eat well, recover your strength, then lend that strength to our growing hive. If you require more, ask a resident to send word to my chambers. We are currently trying to clean up the love that brought you here, and I'm sure I could always pull a little more from my source if I need to." She said, bumping her flank into Ted's side.

The two headed back to the Temple, leaving the drones to their feast. Walking side by side, Ted smiled at the queen
"You're becoming good at that. Selling the benefits of this place, I mean."

"It's not difficult." She said, nose held high. "Changelings want two things, food and safety. We have both here, more than we know what to do with, actually. Is it any wonder they would flock here?" She cracked open an eye, leveling her snout. "Besides, I already told you why I'm willing to work with them. They're in the same situation I was before I ended up here."

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that they'll probably join your hive, increasing your power base even more, right?" He asked her.

"Shut up, Cimmerian. You're easier to deal with when you don't open your mouth."



<-(0)-> 



Ted went straight to his room after the drones were dealt with, only stopping long enough to ask for a meal to be sent to his room before heading up to finally clean himself up. Starting up the stairs Pandinus, still tailing him, asked what he was currently planning on doing. It turned out that telling her he was going to take a bath to wash the pink sludge off was the wrong answer.

"You know I'd already be done if you'd just let me shower." The alicorn told the queen, laying on his bed. It had a few clean towels scattered over the bedding to prevent ruining the sheets, while the large changeling was currently happily removing the love from his wings.

"My hive is set to grow exponentially with the addition of the drones outside, not to mention I'll be laying again soon enough." Pandinus told him. "I want my first clutch of sapients to be raised on pure love, not the scattered emotions that works for the true drones."

The queens ears perked at the dampening of the alicorn's happiness. Hoping to salvage his mood, she started working on a large spot where the feathers connected to the wing, licking off the love before preening the area. Ted looked back at her with an irritated scowl even as his wings splayed. The queen just licked her lips, smiling at him.

"What happened to don't start what you won't finish?" He asked.

She giggled reaching in for another long lick. "I think we both know I'm more than willing to finish what I start. Besides, I need all the love I can get if I'm going to be raising these nymphs. Mirage will also need the energy, as she'll be helping and with so much love, I'm sure they'll be bouncing off the walls, unlike the near hibernation I'd seen some nymphs in back home."

Sensing the alicorns sudden shifts and unease, she emptied her current load of love into a nearby jar, took a few swigs of water from a nearby pitcher, and moved on to his back, burying her muzzle in his mane.

"Why are you troubled? Is it the prospect of the nymphs?" At his nod, she hummed. "I don't see the issue. You've known for a while now this was my goal, it was why I stuck so close to you... though I admit, learning you were not well, it makes last night feel like a hollow victory."

"Din, I have one last thing I want you to do." The alicorn said. "It will probably be the most difficult thing of all. I want you to not feed next time."

"Are you mad? Not feed on the torrents of love that... next time?"

"This is what you were working towards, right? I know you didn't think it would be a one time thing." The alicorn mumbled sleepily. "That's why it's so important to me, Din. I'm not just picking a one night fling. I'm looking for someone to stay with me for the rest of my life."

The alicorn used a combination of shifting his body and magical grip to drop the queen to the mattress, then shifted again till he was pressing her into the bed. Letting himself hold onto her possessively, wings draping on either side, he nuzzled into her cheek. He could see her mind working overtime, most likely at the prospect of having ready access to the love given to her the previous night for the rest of their lives and just how much that would amount to.

"So, just learn to not feed? I, why would you want that?" The queen asked him.

He chuckled. "I don't remember much from last night, but I do remember a certain changeling queen looking like she wasn't all there when I was kissing her. How much do you even remember?"

"I know you came up behind me, then you kissed me and put me on the bed, and you said something," the queen flushed in embarrassment "I didn't really hear you, all I could see, all I could smell, all I could taste was the love and lust." The queens eyes glazed over at the memory. "I've never felt anything so wonderful before. It was like no matter how much I tried to absorb there was always more, like I was drowning in love."

"I can't say we make a good couple if we can't bed each other while sober." He said with a grin. "I don't regret what happened, Din, just how it happened. Both of us were smashed by the time it occurred, me by the blood rage downswing, you due to the flood of love you tried to absorb. I was already looking at the possibility, of us being able to stick it out. So if we're going to do this, we're going to do it properly. We're going to both be all there, and we're both going to be able to remember every wonderful detail, got it? One night where you don't touch it, then you can do what you like. I'd say I don't mind if you never abstain again, but I don't think either of us would find that prospect enjoyable."

Pandinus nodded, shivering slightly, though whether it was from the hints of lust she was sensing, the prospect of an untold number of nights together, or the contact against her still hardening shell he didn't know. He smiled, laying down draped over the queen, just enjoying the contact for once, not thinking about the implications. It was done, there wasn't any point in worrying about it anymore and with the amount of love she could pull from him on top of her blooming concern for him he doubted she'd be leaving any time soon. She had it too good here.

"Cimmerian, I still need to finish getting that love off of you." The queen mumbled into the towels.

"I'll take a shower tomorrow." Before she could voice her protest, he snuggled against her, pulling her deeper into his barrel. "I'm sure I can replace whatever is lost, Din. It's not wasteful if it's an infinite resource, is it?" 

He hummed in thought, the queens purring the only other sound in the room. "Maybe we can get a fountain someday, like one of those beautiful garden fountains. Multi-tiered with a bowl-shaped fountain of water. And instead of water, it will be love, and any time a changeling is feeling hungry, they can just walk right up and take as much as they want." That would be something, a fountain of love. And he'd be the one to see it built. It was something to look forward to, something he'd be proud of. Besides, if the queen was going to be having nymphs with his genes, his children, he'd have even more motivation to make sure no changeling went hungry.

With everything he'd done so far, and with everything he'd be doing over the next few days, he wanted to be lazy for a little while. He was also going to enjoy his personal masseuse, and would make sure she enjoyed the time off as well.
> Embraced, Both in Body and Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There was just so much pain. 

Everything hurt for so long. 

Her horn had been cracked, because the magic backlash was funny to the mad mare. She delighted in the random sparks and surges the alicorn experienced due to the damage.

Her feathers had been removed because her tears brought a smile to the mare's muzzle. The exposed skin also left her shivering in the cold, tucked away in the deepest part of her cell to keep herself away from the monsters the mare played with when she grew bored of the alicorn's tears, of her pleas for mercy.

Her husband had been taken from her, the thing that followed the mare around empty of emotion and following her commands like a golem made of flesh. She knew he was gone. He had to be. It made it hurt less when she thought of it that way. It hurt less when she remembered it wasn't her husband who'd plucked the last few feathers from her wings. It made sense. The monsters didn't look at him, and they avoided the mare out of fear. Some still lashed out at her, driven to madness by either torture or starvation. She never saw them again after they did that.

The only monsters the mare kept fed were the largest of them, the ones that were laying the eggs. The mad mare would watch every now and again, giggling as a random pony was thrown in the range of the monsters' hooves, the monsters latching onto the pony, sinking their teeth into them and draining them of all emotion.

It was the monsters that told her Shiny was gone. They never looked at him, never hissed or snapped at him. They couldn't see him. It was like Aunt Tia had said so may years ago. Only the dead had no love in their hearts.

The mare told her of her deeds, bringing in news papers and pictures. The array she'd used to imprison the alicorns of the sun and moon, a picture of the petrified forms of the elements. A spear from the griffon capital city, given to her after she'd demanded they disarm. Her plans to invade the griffon country, then the minotaur kingdom with her mindless army, sweeping the best warriors of both races away in an endless tide of teeth and chitin, allowing her soldier to walk into the enemy cities to raise her flag.

It was so bad for so long. Then the mare got bored.

The mad mare started experimenting with the monsters, testing what was sent through the connections they shared. She forced the connections on ponies, giggling as they argued with ponies that weren't there. The mare practiced linking the ponies to the crystals she used to control the monsters. Then she brought out the nymph.

It was obvious to the alicorn what it was. It was a final insult to her husbands legacy, a final proof that the mad mare had complete control of the ponies in her country.

"Well, since you never gave him any foals of his own, I figured I'd help you two out. Oh, I'm sure mom will be happy to know she's finally a grandmother, even if it took getting a surrogate mother." The mare had told her, holding the nymph out to her. When the alicorn refused to get closer, she'd set it down on the cold floor and left, seeking other ways to amuse herself.

She'd wanted to end the monster's life. To hurt it, to make it feel pain for all the pain she'd been made to suffer. But she couldn't bring herself to harm it. Even if it was a monster, it was just a foal. An unwilling pawn in the mad mare's game. So she'd approached it, she huddled with it to keep it warm, even as she shivered in the cell. The monster's feeding had hurt at first, but the less she resisted, the more she found herself concerned with its health, the less it seemed to bother her.

Days later, the mad mare returned, citing her disappointment that it was still alive, and the alicorn inwardly smiled. She'd not let the mad mare beat her. Then the mare's frown became a smile, a smile that could freeze the very air.
"Oh, so you've become attached to it? I know a way to bring the two of you even closer."

Those words had pre-empted the resumption of the pain. First there was burning, then there was a voice, oh sun and stars above, the voice never stopped, always asking for food, always begging for warmth, and always asking for momma. It didn't stop when they slept either, the periodic chatter of a mind drifting in and out of consciousness keeping her awake for so many nights.

That was when the mare had come to her, a frown on her face. Said it wasn't fun playing with a broken toy. She'd forced one more mind on the alicorn, a giant of a monster, one whose sole purpose was keeping the alicorn and the hatchling alive. They'd been led outside, and thrown out, the mare giggling about how she'd have to choose soon. Saying she'd have to choose her own sanity and health, or the life of the hatchling. It was a monster after all. Eventually it would view her as food, and would enslave her as surely as the other one had enslaved her husband so many years ago.

Mentally wilting under the assault of two minds asking her for guidance, the alicorn began to walk. She wanted to be as far from the monsters as possible.

All of the monsters.



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Cadance snapped awake in a dark place. It was warm. There wasn't any pain. The voices were distant, quiet. She sighed in relief, her body relaxing as she realized it wasn't a fever-dream. Her aunt really had appeared before her, directing her to a safe haven. She'd met somepony. No, it was two ponies. One said he knew Luna, and the other made the voices go away, or at least she told them to be quiet. 

The alicorn's eyes widened, choking as she flailed in her confinement. She was in one of those changeling pod things. She was submerged, she shouldn't be breathing. Even as she flailed, though, a familiar presence pressed against the pod. Focusing on the being, she soon recognized the form of the hatchling, pressing against the pod while squeaking out concerned chirps. Odd, considering it only buzzed or spoke what little Equish she'd managed to teach it. When did it learn another language? It also looked a little bigger than the last time she'd seen it. How long had she been in the pod?

She fought past another brief bout of panic, wondering if the nymph had brought her to a hive to be fed on. The nymph didn't have a hive. There was nowhere it could take her.

Apparently sensing her growing panic, the nymph pressed its horn against the pod, breaking the seal with its horn and reaching in for the alicorn, even as Cadance pushed towards the hatchling. Seconds later she was free, hacking up the fluid onto the floor of the hive she found herself trapped in. Even as she regained her bearing, she brought Amare into a hug. There was one creature in this world she could trust, and she was currently in the alicorns forelegs.

"We need to get out of here." Cadance whispered to the hatchling. Amare looked at her curiously, before chirping happily. The nymph then pulled her to a small jar it had nearby, offering it to the princess.

"Drink!" The changeling chirped happily, holding it out with both forelegs.

Cadance looked at the glowing jar suspiciously, not certain of the contents, but not willing to disregard the foal's ideas. Against her better judgment, she chugged the thick pink substance down, noting the strange lack of flavor. Finishing, she blinked a few times, before gasping as the energy surged through her.

Love. It had to be love. How long had it been since she'd felt her husband's focus? How long had it been since she'd watched pony couples laugh and play and kiss. Drinking the substance brought back those memories, but it also reminded her of the love of couples who weren't certain of themselves. She flushed, remembering the couples that had come to her for advice after a rowdy night, finding themselves paired with a friend they'd had no intention of pursuing romantically. Cadance looked down at the nymph and smiled, patting Amare on the head.
"Thank you, dear. I needed that."

Using a hoof to wipe a few more drops out of the bottle for consumption, she turned her attention back to her current goal. Escape. It would most likely be easier if she could use the notice-me-not spell. Taking one last glimpse around the room, a bedroom of all things judging by the linens set up on the pedestal towards the back of the room, she turned to the hatchling and prepared for an exfiltration.

"Amare, we need to get out of here. Do you understand? Outside." Cadance told the hatchling. It nodded happily and galloped towards the door. She threw it open, causing the alicorn to wince at the bang of the door slamming against the wall. Still, she shakily rose to her hooves and followed. Taking one last look around to make sure there were no observers, she cast the spell and hobbled after the foal.



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It was downright bizarre. The ponies here, they didn't act like thralls, they didn't wander mindlessly from duty to duty, or spent their days in pods. They wandered the halls, giving greetings to those they passed. Even the monsters. One even stopped and cooed at how adorable Amare was, nuzzling the little hatchling as she was passing by, earning a giggle from the nymph. It was confusing for the alicorn, and left her all the more terrified. What madness possessed the ponies to live with changelings, to treat them like their own?

She pressed on regardless, intent on finding her freedom. She passed ponies, thestrals, griffons, changelings, even strange dog-like creatures she'd never seen before. They were similar to the diamond dogs she'd read of, but they didn't seem to be the same. Finally, Amare led her to a doorway that opened into sunlight. The hatchling took off into the clearing outside, but Cadance was stopped cold as her eyes attempted to adjust. She wasn't sure how long she'd been down there, but it was long enough that her eyes were having trouble compensating for the sudden shift in lighting.

Finally able to see, she looked around the clearing trying to spot the hatchling. Eyes tracking across the newly built or under construction buildings, she spotted a large gathering of creatures, the sounds of orders being called out from powerful voices catching her ears. She barely noticed the small form of the foal darting into the crowd.
Cadance pawed the ground nervously, debating on pursuing the filly or taking her chances in the woods. It would guarantee her escape, but Amare was the one who freed her, she wouldn't leave the hatchling alone. Once more against her better judgment, the alicorn walked towards the crowd. That's when she saw them.

The first was an alicorn, nearly as large as she'd been all those years ago. He, there was no way a female had that kind of thickness in his barrel and legs, stood nearby, reading reports and conversing with two others, directing the flow of workers. His coat was dark, nearly black, while his mane was a very dark blue. He spoke with authority, but would often turn to answer questions, his voice becoming soft and loving. Most importantly, she recognized the voice as the one promising her safety days before. Even seeing the kindness he was directing towards the beings, her mind hitched on one fact.

'Nightmare Moon.'

The second that drew her attention was another monster. It was different from the others she'd seen though. It was large, nearly as large as the alicorn. Its shell was an ashen blue, while its silken mane was a deeper blue, nearly matching the alicorns even if it was a few shades lighter. The oddity was the chitin. It was nearly absent from the monster, small thin plates here and there instead of the thick plates that covered the first monster's body. Instead of the many holes over its body she'd remembered on the first queen she'd seen, its chitin was full, almost gleaming in the mid day light. It made the other queen, the one from her wedding and even those she'd glimpsed while in the Mad Queen's dungeons seems sickly and frail. Then there was its voice.
The queen spoke with a forceful authority, directing ponies with practiced ease and referring back to the small unicorn mare between the two for clarification every now and again. The changelings nearby however didn't need to be told their task. It was given to them over the link. How could Cadance know? This close to them, she could hear it. It was faint, but she could hear the queen commanding them, giving orders, even pressing against them warmly in praise. Once more, she recognized the voice. This one had promised to quiet the voices in her head.

It took all of her willpower not to scream. The monster was in hear head, and she could hear it. Could it command her like the drones? Were all these creatures under her power and unaware? Had she managed to subdue this stallion, this male Nightmare Moon?

To her horror, the queen's attention was directed to a few cheerful chirps as Amare jumped onto the platform. Both of the larger creatures smiled warmly at the nymph, the alicorn even bending down to nuzzle the small changeling affectionately. The queen's smile faded however, and she closed her eyes in concentration.
A moment later, Cadance felt a presence pressing on her mind, and the queen's eyes snapped open and locked on her, despite her spell. The dark alicorn looked to the queen in confusion, before following the changeling's eyes to Cadance's location. He squinted, trying to locate her when a sudden pressure on her mind caused her to drop the spell.

She shook her head to clear the disorientation to find a small form nuzzling her lovingly. Amare had come back up to her, probably worried about her sudden dizziness. She hugged the filly, forgetting her current location for a moment before here eyes bulged. She looked up to see all eyes on her. She panicked, dropping the nymph and beginning to cast the spell her Aunt had taught her, a panic teleport. Moments before she could finish it, she once more felt a presence bear down on her, interrupting her spell. That's when the voice came back. There was only one this time, but it was angry.

'How dare you try to use that spell! Does the hatchling by your hooves mean so little to you?' It yelled, causing the pink mare to wince at the pressure. Instantly she was assaulted by the ideas of the possible outcomes such a spell would have had on the nymph that was so close to her. Certainly it could have had no effect, but it could have dragged the filly along with her as well. She could have been hurt. She could have been killed.
'This is the thanks I get for aiding you? You panic and nearly kill the very proto queen you spent so long guarding?'

Cadance wanted to protest, she wanted to flee, but she couldn't find the will to. The queen, she was coming closer, but the physical distance mattered little. It didn't matter how far Cadance ran, the monster was in her head.

The queen stood over her, the glare fading into an exasperated frown. The alicorn soon stood beside her, looking over both of the mares with concern.

"Cadance, what are you doing out and about? You're still weak. Oh god, Luna would kill me if you managed to hurt yourself." The stallion said, inspecting the shivering mare. She couldn't run. The queen was in her head, it was over. She'd end up-

"Stop it." The queen said, causing the pink mare to recoil as if struck. "Do you think I allowed you to join my link so I could torment you? No, I did so because Cimmerian asked me to help you, and it was the only way to access the abomination that's been forced upon you. Luna sent you here because she trusts us, because she trusts Cimmerian." The queen leaned closer, lowering herself to the smaller alicorns height. "You're scaring Amare. Calm yourself, you and the nymph are safe here. Check the link, check your connection, what does it tell you?"

Suddenly the alicorn felt her connection with the hatchling increase in volume. Sensing her surrogate mother over the link clearly once more, the nymph immediately assaulted her with its happiness, its contentment, its feelings of safety. Queen was kind. Queen fed her, would feed momma too, would help momma get better. Queen treated her like one of her own hatchlings. Big pony was kind. Big pony fed Queen, so Queen could feed hive. Big pony was safe.
Cadance felt her muscles relaxing despite her lingering desire to run. Taking her slump of defeat as his signal, the large alicorn scooped her up in his forelegs, holding her tightly. 

"I'll contact Luna tonight, alright? We'll get you two in a dream together, and I'll see about setting one up with Aunt Tia as well. I promise, we'll get everyone together for you, ok?" The alicorn whispered reassuringly. "It will be one big, happy reunion, and you can talk to them for as long as you need. And if you need to, we'll do it again tomorrow night. I know Aunt Tia will be ecstatic to see you again. They both talk about you. You mean the world to them."

The alicorn nuzzled her, and she once more felt the pulse of love. It was weak, but given her current state it was like a breath of air to someone who was drowning. Despite her fears, or perhaps because of them she cried, clinging to the alicorn. Clinging to the first creature to shower her with familial love in years. The voices died down again, but the pressure never stopped. It wasn't stifling though. It was trying to comfort her. It was trying to be a second pair of hooves wrapped around her mind, even as the dark alicorn's were wrapped around her body.

For the first time in years, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza allowed herself to experience the emotional cleansing that could only be found in a rain of tears, and to her shame she found it in the embrace of a stranger.
> Family Get-Together
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian held her for a long while, even continuing his work with the construction of the courtyard with the pink alicorn still held close. It was what she needed right now, comfort and love in a time where she'd felt there was none, much like her aunt and even a few of the Temple residents had felt. It was a truly monumental burden some days, being everyone's rock, being the one everyone looked to for hope. It was his duty right now, though; no one else would do it. Once she'd calmed, he'd set her down beside him, allowing her to press against his side as he draped a wing over her protectively.

Her own recovery had gone well despite the fact that Cadance had spent only a few days in the medical pod. Where once her wings looked torn and ragged, new feathers were pushing out the old damaged ones, leaving the mare in desperate need of preening. Her horn was showing only minute cracks at the very tip now, the rest of the damage no longer visible, though if there was any internal damage he couldn't tell. But the thing that brought him the most joy was her eyes.

He had begun to rejoice when he saw hope reignited. She was so tired when he'd found her, so dead to the world she probably would have agreed to anything. Now her eyes tracked every creature that walked by, studying the Temples residents with an eye for detail. Her gaze often lingered on ponies or even gnolls and changelings that were openly affectionate, watching as couples bumped each other meaningfully, or pressed close to a loved one.
She jumped when she felt something press her closer to him, but soon she relaxed despite the changeling queen at her side, seeming to accept the additional contact for what it was; gentle reassurance. It made sense to Ted. The queen could probably sense her anxiety more clearly than any other creatures since she was linked to the hive.

Dinner was a somber affair, the small alicorn never straying from his comforting presence. His table, set up with a second seat right next to his for the queen, had a third occupant that night. The meal was quiet, many of the residents giggling and nodding in the direction of the alicorn, excitement in their voices. They knew of the one by Father. No one could miss the sight of the bright pink alicorn. They'd been fawning over her since they'd learned she was there, actually, even approaching the queen with offers to help with her recovery in any way they could. The changeling queen turned them away, insisting the best thing she could get was sleep, rest, and time to heal. She failed to inform them however, that the alicorn was subconsciously pulling love from the hive.
That had thrown Cimmerian for a loop. He'd known love had an effect on alicorns, but for one to actively pull from a changeling hive, it almost left the pink alicorn sounding like a changeling herself. Pandinus had dismissed the idea, but the idea of the similarities between the two, especially after he'd mentioned the growth based on the love of followers had caught both of their attentions. Their species, alicorns and changelings, they really weren't that different when one got down to it.

Luckily for the pink mare, the hive had plenty of love to go around. Ted and Din were close, the residents of the Temple often finding the queen pressed under a wing of the alicorn, or purring gently while laying between his wings while they relaxed in bed. That had been fun, the relationship of the two largest residents becoming public knowledge within hours of their being woken up. The first to approach them about it was Gleam and Shadow Weaver, both trying to be respectful, but attempting to understand their reasoning. The dark alicorn's response had left them both blushing.

"Shadow, hug Gleam." The alicorn said, gesturing to the mare.

Shadow Weaver looked at the mare, sputtering a bit, before managing to utter a quiet "why?"

Not waiting for them, Ted had grabbed both of them, and pressed them  close, much to their embarrassment. He then chuckled, before pulling the mare closer to himself for another hug. Setting the mare down, he turned to the queen, who was giggling at his side, and pulled her into a hug, the queen baring a fang-filled smile at the two and making the difference obvious; Pandinus' hooves were still on the ground.

Blur had needed no explanation though, bless her heart. She took one look at the couple and hugged Din at the neck, much to the queen's shock. Her response to the queen's inquiry of why was simple.

"Well, you're Father's mate now, so that means you're my Mother. That means I have a full family again. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

The pegasus' response had rocked the queen, the idea of mothering the entire community, not just her hive leaving her quiet for the rest of the night. He'd eventually gotten her to talk to him about it. That was when he'd hugged her, telling her it was exactly what he wanted of her. He'd wanted a female that would accept his children, all of them, as her own. So she did. Where once she was curt and quick with the residents, she became warm and kind. She listened to their fears as he did, or directed him to residents who hid their fears, their pain. Once more the contentment of those in the Temple had risen by an incredible degree.

Even the griffons that had arrived with the return of the caravan were learning to adapt, the presence of the large group of changeling refugees only amplifying the spin the drake had put on the alicorn's previous actions. Sahkest had spoken after Ted's incident, it seemed, citing that the protectiveness they'd seen or heard of was extended to any who lived there. Driven from their homes, the idea of a creature that would give dragons pause standing guard over them had convinced many to make their way to the Temple.

Finishing dinner, and waiting for the pink mare to finish her own meal, including a small jar of love provided by the queen, the three went to the Cimmerian's room. The two larger beings pulled the alicorn between them, pressing against her from either side even as they dosed off. She was joined by several nymphs, Amare and two others finding places between their guardians and making themselves comfortable. The warmth and safety soon took the pink mare with them all, allowing her the first peaceful decent into sleep she'd had in a long time.



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Cadance had barely had time to wonder what was happening when a blue blur struck her, tackling her and crushing the alicorn in a fierce hug.

"Niece! You are alright, oh we worried night and day when Cimmerian told us of your injuries! Let me look at you! Oh, heavens you look like you've gone twenty rounds with a manticore but it's alright now, you're safe now, right? Oh I missed you so much!" Once more the lunar alicorn pulled her into a crushing hug.

"A-auntie Luna! What's going on?" Cadance asked her. "I, I remember you saying something about this place, but didn't Twilight stop dreaming?"

Luna smiled lovingly at her niece. "Once more you may thank Cimmerian for our good fortune. His presence disrupts the arrays, shielding those who are near him from harm. You saw his mark, did you not? A fathering protector. It suits him, he works even now to see to your health."

"What do you mean? And what was he talking about earlier? He mentioned Aunt Tia. I know you can visit dreams, but how can he help me see her?"

"Soon, dear niece, soon. For now, I will return shortly." The blue alicorn said with a devious smirk. "I wish to speak to a certain changeling about the most delicious rumor that has been circulating in the dream realm. They have both denied me entrance to their dreams lately, and I will have my answer!"

It was only a few moments, but the emptiness of the dream left her worried. Soon enough though, Luna returned, this time dragging the dream-form of the queen into the alicorn's dream. Approaching Cadance, Luna pulled her into her side with a wing and spoke to the queen.
"I am grateful for the aid you have rendered my niece, Pandinus of the Changelings. To be able to hold her again, even if it merely in the dream realm, is a blessing I'd not hoped to have again."

The queen smiled at them, giggling lightly at the sight. "It is my pleasure. If it weren't for the amount of love I receive from Cimmerian, though, I may worry about the amount your niece has been pulling from my hive lately. She is ravenous; already she has consumed enough to sustain a drone for a year, and even now she pulls more. Were she a true changeling, I would be reprimanding her and warn her of becoming fat off of the amount she has consumed." The queen's smile faded a bit, before she turned to the pink alicorn. "I will have questions for you when you recover. I have reason to believe that the Nightmare has taken my mother, though whether she is dead or a slave, I do not know. For now though, we are waiting on-"

Luna suddenly perked up. "There!" She shouted, using her magic to yank the queen towards her, drawing a yelp from the changeling. Before Cadance could ask what was going on, her aunt pulled her from the dream, dragging both of them along as they floated through the realm of dreams.

After an impossible to determine amount of time, the world came back into focus. Cadance was slow to return to her hooves, noticing the two other mares were standing before her. There were voices, all of which she recognized. The alicorn stallion, Cimmerian was speaking, she hear Luna giggling conspiratorially, even the queen was purring in delight, while the final voice spoke in confusion and curiosity. The last voice drew all of her attention though. Even as she prepared to shove through the two mares before her, they stepped aside, letting Cadance see the one mare she'd missed more than any other on the planet. The mare that had been her comfort, her rock, her sanctuary when she'd ascended. The mare that she'd come to rely on so much over the years, the mare she'd asked to give her to her husband when her true parents couldn't make the wedding due to declining health. The mare that had given her so much, and only asked for her affection in return. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, before they rushed to each other, each delivering a crushing hug to the other, even as they wept and cried each other's names.

"Aunty Tia!" "Caity!"



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Cimmerian watched the two mares squeeze the ever-loving daylights out of each other with a smile. This was what it was all about. At the end of the day, this was what he was hoping to do. He scooted closer to the changelings, using a wing to pull her into his side. The action had become almost natural to him, using his wings for hugs. And in response, the queen giggled, leaning her head against his neck for support, her horn brushing up his cheek.

They were drawn from the sight by the sound of a clearing throat. Both turned to the sound seeing Luna looking down on them imperiously, or at least as far down as an alicorn that was half their size could. Ted looked at her, then at the changeling nuzzling his side, giving the alicorn a toothy smirk. He sighed, knowing exactly where this was going.

"So when will I be hearing of your first fathered clutch?" Luna asked, her sneer becoming a grin.

Din just smiled at her. "They've already started growing. I decided to start with a smaller clutch, since I don't know how this will turn out. Three eggs."

"Already?" Cimmerian asked, looking slightly pale.

"So what would be your estimate, Pandinus?" Luna asked, giggling slightly.

The queen put a hoof to her chin. "I'm not certain. Fathered drones take much longer to develop, but I've never laid any before. Not only that, but no queen has ever mated with an alicorn."

"What's that about mating?" Celestia's voice called out to them as she and Cadance approached. The two were still pressed tightly against one another, but the tears and dried. Mostly, anyway; Cadance was still a bit damp around her eyes.

"Your nephew has chosen his mate, and now begins the wait for grandfoals." Luna answered, causing Celestia's eyes to widen.

"B-but alicorns can't, aren't we sterile?" The solar alicorn asked.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Just because there aren't any kirins about doesn't mean the ponies or dragons that tried were sterile, sister. I believe it would be more along the lines that we are just too different for such a coupling. Honestly Tia, you've had more time to look into such things than I, why am I the one bringing such an idea to light. Why, I'm certain that once she's recovered, fair Cadance would be capable of bearing a foal or two of her own should she join Cimmerian and Pandinus."

Immediately three alicorns sputtered, trying to raise objections. Unfortunately, Pandinus was the first to form a coherent sentence.
"I don't see the problem. Perhaps she would be able to make up for that love she's been pulling from the hive link lately."

Locking his fetlock over his muzzle, Cimmerian groaned in exasperation. "Luna, I'm just now accepting all of this, and now I'm going to have to deal with not just the citizens calling me father, but actual kids that are blood relations. Let me recover from my repeated system shock before you make a joke like that."

The blue alicorn eyes him curiously. "Twas' no joke, son of our magic. Before she was subjected to the Nightmare's hospitality, she was approximately your current size." She looked at Celestia. "Do you not think they would be cute together, sister? I know he will see to your adopted niece's every need."

"I think..." the white alicorn said, moving closer to her one time charge "I think Cadance needs time to rest and recover. Such talk is not needed right now." Celestia nuzzled Cadance lovingly, wrapping the pink mare in her wings. "Take care, niece. And please watch over her for me, Cimmerian. I cannot do so right now, and your kindness is all we have to rely on at the moment."

Ted smiled at Celestia, using his magic to pull Cadance over to him once the older mare had released her. He wrapped his hooves around her protectively and smiled.

"I'll guard her with my life, Aunt Celestia. Just like I do for everyone at the Temple."
> It's not Often We get Visitors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next few days saw the newest alicorn resident slowly recovering, or at least Ted hoped she was recovering. The mare slept like a rock, clung to Ted when she was awake, and generally stared at nothing in particular when she wasn't being spoken to. Pandinus still scared her slightly, being a queen and also someone who could easily get in her head if the queen wished, but otherwise the mare was emotionally deadened.

"Sounds like whiplash." Luna said one night after he'd mentioned it, the blue mare gently stroking Cadance's mane in the dream realm. Even here she was quiet, not talking to anyone. She just clung to her aunt for support and stared at the ground or into the distance. "She went from t- a bad experience to being freed but mentally bound to the changelings, to being offered a safe place and even reunited with my sister and I. She's been through much over the last few years. I think she's just letting it all slide by her for now, letting her mind recover from it all." Luna shook her head, looking at Cadance. "I know this is odd, but Tia had me talk to somepony who was, what did she call it? He was a doctor for one's mind. I thought it a silly thing, but it helped me deal with my situation immensely after my return. Perhaps, if you can..."

"I'll keep an eye out for psychologists, Luna." Ted said, shifting a wing to pull the two closer.

So they sat there, the three alicorns pressing against each other, keeping the pink mare between them and pressing into her reassuringly even as the darker alicorns continued their magic lessons. Ted had abandoned the idea of leaving Cadance to her own dreams after the first two nights. Despite his best efforts, her dreams quickly devolved into nightmares, even as he sat inside of them. It was easier that way. She didn't dream, she was just able to hold onto someone she knew, people she trusted.

Nearly a week after the pink alicorn began following him like a second shadow the Temple received its first important visitors. Certainly the dragon quartermaster from their northern neighbor was well and good, and the griffons and changelings that had found their way to the Temple over the course of the last week. But this was the start of something big.
Cimmerian was in his war room as usual that morning, going over the needed expansions to both the Temple grounds and the last few material runs required before they would be able to repair the dock and storage shed. He'd been worried that the damage from the blast and the number of bodies would be a problem for repurposing the old town, but the only problem seemed to be getting the materials to rebuild it. The dead changelings were all but gone when he'd next visited the town, and the pony soldiers were nothing more than gnawed bones. Even the glass from the blast wasn't easily visible, the shifting sand of the beach covering it as the glass settled lower. The only issue at that point was the stench of dead fish, but even that was fading, other sea life and scavengers moving in to the once-again safe shores to feast on the bounty. 

A griffon runner, standing at the doorway ruffling his feathers nervously, drew the alicorn from his plans. Looking up, he chuckled at the tom's anxiety. Some of the griffons were still getting used to the idea of living under his rule.

"Well? I know you're not here because you think I'm cute. What's going on?" He asked the griffon, drawing a nervous smile from his guest.

"A group of armored griffons just arrived from Zarris, sir. Demanded to be granted an audience with the alicorn of the Temple of the Shadows." the griffon answered. His gaze wandered a moment, before returning to the dark-furred ruler. "I think it was Talon mercenaries, the armor had the slash marks on the front."

"Really?" Ted asked, adopting a thoughtful smile. "I wonder if Herrick's put that rune to use already. Oh, this I've got to hear." The alicorn rose from his work quickly, his aura shuffling his desk into a neater pile even as he walked to the doorway. "Don't just stand there, lets go!" He said to the messenger, brushing past the griffon in his haste.

The alicorn passed many in the crowded hallways of the first floor. The Temple was busy as ever, creatures running back and forth, the mess hall having shifted to an all-day buffet and Slop taking on several more assistants to keep up with the demand. Hunting teams were going out constantly, a mix of several griffons, a gnoll guide, and sometimes a changeling, the emotional radar adding a little more safety. Injuries were common, but only one hunting party had actually been lost; another gnoll den had ambushed them, taking the hunters prisoner. Pandinus had immediately alerted him to not only the event, but the location of the den. A single show of force later, the destruction wrought by both an angry alicorn and a protective queen leaving the outside of the den a smoldering wreckage and several of the den's guards dead, and they not only had another den offering them tribute, but Ted managed to get this one to agree to the rules he'd planned on enforcing with the den that had attacked the Temple. For all the speed at which they responded though, it was still the first losses they'd suffered, and the alicorn and changeling had both spent the evening comforting each other.

For Cimmerian, it was his first loss of those under his rule. It was a reminder that things weren't always going to go smoothly, and that even things that were routine could be lethal.

For Pandinus, it was the first loss of a drone in her hive. She was left stunned for a few moments, having still been connected to the drone when a gnoll had decided to kill it. She described to him in detail the sensations the drone felt as his life left him, said she could sense his fear even as he hoped his Mother would reach him in time. She didn't though, they weren't fast enough. By the time they'd reached the den, he was gone. Twenty seven dead gnolls later, and she was demanding the drones body, personally carrying the remains back to the temple. A service was held for those lost, and a half-day was declared the next day, the alicorn publicly offering his time to any who needed an ear.

It was  the first time he'd seen the queen so shaken. The first time she'd felt loss, felt just how fragile those under her rule were. She spoke to him, as they'd promised each other. She held onto him that night, and she asked him if she could feed on his sorrow, even if it was bitter. She wanted to use it, to feel the loss the way ponies did. The way everyone else did.

Shaking the memories from his mind and walking outside, he was soon joined by the queen, seemingly arriving out of nowhere as he made his way to the group of soldiers. She was connected to so many changelings by this point, she was able to keep tabs on almost any creature there. It was a bit creepy sometimes, but also useful. There were never any long searches for individuals he wanted to speak to. 

"Where's Cadance?" Cimmerian asked casually, not even bothering with surprise at her arrival anymore. She'd probably been getting ready to send a changeling with the same news when the griffon went to speak to him.

"Sleeping in again. Amare is with her, so you'll be seeing both when she wakes up." The queen said with a hint of irritation. "I still don't understand why she doesn't try asking me over the link. It would be so much easier than asking through the proto queen she's so attached to."

"We've been over this Din, the link's not natural to her. It scares her." He answered, a grin forming on his face at the familiar sight of the Talon leader.
"Good morning, Herrick, what brings your company out here on this fine fall day?"

The griffon gestured to his side with the sweep of his wing. "A few friends of mine wanted to send their regards to the one responsible for allowing the first successful tweaks of the pony queen's nose since she started using those changeling swarms. You were right about the swarms, too. Break the crystals, and the damn things fall on whatever's nearby, including each other. I've even received reports of changelings being discovered after the crystal's been destroyed, and my toms have said they're often willing to part with any and all information they may have. It's been amazing. As for those behind me? These are representatives sent by my brothers."

"Kass Talon sends his regards milord." the first griffon said. "Sergeant Adne at your service."

"Bemot Talon sends his thanks for the runes." the second said as she stepped forward. "Sergeant Lorah stands in his place."

Finally a cloaked pony stepped forward. "Jantis Talon sends his thanks for the aid." The mare then pulled out a small bag, an orange hoof putting it on the ground between them. "He also sends two hundred gold bits in reimbursement for the strategies and suggestions he's started using against the Mad Queen. They've been most helpful."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Cimmerian said with a bow. "Though I'm curious why a griffon would send a pony in his place."

"I have earned his respect, and-"

"And she's full of hatred for you." Pandinus cut her off, stepping between Cimmerian and the cloaked pony. "Why are you truly here. Do you intend to try to harm him? The one creature that has offered mercy to my race?" 

Before anyone could react, the griffons were all shoved out of the way, twenty changelings surrounding the mare with fangs bared. Four more jumped the mare, pinning her to the ground.

"What it the meaning of this?" Herrick yelled, shock and anger in his voice.

"She carries hate. So much hate she's likely willing to do something foolish." Pandinus snapped, pushing through the line of changelings. "I will not let you threaten him, little pony. He is my home, he is my food, he is my safety, and if you think you will harm one strand of his mane, I'll-"

"That's how they get you." The restrained mare shouted, tears visible under her hood. "They make you need them, make you think life doesn't run without them watching over you." She looked at Cimmerian. "It's always the Tartarus-damned alicorns! It's always your race, showing up to save the day! The princesses were wonderful, they watched over everypony and the second they were gone, nopony knew how to take care of themselves. It was disgusting! Then she came along, she brought Luna back, she made everything happy again, she grew up, even became strong enough, smart enough to turn into an alicorn. Lo and behold, Tirek attacks, leaving ponies picking up the pieces again as she's showered with praise. What about those who were hurt? Those who stood against him knowing they could do nothing to stop him? Nothing! Now she's gone nuts, she took our families, she took our hope! And then you have the gall, the ovaries to show up as an alicorn, leading a wonderful little paradise here. Why does your kind always show up when things are at their worse?! Why don't you buckin' alicorns go find your own planet to wreck?!? Why, why do we have to get stuck in the middle of your mess..."
The mare's tirade devolved into sobs, leaving the witnesses of the spectacle feeling a little unsure of the situation. Ted moved towards the line despite Din's warnings and leaned down to the mare's level.

"Who did she take from you?" He asked, pulling back her hood to reveal an orange haired and purple maned mare. She was battle-scarred, many small cuts running up and down her visible body.

She stared at him through wet eyes. "She stole my mentor, my hero, my everything...

"...That nag took Rainbow Dash from me."

"And who is Rainbow Dash." Cimmerian asked her, not flinching at the hatred she spat at him.

The orange mare snorted at him. "Figures you don't know, she's not impor-"

"I've only been active in this world for a few months, miss." He cut her off impatiently. "I've been doing everything I can to make a safe place for anyone and everyone who comes to me. I've also had to be weary of overextending. I've nearly made several mistakes, but thankfully most of the locals aren't fans of the Mad Queen. Meanwhile the griffons are being over-run by changeling hordes under the control of the Mad Queen, what resistance do you think I'll be able to mount here with less than five hundred creatures of various races, mostly changelings and griffon refugees? The only thing many of those here started with was working limbs to help us build, some didn't even have that and ended up spending time in the infirmary."
"Help me, miss. Tell me how to keep those around me right now safe while bringing more under my wings. I'd see this entire world sleeping in peace if it was in my power, and maybe someday it will be. You see alicorns as storm-crows, signaling the worst of times. I am doing my damnedest to be a light-bearer, bringing hope to those who have none. I've bled for this city, I've personally fought for many of those here. Ask around; they'll all confirm it. I'm not some deity sitting in a tower and throwing around orders. I even have a good portion of the residents here calling me Father, because they need family. They need the stability after what they've suffered. That is my job right now, that is my sole mission, my goal. Tell me how I can help you, how I can help this Rainbow Dash, and I will do everything I can to do so."

The mare stared at him, anger warring with the newly delivered information. She didn't believe it, there was no way he was that good. Calling an alicorn Father? What madpony would do such a thing?

"Cimmerian, we have a problem." Pandinus whispered into his ear. "She woke up, and she's having a panic attack again. She's still clinging to Amare, but she's screaming at anyone else who gets near her."

The orange mare's ears perked up at the information. "Who? Who's screaming? Who did you hurt?!?"

Ted sighed. "I didn't hurt anyone. A mare came into my care recently, she was tortured by the Mad Queen for a long time. She was quiet at first, and I thought she'd be ok, that she'd recover. But as soon as she started sleeping again, she, she kinda fell apart." Turning to the gathered griffons, he smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen. I'll return as soon as I can. For now, I gave my word to two very important people that I'd watch over this one. Pandinus, do you think you can take over as host for me? If not, I'm sure we can-"

Queen Pandinus put a hoof to his lips, chuckling. "I understand. She needs her comfort, and you made a promise. I'll take care of things here. If it gets out of hoof, I'll call Amald or Shadow Weaver." As she finished speaking, she lowered her hoof and pecked him on the lips.





As the alicorn trotted hastily to the Temple, the Queen of the Temple's Hive returned her attention to the griffons. A grin played across her face as she tasted each one's reaction.
"Yes, he did just leave a changeling queen to see to your wellbeing. Yes, I will do just as he would have; Lady Thrisha's lessons were quite thorough on hospitality and she'd have my shell if I ruined my first actual chance to put those lessons into practice." The queen chuckled darkly her grin widening into a toothy smile.
"And yes, I was being serious when I said he was very important to me." She said, turning her smile upon the still restrained mare. Instantly all mirth was gone, her smile becoming cold and foreboding. "And his kindness to all his guests is the only reason I haven't rendered you incapable of harming him. I could easily enchant a tired, angry mare like yourself with the plentiful energy I have access to, but he finds mental manipulations of any sort to be the most heinous of crimes. So thank him next time you see him; he's the only reason I've not ripped apart your mind to be certain you're no threat to him."

The queen's ear flicked, and she turned back to the griffons. "I've asked Gleam, and she said we currently have some unused land that's been cleared on the northern side of the yard. Your soldiers are welcome to set up camp there for your stay. We'd offer you actual rooms, but all of ours are currently occupied, even with most of my hive keeping to the tunnels at night."	

Herrick was the first to find his voice, seeming to come to a realization. "The alicorn that was reported to be wandering around with the other residents of the Temple. I'd wondered if they were just getting his color wrong, but the descriptions match you too perfectly. That was you, wasn't it?"

"Guilty as charged." She said with a much more pleasant smile. "This way please, and keep an eye on your pony. Cimmerian may be a bleeding heart for such cases as hers, but I will put her down if she threatens my hive."

The griffons nervously began to follow the queen to a nearby clearing, this one not yet being used for anything, but the wood still having been cleared for use in other locations. The commanders set about making camp, the orange mare keeping well away from the changelings most of the time. As they were finishing up, Herrick approached the changeling queen once more.

"I have to ask, how does a changeling become so attached to a pony?" The warrior asked. "I don't think I've ever heard of such a relationship before. Doesn't your feeding hurt him?"

Din smiled as she watched the griffons go about their work, before waving a hoof back to the Temple. "You saw the changelings wandering the Temple, didn't you? Most of them have joined my hive, their own hives being subjugated by the Pony Queen. I have a hive because he gave me a chance. I have food because he offers his own emotions to me. Because they're freely given, their potency increases tenfold. He's never complained to me about fatigue after I've fed, my first feeding excluded.
"I have safety because our hives work together, bound together as a single hive despite the differences. Both work for the betterment of the whole." The queen raised a hoof, absentmindedly rubbing a small section of her barrel, just below her ribs. "I have everything I want here, and it's because he offered it to me. Why would I not be protective of my mate? Thrisha has told me many times that griffons can be, how did she say it?" The queen's voice shifted, gaining years of experience to it. "'Downright stupid when it comes to defending the life or honor of a mate when they believe it is in danger.'" Pandinus said in a perfect imitation of the hen's voice.

The griffon chuckled "I'll have to speak with her again sometime. I spent some time over in Frostborne a long while ago, and I think I remember her. Stubborn old hen, not surprising she'd still be causing problems." Something the changeling said connected just then. "Wait, did you say mate?"
> She Cares for Her Own
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was scary.

There was so much that happened, so much bad, it hurt her. She remembered being happy once, being loved. She saw some of them recently, but everything was so foggy. The fog was better, though; the fog didn't hurt as much. He made her dream, which was bad, but he also stopped the dreams, which was good. He didn't hurt her; she could see the love he had for the others, even the monsters. He loved everypony. Even the big one. Even the one that was inside her head.
The monster inside her head was strange. It didn't writhe in hunger and pain like the others did. Cadance didn't like thinking about those poor ponies She hurt, those poor ponies who screamed about hungry monsters trying to make them come closer. None of the monsters here did that. They smiled and talked and ate and laughed with the other creatures, with ponies. Some part of her thought it was wrong. Then she remembered she was holding a monster, hugging one. This monster was important though. It reminded her of good things. She just couldn't remember what the good thing was right now. It was good long ago, but it hurt now.

She woke up, and he wasn't there. The good monster was though, she was always there, just like...who was always there for her before? Blue and white, smiles, love, warm...hurt. She stopped trying to remember who the monster reminded her of. She didn't want to hurt.

She hugged the monster, which hugged her back and smiled. Part of her wanted to be scared when she saw the fangs, they reminded her of bad things, but she knew this monster wouldn't hurt her. It had been in her head before. She knew everything about this monster. It wanted her to be happy, it always tried to make the hurt go away. Even if it made the hurt worse when it tried to make it better. It was her Love. So that's what she called it.

A creature came in, one she didn't recognize. It said something to her, but she didn't care. She told it to go away, and Love agreed. Her monster hissed at the stranger, and she hissed too,  and they made it go away. They did that often, chasing away the scary things. Love wouldn't chase away the big monster though. Love was nice to it, which was strange.
Actually, everything was strange here. The ponies smiled at monsters. The big pony was nice everyone, even to the big monster. The big monster was nice to everyone unless they did something stupid. Then she got angry. Sometimes Not Luna had to stop by and make the big monster stop being angry. He seemed good at that. Either that or big monster just didn't want him mad. The big monster was happier when Not Luna was happy. In fact, everypony seemed happier when Not Luna was happy. It was probably because they knew he'd make the bad things go away. He was good at that. She could trust him. Aunt Luna and Aunt Tia said so.

Cadance smiled at Love. Love told her Not Luna was coming. She didn't say he was coming, but she understood Love. Love spoke to her without words, like she knew big monster could. Not Luna would come, and she'd feel safe.



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Cadance remembered Aunt Tia doing this. She sat by him as he talked to important ponies, to important creatures. Right now he was talking to griffons, talking about 'precision strikes' and 'guerilla warfare' and how to make Her hurt. The griffons didn't really like it, but they agreed, said there were too many bad monsters to kill them all, that the bad army grew too fast. She wanted to ask Not Luna to let her move closer, but she knew Aunt Tia got upset when she did that long ago. She also wanted to know if Not Luna would let her see Aunt Tia again. She wanted to feel safer, but she didn't want Not Luna to be upset. That was scarier than the griffons looking at her. Aunt Tia was upset with her once, and that made her feel bad. She didn't want to feel bad, even if it wasn't Aunt Tia.

Most of the griffons looked confused when they saw her, some even looked surprised. One looked very sad. He looked familiar, but she couldn't remember him. Couldn't find his name. He'd introduced himself; Herrick. It made her think of snow, of mountains, of blue and whi-
She stopped thinking about it. It was the bad kind of familiar, the kind that hurt. Made her remember things she didn't want to. She just watched, not really paying attention. She held Love close to her, and watched them. It wasn't interesting, but it distracted her. Distractions were good. 

There was also a weird pony with the griffons. The weird pony looked at her when Cadance first walked in following Not Luna, and her eyes got big. The weird pony's mouth kept opening, like it wanted to say something, but it didn't. The weird pony was like the other griffon though. The bad familiar, the kind that hurt. The kind that was connected to something she didn't want to think about. It may have been happy once, in fact she was sure it was supposed to be, but she didn't like being around this pony.

It took a lot of time and a lot of words, but eventually everypony seemed satisfied. The griffons were smiling, Not Luna was smiling, the big monster was smiling, even the nice unicorns were smiling. She was sure the funny pegasus was smiling too, she smiled a lot. The funny pegasus was strange like that, she wanted everyone to smile. Cadance wondered if it was because the pegasus didn't want to be sad. It made the pink mare wish she could choose to not be sad. That would be nice.



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Big monster took Not Luna aside after the meeting, said she needed to talk to him. Cadance didn't like it because it meant that she couldn't be close to him for a bit, but she still had Love, and he'd asked her to wait. He promised he'd be right back. So she waited, waited by the door to his room while they talked. She heard a lot of words, and she got curious. She pressed against the door, one ear perked.
"...like throwing it into a hole in the ground, Cimmer. She's eating it, but she's not processing it, not allowing herself to feel it. She's letting everything slide by, including the love she pulls from the link." big monster said, sounding kind of angry.

"What do you want me to do, Din? We don't have the knowledge of how to deal with this. Hell, I don't even know if this is something that happens enough to be a normal issue." Not Luna explained. "We call it PTSD back home; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Everyone experiences it differently, and honestly I'm just grateful she's not suicidal. But I understand. If you have any ideas that won't hurt her, let me know." 

"I have one. She needs constant reassurance, but I need you to leave it to me. Don't help her tonight, alright? Let me try. If it doesn't work I'll let you know and you can go back to helping her your way." she said. Big monster sounded almost sad. It left Cadance feeling strange hearing that kind of tone from her.

Cadance looked down at Love, the little monster hugging her foreleg reassuringly. Who were they talking about? It didn't really matter, she supposed. She needed to go back to the room before Not Luna and the big monster found out she was at the door.



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Cadance woke up in a sweat. The dreams were back, and they were always bad when Not Luna wasn't there. She looked to her left, seeing the alicorn sleeping in his bed, a wing over her. She wanted to curl up under it, but the dreams would just come back. Why didn't he stop the dreams? Why wasn't he helping her?
A soft chirrup from the door caused her ears to perk, and she looked over to see Love in the doorway, waving her over with a hoof. Cadance was confused, but knew Love wouldn't hurt her. She followed the changeling, walking through the dark hallways easily despite the low light. Not many ponies stayed up late, as their night vision was terrible compared to the other species. Even Cadance wasn't that good at seeing in the dark, though her pegasus magic improved her sight considerably. Still, there was no tripping, no bumping into walls. It was like she'd walked this path a thousand times before. She stepped to the side, letting a shiny black shadow pass by, only realizing afterwards she hadn't even seen it in the dark.
Cadance followed, and Love led the way. The little monster kept prancing ahead happily, and then turned into the room that led down into the tunnels. The alicorn stopped at the door, unsure of how to proceed. It only got darker from there, wouldn't she need a light? Love came back and ran behind her, playfully pushing the pink mare before darting forward again, the changeling's eyes visible as slits in the darkness ahead.
Despite her fears she followed. Something felt right about this, something about following Love made her happy. She descended into the tunnels, the occasional buzzing of wings alerting her to sleeping monsters napping in whatever free space they could find. She heard a few fly by, but they ignored her, they were busy. She followed Love to a door, then another. It was warmer here, it made some part of her feel safe. Some part of her mind was calling this home.

Flinging the last door open, Love galloped into the room, jumping up on the bed to the back of the room. Cadance blinked. It was a bed of sorts, just not one she'd think of sleeping on. She could see a slight glow from the strange sac, the nymph bouncing along its surface like she had when Aunt Tia had introduced the smaller alicorn to water beds. The little monster hopped around happily, then nuzzled something, chirping happily, before saying "Here!" softly in Equestrian.

Cadance's blood froze in her veins as the big monster opened its eyes, looking first at Love then at her. It stared at her for a long while, before shifting to her side. That's when the monster started talking. It didn't talk with words though. She started feeling things, started hearing ideas inside her head. The monster was calling her closer. She remembered the ponies that were pulled to the monsters, and she started backing up. She remembered the monsters hurting them, making them stop moving.

The big monster flinched, as did most of the little ones. The big one's smile stopped, and she looked sad. She pulled at one of the images. Cadance couldn't stop thinking of this one monster she watched, the empty eyes, the bloated body, but something else was hitting her from the monster besides comfort. The monster was sad about this picture.
Finally other pictures started flowing in. Cadance flinched at first, but they weren't forced like the others were. These flowed in, they almost felt like her own memories. The same monster from the last picture, looking down on her with a smile. The same monster from before, teaching her how to hunt. The same monster from before, telling her to leave; leave before the bad pony showed up.

Cadance blinked, not certain what was going on. What was it trying to say? Then she felt something, a pulling in her head. She saw them, her parents; a picture of her and her parents that she kept on her nightstand. Then another picture showed up. It was obviously just made, as it didn't look right, but it was the bloated monster and the big monster, both looking younger, both looking smaller. Then she understood.
The bloated monster was big monster's mom. It made sense to Cadance, she'd be sad if her mom ended up like that too. Where was her mom, anyway? She couldn't remember the town but maybe she could get Not Luna to take her there.

'1425 New Line Way, Outskirts of Mareland.'

Cadance blinked. Yes, that was the place. She could see it now, the small farm she grew up on, the town that blossomed into a city fairly quickly, the stall her parents used to sell their... what did her family sell again? 

'Peaches'

Yea, peaches. The monster was smiling now, it wasn't as sad. Cadance understood a little more now. They both missed their moms, they both wanted to see them. The big monster helped her remember where her parents were, maybe they could go see them sometime in the future?

'Yes'

Cadance smiled a little too. The big monster wasn't so scary now, strangely enough. Love thought she was nice, Not Luna thought she was nice, even Aunts Luna and Tia told her she was nice. Maybe they were right. 

'Here'

Cadance's smile fell a little. The big mons- the big changeling wanted her to move onto the bed. She didn't really want to. The memories said...she tried to use them, but the monster kept telling her they were wrong. That the ponies were hurt because the monsters were hurt. The big monster wasn't hurt, though. The big changeling was happy, and she wanted her friend, her sister to be happy. The queen wanted all of those in the link to be happy. Even her.

'Please?'

The alicorn took an uneasy step forward, then another. Despite her fear, she was soon at the bed. Love was beaming at her, as were a few other foals she saw before. Before she could try to pull herself up, the queen's horn lit up, and the alicorn was picked up in a warm glow. Her recovering wings beat in sudden panic from being lifted, the small feathers not strong enough to generate anything more than a slight breeze. The queen set her down in the cleared spot, right beside the queen's strangely soft shell, and Love and the foals quickly moved in. They cuddled up to her, purred their happiness, spoke to her mind about safety and warmth.

Cadance couldn't feel her fear anymore. She heard nothing but echoes of safety and warmth in her head. Echoes of happy monsters that looked forward to watching the sun rise the next morning. Monsters that couldn't wait to help their Mother and Father, who longed to bask in the warmth given off by the other creatures of the Temple. It was like no matter where she looked, she only found another hug, another reassurance. The voices were still there, but they didn't hurt. They never wanted to hurt her, she knew that, but now they didn't. They only offered reassurance.
Slowly, she found herself being lulled to sleep, the purring of the foals and the big changeling pulsing through her body. It was nice, like a massage. She felt her eyes getting heavy.

'Sleep'

The voice was soft, echoing through the link. The foals yawned and listened to the voice, quickly falling into the world of dreams. Cadance started to, but remembered the bad dreams. She started to get up when something caught her. She looked up and saw a diaphanous wing over her back, gently pushing her down like her mother had so long ago. She also noticed the mental pressure. It wasn't painful, not anymore. It was like someone was trying to hold her mind, her soul. It never went away, even in her sleep. It would watch her no matter where she was.

The pink mare allowed the wing to guide her back to the bed, a yawn escaping her muzzle. She was tired, and she was safe here. The monsters were her monsters, the monsters wouldn't hurt her, they wouldn't hurt one of their own. They would keep her safe, even in her dreams.



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Cimmerian wandered into the changeling queen's dream once more. It was a strange place, now that she had her own hive. The dreams of other changelings were connected to it, they came and went as they pleased. Some were fully developed creatures, others came and went so fast they barely had time to take the form of a wisp before they'd left.
The queen was resting on her throne once more, a smile on her face. On a small cushion by the throne laid a pink alicorn mare, shifting in her sleep now and again. It brought a smile to his face. Maybe she could be helped after all?

"I'm happy to see your plan worked." He said softly, drawing the large changelings attention from the sleeping mare.

She looked up and smiled. "It took some effort, and a bit more patience then I'm used to, but I think I got something out of it as well." Without another word, an image appeared, this one of a bloated queen in a dungeon cell, eyes unseeing and with chains binding it to the floor.
"My mother is still alive, or was by the pink one's last memories of the place." the queen said, her voice cracking a bit. "I'm not sure how I feel about it though. On the one hoof, she's still alive, and that means that after the Mad Queen's fall, I can see her. On the other hoof, this isn't the mare I grew up knowing. I can only hope she's still in there somewhere. I hope she's suppressed, because if she's broken, I don't know what I'll do. Mother always said such weakness is to be wiped out, but then there's what I've learned here. Such connections give us strength, are to be nurtured and cared for.
"Cimmerian, if my mother is gone, what should I do? Should I fulfill her laws, or follow my own?"

The alicorn stepped closer, pulling the queen off her thrown with his aura and wrapping her in a hug.

"Din you're getting ahead of yourself. You're panicking over things that you don't have any control over, things that you may never see come to pass. There are hundreds of situations that could und up with the queens either freed before we get there, or destroyed. This doesn't help you. It doesn't help us.
"I'm glad to see you helping her though. It will be nice to know I don't have to watch over her constantly."

The queen gave him a sheepish smile. "It may have been fueled by my own selfishness as well." She said, breaking contact. She turned her back to him, and pulled him closer, wrapping his forelegs around her and rubbing her head against his neck and chin.
"It's hard to get personal time with you when she's clinging to you. Maybe this way, she can sleep with the hatchlings, and I can see if I can make it through a night without drinking in too much love."

The alicorn chuckled, reaching down to nip at her neck. "We'll just have to see, won't we? And as promised, if you can make it through one night, I'll let you see how much you can hold next time. With so many drones now linked though, I'm certain you could fill a large pool with the love you gather."

"That's already been dug" She said, smiling mischievously. "I plan on using it as a personal bathing area. Perhaps you can join me sometime?"
> Don't Underestimate the Power of a Bored Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It started out innocent enough. A kiss here, a nip there, a nuzzle in exchange for a hug. Then it got mean. The alicorn and changeling queen started teasing each other in the worst ways; nips, kisses, growls, hisses, shoves, a few brushes against wings. It was honestly the most fun he'd had with her recently. Eventually he did have to leave the queen, but not before promising that if Cadance could be left alone tonight, they'd use his room this time. That had earned him the most wicked grin he'd ever seen the queen display. For most ponies and alicorns, it would have been a terrifying sight. For him? It only made him even more excited.

He ended up retreating to his own room for a while, letting himself recover from the, er, contact. The alicorn was fairly certain the queen was giggling to herself just as much as he was, but he needed to focus, he had other things to do right now. Concentrating, he managed to pull his wings in, a stupid grin still on his face.
'I think she had fun. Maybe as much as I did' he chuckled, floating back into the realm of dreams. He watched them for a moment, before noting an odd dream off by the griffon camp. It wasn't a nightmare, but it certainly wasn't a nice dream. He floated in, watching a young pegasus beating the ever-loving shit out of a large group of changelings, her wings having taken a few hits. Behind her were two more mares, a pale yellow earth pony mare guarding a unicorn, both looking equally terrified, though the earth pony at least struck out at the changelings that came to close. They were too young, though. The pegasus, the one Pandinus called out earlier, was a mere filly.

That's when Ted noticed the location. It was in a lavish room, the girls trying to hold a small supply room against a large number of the bugs. It bothered Ted though, how small the changelings looked, how weak and withered they all seemed. He watched the filly fight them for a long time. She never waivered, never lost hope. Eventually a wave of pink washed over the room, crushing all the drones against the far wall. Consisting of so little actual emotion, the corpses almost immediately dispersed, leaving nothing more than a few stray smears of green.

'The wedding invasion.' Ted realized, watching as what little remained of the changelings dispersed in the breeze generated by the fillies passing. 'Thus, the ponies first real contact with changelings was in a way that left them looking like mindless monsters that weren't actually people.
'And to think she'd already started fighting at such a young age.'

He watched them for a while, always sitting outside the mare's peripheral vision, listening to her chatter with her friends, watching her bounce around a blue haired and rainbow maned pegasus. She kept going on about how awesome the mare was, how fast she was, how strong she was. It was obvious she held the blue mare in high regard.
'Seems we've found Miss Dash.'

Eventually the dream started to fade out, but he reinforced it with his own magic. Immediately, the orange pegasus jumped, alerted to another presence. She looked around, hoping to find out what it was, noting how none of the others in her dream were moving. Donning a smile, Ted walked out into her line of sight.

"So that's Rainbow dash? Quite the colorful mane coloration. I'm going to hazard a guess and say it's her natural color." Cimmerian said with a smile.

"Yea, that's Dash. My hero, my role model... she was almost like an older sister to me." The pegasus said. She then looked at him suspiciously. "I thought Luna was in charge of dreams."

"Luna and I are a bit closer than we'd both prefer, though through no fault of our own." Ted answered. "Your friends called you Scootaloo, do you still use that name?"

"Yea, you never lose your name, but I do use the griffon one I have now as well. Especially when I'm working with them; Eloise is my name to the Talon's."
The mare kicked at the ground awkwardly for a few moments, looking for the proper words. "The, the pink alicorn. That was Princess Cadance, wasn't it?"

"You know her?" he asked with curiosity.

"I, yea. I was a flower filly at her wedding. My friends and I all were. I haven't seen her in years, but to see a pony that was always so happy just..."

"Pandinus is taking care of her right now." Cimmerian said with a smile. "She's needed constant contact and reassurance since we've found her, and I can't really think of a better source than Din. We'll do our best to help her."

"You really trust them, don't you? The bugs I mean." Before he could respond  she waved him off. "They're different, I get it. I've never seen a drone that didn't have holes, much less an entire hive that was like that. Looking back, it makes all the other changelings I've seen over the years look downright sickly."

"The queen from the wedding, Din told me about her. She went mad from hunger, built that army of drones from what she could pull from animals. She was directing each one personally, which is extremely dangerous because if a drone dies while being controlled, the queen feels the death. Your capital was invaded by an army of empty shells." He looked around at the ponies still standing about in the dream. "She broke after the shield wiped her army out."
"Enough of this, though. Let's see about finding this Rainbow Dash, shall we?" He said with a grin, holding out a hoof.

"You can do that?" Scootaloo asked him, her eyes lighting up.

"If they're asleep, I can find them. Cross my heart, hope to die. If I lie, stick a needle in my eye."

The mare shuddered at the twisted version of the promise she knew so well. "I want you to show me a friend of mine first. Applebloom goes to bed early, so she should be in bed by now. Can you do her first?"

"Applebloom, huh? The light yellow earth pony from earlier?" At the orange pegasus' affirmative nod, he closed his eyes in concentration, pinging through the dream realm. He waited a few moments, pouring his power into the mare he was targeting, allowing her to construct her own dream even under the Mad Queen's anti-dream array. Far away, a return ping was finally given. He smiled, took the mares hoof, and the world shifted.



<-(0)-> 



The next thing they saw was an apple farm. Ted marveled at the near-perfect fruit on every tree. Each apple became perfectly ripe at the same time on each tree. A sharp report from nearby drew their attention, and the alicorn and the pegasus both wandered the orchard, following the shouts of effort and the cracks of hooves against bark.

"Applebloom! Over here!" Scootaloo shouted, rushing over to her friend. The pegasus tackled the other mare, both rolling around giggling for a bit. Eventually they parted, the earth pony smiling brightly.

"Shoot, Scoots. If'n ya'd of told me ya was comin' I'da made ya some cider!" Applebloom gave one last kick against the tree even as Cimmerian entered the clearing, knocking the apples loose from their branches. "As it is, Ah still got a tonna apple buckin' to get done today."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "The day hasn't started yet, AB. This is a dream."

"A dream?" The pale yellow pony asked with a giggle "Silly Scoots, we don't have dreams anymore, remember? Not since, well, She took 'em."

"I respectfully wish to argue your point, Miss Bloom." The dark alicorn said, making himself known.

The earth pony looked at him, then scrunched her face up in confusion. "That ain't Luna. An since when was thar a alicorn tha' was  also a stallion?"

"This is Cimmerian, AB. I met him while working with the Talons. He said he can help me find Rainbow Dash!" The pegasus said, hopping in place giddily.

Applebloom's eyes widened. "Can ya really do that Mr Cimmerian, sir? If ya can, I'd be mighty grateful if'n ya could find mah sister, Applejack. We ain't seen hide nor hair of her since Twalight went loco. Rarity too. She's the older sister of our other friend, Sweetie Belle. Same with two other mares. Ain't nopony heard from Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy for years."

"I'll do my best, Miss Bloom. In return, I'll ask that you let me know about any thing that happens on that side of the world, okay? I may stop by in a few days to ask you for the information. Anything you can supply us with would be helpful." Cimmerian said. If he was going to be helping them, he might as well find some way to help the Temple. 

"Ah can do that. Ponyville's pretty quiet since Twalight took Canterlot. Always thought it was kinda odd she left her shiny new castle to use the princesses castle, but not much o' what she does makes sense anymore. Why, just the other day I heard tale of her attackin' other countries!"

"That one's true, AB" Scootaloo said quietly. 

"Come on, Scootaloo. We need to get going." he said, drawing the mare from darker thoughts. " Say your goodbye's while I try to find Miss Dash."

Cimmerian tuned out the goodbye's, the threats, and the offers traded between friends. He sent the ping, and soon got a response from nearby. It was strange though. The ping was faint, nearly nonexistent. He pulled Scootaloo with him into the dream realm, and soon found the source. He made a dream himself, since the mare seemed incapable of it, before entering it. 



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The world was a black void, a formless emptiness that was much colder than it should have been. The pegasus unconsciously ruffled her feathers in discomfort, backing against him as they watched the area. He continued pinging, trying to find the dreamer. What caused her to be so distant? Why was she so deeply sleeping?

"This is odd." He said aloud, his voice echoing in the emptiness.

"Why is it so empty?" Scootaloo asked, looking around for any sign of activity.

Ted shook his head. "If I knew that I'd tell you." Again he pinged, finally feeling like he had a direction. He stood up, starting to walk in the direction of the echo. "I think we need to go this way."

The pegasus took off trotting after him, calling her hero every now and again. For what felt like an hour they wandered the void, nothing changing. After a while, the mare was nearly in tears.
"We'll never find her. This is supposed to be in her head right? Does this mean she's gone?"

"No, this is her mind. If she was gone, I don't think we'd even have gotten this far." Cimmerian told her, looking around. "It doesn't feel like we're getting closer, but I think it's because we can't from here."

"What do yo-" Her question was cut off when she suddenly shuddered, her form fading slightly. "What was that?"

The alicorn frowned. "That's someone waking you up. Talk to someone about getting a tranquilizer or a sleeping brew and joining me in the dream realm again later. Call Luna if you need to, she's wandering the area. If you sleep too late you'll catch her attention just by the fact of there not being more dreams about.

"Luna's out here too?" She asked, surprised.

"Not so much out here in the Temple grounds as she was always able to wander the dream realm." He told her as they walked. "Doesn't matter when there are no dreams though, does it? Take your time, Scootaloo, this may be a several-night endeavor."

Even as the orange pegasus faded from the dream, the alicorn frowned. What put the mare in such a deep state of mental hibernation?



<-(0)->



It had taken so long to get any reaction out of the first mare that he'd decided to try the others, only to get the same results. All of the mares the that the farmer had mentioned seemed to be in some sort of deep hibernation, at least the ones he'd checked so far.

"What in the world is up with these mares?" he wondered aloud as he was finally giving up on the fourth one, Fluttershy. There was almost no activity, almost like they were in some sort of coma. No, that wasn't right, even people in comas dreamed, didn't they? Wait, what happened when people in comas couldn't dream? Did their minds shut down?

Sighing in exasperation at his current situation, he left the empty shell of a dream and pinged the last one. These mares were all relatively close to each other, likely prisoners somewhere. In fact he'd say it was the same room. Were they in changeling pods? How long would a pony last without a changeling watching over them?
'Din or Mirage would know the answer to that.' He thought, touching down in the final empty dream. 

He looked around once more, and again was only greeted by a black void.	'Another empty mind.' He realized.
"Come on, just let one of these girls be reachable." He shouted, stomping a hoof.

A hoof nudged him from behind, drawing his attention to a pink pony behind him.

"If you're here for poker night, you're late. You'll have to ask everyone really, really nicely if you want to join in."




<-(0)-> 



"So you brought them over for poker?" the alicorn asked, following the pink pronking pony.

"Well yea, what else are we gonna do sitting here for days on end?" She said with an eye roll. "It's not like we can just ask Meanie-Light for a vacation or something."

The pink pony led him to what appeared to be a small house, complete with a picket fence that reminded him of sugar. Actually the entire house looked like it was made of some sort of candies or baked goods. She walked up to the door, knocked a few times, then opened the door anyway. "Watch your head." She called back as she disappeared into the building.

It was odd, like something out of a science fiction cartoon or something. "It's bigger on the inside." He muttered, looking around at he mansion-styled receiving room. In fact, the building seemed to be divided into sections, each following a different style. One stairway led to an elegant room, where he could see portraits and fine china even from the door. Another led to what looked like a room made of clouds. The ground floor split into four rooms, oddly enough, two seemed like homely cottages, while the third was in the same style of the outside. The fourth however was his destination.
As he got closer to this door, some sort of living room, a raucous laughter could be heard within.

"I swear, there's no way she knew I was bluffing! She had to be cheating!" A scratchy voice was saying.
Walking into the room, he got a good view of each of the mare's he'd been trying to find for the last, well who knows how long it was in reality? Each of the mares was exactly as they'd been at the wedding, if a year or two older by his estimate. It seemed he was right on that part at least; the girls here were being held in some sort of suspended animation or something like that. That still left the question of why. What good would preserving these girls do whoever was keeping them imprisoned?

"Oh, she's...here..." A white unicorn said as she noticed him. "Uh, Pinky dear? That's not Luna."

"I never said it was Luna, I said it looked like Luna." The bubbly mare next to her said as she reshuffled the cards. "It's not my fault you jump to conclusions."

All eyes were soon on him, the looks he received ranging from fear to shock. The only exception was the pink mare, her focus more on the cards than anything else. The yellow pegasus fainted, drawing the attention of the white unicorn who immediately started fanning her with a paper fan.

"No way." Rainbow Dash said in a whisper, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull. "No bucking way, we got rid of it. The Nightmare was destroyed!"

"Uh, technically it abandoned ship." Ted said with a sheepish smile. "You look familiar. I think I saw you just after I got pulled here. Everything was a bit fuzzy, though. I was suffering from a pretty bad spell recoil at the time, too."

"Course you've seen us before, Nightmare Moon!" Rainbow Dash shouted, jumping in front of her friends and flaring her wings. "We kicked your flank once, and we'll do it again!"

"Uh, Dash? Don't mean ta burst yer bubble, but we kinda don't have the Elements this time around." An orange mare stage whispered to her friend, taking a supporting position behind her.

The alicorn blinked. "The Elements of Harmony. That's you girls?" At their confused nods, he laughed. "Oh my god, this is perfect! Do you know where you are?"

The mares looked around at each other, thrown off by the sudden mood shift from the monster. The white unicorn managed a response first.
"And why, pray tell, would we give you such information?"

"So I can figure out how to break the array of course." He answered with a grin. "Luna told me the elements are being used to power the spells that keep Celestia and herself trapped, while the element bearers were petrified. If I can get you girls clear, the Mad Queen's power base will collapse on itself. You're literally the base element of her entire campaign."

"Campaign?" The blue pegasus asked. "You make it sound like Twi's nutty idea of using the Elements of Harmony to capture the princesses actually worked. We've just gotta wait until Princess Celestia knocks some sense into that egghead, and makes her let us go."

Ted stared at the pegasus before shifting his gaze to each of the mares, unsure how to proceed. "How long have you girls been here?" He finally managed to ask.

"About two weeks?" The orange mare guessed, raising a hoof to her chin. "Don't rightly know. Nothin' really breaks up the days, an til' Pinks over there figured out how to get us all over here, Ah was mighty bored."

At his conflicted look, the unicorn shifted uncomfortably. "Um, excuse me, Mr Nightmare. Was our estimate incorrect?"

"I, It's Cimmerian, Miss. And I'm not the Nightmare, it swapped places with me when you launched the Rainbow Death-ray at it. I took the hit instead. I was just recently released from the armor after spending a long time trapped in it." He braced himself, trying to figure out how to say this nicely. "I was released about forty years after my imprisonment."

The blue pegasus mare giggled uncomfortably at the information. "F-forty years? Yea right! There's no way the princesses would let Twilight lock us up for that long, right girls? ...Girls?"

The others were all staring at the doorway the larger alicorn had just walked in through. In the doorway was a much smaller Luna, nearly the size they'd first seen her all those years ago. Next to her was an orange pegasus, staring at Rainbow Dash with tears in her eyes.

"Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo whispered in disbelief.

The rainbow maned pegasus just stared at the newcomers, shaking her head while taking a step back. "No, there's no way. There's no buckin' way." She whipped around to face the larger alicorn with angry tears beginning to pour down her face.
"You think this is funny? You think I find it funny, being told I've been away from her for that long? Just you wait, you jerk! I'm gonna get loose, and I'm gonna kick your flank so hard you won't be able to sit on it for the rest of your life!"

"Oh stars and sun, it is you!" Scootaloo said, taking the younger mare in a crushing hug. "It's been so long, I thought you were gone, I though you were dead, I just, I, I don't care. Nothing matters now.
"I found you, and you're alive!" The mare said, her words degrading into sobbing into the blue pegasus' barrel.

Even as Dash floundered in the embrace of the orange pegasus, the others were looking at Luna with desperate eyes.

"Tell us he's wrong, Luna. Please tell us he's lyin'." the orange mare asked her. The others were staring at the spectacle, whimpering and muttering their own fears.
"Tell me Lil' Bloom ain't on her own. Tell me mah little sister ain't been left to take care o' the farm on her own."

"She wasn't, Applejack." Scootaloo answered quietly. "Me and Sweetie helped her. Big Mac did too, until he was drafted. He spent about ten years in the Royal Guard, then came back. Was even quieter then before, but he worked just as hard."

"An, an Granny?" Applejack asked, scared of the answer.

"She...I'm sorry AJ. Granny Smith passed about ten years ago."

The pink mare was at her side in a flash, in fact Ted was certain the pink pony left an after-image at her seat.

"It's wrong." Dash said, pushing away from Scootaloo. "There's now way this happened. This is you isn't it? You made it a nightmare. That's what you do isn't it?"

"Dashie, he can't." Pinkie said, stroking the grieving farmer's mane gently, even as her own mane lost some of its volume.

"Indeed." Luna said, speaking for the first time. "After all, this is no dream, is it miss Pie? I would place it more along the lines of an extremely vivid hallucination."

The pink pony nodded. "It is. It's nice to see you again, Princess."

"The feeling is mutual Miss Pie." Luna said with a wan smile. "I'm glad to see you retain your minds after so long. I feared the time would be less than kind on you. Please do not attempt to lash out at Cimmerian. He has done much to aid my sister and I. Even now he gives Cadance safe harbor." The smaller alicorn turned to the larger. "Speaking of Cadance, I did not see her last night. Where is she?"

"She's with Pandinus, Luna. We're hoping we can use the link to wean her off constant physical contact like she now requires." He answered. "The link allows the queen to know where Cadance is and if she starts to panic, Din can talk to her from anywhere. Basically she's never alone, even if she ended up miles away. Or at least I think that's how it works, I don't know if the link has a range."

"Queen?" Rarity asked.

"Cimmerian's home has become a sanctuary for all races. I've seen the dreams of thestrals, ponies, griffons, and changelings there. The Temple of the Shadows was once a temple dedicated to my possessed form, Nightmare Moon. Now it fulfills a role I'd never imagined. Blur especially cites the Temple as a place where the shadows protect the weary and the homeless." Luna turned to Fluttershy, the pegasus watching cautiously from the back. "She reminds me you actually, Fluttershy. It would not surprise me if you two were related."

"Changelings?" Rainbow Dash said. "You let changelings wander your home? Are you nuts?" She turned to the mare that continued to stay by her side "Tell him he's nuts, Scoots, you talked about being worried about those things for a long time after the invasion."

Scootaloo chuckled nervously, not wishing to go against her hero. Luna raised an eyebrow at the interactions. "Perhaps you would be interested to know a changeling queen is currently residing in the Temple as well?" The small alicorn giggled at the shocked expressions of the gathered bearers. "In fact, I believe she successfully courted Cimmerian." At that Luna's grin became downright malicious.
"Do not attempt to deny it, you carry her magic in your aura. She also dreams of you quite often."

"Thanks mom, I'll be sure to bring up your flings, like True Strike and Hidden Strength." He said with an eye roll before shuddering. "God, I'm not digging any farther than the names. Did you at least wait till the second date?"

"Why would I delay such wonderful opportunities? Oh! Perhaps you could learn something for use with your mate?" Luna teased mercilessly. "I'm certain you could learn plenty of things your mare would find pleasurable if you were to look."

"But- Luna, for the love of god, those are your memories! Doesn't that bother you!?!" he sputtered.

"Not really. After all, most gentlecolts won't delve into such things, not when the physical sensations are there." she said with a giggle. "In other words, I don't think you'd ever actually touch them."

Cimmerian rubbed the top of his muzzle with a hoof. "This has been a blast, Luna," he said, waving her off with a hoof "but I need to get going. I know it was morning a while ago. I need to go make sure everyone hasn't given up on me and started taking casket measurements."

"You-you're just going to leave us here? After telling us that?" Dash yelled at the alicorns "What are we supposed to do, sit here and twiddle our hooves in the meantime?"

Ted looked around at the gathered ponies. "I can't stay here forever, girls. I have others who are looking for help, others who are in even worse situations than yours. You said yourselves you didn't even notice how long it's been. For those who are still walking the world, things have become dangerous. I'm doing what I can, and you're on my list, but that list expands every day."
"Scootaloo! No mentioning them to the griffons. I know you trust them, but all it takes is one griffon getting that information, one griffon getting it in their head that they can pull the array down to lead to the death of every single one of these mares. For now, see about getting an actual location for the array using them. We pull it down, preferably by pulling them out of it, and the Nightmare can't hold Luna and Celestia any more. The griffons and minotaurs are going to be striking back against her very soon, I'd like to use the distraction to pull them out of the fire if we can."

Rarity blinked at the wording. "Wait, Nightmare? But Twilight's the one... with... you can't seriously be telling me that the dear's been-"

"I need to go, someone's been shaking me for the last few minutes. I'll reinforce the dream-side of this world, so Luna and Scootaloo can stay longer, but I need to leave. Luna, fill them in. Scootaloo, I'll be counting on you to help me help them."

The orange pegasus took a long look at her hero before slamming a hoof across her chest in a griffon salute.

"Be well, ladies. I'll stop by as I'm able. Luna, I'm counting on you to get her back to her dream when this one gives out."  With one last burst of power, the alicorn exited the dream and made his way back to the Temple. Reclaiming his own body, he jerked awake, staring hatefully at the one who'd been poking him.
His anger fell as he took note of the queen sitting there looking at him with a concerned expression. He looked out the window and finally took note of how dark it looked.

"Din? What time is it? How long was I ou-ow!" He muttered, shifting and stretching his body. He felt abnormally stiff, and strangely hungry. Just how long was he gone anyway?



<-(0)-> 



Ted rolled his eyes as he stuffed his face with leftovers from dinner. It was nearly sunset when he'd awoken, much to his dismay. The orange mare was currently in the infirmary being watched over by a few medical experts they'd picked up, ranging from changeling field medics to a griffon surgeon.

"...can't believe you left me to deal with both the griffons and Cadance. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? It was like my entire day just zipped by. I had to not only guide the changelings, but the griffons and the ponies too! Do you know how irritating it is trying to guide creatures that don't listen? And don't even get me started on the mercenaries, constantly demanding my attention, that I actually speak to them in person instead of having a drone stand in my place. Fools, I'm a queen, I have other things to do than entertain them!"

'Kinda like trying to court a creature that doesn't understand my definition of love, I would assume.' The alicorn thought. Still, he let her rant. He hadn't meant to leave her in charge of the Talons for the day, either, but she'd done well from what he could tell. Even asked them to send any refugees they could find their way as well as offering some extra jarred emotion as proof of their words if it was needed. At the rate the hive was growing though, the temple would be a primarily changeling city before long. Maybe he'd need to finally do some advertising? Yes it was dangerous, but with the queen looking over the remains of the griffon's country and preparing for an assault on the minotaurs, she wasn't going to be looking at him for a while now.
'I'll have Scootaloo pass the word around. I'm sure she hangs out in the kinds of places that cater to the kinds we've been picking up anyway.'

The alicorn took one last sip of water and then drank the last bits of changeling honey, as the residents had begun to call the processed emotions. He needed every boost he could get, and if the pink goo helped him become more capable of defending his family, so be it.

"Are you listening to me? You better not be ignoring me, Cimmerian, I-"

A flash of light cut the queens rant off, leaving them both sitting in his room. Before she recovered, he smashed his lips into hers, using his magic to lift her onto his bed.

"I know I made you a promise, Din." He whispered into her ear before trailing nips down her neck. "I want to thank you for taking care of the Temple while I was out of it. I didn't forget my promise, I just found the Elements of Harmony today, and got distracted talking to them." He used a hoof to lay her on her back, gently pressing his barrel against her own. "I promise I'll make it up to you though."

The queen's mind was still hitching, caught off guard by the sudden change of topic and location. "I, I can try some of the things Cadance knows, I mean I know how to-"

He put a hoof to her lips, silencing her. "This is about you and me tonight, Cuddlebug." he softly said while smiling. "Tonight is going to be like trying food. It's going to be about enjoyment, about learning about each other, about fun. No pulling from a veteran. Now then, are you ready to finish what we started earlier?"

"B-but don't, sound ward?" She floundered, eyes tinting slightly despite not actively consuming the love. She giggled slightly, the saturation of love and lust in the air flooding her senses despite her attempts at resistance. 

"I've had to put up with them for the first few nights before I learned the sound wards." The alicorn grinned, baring his fangs to the queen below him. "They'll live through one night."
> A God Without Worshippers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Warm. That was all his brain first registered as the alicorn finally came around the next morning. Warm, soft, and oh so very inviting. The night before was a blur, but what he could remember left his face between a grin and a blush. The two of them, Cimmerian and Pandinus, had very different ideas of what their night should entail. The queen was to the point; they were there for a purpose. He went along with it at first, but the next round, he was pretty sure she was convinced of the superiority of, well, enjoying their time together.

It didn't take long for someone to disturb him. By now he knew it was a forgone conclusion; the second he was comfortable in bed, some resident of the Temple would come along needing him for something. So as he sat in bed, the queen cuddled into his side in the much softer and more sensitive form of her alicorn disguise and the stallion swirling a pitcher of water in his magical grip, he pondered how to proceed. First order of business would obviously be a shower, one that would unfortunately have to be pretty quick. Wouldn't be able to get Swift and Humble in for it either, as the fewer citizens in the room right now the better. Next a quick brunch, then he'd be sending off the mercenaries. Herrick was supposed to be taking off today.

Nodding to himself, he tried several times to detach himself from his current captor, the queen's grip being much stronger than he remembered. It was probably the love she'd picked up despite not feeding during their, eh, fun. An idea popped into his head, and he started blowing into her ear. She flicked it a few times, before opening her eyes with an irritated scowl.
"Why are you doing that?"

"We need to get up." he told her, pulling her into a tighter embrace for a moment. "We're going to need a bath, and I think we'd have more time to enjoy it if we took it together."

The queen grunted in irritation, slowly disentangling herself from the stallion and making her way to the bathroom. She dispersed her disguise in a flash of ashen fire, leaving her true form visible even as she powered the arrays to heat the freshly drawn bath-water. It was a close thing, but they could both fit if they didn't lie down. Suddenly the door burst open, three drones buzzing in and starting to scrub and brush both of them down. At his confused look, the Din giggled.
"What good are drones if you can't take advantage of them every now and again?"

The alicorn shook his head, splaying his wings for the drone carrying his large feather brush, opting to use his own magic to lather a shampoo into most of his fur. He chuckled as the queen purred at the cleaning, leaving the bath-water churning around her.
'She's her own hot-tub when she runs the heating array.'

Both left the bedroom substantially more presentable, though they opted to leap or hover to the nearby balcony from the bathroom instead of traversing the biological disaster area that his room had become. As they flew around to the main entrance to hit the dining hall, Pandinus said she'd already sent several more drones to the room to help with the clean up. At the very least, they wouldn't have to worry about the pony servants being traumatized by the nightly activities of a male with magically enhanced endurance and a female that was empowered by love.

Ted laughed at the sight of the changelings in the dining hall, a few still having a slight pink tint to their eyes as proof of last nights bounty. Obviously there was no denying it, the scattered residents whispering and laughing amongst themselves as the two walked in. Even Scootaloo was present for the meal, though she still seemed to be recovering from the mental duress she'd undergone the last few days. 

"So much for not feeding last night." He said, giving the queen a shove with his flank as they made their way to the buffet table. Both filled plates, though Pandinus' was smaller as hers was merely for enjoyment.

"Tell you what, Cimmer. Go out to the river and shove your head in the water. Hold it there for a few minutes, and don't drink any water." The queen responded as they took their seats, a second large chair having joined his some time ago. "While I managed to shunt what I accidentally absorbed to the hive, it's quite difficult to not inhale the love I was drowning in when my conscious mind takes a sudden vacation. After all, for the longest time, I was desperately draining every bit of emotion I could find just to survive."
The queen took a few bites of a breakfast wrap, rolling the taste around her mouth for a few moments before continuing. "That being said, you've left me in a horrible position. While the love I can feed on afterwards was nothing to sneeze at, I'd rather not get washed away like I was the first time. Yes, it was mostly because of the blood rage that it was so intense, but I still sensed quite a bit of love last night, possibly enough to leave me feeling bubbly for a few days."

"And the issue is?" The alicorn asked, buttering a few pancakes. Oh, how he loved pancakes. The only thing he couldn't find out here was maple syrup. That was kind of depressing.

"The issue is I find myself with the horrible decision of either feeding to my hearts content or enjoying our time together to the fullest. It can be, difficult," the queen said before trailing her tongue along his neck "to enjoy the experience properly when my mind is clouded by so much love."

The alicorn rolled his eyes. "Heaven forbid you have to choose between pleasure or gorging. I wonder how many queens would have killed for that kind of problem."

Din giggled at the idea. "All of them, I assume." She leaned into his neck, breathing deeply as she placed her muzzle against his neck. "And I'd do the same to keep this problem.
"Oh, I do believe I have a solution!" She said after a few more inconsequential bites. "I do believe we can bypass the problem altogether by doubling the amount of nights we spend together."

Ted laughed at the proposal. "Oh, and this is different from your current agenda how, miss sneak into my room every night when she first molted?"

She responded with a pout. "If you don't want to keep me warm at night, I suppose I'll have to find someone else to do it."

"I never said I don't want you there. After all, you're very comfortable when you start purring." The alicorn said as he stood up to get a second helping of breakfast.







"It's so sweet!" Blur said, seated across from a new pegasus she'd introduced herself too. "I mean they always hang around each other, but he usually doesn't return the affection so publicly. I'm not sure if it was because he was nervous about it or because he didn't want to encourage her teasing."

"Sweet isn't the word I'd use, kid." Scootaloo responded. "The two are strange enough on their own. I mean I barely remember the first queen I've ever seen, and I saw her when I was a filly. This one's a saint compared to that one, but I'm pretty sure that by the time both of them are done growing, you said he drinks the honey too? I'm pretty sure by the time both of them are done growing, they'll be around the size princess Celestia was at before she was captured. I think they're getting close, too; maybe they'll pass her?"
Turning back to her conversation partner, Scootaloo hummed as she gazed at the yellow pegasus. "So how did you end up out here? I know I came in with the Talon's and I think five or six of the local ponies came in from Zarris, but otherwise..."

"Oh, I was part of the original group that participated in the ritual. We freed Father from the armor he was trapped in, in fact Shadow Weaver managed to create a ritual that basically created a new body for Father's spirit based on his old one. I, I'm ashamed to say this, but most of us thought he would kill us at one point. Even I was part of that group, but within a week I'd learned the truth. He watches us, he protects us, and for when he's not there to do it himself, he teaches us to defend ourselves."
"It was really bad before he was here." The yellow mare said quietly. "I honestly didn't think we'd survive the week, much less the year. Now ponies are forming herds, planning families, some even hope to have their own homes some day."

"When did that start? Calling him Father, I mean." The orange pegasus asked between bites of her meal.

Blur stared at her plate for a moment, the memory still vivid for her. "For me it was when I saw him put on his armor. He was so scary, yet he was so kind. He hugged me, and told me he'd help us, that the shadows weren't to be feared. For the others, I think it was after the gnoll raid. Most of us were easily overpowered. We weren't fighters, we were just a bunch of ponies lost in the jungle. Even the griffon Amald was overpowered by the raiders. Then he came back from his expedition. He came back, he saw us being taken away, and he just, he ripped them apart."
"Can you even imagine it? To be so certain that what little freedom you had was gone, and to turn, with chains around your neck, to see a creature you already knew wanted nothing more than your protection? He started glowing, I swear he looked bigger, he moved with such grace, I think even his voice changed a little when he was going after them. He passed out in his room afterwards from exhaustion, I think, but the second he was awake, he was here, making sure everyone was okay. That was when I knew he truly loved me, that he truly loved us all." She mumbled, tears forming in her eyes. "I started telling them about what he told me, how he wanted us to be happy, how he wanted to keep us safe, and they listened. Soon, it wasn't just me calling him Father. It spread after that, and soon it just became so common, even the newest residents were picking it up."

The orange pegasus mulled the information over for a moment, something about it bothering her.
"You said you freed him from armor?"

"Yes, the Nightmare's Raiment. We retrieved it from the Castle of the Alicorn Sisters. It was why most of us were scared at first. Weaver said it would pit two alicorns against one another. At best, they'd destroy each other. At worst, the winner would be weakened enough to be beaten by other beings. It, it didn't work out that way though. I know he responded to Nightmare for a while, but...but I can't help but think it wasn't his real name, like he was humoring us. Now I know Father's true name. I know it may sound strange, but I don't think he's the same creature that was bound to the princess all those years ago. All those tales of cruelty, of killing those who spoke against it. They're just too different from Father's actions."

"That's quite the leap of faith." 

"I know, but faith and hope was all we had back then." Blur told her. "Now we have a future. I'd say our faith and hope was well placed. Father didn't let us down. Even when we worried about the changelings, even when some whispered against his keeping the queen here, we held faith. She was sickly, she spoke in broken Equish, she just looked so scared all the time. Now look at her. She shines in the sunlight, she's the hive-mother of the changelings that come to the temple, and, and she's becoming so much more than a ruler every day. She's starting to fulfill the role of a Mother to Cimmerian's role as a Father." The mare giggled at the memory. " I know it's strange, but with how close she is to Father, it felt right. So one day I started to call her Mother. She didn't say anything, just kind of stared at me for a long while. I think it confused her. It still leaves her looking at me strangely some days, and some of the other residents look at me like I've grown a second pair of wings when I say it, but it feels right. It also makes me feel better, it makes me feel at home."
"I lost a lot over the years. I still don't know where my parents went, and my bothers... I need this. I need Father to be there for me, I love having Mother there, knowing she has eyes on everything that happens here. Even my dreams are guarded by my new family. What more could I ask for?"

A moment of silence settled between the two before Blur spoke again.
"Did he help you find her?"

At the orange mare's shocked expression, she smiled. "I heard you speaking about losing someone, and I know Father likes to help us. You slept most of the day away, so I assume you were with Father for most of the time. Did you find who you were looking for?"

"Yea. Yea I found her. Not in the way I was expecting, but I found her."

Blur reached a hoof over, laying it over the other mares hoof. "I'm sure he'll do what he can to help her too, and you if you ask him. If you need it, you can always come here. Everyone is welcome at the Temple of the Shadows."

"Even dragons?" Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look around you. We have changelings and gnolls, both creatures that ponies tell horror stories about, living here with us and the worst thing that happens is fights breaking out. There's no enslavement, no hypnotism. The only times I've seen changelings use those pods of theirs is to either help heal someone or to keep a prisoner contained." Blur explained. "We actually had a dragon from Zarris, Sahkest show up for a party we had. Father said we needed one, that it was our reward for making it so far. I think he wants to make it a yearly thing too, a founding party. No one said a word, no one panicked when he showed up. Sure there was some nervousness, but he was here with something for Father, said he was dropping something off." she smiled fondly at the memory. "I would have bet bits that Father would have claimed the queen that night, considering how smashed both were, but even drunk he isn't like that. Watch for them, Miss Scootaloo. If you see ponies or griffons, or thestrals or any creature that is lost or without hope, send them here. We wont turn away someone who needs help."
Blur gestured across the room, where Cadance was leaning against the larger alicorn even as Amare leaned into her own side. "He spent so much time watching Cadance, making sure she felt safe. I know that he'd do the same for anyone who asked for his help."



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"What do you mean we still have him?" Ted shouted at the queen as they walked outside.

"He's in the storage tunnels down below. Grift said the pony he talked to paid him to keep Pivot Pelt here, said that it was the quietest month they've had since the pest was transferred to this area." Din said, fishing for the information even as she spoke. "Grift also says that they're interested in purchasing changeling honey if we ever end up with enough to sell, and he said he picked up the form for the trade caravan."

The alicorn glared at the queen, as if attempting to send his anger down the link at the drone. "And he didn't mention this earlier, why?"

"What do you mean you forgot?" Pandinus yelled, forgetting she was using the link. "I don't care if you told us now, you should have told us a week ago!"
"He had one job." The queen huffed, dropping her connection to the lazy changeling. "One job and he managed to fuck it up."

"Hey now," Ted said with a grin, shoving her "I'm the only one allowed to use those expletives, they're mine. You're stuck with buzz and buck and the pony swears."

"Just because the followers don't use them around you doesn't mean they don't use your words." She retorted. Several seconds later, she smiled. "Ten seconds, and I can tell you I heard at least twenty uses of either shit, fuck, damn, bitch, or hell. Only four of those were from changelings."

Cimmerian blinked, looking at the queen in confusion. "You can get sort through that much information? Wouldn't you need to, I don't know, listen to every conversation going on around the temple for that kinda thing?"

"It's simpler than that, actually. I just tell them to ping me when they hear the words being used. Much easier than trying to sort through all that noise." She explained. She nodded to the griffons, most of their gear packed up. "It looks like they're just about ready to go."

"Herrick!" The alicorn shouted, drawing the attention of the Talon leader. "It was a pleasure to have you and your band. I'm sorry I was unavailable yesterday, something important drew me away."

"Yes, Eloise told us of that. I don't know what you two found, but I've never seen that mare so happy while at the same time depressed before." The griffon said as he approached. "I can't thank you enough for the rune. The mad queen's achieved victory after victory against us, and to be able to rub this in her face? I'll let you know when I get in touch with the minotaurs, I'm certain that they'll want to thank you for a way to defend themselves."

"Just give me plenty of warning. That's quite the trip, and I don't want to leave the Temple for too long, not when I'm providing both shelter and food for so many creatures here." The alicorn said with a smile. "Tell your guys to be careful, Herrick. The Mad Queen's not herself, and these victories may provoke her."

"What do you mean she's not herself?" The griffon asked in confusion.

"Do your people know of Luna's fall?" the alicorn asked. At the griffons nod, he continued. "Twilight fell to the same demon, or at the least the same type of demon. It really shouldn't surprise anyone, honestly. Alicorns are some of the strongest creatures on the planet. If one is caught in a moment of mental weakness, they make tempting targets. I don't know much about the creature, but it seems to be attempting to drive the world into the ground, so to speak. Destroying all the countries around it. That's why I don't think it will stop with the griffon and minotaur lands; it wants to make sure there's nothing out there to challenge it."
"Just do what you can to make the parasite miserable, Herrick. Celestia and Luna are still out there, and I know you all saw Cadance while you were here. If nothing else, give hope to your people. Let them know the Mad Queen's reign is not going to last much longer. Her power-base is a carefully constructed deck of cards. Pull one or two pieces, and it all falls apart. The drones were the first piece, and I have an idea of how to break a second. I just need some time to build up here, to make sure my people can make do without me for a while."

"Take this with you as well." Pandinus said, a drone arriving with a jar of pink glowing liquid. "I'd pick up some magical shielding for it while in Zarris, but most of the local drones that you'd attract with this around here have joined my hive. It's concentrated love, and it is extremely potent; a sapient drone could live off of a single drop for a week."

"You could use it for bait, if needed. Set it nearby in a strong container, destroy a crystal, and the drones would swarm it, trying to break into the container to get at it. I wouldn't use the whole jar for bait, but it's up to you."

The griffon eyed the glowing jar suspiciously for a moment, before turning back to the pair. "Why are you so hell bent on giving away this kind of stuff? First the rune, then liquid love. Surely you get something out of this."

"I'm doing this to help Luna and Celestia. Luna's been teaching me magic and providing a lot of insight into leading." Ted told the griffon.

The queen was silent for a moment, looking between the two as she planned her answer. "The Mad Queen has my mother. Anything that brings me closer to seeing my mother again, be it to free her, or to end her torment, is worth any price."
"Those drones you see attacking griffon settlements? Any of them could have been of my mothers brood, but from what I've learned from the injured alicorn she is a shadow of her former self. A mindless broodmare that exists for the sole purpose of laying eggs. I will not leave her to that fate. Even if I need to end her life myself." She finished, her voice cracking somewhat at the end.

Cimmerian placed a wing over her comfortingly and nuzzling her gently. "We'll get her out of there, Din. I'm sure she'd be proud of your hive, as well as your physical appearance."

Herrick was silent at the news. He watched as Scootaloo passed him by, picking up her gear and signaling her readiness. After seeing the same signal coming from all of his soldiers, he turned back to the pair.

"Thank you for your efforts against her, Cimmerian, and for opening your home to my people when they lost theirs. I know we're supposed to be mercenaries, but the Talons are griffons first and foremost, and a griffon without his honor is nothing. When the minotaurs finally do ask for you, I'll send some mercenaries to escort you to our base of operations for the area."
The old griffon gave him a knowing smile. "After all, the world isn't as large as most would assume if you have access to the right gear."

With that the mercenaries left, leaving the two large rulers pondering his words. Their thoughts were interrupted by a poke to Ted's side.

"Father?" Blur spoke, attempting to get his attention. "Scootaloo told me to let you know, when she left, that she'd be letting Applebloom have the good news in three days, so don't ruin it for her."

The alicorn blinked at the time-table, his mind attempting to wrap around the possibility. Getting to Equestria in three days should have been impossible, much less so far into the country. Then the words of the griffon leader hit him, causing him to burst into laughter.

Even as the queen stared at him like he was going insane, he wiped a merry tear from his eye.
'You cheeky little bastard, you have a teleport grid or something like that squirreled away at your base, don't you?'

That the two of them would even so much as hint at some sort of fast-travel system for travel between their bases, much less give such an obvious helping of information, it was impressive. In fact, he'd guess that under normal circumstances such information would be guarded jealously.

"What's so funny? Did I miss something?" Din asked, still as confused as he'd been a few moments ago.

"I'll explain tonight in the dream realm, I'd rather not break the trust he's put in me." Ted told her, hugging her with a wing. "Now come on, I want to see how the mine's coming along."

Pandinus rolled her eyes. "I could show you in the my dream, you know. Having so many drones lets me paint a fairly accurate picture."

"I know, but if I start relying on you for that, I don't get out as much. I just spent the last day sleeping, I need to catch up." Turning to the pegasus, he frowned. "Is there something wrong, Blur?"

The mare just watched the departing griffons for a momemt. "I asked her to watch for anyone who needs help, and to send them to Zarris. Father, is there any way I could stay in Zarris, or travel to other ports? You've done so much for me, given me so much, I want to share this. I want to share what we have here."

Cimmerian bit his lip. He wanted to do something like this, and Blur was the most vocal about her faith, but he couldn't just let her wander off on her own. It was a recipe for disaster.
"I'd love to let you do that, Blur, but there's no way I'll let you go by yourself."

"I may have a solution to that." Din cut in. She zoned out for a moment, obviously talking to a drone, before turning her attention back to the mare. "I want you to speak with Sleight. She will give you some basic survival training over the next week or two, and she will also be going with you. I want you to also find a griffon who would like to accompany you as well. Having one of their own to speak to will let them know we aren't just blowing hot air about accepting all species. Once Sleight believes you're ready, you may go. Is this acceptable, Cimmer?"

The alicorn watched the two a moment, his heart melting at the excitement in Blur's eyes. "Sure, Din. That will work fine. I want you hanging on every word that Sleight teaches you, alright Blur? I need you three to come back to us. We'll make sure you have supplies for your journey, as well. If it goes well, we may send out more groups for recruitment."

The pegasus squeaked in joy, rushing up to him and hugging him. "Oh thank you Father! I promise I won't let you down!"

"I know you won't Blur." He said, pulling her closer with his forelegs. "Just be careful."



<-(0)-> 



"What do you mean we've been attacked?" The mare said, glaring at the soldier. "The drones attack anypony not wearing an array, I've made certain of it myself. Nothing should be getting close enough to pose a threat, much less be capable of taking out a supply caravan. You're trying to tell me we've lost seven in the last week?" She yelled, several hairs springing up to poke at odd angles from her mane.

"Y-yes your highness. We've lost contact with seven supply caravans, and as I was leaving to hoof off this report, we were having trouble contacting one of our smaller outposts. The array crystal isn't responding either." The cowering soldier told his ruler. "W-we're currently preparing to send a team to physically make contact with the outpost from a nearby base, but it will be several hours before we can get eyes on the location, as it's in a remote location, and they don't have m-mobile communication crystals out there. The recon squad will need to bring the report back to the base to be passed back to us."

The mare paced the hall just outside her room, fury in her eyes. Suddenly she screamed, a nearby changeling drone being slammed against the wall as a vent for her rage.

"I want this figured out now! Do you hear me?" She screamed, sending the guard scampering back down the hall. The moment he was gone, the mare walked back into her royal suite, slamming the door as she started muttering to herself with her forelegs wrapped around her head.

"No no no no no, no, this can't be happening! I finally started feeding! The whole point of the drones was they were absolutely loyal, they can't be turned!" She stopped, staring at a mirror. Her fearful expression immediately turned to anger. "No! This isn't over! Do you hear me! I'm in control now! No one believes in you anymore! No one loves you! They all hate you, they all think you're a monster. Your dear foal sitter is dead, dead because of your research! Hahaha, and you saw her eyes when we threw her out, do you think she'd have ever forgiven you? You betrayed your friends, you betrayed your teacher, they'll all want you dead!
"Not just them either, oh no-no-no! They entire country, no, the entire planet will want you dead!" She said with a manic giggle. "There's no escaping it, Twilight. You're going to die, be it by my hooves or by those of your loving subjects! Oh, I wonder how they'd do it? Would you be beaten to death by an angry mob? Or maybe your beloved mentor herself would cast you into the sun? Idea! Let's go see Tia, shall we? Let's tell her Cadance is dead! Oh I can't wait to see the sweet despair on her face! And it's all because of you!" She tittered as she accessed the teleport grid Twilight had painstakingly created.



<-(0)-> 



Celestia was drawn to consciousness by the sounds of her cell being unlocked. It was strange, as normally the Mad Queen kept to a strict schedule. The ex-princess checked her aura, being certain her last visit from the other alicorns wasn't showing on her aura as the door was opened. Perhaps it was a good thing they'd not visited her lately?

"Hello there, Nag! I had the most wondrous news, and I wanted to share it with you. I would have been by earlier, but as I'm sure you know, running a kingdom is a very demanding job." The purple alicorn said with a cheerful smile.

Something was wrong. Celestia spent enough time around nobles to recognize an attempt to draw a specific reaction from her. Truly, the fact that she'd needed an outsider to bring the possibility of a second Nightmare to her attention was almost insulting. Instead of learning from the incident, she and her sister had put it out of their minds, doing their best to forget such a painful time.
'Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, I suppose that old nut-ball was onto something with that.' She thought to herself.

"So, I had this special tracking array in my room to allow me to watch a very important project I had set up." The mare happily explained. "Namely, the impact of a changeling link being forced on a pony! Oh, but this was a special pony. Most of the ones I tried this on snapped pretty fast, but this old girl? No sir, she was tough! In fact, she was so tough, it was only recently that she finally snapped! Such a shame too. The array kept track of her link to some changelings I let her leave with. With it down, either she killed that poor little nymph, the only daughter of her husband, or something killed her! Poor Cadance, I had hoped she'd last at least a few more months. Such high hopes, just dashed into nothingness. As it stands though, she's either dead, or a gibbering mess wandering the world with the blood of a foal on her hooves. Such a sad fate for a foalsitter, don't you agree?"

That was it. It was hoping to draw a reaction out of her by telling her Cadance was gone. Thanks to Cimmerian, she knew it was false; her niece was alive, if not well. The question was why was it fishing for a reaction now of all times? Had something happened? Despite her situation, the white alicorn felt her old smile gracing her lips as a plan formed in her head. It would put her, possibly her sister as well, at risk, but she had to know. She needed a definitive answer, not all of these guesses and clues. She took a cleansing breath through her nose, eyes never leaving the gaze of the mare before her. Luna had told her that she was aware of everything that occurred while she was possessed, so Twilight was likely watching the meeting right now.

"I don't believe you, Nightmare."

"W-what?" The mare asked in confusion. "I'm not, I'm Twilight Sparkle, one time princess and now queen of Equestria."

"No." The white mare replied. "You're a parasite, and I'm a fool for needing somepony to point out to me that my ex student and fellow princess wouldn't just fly off the deep end. I can only hope and pray that she forgives me for not noticing sooner."

"No." The Mad Queen whispered. "No. No, no no no, no!" Before Celestia could blink, the mare had her pinned against the back wall with magic. The purple mare then charged her, slamming her hooves into her barrel. "No, I don't forgive you! Luna's mine, you're mine, Equestria is mine, soon this whole planet will be mine! Nothing will stop me, do you hear me? I, Twilight Sparkle, will rule this mud-ball of a planet! Do you hear me?"

It was the first time she'd ever seen the Mad Queen react so violently to her, but it still wasn't an admission. She steadied herself and pressed harder. "She's alive, Twilight! Cadance is alive, and he's helping her. He told me he was, and he's going to help you too! Stars and sun, I don't care if you forgive me, just don't give up! I love you, Twilight, we all do!"

"No, she's mine! Do you hear me? Twilight is mine, and you'll never see her again!" Suddenly the mare's hair flickered, an illusion spell finally failing as the Nightmare let it drop. The white alicorn gasped in shock at the sight of her one-time student. Once-lustrous hair was now ragged and patchy, some clumps having fallen out completely and exposing bare skin. Her eyes were foggy, her snout cracked and caked in blood. Her hooves, even as she used them to press Celestia against the wall, were chipped and withered, looking like they belonged to a corpse more than an alicorn.
"Do you see this? This is your fault! You couldn't save her, you didn't notice in time! It's your fault she's in so much pain, and it's your fault I'm still trapped in her. Give up, just give up on her and it will all be over! Everyone will forget her, and I'll finally be able to feed properly!" It said, glazed eyes staring daggers at the choking princess.

For her part Celestia was torn between horror and shame. She'd ignored it for too long, letting the parasite do this to her student.
"I'm so sorry Twilight, I-I didn't watch, I didn't want to think about them after they took Luna from me."

The Nightmare slammed a hoof into the white mare's barrel, winding her. "Who is he?! Who is it that told you Cadance is alive? Where is he?!? How did he contact you? Tell me! I've come too far, I've come too close to lose it all! Answer me, you whorse!"

"Don't despair, Twilight. Help is coming. He'll stop her, he'll save you, I know he will!" The princess shouted to the mare. She knew Twilight could hear her, that was why the Nightmare was reacting so forcefully; it was panicking. Her host was awakening, her host was being brought back from the pits of despair. Her host caught a glimmer of hope, and the Nightmare could do nothing about that.

With a scream of rage, the Nightmare launched the beaten mare across the room, rushing her and bringing down both forehooves on her wing in a brutal stomp. The fear in the demon's eyes would have been enjoyable had they not been the stolen eyes of her student. It knew something was wrong, and there was nothing it could do to act against her newest foe. In fact, without the changelings, perhaps Cimmerian could overpower her even now? Maybe that was why it had come in the first place. It needed reassurance. A smile graced the white mare's lips for a moment in spite of the pain; she'd done the exact opposite, ruining any chance the Nightmare had of breaking either of them. 
"Tell me where he is! Tell me who he is! Tell me!" The mad-mare shrieked, bringing her hooves down again and again upon her limp victim.

Even as the pain overcame her, Celestia managed to find the strength to wheeze out a few more words.
"I'm sorry Twilight, by the Maker, I'm so sorry. Forgive me, I luh-love you.
"Please forgive me."
> Taking Census
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"So that's one hundred and sixteen griffons, one hundred and fifty two changelings with fourteen true drones, a queen, a proto queen, and a behemoth, eighty six ponies divided into twenty four pegasi, forty earth ponies, and twenty two unicorns, thirty nine gnolls, fifteen thestrals, and seven zebra." Gleam said while levitating the most recent census to the alicorn. "This of course doesn't record the fact that I've heard a few mares complaining about morning sickness, so I'm fairly certain our numbers will also be growing the old fashioned way as well."

Cimmerian took the paper, looking over the numbers with a frown. "Missing two alicorns, Gleam, but otherwise it sounds right."

The mare went cross-eyed a moment before smacking a hoof into her face, a groan of irritation her only verbal response.

"Hey, don't worry about it too much. The fact that our little sanctuary has gone from less than a hundred various species to this in three months is something to be proud of, we just need to keep on top of our numbers. In fact, I want you to look for help. We need to start working on getting a governmental system set up here, something a bit more involved than 'Cimmerian is in charge, these guys are next, and then there's everyone else.' I love how everyone's willing to pitch in, but we're going to need to make a shift soon. I don't think this will work long term." He turned to the changeling queen, an earth pony stallion, and a griffon.  "How are our supplies?"

Pandinus moved a few notes in front of her before turning to the alicorn. "Emotion stores are holding up to the current drain, and I doubt there will be much more of an increase in the hive's numbers by way of free changelings. The last few changeling drones to show up were from just outside of pony territory, and the Mad Queen's been quite thorough in her own country. About half the hive isn't even drawing from our stores, having made enough emotional connections with other residents to not need to use our stores. As for other resources? The hive has begun to survey the entirety of the area, both above and below ground for any deposits of gems and metals. Any possible mine locations are to be reported to the geologists." With that she motioned to the map in the middle of the room, having several annotated flags on possible mine locations.

"Crops are still being harvested, while the amount of farmland being used has been tripled." The black stallion by the name of Machination spoke as soon as the queen turned to him. "We've tried expanding the farm land a distance away from the Temple, and the changelings have also set up a few tunnels for subterranean mosses and fungus for even more food. Herbivores should be fine once the latest farm plots start producing, though I worry how some of our crops will handle the rainy season once it hits. Right now it's cool and damp, but that will change once summer nears. I suggest a few more plots for extra food and expanding the food store areas."

"I don't mind the extra farmland, but make sure additional storage rooms aren't connected to the first. It will be more draining on those who have to power and watch the cooling arrays, but I don't want to lose our entire food stores to a single mistake. No reports of fatigue from overfeeding by the drones on any of the locals. That's great news, but I'd still like to see an increase in the pony population a bit before the hive gets much larger." Cimmerian said while taking some notes of his own. The alicorn then turned to the griffon. "The port?"

"A storage shed and even a few smaller buildings have been repaired for fishing crews, and the boat was dropped off three days ago courtesy of Zarris. It's a mess, but repairs are going smoothly. Had to pull the shape-shifters off of it, though, as their repairs won't hold up to constant water-logging. Ocean washes the coating off after too long. Most of the griffons have chosen to live in the port. Pretty certain it's because of the lack of changelings there." Jurgan responded.

"Housing?"

"Most of the ponies, thestrals and changelings are using the changeling communal sleeping areas at the moment; they're large, easy to expand, fit creatures of their size well, and generally give them a dry, clean, and relatively quiet place to sleep. The sleeping area of the Temple has become more of a place for herds to share some private time together, though that's led to a few fans being installed in the area and some windows installed to, uh, aerate the hall." Gleam said with a wince, pulling up a second scroll. "We're working on more permanent housing, but for now, many of the newer buildings going up around the Temple are simple changeling shelters. Not what I'd like to use, but our numbers have been expanding faster than we can build. We've also begun to survey a few areas for lumber, since we've uprooted most of the local area and we've only completed about half of the look out towers and a fraction of the city wall. It doesn't help that we've had to use some of the lumber for firewood was well, but one of the survey teams did report a few deposits of coal nearby, so as you requested we're going to try shifting to that for some of our fuel. I had a few unicorns suggest fire-rubies, but we don't know where to find them, much less enough of them to use as a fuel source."

"I've drafted Buster and Smoke to help with the training." Amald announced as the circuit reached his seat. "We've discussed a lot, even had the three of us working against several larger groups of trainees to test a few ideas out. It's been interesting, learning the ins and outs of our racial abilities; changelings being able to detect emotions even through walls and cover, gnolls being able to track several day old trails, griffons eyesight picking out targets well beyond the visual range of the other races, and we haven't even gotten through all the possibilities with pony magic. We've started trying to develop split patrols to guard the area, and are currently working with about twelve three person teams. It's not much, but it gives us something to work with for now. In the meantime, we have at least two changelings and a griffon to a watch tower to watch the perimeter at night. Not actual guards, but we don't have enough trained bodies for that kind of coverage yet."

"How's our magical protections, Weaver?" the alicorn asked, turning to the unicorn and last member of the current council.

"The anti-wildlife wards will be active for at least another month before they need to be refreshed, and the supplies needed aren't that rare. As for the array you recovered from the Equestrian ship, I've been going with the amulet idea that the Talons suggested. A few of the unicorns here are strong enough to be walked through the method, so I've gotten just under one hundred of them. They won't last long, but it's better than nothing."

Cimmerian nodded, making special note of the lack of medical requests lately. The changeling pods scared a lot of the residents, but they were often able to heal skin breaks and dermal issues better than pony magic, though spells seemed better for broken bones while the gnolls knew local poisons and diseases and their cures. The patrols were carrying poultices and bandages with them as well, something Amald wasn't going to drop from his own military's standard operating procedures. Barring a pandemic, their medical supplies weren't doing to badly. He frowned, double-tapping his hoof against the table. No need to jinx himself. 
As for the port, the griffons seemed fairly proud and wanted to run it on their own. They still reported to him though, the port acting as more of a smaller town for his growing 'country' then an independent state. He cocked his head in thought. Could the hive be split up like that? He'd have to check with Pandinus, but it would be beneficial for the changelings to be able to spread out like that, sending emotion convoys to the other hive locations. Din could channel to her hive, but it didn't have a good range, especially with the amount she was often pushing.

He also had managed to get a copy of the Equis calendar. It was strange, the planet actually having a longer yearly cycle than earth. He smiled, having worked out a decent idea of where his own holidays would fit in the local calendar. Many of the races also had their own holidays, and he'd managed to start grabbing those and combine a few of them with matching holidays. For instance, many of the cultures had a similar spiritual holiday to all hallows eve, and he'd managed to put an order in with the caravan for a large shipment of candy for the crossed Nightmare Night/Halloween/Night Flight that was approaching.
It said a lot about the changeling race to him, though, that they were the only ones who didn't bring in their own holidays. In fact, the Temple of the Shadows was the closest to a changeling city the planet had ever seen. He'd asked Pandinus about holidays or observations and the closest they had to a holiday was the queen's birthday or a quick celebration for the hive's founding. Even those weren't really celebrated in the literal sense, just remembered.

'That's going to change.' Cimmerian thought to himself. 'The ponies have Canterlot as their city as well as all of the usual forms of art, griffons had High Talon and kept the weapons of famous griffon warriors or smiths as art, even the gnolls had wall paintings and stories. Now the changelings have a monument to their race, something only they can build and maintain.'

The fountain was actually done, many having been awed at the sight and many more having tried to taste the love themselves. It was a running joke for most residents now, having new people try the love and getting a chuckle at the victim as they sat there in a daze, the pure emotion overloading their minds for a few minutes. The queen also had a small reservoir of emotions hidden deep underground, as well as a small pool of love she'd pulled from him over the last few weeks. That had been something. She'd made him go through a ridiculously thorough decontamination before she'd let him see it, the queen also being scrubbed down as well. He'd found out why they were being cleaned moments later when she shoved him into it and jumped in after him, wrapping the alicorn in a death-grip of a hug and proceeding to try and remove his tonsils. Apparently it was the equivalent to bathing in the finest wine to the queen.

'Euphoric Shadows, bottled in forty-three After Luna's Return. Why did they call it that? Well, it was better than Cimmerian's Afterglow.' he thought jokingly.

"Alright, I think we're done here. Thank you all for showing up. We'll try and make this a quarterly thing at least, though if something does come up that requires my direct intervention, make sure to either grab me, or have a drone pass the message to Queen Pandinus. Yes Din, you have my permission to punish someone for continuously bringing up stupid issues that are either out of our hooves or not important." The queen grinned maliciously at the comment, causing the griffon beside her to scoot away. "Just make sure you warn them of why it's not a big issue before you pursue them. I don't want to hear about you draining a griffon because they asked you a stupid question once or twice. You're supposed to be approachable, remember?"

The meeting having adjourned, most of the participants left. Ted would be getting a report from Slop's number two first thing in the morning on spice stores and possible needed foods. Head Trauma was, surprisingly, still the only individual that was certified to run the medical operations, even with the actual surgeons and medics they'd picked up. 
"We've already nearly passed Zarris in size, and we're only going to get bigger." he muttered, looking over the map a few more times. As the last person, Queen Pandinus walked towards the door, the queen took a moment to swat him with her tail, a playful smile on her muzzle as she walked out. 
"My room tonight." She whispered, before picking up speed and heading out the door. Her expression caused him to shudder in anticipation. He had no regrets about picking up the queen even if it did cost him a veritable fortune. None at all.



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'A few baked tubers, a spoonful of fried veggies, and a nice helping of clam chowder.'

The dark alicorn made his way to his table, the thrones having been removed earlier to storage until they had the space to construct some sort of throne room or maybe even a separate building for the ruling alicorn and changeling. Despite what Din said, he wasn't keen on having a court set up in the hive. Yes it would have been simpler, but he wanted something a little more open for such a thing. Actually, he'd thought about converting the roof into a receiving hall of sorts, and maybe change his own room into a guest suite. He wasn't spending all that much time there anymore anyway, and while tub was certainly nice, the bed was getting too small for the two of them. Especially when the kids decided to stop by as well. That left the only real solution as the changeling's bed, Din having expanded it to hold everyone comfortably. He sat down next to the queen, noting her oddly large proportion of food she was tearing into with gusto.

"Geeze, Pandinus. Save some for the rest of us." he chided her as he made himself comfortable.

The queen looked up from her plate, a rib bone held in her teeth as her tongue was removing every bit of sauce from the morsel. She giggled sheepishly, using her magic to drop the gnawed bone to the plate and licked her lips.
"Sorry, I just liked the flavor. I had to have it."

"It's fine, just take it easy." He was about to take a bite when he noticed the size of her plate. "Since when did you start eating full meals?"

"Uh, a few days ago. It shouldn't be any problem, right?" she asked him cautiously.

Cimmerian shook his head. "No, just thought it was odd. I suppose I'm just not enough for you anymore, huh?" the alicorn leaned in, nuzzling her neck before licking a bit of sauce from her muzzle. "Not bad. Slop and his aides get better every day."
"How's Cadance?"

"She's doing better. Amare still clings to her like a shadow, but that's to be expected, and actually helps keep the alicorn calm. She panics every now and again, but nothing too bad. The biggest concern is the drones think there's something out there lately. Something large. I think it may be another proto queen or full on queen, but it's keeping its distance for now. It knows we have food here, but it's also aware we know it's around. I'm a little worried about it, sorry, her."

"Worried she may make a move on me?" He said with a smile. "You know I won't be duped that easily, Din."

The mare shook her head. "No, that's not the issue. The thing is we can support another queen here, and the hive would grow even faster once she settles in, but I don't want to share. This is my hive right now. But we could use her. We could have her act as a governess of another town, or even helping me sort all of the messages drones try to relay to me."

"I though queen's don't share power? Isn't that what Mirage said?" Cimmerian asked her.

"We don't but her other options are starvation, moving against a much more powerful hive, or attempting to infiltrate a large community that has many residents who could detect her the moment she stepped into the open. Even if she tried challenging me for rule of the hive I could ignore her, as I doubt she has anything to bid against my position except for a few trinkets. Against a pool of love, that doesn't even start to pay her way in. Technically, I could easily buy out any drones she's captured, maybe even her whole hive if it's in bad enough condition." Pandinus took another bite of her meal, chewing thoughtfully. "We will have to deal with her, though."

Just as she was resuming her meal, her eyes widened and she started choking, pounding on her barrel with a hoof and laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" the stallion asked her.

"You, y*cough* you could draw her out easily." the changeling sputtered. "Oh by the stars, a changeling queen seduced by a stallion, I love it!" She laughed. "We need to do that. It's just too perfect!"

The alicorn chuckled along for a moment before his expression sobered. "As funny as it would be Din, we need to be better than that." He turned back to the queen, a sad smile now on his face. "We're making this a home for everyone, right? I'd rather talk to her before she tries to hurt someone out of desperation."

The changeling sulked a moment, the thought of pulling one over what was likely an older queen or proto queen being too delicious a thought to throw away. Still, he had a point. As much as she wanted to be able to lord her hive's success over another queen, that wasn't the way they worked.
"Fine, we'll find her tomorrow. You know she's going to pursue you, right?"

"And I'll have a wonderful wife who will be sure to shoot her down at every attempt. After all, if you had that much trouble getting me to finally bed you, what hope do you think she has?"

Pandinus giggled lightly at the joke. "Still, I don't like the idea. She's not going to like playing second fiddle."

"We'll discuss it later." Cimmerian said as he finished his meal. He sighed with contentment, pulling the queen closer with a wing. "I have something I want to do tonight." At her hungry stare he rolled his eyes. "Dream world, Din. I want to introduce you to someone. Rather, several someones. We're meeting up for poker, so ask around your hive for the rules."



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The two large creatures soon stood outside a small cottage, the mare looking around in confusion as a pink mare brought them to the door.
"I have to say, Scimitar, you were right when she said she was different from Queen Meanie!" Pinkie observed, hopping backwards while leading the way. "I'd normally introduce myself as soon as I saw you, Mrs. Cimmerian, but I want to watch my friends freak out as soon as possible."

The alicorn chuckled at her antics, the hyper pony only getting more excitable the more new ideas for pastries, candies and games he fed her. Even when the other girls were still weary of him despite Luna's stamp of approval, the mare had warmed up to him for the low price of a few Earth party games, even though she already knew equestrian equivalents. Her reasoning? No one who knew how to party could be all that bad.

Cimmerian and Pandinus followed Pinkie into the house and into the game room, the loud sounds of explosions and shouting echoing from the room. They walked in to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash playing a game of Battlefront on a large TV, the mares having been caught up on the idea of the game system when he'd mentioned it. He'd had to meet Pinkie in the dream realm to show her the full extent of the games available, but she'd memorized a few games fairly quickly.
'The look on her face when I mentioned Kirby.' he chuckled to himself as he walked in.
Luna was already there, engaged in a game of chess against Fluttershy, the pegasus apparently being quite the strategist when she was properly motivated. Rarity was currently enjoying a game of solitaire, a cup of tea floating by her muzzle as she puzzled out her next move. Suddenly one of the characters on the screen was sniped, Applejack crowing her victory and the colorful pegasus immediately tackling the other mare before the two began to roll around the room.

"He's here girls, and he brought a friend!" Pinkie announced, drawing the attention of all occupants. Even the tussling ponies on the floor stopped, Dash having her forelegs around Applejacks neck even as the farm mare had the pegasus' tail in her teeth.

Cimmerian took a seat next to the door, waving a hoof in the queen's direction.
"I'd like to introduce you girls to Queen Pandinus. Din, these are the Element Bearers, all accounted for except Twilight, the Mad Queen."

The queen gave a respectful bow. "An honor, to be certain. I remember hearing of your victories over Discord and Tirek years ago."

The Bearers were silent for a few moments, most staring in shock and confusion at the changeling. Rarity recovered first, trotting over to the changeling as if in a trance. The unicorn walked around the queen, even ran a hoof over one of the larger mare's legs before speaking.

"Such light coloring, I'd only seen black changelings till now. Oh and the chitin. Not so much to weigh you down, but enough to draw the eyes. Yes, a dangerous look that still retains a sleek form. The mane though, it needs something more. Perhaps curls? No, curls would clash against the dangerous look. Perhaps a shorter mane?" The fashionista muttered, cocking her head to the left as she tried to check every angle of the changeling.
Pinkie shoved the unicorn, offering a hoof instead. "Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie. We're in my head right now. I'm glad you could make it. Do you want a snack? I don't think I have any love cupcakes, but I do make all my food with love. Does that count? Oh! Congratulations on the colt and fillies!"

The queen put her own hoof against the pink pony's, a look of confusion clouding her face. "How did you know I was carrying nymphs?"

"Silly, I just know these things!" Pinkie leaned closer to the changeling, cupping a hoof to keep others from reading her lips. "That and Cimmerian can't stop talking about it. I think he's excited."

With that she bounced out of the room, declaring her quest for additional snacks to the gathered group. Everyone took up positions around the table, the game system being turned into a music system and playing a few tunes the alicorn had introduced to the party mare, along with a few of her own songs in the mix for kicks. The alicorn barely held back a laugh as the first song started playing, the pink mare having zipped back to the table with the snacks and now wearing a green visor while she shuffled the deck.

"Okay, fillies and gentlecolt. Poker's the game. Each pony starts with fifty chips, buy in is two chips." Pinkie said, dealing the cards like a professional.

With that the game was on. Quiet conversations were shared, the other ponies introducing themselves over the first hoof. By the fifth hoof, it had devolved into gossip, Luna providing the mares with more than enough to think about while Cimmerian was elsewhere. By the time the last hoof was being dealt, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were back on the game system, the queen watching in fascination of the other planets being shown.

"She's certainly not what I expected." Rarity observed as she tossed in her chips. "The wedding wasn't too long ago for us, so to see a changeling queen that's so different from the other one, one that looks so, so..."

"Healthy." Fluttershy quietly supplied. "She also sounds very happy to be near you, Mr. Cimmerian. If it's not too much trouble do, do you um, could you-"

The stallion rolled his eyes at her nervous mumbling "I'm not going to bite, Shy, you know that. Do you want me to keep an eye out for something? Maybe check in on someone for you?" 

"Oh, well I'd appreciate it if you could, if you're ever near my cottage. You don't have to if you don't want to, but there's a safe. If you could open it and flip the coin inside, I'd appreciate it. To open the safe, you actually just need to say a password." The mare shuffled quietly.

"I will assume Discord enchanted the safe for you? And likely the coin as well?" Luna said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know what became of him? I've not heard from him for years."

"Oh, he um, he wanted to go exploring. Outside our world. After he heard about the mirror, he wanted to see where else he could end up, said he was using the coin as a beacon so he could come back. Something about new ideas for what chaos could be." The yellow pegasus explained. "He said if I needed him, to flip the coin. I took it with me whenever I went somewhere I thought could be dangerous, but before Twilight-I mean the Nightmare trapped us, I didn't think I'd need it."

"Fortuitous. If you'd taken the coin with you, it would either be trapped in stone with you, or in the Nightmare's possession." Luna said.

"So, that's what that safe was for." Rarity said with a grin. "Tell, me dear, did you keep your chaos calendar in there as well?"

The pegasus cheeks grew pink at the mention of the calendar. She looked ready to say something, but all she managed was a squeak as she nearly ducked under her mane. Rarity tittered happily at the successful jab.

"A-at least he n-never used me as a shield." Fluttershy finally managed to retort, leaving the white unicorn to impersonate a fish for a few moments. Both then started laughing, though Pinkie looked like she'd bit into a lemon.

"Did you have to bring up the Gala?" She asked. "That was the worstest, most boringest party in the history of ever!" Pinkie's head hit the table a second later. "Oh my goodness, I'm going to be sooo behind on my parties when I get out of here, it's going to take me forever to catch up!" She slammed her hooves on the table, staring at Cimmerian. "Do you have any idea how many birthdays I've missed?!? Not just birthdays either, but, but... I don't know what happened to Gummy. I've missed a lot of his birthday parties too." she said, her mane deflating.

"Don't worry too much about your pet, Pinkamena ." Luna comforted. "I have heard of such creatures living quite some time. He may very well still be in Ponyville, under the care of the Cakes."

"You picked a good pet in that way, Pinkie." Fluttershy said softly. "I'm sure he had many baby bunnies, but it's not likely Angel is still alive. Opal and Winona are likely gone as well."

Luna looked around the crowd, smiling softly. "I'm certain it won't take much for you to rebuild your kingdom, Fluttershy. In fact, I'm sure many animals will either remember you, or know of you from their ancestors. I would not be surprised to find your home still standing after all these years, under the care of your friends." She looked at Pandinus and Cimmerian, her smile fading. "The hour grows late. We should be leaving soon. I would also like to speak to you later, Cimmerian. Something has happened. Something important."

The larger alicorn nodded, stretching even though it was a dream/hallucination. "Bad hand anyway. You ready to go Din?"

"One moment, Cimmer. I must teach these mongrels who wish to conquer my planet a lesson they will not soon forget." The queen said, never looking away from the screen. The others drew closer, watching as the queen attempted to wipe out the invaders.

"Look out! He's a sniper!" Dash shouted, jumping up to the screen and pointing out a particular enemy. She was immediately shoved aside by a grey aura.

"Out of my way, you pest! I need to see!" Din yelled, her horn still glowing as she glared at the pegasus.

It was too late, though. The distraction was the last straw, her character being overwhelmed and gunned down. The bold letters 'DEFEAT' were displayed on the screen, causing the queen to fume and launch the controller across the room. 
"This is your fault, you blasted eye-sore!" She shouted, chasing after the yelping mare.

Just before the queen could exact her vengeance, she was grabbed in a black aura and pulled to the door. Her struggling stopped almost completely the moment Cimmerian's hooves wrapped around her, the hug and nuzzle causing her to go limp and just mutter darkly.

"We need to take off, Din. You can kill her later." Cimmerian told her.

Dash nodded with a grin. "Yea, you can kill me- hey, wait!"



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Luna, Cimmerian and Pandinus were soon on a familiar beach, the rolling waves providing a nice background noise for their conversations. Luna sighed, knowing the queen's presence was more of a sign of trust by the other alicorn than an insult to the smaller alicorn. After all, he already trusted her with much more sensitive information. Not to mention his heart.
"My sister told the Mad Queen about you."

The queen's response was immediate. "What?!? Is she mad? The Mad Queen could crush us!"

"I think she made a gamble. The Nightmare attempted to draw more out of me, but her interrogation fell apart rather quickly, ending with her ranting about how she was in control, and how 'he' wasn't going to save us." Luna said simply. "I don't think Tia mentioned you by name, but the Nightmare knows someone is successfully working against her now. On a positive note, I believe my sister's gamble has impacted Twilight. She once more resists the Nightmare's influence. The parasite will be looking for you, but she is also hindered by Twilight's resistance. She is also likely going to be distracted by her current plans, plans which you have complicated by giving both the griffons and minotaurs the key to her greatest weapon and her strategy. I have no doubt she would come down on you like an iron-clad hoof if she could, but she has already started her campaign and were she to attempt to seek you out she would leave herself open to retaliation by either the griffon resistance or a minotaur first strike."

"So we just need to keep giving her other targets while we build up, and continue to reinforce her other targets." Cimmerian said calmly.

"That could work." Luna giggled at the memory. "It was quite distraught, mumbling to itself and yelling at Twilight almost constantly while in my presence. I'm not certain if it was because it thought I already new, or it was attempting to draw a reaction out of me, but I do know that Twilight would not have forgotten to check my aura. She did not do so, otherwise she would have seen all the ponies I've come into contact over the last few weeks. She's getting sloppy."

Cimmerian breathed deeply, closing his eyes in thought.
"We'll have to work with it. I'd rather keep quiet, but if she's as unstable as you say, she's going to start tripping over herself. The more we push, the more she'll stumble, true. But we also need to be careful. The parasite doesn't care about those around it, and if it blows up things could get very messy for those around it, enemy or ally."

The smaller alicorn's giggling stopped, her eyes going wide. "Oh. Oh dear. Twilight did overreact to things, according to Tia. Explosively so, sometimes."

"How wonderful, we have an unstable and xenophobic psychopath who is not above murder on the throne of the strongest country on the planet." The queen muttered.

Luna nodded, turning to the stallion. "Tell us, Cimmerian, did Earth ever encounter unstable psychopaths in leadership positions?"
> Better the Carrot than the Array
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian chuckled as he left his own dream, the queen being returned to her own form and Luna taking her leave for the night. The smaller alicorn's question had left him in tears as he laughed uproariously. When wasn't there an unstable psychopath running around wrecking the world's shit? The difference, as he'd had to explain to Luna, was that Earth psychopaths weren't monsters that possessed people and made them do crazy things. Not most of the time, anyway. If someone had told him demons actually existed a year ago, he'd probably have patted them on the head and went on his way. Now his very existence on this planet was caused by such a creature trying to escape its exorcism, so who knew for certain any more?
Because Earth monsters were still people, he told them the solution was to either wait for Time to remove the idiot, or a particularly pissed off enemy to speed up the process. Pandinus was understanding of the process, claiming queens often did such things to unstable rivals who were threatening the race's invisibility; Chrysalis was an unfortunate case of a single changeling queen wandering into the woods and launching her attack without any other queens noticing her. Luna was...

Okay, Luna had looked a bit upset at the prospect. Apparently she was a big fan of redeeming everyone, especially after her so-called fall. When he'd try to point out that it wasn't so much her going crazy as her being possessed, her mood had dropped even further, claiming that she'd let herself become weak enough for that. He'd stop trying to justify it after that and just settled for a few hugs; sometimes someone just wanted to feel guilty.

Currently Cimmerian was wandering the dream realm, looking for the orb that would be their sneaky queen, hoping to either learn her location, or maybe even open up dialogue with her. The difficulty in finding her was a monument to just how many people were now living at the Temple. Eventually he managed to figure out the perimeter of the temple in the dream realm and find an orb that wasn't near any others. The only thing that worried him was that it was weak, so weak it reminded him of something.

'Din's dream was like that before she recovered,' he realized, carefully touching it. Such a dream was unstable, the mind not really having the strength to form its own world and working with simple images for dreams. Deciding to take a chance, he inserted images of his own.

Changelings wandering the Temple without disguise, walking right past ponies and griffons as they went about their lives. A nymph chasing after two foals, all three wearing smiles as they played. The fountain, yes the queen had seen it, but he showed what was in it, felt the queen's gnawing hunger when she realized such a thing was just sitting outside, free to any who approach. Finally, he grit his teeth in concentration. This would be the most difficult part. The world seemed to solidify into an actual dream, the alicorn's magic holding together what the changeling couldn't. That was when he got his first good look at his target.

That she was thin was no surprise, but the colors were a shock. A deep forest green was her primary color, her chitin covering every possible inch of flesh in stark contrast to Queen Pandinus. Her short and slick mane was a brown usually reserved for trees, lending the queen a natural camouflage color scheme that likely allowed her to move almost unseen in forests and jungles. She looked around in confusion for a few moments before her amber eyes locked on his approaching figure. He slowly walked up to her with an expressionless face before gently nuzzling her cheek, sending one last image to the confused queen. The cities half-completed southern gate with the morning sun just peaking over the trees.

"Meet me there. We'll help you," he whispered softly.

Even then it was too much of a shock, the dream shattering around him and leaving him in the dream realm once more. The first few times it had happened, he'd actually woken up, the shock of the transition pulling him from the dream realm as well. He shook his head, desperately hoping she got the message before returning to the residents. Many, especially the griffons and the few thestrals, were often plagued by nightmares. Sometimes it felt like his work was never done.

He watched the world around him, even going so far as to brush against a few of the more removed dreams, ending the nightmares of those in neighboring areas. He felt Luna pass him several times, the mare brushing against his own presence gently before returning to her travels, offering advice and encouragement as she'd done for so long before. He avoided such things. He was only in his twenties no matter what was added to his mind, he just didn't feel like he was worthy of such a task. Besides, why step into Luna's territory any more than he had to? The work kept her busy, it gave her something to do.



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They were up and eating breakfast before the dawn. Queen Pandinus was absolutely miserable, following after him in her preference to sleep until noon if she had the opportunity. They ate in companionable silence, enjoying a large, warm omelet for each of them with the queen dozing off against him when she'd finished. After the meal they rose, walking out into the courtyard as the first rays of sunlight hit the Temple of the Shadows. The residents still couldn't decide on a proper name for the town, and he was preparing to throw his own choice into the mix just to end the debate.

The two waited at the gates for a few minutes, the alicorn growing increasingly worried that his message didn't go through or drove her away when Pandinus walked into the forest with a determined grimace on her muzzle.

"Din? Din talk to me, what's going on?" he asked as he trotted after her.

"I can feel her, them. This way, and keep your emotions in check," she called back before picking up her pace. He had to hurry to keep up and eventually nearly bowled into the queen when she came to a stop in a small clearing. Where he expected to find a single changeling queen in a stare down with Pandinus, he instead found a three-way confrontation. In the first corner was Pandinus and himself. To his right was a second queen, this one different from the one in the dream and in an aggressive stance. The hissing changeling had an amber mane and royal blue chitin. The second queen was more focused on the other group at the moment though. Two more queens stood across from them, both squared off against the single changeling. One of the group was the one from the dream but she stood close to her palette-swapped partner, both wearily eyeing the newcomers and keeping the second queen in sight.

Din immediately set about speaking to them, a series of rapid clicks and wing-flutters drawing the attention of all three queens as she laid down on the ground. The one from the dream's eyes widened upon noticing him, then she looked to her partner for a moment before replying in a way that shocked her ally. The green queen then also laid down, pulling her friend with her as the other mare clicked a fierce retort. The second queen didn't respond verbally, however, merely hissed and snapped at both groups.

"The lone queen is feral, Cimmerian," Pandinus whispered "I don't think we'll be getting through to her."

"Don't think or know?" he replied, moving forward and mentally preparing a few offensive spells.

"That was a general truce. It was one of the first things I learned, as sometimes changelings do get lost or have to work with other hives. The other two recognize it even if one objects, but that one didn't even respond," the queen took a steadying breath. "Do you see the second black spike on her head just behind the horn? Her crown has degraded. She no longer has the capacity to work with others, she won't lay eggs, and any drone she finds won't be claimed, it will be cannibalized for energy."

Cimmerian sighed in defeat. "If you're certain, we should put her do-"

The feral queen hissed upon tasting the surge of sorrow and pity, her eyes focusing on the dark alicorn. He tripped while backing away from her lunge, catching her with his hooves and launching her behind him. He was on his hooves again quickly, cursing the ridiculous situation; he couldn't even be resigned when dealing with changelings, could he? Scratch that, she could probably taste his irritation too.

"Fool, I told you to watch yourself, but you had to focus on her," Pandinus said. She clicked something to the other queens and they backed away, almost disappearing into the forest beyond. "It's the duty of queens to put the mad out of their misery. They will help us."

"If you're certain, I think I've got a plan. She's going to keep trying to feed on me, so we use that," Cimmerian said, focusing on the feral queen in his mind. The response was instantaneous, the queen barreling out of the trees with fangs bared only to be batted aside by a log surrounded in a dark glow. It flailed about for a moment before its hunger once more drove it to look to the alicorn. Without hesitation the feral queen rushed at him, only empty hunger in its eyes.
The lunge was intercepted by a tree branch encased in an ashen aura being used as an improvised spear. The branch shattered on impact but the queen's flight path was altered, sending her flying into a tree to the alicorns right. He immediately launched a shadow blade, drawing a line of green blood as the feral rolled out of the way of the lethal spell. Pandinus struck next, dropping from above in an attempt to crush the beast with her hooves. She missed, earning a cut from a horn swipe even as the feral queen backed away from them. It prepared to charge again when two horns pierced its side and throat.

The two other queens quickly removed themselves from the proximity of the flailing queen before they resumed positions at each others side. Din nodded to the other two before slowly approaching the beast. Using her aura to hold the queen still, Din reared up and brought her hooves down on the queen, ending her.

"What a waste," the stallion muttered before turning to the other two. The other queens were once more reclining on the ground in the pose Din had taken. Both sides faced each other and waited for the other to start.
"Uh, Din? Do I sit next to you, or..."

"No, this is between rulers of- on second thought, yes. Sit here, just a little behind me," his queen said, motioning to her right. As soon as he was seated the older queen hissed and clicked something at Pandinus, obviously not liking the message.

"Equish, he doesn't know our language." Din told them.

The younger was much calmer. "Why include him, why put him beside. Follow you, yes? Queen lead."

"Cimmerian leads the Temple of the Shadows. I, Queen Pandinus, rule the hive but he rules the town the hive is a part of," the healthy queen said simply. "That means that you will be under my rule if you choose to join and I report to him, and I really don't advise against turning down this offer. I can taste your cycling from here."

At the alicorn's look of confusion she explained. "They're cycling emotion back and forth. It allows two changelings to last much longer on the same amount of emotion, but it often ends with the changelings becoming ill and needing to go through a cleansing. They can't even touch love at the moment without getting sick, not of the potency we have back at the Temple. They'd become violently ill."

Turning back to the two queens, Din continued "You will also limit your laying as much as you can. Our changeling population is quite large at the moment, and Cimmerian would like more sources of emotion before we increase our numbers too much more. True drones are fine, as they don't eat much, but limit yourselves to your minimum clutch. Finally, the two of you will fill the role of operators in the hive once you've recovered sufficiently. I don't have any at the moment, and the hive has grown large enough that I can't keep track of everything."

The brown queen jumped to her hooves, pacing back and forth for a few moments while spitting, hissing and generally not acting very pleased at the terms. A few more stomps and a pleading look from her counterpart, and she slumped. The deal was sour, but it was that or death. The smaller queen looked curiously at Cimmerian and Pandinus.

"What about link? Mad Queen always find links, what different?" she asked. She stood up, slowly circling Din and taking note of her form. "So safe, willing to be weak? Why help?"

"My presence interrupts the array she uses to detect magic and links. The hive is over one hundred strong and none feel the pressure of Her array. The lack of chitin is for me," Cimmerian answered, grinning at Din. "Don't think I didn't recognize what you did that for. You made yourself easier to cuddle," he joked before turning back to the queens. "Why help? Because about two months ago she looked like you do now and she's learning to empathize, not just be empathic. Here you have a future, first as, operators? Yes, first as operators, then later as full queens over your own hives," he trailed off, gesturing for Pandinus to continue.

"I'd like to deny that, but he's right, there is a difference between being empathic and having empathy. Put yourself in another's situation, and you may find yourself much more willing to help them. You both know as well as I do that in any other instance the idea of helping another queen in your condition would be laughed at and thus has never been done, so we're going to be using the same rules as lost drones. Give yourselves to my hive, and you will be cared for. Once you repay the emotion it cost to recover, you may leave if you wish," she said before giggling. "I don't think that will be happening though."

At the older queen's angry hiss, Din broke into laughter. "I don't mean paying back the emotion won't be happening, that's easy; I mean breaking off won't happen. Why would you return to just surviving when you could be well fed and sleeping soundly at night? I'm certain you're taking shifts to watch while the other sleeps, what if you were both able to sleep the entire night? Sleep in a nest full of other changelings, your bellies full and the buzzing of the link at the back of your minds? Walk through the hive, knowing that your eggs are safe, and that they will not go hungry? That is the offer. Your aide and loyalty for food and shelter you will find nowhere else."

The queens stared at each other for a moment before the senior queen pulled her junior after her, both walking into the jungle and out of earshot.

"Din? Aren't you worried they may try something?" the alicorn asked.

"They'll accept. Agreements and meetings between queens are the only times lies and deception are prohibited by tradition, otherwise the hives would be in constant war and nothing would be accomplished. If the meeting was between drone proxies, then lying would be acceptable, but we're face to face. Also, they can't look at me and think my health is a trick. Even a disguise that would hide holes would be detectable by other queens at this range. As for betraying once they're linked? It would be betraying the agreement, and no queen would do that as no other hive would ever deal with her again," the queen answered.

The stallion hummed thoughtfully for a moment, "Speaking of other queens, they all had crowns. Didn't you say yours would be coming in soon?"

Pandinus looked back over the trees the others had left through, then turned to face him. She bowed her head, and used her magic to part her mane, exposing a small crown just sprouting on the top of her head.
"It's trying to grow, but I keep growing as well, and I believe that's slowing its development."

It looked odd to the dark alicorn, almost like a sea anemone growing in her mane. He leaned in for a closer look and she giggled at his breath touching it, pulling her head back.
"Is there anything on you that's not sensitive when it first comes in?" he asked, shaking his head in exasperation.

The healthy queen smiled in response, pressing up against him and basking in his warm flow of emotions. He wrapped a wing around her, nuzzling her gently as they waited. When it became visible he'd probably have people asking why she had one and he didn't, and that would most likely lead to his people making him a crown of his own. That would be neat, a king among aliens, wearing a silver or gold crown. He snickered, the idea of him sitting in a throne room with first a cardboard crown, then wearing a bottle of alcohol on his head. Too bad he'd probably be the only one to understand the jokes.

After nearly ten minutes of waiting, the two reverse-colored queens came back out, both looking at the couple in confusion. The younger one trotted up to Pandinus and with one last glance back at her companion, bowed her head.
"Accept. Ask only that treat well. Am Queen Zelus, other is Queen Lestidae."

Pandinus nodded, gesturing to the queen to lay down. "Cimmerian, could you please lay there? And I want her to sit there," Din directed them, having the two lay down on either side of the alicorn. She then directed him to hold a wing over each and begin focus on each of the queen's condition, allowing a little of his emotion to flow over them.
"While I'm linking with them, you will begin their cleansing. It's going to be messy, so hold their heads up if they get weak. Their bodies will need time to readjust to using the fresh emotions."

The alicorn did as was requested, and after about two minutes the queens began wheezing, then sputtering and heaving, a thick glowing green gel being spat out every now and again. Suddenly the younger queen, the first to be linked, shuddered and heaved a large mess of the gel onto the ground at the other queen's hooves before nearly passing out into it. Even as Din finished her work with Zelus, Lestidae was valiantly attempting to contain herself. Pandinus waited for a second, likely hoping the queen would just make her mess before she came too close. She lost her patience however, touching her horn to the older queen. A flash of emotions being transferred pushed Lestidae over the edge; with a whine, the older queen also vomited some of her cycled emotions in front of her, the dark glow of the alicorns magic now keeping both their heads up as Din linked them to herself.

Queen Pandinus slumped slightly, the joining of such powerful entities to her hive leaving her reeling slightly. The other two were asleep, their bodies desperately at work repairing an untold amount of damage they'd sustained over the years. Catching her breath, Din turned to the stallion, levitating the smaller queen onto her back.
"I'll carry Zelus, you can take Lestidae. This was only the beginning of the cleansing, and it is not a pleasant experience. The medical room will be their home over the next week. I'll have a changeling medic staying nearby, ready to remove the cycled emotions as they are ejected."

"Uh, shouldn't we do something about-" Cimmerian's question died on his lips, the form of the feral queen already disintegrating.

"She's similar to the feral drones," the changeling explained, "Nothing holding her together except magic and hunger. By tomorrow, you may not even be able to find any trace of her besides ash and a bit of residual magic. Come, we're putting these away, and I'm going back to bed. I hate mornings."

'Just when I thought I couldn't love her anymore,' the stallion thought with a exaggerated dreamy sigh.



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The queens were dropped off in the medical room and Din left to return to her bed. Cimmerian waited a little longer to make sure they were comfortable, then began to head out the door. He was nearly bulled over as the door was flung open, a small tide of changelings rushing in and looking over the newest additions. Several soon moved closer, earning the ire of the medical staff while some of the changelings realized they knew who was before them. In a flash many were blazing out the door again, spreading the news of the identity of the mystery queens. Some looked disappointed, others were jubilant.

'Didn't even think of what that would do for changeling morale,' He thought, 'Some of them will be happier than ever, knowing their queen or princess survived, others will keep hope that their mother is still out there somewhere. Then there will be those that learn about the feral queen, whose name I never learned. Wait, Zelus. I've heard that name before.'

He was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of children, following their caretaker as she cautiously walked into the room. They stopped by the alicorn, playing and joking quietly , some attempting to draw a reaction out of him, but his eyes were on Mirage. The matron was slowly approaching the younger queen, as if her advance may scare the sleeping queen away. Gently, the mare reached out a hoof, softly stroking the mane out of the ragged queen's face before moving closer, hugging the insensate changeling.  Realizing what was happening, the alicorn led the younglings out the door, leaving the gathered to celebrate the reunion. Mirage would probably be back at full capacity tomorrow, and Zelus wouldn't be going anywhere even after she'd recovered. Not with a familiar face to keep her here.

He led them to the nursery, several looking disappointed at being returned there so quickly, and shut the door behind him with a resounding slam. Several of the kids looked around in confusion before they met his gaze, their eyes widening in realization as several loose feathers were pulled from his wings and began to dance around him. An evil grin spread across his muzzle; he had at least an hour before Miss Goodhooves and Lady Thrisha arrived with the supplies for basic reading and writing classes. There would be no escape for them now.



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Another day, another report of lost supply caravans and resources. It was starting to shake her grip, both on the world in general and her grip on her host. The Mad Queen had dragged the first few messengers off to her own personal entertainment room, but by now she was becoming increasingly dead to the reports. Honestly, if not for the continued love being directed at Twilight from somewhere, she'd have already subsumed the mare, but Celestia never gave up on her. Now the white alicorn's faith was unshakable, the Queen's charade having been uncovered. Luna didn't seem connected, citing ignorance, but was she truly as out of the loop as she implied? It was impossible to know, and her host had now taken up her old position, constantly heckling her and telling her how things were slipping out of her grip.

'Celestia knows something you don't.'
'Cadance is still out there, so is somepony else who is willing to stop you.'
'He wants to help me, he'll save us. I know he will, he'll stop us, stop you, and everypony will be happy again!'
'Everything you've done will be for nothing!'

She grit her teeth, causing the soldier who'd delivered the report the squirm in fear. As much as she relished such reactions, indifference was preferable. Even if she killed Celestia and Luna, there were others out there holding out for her host, in fact in the last month she'd felt the number almost triple. It was a stab in her gut, and a breath of fresh air to Twilight. Love was being directed at her once again, her body grasping at it desperately amid the miasma of hatred and fear she'd been drowning in. Why? Why was it the most powerful creatures on the planet, those most likely to fall to a Nightmare's possession, were fueled by love? She couldn't start feeding until she'd properly possessed the mare, as the pain of her feeding on such emotions would have driven Twilight away from her instantaneously. She could attempt to destroy everything here, letting the minotaurs destroy the army and unleashing the changelings on the world, her brood queens pumping out egg after egg and constantly reinforcing a mindless swarm of fear and death that would descend on the world, but they would burn out quickly and she'd be left defenseless. Magic was becoming more difficult. Even some of the spells she'd pulled from the mare were no longer available to her, Twilight having separated herself enough mentally to no longer give the Nightmare access to her plethora of spells and knowledge, and the Nightmare hadn't bothered memorizing anything from the mare, figuring she was as good as gone.

"My Queen! Urgent report from the border against the minotaur lands!" A courier shouted as she flew into the office. The mare hoofed over the report and saluted. The Nightmare sighed, breaking the seal and reading the message.

Minotaurs launched probing attacks against patrols. Changeling screens ineffective. Border units request immediate reinforcements as well as supplies to fortify positions. Casualties unknown ATT. Awaiting further orders.


Cunning Linguist, HRH Communications Unit Commander
	


To the surprise of both individuals, the Mad Queen burst into laughter, tears rolling down her eyes. She slammed a hoof on the table, unable to breath for a few moments before the Nightmare managed to wrest back control, terrified by her sudden loss of control. She slapped her hooves over her muzzle, eyes wide in shock.
'No, there's no way it's gotten that bad!' Nightmare thought. It was just a lapse, just a desperate push that likely took every ounce of Twilight's mental fortitude to push past her control.

"Draft. I need more soldiers if the changelings wont work," the Mad Queen muttered. Her eyes widened, a grin on her muzzle. 
"Put a notice out to the thestrals. Join the Equestrian military, and I won't have to cleanse them. They have to prove themselves though; if they do really well, I'll even pardon their families. I also want a general recruitment drive. Our enemies will be attacking, and the changelings may not work against this force. Shining, I want you to grab a large group of specialists, and I want you to find out where He is. We crush whoever it is that's sabotaging us, and we'll have a much easier time of things. I want His skull, do you hear me? I want to take it to Celestia, and shatter it on the floor in front of her! I also want supplies moved to the warfront. We'll crush the minotaurs, we need to hit them yesterday. Anything they ask for, get to them, understand?"

The cost was inconsequential, because as soon as every other major power was dead, she'd let Equestria tear itself apart as well. Everyone would place the blame at her hooves, and then not even Celestia's unshakable love could save Twilight. In the meantime she'd have to find a threat to keep the mare in line. She was really starting to regret throwing away Cadance. If she still had the mare, she'd be able to threaten the pink alicorn's life to keep Twilight in line.

Ah, that was perfect, perhaps the idea of moving a few changeling units to various towns and cities. Most had empty caves and warehouses nearby, they'd never know the changelings were there till they 'escaped her control'.

Twilight immediately withdrew, and the Mad Queen grinned again. Minor setbacks. She wouldn't lose where it counted.
> The Legends of Another World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	He crawled into the bed even though it was nearly ten in the morning. The benefit of being in charge was he could sleep in if he stayed up to work on what was needed or there were no emergencies, his position not having actual hours. Besides, he had a few things to discuss with a certain queen. Pandinus was staring off at a wall, not even flinching at his arrival. He adjusted himself, and when she still didn't react he laid on his side and pulled her into his barrel with all four legs, nuzzling her. She still failed to react.

'Fine, be that way,' he thought, blowing on the top of her head. The shifting hair caused her to flinch and she gave him a stink eye. A kiss on the cheek and he was apparently forgiven, the queen finally responding by shifting further into his grip.
"Talk to me, Huggle-buzz."

"I don't know how to feel," she muttered, ignoring the jab "Mother would have a conniption if she knew I was allowing other queens into my hive like this, but with how few changelings we have even with such a beacon to my race? It scares me. Is this all that's left? Less than two hundred changelings left in the world that aren't under Her control. Even of those among the enslaved, how many more are actually sapient, and how many have died so far? Yes, as long as a single queen survives and can lay eggs, we can rebuild, but it's still scary. If something happens here, and the four of us are killed, the only queens left are under the Mad Queen's control, and she may kill them if she runs out of targets for their progeny. And that will be that, no more changelings. People may come across an abandoned hive or two, but some may not even recognize it as a place sapient creatures lived.
"What do we actually have? We've been focused on survival and keeping hidden for so long we don't really have anything to say we were here. Yes, that was kind of the point for some hives. Yes, the central spire of my mother's hive was beautiful, carved with intricate designs that flowed like water, but that was done over the years by changelings in their spare time. My mother never mentioned any other wonders, never mentioned places of beauty built by our race. The love fountain, it was built by changelings and must be cared for by changelings, supplied by changelings, but it was the dream of an alicorn. I just don't know, I'm scared of what might happen. It never mattered to me before, but all of a sudden I'm planning these things out and I can't help but want to be certain of our future."

The queen let out a weary sigh, "This is your fault, you know. I never worried about these kinds of things before. It was just survival I was worried about, not legacy, not the future beyond 'do we have enough food for tomorrow?'"

"I understand pretty well, actually. Yea I have some of Luna up here, but you saw what I was, didn't you? I was studying to be a guard, not a king. Some mornings I wake up and wonder if it's real, or if I went crazy," he smiled at her "Then a certain changeling comes along and bops me on the nose, reminding me that, no, it's not a dream. Jury's still out on the case of my sanity, though."
"What's your thoughts on the queens? I know they're probably different from when a drone joins, but you must have gotten something from the connection."

"I'm worried more about Zelus than Lestidae. The older queen is a traditionalist, but she's out of her element here. She's going to be off-balance for a while with how different things are here. From what I've seen she loves planning and management. She'd be a boon to Gleam and Shadow in their planning of the town. There's a few drones that recognize her, even three that call to her as their mother, but even those three are leaving her care to us, trusting my medically inclined changelings to see to her health. After all, she's one of mine now as well.
"Zelus will be difficult to place. She's older than me, but still young. She never actually managed to start a hive of her own, but she did finish her training for position of queen. She likes being out and about, though. Subterfuge, spying, that kind of thing; I think she'd like to be running those kinds of operations more than a hive. Mirage knows her, as does one other, but they recognize her as a sister, not a mother. Like Lestidae though, much of her training will work against her at times while she lives here."

"Speaking of killing, you and I are going to be working on your combat skills," the mare told him. "I may not have been an expert, but Zelus knows much about the topic, and once she's recovered she'll be helping as well. Your fighting skills are all over the place. Sometimes you're a prodigy, slaying all in your path,  and sometimes you're a blundering fool, like you were when the queen lunged. You could have killed her several times, but you kept either missing or not reacting to her openings. I'd feel better if I didn't have to worry about my mate defeating a dragon only to be eaten by a simple bear."

The alicorn rolled his eyes, a bemused expression on his muzzle as he ran a hoof over her back. "Alright, I'll give you that. I don't have much in the way of actual combat training, just some self defense that was for a different body. I accept your request that I be a punching bag."

"Good," she said, resting her head on his neck. "Now I request you be a pillow, and pillows don't make me worry about the future. They lie there being soft, and this one keeps me warm."



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Gleam shuffled through the documents she'd written up concerning several issues that had cropped up over the past week. More griffons arriving, a request for supplies to be delivered to the port, and the results of the most recent fishing attempts that had been delivered just an hour ago. The griffons were currently using the dive method for fishing, spreading out over the ocean and grabbing a few fish before returning either to the shore or a small dingy they were using to cut down travel times. One of the fools even managed to catch a shark, earning several lacerations that required stiches and a poultice to fix. Still, the catch had rallied the village, many looking to make a second such catch. The result had been several injuries, two lost limbs, and the loss of a griffon which in turn had led to a call from Lady Thrisha that they stop being immature fools.
The unicorn couldn't fathom what would drive a griffon to attempt to fight a shark, but then again they were predators. Maybe it was normal, maybe it was just foolishness of the young. After all, she'd heard of many ponies wandering into places that were known to be dangerous for no other reason than idle curiosity.
'Maybe it's not just a griffon thing. Maybe it's a stupid kids thing.'

Things were going surprisingly well for the Temple barring a few difficulties, but even those weren't life threatening. Most supplies were in a surplus. What wasn't covered by the farms could be harvested from the jungle, or worst case scenario bought from Zarris. Fishing was becoming a bigger source of food, with the repairs to the fishing boat being a milestone that would help even more. Somehow even love was plentiful despite the large number of changelings feeding off the reserves.

'And that's just the focused love of one being supplying most of that, imagine what would happen if changelings joined a herd or two around here.' She mused.

All that was left was letting things fall into place and making sure it went smoothly. She was still confused about that letter Father had her send to Herrick. It was meant for the thestrals leadership, or what was left of it. She was curious why he trusted such a message to the mercenary leader but not regular post. Sure Herrick was more than happy to help after the copy of the array Father had provided him, but wouldn't it have been faster to send it by post?

The unicorn mare took a glance at the window, noting how high in the sky the sun was. Father was likely back in bed, though she knew he'd been up and about earlier for some reason. The two, Cimmerian and Pandinus, both slept like dragons. She'd need to send a runner to make sure they were up.

A drone flitted up to the table, giving a quick salute by pressing a hoof to its chest.
"Two queens are to be added to the census. They were picked up earlier today by Father and Mother and are currently in the medical room undergoing cleansing to remove the over-processed emotions from their systems. They should be healthy in about a week by Mist's estimates. Mother returned to her room afterwards to rest from the joining as well as combat with an unnamed entity, and Father is currently with her. Last report had them in the queen's chamber, and that was around ten."

'Two hours ago,' she realized. Two more queens. Part of her worried about possible infighting between them, but she'd welcome a second set of eyes and hooves to help her sort through this mess. She was able to make this work, but the scale of the projects was quickly growing beyond her ability to handle.

Gleam turned back to the drone, "I want you to wake them. Mo-Pandinus and Father, I mean. They'll sleep until the end of time if we don't drag them out of bed. If they don't comply within ten minutes, execute plan B. Their aren't any eggs in the room, so the water won't damage anything."



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Pain was the first thing she was aware of. Lestidae's return to consciousness was unpleasant, though she did feel better than she did the day before.
'Not say much,' she thought bitterly, looking around the medical room. It was recognizable, but seemed almost cobbled together; a strange mix of medical beds and changeling pods in the room. The idea of ponies willingly entering changeling pods seemed completely ridiculous. Then again, the entire city or town that the two of them had stumbled upon when tracking down the large source of love seemed to be one big joke. Everything she saw from her scouting flew in the face of everything she'd been taught as a hatchling. The most insulting thing however, was that it worked. Not only did it work, it seemed to work well, the ponies relying on changelings for quick construction and scouting while the ponies provided food for the changelings. Other races were a part of the strange symbiosis as well, griffons and gnolls both relying on each other for protection and hunting, and both protecting the ponies who planned permanent defenses and provided large amounts of food.

'Prey species feeding three predator species willingly, get protection and shelter, predators either eat other things, or feed on prey without hurt them,' the queen realized, a grin spreading across her face at the idea. It was ridiculous, silly, insane, and she wished she'd thought of it years ago. Unfortunately, she was always told that even a single pony learning of them could end their hive, or even their race.

A quick flutter of insect wings brought her attention to a drone that began inspecting her, his horn glowing as he used a pencil to mark a small paper attached to a clip board. It wasn't a medical form but a series of notes, detailing actions taken so far and suggestions for further care. The medical changeling checked the seals placed on any breaks in her chitin, measured the holes in her body, then finally began tapping on her elytra, silently requesting access to her wings. Instinct told her not to grant such a request, but her situation didn't leave much choice. Carefully, Lestidae opened the cover and felt the medic inspecting the diaphanous wings with a studied familiarity. Normally only her own drones would be granted such access, but she didn't have any right now. Tartarus, she was part of another queens hive, not much higher than a drone herself.
The queen cast a glance to her right, the next bed occupied by a still-sleeping Zelus. The two had joined up after barely surviving an ambush and had been working together ever since. How long was it? She couldn't remember, but it was a decent stretch of time. The two had only each other to rely on, and Lestidae was not ashamed to say she'd trust the other queen with her life. That didn't mean she agreed with her in what amounted to surrendering to another queen.

She was jostled slightly as  a drone landed on the bed, drawing her attention forward. Her eyes widened, recognizing the drone as one of her own brood.

"Kris," she whispered in her own tongue, leaning forward to nuzzle the drone even as he wrapped his forelegs around her snout. The drone was almost in tears, starting and stopping several times. He took a deep breath, and spoke at last.

"I betrayed you. I'm so sorry, I couldn't wait anymore. I joined her hive. I, I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I should have looked longer, you were so close but I-"

"Stop," she clicked, cutting off his rant. She brushed against him with the link. The connection Pandinus had given her was weak but she could touch him if she concentrated. "Feel."
His eyes widened in shock as she continued, "Not betrayed, made way for. Good guard, keep safe while heal, keep healers safe."

She pulled back from the contact, happy to know at least one of her hive had survived. "Others?"

"Yes mother, two others. Both-" he was nudged by the changeling nurse, this time carrying both a bucket and a small jar of white emotion-gel. Lestidae grimaced at the items, knowing exactly what unpleasantness she was about to experience. While normally regurgitating emotions was easy, replacing her current reserves was a chore. She'd likely have to go through this several more times before she was clean, but once she was and was given access to some of the love they had, her healing would accelerate tenfold.

The medical drone knocked back about half the jar, then touched his horn to her own, transferring the emotion directly to her system and allowing her to begin forcing more of the toxic mess she'd been living on to her spare stomach chamber. Her body was quicker to respond to even the diluted emotion this time, but even as she emptied herself into the provided bucket she gagged at the taste left in her mouth. She frowned at the bucket, knowing much of the emotion she'd just been granted was being used to carry the mess out of her system. After the third expulsion she sagged back onto the bed while her son made himself comfortable at her side. It would be a long week, but just seeing some of her children again would make it all worth it. Maybe she wouldn't beat Zelus into the ground for this after all.



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A pink alicorn watched from the far side of the room. She still held a smaller changeling like a stuffed doll but she was calmer now. She could hear the voices still, but they didn't yell at her. They were gentle, kind, concerned, they wanted her to be well. The big changeling wanted her to get better, too. From what she could see and hear, the big changeling and Not-L, no, his name was Cimmerian. The big changeling was Pandinus, and he was Cimmerian, and she was Cadance.

She'd started thinking again, letting her mind wander. Sometimes the thoughts were happy, and she shared the happiness with Amare. Sometimes the thoughts were bad, or scary, and Pandinus or Cimmerian were willing to let her cry by their side, the queen even searching her out if she became overwhelmed while she was alone. Safe wasn't a word she'd have used to describe the m-changelings a few years ago. Now she couldn't think of a safer place in the world. She was never abandoned even in the dark of night. She was never alone even if she went off and sat in one of the towers on the Temple's roof.
She stretched her wings, watching each feather being realigned as she ruffled them. The motions set the hatchling in her hooves giggling and reaching for them. Cadance knew better than to let a foal touch her wings though. She'd learned that it hurt long ago. Colts and fillies she'd watched over the years, even a purple filly that often sent her into fits every now and again. She was getting better though. Pandinus helped her with that, communicating that it wasn't Twilight, that something was wrong with her. Not-Twilight hurt her just as it hurt everyone else, even Twilight.

Happiness and love. She could see the love between the new mon-changelings even though it looked weird. She knew some of them loved the new arrivals, and she could see the new arrival loved the one at its side right now. She was seeing love again, and it made her feel light, made her feel better. Amare always led her to groups of ponies who were happy, letting the alicorn watch them laugh and play. It was good for her.

That was what Cimmerian said, and she believed him.

The pink alicorn levitated the nymph onto her back before trotting out the door. She wanted to try something. It scared her to death, but she needed to do this. She walked up the stairs, passing the war room where Gleam was dropping off papers for Cimmerian and Pandinus to go over, the three discussing  things she didn't really understand at the moment. She probably could have joined in if she wanted to.

She stopped before the door, her hoof almost shaking as she reached out and knocked softly. It opened just as slowly, Amare's presence likely telling the other changeling who it was that had knocked. The chubby changeling smiled kindly at her, managing to keep its fangs in its mouth. Cadance slowly entered the room, focusing heavily on her breathing. She felt Pandinus pressing against her now. The queen whispered soft reassurances to her mind; she was safe, they wouldn't hurt her.

Across the way sat the children. Foals, nymphs, chicks, and pups, all staring at her with interest. She was visibly shaking now, despite the reassurances from the link and Amare pressing against her. One of the fillies approached nearly causing her to bolt, but Din told her to hold still. The filly reached her and sat down while reaching both hooves out for the alicorn's foreleg. Cadance closed her eyes and whimpered, bracing herself for a bite, a buck, any of the things the last filly she'd cared for had done. The injury never came. She opened her eyes to see the filly hugging her leg, a bright smile on the foal's face. Another foal approached, then a chick, then a pup, all pressing against her, all sensing her fear but not understanding it. None understood how an adult could fear them.

Soon her shaking lessened, and she turned to leave. She accomplished her goal and needed to rest now. Her path was blocked, however, by a large being. Two large beings, actually. Cimmerian and Pandinus both sat in the doorway, blocking any possible retreat. The two rose and walked into the room, the queen calling through the link for her to follow. Cadance did so, resting against the queen uneasily as the children made themselves comfortable, eyes eager as they looked upon the dark alicorn. He said he wanted to tell them a story, a story about heroes and monsters, a story about hope, and how even when things were bad, the hero would triumph.

The alicorn grinned with his eyes closed, the light fading from the room except for around him. Another spell, and a  cheery tune began to resonate throughout the room, setting the stage for the story. Finally, an image formed in the air, a strange creature garbed in green, with a golden mane and piercing blue eyes. Every eye was on the image, even the queen and chubby changeling looking at it curiously. Then Cimmerian began speaking.

"In a far away world, where magic was faint but still known by all, there was a young human who lived in a forest. He lived among others, but he knew he was different. After all, every other human in the forest had a guardian fairy. Some were his friends, others teased him. Time passed, and he grew strong. One day, his dreams for a guardian fairy were answered."
The image faded, a strange creature of light and wings being displayed in its stead, "A fairy came to his home and told him the guardian of the forest requested his presence. So the young boy stepped out of his home, never knowing just where that first step would take him."
> Charity is its Own Reward...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"And so, the hero slew the great monster with his cunning, his sword skills, and the well timed use of high explosives!" Cimmerian said as he regaled the children with his story. "The beast flailed about the chamber, before falling into the lava that had nearly been the end of the hero several times. The magic powering the monster failed, and as the spell keeping the monster alive petered out, so too did the spell keeping the lava molten. It hardened around the creature, leaving nothing more than a black shell in the middle of the room. Grinning ear to ear at his total victory over such a great beast, he retrieved another crystal of fortitude and made his way back to the world above.
"It was there, just outside the dangerous caverns, that the leader of the Gorons met the hero. Darunia thanked him for his aide in providing his people food and even offered him the very item the hero had journeyed to the mountain to retrieve: The Spiritual Stone of Fire. Afterwards the hero followed his new friend's advice, traveling up the active volcano for the blessing of the powerful fairy who lived at the top."

"One more task lay before the hero now. Finding the Spiritual Stone of Water. It would not be easy, but he would not be deterred. He had journeyed too far. With two stones, the blessing of the Great Fairy, and his own limitless courage. The hero went to find the stones keepers. But that is for another time." The alicorn turned to the gathered crowd, a rather surprising mix of people from the temple all having stopped by to listen. 'Everyone likes a good story, no matter the world. And Link's adventure was always one of my favorites. Good to see the idea of a child hero turns just as many heads here.'

His declaration was met with a chorus of jeers, boos, and aww's from the children, and a few disgruntled comments from gathered adults. Cimmerian stood up, stretching his limbs to get feeling back in them after nearly two hours sitting on his rump. On the one h-oof he was surprised he was able to drag the story out that long from just the first two dungeons, but then again it was mostly a verbal story with a few images. Each fight was told, not shown, and still images could only do so much. He'd not yet mastered moving images and for this story likely wasn't going to use them. Dinner was the current destination of all the gathered. Hopefully, Slop and his assistant's weren't among those he'd suckered in with the story. He was kind of hungry.

The Alicorn blinked, stopping in his tracks as a stray thought hit him. "Oh, we're definitely doing pizza sometime soon. It's been way too long."



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Later that evening found the alicorn lost at sea, a sea of paperwork at least. The first overboard was the changeling queen, slamming her head onto the table in the center of the war room in frustration

"I'm done." She muttered in exhaustion. "If I try to keep going I'm liable to set this whole mess ablaze."

"Not that I don't appreciate another set of hooves, but why are you here?" Gleam asked her without looking up from her own stack.

"Because she likes hanging off of me, but she doesn't like sitting around when everyone around her is busy." Cimmerian said. The alicorn stretched his wings, ruffling them in irritation. "Okay, most of this I understand we need to keep track of, but what's this about a separate settlement for the changelings?"

Shadow Weaver looked over the request in front of the alicorn before shrugging. "Many of the griffons don't like them based on the invasion, many equines distrust them because of how little we know of them, and what we do know is mostly negative. It's really not that surprising, despite what we see here. Sometimes it's hard to let go of what we've been told our whole lives."

Cimmerian locked a fetlock over his muzzle, groaning. "The changeling hive is about half of our workforce at the moment. Not to mention close proximity to others is what keeps them alive. Who's this from anyway?"

"No name." Pandinus said looking over his shoulder. "Not surprising."

"Alright, new rule. Names on requests or they get pitched. I'm not dealing with a bunch of hussies hiding behind their anonymity while they sling insults and such around. If they don't want their names put on it, they don't believe in it. If their worried about being teased about something, they can make a general request that I visit their dream and they can tell me there. Completely confidential." Cimmerian turned to the others gathered at the table. "Passing glance at documents if they don't have a name. If it's requests like this one with no name, it goes in a pile. Yes Din, you can burn them."

Din giggled maliciously, clopping her hooves together in anticipation. The table soon returned to companionable silence for a few moments, before the queen once again spoke.
"Was that your people's creation story?" 

The alicorn blinked owlishly at her, lost at the abrupt topic change before realizing what she was referring to. Before he could respond, Shadow Weaver cut in.
"What do you mean his people's creation story?"

It took a moment for the full weight of the unicorn's question to hit the alicorn. Shadow Weaver and Gleam, in fact most of the Temple's residents, still thought he was the same creature that possessed Luna a little over a millennia ago. Queen Pandinus had, quite innocently, just shed light on the fact that this was not true.
"No Din, that was just a story within a story. We have hundreds of creation stories, and despite what some may say none of them have more proof than others. Belief is usually a combination of personal beliefs along with how and where you were raised." After the final words left his mouth, his horn glowed, casting the room in a dark aura.

"Din, I want two guards outside the door for a while, tell them to run the messages through you until we're done here." Looking at the two unicorns he held himself high. "Ask your question, Shadow."

The Shadow looked to Gleam for a moment before glancing back to the two lager equines. 
"W-what did she mean by your people's creation story?" He repeated. "I, I was under the impression that the Nightmare was, well, a demon of sorts or uh, something."

"There are actually two Nightmares that I'm aware of, Weaver." Cimmerian explained, his voice flat. "One was the creature that possessed Luna so many years ago, and the other currently resides in the Mad Queen. One I could dismiss as being an oddity or dimensional hiccup. Two? I start looking for their place of origin, because I'm certain there are even more out there. And to answer your follow up question, yes you freed the creature that was trapped in the armor, but no, it was not the Nightmare that possessed Luna all those years ago. That creature was never sealed. It fled to another world, my world. I don't think it caused as much trouble as it was hoping to, but I won't know unless I actually manage to return there one day."

At the confused expressions of the smaller two beings, he explained further. "The world it fled to is devoid of magic as far as I'm aware. Even if there was magic on Earth, the Nightmare would need to find an alternate way to gather and use magic, as no human on record has ever given actual instructions on the existence, much less the use, of magic. Those creatures I told you of not so long ago, the one's who'd fought their way to the top of the food chain with nothing more than their wits and persistence? That's what I was.
"Note that I said was. I am currently exactly what you see; an alicorn. I believe the Nightmare that swapped with me currently owns my body, while your ritual granted exactly what it was supposed to. It gave the one trapped in the Nightmare's armor the body of an alicorn."

Gleam looked shaken. "But, but if you're not the Nightmare, why would you-"

"Why would I act like I was? Why would I lead you all, protect you all, keep you all alive? Gleam, that first day I saw you, you were skin and bones. Hell, most of those living here were. Humans run the spectrum from the Celestia to Grogar and everything in between. In truth, you could just as easily have ended up with a creature that saw you all as food. Being the largest creature around and with how weak many of you were, there's a good chance that if the creature the Nightmare had swapped with was as bad as it was, you'd all be dead.
"Yes, I said evil, Shadow. That thing, that parasite that possessed Luna drove her to madness, drove her to attempt to destroy this world. I know this for a fact. Remember those first few weeks, when I was kind of out of it? Or when I acted strange after the gnoll attack? I was born like you, I had maybe a century to live at most, I'm still living with that mindset, and frankly, I'm terrified of what will happen when I live beyond that scope! Will my mind shatter, incapable of adjusting to an extended life-span? Will something go wrong with the wards and blocks I have that keep Luna's memories, that the Nightmare stuffed into my head, sealed away causing them to flood my mind like during the raid?"

The alicorn snorted. "Oh, and while we're talking about things that scare me, how about we talk about the fact that my birth family is now stuck on the same planet as the original Nightmare, who's had four decades to do whatever it can to destroy the planet. Or we can go straight to my favorite local topic, what happens if the Mad Queen finds us? What happens if she shows up on our doorstep? Even if I can defeat her at our current levels of strength, will I have to choose between peace on Equis, or a little girls life? A mare not much older than myself, who's spent the last few decades being tortured daily by the new nightmare? Oh, the decision's easy. The hard part is explaining it to any friends and family she still has, or explaining to Celestia why I had no choice but to kill her one time student."

Cimmerian closed his eyes, visibly calming himself down. "I owe those two a lot. Celestia stopped Luna from viewing me as the Nightmare returned, and Luna has helped me block her memories. Hell, Luna's teaching me how to use my alicorn magic. If you think I want anything but the best for those two, you're insane."

Gleam was the first to speak, though she didn't ask the dark alicorn a question. Instead, she turned to the queen. "You already knew this. Did it change what you thought of him?"

"All he had given me, and you feel the need to ask such a stupid question? It wasn't the Nightmare that gave me a home and a hive, it was Cimmerian." Pandinus stated, wrapping her forelegs around him from behind. "My hive stands behind me, and I stand behind him."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Gleam asked him. "From your reaction, you still don't trust us with this information, yet you trust us to work for the best interest of all those here. What's the difference?"

"The difference, Gleam, is that I'm more than just another creature in the Temple. At the moment, I'm a second incarnation of a creature that is feared nearly as much as Discord. Even then, the residents here are looking for stability. They found it here, under the wings of an alicorn, and I'm not going to take that away from them. I'm still learning about my abilities, and I'm certain I have enough raw power to level the town right now, but even the most powerful beings can't take care of everything. I keep you all safe, the town grows larger, I get to remain comfortable and talk to others. As it is, only the biggest threats are foisted off to me. We have enough griffons, gnolls and changelings to deal with the wildlife. The townies are safe, I suffer paperwork instead of mortal wounds, everyone wins. Yes, I'm getting by on the Nightmare's coattails at present, but think about it this way. The griffons don't like the changelings, but are convinced that if the changelings try anything, the Nightmare will destroy them. Many of the ponies here have seen me go after the gnolls, so there is no doubt in their minds that if the gnolls here try anything, it will only bring up a repeat of the raid. The fact that others may fear me enough to prevent such incidents is currently the biggest boon such a reputation grants me. When the time comes that I can let that go, I'll gladly do it. Until then, I'm going to use every tool available to me, even if they were handed out in a case of mistaken identity. To top it off, the Nightmare is known globally. Some griffons recognized me as the Nightmare by sight, automatically assuming I have the strength of the creature that possessed Luna as well as all of her spells."

"You mean to tell me you don't know any magic?" Shadow Weaver nearly shouted. The stallion was just barely avoiding shock. "B-but what about the blades of shadow, the telekinesis, the tracking spells! I've seen you use so many spells, now you're telling me you haven't even been taught a single spell until recently!"

"Most of them I patched together based on Luna's memories. The blades aren't even supposed to explode, it was because I messed up my patch. Personally I like the exploding blades, so even though Luna taught me the actual spell, I kept mine." Cimmerian explained. "I was stuck in that armor for nearly forty years, Shadow, I had a lot of time to sort through the memories, even if they were patchy as hell. Think of a shattered window pane with about half the parts blown outside, out of your reach. That was what I was working with. Enough pieces to get a picture, but not enough for much detail."

Weaver was silent, attempting to digest the news. The creature he'd freed wasn't the nightmare. In fact, it said that if he'd actually succeeded, he and everyone around him would be dead. Sensing his internal debate, the alicorn nodded to the door.

"Take your time to think on it. If you don't want to, or are incapable of continuing to help, let me know and I'll see you to Zarris myself. In the meantime, I ask that you keep this quiet. I'm not ready to share this information with the Temple yet. If you wish to speak further on the topic, send a message or talk to me, and I'll stop by your dreams. If both of you are interested, we can make it a full meeting. You'll be free to shout, scream, what have you."

The unicorns left the war room, both lost in thought. As soon as they were clear of the sound ward, the alicorn turned a glare at the changeling queen. A difficult task, considering her position.

"Relax, Cimmer. They're more confused than angry. I'm sure they'll stay," Pandinus offered.

"That's not really the point, Din. I trusted you with that information, and you shared it with people I didn't trust with it, even if it was on accident. The wrong accident at the wrong time can be dangerous. Not just to you and I either; if the Mad Queen benefits from it, the entire Temple could end up at risk." Cimmerian slumped, the worry eating at him even now. "I just don't know how I feel about this all getting out. It's great that ponies won't fear me, but on the other hoof, it's going to hit my reputation."

"Possibly, but it wasn't the Nightmare that repelled the gnoll raid. Even if it was with Luna's memories, it was your body that defeated them, and you could do it again. In fact, I believe you could do it without her memories now. As for the griffons' and the minotaurs' opinion of you? I assume many only have a name, possibly a species to attach to the wondrous gift that arrived through the Talons. With that one action, you did more damage to the Mad Queen's plans than any individual has before, all from the shadows, from the background." Pandinus chuckled as she pressed her head against his neck. "I'm certain my mother would approve of such an action. She loved doing things like that, making small moves here and there and watching them cascade over the world. Depending on how badly things go for the Mad Queen, we may be safe for quite some time, even if she does learn of us."

Despite the reassurances, Cimmerian set his head on the table. "What the fuck am I doing, Din. I'm leading town of aliens, helping in a war against a parasitic monster, I've got a way to communicate with creatures powerful enough to move the moon and sun, one day I could probably move the moon and the sun myself... I'm only a twenty-something human who was studying law! I should be worrying about my rent, or about finding a job, or what I'm going to buy for dinner! Not the survival of changelings and thestrals, or the downfall of a tyrant! I am so far out of my league it should be funny, but it isn't. It's terrifying, it's terrifying because it's not some movie I can laugh at; it's real. This is my reality right now!"

The dark alicorn rose, the changeling sliding off of his back. He began to pace the war room, shouting. "I'm boned! Do you have any clue just how bad this is? I can be a father, a dad, I've gotten over that, but a god? Even an immortal demigod is beyond me! They need me to be larger than life. They need me to be a leader, a ruler, a father, a teacher, a-"

His tirade was cut off by an ashen aura surrounding his muzzle, clamping his mouth shut.

"They need you to be you, Cimmer," the queen responded. "They need you to be there for them like you always try to be, they need you to watch their backs, to offer advice, to be their beacon of hope when their world has been ripped apart. You've given the griffons the means to start over, you've given the gnolls a chance at a better future than they could ever hope for, one that's more than just expanding the power of their den. You offer the thestrals a home free from the hatred the Mad Queen's inspired for their race.
"And I believe we've already discussed the changelings. As far as we know, this is it. This is the entirety of the free changelings on Equis; less than two hundred individuals from over a dozen different hives, three queens, and a proto queen, and we're here, safe, fed, and in some cases happy, because a certain alicorn opened his doors for us. You're not introducing yourself as Nightmare, not anymore at least, so stop panicking so much. It doesn't help anyone, least of all you."

The queen's eyes went blank for a moment, staring off into the distance before she returned, wrapping the rest of the stallion in her magic and dragging him through a changeling teleport ring. At his muffled query, she smiled at him.
"We're going to visit a few new friends. Mist is about to wake them up for their treatment."

The two passed through the ring of fire, arriving in the infirmary. The alicorn arched an eyebrow at the queen, and she managed to answer yet another unvoiced question.
"You didn't think linking with two queens would have no effect on me, did you?"

The two quickly picked out the new queens, both groggy and one currently being tended to by the changeling nurse, Soothing Mist.

"How are they doing, Mist?" Pandinus asked the nurse as she approached.

"Better than they were this morning." Mist answered, not looking back to her. "I was just about to give Zelus her third cleansing of the day, then kick out the visitors. Their hivemates and hatchlings can visit them tomorrow. They're in no condition to be going anywhere anytime soon. "

"Before you do, I'd like to ask her something." With that, Pandinus approached the recovering queen.

The difference between the two was almost painful for Cimmerian to look at. While Pandinus was just shy of his own height at the moment, Zelus was actually smaller, despite being older. The lack of proper food also was apparent, the older changelings both bearing the usual holes that he'd started associating with starvation and malnutrition. The chitin plates was another difference. The two older queens were covered head to hoof in thick plates that could likely deflect blades, while Pandinus only had a few small plates covering her vitals. Even those were much softer than the other queens' chitinous plates. Then there were the horns. Din's horn was nearly pristine compared to the chipped and scratched things adorning the older queens' heads. The biggest difference he could see, though, were the eyes. Queen Pandinus was nearly glowing with energy, while Zelus looked tired and Lestidae was staring off into the distance.

'Defeated would be a better word, I think. She's no longer in charge of her own path, taking orders from another queen. Probably one of the greatest insults in their culture, now that I think about it. Like a king being forced to serve under another king, or high king,' Cimmerian realized. 'Luna mentioned Din was pretty set on serving as the ruler here, then thought it would be a high-honor that I'd serve with her, despite the fact I was already in charge.'

Pandinus stroked the smaller queens mane with a hoof, drawing the attention of both queens. Zelus sighed at the contact in resignation. "Come gloat over victory?"

"No, just reminding myself where I was," Din said softly. "Besides, I don't want any animosity in my hive. As far as we know, this is it; the only hive on Equis that isn't under the Mad Queen's hoof." 

Turning to the stallion, she spoke again. "When changelings start to cycle emotions, they set a timer for themselves. A pair of drones that doesn't exert themselves too much and that start full of happiness can last almost a year this way, but at the end of that time, the death that follows is agonizing, both in how slow it is, and in actual pain. The only times drones in this state returned to my mothers hive was if they had vital intelligence to deliver, after which they often asked for a merciful end. We just didn't have the food available to throw away on the cleansing process, and if they tried to feed on ponies in that state, they would start hacking up the gunk you saw earlier in the middle of a pony town. Kind of a dead give away that the infiltrator isn't a pony."

Returning her attention to the smaller queen, Din made her request. "Zelus, once you are recovered, you're going to be teaching Cimmerian combat tactics, both personal and battlefield. Also, once you two are able to stomach it, you both will force a molt." The healthy queen smirked mischievously. "I won't have a bunch of ragged changelings in my hive. I want to see you two in shining chitin by the end of the week."

The two queens gaped at her, Lestidae nearly jumping out of her bed at the mention of such a tactic. Zelus managed to sputter out a response first.
"F-force molt? You want waste love? Is mad!"

"I've done it myself, several of the hatchlings have done it, all of my drones did it was well after they were overloaded by Cimmerian when he was suffering the backswing of his blood rage. You saw the fountain, didn't you? That's not all the love we have, that's something Cimmerian suggested as a symbol. It's a symbol to changelings that love here is given freely, that it flows like water. I hope one day it will be even more plentiful, all emotions free for us to feed on as we please. As it stands?" Din smiled softly, once more running a hoof through Zelus' mane. "We have enough to take care of ourselves. Once you heal, make whatever changes to your body you feel would benefit you the most."

To Cimmerian's surprise, Queen Pandinus didn't limit herself to checking up on the other queens. Even as they were passing through to the door, the mare stopped at several other beds, inquiring about the state of the patients and speaking to them. He could see the shock on the other queens, the two staring after her with jaws agape. To him, though? It was exactly what he wanted from her, and judging by the fact that she kept bumping up against him, or looking back at him, she knew it.



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Two days passing found two beings sitting side by side at the top of a patched tower on the Temple of the Shadows. An alicorn and a changeling queen, both enjoying the sight of the setting sun. Neither said a word. The queen was busy mentally sorting through requests and reports being thrown at her every moment by her hive, while the alicorn was still allowing the last bits of his panic attack to be burned away by his own logic. He'd calmed down considerably since the initial panic attack in the war room. Perhaps it was just another part of his growth? Panicking in and of itself wasn't bad, it meant one felt things were important.
'Something I'm going to have to get used to, I suppose. I'll ask Celestia if she has any advice on running a country. They say she ruled one for over a millennia, she has to have something for me.'

Zelus and Lestidae were both just starting to be capable of touching love, though it would be a waste if they were to try and use it to help purge themselves. Thus they were still limited to simpler emotions, like contentment and happiness. Cadance spent a surprising amount of time watching them, the proto-queen Amare clutched in her forelegs. He assumed it was because the pink alicorn was mentally likening their recovery to her own.
"Hey Din, did you ever mention the fact that the pony that's been staring at the queen's the last few days is in the link as well?"

The queen blinked in confusion before bursting into laughter. "No, no I didn't. Oh stars, I could tell them now and listen to them, but I think we both want to be there to see the look on their faces."

The two were interrupted by the sight of a trio of griffons approaching from the north. The group was intercepted by a group of changelings led by a thestral, the two races having the best night vision. Both groups met, words were exchanged, and the group of griffons made their way to the alicorn and Queen.

"They've come with a message for you. Herrick wants to meet up, something about meeting with a thestral," Pandinus explained.

Cimmerian nodded, ruffling his wings and stretching a bit as the griffons prepared to land. They did so in nearly perfect synchronization, beat out only by the changelings who landed behind and to either side of him. The thestral took position to his left, looking extremely hopeful.

The middle griffon spoke, confidence in his voice "Lord Theodore Cimmerian Fredson of the Temple of the Shadows, I'm Sergeant Jaecar. Herrick Talon sends his regards. He also sends along the news that the minotaurs have tested the array, found it was everything they'd hoped for, and send their thanks. They've already sent a few probing attacks into the Equestrian lines and returned to their city completely ignored by the Mad Queen's swarms. The high Chief, Chief Baine, requested the name of their benefactor, but understands these are dangerous times. He requests that you stop by for a proper show of gratitude when it is possible.
"General Herrick also sends word that the Thestral leadership has been given the message and that they are sending an emissary, who will attempt to arrive at the Zarris branch of the Talon Mercenaries in three days time. General Herrick hopes that you will arrive in a timely manner to meet with the emissary, as well as escort him to the Temple here. The General said they sounded quite desperate to get some distance between themselves and the Mad Queen. He's certain that while many will refuse to abandon their homeland to the whims of the tyrant, there will be plenty looking for a chance to live without her shadow hanging over them."

"I will do my best to be there on time." Cimmerian said with a smile. "I'm also glad to hear the minotaurs no longer fear being swept away as the griffon nation was. Your people's homeland will be back in griffon talons before too long, I'm certain. The creature on the throne needs to be stopped soon, no one can truly live with her shadow hanging over us. How go your raids?"

A wave of chuckles passed through the griffons, earning a half-hearted glare from the leader. "They go well. The ponies have started paying more attention now that they know the changeling screens aren't working against some of their enemies, but even the few losses we've taken have mostly been accidents. At least, that's what I've heard. At no point were any griffons left behind, so we've left no evidence of our use of the Equestrian Military's array. You have our thanks for the help you've provided. Berne is also still alive, though he's mostly stuck doing training or paperwork."

At the mention of paperwork, several of the gathered shuddered, including Pandinus.

"It's getting late. The Talon's are more than welcome to use the Temple grounds for the night, or head to New Talon to the west." The alicorn offered. "I'm certain Lady Thrisha has room if you ask."

"No, thank you. We'll be heading-" as he was speaking, the sun made its final descent, picking up speed and dropping below the horizon. The moon soon rose in its place, casting the jungle in a pale light.
"Damn, I thought we had more time then that." the griffon muttered, staring at the moon. He turned back to the alicorn. "I suppose we will take you up on your offer, Lord. I'd rather not fly back in the middle of the night."

Pandinus nodded, a few of the changelings already taking off. "The drones will lead you to a good spot. The wards keep the wildlife away, and we have patrols, so you may take your rest without worry."

The group left after a few more words of gratitude. Watching them follow the drones, Din spoke to him.
"It seems you'll be getting your population increase sooner than I anticipated. Hopefully having more ponies around will ease the drain on you."

The stallion nodded, yawning widely as he turned hop down from the tower's roof. "Thanks for holding off for a day, I do feel less lethargic. Will probably be back to full capacity by tomorrow. That's after nearly a month of feeding, too. If I can recover from a month of feeding in a day, I'd say we're doing well. You do know, however, that this means you're going to have to set up schedules for the changelings to follow so they're not draining all the locals every day, don't you?"

Din shrugged, as she landed softly beside him on the Temple's roof. "A small price to pay for the continued comfort of our hosts. Happy ponies produce stronger emotions. The overall yield is still higher than any hive before us has ever managed."

The stallion shook his head. "Whatever you say, Din. I'm headed to bed. Say hi to Cadance for me."







The two went their separate ways, Cimmerian to his room and Pandinus to her chamber. It wouldn't do for her to subconsciously snack on him when they slept. It would ruin his recovery time, and she wanted him at his best when he met with the thestral's emissary. More residents meant more emotions, more emotions meant capacity for a larger hive, and a larger capacity for changelings meant more hatchlings. As she relaxed in her own bed, the queen brought a hoof to her midsection, a frown on her face. It had been a long time since the eggs were fertilized and she'd still not felt the need to lay them. All she'd noticed was an odd weight from her middle as well as an almost unnoticeable bulge under the chitin. She'd have to get Mirage and Mist to take a look at her later, she was beginning to worry about her eggs.

> ...but I do Accept Reality Checks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian's night was spent doing nothing but relaxing on the beach. Luna stopped by, asked him how he was doing, but otherwise it was the former human's night off. No feeding changelings, no dream walking, just dozing in a dream. If that wasn't restful, nothing was. Still, all good things must end and eventually his alicorn alarm clock stopped by once more. Luna poked him a few times, rousing and alerting him to the fact that it was breakfast time.
Just as Luna was turning to leave, oddly enough feeling the need to walk away as she left the dream, Cimmerian returned to his human form. It took him a moment to remember the differences between his birth and current forms, but just before Luna escaped he nabbed her, lifting her off of the ground with a squeak of surprise.

"Buh! Cimmerian, what the hay are you doing?" she yelped, before her eyes widened in shock. Not a minute later the alicorn was a melted pile of contentment in his lap, his fingers dancing all over her form. Scratching behind her ears, both sides of her neck at the same time, her barrel and stomach, even rubbing down her legs and running his fingers through her mane. Sure it wasn't Luna's real body, but the sensations were there all the same and apparently Luna was a sucker for a good rub down.

"Bleh, you must do this to Tia. She'd love you forever. You need to open her dreams once more, by the way. I wish to strike her upside the head for her stupidity, as is my sisterly duty."

Giving her adequate time to recover, he sent her on her way while he himself left the dream realm. Yawning, the alicorn rose from his bed and instantly the world spun sideways as a strong sense of vertigo hit him. He fell off of his bed and onto his face nearly shattering the small nightstand that sat by his bed. He groaned in pain, peeling himself off the floor as his sense of balance returned.
'Right, it's been a while since I've used a different form. Different balance, different size, different shape. Waking up and trying to jump up like I've been doing was probably a stupid idea.'

After making sure his facial features bore no major damage the alicorn made his way to the dining hall, many residents either already present or leaving. He filled a plate from the buffet and made his way to his usual table. Queen Pandinus was already sitting next to his seat, a large plate of various foods piled up high in front of her as she stared off into the distance. She was eating in an almost mechanical manner; odd considering her species ate such things for pleasure.

Taking a seat next to her, he bumped her with a wing, drawing her attention. "What's wrong, Pandinus? You're acting strange."

She blinked a few times before turning to him. "I'm that out of it? Something's bothering me about this clutch. I'll be talking to Mist and Mirage after breakfast."

"That's good, but I was talking about the amount of food you grabbed. Since when do you go for a full plate?" he asked her, pointing at the plate with a wing even as he floated some scrambled eggs onto his toast.

"I was just feeling hungry, that's all. Didn't eat much last night." She replied, once more zoning out.

Cimmerian nodded, remembering skipping dinner to watch the sunset, then getting interrupted by the griffons. He never did make it back to the dining hall, opting to retire early.  Just as he was about to take a bite of his eggs and toast he stopped, the queen's wording striking him as odd.

"What do you mean you didn't eat much last night?" he inquired, worry leaking into his voice. "The reserves are still there right?"

The queen blinked, cocking her head in thought before nodding. "Yea it's still there, still lots of emotion, but I've had a taste for this stuff lately. Just hungry, that's all."

The alicorn stared at her. "Din, you told me you don't gain anything from this food. Why would you eat it if your hungry? Why not go grab some of the stored emotions?"

Pandinus opened her mouth to retort but stopped, looking down as if noticing the plate before her for the first time. She stared at it for nearly a full minute before turning back to him, eyes wide. "I-I don't know, I mean I never, why did I not notice... I'm having them check me now!" She shouted, nearly throwing her chair back and storming out of the hall.

Cimmerian was after her a second later, stopping only to request a large platter be saved and sent to the war room for later. He arrived in the infirmary to find the Din already laying on her side on one of the mattresses as the changeling nurses performed their examination. Mirage's horn lit up, a scanning spell going over the queen. Even as Mist was continuing the physical examination, Mirage was in a state of absolute panic. She pulled the stallion aside, speaking to him in harsh whispers.
"Whatever it is you do to keep breaking the laws of the world, stop it!"

"Mirage, what are you talking about? What's wrong with-"

"She's pregnant, that's what!" the mare nearly screeched. "That shouldn't be news to you, but I can't detect the eggs, just the nymphs themselves! They're developing like pony foals, not changeling nymphs. I could already pinpoint their heartbeats! Nymphs don't develop that far until they've been laid, and she still hasn't said anything about a desire to lay them. This shouldn't be possible, but why the buzz not, you seem to like shattering everything we know about the world, don't you?!? Changelings. Lay. Eggs." the mare told him, each word punctuated with a harsh shove of her hoof against his leg.  "Whether they mate with ponies, griffons, thestrals, what have you, they lay eggs. I don't even know if it's possible for her to go through with live birth! It's never been done before!"

The changeling took a moment to calm herself down, breathing deeply. "I'll explain it to her, but you're going to have to keep her calm. This is so far out of left field, I can't do anything for her. We're going to need a pony doctor for this. Griffons won't be much help, as they lay eggs as well."

The smaller shape shifter led him back to the bed currently occupied by his, well, technically Cimmerian supposed she was his wife in all but official documentation at the moment. Mist was just finishing her inspection when they returned to the bed.
"Your abdomen feels a bit strange right where the eggs should be, but other than that, I can't find anything wrong. We're going to have to go by the scan. Mirage?"

The changeling braced herself, "Nothing's wrong as far as I could tell. I found three developing nymphs, foals, whatever they'd be considered in this case, and I didn't find anything wrong with them." The queen breathed a sigh of relief at the news. "In fact, before you know it, you'll be giving birth to three foals, nymphs, hybrids, or whatever they'd be classified as."

"Well, if noth-" the queens words died on her lips. "Did you say "giving birth"? As in the thing ponies do? With the fully developed nymph coming out instead of an egg?"

Mirage nodded, looking at Cimmerian expectantly. Meanwhile, Pandinus' eyes were dilated, her breathing coming in quick spurts. "T-that doesn't make sense, I mean queens lay eggs, we don't carry them around for, how long do pony pregnancies last?"

As if in answer to the question, Blur was carried in on the back of Sleight, the pegasus looking like she'd lost a fight with a wood chipper. Or possibly in this case, lost a few fights with the infiltrator. Cimmerian saw it as an opportunity and waved the changeling over.

"Good morning Father, is there something you need? I was just about to leave Blur with the medics after her weekly sparring session." the changeling told him.

"I had a question for her, actually. Since most of the medical staff here are either griffon or changeling, I was going to ask her what the usual length of a pony pregnancy is." Cimmerian told the changeling. "But I suppose she's not going to be answering that question, is she? I know you're training her, but why does she look like she walked through a swarm of reavers?"

"Well, we don't have any wolves in the area, so I have to make do." Sleight answered.

"Wolves? Why, why would you do that to her?" the alicorn asked in shock.

"Well, that's how my master taught me," Sleight responded, obviously seeing nothing wrong with her teaching methods. She then adopted an air of superiority. "After all, 'A martial artist's life is fraught with peril.' If she can't handle this, how will she react to the speed swimming? Silver sharks are nowhere near as forgiving as reavers."

The stallion stared at the changeling for a good minute hoping she was joking when Pandinus, despite her panic, stepped in, "Sleight, put her into the medical pod, and report to Amald for guard duty. I don't want you overseeing any more training. What on Equis are you thinking? You're giving her a little survival training, not training her to be a mare among mares."

As the changeling carried the insensate pegasus away, a new voice interjected into the conversation. "I'd ask what that was about, but seeing how bad Blur looks, it may be better if I remain ignorant," Gleam stated as she approached the group. "After the two of you left in a hurry, I followed along to see what it was about. I heard something about pony pregnancy length. It's around eleven months, why?"

"We have reason to believe that Queen Pandinus may not be laying eggs this time."  Mirage explained. "The scanning spell looked strange, and the young already have heartbeats. That's not supposed to happen until the clutch has been laid. Granted, we're dealing with mister 'I break the universe every time I yawn' over there, but I thought there were some things that would remain normal. I'm kind of worried about gravity at this point."

Gleam giggled while moving closer to the queen. "I know it's a bit late since we've known you were expecting for a while, but I was going to wait until they hatched before saying this. Congratulations, Queen Pandinus. Mirage, one thing you forget is that while things tend to get a bit silly around Cimmerian, it always works out for the best. It may be a bit strange, and possibly uncomfortable, but if you can alter your physical shape, I'm certain you can manage the changes every live-bearing female goes through just fine."

"U-uncomfortable?" the queen asked cautiously? "What do you mean uncomfortable. I don't feel much when I lay my eggs, just a little pressure."

Gleam caught herself too late, the changelings all looking at her for more information on live birth. "W-well, as the foal develops, there are several things that can happen. First there may be cravings. My mother tol-"

"That's why I've been wanting to eat pony food?!?" Din shouted at the mare.

"They've started this late? Well, I suppose being a different species will throw some things off. It also begs the question of just what they'll look like if they're requiring actual foods." The unicorn hypothesized. "I'd say it's a good sign. If your body can adapt to such a major change for them, there shouldn't be any major issues. The next biggest thing is morning sickness. Sometimes a mare will feel nauseous, or strangely tired at odd times of the day."

Healing mist buried her muzzle in her hooves at this point, growling "We spent hours checking her stomachs for parasites over the course of several days when she got sick. What a buzzin' waste of time."

"R-right." the unicorn said, shifting uneasily at the sight of several grumbling changelings. "The biggest thing about live births is the fact that they'll reach a decent size while you're carrying them. They're usually about this big at birth, though yours may be larger given their parentage." She spread her hooves apart, giving a rough estimate of a newborn foal's size. "Finally, uh, oh dear how do I say this. When they reach that size, they have to come out. The process is usually messy and painful, so we try to make sure there's a doctor nearby in case of complications."

That was it for the queen. Her pupils dilated and she began panicking. "P-Painful? Eggs aren't painful, it's a normal process! I lay them and make sure they're saturated with emotion. You're telling me I'm going to have something growing inside of me, to that size? The only time that happens is if something's wrong, and the queen it happens to dies!" She suddenly glared at the stallion. "You! This is your fault. You and that damnable seed of yours! You had to be different, couldn't be normal like every other creature queens have mated with over the centuries!"

Lestidae chittered something at Din from across the room before bursting into laughter, earning a glare from the nurselings and a sputtering exclamation from the healthy queen.

"Weak!?! I'm not weak, I'm the strongest queen here; possibly the strongest on the planet! This won't change anything, I'm still, I mean I'll still be, even during this I'll..." The larger queen's anger petered out, devolving into confused whimpering as she curled into a ball on the bed.

'And of course, they also bring about mood swings.' Cimmerian thought to himself as he stepped closer. The queen was sobbing uncontrollably by the time he actually reached her, which wasn't more than a few moments. The drones were at a loss, while Gleam tried speaking reassuringly to the larger mare. Turning to Mirage, he whispered "Is there anything actually wrong with her, besides the oddity of the pregnancy?"

The drone shook her head, and he continued on with his plan, lifting the queen off the bed and pulling her into a tight hug. The queen started pushing away the second she noticed what was going on.

"Don't touch me, that's how this mess started! I don't wammph!" he interrupted her rant with a kiss while wrapping his wings around her, attempting to reassure the frazzled queen. Seeing as she stopped flailing, he lifted her in his aura and set her on his back while addressing the females by Din's bed.
"We'll be in my room if you need anything. I'll meet you in the war room later on, Gleam. And Lestidae?" he called over to the still giggling queen "You may see this as a weakness, but all of these changes are only going to solidify and strengthen my attachment to Pandinus. If I thought Pandinus was injured or sick out there in the jungle, I'd burn the whole thing down to find her. It's another benefit of this kind of relationship; she doesn't need to be strong all of the time. What would happen to you if you were left in a similar situation?"

The older queen's giggling cut off, her mind currently processing his statement. Confusion broke out over her face moments later, but the stallion wasn't interested in explaining himself to her. Having said his piece he left them and walked out the door, making his way to his own bedroom. 	







It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense to the Queen Pandinus at the moment. The pregnancy, the sensations, the desires and needs. Even worse was the alicorn's increase in love and concern. She was not well, she would become worse, she would be weak. Why then was the amount of love he radiated increasing at her weakness?

The stallion gently placed her on his own bed, wrapping her in his still warm blankets before turning around and walking back out, stopping only long enough to tell her he was going to grab something. The gentleness was almost insulting to her. He was acting like she'd break if he didn't treat her like glass. A sudden wave of panic washed over her; he knew more about live-birth foals than she did, was it possible they could be damaged if she wasn't careful?
Looking around the room, her mind began assessing everything for danger. A mirror that could shatter and cut her, a chair could collapse under her weight and puncture her barrel. A decorative blade suddenly became a guillotine waiting for her to pass under it. Even the stalactites in the caves that she'd normally dismiss was suddenly a spear just waiting for her appearance. Her breathing began to pick up and she curled deeper into the blankets. Even her own room was suddenly dangerous, the amount of drones with bladed horns suddenly becoming very important.

The door swung open once more and the alicorn walked back in. She would have jumped up and clung to him if she wasn't worried about something inside her being jostled. Would even her walking harm them? In that case she couldn't move. She'd be stuck here or where ever the others left her for several months, unable to do anything else. Pandinus hated this feeling. She wanted to be rid of the damnable things, but the second she thought of inflicting any harm upon the young, her instincts became protective again rendering her incapable of such a thing. It left her confused, terrified, and most of all, absolutely miserable.

She was distracted from her spiral by the shifting of the bed. Cimmerian was gently settling himself down next to her, gently laying a wing over her and pulling her in closer. Her ears perked up, the scent of something catching her attention. Smiling at her, he revealed a large platter filled with various foods from the dining hall.

"I didn't get a chance to eat, so I had some food sent to the war room. Help yourself," he told her, taking a bite of a buttered pancake. 

That was all the encouragement she needed. Her body was craving this food, telling her she needed it as much as if not more than emotions. Why though? She never needed it before, nor did she ever hear of any other queens going through a similar thing. She nibbled on some breakfast sausage for a moment before snapping the thing down in one go, her hunger finally driving her to dive into the plate. She shoved him when he laughed at her, but otherwise focused on her meal. It was easier to deal with than this insanity. If she ate, she'd be full, if she was full, she'd stop craving this strange food. If she stopped craving this strange food, she could pretend everything was normal again for a while.

After the food was gone, she relaxed in the covers for a while, the wards keeping the constant construction outside the Temple from intruding despite the open window. There were so many things she should have noticed that were wrong besides the length of time since her last clutch, but she missed them. Tartarus, she wasn't producing half as much processed waste as she should have been, considering how much she was eating. That left the question of how her body managed to make the changes necessary to digest the food without her realizing the changes had occurred. She breathed deeply, enjoying the scent of her mate surrounding her. His blankets, his bed, him laying right beside her. Another oddity; his scent calmed her. He was already her warm/safe/food/mate, now even the slightest hint of his presence seemed to help. Maybe that was another part of this illness that had taken her.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked her, managing to draw her from her thoughts.

"No. I'm a mess, I feel like anything could end up harming me or my hatchlings, if I can even call them that, and my own body is acting in ways it shouldn't. I'm just terribly confused right now," she responded with a dispassionate voice. "I'm still blaming you for this."

Cimmerian chuckled at her accusation, pulling her closer into his side. "Relax, Din. As I told Lestidae, you're not in a normal hive. If something goes wrong, I can name at least seven people here besides myself who would jump to help you. That's not including those of your hive, many of whom are comfortable for the first time in who knows how long."

"Why? Why is it when I was in the medical room, being told how weak I'll get, your emotions became more intense?" the queen shouted at him in frustration. "I'm going to be a weak, bloated, helpless mess. Why would you want me anywhere near you?"

"The reason is because that's what usually happens to females as I know them. To you it's weird and scary, but to me? My own mother birthed me that way, and I was expecting my mate, whoever she ended up being, to experience the same thing. The egg thing was actually a bit scary to me but I got over it."
The alicorn stroked her barrel, just below her ribs. "As it stands this is what I expect when I hear about reproduction, so of course I'll have no issue with it. It just means there will be more of you to love for a while. After that, you'll deflate to your old size and we'll have three kids running around the place, most likely keeping us up at odd hours, making messes, and generally being pests. It's also kind of exciting. The pregnancy is different, so what else will be different? Will they produce emotions like other species do, or have a connection to the hive like changelings? Will they be hybrids or changelings or alicorns? There's no way to know right now, but since your body's already adjusting, I'm not worried too much about complications. If you can change that much, I'm sure you'll be fine. And don't worry about not being able to move around. Equine and human females aren't restricted by their pregnancies for the entirety of the ordeal; it's only at the tail end of it that you may have issues moving around, if any. I've heard of women working right up until the end. Shape shifting may be a bit tougher, or maybe even inaccessible for a bit though."

The last bit of information caused her panic to flare again, a wave of smokey fire washing over her body. Her appearance was still similarly sized, form now that of her favorite body to tease the alicorn, but she couldn't help but notice even her altered form looked just a tad pudgy. Another thought struck her. Would it be easier to stay like this, in the form of a female alicorn, until the illness had passed? It would be difficult, certainly, but maybe it would make some things easier?

Her thoughts were temporarily put on hold as he moved away, leaving her wrapped in the covers. "I'm going to hit the paperwork again, you just enjoy your day. I'll see you tonight, and I suggest you stock up on love. I'm going to be heading to Zarris to meet up with the Thestral rep tomorrow."

The queen watched him leave, some part of her wishing he'd wave off the work and just stay with her. Maybe he was right, and she was panicking over something that wouldn't actually harm her. It wouldn't be the first time he turned out to be correct, even regarding something he understood nothing about. Her eyes were drawn to a small jar sitting on his dresser, displayed right beside a large scale and an even larger fang.
'There's no way he kept that, I mean why would he? It was a failed attempt to...'

It was the jar of love she'd tried to give him, her own love that she'd managed to create in an attempt to separate it from her being. The ordeal still left a twinge of phantom pain, her muscles clenching at the memory of the complications she'd run into after the incident. Actually, to say it was unpleasant didn't do it justice, it was one of the most horrible things she'd ever experienced. Why did she ever think that was a good idea?
Granted, it turned out to be worth it in the end, and it had given her his undivided attention for a while as well as helped them understand each other more, but that didn't explain why he kept it. Ponies, or in this case non-changelings, were beyond strange.

'I could ask him about it, I suppose.' she contemplated. A second thought crossed her mind a moment later. She had an expert in pony thinking a link away! Sure the little alicorn might wet herself at the contact, but such were the tribulations of being in a queen's hive. She'd just make sure she wasn't doing anything dangerous and, ah ha! Amare was still with her. A quick check of the nymphs active memories told her the pink pony was currently staring out over the town from the top of the Temple. The hatchling, realizing what the she was about to do, relayed the queen's desire to speak to the pony verbally, knowing she still wasn't comfortable with the link. Before Cadance could start to head to her nest however, the queen made a gentle brush against the alicorn's connection to the link.

A jar of emotion, the basics of what had happened, and a simple inquiry as to why were slowly filtered to the pink pony, the queen still remaining alert enough to understand a flood may scare her. Panic was the first response, followed by a concerted effort to reign in her fear. It took some time, but the queen was eventually able to transmit the information in a way Cadance could understand, and she could feel the pony processing the information. The answer came suddenly, the small alicorn's thought focusing around a single word when thinking of the jar.

Gift.

'Not good gift, failed gift. Why keep?' Pandinus sent, attempting to keep the thoughts simple.

The response was difficult to read, the pony's thought not meant for this kind of interaction. 'First gift, thing first given, pretty cloud, first proof of devotion, when's dinner?, first is always important us, miss him,' the images soon started to devolve into memories of her imprisonment. Din exerted a bit of her control over the link, dragging the line of thought away from such dark things, the alicorn's mind flooding with relief at the quick derailment of her train of thought. The queen was certain most would be furious at such an intrusion. In the meantime though, she had a few queens to mess with.

'Meet in infirmary. Will be funny.' With those thoughts, she cut the connection. The pony was doing surprisingly well. Her mind was still a mess, but it was to be expected with the images she sometimes broadcasted over the link as she slept. Thankfully they only reached Pandinus and not the hatchlings, otherwise the nymphs may start avoiding sleep as the pony had once done.

The mare looked around the quiet room one last time. She'd made plans now, but she was still comfortably lodged within her stallion's bedding. Maybe she'd keep some of his blankets in her nest when he left? Sure his scent was already present in her nest, but a little more comfort wouldn't hurt. She'd also send some infiltrators with him. They wouldn't be able to physically do anything he couldn't, but she'd be damned before she left him with only the mercenaries to watch him.



<-(0)->



Ted sat back on his personal beach, a frown plastered on his face. The same one that had been present since earlier. The same one that stemmed from the news Din had delivered upon their retiring to his dream. He was sitting on the beach in human form, testing the effectiveness of multiple digits on changeling chitin for, you know, science, when the queen had decided to inform him of her earlier shenanigans.

It started out simple enough, the simple memory image of her entering the infirmary, Cadance already present with Amare. The queen had then watched the other two as she opened the connection between the pony and the queens while prompting the smaller alicorn to try to mentally greet them. Zelus had promptly sputtered gibbering about impossibilities and how it shouldn't be possible, while Lestidae...
Lestidae was very quiet, staring at the pony like it was ablaze. She giggled lightly, then again. Not a happy giggle though. The queen soon gave in to raucous laughter, laughter that left Din smiling and Cadance feeling more than a little uncomfortable. It turned out the long line of shocks was finally breaking the older queen. Cadance was the last straw, and Lestidae's grip on reality was temporarily snapped.

He'd wanted to be there to see their reactions, and she'd brought it to their attention while he was working on the latest reports. Sure he could see it as it had occurred thanks to memory viewing in the dream realm, but he wanted to enjoy it personally. instead, he'd had to resort to enjoying the queen's reaction to his stating she'd have to let him watch when they found another queen to link to the hive. It wasn't as good as what he'd missed, but it would sate him for now.

The queen, having stopped ranting about half an hour ago by his count, was currently slumped over him, her head resting on his chest as he worked his fingers through her mane. Judging by the purring, he'd have to hazard a guess that the treatment was just as effective on lightly armored changelings as it was on alicorns. His mood was damaged even further when the queen finally found the strength to speak despite his best efforts.
"By the way, Cimmerian. I'm sending drones with you. You're not making this trip alone."

"What makes you think I'll need guards?" He asked her, his tone one of slight annoyance.

"Celestia had guards, Luna had guards, Cadance had guards, every queen I learned of had guards, even my own mother had her own personal guards. You're too important not to have them. In fact, if Zelus was fully recovered I'd be sending her with you. Even then, the moment she's recovered she's going to be training you in combat and guarding you or I when we leave the Temple. In this case though, I'm only sending a squad with you. They've been supplied with enough provisions to last them a week of strenuous activity, and have enough medical supplies to keep you patched up for that same week."
The queen opened her eyes, staring at him and leaving him no room to maneuver. "I'm not backing down on this, you're too important to us, too important to me to take any chances. Just don't risk yourself needlessly," she finished, laying her head back on his chest.

The male actually hadn't thought of that. Maybe it was more to give them extra warning, or just to have backup?  Either way, he was feeling a bit silly dismissing the idea of guards as meaningless. He didn't have to dismiss every tradition, and if he was going to throw them away, he should at least make sure they were as useless as he thought they were. Cimmerian smiled, scratching both sides of the changelings neck. She may not feel love the way he did, but she was certainly sounding more and more like a proper female each day. Next thing he knew, she'd be complaining about which way the toilet paper was facing. His smile flipped momentarily at a stray memory. He'd meant to pick something up for the queen last time he was in Zarris but was distracted by the blood rage incident. Maybe he could find her something nice after the meeting? That thought led to another, the horribly lost being contemplating whether certain types of gifts were truly universal or not.
'Do changelings actually wear jewelry?'
> Surveying the Kingdom
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The morning could have been better. The sun shined for the first part of the day, but the fall chill was in full effect, and storm clouds could be seen far in the distance. As the alicorn rose from his covers that morning, he stared out the window, watching the approaching storms.
"If I'm lucky it's just a storm." Cimmerian muttered to himself, watching the rolling storm front slowly approach. "Unfortunately I watch too much television. I'm leaving for a trip, and there's a storm coming in. With how fairytale-like this world's been acting so far, I doubt it's just a storm and not an omen." 

Following that line of thought it was probably a good thing that Pandinus had selected a group of guards for him. He'd need them for whatever horrible things were going to go wrong on the trip. The dark alicorn looked around his room one last time, his eyes settling upon the still sleeping form the queen sprawled out amidst the covers. A malicious grin split his face as he approached, her position much too exposed for him to pass up the opportunity.



<-(0)->



"I swear, if you ever wake me up like that again, I'm going to beat you to death with your own wings! I don't care how much love you're worth, understand?" Pandinus scolded as they approached the dining hall. It did nothing to diminish his smile though, in fact he chuckled at the threat which left her even more irritated. It wasn't like he could hide the fact that he found her rage funny; she could likely taste his amusement as easily as he could read her agitation.

Taking their seats as usual, his mood fell considerably when he noticed Din looking at her meal with caution. She was likely still feeling cautious of eating after the latest visit to the infirmary. That wouldn't do at all, she was supposed to be eating for two, no four, wait, she wasn't... three? The alicorn nodded to himself. Three little lives were depending on her getting over her squeamishness about eating. He had a mission now.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked her casually. It was still enough to get her to snap her eyes from the plate to him.

Queen Pandinus looked at him, then back to her plate. She slumped slightly before taking a simple nibble of toast. Her body obviously disagreed with her reluctance, issuing a gurgle that caused her to jump. The mare growled in frustration, turning to the alicorn.

"What the hell was that?" She asked him. "I don't think my body's ever made any sounds like that."

"It's your body telling you to eat something. You may not be hungry, but they are. Your body knows this, and it wants you to correct the problem," he said with an easy smile. "You'll be fine, Din. As I told you I don't think there's going to be any issues that you won't be able to get past with this. If you can adapt this much, there's not much I can think of that you won't be able to adapt to."
Cimmerian floated a large helping of eggs on toast in front of her, waving it in front of her nose teasingly. "Your body commands you to eat!"

"I hate you sometimes," she growled before taking the food in her own aura and taking a bite. She chewed the toast and eggs, her scowl slowly being replaced by a thoughtful look.
"You said you wanted to leave this evening, any plans until then?"

"I'm going to be wandering the town, double checking the progress. Also going to hit the port. It's been a while since I saw the griffons. I'll say hi to Thrisha, see how they're doing. After that? I'm sure Gleam will need some paperwork done before I leave."
His eyes widened as he remembered something important. "Do me a favor and make sure the armor is taken off the armor rack after I leave. I'll use it tonight and tomorrow to keep you guys updated."

The changeling nodded. "Good, I can still detect changelings in my link that are a good distance away, but communication becomes unreliable at that kind of distance. I also can't send them emotion from that range, so we'll be giving them some supplies." The queens eyes went out of focus for a moment as her attention was elsewhere. "Your supplies and the escort will meet you at the northern tower. Everything you need will be waiting for you. Gleam's already set it up."

"I'd be lost without you guys, you know that right?" the alicorn told her. "If I don't get a chance before I leave, tell Gleam I said thanks."

"By the way Cimmerian. While you're out and about, I have something for you to do." Din said, nodding her head to the door before she popped the last of her meal into her mouth.

Cimmerian looked to the entrance, and was surprised to see Lestidae and Zelus both standing nervously in the doorway. Both seemed to be fighting the urge to don disguises at the public location but were attempting to seem at ease. He smiled at the sight, not expecting to see them up and about for a while yet.
"They're already up and about?"

"Yup," she answered. "And you can show them around while you do your check. Two birds with one stone I believe is the term you use?"

The alicorn looked at the nervous queens, then back at the mare beside him. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

The changeling merely sniffed haughtily at him, raising her nose into the air. "Next time you want to wake me up like that, you'll think twice."



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"...and finally, the extra crop plots were just starting to become harvestable when the weather became cooler. Some of the earth ponies have suggested cooler weather plants, but they're not certain how some of them will do in a more tropical soil and climate." Machination told him as they came upon the last stop of the tour. Much had been added to the town in the last month. The first building that could be considered an actual house was built, followed by about five more. Two more general barracks were built, bringing the total number to four and adding a good amount of living space that wasn't changeling shelters. The forge was expanded, doubling its capacity; they were now able to make their own nails and armor, though they still had no source for metals besides the mine. That was still being explored and mapped out. It wouldn't do for the miners to be minding their own business and discover a giant monster of some sort had decided to call the deepest part home.
'You know what they awoke in their greed,' the alicorn mentally recited, smiling at the quote. Oh, having a giant fire monster in the mine was no laughing matter, but it was still funny that he actually had to worry about these things. Maybe he could get it to work at the forge?
"Was there anything actually in the mine?"

"Aside from some subterranean terrapins, no sir. Nothing."

Cimmerian blinked owlishly for a moment. "Do they explode if you touch them?"

Machination stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the alicorn in confusion. "N-not that I've heard. Why, uh, would you think that?"

"With all of the other strange things that have occurred it wouldn't surprise me," the larger stallion said in exasperation. "Thanks, Mack. If all goes well, you may be getting Lestidae's help with the planning. She has a bit more experience in that field, though I want you to keep her in line. She may forget that not everyone can fly, having spent most of her time working with changelings." 

The pony nodded, wandering off to continue overseeing the few construction projects that were still active. It had taken time and effort, but the Temple of the Shadows could now be considered a village or town. Actually, the alicorn could probably put in the paperwork to be the ruler of a country now, having authority over two different towns.
That thought stopped him short. At what point was one considered the ruler of a country?

"An odd place. Not what we were expecting at all, really." Zelus said, followed by a few chitters from Lestidae.

The observations drew his attention, the alicorn turning to them with a smile. "What you were expecting isn't my objective. The two of you are looking a bit better. What do you think so far?"

"Part of me is still wanting to don a disguise, another tells me this is some fevered dream and it's not possible even though I can sense the hive's love supply from here. I feel like I'm standing over an active volcano, I can feel the warmth of the love radiating through the ground." The younger queen said while pawing the ground. "I remember some shielding techniques; at the very least it will do a better job of protecting the stored emotion."

"I'll take any and all ideas you can throw out, just don't be offended if I do end up throwing one or two away. It's not just changelings living here," he told her, heading for the western edge of the town. "Do you think the place has lived up to Queen Pandinus' predictions, or are you going to be taking off as soon as your debt is repaid?"

The two queens began speaking to each other in their native tongue. It took a few back and forth arguements, but the alicorn realized the queens were discussing the question. Eventually he stopped waiting for a response, taking flight with the two queens following behind. The amount of time they spent talking was in that case completely reasonable, as it meant they were discussing their future. Leaving them to their discussion meant the alicorn was flying in relative silence to the port, the discussion sounding more like background noise to his ears than an actual language.

Coming upon the refurbished port, the alicorn stopped dead upon seeing the repairs that had been enacted. To say the griffons made progress would have been an insult. The guard tower was patched, the last bits of changeling paste being scraped off of the tower as the new cement had finished hardening, allowing the building a cement and stone finish that left it twice as sturdy as before. The warehouse had been torn down and rebuilt, as had many of the buildings, though a few were still as rough looking as he remembered them. The biggest change that drew his eye though, was the repaired docks. The docks were now in proper working order from the mess he'd last seen. Actually, last time he was here the docks had been vaporized by the explosion of the control crystal. There was also a large boat in the dock, though it looked like it had seen better days. All along the beach were smaller boats, some looking new, others looking pretty old.

'Probably donations from the Talons or other griffons,' he thought, landing lightly. The mercenaries were more than happy to help out the griffon refugees, showing a loyalty to their people that was surprising based on their profession. Not only that, they'd apparently funneled even more refugees to the port, as he was certain there were even more griffons here than last time he'd gotten a count. He'd need to ask Thrisha for an update; while the griffons were allowed to do their own thing, they still answered to him for the moment.

A squawk of fear drew the attention of the alicorn and his tagalongs to a small griffon that had just spotted them. The young griffon, by his guess a female, was ready to bolt when she was stopped by a second griffon, this one missing his wings.

"Berne, right? What are you doing here?" Cimmerian asked the griffon.

"Lord Cimmerian." The merc greeted with a light bow. "Checking in on family. There aren't many places accepting griffon refugees, what with the Equestrian Navy tracking some of the ships down. No one wants to deal with either of them. Because of this, your little unnamed port here has become quite important to the flow of refugees," he explained, gesturing for the alicorn to follow.
"I'd just like to ask, what's with the changelings? Many here are a bit jumpy around their kind."

"Showing two queens around." Cimmerian explained, causing the griffon to direct a raised eyebrow his way. "While the griffons were driven out by changelings, many fail to acknowledge that the changelings have been subjected to this same treatment for years, and their numbers have taken quite the hit. There's a good chance that what we have at the temple is it. Three queens and just over a hundred drones, Berne. That's the entirety of the free changelings. Those under the Mad Queen's control are often not sapient, just monsters born and raised to die. I'm sure you've heard reports of them going insane when the crystal is damaged or destroyed. It's sad that many don't realize how similar your situations are."

The griffon nodded. "I'll give you that. They don't act like changelings I'm familiar with. Too predictable. Alright, here we are."

The griffon stopped before a newly cleared part of the beach. Sprawled out before the small group was a large group of tents and temporary shelters, all housing a large amount of griffons. Some went along their business, others stopped and stared, whispering to one another in poorly disguised fear of the creatures behind him.
'Two of them. I've got what amounts to two refugee camps as a kingdom. Changelings and griffons mostly, because they've been booted from their normal homes. Hell, I may end up with three if things really take a bad turn for the thestrals. Knowing how bad the Nightmare may get once things fall apart, that's a good possibility, not to mention what could happen if active war breaks out between the Minotaur Tribes and Equestria.' Cimmerian realized.

"Well, this is a surprise," a female voice called out to him. The alicorn turned to the right, spotting a large group of griffons surrounding Lady Thrisha. Many were looking at his own group with worry or, again, fear but many were also curious about Thrisha's easy familiarity with the alicorn.
"To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Lord Cimmerian?"

"Just checking in on things," Cimmerian responded casually. "I've been drowning in paperwork, but it's no reason not to see how things are flowing out here, and reports only tell me so much. I didn't realize just how many griffons had showed up. Last report had them at just under two hundred griffons, this looks to be quite a few more."

"Yes, the Talons have been funneling those they can to the nearest available settlements. There are several others like this, but several ships besides ours took this route," the old hen shook her head sadly. "The number of griffons that are still missing is horrible."

"All war is horrible, Thrisha, no matter what fools feed others." he told her. "I've also heard stories of the glories of war, of the wonderful honors awaiting those who persevere. That's not what you should be fighting for. Fight for something that matters, like family, and your freedom. Honor doesn't feed the family, after all."

One of the griffons snorted, "I could hardly consider what happened a war, alicorn. The changelings overran us before we had a chance to blink. There were no declarations, no formal announcements."

The stallion turned his gaze to the tom, leering dangerously at the griffon. "It's called a blitzkrieg, a lightning war. Strike fast, strike true, and the enemy is defeated before they know they are under attack; by the time the formal declaration reaches them through the mail, it's already over. It's not the first time I've heard of such tactics, and even then, do you think you could have held out against innumerable unfeeling beasts for years? Even if you fortified your cities against them, all the Equestrians would need to do is cause a few breaches from a safe distance, not too difficult with the magic available to them, and watch your defenses crumble. This isn't an opponent you fight head on. We don't have thousands of monsters to throw into a sausage grinder, hoping a few get through and weaken our enemies. If we try to fight a war of attrition against the Mad Queen? We. Will. Lose."
He stalked closer to the griffon with his wings flaring, the tom obviously not expecting the hostility. "I took this area and made it what it is. I had others help me it's true, but I am the one leading this country. You can't claim ignorance of my name as it's been said right in front of you. I accept familiarity, in fact I encourage it; but you damn well be willing to respect who I am, griffon."

Thrisha's only response to the threat was a light chuckle at the male's discomfort. "If you'll follow me, Lord Cimmerian, I'll give you the official tour, as well as some of the plans we've come up with. A few haven't even been set to paper yet, but perhaps you can help us with the planning. I've actually had a few suggestions for a name for the port as well. I think my favorite is ShadowTalon Port. Considering our proximity to the Temple of the Shadows."

"Ha, you'll be ahead of the rest of the Temple," he told her bitterly. "I still can't get a name out of the residents. I may just go with Sanctuary or something like that, but I'd rather the people name it."

"As you've seen, we have a large number of temporary shelters set up on the beach. Most of them are merely so we have somewhere to put those just showing up until we can get them settled elsewhere. Others sign up with the Talons first chance they get, hoping to get some sort of payback. Still others move on to other cities. While the fishing boat's the only one here at the moment, we've had up to two other ships docked here at once, one dropping off supplies, the other taking a few griffons off to other settlements that they'd be better suited to. Many of those that leave do so because of the proximity to the Temple's hive, but for the most part those here leave Pandinus' drones alone. Oh, we've had a few fools start trying to rile up the locals, but most of the guard are griffons Amald and I can trust, and they break that up fast."

"The storage shed was in horrible condition, so we ended up tearing it down and constructing a new one. The wood for most of these buildings was rotted, so it's all fresh construction. Even the old inn was scrapped, and the building that's taken its place is acting as our town hall. We've managed to get about twelve actual houses up, but with the numbers and aid we've been getting, that's still a pitiable number."

"Well, depending on how things go in the next few weeks, the Equestrians may lose hold of High Talon and the surrounding lands. The swarms are doing the ponies no good against the Talons or the Minotaurs now, not against those who are properly equipped," the alicorn said. His gaze once more fell upon the guard tower.
"Thrisha, who's the one who thought to use the changeling paste to hold the building up while the cement hardened? It's a brilliant idea, and I'm glad to see someone using some cross-species thinking."

"It was a young tom, Curtis of the Bluetalon clan, that came up with that idea," The griffon matron explained. "I was quite surprised when he asked me if it would be possible to get a few changelings to work for him, but Queen Pandinus was happy to send a few to help out when I asked her. It certainly opens up a few possibilities, doesn't it? The gel actually still allows the cement to harden, so it holds the cement in shape while it hardens, then we can pull the black stuff off. Some of the craftsgriffons, they said normally for such work you'd need to line the tower with wooden braces to do that. The drones did it in an hour or so, and left holes for the cement. Once it was poured in, they sealed those as well."

"I'm going to be headed to Zarris tonight, but afterwards, I'd love to speak with him. If I can't get something set up then at the very least, pass along my personal thanks and commendations." The alicorn looked around, seeing many griffons staring at the group still. With a quick smile to the queens, he turned back to Thrisha and gestured to the crowd.
"So Lady Thrisha, are you going to explain to me who's who, and what other griffon names I should be keeping an ear open for?"

Thrisha giggled at the alicorn's blundering attempt to direct her tour to a specific goal, but proceeded with introductions regardless.



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The progress made by the griffons on the abandoned port was nothing short of amazing. Even more amazing though, was the number of donations that had flowed in from various griffon organizations. Food, money, lumber, metals, even several craftspeople of various skills had shown up to help build up the griffon town. It was honestly more than the alicorn had expected when he'd set Thrisha up with enough supplies to start the town.
It also left him with the awkward question of asking for at least the repayment of the materials that he'd initially invested, but that issue was sidestepped when he found out Thrisha was trying to talk a few of the extra craftspeople into heading to the Temple to at least check the construction.
'Nothing more awkward than wondering how to ask for things they were given as charity,' he thought with a scowl as he flew back to the Temple. The griffon had given him several reports directly rather than waiting for a messenger to deliver them to the Temple. It was just after lunch now, and he had to leave by dinner. The trip would be made mostly at night, but with the sky likely being clear that night, and the bright light of the moon, a night flight wasn't out of the question.

Arriving at the Temple of the Shadows, the alicorn landed lightly in front of the Temple, turning to the queens. He'd felt he'd given the two enough time to discuss the situation, and now wanted an answer.
"You've had several hours to discuss the question, so now I'll ask it again; will you stay after you've worked off the debt, or will you leave?"

The two once more looked nervously at each other, but it was Lestidae who responded, though the clicks and buzzing meant little to him. Zelus was kind enough to translate for them, though.
"She says while it is nice, things are still changing around us. This, way of living, is very strange to us. It goes against everything we know. We were quite certain the griffons would attack us, in fact many tasted of anger and hatred when their eyes fell upon us. The fact that they didn't act on that hatred speaks much louder, though. I will wish to have my own hive in the future, as I never managed to start a hive before The Hunt began, but for now..."
The younger queen pawed nervously at the ground for a moment, weighing her words, "Lestidae wishes to reserve her judgment. I believe she is still waiting for the other hoof to drop. Myself, I wish to help. I will stay, at least until it becomes safe to start my own hive again. We both know Pandinus truly worries for the species, and after reviewing the information she has gathered I find myself in agreement with her. It's, I do not like working with other queens, but it has kept me alive this long, and even preserved me past what was a death warrant for our species. I wish to see my species survive this, and this is the best option I've found."

Cimmerian smiled warmly at the statement. It wasn't surprising that the older queen was still nervous, as she likely had many more years of indoctrination in the normal changeling lifestyle. He was currently being immersed in completely different cultures with only a few decades of life behind him and it was difficult to adapt, how much worse would it be if you were told your ideals were wrong after five decades?
'That's why some of the elderly can't accept the changes of modern society, it's too radically different. Too many changes too fast, too many years of being told the world's a certain way, the changes scare some of them.'
Still, Zelus was with them, it seemed, and willing to work towards what she perceived as a mutual goal. It brought a warm feeling to the alicorn, and his smile grew even wider when saw the changelings eyes widen in surprise.
"Come on, Zel, where do you think most of the love Pandinus has access to comes from?"

This caught the attention of Lestidae, who chittered a question to Zelus.

"He, he's directing the emotions to me. It tastes strange," the younger queen responded. "I suppose that's what she meant when she said it's stronger this way, that the emotions have more energy." 

Cimmerian nodded "I've got things to take care of. You two enjoy your day, and I hope you two enjoy your time here."







The two queens watched the alicorn depart, one bearing a smile, the other a scowl. Lestidae was far from happy with how her situation had changed over the last century. She'd lost her hive, been driven from her home, forced to work with a younger queen who under normal circumstances she'd have nothing to do with, and now was living in another queen's hive. The icing on the cake was she'd found a few of her children in said hive; the other queen was able to save them when she had failed to do so.
"Tradition would dictate that I find a way to usurp the weaker queen, who dared to show weakness by aiding other queens in peril."

"True, but not only am I certain Pandinus is aware of that, I think she truly does worry for our species. After observing her hive, I believe her concern is genuine. Not only that, but the other species here follow either their own leaders or the alicorn, and most of the leaders stand behind him."
Queen Zelus tittered in amusement, turning to face the Temple, "Even if you managed to best Pandinus, who is currently powered by more love than our hives have ever possessed and with a direct source for more if she requests it, you would also need to best the alicorn as well as his followers."

"Don't think I haven't realized that, hatchling. I've been at this game for far longer than you've existed." Lestidae rebuked the younger queen.

"Oh, but the game has changed, old nag; your experience betrays you. Don't you see? Emotion has been shown to be freely given to those who request it here, and hives beyond the blessing of the black alicorn are quickly found by the Mad Queen. We must adapt to this new life, Lestidae. We must adapt or like so many of our kind, we will die. You saw those the Equestrians hold captive. I for one will not fall to that fate."

The older queen huffed at the statement, eyes being drawn to the fountain trickling in the courtyard not twenty paces from her. She had little doubt the alicorn did that by accident, leaving her in sight of fountain that flowed with condensed love . Such a thing actually angered her. It was a frivolous waste of love, and was just begging another queen to send drones to steal from her. That was the problem though. Pandinus would likely give that love to them freely if she was asked, just as her mate had taught her. 'Love shared is love doubled' or some similar nonsense. Sadly, there were no other queens nearby to make such an attempt. The fountain instead served three purposes.
It was a monument to their race as the stallion had hoped. It was a source of nourishment for the drones who found their way to the temple many of whom she'd been told were on their last legs when they'd arrived. Finally, it acted as a beacon to their kind. This much love, exposed to the air and set out for all to see, was a signal to any and all changelings from hundreds of miles around that this place was safe. It was a sign that there was food here, that there was shelter and safety.

Lestidae didn't like this place but she would see her debt repaid. She would also see her curiosity sated; what would become of the young queen who'd dared to bed an alicorn? What would become of her brood? Would she ever lay eggs again, or had the stallion's touch done something irreversible to her? Then there was Zelus. The young one wasn't just staying for the future of her species now if she interpreted the younger queen's curious gaze correctly. Honestly, what would the stallion expect would happen when he waved the possibility of such a large quantity of love in front of her? Zelus wasn't stupid, and could make the connection. If nothing else, it would be funny watching where it all went. She'd passed many days watching Zelus doing strange, silly, or just plain stupid things; some things just never changed.

At least she wouldn't be bored.



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The paperwork was grueling, but eventually, dinner rolled around, freeing the stallion from the never ending flow of bureaucracy. He enjoyed a warm meal, a special meaty dish prepared specially by Slop as a farewell and good luck meal, and made his way to the northern gates. As he approached, he managed to catch his first glimpse of the security detail the queen had thrown together in about a day.

It wasn't entirely composed of changelings, surprisingly enough. In fact, there were only four changelings; the others were two griffons and two thestrals. All were bearing full armor and all moved comfortably enough in their armor to leave him with the impression that such garments were nothing new to them.
'The thestrals are actually a great idea, considering who I'm meeting.'

As he neared, a few shouts echoed around the tower and the guards began making their final checks and preparations. By the time he reached them, they were standing in formation before him, Amald passing through their ranks and checking their armor and weapons. He gave a respectful salute to Cimmerian upon the stallion's arrival.

"Lord Cimmerian, they're ready when you are," the griffon told him. "Your things are in that pack over there. Are you certain you won't be taking your armor? I think it would be wise to keep some extra protection."

Cimmerian shook his head. "That armor is the worst thing to be wearing if I get attacked. It amplifies everything, Amald, not just my power. That includes pain felt from blows. I've felt a gnoll scratch me with and without the armor. Without it, I barely felt it, though he did break my skin. With it, he didn't actually cut me, but I felt like someone had cut me open, poured salt in the wounds, then added a little lye to the cuts just to be certain I felt it. I'm better off without it. Besides I'll get more use out of it by leaving it here, trust me."

Several of the guards shuddered at the implication, but they were otherwise silent. Amald nodded, accepting the alicorn's explanation. He turned to the guards one final time.
"Alright, you know your orders. Watch the lord's back, and make sure he returns in one piece. Queen Pandinus has told me to pass on that she'll be taking every feather out of place out of your hides when you all get back."

Without further fanfare, the alicorn donned his gear and took off, the guards taking formation around him. Cimmerian settled into an easy pace. It would get them to Zarris before it became too late or the storm hit, but it wouldn't leave his guards exhausted should they run into trouble. About ten minutes into the flight, with no conversations with the guards, boredom struck and his mind started wandering.

A grin on his face, Cimmerian began humming a song he'd not heard in years. After a few moments of mere humming, he decided to serenade his guards.

"The music washed away all their hate, and society started advancing. Every demographic was represented, it was a rainbow coalition of dancing!"

The guards were staring at him, one even chuckling at the odd song.

"Whoa-oh-oh, everyone was wearing fingerless gloves. Whoa, oh--oo-whoa, I saw a Spanish guy doing the Bartman!"

No reason he couldn't have a little fun during his flight. Besides, Equis didn't have in flight movies yet.
> The Truth About Changeling Culture
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had taken a ton of effort, but Theodore had managed it. He'd commanded them several times, attempting to break through their discipline on the agonizingly boring trip for his own amusement. Eventually a few had cracked, and he'd managed to get the thestrals and a few changelings singing with him. It left a warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart seeing a couple changeling singing 'What is Love' in an amazing synchronization that left an echo that perfectly reflected the original work. If he was lucky, it would spread throughout the hive, and even Zelus and Pandinus would be humming the song before too long.
'What other love-themed songs do I know?' He pondered.	'Love' themed songs are funny and all considering a good portion of them are changelings, but we need, I got it! Welcome to the Jungle for the gnolls, Do You Believe in Magic for the unicorns, I Believe I Can Fly for the pegasi, I'm Gonna Be for the earth ponies... I'll figure out the others later.'

It was probably stupid, but it would still be funny to give them some songs to sing. This world didn't have radios as far as he'd seen, so music had to be taught orally.
'Technology. Do they even have any idea what could be done with magic? Do they know that lightning can be harnessed? That rivers and lakes can be used to power their lives? That even the sun can be used to run machinery?' 
It was definitely something he'd need to look into. So far his knowledge of technology was entirely based on magic-free tech from Earth. What, if anything, had the locals done? Pegasi could control storms right? Electricity was something they'd never run out of, just keep a storm going over a collection grid, and the lightning would power everything for miles.

"Sir, I can see the torches on the Port's perimeter. We should be there momentarily," one of the thestrals shouted to him over the wind. The storm was just about on them, but with the port close by, it was likely they'd be inside before the rain started.

Not five minutes later, the group was landing in front of the town gates, the guards already moving to open them as the alicorn's group had been spotted earlier. Cimmerian was met just inside by Herrick Talon and a small group of mercenaries.

"Didn't think you'd show up so early, the emissary isn't due until tomorrow," the griffon said with a hint of surprise in his voice. "I assume you were looking to cut the travel out of your list for the day though. We've prepared rooms for all the proceedings already. The Talon base has plenty of rooms that don't see any use, so it wasn't that difficult to set it up."

Cimmerian nodded, following him to the far side of the town. The first drops of rain were just coming down and the sun had set almost half an hour ago, so there weren't many on the streets. It suited his group, as his mixed guards would likely draw quite a few eyes. Just as they walked in, the clouds cut lose, unleashing their unholy wrath upon those foolish enough to still be outside. The alicorn looked back over his shoulder with both relief and pity. Relief for being able to retreat from the storm into the fort, and pity for the guards still standing in the rain.

The Talon base was a beehive of activity, most of it being mercenaries moving supplies from room to room to make space for even more supplies, and on more than one crate he saw were the words Shadowtalon Port. Another mercenary passed his group bearing a bucket of amulets, all marked with the array that protected them from the feral changelings.
"We've been pretty busy with all the refugees ending up scattered to the four winds, but we've managed to prepare three rooms for your meeting," Herrick explained. "Two for sleeping quarters, and a third for the actual negotiations."

The older griffon opened a door, stepping aside to let the alicorn and his group inside. "These will be your quarters for the next few days. Just don't break anything or make a..."

Cimmerian followed the griffons gaze, seeing a young hen currently already in the room. The hen reminded him of the griffons he'd often seen in storybooks. Where most of the others had grey flecks or didn't quite have the right shade of fur as most lions he'd seen in pictures, this one was nearly golden, with snow-white plumage. Not sure what to make of the occupation of the room meant for him, he turned to the Talon leader.
"So I'm not as up to date on griffon customs as I should be, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline the offer of hospitality, Herrick."

The reactions to the joke were mixed; more so than he'd expected. Several griffons passing by who'd heard the comment and seen who it was directed at reached for blades, causing his own guards to do the same. The hen merely stared at him with an expression caught between confusion, and shock. Herrick...

The old griffon buried his beak in his talons, before muttering "Lord Cimmerian, be known to Princess Isana, Daughter of Queen Federica. Your Highness, be known to Lord Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, ruler of the Temple of the Shadows and founder of Shadowtalon Port."

The stallion stared for a few moments, finally comprehending just what he'd done. With a sigh, his wings sagged and he chuckled with a rueful shake of his head. "Of course. I can't even make a joke without stepping in it."



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"What do you mean you can't? I said prepare a group to hunt down this benefactor immediately!" The purple alicorn shouted at the lieutenant before her. "This male, this, this thing is a bigger threat than any army! It must be found and either captured or killed immediately!"

"Y-your Highness, we have griffons raiding our caravans at will despite the changeling squads, we have minotaurs making prodding strikes against our eastern borders, despite our best efforts to make sure the griffons could not strike back, we're looking at a war on two fronts without the forces to fight it!" The soldier attempted to explain. "You're asking us to send out specialists of all types looking for a creature whose name we do not know, nor do we even know its species. Not only do we have nothing on this creature, we have even less on its location. One of the intelligence officers suggested checking the lost ships, but those were scattered by a powerful storm and two went down in the middle of the ocean."

The Mad Queen's eyes lit up momentarily with hope. "The storm! Did you check it for magical properties?"

"Of course Your Highness, it was one of the first things we did when we found out we lost crew and resources to it," he responded. "It was completely natural. Normally we have weather teams send a counter-storm to stop it from reaching Equestrian shores and don't give them a second glance."

The Mad Queen began pacing about her dais, mumbling to herself. "No no no, I know he's out there, we need to find him and stop him. He's the reason the changelings are being bypassed, he's the reason she's fighting. If he keeps doing this, it's all going to come down."
Much to the surprise of all those gathered, in a few seconds she relented. "Very well, but I want the specialists ready to gather and move out when the word is given. In the meantime, I want the information network...what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Uh, you disbanded R.I.D.E eight years ago, Your Highness." One soldier mumbled, ducking his head in a bow afterwards in the hope of dodging her focus.

"I, I did?" She said softly, sounding unsure of herself in public for what was likely the first time in months if not years. "Oh, well uh, is there, no, I'm the Queen. I want it back up and running, and its only job will be to find this creature. Once they find him, send word to the specialists I listed and send them to the last location of the creature. Other than that, I want alternatives on how to deal with the minotaurs, and somepony find out where these griffons are striking from! We've already captured all of their main cities and towns, there can't be that many places left for them to rally."

"Of course, Your Highness," the soldiers said in unison before walking out the door to their appointed tasks. The Mad Queen watched them go, a little more certain of herself. It hurt to admit, but they were right, she was sending troops she may need elsewhere off chasing a nameless shadow. All it would do for her at this point is weaken her already strained position.

"Well? Anything to add, 'Captain'?" She asked the white stallion standing beside her throne.

The captain merely snapped a salute at her attention before speaking, "Nothing that you are not already pursuing, Your Highness."

"Of course not." She snorted in disgust. 	Of course she was left with fools surrounding her, she'd removed most of those that displayed sort of intelligence to make things easier to control, and those with any spine, she'd grown frustrated with and fed them to her experiments. Truly, the life of a tyrant was a frustrating one. Those like her were too willing to attempt to usurp her to use effectively, and those intelligent enough to be useful were also too intelligent to stay anywhere near her when she was so likely to have those around her executed and/or tortured for her own amusement. If only she had a...
"That's it! I build my own officer. A little of programming with a few changelings and I should have a perfectly loyal soldier. Oh don't think the fact that you won't help me will stop me, fool. I still have access to your notes!" She cackled cheerfully as she darted down the halls to her personal lab and library.

Pity the Nightmare, a foolish creature who had no idea that there was a reason the purple unicorn turned alicorn had an assistant for keeping her notes and research in order. Nor did it realize how difficult programming golems could be. The Mad Queen was in for a very long and frustrating experience.



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Pandinus paced. Lestidae watched.

The larger queen paced for nearly ten minutes, debating on the idea that had occurred to her. Zelus was finally cleansed enough to move on to actual love, and was ready to start helping in any tasks set before her. The current task Queen Pandinus was contemplating was sending her after Cimmerian to act as an additional, albeit much stronger, bodyguard. Certainly she trusted the alicorn to watch after himself, but his aura kept her hive safe, his love is what kept them fed.

"Out with it already. What has you wearing a rut in the floor." Lestidae said in irritation. "You're a queen, aren't you? Stop acting like some freshly hatched proto queen and either ignore it, or make a decision."

"Like you've ever been in this situation before." Din snapped back. "If something happens to him, our link will be exposed to the Mad Queen and the majority of our love supply will be cut off. On the other hoof I don't want to coddle him, as he's my mate, not a nymph, and I've already had guards sent with him." Pandinus paused for a moment, looking at the older queen. "Zelus would be an excellent bodyguard I'm certain, able to fight off anything that could threaten him in the local area, maybe even stand against alicorns if it was required. The tales told of a hunger-crazed queen sapping the true love of a single stallion and managing to fight an alicorn. In that case, fueled by so much love, do we even need to worry about hiding? Even if the worst occurs and the Mad Queen captures him, would anything be able to stop us if we put our stores to use?"

"Do you even need to continue this charade in that case?" Lestidae asked with a haughty gaze. "When he returns, defeat him, lock him in your quarters and harvest what you need. I really don't see the issue here. Why allow him to leave at all?"

"He's the source of the love, yes. However, his happiness increases its potency. You still haven't tasted it, have you? Neither of you have. The love we have stored here, not only is it plentiful, it's potent."

Pandinus approached a small desk that had been added to her room in the last few weeks. It was more for Cimmerian, allowing him to quickly sign urgent papers instead of having to trek all the way to the war room or his own quarters for proper writing implements than for her own use, but she still made use of it. She opened a bottom drawer, drawing a single glowing pink jar that may as well have been the sun in the nearly pitch black of the room. The sudden change in lighting startled Lestidae, who's secondary eyelids snapped shut at the sudden increase in light.

"This is the most potent of it. I keep some here, not allowing it to be diluted amongst the rest of the love. The love of an alicorn for his mate."
Wordlessly, the larger queen floated the jar to herself as she reclined on her bed. A clinking sound caused Lestidae's ears to twitch, and she spied several small glasses floating to the bed as well.

Pandinus poured the pink gel into three cups, only allotting a small portion for each glass before stoppering the jar and returning it to the desk. Before Lestidae could ask who the third glass was for, the door swung open, admitting a surprisingly energetic Zelus.

"You had something to discuss, Pandinus? I hope it's important, I was just about to train some of the guards by thrashing them. It has been far too long since I've engaged in such activities for entertainment," Zelus cheerfully stated, her smile nearly splitting her face in two.

Without looking at either of them, Pandinus floated a glowing glass to each queen, staring into her own as if it held the secrets to the universe. "I want you to know. I want you to understand, Lestidae, just how different the situation is. You continuously complain about how we are breaking tradition, but you fail to see what I have; you fail to see what's been shown to me.
"You complain about losing our traditions and the laws that we have followed for so long? The griffons have real traditions, ceremonies so intricate they are an art-form in themselves. The ponies have traditions, tales passed down through the generations, plays, songs, even history books recording who their ancestors were and what they did. The minotaurs have their heirlooms, weapons and armor passed down through the families that each new generation learns the exploits of, as well as they who wielded them. Even the gnolls and the diamond dogs have stories of their ancestors, of their origins.

Pandinus' eyes hardened, focusing on the elder of the queens. "Do you know who your grandmother was? Have you ever heard tales of the exploits of changelings? Not warnings or tales of tragedy but tales of changelings succeeding, of them surviving impossible odds to return home, or to defend their hives. What about works of art? The central pillars are abandoned when the hive moves on, and any odd scratches the drones have made over the years are forgotten. We can alter our voices to reach nearly any tone that may be heard with equine ears, yet never have I heard of a song composed by a changeling. Where are our traditions, Lestidae? Where are our customs, our heritage? We have less than the mongrels that spend all day foraging through the jungle for scraps of food! You speak of the proud changeling race? We've spent millennia hiding in the shadows!"

"The proud changeling race, ha!" Pandinus scoffed. "How proud are you truly of your race? The fountain outside, it is the first creation of the changelings, the first thing that any race can look upon and know changelings existed. Even should our race be wiped out, other races will speak of the fountain, of a beautiful creation that glowed with the love of those who lived here. The only other location where one could see such a concentration of love is the Crystal Kingdom, and the idea was proposed by an alicorn!"

"Our laws are binding, Pandinus," Lestidae responded coolly. "You cannot just dismiss all your mother taught you because some alicorn comes along and asked you to dismiss your rearing."

"Name one law your mother taught you that cannot be broken in times of strife!" Din retorted. "There were none in my rearing, the survival of the hive was paramount. If I had to submit myself to another creature for the survival of my hive, I was expected to do so! If I needed to order half of my hive killed because our food stores would not sustain our numbers, I was expected to do so! Tell me Lestidae, tell me one law that is unbreachable by our race. Just. One."

For a few moments the queens stood there in silence, Lestidae starting to speak several times before snapping her jaws shut, even a single loophole being grounds for dismissing the best choices for her counter-arguments. Unsure of how to proceed, she turned to Zelus, eyes asking for aid. Instead, the smallest queen shrugged, swirling the glowing liquid in her glass.

"Mother told me there were no true laws, that they were guidelines on how to deal with other hives and that we make the laws of our own hives. I'd hate to say it, Lessy, but she has a point."

The eldest queen scowled, though whether it was at the nickname or her ally's lack of support was unknowable. "Fine, you've made your point, Pandinus," Lestidae said to the largest queen. "But what has this all to do with the love?"

"You've tasted stolen love, correct? Mother told me most queens and proto queens were given any the hive managed to obtain, and I remember it was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted. My time here made me realize something though. The emotions we harvest are flat, not at all as fulfilling as they could be. As Cimmerian told me, we've been living on crumbs. Taste it, I want you to understand why I would put myself through so much misery for this prize."
With that, Din slowly sipped her glass, savoring every moment. Zelus was about to knock back the entire glass, but a quick glance at the other queens stopped her. She slowly sipped at the honey, rolling the taste around in her mouth for a moment before going slack, Din's aura the only thing stopping the cup from hitting the floor.

Lestidae stared at her fellow queen in shock, waving a hoof in front of her face a few times before poking the smaller queen. It was enough to upset Zelus' balance, the changeling slowly tipping over much like a tree that was harvested for lumber. The reaction drew a giggle from Pandinus, who then stared expectantly at the only queen remaining on her hooves.

"I told you, Lestidae, we were not living, we were surviving. Taste it, and tell me anything you've ever come across even comes close. Taste it, and tell me you wouldn't give your wings and horn for a sure supply of it."

Lestidae glanced worriedly at her glass, fear appearing on her face. 'Poison? No, she wouldn't heal us just to poison us, and she's had some as well, unless she's already taken the antidote. What happened?'

Pandinus giggled, using her magic to move the insensate queen to a small pile of blankets by an empty pod. "Oh that's priceless. Can you hear her, Lestidae? She's not moving, but she's high as a kite at the moment. I think I was just as bad the first time I tasted it. In fact, I remember waking up drooling love, with everything being tinted pink."

Lestidae focused on Zelus, and to her surprise heard the queen over the link. As Din had said, the younger queen was giggling uncontrollably even as she lost all control of her body. Was it truly that powerful?

"Try it, Lestidae. Or do I need to start calling you Lessy as well?" Din said with an impish grin.

With only a small remaining amount of hesitation, the older mare drank the honey, quickly settling herself into a reclining position and setting the glass on the floor. She rolled the taste around in her mouth, enjoying the sweetness that love always carried, but there was something more, something...
The world went pink for the elder queen, and she was aware of no more.







Din giggled as both queens ended up practically drooling over themselves from a love overdose. It would be even funnier if not for the fact that it highlighted the primary problem she'd been seeing lately. Give them an actual source of love, and most are so sensitive they instantly turn into a gibbering mess. How could her species live if they weren't even capable of feeding properly without getting high?

She'd have to change that over the next few months. The nymphs would obviously be the best suited for the new lifestyle, growing up with plenty of food and having other species hatchlings to teach them the drive they would need. The drones may be capable of it, but there was the possibility some would never achieve the level of culture ponies enjoyed. The queens?
That would be a long hard road, but they would live long enough to be able to adjust.

Or maybe the stress would kill them? Can't say she didn't try.

The queen watched as Cadance trotted into the room, looking curiously at the two queens before hopping up onto the central bed and pressing against the changelings side. It was exhilarating, the things she was planning. Hundreds of changelings, all of them living in comfort. Queens speaking of her and her mate as the ones who brought their species into a golden age after approaching the cusp of extinction. Would it be a golden age for them? What would a golden age of changelings entail? She'd found a few books in the library detailing the advances ponies enjoyed during such times, and they set her imagination ablaze.
Yes, it was definitely a good day to be the queen of the hive.

Her attention was suddenly drawn to the door as it swung open once more, admitting the mobile armor of Cimmerian. The glowing eyes of the armor took in the sight of the comatose queens before turning back to her and asking a single question.

"Din, what the hell did you do to them?"


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Cimmerian stretched his wings just outside the building of the Talon compound. The thestral ambassador was due in about an hour, and he would likely be stuck inside for the rest of the day. The storm had passed, leaving an overcast sky and only the faintest rumbling in the distance and a damp scent in the air. Well, damper than usual. Zarris was a seaside port town, after all.

His stretching complete, he turned to walk back inside when he noticed a griffon just exiting the main building.
"Good morning, Princess Isana. Did you sleep well?"

"As, well as can be expected, Lord Cimmerian."

"Cimmerian is fine, if you'd like. Once more, I apologize. It was an attempt to break the silence with humor, and it fell so flat you couldn't pick it up with a spatula." He said with a chuckle.

"I understand." Isana responded hesitantly. "I, er, once insulted a minotaur diplomat by asking why his horns were cracked strange places. It seemed innocuous enough but apparently it was a deformation, not battle related, and calling attention to it was seen as a grave insult. It was done in private, so the matter was quickly explained by my mother and apologies were given, but the experience remains."

"Something to take home, I suppose. I know there's a few gestures that while where I'm from they're positive things, there's another place where it's a grave insult. Culture can be a strange thing, even your own. If you truly look hard enough, I'm sure you can find something in your own culture that confounds you."

The hen giggled daintily, holding a talon over her beak. "It is true. I don't remember them at the moment, but I do remember asking my nanny several questions regarding insults and greetings. Oh, that was it. Stone-Talon is fine, but never call someone a Stone-Wing."

"Ah, bad luck, right? Or maybe it's a curse?" Cimmerian mused aloud.

"It could be both, actually, though as an insult it's more the latter." The princess looked around the compound worriedly for a moment before whispering to him.
"Why do you consort with changelings?"

The dark alicorn looked at her in confusion for a moment, before understand sparked in his eyes. "Ah, the guards. A request from my wife, actually. She asked that I take some guards, and one of my organizers set me up with a full group of flyers. Changelings are in the majority at the Temple of the Shadows, though, so it's easier to grab more of them. That and Pandinus probably picked those four out herself."

It was now the hen's turn to look confused. "Pandinus? Is that another alicorn I've not heard of?"

"Queen Pandinus of the Temple's Hive." He clarified, taking a seat beside the griffon. "When I first found her she was nearly insane with hunger, now she's the strongest changeling I know, possibly the strongest on the planet. She's grown a lot, from a single-minded nymphomaniac to a wonderful leader and a kind mother. If you'd like, I'm sure I can spare a guard for your questions. Learn about what you fear, princess. Often enough it's the unknown we fear, not the actual creature."

"Sir, the ambassador's arrived and is waiting for you in the designated room." A Talon mercenary said, approaching with a nod to the alicorn and a bow to the princess.

"Must have used the array." Cimmerian muttered, standing up and stretching his wings for what was likely the last time for a few hours. "I'm on my way. Oh, and princess? You're not wrong saying I consort with changelings. Din's my mate."

Watching the princess's white fur somehow light up pink was well worth it as he walked back into the compound. 'Dammit, I still need to find out how a ruler goes about getting married. I can't exactly marry myself, and I'm the only actual ruler in the area.' Sure he could just say he was married, he could even make up the paperwork and sign it off himself, but would it really mean anything?
'Sides, Mom would never forgive me if I had kids outside of an official marriage. She'd find a way to cross dimensions and kill me. It's going to happen, so now I need to make it official,' he thought with a smile.

The door swung open with his aura, allowing him entry into the well kept room the talks would be taking place in. The alicorn walked in, his guards closing the door behind him. As he took his seat, he noticed the thestral ambassador staring at him wide-eyed.

"L-Lord Cimmerian?" The mare managed to stutter out, her brown eyes locked on his own.

"I am. You're the ambassador sent by the Thestral Council in response to my letter?"

"I, I..." The mare's words were caught in her throat, so instead she followed her instinct. Before the alicorn could blink, the mare had kicked out of her seat and prostrated herself on the floor, teary murmurings and fearful requests for forgiveness only barely reaching his flicking ears.

Looking at the mare, the alicorn only barely suppressed a sigh.
'This is going to be one of those weeks.'
> The Start of the New Way and the Scars of the Twilight Coup
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The mare blinked once, then twice, clear thought once again returning to her. She tried to stand up, but her legs refused to listen. She looked around her, seeing only the dim chamber where she'd first lost track of herself. Apparently she was still in Pandinus' chamber. Zelus blinked a few times, looking around and soon spotting the prone, still-comatose form of her fellow queen, a line of drool falling from the elder queen's gaping maw and trailing down her slender neck.

Zelus giggled at the sight, knowing how rare it was to catch the always-serious Lestidae in a compromising position. Truly it would be wonderful if she could find a crystal-recorder to immortalize the picture, but considering how dizzy she was feeling she wasn't certain she could hold the crystal in the proper position long enough.

"You're already up?" a voice asked from the other side of the room. Zelus managed to turn, seeing Pandinus smirking at her from the doorway.

"What time is it?" Zelus asked, rubbing her eyes with a foreleg.

"It's just past noon," the larger queen answered, approaching the blankets and helping the other queen to her hooves. "Flush the extra to the hive, Zelus. It will help clear your mind until you can adapt to the higher concentrations."

Zelus frowned at the order, her instinct to hold onto the emotions she'd ingested being very strong in its reproach. There was more in that single shot than she'd tasted in the last five years. Despite this, she took a deep breath and did so, opening her eyes to find Din smiling at her.

"This way."

She followed the other mare, curious about their destination. Soon enough they came upon a small door, a full compliment of guards standing before it. She felt them brush against her in the link, verifying those who approached and then stepping aside. Walking in after Pandinus, Zelus' jaw dropped.

The room was large, with several large covered pools throughout the room. Different emotions  were stored in each, the colors varying depending upon the concentration and the contents. The queen walked between them, noting the consistency, the purity, the sheer amount of emotion contained inside the pools.
'They were diluting what they were giving us.,' she realized. If she'd tried consuming some of this in her previous state, it would likely have left her violently ill. Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed Pandinus hadn't stopped, continuing on a path to the back of the room and a second door with yet another set of guards. They passed into the next room, and the sight nearly made the smaller queen weep.

"Love has always been the most powerful, most empowering of all the emotions. We keep it back here, away from the others so there is no cross-contamination." Pandinus explained, three true drones moving to clean the two of them with towels and brushes. Then, before Zelus could ask what was going on Din stepped forward, walking into one of the small one-person ponds in the room and letting out a sigh of contentment. Din looked back with a grin as the drones went back to their places.
"Are you going to sit there all day? Or does the idea scare you?"

"Why?" Zelus asked her. "You have so much here, why do you need us?"

Pandinus stared into the distance for a moment before responding. "Amare is not my daughter by birth, she's a proto queen that is only here because she was linked to Cadance. Mirage, Kris, Healing Mist, Umbra, Still, Gem, all of them a part of my hive, and yet the only drones that I've personally given birth to are a few true drones, including the ones by the door. I'm not worried though, do you know why? Because I know I'll live to see tomorrow. I'm not scared, trying to lay as many eggs as I can to increase my children's chances of surviving each day. I don't see other changelings as an obstacle, things that consume resources better suited for my own children. Instead I follow Cimmerian's plan. I make those here want to stay, I work to make this better than any alternative."

Zelus nodded as she cautiously slipped into a second personal pond, shuddering as she felt the warmth of the honey pressing against her shell. 
"I, I can't say it's not effective."

Din giggled, focusing her stare on the other queen. "It's wonderful isn't it? I want you to do something for me though. I won't stop you from starting your own hive, but until you decide if you want to leave or not, I want you to guard my husband. This, all of this, is because he gave our people a chance. That love you sit in, that's yours. Use it, heal yourself. Force a molt, alter yourself in any way you see fit. The entire contents of that pond are yours, I'm not even going to add it to your debt. Keep my mate safe during this time of danger, and I'll consider your debt null."

Zelus stared at the other queen in shock, here eyes going from Din to the bathing pond of love she was currently standing in. Had she not seen and felt so much love and other emotions in the area, she'd have called the other queen mad for suggesting such a waste. As it stood...

Zelus took a deep breath, allowing her form to fall beneath the surface of the pool. Her heartbeat slowed, her eyes glazed, and her body slowly began its repairs. She knew what had been asked of her, and knew the importance of her new task.

A ghost of a smile graced her face. She would be the defender of her race's future. She would be the warrior queen she'd always wished to be.






Pandinus smiled softly as she felt the smaller queen's link going dormant. Zelus wasn't one for sitting in meeting rooms all day, that much she'd already discovered. As such, the best place for her would be in the field, which was odd considering she was a fellow queen.

She was, however, much easier to deal with than Lestidae. The older mare would likely have had an aneurism if she'd been put through a similar situation, but she'd have her own use. The changeling's face hardened in conviction. Lestidae would learn to adapt, or she would leave the hive. 

Dunking her head under the honey and enjoying being completely encapsulated in love, allowing the warmth to permeate every part of her form, the changeling took a deep pull of the glowing emotion-laden honey. She broke the surface, stepping out of the pool carefully and allowing the drones to clean the liquid from her form. Afterwards, she left them with orders to maintain the depth of Zelus' pool. Her husband's guard would have anything and everything she needed.

Pandinus shook her head in frustration as she felt her gut gurgling once again, the constant need for both types of food weighing on her mind. She wasn't used to this need, nor was she happy about how slowly the nymphs were developing. It would be worth it, though. The intensity of the alicorn's love, even his desire for her safety had multiplied upon the discovery of her condition. She could only imagine how much it would increase when the young were finally born.

Entering the dining hall nearly an hour after the meal had ended, she was greeted by the sight of two other mares also seated at a table, munching on a late meal and giggling amongst themselves. Seating herself by them, she smiled kindly at the mares even as one of Slop's assistants approached to take her order.
"So it starts, hmm? Who are the fathers?"

The mares blushed, breaking out into a renewed fit of giggles before naming their respective stallions and asking the queen how her own pregnancy was progressing. Eventually the conversations were put on hold, all the gathered females having received their meals. Din smiled through her lunch, a free hoof finding its way to her barrel. Maybe this wasn't as bad as she'd first thought.



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He tried waiting for her whimpering and groveling to stop.

He tried speaking softly to the mare, or even gently approaching her, but her shivering only increased to outright shaking.

Finally, he tried authority, demanding she explain what was wrong, why she was so fearful of him, but all it drew from the mare was additional tears.

Cimmerian sighed in exasperation, hooking a fetlock over his muzzle before standing and once more approaching the mare. He ignored her whimpers and shaking, laying down in front of her and using his magic to lift her face to his own.
"Look at me."

The mare struggled against his aura for nearly a minute before raising her eyes, though the second her eyes rested on his they darted back to the floor. She renewed her efforts to try and hide herself or meld into the floor.

"Why are you afraid of me?" he asked her with a mixture of curiosity and disappointment. "Do you know why I called your kind here? Do you know why I asked to speak to one of your people, a representative of the thestrals?"

Surprisingly she answered his question.
"Gram t-told me you'd come one day, to call us on our, our debt. I didn't believe her, oh stars, I don't want to die, please don't kill me!" she wailed.

The stallion's face scrunched up in a mixture of disgust and confusion. He'd seen a few thestrals that bowed or even groveled the first time they'd seen him, but he'd yet to see the mind bending fear this one displayed. His curious look towards the thestral guards was answered by the one to his left.
"I, I think she may be a descendant of the Nighthawks, sir."

Cimmerian raise an eyebrow. "And those were..."

"The Nighthawks were a group that decided to side with Nightmare Moon during the Twilight Coup. They pledged to side with her, but didn't manage to reach Equestria in time to help Nightmare Moon, so she swore to punish them when she returned. I heard that many Nighthawks were plagued by night terrors for years after Nightmare Moon was banished. Sometimes they even haunted the dreams of their descendants."
The guard shook his head. "Equestrians may have forgotten over the years about Nightmare Moon, but the loss of Princess Luna left a huge impact on our people. Princess Luna wasn't just a foreign ruler, she was an embodiment of our element. She was a physical representation of the night sky. Not only that, she saw us not as monsters or twisted pegasi, but our own people. She talked to us, she visited, she learned our traditions." The stallion took a shuddering breath, the topic very close to his heart. The second thestral took over, seeing her friend not certain how to proceed.

"Princess Luna became a symbol to our people. A symbol, and then a god. There are still places back home that worship the Lady of the Night. Many actually assumed Nightmare Moon was natural to her, a phase of her life just as the old tales told of the cycles of the moon in the times before Discord. Just as Princess Luna was the cool embrace of the moon's light, Nightmare Moon was the silent death that awaited those who disrespected her realm."

The alicorn nodded, a little bit of understanding lighting his eyes. "Therefore a physical embodiment of The Night's Hatred before someone who is a descendant of those ponies would be pretty terrifying."

Cimmerian took one last look at the quivering mare before turning back to the guards. "I'm going to step out for a moment, tell her I won't harm her or her loved ones in any way. I called for an ambassador to discuss the future of her people, should the Mad Queen move against them. I only want to see her people happy." The alicorn grinned at the female guard. "Tell her of your experiences at the Temple. I seem to remember a certain thestral who also acted similarly upon first seeing me."

With that he turned and left, hoping the other thestrals would be able to calm her down enough to allow them to continue the talks. Three steps out the door he almost bumped into Herrick, the old griffon wearing a concerned expression.
"What happened? Did she attack you or something?"

"No, apparently some thestrals have a bit of history with Nightmare Moon, and with how closely I resemble that individual..."

"I thought you were the Nightmare. Isn't that what those crazies set out to do in the Temple? Bring back the Nightmare?"

The stallion blinked at the counter, unable to form a reply for a moment. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he looked straight into the griffons eyes, even as his guards looked at him for an answer.
"No, Herrick, I'm not creature they set out to resurrect."

The griffon looked at him for a moment in confusion before gesturing for him to elaborate.

"The Nightmare is a parasite, a horrible creature that did in fact want to destroy the planet. However, it's also a coward. When Luna returned from her exile, the creature once more attempted to fulfill its mad goal of destroying all life. When it lost and was about to be purged by the elements, it abandoned Luna to her fate, casting a spell that swapped its position with a random being amongst the universe. That being is me. Theodore Fredson, son of an accountant and a doctor, brother to an older sister, and a creature from a world devoid of magic."

The changelings eyes widened slightly, but the griffons beside him  were left with their jaws on the floor. Herrick himself was left blinking in confusion, attempting to come to grips with the reality he'd been told of.
"So, no magic, but you... how do you know any spells?"

"The creature used a swap spell, leaving a copy of its host's memories in exchange for a copy of mine. I was sealed in that armor for forty years with several centuries of memories stolen from Luna. The only reason I can think of that I didn't fall apart to such a mess was because I didn't have a physical brain. My mind was free to handle the information as it wished," the stallion explained. "When the cultists went to free the Nightmare, they freed the creature that was trapped in the armor instead. When they gave the Nightmare a physical form, it was the one they believed it should have, that of an alicorn. This body, this power is the result of their freeing me. That is why I protect them, Herrick. I am a man who was helped when he was trapped in a situation he couldn't possibly understand. My upbringing taught me to help those in need, to return good deeds in kind."

Cimmerian stood up straight, staring down imperiously at the older griffon. "Despite my origins, I am exactly what you see. I am an alicorn, a being whose domain is the shadows. I command them, I bend them, I call them my home. I have millennia of experience to call upon. I wish to see this world protected from the parasites that even now seek the destruction of this world. The Mad Queen is my goal, Herrick. Once she's dealt with, we can focus on getting everyone home, griffons, ponies, and thestrals alike. I don't know if I can bring her down without bringing ruin to those I protect, though. So I move slowly, cautiously. I offer aid from the shadows. Call me a coward, call me a sham, a counterfeit, I really don't care. If I have to bear the title of a monster to see my children safeguarded, I will. I will wear the title of Demon King if need be. But I will see my own protected."

Herrick stared in silence as the dark alicorn left, the stallion making his way back to his quarters. The griffon guards were silent for a few moments, though the changelings quickly moved to follow him.

"Changelings, why would you still follow him? He just told you he's not who he pretended to be." The griffon called to them.

One turned around, its face a stony mask. "His emotions can not be faked. We taste them, we know liars and deceivers. Father is neither. He will see us through the day to the safety of the night." With that it turned to rejoin its brethren, no words being exchanged as they took up position outside the alicorn's room.

Herrick stared for a few moments, allowing the information to sink in. That's when one of the line's the alicorn had used came back to him.
'protected from the parasites that even now seek the destruction of this world'

Parasites. Multiple, more than one. According to the alicorn, he was moving against a creature whose end goal was likely the same as Nightmare Moon; the destruction of all life on the planet. If one removed the need for the Mad Queen's own country to be safe from the equation...

"Wings of the Skylord protect us," the griffon muttered, his eyes widening in horror. "She'd unleash them upon the world just to watch it burn."

He would have plenty of time to question the apparent alien at a later time. He needed to get this information to his brothers and the other nations before it was too late.



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The mare never recovered enough to allow her to speak to the alicorn as her position demanded, so Cimmerian was forced to cancel the talks. He offered the mare a tour of his home instead, given by the female guard, Shrike. The group would make their way back to the Temple, then, barring any big problems, set out for Transylmaneia within the week. It would be just over a weeklong trip even flying for the entirety of each day, but Cimmerian felt an obligation to the ponies. He had to make the trip, he had to at least try. Besides, as one of the griffon guards had said, who would believe the mare?

He'd been worried after his outburst, afraid that his guards would lose their faith, afraid that the Talon's would attempt to kick him out or worse. Instead, he woke up to a very strange occurrence the next morning. His guards were also unshaken in their duties, the changelings still seeing him as their King, or Queen's Consort. As for the Talons?
"Captain Herrick is nau' present at the moment, sir." A griffon merc told him. "Captain left late last night on impor'ant business, something about worst-case scenario prep'ration. I don' know what you told him, muh lord, but I've not seen Cap'n Herrick that rattled in a long time. Still, Cap's orders were to see you and yours were properly looked to fo' as long as needed, so iff'n ya need anythin' just say the word."

"I see. Thanks, Geert," the alicorn said, moving silently to the courtyard. His entourage was already there, even the thestral ambassador who he'd since learned was named Jasmine Breeze. The group did their final checks and took flight, the storm having long since past, but the alicorn knowing his troubles were only beginning.  Just past the walls of the Talon compound, a voice called out for them to stop. Cimmerian turned, seeing a small company of well-armed griffons moving towards his group while at their center stood the unmistakable form of Princess Isana.

"I wish to see your city, I wish to learn of these creatures that have become such a terror to my people." Princess Isana said as she reached his group. She grinned slyly to the alicorn, continuing "If Herrick were here, I'd likely not get the chance, as he's the only one here who would stop me. I also wish to see Shadowtalon Port. Would you allow me to enter your country, my lord?"

Cimmerian looked at her and her guards for a few moments, the soft beating of wings the only sound that reached them at their current height. With a sigh the alicorn nodded. "I'm sure Lady Thrisha would love to have you visit the port. I don't know if we'll have any rooms suited for one of your station, but we will do our best to see that you're comfortable, Princess."

No sir, Cimmerian's troubles were just beginning.
> A New Type of Hive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The flight back to the Temple was quiet, this time Cimmerian in no mood to enjoy himself. Too much was on his mind, too much that was beyond his control, too much that could go wrong. The truth of his origins was spreading, how long till others learned the truth? Would the Temple be able to take that kind of stress? How would his trip to speak with the thestrals go? Would the council all quail and flounder like the ambassador they sent had? Herrick had taken off soon after he'd been told the truth, what was he doing? Was he spreading the truth of the alicorn's origin, telling all how he wasn't to be trusted? 

So the alicorn brooded, not noticing Princess Isana's attempts at conversation, and almost not registering the squad of changelings that approached them to escort them to the arrival zone. The griffon princess' squawks of fear did manage to catch his attention, however.

"Relax, princess. Look closer, they move in formation. The feral creatures that attacked High-Talon were a wave of fangs and chitin." One of his guards soothed, doing it for her own guards as much as the princess. The alicorn smiled at the welcoming, noticing Pandinus out on the field even as they began to approach. With an excited grin, the alicorn sped his descent.

Almost the second his hooves had hit the ground, she was on him, latching onto him with a powerful kiss that nearly knocked him off his hooves. Properly situating himself, he returned it, finding the queen's apparent addiction to him funny.

"Cimmerian, I thought you were going out to speak to a thestral, what's this?" Pandinus asked him as she sidled up to him.

Two beings separated from the group, neither seeming very certain of approaching the pair. It was almost funny in fact; Jasmine Breeze was still looking at him with undisguised fear, while the griffon princess was looking around at the gathered changelings as if they'd change their minds all of a sudden and attack her. So the alicorn took the initiative and approached the group, laying a wing over the changeling queen's back.

"Princess Isana, Ambassador Jasmine Breeze, I welcome you to the Temple of the Shadows, new name pending of course." Cimmerian offered them with a respectful bow of his head. "Not exactly a mere temple anymore. This is Queen Pandinus, leader of the changelings at the Temple, and my wife."

Din smiled warmly at the two as they came closer, Isana seeming fascinated by the appearance of the larger, strange looking changeling, and the Ambassador more willing to approach the queen than the alicorn. Stepping away from Cimmerian, Pandinus offered her hoof in greeting to the Princess.
"Hello, Princess Isana, I assume you will be moving on toward Shadowtalon after a quick tour?"

"Yes," Isana said with a smile, eyes darting over the queen's form and even looking between the changeling mare and the guards in the field. "I've never seen a changeling queen before, you're bigger than I had heard. Not nearly as horrific, either."

Taking the comments as a compliment, the queen smiled good naturedly. "My size is definitely on the large size compared to others of my kind. Lestidae would likely be closer to what you'd expect. Unlike most of my kind, I have had ready access to an abundant supply of food, and I've found my body changing to adapt to my new circumstances. If you'd like, you may ask Lady Thrisha most of the questions I'm sure you have. She's already written down most of the questions and myths griffons have developed about my people, and I'm sure she'd be willing to give you a copy to return home with."

The hen brightened at the thought "I would appreciate that. Not that I would find asking you the questions less appealing, but-"

"It's fine, princess. I know you don't fear me as much as my children. We're empaths, remember?" Queen Pandinus explained with a smile before turning to the thestral.
"Jasmine Breeze, welcome to our home. You do not need to fear for yourself here. If changelings and gnolls are free to walk the city, what makes you think thestrals would be any different?"

The thestral just stared at her for a moment, her eyes darting to the alicorn behind the queen once, twice, three times before the mare stuttered an apology, directing her gaze to the ground. Barely suppressing the urge to roll her eyes at the display Din issued several commands to her drones, one of them stepping forward and standing beside her.

"If you'd like, Isana, you may have some of your guards use one of our spare barracks for housing, or send them straight to Shadowtalon. A tour with about twenty griffons may be a bit awkward. Also, would you join us for dinner? I've yet to hear a griffon complain about Slop's cooking, despite his being a pony. When you decide what you wish the soldiers to do, tell Deflection and he will direct them to their destination. I will leave you to Cimmerian for now, I have a, friend that's just waking up that I must deal with." With a quick bow Pandinus turned and left, her wings taking her to the Temple.

The alicorn watched her leave for a few moments before turning back to his guests. "If you'd ladies like, we can start the tour now. Shrike, if you'd be so kind as to guide the ambassador, I'll watch Princess Isana." The alicorn turned to the thestral mare, who flinched a few steps back at his gaze. "Jasmine, enjoy your time here, and don't hesitate to ask anyone if you have any questions or find you need something. I know you weren't planning on being away for too long, but sometimes we need to adapt as the situation around us changes. Princess Isana, this way if you please."



<-(0)->



Pandinus found her right where she left the older queen; in pile of blankets and misery. While Zelus was slightly disoriented from the overdose of extremely potent love, Lestidae was reacting quite negatively.

"My friend," the older queen greeted with a forced smile as she saw Pandinus enter the room, rising to her hooves unsteadily. "My dear, good friend...you dirty, lousy, sheep-herdin-"

Din winced as the older queen tripped, the floor cutting off the rest of Lestidae's tirade.  Stepping closer, Din watched as the smaller queen struggled to get her hooves under her again.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Lestidae muttered drunkenly. "What did you give me?"

"Just love, Lessy. Just a nice dose of love." Din replied, using her aura to pull the other mare to her hooves and keep her there.

"That wasn't love, there was no way in Tartarus that was love." Lestidae growled, her eyes attempting to focus on Din but not quite able to.

"Of course it was. It just so happened to be actual love, love Cimmerian has for me. Not that stolen stuff you'd always enjoyed as a treat back when you were just a proto queen. Not the stolen love all the other queens seem to covet like a dragon seeks gems. Flush the rest of it, Lestidae, it's too much for you right now. Flush it to the rest of the hive, let it disperse amongst them; let it feed the hive and clear your mind."

Lestidae did so quickly, her anger and presumption that it wasn't love leaving her much less hesitant to do so than Zelus. Her mind clearing now that she was no longer floating , she quickly straightened and glared at Pandinus.
"What the buzz was that stuff? And don't tell me it's love, there was no way it was love."

"Follow me for a moment, Lestidae, I'll prove it to you." Pandinus told her, heading out into the rest of the Temple. Lestidae followed, muttering darkly the entire time. Before long, Lestidae spotted the dark alicorn, Pandinus headed straight towards him as he spoke merrily to a young griffon hen. The older mare blinked, focusing for a moment on the griffon before recognizing her.
"What's the griffon heir doing here?"

"Cimmerian, do you remember my experiment last night? I offered that love to Zelus and Lestidae, a proof of concept." Pandinus said to the alicorn, drawing a nod from him. Din giggled, looking back to the smaller mare and then to the stallion. "She absolutely refuses to believe it's actual love, thinking I tainted it somehow. Would you be a dear, and help me prove her wrong?" she said, leaning into the alicorn and nuzzling into his neck. He chuckled, looking to the griffon hen for a moment. 

"Princess, you were asking how the changelings kept fed here, correct? This is how." With that the alicorn sat on his haunches and pulled Queen Pandinus into a crushing hug, kissing her deeply. Pandinus pulled lightly at the emotions, feeling the torrent of love wash over her. By the First Mother, she hadn't even spent a day out of his presence and she was looking forward to this.

"What are they doing?" Isana asked the elder changeling, watching the alicorn and changeling queen wrapped around each other. Suddenly Din slacked, her hooves going slightly limp as her eyes drifted open, rolling back into her head. Still holding the queen upright as her head slightly lolled, a pink tint to her eyes, the alicorn chuckled, trailing kisses up her neck.
"You're not the only one who missed their other, Din," he said with a devious grin. "I have a trip coming up, we're going to have to make sure you guys are well supplied."

Din giggled senselessly, pushing the love she'd just been gorging on to a very specific part of the link and smiling even wider when she heard the older mare gasp in shock. Feeling that part of the link no longer capable of accepting more emotion, she began dispersing it to the workers in the storage chambers, the drones immediately setting about putting it into the proper pools. Finally able to see clearly again, Din tightened her grip on the stallion, nuzzling into him and catching a wonderful view of the griffon staring at the drooling form of Lestidae. 

"That, princess, is how changelings feed. If we're linked in a hive, we can share the emotions over short distances. For the most part though, we store excess emotion as a gel, as my dear companion Lessy is demonstrating right now." Din said with a laugh, drawing attention to the pink fluid slowly dribbling out the comatose mare's mouth. "As I've learned here, if a changeling is exposed to too much love for their body to process, they begin to leak it in what appears to be a glowing saliva. It's actually the overflow of her honey-pouch. Her body is trying to produce more, but there's no where to put it."

The alicorn chuckled at the information, watching as two drones approached and carried Lestidae back to the tunnels. "That explains a lot about that first night. I guess I'm just too much man for a changeling queen."

Din shoved him, moving past him and the still gaping princess to the dining hall. "If you're done stroking your own ego, I must acquire my other source of nourishment now." Pausing at the doorway to look back at the alicorn, giving a slight flick of her tail she smiled seductively at the stallion. "If you're good, perhaps I will stroke your ego myself later tonight."

She didn't need to see his response. She could hear his wings snap open even as they pinned several passerby against the walls.



<-(0)->



Despite the constant attention of an amorous queen, the meal went off without too much trouble. The princess was shown a little more of the Temple, and as it was too late to escort her to Shadowtalon, she was granted a room at the Temple. Specifically, Cimmerian's old room.

"You aren't trying to imply something here, are you Din?" Cimmerian said as they made their way through the halls. "I mean, I didn't actually sleep in there too often but moving my stuff into your room seems a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"

"Well, since my room is made with the hive material, it's a bit easier to clean," she responded simply. "Besides, I think I felt your bed strain last time. We've both grown since we've come together, and while my bed can be reinforced, there's only so much you can do with a simple wood bed."

The stallion chuckled at her response before becoming serious. "Thrisha told me she wasn't ranked high enough in griffon society to perform a marriage ceremony, but Isana is. Would you let me ask her to make this official?"

Pandinus looked back at him, cocking an eyebrow before stroking a hoof over her barrel. "More official than this?"

"Okay, maybe official is the wrong word.," he said, tapping a hoof to his chin. "Legal? While I'm sure there was a time when marriages didn't exist they do now, and we need to set a good example for the rest of the country. Can't have the rest of the kids thinking their rulers think they're above the law. By the way, what happened to Zelus? I'd have thought she'd be present to watch Lestidae get gorged on love."

"She's in the storage chambers, undergoing a forced chrysalis-state. She should be finished in a few days, well within the time it will take you to prepare for your trip." At his questioning look she explained further. "I asked her if she would be willing to carry out a task for me, and offered her the resources to repair herself and undo any changes she may have had to undergo in the last few years. She is currently in hibernation as her body makes the changes. This kind of focused transformation takes a lot of energy, so she's in one of the love-pools. My drones will keep it filled until she finishes. I'm not certain how much love it will take, but I know there's a good chance she may use at least a full pool."

"Whoa." Cimmerian breathed. the sheer amount of energy the queen was discussing was staggering. While not as big a n issue with their plentiful supplies, for a single changeling to burn that much in a few days? "What is it you're having her do?"

The queen climbed into her bed, fluttering her wings and looking at him with a fanged grin. "Protecting the heart of my hive, of course. Your trip should be an excellent first job for her."

The dark alicorn looked at her in disbelief. "You have a queen willing to work with you and the best you come up with is making her my personal guard? Wouldn't she be better suited for defending the city? I mean, she's going to start laying as well, right? Won't she need access to an egg chamber or something?"

"She won't have the intense drive I did when I first made my transition because she's in a hive, one that also has an alpha queen that she's serving under. Yes she'll have her own clutches, but many of those will likely grow up here in the hive as siblings and clutch-mates with my own children." Pandinus giggled in excitement. "It's never been done before, you know. Sharing egg chambers, the broods of two queens growing side by side. In fact, if we keep adding queens to this hive like this, we could have a larger hive than any before. A queen can only maintain so many drones via the link at a time, but when queens link like this, that's no longer a problem.
"Is this how we were supposed to live?" she asked him as he laid down beside her. "Multiple queens presiding over a single link, sharing food instead of fighting over it, guarding each other's children and resources instead of wasting so much time and energy fighting? Besides, Zelus wants this more than I do. She wants to wander, she wishes to see the sights this world has to offer. This allows her to do so. I'm certain that after we win, you'll need to visit other countries as well."

"If she wants to see the world, why can't she just go? Nothing's stopping her, right? She's a queen. After she pays back her debt she's free to do as she wishes." Cimmerian said, allowing Din to crawl on top of him and begin buzzing her wings. The stallion slumped, his own wings going limp at the vibrating massage.

"That may work for your people and even work for ponies, but changelings need a purpose. We must have duties. As a queen hers would be to guide her hive, but as a beta queen, she can be tasked with other things, things that allow her to see the world as she so strongly desires." The queen buried her muzzle into his mane, breathing deeply. "Hmm, I think we need to make sure our stores are topped off, don't you? Hah, you wouldn't believe how bland honey tastes after being able to feed directly from a stallion."



<-(0)->



The rest of the week had passed before the alicorn could blink. Isana made her way to Shadowtalon after apologizing profusely to the alicorn for being unable to perform a marriage. It turned out she was considered of high enough station for such a ceremony, but hadn't actually been certified for it. It wasn't surprising, but he'd kind of hoped it would be something he could accomplish while waiting for the boat that would be arriving in Zarris. Instead, all he was able to do was wed about forty griffon pairs. It turned out the chance to get your marriage sanctioned by the princess was quite a driving force, many pushing their weddings weeks, if not months ahead to have them while Isana was visiting.

Din wasn't helping him, either. He'd pestered Pandinus about Zelus' state several times, curious about the changes the smaller queen would be undergoing and wanting to know what to expect. Every time he asked, however, all he received was a 'you'll see when she's ready' or a 'I don't know, but how about we make sure she'll have enough energy?'  Cimmerian shook his head in exasperation. That mare was capable of being absolutely insufferable when she set her mind to it.

Speaking of insufferable, Lestidae was on the verge of being kicked out of the hive, the differences in the Temple's hive being too much for her to accept. She'd been in several arguments with the alpha-queen, and had even threatened to attempt to take the hive and run it as a hive should be run. Despite his misgivings, Din had actually brushed it off, citing Lestidae as not only being physically weaker from her starvation but not even having an actual powerbase to launch her takeover from. Instead Din said she was going to try one more thing, and if it didn't work, so be it. Lestidae loved the old ways so much, Pandinus would treat her as they demanded.

Finally, after nearly a week of paperwork, weddings, and a clingy queen, it was nearly time to leave. Cimmerian sat in the field he'd designated the 'airport' with his supplies and a good amount of gold for both his passage on the ship and any extra supplies the group may need. Beside him sat his guards from last time, minus the changelings as Din had them tasked elsewhere. Off with a few other thestrals sat the ambassador, no longer shaking in his presence, but still not willing to speak to him directly. Finally receiving well-wishes from nearly every griffon that had been able to make the trip, Princess Isana stood with her own contingent of guards. The princess had apparently had a blast in the port, the only depressing incident having been the night before, when she'd run across Cadance.
It turned out Isana had known the pink mare from before the Mad Queen's rule, and seeing the alicorn in such a state had hurt her deeply. Still, the two had been able to spend some time talking, discussing the whereabouts of friends and mourning those they'd lost. Even now Cadance sat nearby, wishing to see the young hen off properly.
The larger alicorn smiled, the pink mare just barely beginning to notice the world around her again, just beginning to do more than exist. Maybe by the time he returned she'd be even farther along. Din certainly seemed to be doing well with her.

Speaking of the queen of the hive, the shape shifter was now approaching him, and if her smile screamed 'I know something you don't' any louder she'd be carrying a sign. 
"Hello Cimmer, you almost prepared?"

"Just about," he told her, sneaking a quick peck on the queen's cheek. "One last snack for you before I leave. You take care of everything for me, Din. Tell Weaver and Gleam-"

"Or you could tell us now." The unicorn mare said, the Weaver walking along beside her. Sure enough, the two were almost intimately close, their sides bumping into the other's every now and again. The pair approached Cimmerian before bowing.

"I'm sorry I let my fears get the best of me, Lord Cimmerian. You've done nothing but help us, and I should have been able to take that as proof," Gleam said looking up with a sad smile. She waited a moment before nudging Shadow Weaver with a hoof.

"I know, I know," the unicorn muttered at her. "I came here to free the spirit in the armor. I achieved my goal, and even learned that I could have a home, a place that didn't hear my name and assume I was some sort of warlock of the same breed as Sombra. I'm sorry for letting my fear get the best of me, Lord Cimmerian. I wish you well on your trip, and you can count on us to still be here when you return, helping Queen Pandinus in any capacity she may require."

The alicorn nodded  staring at the ground for a moment before lighting his horn with power. The two unicorns squawked in surprise, soon finding themselves crushed against the larger being's barrel.
"I owe you two too much for you to be apologizing to me," Cimmerian told them, placing them back on the ground. "I just asked that you keep doing what you're doing, and helping to keep everyone here safe. My offer still stands, though. If you like, I can preside over the wedding as soon as I get back."

The two sputtered, their faces turning red for a moment before they stopped, looking at each other and laughing softly. 

"Maybe we'll be ready by then. I just have to try a little harder to convince him." The mare said, nudging her nervous stallion back to the Temple. "Come on, Weaver. We still have a lot to do."

Din looked back to the Temple of the Shadows, a soft curve of her lips slowly morphing into a full-blown smile accompanied by giggles. She turned and addressed the gathered.

"Cimmer, Lady Isana, Lestidae, I think she's ready." Pandinus said, her glee poorly contained. The mare was all but bouncing on her hooves as she looked back to the Temple, a shadowy figure moving out of the smithy and headed straight for them. As the figure approached, Cimmerian's jaw dropped.

It was Zelus, but the only reason he could identify her was because he knew she and Din were planning a big reveal. Where once stood a skeletal changeling mare barely clearing his shoulders, Zelus now stood just shy of his own height, actually a bit taller than Pandinus, but nearly twice as thick. The mare's chitin was jet black, the traditional changeling shell color only being interrupted by stripes of deep blue flowing from her eyes and to her mane as well as a faint pattern of the same stripes in an almost zebra-like pattern along her barrel. The plates that had once looked chipped and cracked now gleamed in the noon-day sun, some of them looking thick enough to turn away even spell fire. The mare's horn was also altered, a wickedly curved protrusion that looked more like a small blade on her forehead than a horn. Finally her body was sleek, the plates being thick and strong, but not being so bulky as to slow her down too much. In fact, the plates almost seemed to have veins deep inside. The impressive sight didn't stop there, though. She was also wearing a saddlebag bulging with supplies, with several blades hanging from different straps on her body. She even carried two chakram's, the weapons anchored to either side of the saddlebags.

"What do you think, Cimmer?" Din said as she approached the restructured queen. "She wished to be a warrior queen, and has trained with many weapons. I had the smiths create a few, though the two of you may wish to purchase something from a griffon or minotaur smith on your travels. Sterling wanted to do an armor suit, but with her current form, Zelus and I both believe it would just get in the way. The blades are all straight from her memories. I had them forged while she was undergoing her transformation."

The alicorn stared long and hard at Zelus, trying to overlay the new form with the one he'd seen not a week prior. The changes were so radical, so unexpected... "That's, I didn't know you could do that..."

"Normally it's both too difficult to do and too expensive energy-wise, but I think it's worth it. Don't you Zel?" Din asked the mare.

Oddly enough, while her physical form was now very intimidating, the queen inside the shell had apparently not changed at all.
"Oh definitely! I can't wait to get going. I hope something happens, like pirates or bandits or, or...Oh! We'll be close to Equestria, right? Can we hit the Everfree Forest? I want to fight a manticore like this!" Zelus squealed in delight, hopping about on her hooves like a little filly. "I even managed to add two extra emotion pouches to my body besides the normal one, so I can go longer without actually feeding!" 

The mare of war giggled excitedly, sidling right up next to Cimmerian, "Of course, with a willing source I won't even have to worry about feeding, will I?"

"Back off, Zelus. You can find your own alicorn" Din said, using her aura to pull the still tittering queen away from her stallion. Queen Pandinus looked straight at the other queen, making certain she had the mare's attention. "You keep him safe, and you can enjoy the travels for as long as you are with this hive. Do that and any nymphs you bear will be cared for as if they were my own. That is all I ask."

"Zelus' giggles died down, though she still wore a large smile. "I will, Din. Thanks for the chance to do this."

With that the armored mare's elytra split open, revealing large double-pair of diaphanous wings that rivaled the alicorns own in sheer size. She took a few test strokes then took to the skies, calling back to the rest of the group, "What are you all waiting for? We're burning daylight!"
> Some Bend and Some Break
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The flight to Zarris was not a boring one for Cimmerian, but it wasn't exactly because of any intelligent conversations. No, it was kept interesting by the constant string of questions flowing out of his bodyguards mouth. The mare would not stop talking. 

"Oh, I've never actually been on a ship before, have you Cimmerian? I bet you've seen a lot of things, like a lot of cities. I want to see a city. What do you think the Transylmaneia looks like? I hope it haves caves. Do you think they have Vamponies there? Not just ponies that look like them, but actual, immortal blood sucking ponies? Do you think I could fight one? I wonder if they're strong. Can we make a stop in Equestria? I want to fight a manticore! Have you fought anything cool, Isana? What weapons did you use?"

Despite the irritation of several guards, the alicorn and the griffon princess smiled at each other.

"I must say, I've never seen someone so happy to be on guard duty," the griffon said, redirecting her gaze to the flitting form of  the changeling. Zelus was still on cloud nine, giggling happily at her newfound freedom. Suddenly the shape shifter gasped, swooping down to the forest below with a warcry. As she disappeared beneath the canopy, a loud crack was heard, followed by the strangled yelp of whatever hapless creature the queen had targeted.

The group came to a halt, almost everyone's focus on the spot in the forest the queen had disappeared into. After several moments, the buzzing of wings was once again heard and Zelus once more rose to their level. She was positively beaming.

"Zelus, what did you.." Cimmerian's question died on his lips, a hoof being rested on his muzzle in frustration. The mare's hooves were spattered with blood; red blood, so it obviously wasn't hers.

"I saw something, I wanted to fight it! Wasn't much of a fight though. I think I broke it's back when I landed on it. I did get this though!" the queen said gleefully, holding up two fangs in her aura. To his surprise, Isana gasped in shock.

"Chubacobra fangs?" Isana said almost religiously. "Those, those are, may I have one?"

Zelus looked questioningly to the alicorn, who shrugged in response, before floating one of the fangs over to the hen. The other she stashed in her bags, giggling at the thought of what was likely her first of many such trophies.

"Zelus, while I know you want to enjoy yourself, you need to have a bit more self-control," Cimmerian rebuked her. The queen's ears splayed, realizing she'd wandered off on the job. Flying closer, he put a hoof on her shoulder. "I don't mind if you have some fun, but remember you're here as a guard. I almost went down there after you, thinking something was wrong. All I ask is you give me some warning, okay?"

The mare nodded, her smile fading a bit, "I will, I'm sorry. I'm just so excited that I don't have to flee from everything anymore!"

With that his guard-queen continued her previous route, flitting hither, thither and everywhither while steaming an absolute tirade of questions.

Isana giggled at the queen's antics, watching her perform a quick loop before the shape shifter tucked in her legs, barreling through a low-hanging cloud.
"She's older than I am, yet she acts like such a child." 

"If a child could kill a chubacobra in about three seconds," the stallion said with a grin. "It's the freedom she's been granted in her new role. She has to stick by me, but she doesn't have anyone looking to her for orders. That's all on Pandinus at this point. Zel's free to do as she wishes for the most part, heck, we may stop by the Everfree on business. We're already that close, may as well check on something. She'll get her chance to fight a manticore, I'm fairly certain of it."

The group continued for a bit longer, soon noticing the distant walls and ships of Zarris. The guards also soon spotted a large group of griffon mercenaries approaching, causing Zelus to tense and move closer to the alicorn.

"It's fine, Zelus. They're Talons, they're probably here because Princess Isana took off when Herrick's back was turned." The alicorn said, turning to the blushing princess.

Sure enough, said griffon was at the head of the group, rushing ahead to meet them.
"Your Highness I must say I'm disappointed. I turned my back for a day and you take off in mostly unclaimed territory without so much as a word to me. Your mother would have my wings if she knew I lost track of you."

The princess sighed, shaking her head at the mercenary.
"Herrick, I'm visiting griffon cities and camps to try and raise morale. I asked you several times if I could go to Shadowtalon but each time you gave me an excuse. I needed to do this."

"But we could have set up something, I mean-"

"I just said I've been asking to go there for a while now!" Isana shouted. "You had no intention of letting me go there, and while I understand you're watching out for me and likely distrust the hive at the Temple, that leaves all of those griffons out of my reach. I can't fight on the front lines, nor can I command armies. This is something I can do, Herrick, and fear of changelings isn't going to stop me from doing so. Besides, it was an interesting experience and I had a lot of fun." The griffon princess' smile became a bit strained for a moment. "Seeing the queens was also an uh, interesting experience."

"Queens?" Herrick asked, seeming to notice Zelus for the first time. The griffon turned to Cimmerian. "I thought you mad for keeping one of them, are you telling me you've picked up more of the damn things?"

The alicorn moved in front of the changeling, moving a foreleg in front of her to hold her back. Turning back to the griffon, he gave the griffon a dangerous smile.
"I've said it once, and I'll likely have to say it a hundred times more Herrick. The griffons aren't the only one's the Mad Queen is pushing toward extinction. You're not even the latest; she's demanded the thestrals all submit to cleansing, a process which is likely to kill them outright, or remove their species by turning them into pegasi. Princess Isana was given some information on changelings by Thrisha, and I know she spent some time talking to a few changelings herself. Learn about them before you dismiss them. Besides, there's a saying back where I'm from. Better to have a wolf at your side, than at your throat. Wouldn't you rather have an ally than yet another enemy?"

The old griffon chewed the phrase over for a moment, looking at the alicorn. "That from Luna, or from before you came to Equis?"

"The place of my birth, Herrick," the stallion responded. "The land devoid of magic. We made do with what we had. As I do even now. Adaptability is extremely important to us, and there is no greater form of adaptation than turning enemies into allies. If you wish to see how effective it is, you merely need to visit Shadowtalon. Ask Thrisha about the guard tower. Then think about how that same technique can be used elsewhere."

Isana nodded, "Yes, she explained that to me. We may be able to quickly repair, or even reinforce sections of High-Talon after this war. Thank you, Lord Cimmerian. If there's one thing I managed to walk away with after this trip, it was Queen Pandinus' belief that our enemies are not so insurmountable. She's quite certain that one on one she could crush most ponies of Equestria's guard, perhaps even the Mad Queen's captain. With the aid you've given us, and that we've forwarded to the minotaurs, my mother may yet see her throne again in her lifetime. One of the scary things about battling an immortal being, Lord Cimmerian, is that they can outlast you. Even the greatest griffon warriors fall to age eventually."

The princess gave him a short respectful bow that he returned in kind, an interesting feat to perform a quarter-mile into the air, and made her way back to the Talon compound. Most of the griffons followed suit, leaving Herrick to stare after her for a moment. He sighed, turning back to the alicorn.
"You love complicating my life, don't you?" he muttered. "It's simpler for the smallfolk to accept that their enemy is a mindless monster that is to be put down. It's easier to tell my soldiers that the ponies are evil and need to be destroyed before they wipe out all life, not that they've been betrayed by their ruler."

"The Equestrians haven't been betrayed by their ruler, their ruler was betrayed," Cimmerian clarified. "The Nightmares make promises, offers to make everything better. They say they can solve your problems, while pointing out all of your own failings, everything you've done that they could have done better. They corrode the wills of the unwary, until they finally convince you to cede to their wishes.
"That's when they reveal their true nature. They leave you to watch as a passenger in your own body as they destroy all you love. They mock your existence, leaving even the kindest individuals with a record that puts the greatest criminals to shame. That thing on the Equestrian throne forced its host to watch as it tortured a childhood friend, Herrick. It left Cadance as you last saw her, and let its host watch as her babysitter was plucked on her orders. The only positive I can see is that Twilight never had any children of her own. I can almost guarantee they'd be tortured or dead by now."

Cimmerian shook his head in disgust. "That's why you should always confirm all the facts before you act, or at least all the facts that are available to you. You may find yourself with unlikely allies, as I have with the changelings and the gnolls."

The alicorn then took off, quickly approaching the gates of Zarris with his guards not far behind. The city watch opened the gates for the stallion, recognizing him from his previous trips, but they looked uncomfortable at the sight of the strange bug-like creature that constantly darted about the group giggling excitedly.

"I've never been in a city before! Are there really twenty creatures per building like mother said? Which of those boats are we going to be using?" The queen suddenly gasped, darting off into an inn. The same inn the alicorn had spent the night at on previous occasions. Cimmerian winced at the sound of shattering glass and muffled shouts of surprise. 
'Why do I get the bodyguard with A.D.H.D.?'

Before he could walk in and apologize to the innkeeper, Sahkest walked out, wearing an irritated expression and a giggling changeling queen on his back.
"Cimmerian, I expected you to be in town today. Your boat leaves soon, correct?" At the alicorn's nod, the dragon nodded as well. "Yes, just one question." The dragon shifted, causing Zelus to slip to the ground. Before she recovered, he grabbed her by her tail, holding her up to the stallion.

"Is this yours?"



<-(0)->



Madness, that's what it was. Lestidae had seen enough of it. 

"Mother, you don't really plan on attempting a coup, do you?" her oldest living son, Kris, asked her with worry. "Queen Pandinus may not live by the old way, but she is powerful, much more powerful than, well, you are in your current state. Perhaps if you waited, just until you recovered-"

"I am not waiting any longer. Every day she descends further into her madness, dragging more and more of our kind with her. We will restart our hive in the jungles and rebuild our empire. I will not allow the old ways to die."

"Mother, please!" the changeling begged. "Where would we obtain our food? Queen Pandinus and Lord Cimmerian would crush us if we attempted to kidnap any of the Temple residents, and they would do the same should we act against Zarris in order to maintain good trade relations with them."

"Are you questioning me, Kris?" Lestidae demanded, looming over the smaller shape shifter. "Has her poison seeped into your mind as well? I see; there is no time to lose, then." The queen's eyes glowed, causing her drones form to stiffen. She looked about the room, and several more drones went stiff, the queen's will over-ruling their own.
"We will take several ponies with us into the jungles when we leave. I will rebuild the changeling race myself if I have to. The jungle is far enough from the Equestrians that they can't find us, so we will use that to our advantage. Once our numbers are sufficient, we will crush this mockery, this desecration of the Old Way."

Lestidae moved her soldiers to the door, opening it with her magic to the room outside, ready to sweep aside any opposition. Following the drones through however, she was surprised to find none. The doors to the storage room were sealed, some strange rune emblazoned on the door that blasted back the changeling she told to open it. Frowning at her inability to raid the larger queens emotion stores, Lestidae moved on, finding most rooms sealed shut with copies of the strange rune on the doors. With increasing agitation she marched through the halls, finding no creatures, no easy targets, not even other changelings she could add to her hive. Striding up to the door to the kitchen she could hear the ponies inside, could sense the one called Slop moving about as if nothing was wrong even as his aides quaked in tantalizing fear. She bucked the wall beside the door, irritation flooding her mind. Finally she breached the door to the outside, storming out ahead of her troops into the waning sunlight.

"Is there something the matter, Lessy?" a calm changeling queen asked her.

The older mare blinked, looking around herself and her newly claimed hive. Pandinus stood before her in the middle of the pathway, the fountain behind her devoid of honey. Instead, Lestidae found her soldiers and herself surrounded by changeling soldiers, all of them glowing with emotion. Among them stood griffons, gnolls and thestrals, all armed with weapons and claws, some even bearing bows and crossbows, every one of which was aimed at her.

"Did you really assume you could steal drones from my hive and I would not notice? Did you think you could plan a coup while connected to me by the link? Come now Lessy, you know better than that. Kris was right, too. Even if you had managed to walk off with some of the ponies here, I'd have you tracked down to the gates of Tartarus itself." Pandinus grinned maliciously at the other queen. "As it stands? Well, you know what happens when a queen loses, don't you? I tried it my way, Queen Lestidae, but if you love your old ways so much, I will treat you as they demand."

With that, Pandinus launched a thick beam of grey energy at the other queen. Les blanched, quickly erecting a barrier and using her drones' magic to reinforce it. Sensing the other queen moving through the link she struck back, damaging the link and dazing all drones connected to it. The attack struck at both of them, causing Pandinus to flinch and stop her attack even as Lestidae dropped her own barrier. It would leave her to fight the mare by herself, but if push came to shove, she was certain she could outmaneuver the pregnant mare.

As she prepared to move, a crossbow bolt buried itself in her shoulder, followed by two more in her neck and foreleg even as several arrows bounced off of her shell.

"What's the matter, Lessy? Forget about them? Or did you assume they'd sit back and watch as their home was threatened?" the larger mare taunted, erecting a shield of her own should the enemy queen retaliate. Lestidae didn't attack though; she knew when she was outmaneuvered. It was how she'd survived this long. Instead she gave a command over the damaged link, one that caused Pandinus to scream in rage. Lestidae demanded her soldiers offer their energy stores to her.

The energy was transferred to the queen, the drones around her dropping to the ground as they followed her final order to them. Some merely passed out, the damaged link preventing a clean transfer, while others dropped dead, no longer even containing the energy to keep their hearts beating. Without even looking back at the dead she took to the skies, flying as fast as her wings would allow. 

Blinking away tears of pain as her adrenaline faded and the bolts in her shell made themselves known, Lestidae's ears twitched. She craned her neck around, seeing a blazing pink orb approaching at high speed, surrounded by several smaller dots. As the orb reached her, Pandinus dropped the aura, whipping around and striking the already injured queen with a double-hoof buck that sent her barreling into nearby trees and jungle detritus.

"You couldn't have just left, could you?" Pandinus snarled at Lestidae, stomping up to her. "I wouldn't even have stood in your way. I would have let you and any who wished to follow you leave without a second thought. My only warning would be to be cautious, cautious that you didn't stray too far. Because had you gone outside of Cimmerian's influence, the Mad Queen would have found your hive, bringing her soldiers here. No, it's not that she can't reach us here, it's my mate that protects my hive, that protects you. No more, though."

Din grabbed the smaller queen in her magic, wrenching her free of the shattered trees and vines, the sharp crack of a dislocated leg drawing a scream from the battered mare. 
"You spat in the face of my hospitality, you plotted to kidnap my children, and you killed twelve changelings, seven of which were not even yours to begin with!" Din slammed Lestidae on the ground before her, drawing another strangled yelp as a still-embedded bolt was driven deeper into the queen's body.
"If this is what the way of the changeling is, if that is what it means to be a Changeling Queen, than thank the Sun and Stars I didn't go through my metamorphosis until I found Cimmerian."

Lestidae coughed, the bitter taste of her own blood leaking into her mouth. Whether it was because of internal injuries or that she'd bit her own mouth or tongue was irrelevant. Instead, she grinned at the changeling standing above her. Even as the hard landings of griffons and thestrals surrounded her, she smiled. She watched the queen's hooves rise over her head, and still she smiled.

"I die as I should have. A queen of my own." Lestidae muttered weakly. If nothing more, she would stand before the First Mother a loyal daughter. She had not allow herself to be corrupted; she had even saved several of her children.

The larger queen's hooves fell upon her, and still Lestidae smiled.







Din angrily wiped the ichor from her hooves, ordering the guards to burn the body and leave no traces for others to find. While the feral queen had almost instantly fallen apart upon her death, Lestidae had enough emotional stores in her corpse to preserve the body for a few weeks. Unfortunately with the mare's death the stores were sealed from the larger queen, and useless to other changelings.

Teleporting back to the Temple's outskirts she was instantly greeted by the worried forms of Mirage and Cadance, the latter bearing a whimpering Amare.
"Total injuries and deaths?" Din ground out mechanically, passing by the two on her way to the Temple's entrance.

"Seven deaths, all due to total energy depletion." Mirage told her. "Several will survive, but it was a near thing. if not for the quick actions of a pair of griffons and a gnoll, we'd be looking at about five more deaths in the following moments while we recovered from the attack on the link. Luckily they knew enough about changeling biology to administer honey to the afflicted and those changelings are now in the infirmary."

The drone scuffed the floor for a moment, her anxiety causing Pandinus to look back to her.

"I, I try to say Zelus wouldn't do something like that, that she was a sister and too close to me, that mother would never have let it come to such things." Mirage said, looking ahead to the covered bodies of the fallen drones. "It's a lie though. Mother's first priority was her own safety and we all knew it. It's how it had to be. I need to know, though. If she had tried to leave with suppressed drones..."

"I would have stopped her." Din said evenly. "It was one of the first things I promised you and Cimmerian, and I won't let another queen's actions, a queen that I allowed into my hive, to break that promise."

The queen made her way through the Temple, passing changelings and ponies alike that quickly scooted out of her path, even passing Shadow Weaver as the stallion removed wards from doors and released those safely barricaded inside. It was her final offer to the mare, a show of force and a display that showcased how her new way had not left her weak. It failed though. Lestidae would not have it, would not take the final offer of partnership, instead opting to spit in her face.

The changeling queen reached her room, climbed into her bed, and collapsed, levitating the helmet of the Nightmare's armor over to her side. Through her door she sensed the pink alicorn, the mare's concern touching but unwanted at the moment.

'Would mother be able to change?' Pandinus thought, gazing into the holes of the helmet. 'Will I save her just to watch her attack me out of anger and disgust? Will any of the queens even be left with enough mental health to recover, or is this it? Two queens now, two free changeling queens, only one of whom is actively laying and supporting the hive.'

Pandinus stared at her own form, the slight bulge of her barrel drawing a shiver of fear. While Gleam had remarked that the pregnancy was moving along quickly compared to those she knew, it was slow to her, so disgustingly slow. A queen's first mated clutch would obviously contain her first proto queen, but the pony in the dream had mentioned she'd have three hatchlings, two female and one male. Would she have two proto queens, or one and two drones? How would that work? Would the rest of her clutches be restricted to this ridiculous incubation time? If so, she would need to find an alternate solution. Her hive was counting on her, and she would need another source of eggs soon. The mare took a deep breath. She would begin training Amare soon. Between Cadance and herself, the proto queen would have more than enough knowledge to survive. That left only time. Time for the nymph to develop into what they needed. She dearly hoped it didn't come to that, though. She knew childhood was important to most creatures, that it shaped who they would be. If she tried to rush the proto queen's development too much, the young nymph would break.

With a sigh, the queen laid down her head, and reached out to the only other remaining queen.



<-(0)->



The stallion sat on the deck of the ship, staring into the sunset as the boat left on its journey. Once the ship was cleared of the Port's waters, it deployed its main balloon, raising the ship into the air and allowing it to travel freely to its destination, unhindered by ocean waves and the rules of the sea. The crew wandered about, their tasks not distracting them nearly enough to keep them from staring at the odd pair watching Zarris fade into the distance.

Cimmerian shifted, the odd sniffle from the mare to his left drawing his attention. He nudged her, curious even as a tear fell from her face.
"Lessy," Zelus mumbled. "She went through with it. I told her not to, told her if she didn't like it she could leave, but she didn't listen."

"What happened?" the stallion asked, rising to his hooves. "Are they fighting? Does Din need us?"

Zelus shook her head. "Lessy tried walking out with drones that didn't agree with her, suppressing them and intending to take some ponies with her for food. Din didn't let her. They fought, Lestidae was injured and fled. Din followed her, mad that Lessy ordered those she was controlling to dump their energy to her, and..." Zelus clamped her eyes shut, a few tears falling freely. "She killed Les."

Cimmerian moved closer to the crying queen, laying a wing around her in a comforting gesture. "Was anyone else injured?" he asked softly.

Zelus shrugged, not having the capacity for much else at that point.
"A few drones ended up dying because of the drain, but most survived. Din says she's fine, just tired. Anything you want me to tell her?"

The stallion stared at her in thought for a moment, before nodding. "Pandinus told me she could feel injuries inflicted on those on her hive. I want you to transfer this to her. You can have some of it as well." He said with a sad smile. "I know you and Lestidae were close for a long time."

With that Cimmerian pulled her into a hug, wrapping his wings around her comfortingly. Zelus had opened her link to Pandinus, but shivered at the wave of warmth that passed through her from the stallion. She felt a request from the absent queen, and backed away, allowing Pandinus to speak to her mate directly. The moment she felt Zelus' body, the alpha-queen returned the hug, causing the alicorn to let loose a grunt of surprise as his ribs creaked.

"Thank you, Cimmerian. I did not expect her to try to drain the drones, though I feel as if I should have expected that. We lost seven in total, including Kris and Shroud... I'm worried, Cimmer. Two. We're down to two, and one of us isn't even prioritizing breeding at the moment. Take care of her as well. I know we have said she will be your guardian, but if anything happens to me... I want you to guard her like you guard me. Keep my clutch-sister safe. Do you promise me? Zelus, no stupidity. I know you want to have fun, but we need you both to come back from this."

Feeling Zelus' response through their connection, the stallion saw the mare smile. "She agrees. I don't know if she can feel emotions I send her from here, but I want to try this." With that the queen moved forward, smashing her lips against his. He was apprehensive, not sure how to handle the situation but soon relaxed, returning the kiss full force. It was Pandinus, after all. Even if it looked and sounded like Zelus. And smelled like Zelus...


...and tasted like Zelus.

It was still Pandinus though... maybe if he told himself that a few more times he'd believe it.







She stood amongst a rushing tide of emotions, the swirl of energy almost washing her away. She felt the deep, burning desire from the stallion for his mate as it passed through her to its true target, felt the desires of the mare being directed at him even if he received no nourishment from it. She felt it washing over her, drowning her in the most intoxicating blend of energy and flavors she'd ever experienced.

Then there were the mare's words. Clutch sister. Pandinus called her a sister, called a queen hatched from another hive a sister, promised to see her and her nymphs through any adversity. She'd known Lestidae for nearly four years, spent every waking hour guarding the other queen's back and trusting the mare to watch her own, but had their fortunes ever reversed Zelus knew the truce would have been abandoned. Lestidae was an ally. Pandinus however, Pandinus was family, and her sister would guide and guard any hatchlings Zelus left in her care. Allowing the overflow of raw emotions to fill her reserves, the warrior queen of the Shadow Hive basked in the warmth of their love. Perhaps one day she would have her fill of adventure, and wish to settle down as a true queen-mother. She only hoped her mates love tasted this pure.
> Your Bed is Warmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had been about four days since they'd left, and the alicorn found himself staring across his cabin from his bed. His guards were in rooms on either side, two griffons in one, two thestrals in another...
"But I'm cold!" Zelus whined, an enchanted blanket draped over her back. It was supposed to help her deal with the dropping temperatures as they headed farther north, but according to her it wasn't nearly enough.

"I said your not sleeping in my bed." Cimmerian told her, glaring at the pouting queen.

Looking around, Zelus ignited her horn, being consumed in a flash of changeling fire. The blanket fell, draping over her now much smaller form. The queen, now about the size of a young pony, popped her head out of her blanket, wrapping the warming cloth over her like a bag.
"What if I sleep like this?" She asked, her voice squeaking as if to match her much more childish size. "Come oooon, please? It's getting cold, and its going to get even colder before we get there!"

The weather wasn't having that much of an effect on him, actually. Be it the inherent power of an alicorn, or the pegasus magic flowing through him, the stallion found himself not even flinching during the cool days and cold nights. He was actually wondering if even a full blown blizzard would force him into actually wearing something, but he couldn't remember Tia or Luna ever needing an extra layer.
Changelings didn't have that protection though. Zelus explained it to him, saying most colonies are far enough underground that they're not effected by the weather. Either that or changelings, in emergencies, are capable of burning energy to survive the lower temperatures. For the most part though, they'd hibernate, most of the hive going dormant for the colder months and sealing the hive off from the surface to prevent discovery or raids from other hives. Others tried to keep to warmer climates, allowing them to be active during all parts of the year. Certainly it was noticeably colder at the Temple nowadays, but it was nowhere near cold enough to drive the changelings into hibernation.

The alicorn stared at the bundled mare, her large eyes watering with unshed tears as she attempted to break him. With a sigh he looked away, raising his wing in an admittance of defeat. Zelus squealed, her eyes instantly drying and causing the stallion to roll his own.  Watching her jump up on the bed beside him and press as deeply into his side as she could, he lowered the wing, almost completely covering the mare. He pulled her in tight, actually feeling the icy cold chitin encasing her form as she attempted to get as close as possible to the warmth he was radiating.

'Maybe I was being a bit too hard on her about that. She was actually pretty cold.' Cimmerian realized. Slowly, he allowed himself to doze, drifting off into the dream realm. There wasn't much to do during the daylight hours but some aerial combat training or blade training with his other guards, so he'd taken to sleeping most of the time away. Luna would meet with him, and the two of them would go over more magic theory and world history to pass the time. Not this night though.

Floating about in the dream realm, he focused, pinpointing his target and dragging along the irritating queen. He'd awoken twice so far with her trying to snuggle him, so he had begun dragging her with him into the dream realm to keep an eye on her.
'Can't believe I have to babysit my bodyguard. What the hell, Din?'

Eventually he found his target, landing lightly in a well-tended field. Zelus looked around from her position beside him, taking in the sights and even snatching a single apple from a nearby tree.

"Put it down, ya var- oh! Mr Cinnamon, sir! Ah take it this is a dream?" Applebloom asked him, looking about curiously.

The stallion frowned at the butchering of his name, but continued regardless "It is. I'm going to be nearby, and Zelus and I will be in the Everfree before too long. I have some memories of the forest, but with how often it changes, any information you can offer would be helpful."

"Truth be told, mister, most o' the bigger critters are gonna be sleepin' or gettin' ready to sleep for the winter. First snow should be fallin' any day now, an' the Ursas and the manticores are usually in their dens by then. All ya gots to watch fer is the Timberwolves, an they shouldn' be too much trouble for ya." The farmer looked at the changeling beside him, frowning. "Scoots told me ya were with a changeling, but whoo-ee! She's a biggun! Reckon she's about half again the size of that one we saw at the weddin' way back when."

Cimmerian chuckled, opening his mouth to correct the mare when Zelus giggled, siddling up to him with a fanged grin.

"I can't help it, he's just so cute when he gets all worked up!" the queen explained with a fanged grin. "Not to mention, sometimes when he peaks his eyes cross."

The alicorn sputtered, face going a deep purple. "Wha-bu-How the hell would you know that?!? Din's my mate, not you!"

The farmer looked confused, but the shape shifter turned to the alicorn, still giggling. "Silly, we're sisters now. Changeling sisters share everything." Zelus leaned closer, nearing his right ear. "Including memories."

Cimmerian narrowed his eyes at the larger mare as she drew away, the changeling nearly prancing from the fun she was having.
"If you've been through her memories, you know my opinions on the subject."

Zelus nodded, "I have, which is why I'm still looking for a different mate. Depending on how Din's pregnancy goes though, how her second turns out, and the state of the other queens, we may be able to work out some sort of schedule. Every other night or something? Although, I've heard some herds involve all members on a nightly basis."

Even as the alicorn attempted to sputter out denials and objections, the apple farmer looked to him with a bemused expression.
"Ya got some queer friends, mister Cinnamon."

"It's Cimmerian," he corrected, rubbing his muzzle with a fetlock. "and it's likely because no one else will put up with them."



<-(0)->



"Your Highness!"

The purple alicorn jumped, spilling ink and sending papers scattering throughout the room. Looking around her at the mess, she schooled her expression before turning to the soldier.
"This had better be worth two hours of research, Wrench."

The guard looked over to the mess with an expression of fear before stuttering out his explanation.
"A-apologies Your Highness but I was just going over some anomalies we've been experiencing with our mapping spells. We were looking over all the areas that are near the locations of wrecked Equestrian ships, and I was correlating it with other occurrences and I may have found something."

The alicorn was on him in a literal flash, having teleported from her desk. "Explain."

"W-well, we were looking over the jungle's near one of the wrecks, and one of the technicians noticed the leaves weren't changing, so he tried rescanning the area..."

"The one that was near the Kharazi jungle, right?" the mare asked with a scowl. "Fool, the climate there is temperate enough that the leaves don't change."

Wrench nodded in agreement, "That's what we told him, but his focused scans brought up another issue. Our scryers are having a difficult time scanning the area, as if there's some type of shroud over it, some magic that's dispersing any spells that try to enter the area."

At his queen's silence, he continued "I also went back and noted any odd occurrences in the area for the last few weeks, and noticed the arrays lost track of a pair of wild nymphs in the area. Ma'am, it's completely possible that our assumptions that those nymphs are dead was incorrect, especially if this magic layer can interrupt the tracking arrays."

The mare was silent for a while. She turned from the soldier, grasped a scroll and a quill with ink in her magic, and noted a set of coordinates she'd saved. She then walked up to the guard and dragged him with her in a blink of purple magic.

Almost as soon as she arrived in the war room she was moving to the map. "Where was the aura?" She asked quietly, levitating the coordinates near her. The soldier lit his own horn, highlighting a large portion of the jungles on the far side of the planet. The queen looked at the area, noting the dot that marked the disappearance of the pair of drones as well.

slowly, she looked over the map, noting the coordinates she carried with her and marking the location as well; the dot appeared well within the shroud that had appeared over the jungles. She swore silently, only now remembering how over the last few days she was tracking the other alicorn's link it was becoming increasingly difficult, as if the other mare had entered a fog. Seeing the marker for the Equestrian naval ship near a second marker on the map, she pointed to the shore.
"What's that, where were they headed?"

"The ship was headed to an abandoned port. They reported capturing a fleeing griffon ship that had dropped off several criminals at the abandoned port. The shipmaster's report said the griffon told them it was an black alicorn with slit eyes, but considering the confession was likely under duress, we assume it's a thestral, albeit a large one."

"This port, why was it shut down?"

"I checked up on that. It seems there was a temple nearby built in the honor of Nightmare Moon. The cultists foalnapped several townsponies, likely for sacrifice, and the fear drove most away from the town. One gold mine and a few exotic ingredients in an area swarming with cultists and predators isn't worth the military resources they'd have to pour into the venture, so it was shut down."

The queen was silent for a moment, a hoof under her chin.

"This thestral, this supposed alicorn, do you have a description?"

The guard looked at her for a moment, slightly confused by her interest in the ramblings of a mad griffon before he levitated the report to her.

'Almost black fur, dark blue mane, slit eyes, feathery wings.' She read, her frown deepening. 'Are you still alive somehow? Are you the source of my troubles? No, Nightmare Moon was a mare, she was the Nightmare that had possessed Luna, Celestia said it was a he that was moving against me. Then tha-'

The mare's eyes widened as she read the next line in the report.

Griffon claims unidentified alicorn/thestral was male, possessing a voice too deep to be feminine.

'There's no way... the Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony.'

There was a commotion by the entryway, the being thrown open by two more guards, Both entered at the same time, saluted at the same time, and unfortunately for her, started reporting at the same time.

"Quiet!" she yelled, pointing at the one on the left. "You give your report first!"

The soldier saluted again before speaking. "Your Highness, we have reports of a minotaur force striking Camp Star, the nearest camp to the Equestrian/Minos border. The reports were garbled, but they struck quickly and even managed to cut off the report mid-transmission. We have no idea what kind of numbers we're dealing with, nor do we know how they managed to get past the changeling screens. There were over four thousand drones in that area."

The second soldier winced at the report before giving her own "Your Highness Twin Pines, a settlement to the west was sacked by griffon raiders. As far as we know, they burned the town to the ground. Survivors are reporting most not wearing any particular armor, though a few looked like they had the emblems scratched off or removed. Last report before I came to tell you said the griffons were moving into the woods in a scattered formation, making it impossible to pinpoint where they are regrouping, or even where their next target may be. Nearby towns are calling for additional guards in the event their towns are targeted next."

The Mad Queen stared at them for several seconds, her fury boiling over. She finally had a location and species for her tormentor, finally had something to work with and the minotaurs decided they'd strike now? And the griffons, didn't they know when they were beaten? Their country was hers now, they had nothing. Why were they still fighting?

With a scream of rage she launched all three soldiers from the room, turning back to the map and highlighting the area that was being obscured with her own magic. She focused, noting all the curves the aura followed, attempting to pinpoint the exact epicenter of the aura so she could teleport there and remove the threat. She grinned manically, flaring her magic when a soft laugh from the back of her mind interrupted her.

'Yes, teleport to the other end of the planet. In our current state, you'd be lucky if you didn't fall short, ending up embedded in solid rock or in the planets core,' the mare said with a giggle. 'Even better, he's been collecting followers. Do you think you can take him on while suffering that recoil and hold off his followers?'

The mare ground her teeth in sweltering fury, having nothing to vent on. She'd always been able to reach the target of her anger, always had something to vent on. It was not so this time. She'd need to deal with this as a ruler would. She'd need actual ponies to fight his followers, possibly even him if he was as powerful as an alicorn normally is. In impotent rage, the alicorn launched the table out the window, screaming obscenities and shattering pictures and pottery alike.

All the while, the voice in her head taunted her, just as she had done to it years ago.

'It's only a matter of time, dear friend. He leads them against us, and soon he will come for us. This Nightmare will soon be over; one way or another.'



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"...mostly hangs around Froggy Bottom Bog but it's been known to wander into the Everfree from time to time. If ya can confuse its heads it's not much of a threat though, specially if ya can get them arguin' over which head eats ya." Applebloom explained, the trio taking a walk through a dream-version of Ponyville for the stallions benefit.

"I'll keep that in mind, though I doubt the Hydra's going to be hanging around since it's getting colder," the stallion said. He turned to look for the queen, spotting her flitting around the stalls and inspecting the different wares as the farmer remembered them.

Applebloom poked his foreleg, drawing his attention, "If'n ya don't mind me askin, why do ya let her talk like that to ya? T'ain't proper for a mare to be talkin' dirty to another mare's stallion, even if she wants to join them."

"The biggest reason is because she doesn't know better." The alicorn told her softly. "She may be older than you, but she hasn't exactly had time to, mature socially. Thrisha taught Pandinus a lot about proper etiquette and understanding how the way we act impacts the opinions of others, but for the most part queens don't really think about it. They only ever need to deal with drones, though sometimes they'll talk to other queens through envoys or letters. It's just not something they're taught as they grow up. However, now that I know they're sharing that kind of thing, I'll have Din teach Zel some manners. At the very least it should help keep her from causing an international incident. Right now though she's a bit high on her newfound freedom. I don't know if anything anyone tells her would stick."

The yellow mare chuckled at that, "Ah think ah understand; it's a lack of experience kinda thing. Sweetie told me her sister had ta help Twi understand some things about heats and relationships when she got ta Ponyville. Mare knew exactly what was goin' on with her body, but had no experience goin' out with her friends during such a time and the silliness that can happen. Dash thought it was hilarious, though. Do the queens go inta heat?"

Cimmerian blanched at the prospect, "God, if that wasn't their version of it, I hope not. Din was clingy as a limpet when she changed to a queen, something about needing a mate for her clutch. I think that for queens it's a bit different then it is for mares like yourself. Pandinus isn't sneaking into my room every night anymore, not that she needs to, and Zelus and Lestidae never really looked at me like that. This is the first I've heard of Zelus looking at me, actually. It's kind of odd. I would have thought Din would forbid her from that, that I wouldn't have to worry about it."

"But Cimmy," Zelus whined, wrapping her forelegs around his neck from behind and nuzzling his cheek. "Din and I are talking the future of the changeling race here. You wouldn't leave us hanging, would you?"

"I thought you were going to be looking for your mate while exploring. Wasn't that your tertiary objective? After guarding me and seeing the world?" the stallion grumbled.

"Of course it is. If Din's second clutch is the same as this one, we'll need a different source of eggs, that different source being me and a different mate. If her second clutch proceeds at normal speeds though..." Zelus trailed off, snuggling into his neck. Leaning closer, she whispered into his ear. "If it makes you feel better, Din said I can take her form. Some of the ponies were doing similar things, allowing a changeling into their herds for such things; apparently its a common fantasy among both stallions and mares. You didn't think you were the only source of all that love, did you?"

Even as he sputtered denials, the queen grinned at the pony. "He says no, but I can taste his emotions. I think that deep down inside he likes the idea of twins waiting for him."

"How, Din said she can't taste my emotions through dreams! Why is this different?" he demanded, turning an exquisite shade of purple.

"While Din couldn't taste you when you from the dream realm while you were in another room, I can taste you just fine." The queen told him. "After all, if I were any closer, I'd be physically bound to you."

"What's she mean bah that?" Applebloom asked with a frown.

Not even looking at the queen he grit his teeth. "She doesn't function well in the cold, and has been, well..she's-"

"He's keeping me warm right now." Zelus said with a smile. 

The mare looked at his strained expression, covering her muzzle with both hooves to suppress her laughter. Closing his eyes, the alicorn took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping. "Let's go Zel. We have one more stop tonight."

"You could leave me behind, you know" the queen said, snuggling even closer to him and apparently reveling in his discomfort. "Pandinus was right, you taste funny when you get all uncomfortable."

"I am not leaving an amorous queen in the same room as my unresponsive form while I go dream-walking" he told her. "We're going to see someone I should have talked to a while ago, actually. I was just a bit pissed at her and so was Luna, so I thought it best to cool off before I visit her again. Enjoy your night, miss Bloom. If you notice you have dreams over the next few days, don't be afraid to try calling out to Luna or myself. I'm kind of curious how far my aura reaches at the moment, and who it impacts."

The alicorn and changeling faded from the dream, Zelus' grip becoming ethereal but no less tight. The alicorn pulsed his target, pouring his magic into her and allowing her to form a dream once more. Flowing towards the newly formed orb and being certain he didn't lose his hitchhiker the stallion stepped into the dream.

"Hello Tia," Cimmerian greeted tersely. His mood dropped soon after he spotted her though, the alicorn curled up in a ball and whimpering apologies.

"I'm sorry I told her, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to I just wanted to be certain. I'm sorry, please don't leave me here again. I'll do whatever you want. Please don't leave me here again! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Even Zelus flinched from the mare, the misery being obvious even without tasting it. Approaching her, Cimmerian poked at her a few times, attempting to catch her attention.
"Tia? Aunt Tia, come on, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"...I'm sorry, I know your mad, I didn't mean to give you away. I, I-"

The alicorn swept her into a hug, shushing her and holding her close. "I was a little upset, but I didn't stay away to punish you. I stayed away so I didn't say anything I'd regret. It also kept Luna from saying something she'd regret."

The explanation did little to comfort the mare, her tears falling freely no matter what he said. A second presence soon called his attention to Luna as she joined him, her irritated scowl soon giving way to concern. The lunar alicorn swept her sister away from the stallion, leaving Cimmerian to watch from a distance as the two spoke in hushed whispers, Luna continuously attempting to comfort her sister. Eventually Luna had calmed the other mare down a bit, calling the stallion and changeling over with a wave of her wing, though she motioned for silence as they approached. The four spent the next few hours in silence, Cimmerian and Luna pressing into either side of the white mare while Zelus fidgeted awkwardly, finally settling on curling up on the other side of the larger alicorn.

It was Luna who spoke first, breaking the silent companionship. "We won't abandon you Tia, you should know this by now. We will return in a few days. I'm sorry this caused you so much grief."

The dark stallion nodded in agreement "You know I'm trying to help you two in any way I can. Relax, Celestia. No one will leave you trapped here forever."

The three bid the mare goodbye with hundreds of promises to return shortly before leaving the dream, the stallion quickly dragging Luna back to his own dream along with Zelus. As soon as they'd landed on the beach he was before the smaller mare.
"What was that? I thought you two were fine!"

"Fine? We're stuck in cells that continuously drain us of our power and prevent us from stopping the coming apocalypse! We are far from fine!"

"No I, that's not what I meant, I mean why is your sister suddenly so, so fragile!"

Luna made to retort viciously, but bit her tongue. "Tia did spend over a millennia waiting for me to return from my exile, but for as long as either of us can remember she has been surrounded by ponies. She's trying to be strong, but this most recent event, this perceived punishment for giving the Nightmare information on you, I think it scared her. It drew attention to the fact of just how dependent she is on you for any contact.
"Tia's a planner, Theodore. She makes plans so deep, so complex, and so far reaching it would put the best chess masters to shame. But she did not see this coming. She did not foresee it, and it caused those around her immeasurable pain. Worse still is the fact that even as Chrysalis held her captive, even as Tirek locked us in Tartarus, Tia was never alone. She is immortal, and never before has she been so alone. It's not something she knows how to handle, and it has left her desperate for contact. I believe that is why she reached out to Twilight."

"Your sister is falling into loneliness-based depression." Cimmerian stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Do not make light of this!" she snapped. "Tia has never had to deal with this, and she's older than this country. I fell to depression, but spent many years fighting the loneliness. I have methods to combat it, and even without them I can speak to your citizens to pass the time. Tia doesn't have that!"

"I'm sorry, Luna. It's just difficult to reconcile the mare I remember with what I just saw. She's stood before armies, faced Discord without showing any hesitation, I know she had her moments of weakness as we all do, but that was just..."

Luna huffed "I know, this is a strange situation we find ourselves in. Do not disregard the pain of others though. It is the first step to becoming a true monster."

Her face slowly morphing into a smile, Luna looked over to the queen "So Zelus, you finally managed to worm your way into Cimmerians bed? It took you much longer than I figured it would."

The queen giggled, thankful for the change in topics from one she had no way to help in. "It was a long battle, but it was worth it. He's warm, and he tastes funny when ponies tease him."

Cimmerian groaned "I'd leave you two to go off by myself, but I don't know if I trust you two alone like that. How long have you been plotting against me, Zel? What kind of bodyguard does that?"

Zelus stuck her tongue out at him, the action almost reminding him of a snake flicking its tongue. "I have to keep you healthy. Luna said it was a good idea to help you with stress after the meeting with the thestral council."

"This is your doing?" The larger alicorn demanded of Luna, looming over her.

The mare chuckled abashedly, scuffing a hoof in the sand "Well, you know what they say, sometimes we need to give foals goals to work towards, it keeps them occupied." Seeing her words did nothing, she turned to bolt, momentarily forgetting she could just leave the dream. Before she could get away however, she felt a hoof come down on her tail, along with the solidification of the dream around her.

"Silly little Luna, you may be a lot better at remote dream manipulation than me, but this is my dream." Cimmerian told her with a wicked smile. A squeak of surprise drew the smaller alicorns eyes to her comrade in trouble, the queen now shrunk and stuck in a glass jar. Fearfully, the mare turned back to the stallion, swallowing loudly.

"My turn" he said with a wicked smile.


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"I said I was sorry!" Zelus, still in her pony-sized form said as she followed the alicorn on his way to the galley.

Cimmerian had spent the last few hours just letting them struggle in their bonds, Luna stuck in a large hamster wheel and Zelus trapped in a glass jar that didn't budge no matter how large she made herself. That had brought a smile to his face; Zelus squished and twisted about in a small glass jar, continuously whining about how unfair he was being. Luna had eventually attempted to used the ball to ram him, so he'd set it on a small set track that just went in circles. After going about fifty rounds of the track as she attempted to jump the rails, the mare was too dizzy to continue trying to escape, merely collapsing in place. Unlike the queen, the alicorn took her punishment with silent dignity. That or Luna was speaking too low for him to hear.

The alicorn didn't look at her as he responded, "I don't appreciate what you did, Zelus. I've bent over backwards to help changelings, and you pull something stupid like that. I told Din I wasn't comfortable with that kind of relationship, and I expect you to understand that."

The mare huffed, returning to her normal size in a flash of magic. She trotted past him, flicking him in the muzzle with her tail as she passed by.
"I've had to change my entire life philosophy these last few weeks, Cimmy, even accepting another queen as being my alpha queen. What changes have you accepted lately?"

Watching the mare trot ahead he scowled after her, muttering "My fricken' species. My understanding of the universe in general, too. Give me some time and I'll write you a list." 
> Now Remember, First Impressions are Important
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was nearly the evening of the next day when the alicorn first noted a distinct lack of irritation caused by the changeling queen wandering the ship. He dismissed it at first, seeing as Zelus was busy moping about in their room or some nonsense. Instead he chose to focus on the hoofwork needed for actual combat.
While swinging around a sharp piece of metal properly was difficult in and of itself, learning to sidestep an attack with four legs had left the alicorn tasting the deck several times over the week. It was obviously not something that was taught overnight, and not even the muscle memory he borrowed from Luna could help him here. Luna could use a blade, but according to her memories she actually preferred either attacking with magic or from a distance with ranged weaponry like bows or crossbows. After all, it was her sister that was the close quarters expert. Why learn how to use bludgeons when you were a natural at spell casting? Unfortunately, this affinity for spell casting was not passed on to Cimmerian. While it was undoubtedly easier than it would be for most creatures, it was by no means simple. Therefore he was using his newfound free time to learn how to swing not just sharp sticks, but heavy sticks, long sticks, and spikey sticks.

So it was that Cimmerian spent most of the trip learning how to properly use weapons, and this day in particular to wield a large hammer. Learning how to swing it without it hitting himself in the face, learning how to use the shaft to block blows and even strike quickly and unexpectedly. Learning that his magic could quickly speed up the hammer for a quick strike, but also learning that magic still required time and concentration to slow it down again.

"I'm so sorry sir, I thought you'd learned to remember the backswing by now," one of the griffon guards said, following the wobbly alicorn to the galley.

"It's, it's fine, De- Ber- whatever your name was. I'll be better in a bit. I mean, I heal pretty quick, so a black eye isn't too bad," Cimmerian chuckled even as he almost stumbled to the floor. "Look at the bright side. I didn't bleed all over the deck this time. Much better than my practice sessions with a sword or morning star. You'd think that after almost taking out my own eye I'd remember the center of balance for the weapons is on the weapon, not on myself."
That was what had given him most of his problems. He carried the weapons in his magical grip, but swung them with the idea that they'd swing around him as they would if he were holding them. Such was not the case; if you wanted them to act that way, you had to actually give the swing a pre-determined arc. If you weren't paying attention, you could and would merely rotate the weapon. A bad idea when you were trying to protect your face with it.
"I was going to be using Zel for this kinda' training, but she's been less than helpful lately. Between being distracted by hive issues and the cold having a bad effect on her, she's not been very helpful. I'm sure it will change once she settles down and acclimates."

"Sir, a guard shouldn't have to acclimate. If she can't do her job, she shouldn't be here" the griffon said, a bit of irritation in his voice.

Cimmerian nodded "Normally I'd agree, but this is a changeling queen we're talking about. They run a close second to alicorns in both rarity and magical power. Sure dragons may be stronger physically, but Zel is no pushover. I wouldn't suggest challenging her to an arm wrestling match; she'd likely break your talon. In this case she's the heavy hitter of your team, an ill acclimated one, but one that would be able to lead a charge into a wall of steel if she needed to."

"I think I understand, sir," the guard responded. "Still, I would like an actual team. The others are at least professional about this."

Grabbing a plate and serving himself from the galley's buffet, the alicorn snorted in amusement.
"Man, I've been having to work with what I have for the last few months. I don't know if you realize this, but Shadow has no actual leadership experience besides getting a few ponies to agree to go into the jungle with him. Even then, most of those were convinced by others, while Gleam was just another follower that I appointed secretarial duties. Both have adapted to the changes in our needs well, just as I've had to adapt. You've heard the rumors floating among the guards, haven't you?"

The tom paused, looking uncertain if he should answer.
"The, the ones about you being, not an alicorn?"

Cimmerian blinked, turning back to the griffon. The alicorn stared for a moment before bursting into laughter, moving towards his seat and gesturing for the guard to sit at his table.

"As I told Herrick I'm exactly as I appear. An alicorn that is in a way connected to Luna. In fact I've spoken to her, and she and her sister both speak to me as a son and nephew, respectively, at times. It's my mind that's different. I was born and raised in a very different world. As much as everyone's had to adapt to their new circumstances, my own have been radically altered as well. In fact I don't even think one can reach my home without magic from our location.
"As such, I decided that the best course of action was to help those around me. One thing led to another, and soon my bleeding heart led me to start allowing all those like me into the Temple. Next thing I know, I've got a country on my hooves and a pair of alicorns asking me for help."

The stallion chuckled, shaking his head. "Adaptation is important. We learn to adapt to the changing circumstances or we're swept away. Luckily I've been fairly flexible but there are some things that just bother me."

"Herds?" the griffon guessed, drawing a nod from the dark alicorn. The griffon shrugged, "I don't know much about them as they're mostly a pony thing, but I know even the thestrals tend to use them. Pony births seem to favor mares from what I've heard. Thus if they practiced monogamy like griffons they'd have a lot mares that would be left without."

"Logically that makes sense. Your people are a bit more similar to my own than ponies in many ways. Omnivorous, monogamous, fairly aggressive especially around strangers and the unknown. At least I kinda' guessed you guys were monogamous since I didn't see any, you know" the stallion circled his hoof in the air, looking for the proper word. "Flocks? Would that be the right word?"

The guard nodded, finishing a portion of his meal before speaking "They happen from time to time, but usually flocks are formed by pegasi. Most common flocks of griffons are either after wars or disasters that claim a lot of males, or the Griffozonian tribes in the most secluded mountains. It's strange, but some of those tribes are patriarchal."

Cimmerian choked on his water, pounding his barrel with a hoof and laughing at the idea of patriarchy being the exception, not the norm. "My own people were most often patriarchal, though there were a lot of matriarchal societies throughout the ages. Even in the matriarchies though, males were the ones who led most of the military forces. I don't know many female military leaders off the top of my head. In fact, in my own country there was a time females were not allowed to own property. There were also tales of tribes in the deep jungles, Amazons, that were full of warrior women who some said would abduct men for mating. Depending on the male, they may not have objected that much. Not at first anyway."

"That's insane... what other similarities and oddities have you found?" the tom asked with an inquisitive smile.

"Griffons are real" the stallion deadpanned, drawing a stare of disbelief from the guard. "Yea, imagine waking up to a world of mythological creatures. That's been my reality lately."

After a long and engaging conversation on the topic of culture shock that eventually brought in several other guards Cimmerian retired to his room. As he expected, the changeling queen was sitting in her own bed, a mess of blankets and covers scattered over her form. What he also expected was for her to give him a glare upon entering the room. He didn't expect the queen to not even react.

"Zelus? You up?" he asked, poking the bundle of blankets. When no response came, he started unraveling the covers. After pulling a worrying number of blankets off of her he found out why she was so quiet. Pulling a final blanket free he found a chattering queen buried deep underneath them.

"Oh geeze. Why didn't you say you were cold? Didn't you say you could burn emotion for heat?" the alicorn admonished her, pulling apart the ball of blankets she'd wrapped herself in. The queen didn't answer, merely igniting her horn and trying to pull a few of the blankets back to her.

"I swear, you queens are all impossible," he muttered, hopping into his own bed and bringing Zelus over. Wrapping the two of them in several blankets, about three times as many as he'd find comfortable, he settled in for the night.



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The other queen was a good distance away by now, and the link was starting to wane. Sure Din could still sense Zelus in the distance, thus having a good idea of the location of the group but the information that could flow through the link at such distances was minimal at best. Even now though, she could get a good idea of the other queen's mood. That unfortunately ended up being a combination of frustration, misery, a few pangs of hunger, and oddly enough a faint undertone of despair.
"What the hell is she doing?" the queen muttered, sorting through the still growing pile of requests and notifications that seemed to find their way to her even with the alicorn gone. Gleam and Shadow both lent their aid, as well as the Thrisha when she stopped by, though that wasn't as often as the queen had liked. Pandinus enjoyed speaking with the hen, even if half of what the griffon said made no sense. It was just a pleasant sensation, a sort of white noise as the stallion had once jokingly referred to her hives buzzing as.

Looking across from her at the recovering alicorn, Din passed another simple request form to the mare, encouraging the mare to start thinking. It had been helping, Cadance not merely staring off into the distance stroking Amare anymore, the slightest bits of affection being directed at the proto queen. Perhaps she'd never fully recover, but at least she wasn't cowering in the presence of others anymore.

*poke*

Pandinus blinked, looking up at the mare in surprise. Cadance merely cocked her head, trying again.

*poke*
"What's wrong?" the alicorn asked, her voice barely audible.

"Nothing in particular, at least not anything I can actually affect at the moment," Din answered, still looking at the mare in shock. That hadn't been physical contact. The pink mare had pushed her through the link. The queen pondered a response for a moment, settling on a gentle reassuring pressure through the link.

"I'm sorry" Cadance said in a whisper. "I know you said you'd help, I was just so-"

"I did the same thing." Pandinus said, cutting her off. "Cimmerian offered me food and shelter, a place to call home. I came very close to running when I had the chance. That's why when he asked me to help you, I did. That's why when the other queens showed up on our doorstep I helped. That's why I'm sitting here sorting through this mess, no matter how much I find it frustrating and petty. I've been on the run for a long time with no allies, no hive. I grew up knowing the link, to spend so many years without it was painful and scary. Even if I hadn't cared for you personally, didn't care about what happened to you that, that mess attached to your head, I had to fix it. It was an abomination of something dear to our kind. 
"Cimmerian told me there was something called the gold rule. 'Do to others what you want them to do to you.' He wanted others to stay near him so he wasn't alone, so he offered his help and the Temple to them. He protected them. In exchange the ponies here made the Temple a home. He offered me food, shelter, actual love, and a hive, so I offer him all the support I can, even when he wants to do something that goes against everything I know. The fact that Zelus is now working with us I'd never have expected. I thought both would react the way Lestidae had.
"Now I offer you safety, food, and undisturbed sleep in your weakness so that when you recover, you can return my help. The ponies talk about you, how you are the alicorn of love." Queen Pandinus smiled softly at the mare, shifting herself closer. "I believe Cimmerian is correct in this case; had changelings been allowed to speak to you freely, been allowed to approach you without fear of death, many would have named you a goddess of our race. Given your return to what you once were, that may still be in the realm of possibilities, especially since you are now so intimately familiar with our kind."

The pink mare's ears perked, the slightest taste of hope becoming tangible, "Do you, do you really think it wasn't Twilly? That it was one of those, those Nightmares that made her, that makes her do this?"

"Luna and Cimmerian both believe so as far as I know. You will not find anyone more familiar with the Nightmares than they," Din explained to the mare. "Have some faith in Cimmerian. He drives me to insanity, but more often than not he's proven himself reliable."



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Consciousness slowly returned to her, though she knew something was strange. She felt warm, much warmer than she had when she went to sleep. She'd even raided the ships extra supply of blankets and covers the night before. Sure she had a full jar of potent love left, but that was given to her as a last resort, as in 'something's going to eat everyone and she would need a huge power boost to defeat it'. Opening her eyes, Zelus noted she wasn't even wrapped in that many blankets anymore; a few of the extras she'd acquired were on Cimmerians bed. 
'Wait, his bed was on the left when you enter the room, so why is-'

"Finally awake?" a voice rumbled, the proximity of the speaker causing the words to rumble against her own barrel. Jumping in fright, the queen looked to her right and spotted the alicorn, head still on his pillow but looking at her with a sleepy expression.
"Had me worried, you wouldn't wake up. Checked your supplies and you've burned through most of your emotion supply. Next time you're running low on food, say something," he scolded, using a wing to pull her in closer. "I fed Din well before we were together, and I fed Mirage and the nymphs before that. All you need to do is ask. Now why were you already running low? We haven't even reached Silver Cavern."

"The training a few days ago and all this cold, it's... it's making me burn much more energy than I should be," she admitted. "I've also never been so cold before, so I'm sure I've burned more than I needed to while learning. The last jar though, it's for an emergency. As for not asking? You've tasted kind of angry these last few days and I really was hoping Luna's ideas would work. Then I wouldn't have to worry about food."

In response the alicorn shifted closer, nearly cuddling with the queen and warming her with both fresh emotion and body heat.
"We'll talk about this when we get back, Zelus. I thought I was clear about my wishes, but I think Din, you, and I are going to need to talk. Make sure we're on the same page. Now go ahead and feed, then we'll head to the galley. Bring your blanket. We'll have something to eat then we're going to the observation deck. We should be coming up on the city soon."



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The thestral hadn't even waited for breakfast to be served that morning, taking off from the ship the moment it was in range her home. A guard attempted to stop her but a quick flash of her identification as well as her urgency had her waved through. She blazed through the streets, nearly taking out several other residents and had to shout apologies to a few friends who asked how her trip was.

Jasmine Breeze darted through the streets even as her wings burned from the distance of her flight. The councilors needed more warning than her simple letter sent through the Talon mercenaries. They needed more than her terrified scribbling, more than what she'd told them in her state of absolute terror upon first seeing the alicorn. Finally reaching the council building, she burst in through the front door, the secretary jumping with a squeak of fear and glaring at her.
"I need to speak to the councilors, now! It's about the letter I sent, and the request that came through the Talons."

The secretary huffed at her, ruffling her wings. "The councilors are currently enjoying their breakfast, interruptions will not be-"

Jasmine didn't hear the rest, having darted past the secretary. She tore down the halls before slowing only enough to not break down the doors to the council chamber. The mare took a moment to catch her breath as the various councilors stared at her, several with food in their mouths. Before she fully recovered, one spoke.

"Ambassador, I trust you know exactly what it is that you've done?" Fruit Fox said, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow.

"Leave off, Fruity. She said she'd be arriving with the one who sent the letter," a second rebuked the first. Turning to Breeze, the older mare smiled graciously. "Now, what was this nonsense about an alicorn sending the letter?" 


"N-not nonsense" she panted. "Outside on airship, brought few guards, including changeling."

That last part grabbed the attention of a few councilors. "Poppycock, the only one with any control over changelings is Queen Twilight," Fruit Fox said dismissively.

"What did you see, Breeze," the older mare, Councilor Silver Light asked her gently. 

Taking a few more gasps to steady her breathing, as well as a glass of water, the mare began to speak.
"He said he wants to offer, to offer us an alternative to Queen Twilights purification. He talks to Princess Luna, and she spoke to me when I was over there. She said he speaks with her authority, that she trusts him to guard and guide her subjects in her absence. She said Queen Twilight is not, not right. There's something wrong with her. But there's more. He, Lord Cimmerian, he bears the traits of the Nightmare."

Several gasps and sputters of indignation resounded through the chamber at her announcement.
"Preposterous! The Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. Not only that, Nightmare Moon was always a mare, you said this, this Lord Cimmerian, a stallion, bears the traits of Luna's Shadow? Absolutely ridiculous, why I'd-"

"We will allow him to speak to the council." Silver Light said softly, looking around the chamber. "Unless any of you have any objections."

While there was some whispering, no actual objections were raised. Smiling in satisfaction, Light turned back to the ambassador. 
"Grab something to eat dear. I'll meet him myself. I'm quite excited to meet the heir of the True Darkness."



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"I gotta admit, I wasn't sure what I'd be seeing when I imagined the capital of the bat ponies, but this isn't what I imagined," Cimmerian commented as the ship approached the mountain. A huge tunnel was carved out of the mountain, leaving easily enough room for two airships to fly right by each other. Flying deep into the mountain, the griffons shifting uneasily as the sky was left behind. There was a twinkle farther down the tunnel, and soon, the entire party was staring at the sight before them, the walls of the cave shimming in the light.

'Silver City. They dug their home in a silver mine,' the stallion realized with awe. It was a beautiful sight, the walls shimmering and shining with every flicker of the lights of their vessel.

Zelus was staring at the sight, mouth agape. The queen had never even been in another city, much less seen a capital. To see so many thestrals zipping about, so many creatures living in one place...

The ship flew through a ward, the air around them becoming noticeably warmer. The queen blinked in confusion for a moment, daring to step away from her mobile source of heat. Realizing it was actually comfortable in the cave, the changeling darted to the railing, giggling excitedly. Cimmerian followed her, allowing a large smile to play across his muzzle. He remembered seeing a few caves when he was younger, but had never imagined something of this scale being done. Seeing the shipyard coming up, and the actual city not so far away, the stallion barely repressed a childish giggle of delight. This was something he'd want to do; to travel this world, seeing the wonders it held. A city on the side of a mountain, another in a silver mine, a castle in the middle of a dangerous forest. There was just so much to see, and over the next week or so he'd make sure to see a few of them at least.

Stepping off the shipyard dock and into the city proper, the alicorn's ears perked as the sounds of a busy market slowly faded away. Curious, he looked around, seeing every thestral present staring at his group. No, that wasn't right. They weren't staring at the group. Nor were they staring at the now-nervous changeling queen. Every single eye was on him, at least every eye that wasn't currently attached to a face that was buried in the dirt.

Looking around at the scene, the alicorn stared with a stoic expression.
"I don't know what I expected."

Surprisingly, several thestrals seemed to be waiting for him near the shipyard, one in particular looking ecstatic to see him. Guessing that the mare and her escorts were there for him, the alicorn made his way directly to the second group. Bowing respectfully he introduced himself.
"I am Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, ruler of the Temple of the Shadows. I sent word some time ago that I desired to speak with you."

The thestral bowed low, stopping just shy of prostration before rising again.
"I am Silver Light, and I am honored to welcome you, Lord Cimmerian, Heir of the True Darkness. Welcome to our city."

The alicorn stopped short at her greeting, wincing at the title. 'Wonderful. More cultists. I hope they aren't all like that.' Looking around at the thestrals in various states of fear and worship he shook his head.
'Who am I kidding. The only question is what kind of cultists I'll be dealing with.'
> The Council and the Patchwork Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Silver City was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. In fact, had it been a normal day for him, Cimmerian would likely have enjoyed himself. The shimmering walls of the cavern, the beautiful support pillars of worked silver and stone, the underground park that was illuminated by bioluminescent fungus, the tour he was given was absolutely stunning, leaving not just him, but the queen, the griffons, and even one of the thestrals gawking at the sights.

"Here we have the Silver falls, a natural river that leaks down from the mountain above us. We've had to pass a few laws about weather regulating in the area, but by keeping the weather free of pegasus magic the snow on the mountain restores itself naturally. During the summer months the falls are actually quite loud, but seeing as the temperature is dropping, so is the water. It's no issue of course; the supplies in the lake here will last all winter and well into spring, when the first thaws will cause the falls to explode into life. That's something to see!" Silver Light explained to the group, walking slightly ahead of them. The mare was personally giving the tour, pointing out historic buildings and current works alike. She clearly loved her city and kept updated on the current state of things but there was just one thing that bothered the stallion.

"Is there anything else you'd like to see or learn about, my lord. We still have several things-"

"It's fine, Silver Light. The city is beautiful, but I'm here about a very serious problem for your people," he said with a wan smile. "Things are not well in the world, as I'm certain you know. I heard from a thestral that Queen Twilight has attacked your people in what she considers a cleansing of the races. Should her forces ever push you from you home, I wish to extend an offer that many griffons have accepted. That, and I needed to take Zelus on her walk. She gets antsy if we keep her cooped up for too long."

The changeling stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to chuckle .

The councilor shifted uncomfortably at the byplay "Anyway, if you'd like we can visit the market. I'm sure you'd find it a learning experience, we can also-"

"I'd like to speak with the council, Miss Light." he interrupted once again. "We have things to discuss, and I'd like to get the business out of the way before I attempt to enjoy any of the things your city has to offer. At the very least, I'd like to allow you to start discussing my offer."

"I see. Very well, Lord Cimmerian. The council chambers are this way," she said flatly. The thestral then led them through the city to the large city hall, the building looking quite ostentatious even among the resplendent manors of the area. The group walked up the stairs and entered the building, the secretary looking up from her papers with a squeak of surprise.

"C-councilor Light, the others are just w-waiting for you. A-and your, guest as well," the spectacled mare behind the desk squeaked out.

Cimmerian shook his head in irritation. It had been that way all day, ponies squeaking or stuttering in his presence. It seemed the thestrals at the Temple had understated just how deeply fanatical some of their race were, both to Luna and to Nightmare Moon. He followed the mare into a large chamber, fifteen chairs circling the room with a single podium by the door. Silver Light trotted up to her seat quickly, fluttering her wings nervously as she smiled at the alicorn, though he could see how strained it was fairly easily. Looking around, he found all the councilors were either outright staring at him or at the very least looked nervous. He swept his eyes over the entire group before whispering to the queen beside him.
"Do any of them not taste of nerves and fear, Zel?"

The queen pointed to one councilor, then another. "Those two taste more like adoration, not as much fear or shock."

Cimmerian nodded to her in gratitude before returning his attention to the council. When none made a move for a few moments, he stepped forward, speaking loudly.
"Good afternoon councilors. My name is Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, Lord of the Temple of the Shadows and Shadowtalon Port. I've come here today to speak to you about a distinct possibility and options that are available to you in such an event."

The ears of a few of the councilors perked up, but most were still attempting to reconcile what they were seeing. Stomping a hoof into the floor and leaving a web of cracks in the tiles, the stallion snorted in irritation. The ambassador he could forgive, it was one mare going off into unknown territory and facing down the alicorn and his guard. This however, was supposed to be the ruling party of the thestrals. If they couldn't get past his appearance, how could he help them?
"I said I am here to speak with you about a possibility and the options that are available, specifically the possibility of Queen Twilight going forward with her demands. Right now she is moving against the minotaurs. Between the minotaurs and the griffons she is being stretched a bit thin, so she has no way of enforcing her plans for your people. Should the minotaurs fall, and the griffons be defeated however, there is no doubt in my mind that your race will be hunted to extinction."

That drew a reaction, several of the mares going wide eyed.

"You really think, think that she'd go through with it?" one mare asked quietly. "Sorry my lord, I'm Moonlight Whisper. I was one of those appointed in the aftermath of the original purification. We lost almost half the council to that event. The ponies who they became, they weren't right. Even other ponies who didn't know who they were reportedly avoided them. As far as I've heard, none of them lived past a year."

"Surely Queen Twilight was bluffing." another stated. "She does that all the time, threatening things, often with displays of overbearing magic on small groups or easily targeted areas. She doesn't actually-"

"What do you call the attacks on High Talon or her mustering of troops on the minotaur borders?" a third shouted, interrupting the second. "Is that a bluff? Do you think she'll pull back after she defeats them, ruining their countries just to show she could?"

"What about her offer?" the second pursued. "She offered any thestrals that joined their military safety from the purification. They and their families would be-"

"What about their descendants?" Cimmerian asked, drawing all eyes in the room. "She already dismissed your kind as impure, as unwanted yet now that she's running into issues she's allowing them to live? I don't believe her. Even if she does allow you to survive after the war, even if she doesn't turn right around and purify you anyway, what about your grandchildren? How many generations are safe from her by way of this agreement?" He let his gaze drift along the councilors once more. "I am not asking you to betray an allied nation, I am asking you not to ally with, not to render aid to a nation that has it on record that they will remove your species from the planet if given the chance. I ask that you take into consideration the possibility of having a fall back point should she attack this city. I offered the griffons one, and Shadowtalon Port is now a busy port that traffics many of the refugees. I wish to make to you the same offer I made to them."

Silver Light looked up form her thoughts, "What would you have us do, Nightmare? Half of our army was working with the equestrians as they always have, and they are now either purified or imprisoned."

"She's already wiping out your race and you still look to petition this mare for peace?" Cimmerian asked incredulously. "I understand the guards she's captured doing so in order to survive, but...never mind; and Silver, I told you, while we are closely bound, Luna, Nightmare Moon and I are all separate beings. We always were." That drew some murmurs from the council. Seeing the opportunity, he smiled at them, "I will be in the area for a few days, and would be happy to answer any of your questions regarding the three of us. I ask that you think long and hard on this, and I hope you understand just how tenuous your situation is."

The small group turned to leave, letting the councilors discuss the information. As they were walking towards the door Zelus snarled, her horn lighting with blazing magic, followed by a large object falling from the ceiling and striking the floor with a crack. Before anyone could react, she'd driven her blade into its back.

"Tasted it earlier." Zelus said with a growl. "Wasn't sure if it was one of their guards or not, but it tasted different than the others. Not what a guard would be feeling."

The alicorn stepped closer to the newly created corpse, pulling back the mask but already knowing what to expect. Underneath was a unicorn mare, sky blue fur with an almost silver mane. Etched into the sides of her face were the familiar runes of the changeling control arrays, only much smaller than the ones used on Cadance.
"So she's already moving on to other ponies. I have to wonder how many others she's done this too though. Zelus, if you get the chance, try to capture one. If there's any part of them left-"

Suddenly the body twitched, the mare shifting up along the blade with her horn beginning to glow. The stallion heard Zelus hack from behind him and the blue mare's horn suddenly sported a coating of changeling goo, the blue horn sputtering and sparking underneath it.

"Think you can steal her, Zelus?" he asked the queen, gesturing to the arrays on the spy's cheek.

The queen walked up to the unicorn cautiously, her horn glowing as she inspected the mare. Pulling back more of the spy's clothing revealed a veritable patchwork horror of scars and, even more disturbing, chitin plating in various places. Even where the blade was piercing her lower barrel, the mare wasn't bleeding, not as much as she should at least. Looking back to her face, he noted the empty eyes that conveyed no emotion even as she struggled against the blade pinning her to the floor and the gel hardening on her horn.

"I think I can, although we'd need to disconnect her from whatever hive she's attached to at the moment," Zelus said, looking back to the alicorn. "Are you certain you want to do that?"

"I should be able to disconnect her. Councilors, if you don't mind, you may wish to leave. I don't know what will happen, and while I doubt she could hurt either of us in her state, she may lash out. You guys too," he said to the guards. "Zelus and I will take care of this, you watch the door. When you're ready, Zel."

As the queen circled the mare, getting a feel for the magic and energy that would be needed the thestral council wandered out the door, all except for Silver Light who stopped beside him.
"What are you planning on doing, my lord?"

"Most changelings that are held captive are more than willing to give any and all information they may have in exchange for their freedom. I don't see it being any different with a pony, though her mental state is an unknown at the moment. She may never recover, or she may just ask us to put her out of her misery. I don't know," he explained quietly. "Ready Zelus?"

At her nod he surrounded the mare with his own power, cutting off the almost untraceable link of magic that bound her to the Mad Queen's arrays. The second the connection was cut the spy ceased her struggling. Strangely, her attempts to channel her magic didn't fade, instead they began to increase. Zelus swore loudly, her own horn beginning to blaze as she bit the blue mare's coated horn, cracking the coating like candy and pressing her horn against the unicorn's own. For several moments he waited, ready to phase both himself, the councilor and the queen out of the room if the buildup continued. Just before he did, the mare's pink eyes flashed with light blue, the color of Zelus' own aura. The array flickered a few times as well, settling on a gentle blue glow and the mana buildup he'd been detecting from the mare began to fade as well.

Zelus backed away from the spy, letting loose a sigh and slumping slightly from released tension.
"That did it. She was ordered to cascade if she was ever cut from the hive. Changelings used to do something similar, but it's too easy to stop. That, and unicorn magic pools are notoriously resilient. She'll be able to cast again tomorrow despite the mana-burn she experienced."

"Anything from her? A name, orders, memories?" he asked, stepping closer to the pair. Drawing near the queen, he settled a wing over her back, allowing her to soak in his concern and happiness at the outcome.

Zelus giggled a bit at the rush before turning serious. "She's a true drone, she's basically here absorbing information to be transmitted back to the hive at a later time. It does strike me as odd though. A drone wouldn't have any emotions, so I looked deeper and found something. There's a, wall for lack of better word. That's where the emotions are coming from. Anger, frustration, and an absurd amount of stubborn tenacity."

Cimmerian smiled at the news. "So there's something left of her after all. Good. I was hoping that would be the case. You don't think she'll be any problem, do you?"

"I doubt it. I checked her over for any buried commands, and found nothing. This kind of thing is the reason changelings don't use true drones too often, and that we don't let those in charge of logistics leave the hive. It's too easy to repurpose drones, to take them from their original hive for use elsewhere. Certainly fathered drones have a bit of hive loyalty, but that won't stop another queen from stealing the information they may have access to." Zelus narrowed her eyes in concentration, staring at the mare.

The spy jerked, the rune on her cheek flaring as new commands came from the linked queen. She slowly stood up, or at least tried to. With a nervous giggle, the queen removed her blade, her horn glowing as she removed the weapon from the mare's back and spat more goo on the wounds, sealing them from the air.

"She's a bit jerky, but I think I can work with this," the changeling queen said as she circled the blue unicorn. "The wounds are already healing actually. She's been modified to heal quickly, a long term infiltrator. The emotions she'll feed on will need to come from me as she has no way to process them herself, but she'll also eat normally." Zelus stopped, jerking slightly before grinning. "Good, that will work. Drone 81-TCH," the queen thought for a moment, before looking back at the unicorn. "I think the Mad Queen had something against her."

Thinking about the name, Cimmerian chuckled as well, "We'll call her something else then. Any ideas? She'll be under your control till she either recovers or we get back."

The queen stepped closer to the mare, almost wrapping around her protectively. "I wish to call her Sapphire. Is that appropriate for a sturdy blue mare?"

"That will work. Let's go, we need to get some rooms for tonight."

"I, I would like to offer my own manor for your use, my lord," Silver offered, nervously scuffing a hoof across the floor. "I'm certain I have room for you and your entourage."

Zelus watched her cautiously for a moment before turning to the alicorn, nodding. Seeing the changeling okay it, he smiled at the thestral, giving a quick nod himself.
"That would be great, Silver Light. I'd be happy to entertain your questions over dinner, I'm certain you have quite a few. If any of the other councilors wish to stop by, I'd also be happy to entertain their questions as well."

"Excellent, I just uh, I mean, are you, will you be bringing the uh, unicorn, thing?" the councilor stuttered out.

"Yes, I'll be bringing her with me. She's liable to just run into walls if I'm not watching her all the time right now." Zelus answered for the stallion. "I need to reinforce the connection, and the best way to do that is to keep in close proximity for a while. After a day or so, I should be able to control her just as I would any changeling drone. The array binding her to a link is rudimentary at best and an absolute mess at worst. Most of the runes in the array are used to keep her from speaking and moving as she wishes."

The alicorn chuckled darkly at the thestral, gesturing to the spy. "This is one of her own citizens, Councilor Light. What do you think Queen Twilight would do to your people?"



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"You wished to speak to me Your Highness?"

The purple alicorn turned from her studies, smiling naturally for the first time in a long time.
"I do. I recently figured out the general area of our most recent problem, the one I believe did something to my drones. I want you to redirect the experimental drones to these coordinates. Wipe it all out."

The soldier caught a small piece of rolled parchment with the coordinates and unrolled it, attempting to figure out his destination. With a start his eyes widened.
"Your Highness, these coordinates. They're in the middle of nowhere. The only civilization in the area is a small port to the north of this place, but even then Zarris is so small it doesn't even warrant a mayor. The port master runs it."

"Intel's scans show this to be the area the strange aura is emanating from. I want you to take the new drones and don't come back until everything there is dead. Do you understand me?" the mare stated, her withering glare broaching no argument.

With a grunt the soldier rolled the parchment back up and stashed it in his armor. He quickly saluted and made his way out the door. The Mad Queen signed returning to her studies. With any luck the new drones would leave nothing left of the alicorn and his followers. If not, it would severely weaken him. That meant she could return to her studies. The mare shuddered. This was why she took the mare in the first place. The alicorn's mind was saturated with information, but until she found a way to break her again, the Nightmare was stuck doing this the old fashioned way. Maybe news of the death of her host's anticipated savior would finally allow her to resume feeding.



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Cimmerian smiled warmly at the gathered thestrals, only about nine of the full council having accepted the offer to meet with him after the meal. He levitated a small cup of tea in his aura, though it was more to hide the scanning spell Luna had taught him a few days ago. Sure the thestrals were quite enamored with both of them, but apparently Luna had learned how to cast a simple scanning spell on anything she ate and drank as a precaution. All it took was one incident of aphrodisiacs in their tea to cause Tia and Luna to use the spell to the point of it being second nature.
'If Luna had to worry about that kind of problem with most of the councilors being mares, I'm going to have to be doubly cautious.'

Settling in, with Zelus and her new drone, Burn sitting off to the side, the alicorn nodded to the councilors to begin.

"I think the biggest question amongst us is, you said Princess Luna, Queen Nightmare Moon, and yourself are all separate individuals." Silver said cautiously. "Our history states that this is not the case. I, I'm really not certain what to believe. On the one hoof, Luna and Nightmare Moon are known to us as being the same mare, in different phases. On the other hoof, you bear their likeness, you say you've spoken to Luna, are an alicorn, but say this is not the case?"

Cimmerian nodded easily, eyes closed as he thought of a response.
"Luna and I have spoken, recently as well. I'm not certain when, but you've noticed dreams in the last day or so?" Several councilors gaped, while others nodded furiously. "My very presence interrupts Queen Twilight's arrays. In this way, I've gained access to Luna as a teacher and ally. We are also much closer than she is to Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon was a, demon for lack of a better word. It struck when she was weak, and infested her mind with dark thoughts. Eventually she believed the lies, and it stole her body from her. Thus Nightmare Moon came into existence, with the sole purpose of removing all life from the planet."

"What are you talking about?" Fruit Fox asked him, looking insulted by the explanation. "The Nightmare merely wished for eternal night. How is that so bad?"

The alicorn blinked owlishly, staring at the councilor in confusion. Several councilors shifted uneasily at the attention being directed, though Fox merely cocked his head in confusion, stating "What's wrong with the night? It's my favorite time."

Cimmerian shook his head. Before he could respond though, Zelus sputtered in disbelief.
"Are you daft? What happens when the sun doesn't nourish the plants ponies eat? What happens when the world starts becoming colder? Ponies begin to die, that's what! When ponies die, changelings starve as well! My mother spoke of Luna's fall, said her mother told her that the changeling queens were preparing to act. Had Celestia's gambit failed, the changeling queens would have allied against Nightmare Moon, working together for the first time in the history of our race. That's how bad eternal night is!"

"Didn't know that," the alicorn muttered looking back from the queen. "Yes, eternal night is a bad idea. The better question is why would this monster try to wipe out all life? My only idea is that it would make it stronger somehow, or perhaps that's how they spread. A nightmare wipes out a planet, and several more nightmares are born, going on to continue the cycle. Luckily, Celestia managed to stop it in time, and then it was chased off with the Elements of Harmony."

"Chased off? Celestia and Luna said it was cleansed by the elements, destroyed." Moonlight Whisper said, confusion in her eyes.

"I have reason to believe it may still be alive, though its current state is unknown to me at the moment. After all, I was about twenty years old when it used the substitution spell. The creature swapped places with me, taking my body for itself and leaving me with Luna just as the Elements struck. It also used a memory spell, grabbing a copy of mine I assume while leaving me with a lump of Luna's memories. Some of those memories included the soul-crushing despair Luna experienced watching her body move about without her input, watching as the creature that stole her body viciously attacked those she held dear to her. I can safely say that Luna and I both hate the Nightmares with an almost equal passion."

"You said Nightmare Moon, the Nightmare as you called it, that it wanted to destroy everything. What makes you so sure of this?" a mare next to Silver asked. "I don't remember anything so terrible being said about Nightmare Moon."

"Because another nightmare has reared its head, and it's doing the same damn thing the last one did?" Cimmerian said with a tired gaze. "Queen Twilight is not herself, anyone who knew her could tell you that. I'm told she was an energetic bookworm with a keen mind and a big heart; Queen Twilight is a cold individual who imprisoned her mentor and her friends, tortured her old babysitter, enslaved the changeling race, seeks to wipe out your own, and is seeking world dominance. This change, while not as sudden as Luna's, was still extreme and caught those closest to her off guard. If one of the creatures sought the worlds end, it's strange. Two doing so? Tell me, what do you think will happen to all those drones she has once she runs out of targets?
"'But Cimmerian', you say, 'I followed the other Nightmare, why would I not follow this one?' Ha, this one has specifically targeted your race for annihilation. It's the nightmare that wishes to purge your race, not Twilight. I can tell you from shared experience that the only thing that mare really wants right now is some control over her life again, and possibly a blade in her barrel. Your path is fairly clear, if you don't mind me being blunt. Work towards taking the mare out of power, or face extinction."

The councilors present were silent at the ultimatum, many giving each other uncertain glances. One, Cygnet Chorale, shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. Why would such a creature seek the destruction of all life? You claim you are not the nightmare, that Queen Twilight is. My loyalty lies with the True Darkness, not some knockoff."

The changeling queen bristled at the idiocy, but Cimmerian raised a hoof to call her off. "We're here to try and warn you. If you wish to see your people into ruin, I won't stop you. All I ask is that you take a good look at the facts before you make your decision, and that you do your best to avoid dragging others along with you who do not want to take that path."

Looking around and spotting a clock, the alicorn bowed to the gathered group. "It's been a long day, and I would like to get some rest. I will spend tomorrow in the markets while you and your fellow councilors discuss this. I hope to have an answer before too long. I have other places I wish to visit, and I don't want to be away from home for too long."

Snapped out of their discussions so rapidly, Silver Light, looked to the clock, eyes widening at the time.
"Oh dear, it's that late already? I, thank you all for coming. My lord, would you like an escort to your rooms?"

"We'll be fine, councilor, thank you for having us. Come on, Zel. We're going to see about fixing your insulation problem tomorrow. I want you to work on Sapphire tonight, see if you can learn anything from her." 

"You, your actually going to be keeping that, that thing?" Moonlight gasped. "Why? You said it's a minion of Queen Twilight."

"The mare doesn't seem to predict issues with her plans. Zelus has control over it at the moment, and unless it falls into Queen Twilight's hooves again, I don't think she has any way to recover it."
Turning to face the group one last time, he bowed politely.
"I bid you all a good night. Sleep well, and enjoy the dreams. If you ask for her, I'm certain Luna would be happy to speak with you."
> Happiness Doubled by Family Shared
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Once more the alicorn wandered the realm of dreams, this time stopping nearly as soon as he entered. Right beside him were two dream-orbs, one entwined with the other. The first was Zelus, the large dream of a powerful entity that he had spent enough time around to recognize almost instantly. The second, it barely even registered as a dream. It was a weak and pitiable shadow, but even then it had the tinges of a possible nightmare. Fear was big, so was pain. Looking at the interactions between the two dreams, he realized Zelus was attempting to access the mare through her dreams. It was a strange thing, but he'd seen Pandinus do the same on several occasions, even seeing a few drones making their way into his own dreams by their connection to the queen.	The dreamer was still resisting the contact though.

'She likely doesn't even know she's been taken from Twilight,' he thought sadly. 'Even then, it would likely just feel like she was passed from one slaver to another.'

Entering the stronger dream, he trotted up alongside the concentrating queen, the mare looking at the curled up unicorn before her. The blue mare was blurry, attempting to retreat from the queen's dream into her own mind, but the larger queen was slowly winning the battle. Zelus was no array attempting to brute-force her way into the mare's mind. She was a changeling queen, a powerful spell-caster and master of connections such as the link. It was likely only a matter of time before the queen managed to pull the mare from her carefully built defenses, but the question was what would it do to her?

"Zelus, are you sure she can take that kind of pushing?" he asked the queen, drawing a squeak of surprise and a small jump from the queen.
The blue mare instantly faded from the dream, retreating into her own mind once more. Seeing her progress reduced to nothing, the changeling snarled in frustration, glaring at the intruder.
"I almost had her! I could taste her emotions so clearly, could start to feel her thoughts and you ruined it! Why?!"

Cimmerian shook his head. "Zelus, she's spent how long with no control? Let her rest, we're in no hurry to pull her out of her shell." The queen shuddered at the phrasing, causing the alicorn to wince as he realized what he'd suggested.
"That's not what I meant and you know it. She's walled herself off from what was happening to protect herself. Yes you could overpower her, but so did her previous owner. By letting her come to you, you inspire loyalty. She's not going to be afraid you'll steal her body from her. Let her sleep in, let her eat good food, let her sit in a warm bath. Things that you enjoy, let her participate. Let the sensations; the tastes, smells, touches, let all of that draw her out of her shell."

He sighed heavily, sidling up to the pouting mare and pulling her into a wing-hug.
"We don't even know what that would do to her, Zel. She's not a natural changeling. Forcing her like that may damage her mind in some way. Besides, you liked how Din treated you didn't you? How she didn't force you to join with her, or how you were allowed to recover at your own pace."

"This is different! She's already connected to my hive, remember? Besides, you asked me to do this."
The mare once more fixed him with a glare, certain of her position. "She's my drone, I should be able to pull the information I need from her. She's withholding information from her queen." 

The stallion used his wings to tug her closer while shifting slightly, pulling her into a shoulder-check. "Her situation is not different. Her body is not her own at the moment. Your goal should be to return it to her. I asked you to take a drone and you did. The pony attached to it is not yours though. Sapphire is scared right now. Forcing her like that will only strengthen that fear. Worse, it could cause her to break altogether, thinking that she's failed to keep her mind safe. If that happens, the mare inside that body could die, alongside any information she may have for us.
"This is your new job, Zelus. I want you to watch her, to listen for any attempts she may make to take back her body. If she tries moving a bit, let her. If she tries using magic, make sure she's not trying to hurt anyone. If she's not, let her. If she tries putting some distance between the two of you, allow her to. Just tell her the truth. If she runs too far you can't help her. We want her to come to us willingly, so we need to be diplomatic about this."

Once more the queen's glare slowly morphed into a pout. She laid down on the floor of her dream-hive, puffing out an exasperated breath.
"Why do ponies have to be complicated?"

Cimmerian chuckled at her question before answering, "Because if we weren't life would be simple, and simple is boring. Besides, do you think Din gets all that love just by asking? She went through a lot, and in the process she earned the loyalty of her hive, the loyalty of many of the Temple residents, and my love. If she didn't do so well, her position would have been much weaker and Lestidae and yourself could have easily taken the hive from her."

"...this is going to be painful isn't it?"

The alicorn gave her a fanged grin.
"Maybe not physically, but it will be difficult. Heck, it may be physically dangerous for you was well. Pandinus nearly killed herself due to a misunderstanding of one of my requests. Don't just learn from her though, learn how your personality works with those around you. You'll have better luck that way. It's not just conforming to what others want, it's learning how to interact with those around you in a natural way. Do that, and you'll never have to worry about tapping into the hive's stores again."

The queen's ears drooped as he finished his explanation.

"Fuck."



<-(0)->



Pandinus stared at the mound for a few moments, not certain how she should feel. Inside the raised lip four newly hatched drones stared out at her, awaiting orders despite the fact they'd only just hatched. It was how true drones were. From birth they would follow any order of their queen. There were many things they simply didn't have the strength for, certainly, but it didn't mean they were useless. The problem was they weren't her drones.
'That's not true, they are your drones, just not yours by blood,' she corrected herself. The drones were a batch left by Zelus in her care, the first the queen had produced in several years. They were likely not her first set of true drones, but that didn't make Din feel any better. It was like she had taken something from the other queen. It was supposed to be her connecting with them; it was supposed to be Zelus giving them their first orders, not Pandinus. Zelus, the queen who laid their eggs was supposed to connect them to the link, not her. Their birth-mother was supposed to be the mare to feed them, to mind them, to enjoy these moments of new nymphs joining the link, even if they were true drones.

She touched each of the newly hatched drones, pulling them into the link and setting them up with plenty of emotion to grow. By the time Zelus returned, they would likely be half-grown, if not fully matured. She turned back to the door, already knowing who was approaching thanks to her connection to the guards outside. The door swung open, causing the mare to jump even as Pandinus called for Gleam to enter.

"Sorry Pandinus, there was just some... I thought you weren't, you're still kind of swollen so how..." the mare stuttered for a few moments, looking from the queen to the nymphs.

"They're Zelus' first clutch here at the Temple," the changeling explained. "It's easier this way, as she started developing them the moment she was feeding properly again. This way she won't have to worry about laying for another two weeks or so at the least. Depending on the conditions, it may be longer. I don't think the cold is treating her well.
"I promised her I'd watch them, told her I'd guard them like my own and so here I am. It's strange though. I feel like I'm stealing this from her, yet at the same time I feel as though they are mine as surely as they are hers. It's not normal for me, for my species. I remember mother treating the drones of other hives with such disdain, saying they were lesser creatures for being of another hive. Yet here I am, watching over the nymphs of another queen and I can't imagine treating them any different from my own."

"Well, it likely has something to do with your current hive," Gleam offered. "Think about it. Your current hive is mostly a collection of changelings looking for a home, with only a few true drones actually being your own foals, right? So you've already adapted to not worrying about their origin. If they had the option, I think a few of them would even have to think long and hard if they wished to return to their original hives, since they have it so good here."

Din frowned in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well even if their hives were somehow restored would they be able to just walk away, going back to the lives they had before?" the mare asked the large changeling. "They have friends here, they work publicly, they can socialize with other species. I don't think I'd be able to give that up. Not when I knew there was such a better way to live."

The unicorn approached the hatchlings, smiling kindly at the strange, soft creatures.
"Think about it, would you normally have allowed a pony this close to your nest? Instead of seeing each other as enemies or resources though, we help each other. Mirage and Miss Goodhooves watch over most of the foals, and there are only seven of their races to be watched. The rest in the nursery are gnolls and griffons. We have a good thing here, and I think everyone knows it."
Gleam giggled lightly, pulling a few papers out of her saddlebags. "Alas while we have a good thing, it has its downsides. When you're done here I will need you to help me with some paperwork. Just because Cimmerian is away doesn't mean we all get a vacation."

The changeling groaned, slapping a fetlock over her muzzle. "Food, shelter, safety, but damn if I don't wonder if the paperwork is worth it all sometimes."

Gleam's smile became slightly more devious. "You know we could get Cimmerian to use the armor to do paperwork, right? We could make him do it even as he sleeps."

The shape shifter shook her head.
"I feed off of him. I want him to be happy, Gleam. Making him do paperwork at all hours is the fastest way to starve. Besides, it's not just feeding and work stallions are good for, right?"

The unicorn blushed at the queen's waggling eyebrows for a moment before gathering her own courage.
"I'd like to use mine for more, but he's being stubborn. I think it's a stallion thing."

Rising and walking to the door, Pandinus motioned for the mare to follow her. "Maybe I can give you some tips on grabbing his attention. Sometimes you can't be subtle, after all."

"Right," the mare said with a roll of her eyes. "Because I'm going to be taking relationship advice from a mare who didn't know what dating was. Don't think I don't remember your goal when you first started chasing his tail, Miss 'I just want super-foals.' If anything, I should talk to Thrisha. You had better luck after you received lessons from her."

Stopping in the doorway, the unicorn developed a wicked smile. Sensing the emotional shift, Din turned back to her, and nearly jumped at the out of place expression on the mare.
"He mentioned being able to feel things while in the armor, does he feel sensations from his body while in the armor?"

Pandinus stopped shot, a look of confusion passing over her face.
"I, I don't know. I suppose he could..."

"Then what would happen," the mare managed between giggles. "If you were to say, brush against his real wings when he was elsewhere? Mentally I mean, in the armor. He doesn't move his true body much when he does that, right?"

The queen stared at Gleam for a few moments, processing what was being suggested before her own muzzle started to match the unicorns.
"Oh, I like that. I like that very much. First I'd need a way to keep him from just returning to it though, or maybe have him use the armor to train with Zelus. Oh I love it!" Din shouted, snatching the unicorn up off the ground in a hug. She hugged the mare fiercely, giggling for a bit before calming down. 
"Tell you what, I'll talk to Luna if I can catch her, we'll see about pestering Weaver in his dreams as well. No stallion is safe with Luna and Pandinus on the case!"



<-(0)->



It was fairly early the next day in the Silver City when Cimmerian rose from his bed. It was a nice bed, and likely would have been considered huge if not for the fact that he himself was so large. That, and the two other bodies currently occupying the bed. With a yawn, he stretched his wings and turned to the still sleeping forms of the queen and the recovered mare. Both were still sleeping, the queen curled around the mare protectively with a blanket covering the both of them.
'More like Zelus has found a new source of body heat.'

Taking his time to get ready, including a shower with wonderfully hot water, the stallion wandered back into the bedroom. Using the damp towel, Cimmerian snapped it in his magic, striking Zelus in the rear and causing the queen to yelp and jump out of the bed. Or at least she tried to. With a strangled yelp of surprise, the queen, her blanket, and Sapphire all tumbled off the bed.

The alicorn laughed even as he pulled all three off the ground with his aura, the Sapphire still not moving as she'd yet to receive any input from the queen. Zelus was a different matter entirely. She flailed about even as he was righting her, and the moment she managed to get free of her blanket she prepared to retaliate. She stopped short though, seeing him grinning at her. Not a moment later the door flew open, two of his guards rushing in, the thestral actually carrying her blade in her mouth.

"I'm fine, guys," he told them. "Just waking up my other guard. You're not doing a very good job, Zelus."

The mare looked around for a few moments, piecing together her situation before her ears sagged.
"Sorry, I'm just, I mean I-"

"It's fine, I don't expect you to know how to instantly become a bodyguard overnight, but I think you should ask them for tips," the stallion said, walking over to the drone. "I want you to clean yourself up, and take her in with you. Just because you have chitin instead of fur doesn't mean you don't get funky after a week on an airship. After that we'll head for breakfast."
Turning to the guards, his smile dropped slightly. "Thanks for responding anyway, I appreciate the vigilance. Tell your partners to clean up and get something to eat. I'll be heading out into town after breakfast, and I expect them to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in about two hours at the latest."

"Uh, I don't think Shining Crescent's tail can be made bushy, sir. In fact I don't think any of our tails are capable of that. I mean, I might be able to puff the end, but..." the griffon responded.

"It's an expression, relax. I just want them up and ready in about an hour or so," Cimmerian explained. Settling on the bed while he waited for Zelus and Sapphire, he cast himself into the dream realm. He may be starting his day, but he wanted to check on a few things back at the Temple in the meantime.



<-(0)->



Nearly an hour later, and much poking at his insensate form by a bored queen, the alicorn found himself eating a wonderful breakfast with his host.

"You'll want to head to Runic's Ruminations for the enchanted clothes, Lord Cimmerian," Silver Light told him between bites. " Runic knows enchantments better than anypony in town, and I'm certain he'd be happy to help you. It shouldn't take more than a few hours for him to put it all together either."

"I'll definitely check it out, Silver. I'm curious how everyone's going to-" the statement was cut off as the alicorn's fork launched from the table and embedded itself into the ceiling, much to the confusion of all parties. Looking to the utensil with a frown, the stallion focused for a moment before silently swearing to himself.
"It's starting."

"I'm sorry, what's starting?" The councilor asked uneasily. "Is there something I can do to help? I'd be happy to help in any way."

Cimmerian shook his head, "It's not something you can help with. Luna and Celestia explained to me that a boost in followers, in beings that believe in you, worship you, or love you can cause an alicorn's strength to increase. I should have expected this honestly, I mean I walked through a town of thestrals last night and a good portion of them were bowing the entire time. I just need to compensate for the power increase."

Looking back to the queen, he chastised her once more.
"Make sure Sapphire actually eats something, Zel. It may help wake her up a bit."

Zelus nodded and turned to the drone, issuing the order before turning back to her own meal. The food didn't do anything for her, but she'd begun to enjoy the taste. The queen nearly jumped into the air the second a syrup covered pancake entered the mares mouth though. The queen's horn lit up, only to be struck by the stallion's floating spoon.

"Don't scare her, Zelus. Remember, slow and steady. She reacted to it, right? She opened up a little?"

At the changeling's frantic nod, he smiled and continued, "Good, but if you try to grab her now, she'll probably retreat and be harder to draw out. We need to see if she'll come to us, remember? Wait for her, when she tries moving, let me know. Otherwise, continue keeping her nearby. Don't let her use any powerful spells for now, but don't stop her from trying to take back her body. We want to talk to her, and the more patience we have, the faster this will likely go."

Finishing his meal, he turned back to the councilor. "Thank you for the meal, Councilor Silver. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to entertain them after I get Zelus' problem taken care of. I may wander your city for a bit as well."

Grudgingly, the changeling tossed the rest of her syrup-soaked pancakes into her mouth, followed by Sapphire doing the so as the queen had ordered. Stopping just shy of the door, the stallion turned to the queen, whispering a question into her ear. When she nodded, he chuckled, before whispering something else. Something that caused the mare's ears to flatten as she turned back to the living quarters, the blue mare following behind.



<-(0)->



"Don't be like that, Zelly." Cimmerian chided the pouting queen, giving her a slight shove as they walked to the market. "She's your responsibility now, and that means you have to take care of her, even the stupid pony things she has to do."

"It was gross," the queen whined. "Why couldn't she be more like a changeling?"

"At least you had Shining to help you, right? I saw you catch her on the way," At her noncommittal grunt he shook his head with a laugh. Some things just weren't meant to be. It seemed Zelus would continue to whine until he found something for her to murderize. Seeing his destination, the stallion picked up the pace, swinging open the door with a merry jingle.

"Welcome to Runic Ruminations, I'll be with you shortly," a male voice called from the back. Cimmerian wandered into the shop, fascinated by the various widgets and whatsits lining the walls. Self-heating mug for coffee, self-cooling bowls for ice-cream, towels that repelled dirt and grime, allowing them to go longer without being washed. Finally he came to a set of minotaur toys, runes cared all over the figurines and several runed weapons set out in front of them. Looking closely, he noticed the weapons could be set in the figurines grip, allowing them to hold them. Doing so, the runes activated, both figurines bowing to each other before attacking with the weapons. After several moments of vicious combat, the one with the bastard sword delivered a powerful swing, knocking the other's weapon away. As the loser deactivated, the winner danced a victory jig, before he too dropped his weapon, deactivating.

"Please don't mess with the battle-golems, they can be easily-"

Cimmerian turned to the stallion, his own eyes approaching the size of the stallions. Standing before him was not a unicorn, but a strange combination of unicorn and thestral. Blinking away the shock, he turned to face the strange pony.

The alicorn gave a respectful bow, "Sorry, I meant no disrespect. I've been directed to your shop by Silver Light. My guard, Zelus, is having difficulty adapting to the cold. I need something that she can wear that will not become loose in combat that will keep her warm."

Turning to the mentioned bodyguard the stallion went from wide eyed, to wide eyed and gaping.
"T-that's a queen!" he shouted, rushing over to Zelus and her drone. "How did you manage to get her to follow commands? I don't see any arrays, and you don't carry anything. Do you have the control crystal in your saddlebags? Could I see it?"

The stallion stopped, his face going pale as he noticed the mare bearing arrays etched into her cheek. "What, what the hell is this? This is completely against any and all laws of magic. You don't do this to a sapient being!"

Zelus scowled at the pony, towering over him with a glare that, once he noticed it, caused him to scuttle backwards.
"So it's a crime when it's done to a pony, but a changeling is fair game? I'm going to-"

"Zelus, that's enough." Cimmerian said, interposing himself between the two. Looking down on the stallion, however, he was far from kind. "I'm going to hope that your words were based on ignorance. That you truly were not aware that changelings are sapient. Is this the case?"

The stallion gave a terrified rattling of his head, nodding up and down so fast the alicorn saw a blur. "In that case I'll forgive this insult. Do it again, and not only will I take my business elsewhere, I'll destroy you. No one fucks with my family, and as a hive sister to my wife, Zelus is family. Am I understood?"

"P-perfectly, Mister alicorn, sir." Runic sputtered out.

"Good, and to be clear, Sapphire is not our work. That's the work of Queen Twilight. We merely appropriated the connection, allowing Zelus to control her instead of those damn arrays the queen uses." Breathing deeply, and letting closing his eyes, he let his irritation slide away. "Now, we're here for an item that will allow Zelus to function better in cold weather. She's susceptible to the cold, and I'd like something to nullify that. Preferably something that can be used in combat's a bit durable. If you don't have anything, I'll take the arrays to a smith, and get something made."

"No, no sir, I think I have something I can use, and that kind of enchantment is used really often this time of year. All I need to do is apply the enchantment. Give me about ten minutes and I'll have it done." 

With that the unicorn disappeared into the back room again, nearly running through the door. Zelus was still fuming at the stallion, but Cimmerian was allowing his focus to once more roam to store. Looking outside, the stallion noted a mare putting up a strange green thing up on a nearby light post. Looking at it for a moment, the stallion was silent, something about the decoration calling to him in its familiarity, but he was unable to place it. With a final flourish, the mare flitted to the top of the post and attached a red bow, darting off to help a friend with the decorations.

Staring at the wreathed light post, the stallion collapsed onto his flanks, his eyes watering as he was reminded once more of home. Of all that he'd lost.







Zelus scowled after the pony, watching the pest scurry back into his work area. The nerve! And Cimmerian just forgave him? Okay, so it seemed the pony was legitimately surprised she was sapient, but that didn't mean he could-

Zelus flinched, an intense burst of an odd blend of emotions pouring from the stallion beside her as he stared out the window. Following his eyes, she saw the ponies decorating for one of their upcoming holidays. She hissed, her aura flaring as she watched for the pony who put it up. She'd smash the pony for causing him to hurt.

Before she could storm out the door to hunt down the hapless mare, she was caught in the alicorn's aura, the stallion pulling her into a hug, blasting her with a flood of confusing emotions; anger, sorrow, loss, love, happiness, and hope. She didn't understand; what could make him feel so many different things at once? Her ear twitched, noting a light humming as his emotions stabilized, the humming slowly growing in volume before he began to sing.

"...may your days be merry and bright... and may all your Christmases be white...we're going to pick up a pine tree while we're out here. I need it. If we have to, I'll take a seed. I'm sure there's spells to make them grow faster," he softly told her, leaning into her. For her part the queen just sat there, once more absolutely lost at the actions of ponies. They made no sense to her. Still, if the blooming well of happiness that was beginning to radiate from Cimmerian required a tree to continue, she'd find the time to rip one out of the ground. That's what Din said, at least. Keep the ponies happy and they'll keep you fed. Zelus was fairly certain the other queen was dumbing it down for her though. There seemed to be a bit more to it than that. Nothing was ever simple with ponies.

She cast one more glare at Sapphire, the source of several of her most recent problems. Things were never that simple.
> Holiday Fever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The queen followed her charge at an easy pace, her drone following silently behind her along with the stallion's two other guards. Both seemed as lost as she was at his sudden mood swing, and that was with cultural context! What hope did she have of figuring this mess out?

"Oh, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do! Don't want a doll, or dinky tinker toys, I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy! I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, I don't think Santa Claus will mind, do you? He won't have to use our dirty chimney flue, Just bring him through the front door, that's the easy thing to do!"

Turning to the guards, the queen tapped one on the shoulder, drawing the attention of the griffon. "What the buzz is a hippopotamus?"

"Not sure, uh, ma'am. I've never heard of one," he answered, never taking his eyes off the stallion.

The queen cocked her head in confusion as the stallion practically pranced down the street, chuckling as he began yet another line of some strange song about receiving strange creatures as gifts.

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, only a hippopotamus will do! No crocodiles, or rhinoceroses, I only want, hippopotamuses! And hippopotamuses like me too!"

Zelus winced at the alicorn took off at a quick trot towards the lake, a strange glimmer in his eyes and a giggle on his lips. 
"Stars, what's come over him?"

"Maybe the Hearths Warming reminded him of something? He was talking about being from another place, another world. Maybe they had a similar holiday."
At the queen's and griffon's questioning stare, the thestral guard continued, "I know some ponies get really attached to their holiday traditions, and if its similar, it may feel like a bit of home. With all the things he told us were similar, there are still a ton of things that are different between the worlds. I think I'd be happy to be in familiar territory again, even if it wasn't quite the same."

"I guess I can see that," the griffon said, taking a seat as the alicorn moved down to the water. Cimmerian's horn ignited, a few large globes of water being levitated out of the lake. He held them over the ground, setting them one on top of the other, and wove a second spell, freezing the globes of water on top of each other. Chuckling, he pulled a small scarf out of his bag, wrapping it around the connection between the top and middle stacked orbs while magically altering the color of several locations on the statue. Nodding in satisfaction, he began singing yet another strange tune, this one being one about a man of snow.

"You're a changeling. What's he thinking about?" the griffon asked her.

Zelus watched him silently for a moment, shunting a little of the emotions to her drone. "I can taste his emotions, not tell you his thoughts. That being said, he's happy, but at the same time there is sorrow. It is a strange combination, and I don't think I've ever tasted it before."

"Nostalgia, I think. That's about what I feel when I'm reminded of the past. When I'm reminded of good times that are gone," the thestral said softly.

Zelus turned back to the alicorn, having sensed yet another surge of power from him. She watched as he focused on a point near the lake yet again, but he did not pull globes of water. The water flowed over the cave floor to him, freezing in place as it reached the position he required. The ice began to flow upwards, thickening into a large post before suddenly expanding from the base it had been given, forming a crystalline tree made entirely of ice. Strange formation hung from it, orbs in random places, lines that seemed to wrap around the tree, and a star at the top. It was beautiful, and before long she noticed they were not alone. Cimmerian's spells had drawn a crowd, thestrals of all ages staring at the strange creations of ice and magic.

As the stallion's gaze moved over the crowd, lingering on the gathered pony nymphs especially, the queen felt it again. That burning happiness she'd felt from him every time he spent time with the hatchlings at the temple. He reclined on the ground, looking around with a calming smile and spoke loudly enough to be heard over the crowd.

"Who want's to be the first ponies in the world to hear a tale," he asked them, causing silence to cascade about the crowd. "The story of a creature whose heart didn't understand the holiday spirit, the tale of a miserable creature, the Grinch, who tried to steal the holiday?"



<-(0)->



"Are we ready?" the soldier asked his subordinate as they trotted onto the airship. 

"Just about sir. We have most of the supplies, and the mark fours are already loaded into the ship. I've also debriefed the soldiers about the dangers of these models. Don't need a soldier thinking they're normal drones and stepping on one, or worse kicking one," the younger stallion responded, following after him.

The commander nodded in response, trotting up to the ships bridge.
"Prepare to take off. The Queen wants this problem dealt with as soon as possible. We do this fast enough, we'll be back just in time for Hearths Warming. I'm sure everyone will appreciate that."

Looking over the map the commander sighed in exasperation. The area was supposedly dead except for an old trading post way out there, Zorro if he remembered correctly. Not exactly the place to test the mark fours, but at least the chances of them harming Equestrian citizens was minimal, should something go wrong.

For the first of many times, the commanders shifted uncomfortable as the ship began to move, the idea of being on the same ship as those drones not being the most pleasant idea. Faust help them if some idiot went over and punched one of the drones. The Royal Navy would  likely not find anything left of the airship.



<-(0)->



She watched the Nightmare as it spoke, but she wasn't listening to its words. She watched its actions, watched as it nuzzled foals, watched as it laughed and joked, watched as it created objects of beauty with ice and magic. This was not her god, this was not the dark deity her family had pledged itself to. It was a mockery, a disgusting twisted form of Her majesty.

"You're certain he said it was her?" she asked the thestral beside her.

"He was quite certain. Said that it is not the same creature, but the same species. I plan on leaving in a few days. I wish to learn more of this fraud first. If you are true to her, you will be at the docks in four days. Gather the loyal. We can't hurt him, not with what I've read on alicorns, but we can strike against him with her aid."

The mare nodded, watching as the alicorn continued his story, a large image of a strange green furred monster stealing Hearths Warming items from the odd bipeds. The councilor may have been certain about joining the Nightmare, but she had heard what the sham before her had said about that creature as well. She didn't like the alicorn, but he was right. The Nightmare had specifically targeted their race and called for their annihilation. The mare and those that followed her would not be at the docks. But neither would they join the alicorn before her.
'He may not be the being mother always spoke of, but should the Nightmare move to end the world as he predicts, we may need to work with him. I don't know about that fool, but I'm quite fond of living.'







Even as the hidden meeting was ending, another was taking place, this one also giving its attendees a front row seat to the spectacle by the falls.

"I don't know, Silver. You said he has Luna's blessing? We've been waiting for this for centuries," the armored stallion beside her whispered.

"I'm certain. I even spoke to her last night. Nightmare Moon, she never bothered with dreams even with a name like that, never attacked through dreams. It was always shock and awe. This one at time he carries himself strangely, almost like a mare. It fits with Her words of his past, of his origin. Princess Luna has named him as her son in all but blood, and even his magic bears her mark. You know this as well as I, Crimson. You've seen the dreams, heard the foals talking about them. He even spoke to a few of them, calming their night terrors."

"Night terrors he could have caused," the stallion interjected.

Silver rolled her eyes, knowing the stallion was mostly being paranoid for the sake of argument.
"Yet I don't see it. He lacks the control Luna had, his tells are fairly easy to read. His tail shifts freely, as he is still unused to controlling it. His ears twitch freely, his wings shift when he is uncomfortable, he may not even realize he has these tells."

Waving a hoof towards the gathering she pushed on, "Yet he draws ponies to him. He doesn't even try, he just does. He sees ponies decorating, and he wants to join. He created a beautiful tree, and it brought the crowds. He tells them a story, making them trust his words, making him feel more approachable. Princess Luna even told me his ponies back in The Temple call him Father Cimmerian, sometimes just Father. He's that approachable, that concerned with the wellbeing of those that look to him for aid that they give him that title."

The stallion sighed, the sound producing an odd echo from behind the faceplate of his armor.
"I would have agreed to lead my soldiers under his banner just with Princess Luna's blessing, you know. Why would you be so willing to put more out there for me?"

"Because as much as I wish to believe the Night Watcher would do what's best for us, I don't know if she would," Silver explained in a tired voice. "Celestia and Luna are loyal to their country first, even when it betrays them. This one though, he doesn't care what you are. That's a changeling queen following him, Crimson, and she does so willingly! They never even show up in public, yet here is one, acting as his bodyguard. If even a changeling queen, as flighty as they are, is willing to follow his lead and guard him with her life, how can we who have sworn to aid the Lunar Diarch do anything less?"

The stallion was silent for a moment, tapping a hoof on the ground as he thought.
"He's staying at your place right? I'll stop by tonight with the heads of the Night Wings. If he'll accept us, we'll be leaving at his word. Be careful, Silver. If someone as loyal as myself can question his legitimacy, you know there will be those who will move against him. Take care of yourself."

Silver nodded, turning from the display and nodding to her companion.
"I will, Crimson. I will see you tonight. If you ask, I'm certain he will have a place for your flock as well. He seems to have a soft spot for families."



<-(0)->



It was nearly two hours later that the alicorn finally managed to break away from the crowds. Some seemed to know what was going on out there, that not all was well in the world, and they were scared. Seeing an alicorn that treated them kindly, that brought them back what the Equestrian Queen had stolen from them, it reassured them. Others were just fascinated by his appearance. He was the next step, he was to them what Celestia and Luna were to the other pony tribes. His very presence seemed to draw the thestrals to him, even with the large changeling hovering behind him.

That had actually surprised him. Zelus had started hovering the moments the crowds started to grow but never stepped between him and the citizens. Certainly she could probably figure their intentions based on their emotions, but it was still a strange change from her usual all or nothing style of guarding him.

"Yes, sir! Mister Wood sells seeds, you could probly get one for your tree from him!" a young colt shouted to him as several bounced around him, not willing to allow the neatest thing they'd seen in years out of their sight just yet. Fortunately for the stallion, it wasn't him the foals were fascinated by.

"I heard bug ponies had holes in their legs, where are yours?"

"Do you eat ponies, or drink blood, or suck out souls?"

"Momma said changelings were just really big bugs, that they didn't actually think. What makes you different?"

"Can you turn into Mister Cim'rian?"

To his amusement the queen bore all their questions with a silent glare, acting the part of a real guard the one time he was hoping she'd act naturally. It would have been an excellent opportunity if she'd use it; learning to deal with kids was great practice. Most wouldn't hold mistakes against you, just laugh at your mistakes. It was embarrassing, but that same embarrassment helped to reinforce the lessons learned.

Shaking his head with a rueful chuckle at the mare's expense, he once more entered Runic's Ruminations, the stallion bolting to the counter the second he'd heard the jingle from the door's bell.
"Hello again, Sir! I finished the runes about an hour ago, all that's left is choosing what to emblaze them on. After that, a quick charge and they'll be ready to go. I can do it myself, or I can show you how to charge them, seeing as you're both capable of magic."

Pushing a few of the remaining foals away from the queen, he pulled her along with him to the back of the shop, shooting the foals an apologetic smile.
"I'll let you guys have her after we get her fitted, okay?"

A few cheers erupted from the foals, and Zelus glared at him.
"Cheer up, Zel. They're hatchlings, right? Treat them kindly, and they'll return your kindness with affection."

"Ok, now I have a few items to choose from, but if nothing here-"

"This will work." Zelus said, levitating a set of bracers to herself. They were simple things, even if they were made of silver. The stallion nodded, quickly grabbing a measuring tape from a nearby shelf and getting a measurement of the queen's forelegs. She shifted uncomfortably at the contact, but Cimmerian's hoof on her shoulder seemed to calm her down. The Inscriber then ran over to the bracers, quickly transcribing the runes directly onto the surface of the bracers. After about five minutes of etching, he sighed, lowering them to the table.

At his instructions, Zelus slipped them onto her forelegs, the bracers easily being adjusted to accommodate her larger than normal size. The instant she applied magic to the array, she clopped her forelegs together, feeling the magic shielding her from even the slightly cool air of the shop. 

"They work?" Cimmerian asked, earning a blurring nod from the changeling. He smiled at her enthusiasm before turning back to the unicorn.
"How much do we owe you for the bracers?"

"1,400 bits sir. Or you would, a stallion came by and paid for them, said it was an early gift for when he sees you later tonight."

Cimmerian's ears flattened in irritation at that, "Did you get a name at least? I'm not a fan of accepting gifts from strangers when there's a war going on, and if you did something to the bracers-"

"I swear on my horn I didn't sabotage them, geeze. You're as paranoid as a cow at a griffon festival," the stallion said with a roll of his eyes. "I think it was one of the Night Wings. They're an old order, predating even Canterlot's founding. They're pretty rigid ponies, but would follow their leader into Tartarus itself if he asked them to. Crimson, their leader, is old money but he's also big on history. I don't think he's going to cause you any trouble, especially if you've got foals hanging on you like you do."

The alicorn bowed respectfully to the stallion.
"Thanks, Runic. I don't know if it's been put out but I came here to offer the thestrals a place if they need it. I'm sure Weaver would love some help with the defensive wards he's designing on the temple."

"Weaver...Shadow Weaver? That fool managed to survive his suici-" the stallions jaw dropped open and he stared at the larger stallion for a moment, his horn blazing as he scanned over Cimmerian. Zelus tensed, but seeing it was a scanning spell relaxed slightly. She still kept her aura focused on a chakram, though.

"I can see it, yea that's his magic in there. Amazing, he laid down the foundations, and a living body, this was the result. The magic involved must have been, I can't even imagine just how he managed to pull it off. There's been no complications, no issues? You don't move like a soul in a golem, so the only answer I can think of is the body is now completely settled, leaving you with an actual flesh and blood container."

"I eat and sleep if that's what your talking about." Cimmerian answered, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 

"And rut, from what Din showed me," Zelus called out from across the room, inspecting the runes and testing the temperature adjustment controls. She stuck her tongue out at his glare, giggling as she turned her attention back to the bracers.

"Wait, like you can even, oh wow now that's thorough," Runic said with a chuckle.

"I think it has much to do with the fact that I had a lot of magic bound to me as well," Cimmerian said, still scowling at the queen. "I took a hit from the Elements of Harmony, and they left me in the armor. That armor sat in the Everfree for almost half a century, and was saturated in the wild magic there. Between being extracted from an alicorn, being blasted with a powerful source of Order magic, and basting in wild magic for that long, I probably provided a good portion of the used magic myself." Cimmerian told the stallion, watching the gears turn as Runic processed the information.

"Amazing, oh I wish I'd been able to, wait! Do you still have the armor?!?" Runic shouted, his smile turning manic. "The armor was said to have been crafted from pure magic, able to focus the power of its wearer to an incredible degree! It's to inscriptionists and enchanters what the Queen's Chalice is to worshippers of the First Herd."

The alicorn smiled at that, remembering a similar cup from his own past. "I'm sure I can let you take a look at it, if you like. Of course, such a favor would need a form of payment, possibly-"

"Done! I'll have my stuff packed by the day after tomorrow! Just give me a destination, or something I can use to find it. Oh, this is going to be so cool!" the stallion practically shouted, dancing about on his hooves. "See Weaver again, get to tease him about his bad enchantments in college, study the armor, see the world, oh, do you think I could take a look at the arrays on the pony?"

"Maybe at a later time, we do have a rune you can study though. For now, we arrived on the boat from Zarris. If you take a ship there, ask the port master about the Temple. Tell him the dream pimp sent you, that should prove to him you actually spoke to me," Cimmerian said with a grin. Poor Silver may get upset that he'd be stealing away her enchanter.

Walking out into the city with his guards, he moved closer to the changeling, speaking softly.
"You didn't taste anything out of place during the offer, did you? Anything that I should worry about?

"Nothing but childlike wonder and excitement, no," Zelus said with a shake of her head. "He wasn't lying at any point, nor was he planning harm to anyone as far as I could tell."

"Good. Now, let's go get that tree. I also want to pick up a few bells and ornaments to mail to the Temple. The Trading Company should be able to get them to us pretty easily, since they have an office in Zarris. We'll send it all there and pick it up on the way home," he said, turning to her with a easy smile. "Try this if you get surrounded by kids again. If they make a simple request, fill it. If one asks you to turn into me, go ahead and do it. Talk to them Zel, learn how to interact with others. I know it wasn't big before, but even as a guard it can help. Learning how others normally react is useful, as you can spot odd behavior much more easily. Aggression isn't the only thing you need to be able to spot, it's also those who feel too, blank. I remember reading about this a long time ago, but some assassins would learn to cut off their emotions, not providing any killing intent for those sensitive to it to detect."

The queen stared ahead for a few paces, processing the idea. She nodded softly, looking to him for a moment.
"I'll give it a try. It's still, strange to me."



<-(0)->



It was yet another boring day for the Queen of the Temple of the Shadows. Her king was off beyond her reach for the first time since she'd been captured by him, but she could still just make out the presence of her sister. She was calm; irritated but calm, so Din didn't worry for his safety too much. Sure an army might be able to defeat them, but a simple patrol? Cimmerian was smarter than that. He'd not stick around in any area long enough for their enemy to mobilize a large enough force. She trusted him with that.

Walking about the Temple, she sighed in relief at completing the needed forms and requests with Gleam. Even Cadance had stopped by, nabbing a few to help them with what little she was capable of. Soon though, the memories started becoming too much, forcing the pink alicorn to retreat once more. Pandinus was still grateful though, mentally pressing against her charge through the link with a gentle reassurance, making sure the mare didn't freak out too much or spiral anymore.
Speaking of her charge, she was currently headed to check up on the pink mare. She knew Amare was once more with her, but what they were up to, she had to see for herself.

Walking out into the fading sunlight, she smiled brightly at the sight, Cadance and Amare standing at opposite sides of a training field. In the center, four drones rolled around, wrestling for position. It wasn't just a fight between drones though. The drones were her own, true drones that under normal circumstances were all but useless in combat. What drew her smile was that Amare was teaching the alicorn to use the link.
It was a basic game, one Queen Pandinus' own mother had taught her years ago. Two queens, or in most cases a queen and a proto queen, would command several drones, giving them each orders on how to attack, react, and counter their opponent in real time, learning to multitask in a way many creatures couldn't comprehend. Her mother had started her with four drones, and of course had gone easy on her. Her mother could easily command eighty drones fluidly without breaking a sweat, the point was for her daughter to learn. Once Din had improved enough, her mother would add a drone, further dividing her attention, and starting again at an easier level.
The queen had started Amare with two, seeing as how she had no real experience with true drones, and if she pushed herself the proto queen could now utilize six drones before her mind started missing details. That wasn't what caught her eye though. It was the Cadance, the array on the mare's cheek burning brightly as she focused on the drones, giving orders and attempting to get some type of advantage over her adopted daughter's drones.

The drones rolled around, bumping into one another, and eventually devolving into a blob of chitin and fury. Cadance's ears perked in confusion for a moment, before Amare's drones both pinned the other two. It brought a smile to Pandinus' face, knowing exactly what had happened. The alicorn had lost track of them and sent her orders to the wrong drones, drones that were actively being controlled by another queen. The orders would fall on deaf ears, and her own drones would go without, stalling in their movements. Amare had capitalized on the mistake, and won the game, leaving the proto queen to hop around giggling at her victory while Cadance sulked, realizing her mistake.

"Well done for a beginner, much less a pony," Pandinus said cheerfully, drawing both sets of eyes. She looked over to Amare, her grin turning impish. "I see you enjoy winning against someone who is not so adept at our game. Enjoy it while it lasts, little one, we will practice again tonight. Seven drones this time."

As the proto queen's ears splayed in irritation at the perceived punishment, Din turned to Cadance.
"I didn't expect you to try this for a while yet, if you ever did. It's an interesting game, is it not?"

"It's, it's strange. Fun once you get used to it, but it's just so confusing sometimes, especially when you can't tell them apart, or they start sending information back. I think that messed me up a bit too," the pink mare said softly, turning back to the drones. The two that had been pinned moved towards her, standing at attention on either side. It was the ready position for the game, and Din smirked, snatching the other two with her own mind. She trotted over to Amare's position, the drones taking their places on either side of her, and she smiled warmly at the pink alicorn.

"I don't know how much Amare has taught you, so let's see how much you've learned," the queen stated, her drones taking the field. "I won't have you learning something incorrectly, you know. It would reflect poorly on my own image. Do well enough, and I'll have Slop make you something nice for dinner tomorrow. Your choice."

Cadance smiled for a moment before it faded into a look of concentration, the runes on her cheek blazing with energy once more. Her drones moved ahead slowly, taking their positions and readying themselves. At the queen's signal, the battle was joined. Cadance grinned despite the mental load. At least Amare was cheering for her.
> Memories of Christmas Warmings past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Queen Zelus was slowly getting used to ponies and their strange ways. They threw her for a loop every now and again, certainly; Cimmerian's emotional whirlwind earlier that day had left her feeling tired just watching and tasting it, so she could only imagine how he was holding up as they approached Silver's estate. The alicorn was still wearing a smile, but it was an exhausted one. She could sense the mental fatigue starting to creep over him, feeling his emotions slowly dampening, slowly turning darker. She figured it was why he had decided to turn in at this point, even though there were still several hours left  in the 'day.'
She followed at an easy pace behind him, watched as he knocked on the door and was led inside. She sensed a burst of confusion from him, and prepared herself. In the middle of the living room were several thestrals, most wearing intricate armor while one, who she guessed was their leader, sat with Silver Light. All eyes were on the alicorn, and she settled slightly, seeing and feeling nothing but awe and admiration from the soldiers. The leader was a bit tougher to read, but she was a changeling. She could read a rock if it had emotions. Even he tasted of awe at being this close to the alicorn.

Fluttering his wings, Cimmerian approached the meeting and asked Silver if she would introduce her guests. Zelus could hear the other question though. She stepped up beside the stallion, nodding with a small smile in an attempt to calm him. They weren't enemies.

Cimmerian's wings relaxed slightly at her nod, his smile becoming less forced. She reacted correctly it seemed. He was unsure of their intention, and she was able to convey that this didn't seem to be an ambush.
'Perhaps there is a bit more to this guard thing than I thought.'

"Lord Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, I'm Crimson Lance of the Night Wings. Ages ago our ancestors pledged themselves to the service of Princess Luna. When we heard an alicorn was present we investigated, and Silver has provided us with much to work with. She, she even said Princess Luna spoke to her last night. We are well aware that the Nightmare was something else, that it wasn't her, or that it was a madness that had overtake her, as the Nightmare never bothered with dream magics. Hearing your explanation, it may be because such magics would have revealed its true form to those it attacked," the thestral said to him, the pony's eyes flashing toward her for a moment.

"I-we would like to accept your offer, Lord Cimmerian. The Night Wings serve Princess Luna as they always have, and Silver Light says you speak with her authority. I was hesitant to believe such a claim, but your presence heralds the return of our dreams. It has been years since we have been able to use dream walking, yet tonight we happily begin to pass this skill on to the next generation."

The alicorn stared at the group for a moment, and she could taste his roiling emotions. Happiness, curiosity, hope, worry, fear...that last one made little sense to her.

"I appreciate your offer, Crimson. It is not just for followers of Luna though. I'm making this offer to everyone, as I made it to the griffons and as I made it to the changelings. I'm glad you'd like to join, but I need more than that. I would need numbers, I would need to know if their families will be going as well. This isn't a call to arms, I'm not going after Queen Twilight right now, not directly. She has an army, she has hundreds if not thousands of drones under her control; I don't wish to bring that upon my people. You and yours would be welcomed at the Temple of the Shadows, not as additional troops, but as new residents. We could always use additional trained soldiers, I'm sure, but there's more to this than just standing under my banner."

The thestral seemed confused for a moment. Hah! Did the fool expect them to march from here to Canterlot, laying siege to the Mad Queen's capital? She nearly giggled at the sight, but managed to minimize it to a fanged smirk.

"I understand my lord. We have about two hundred soldiers and their flocks. Some may not wish to move, but I'm certain most would be willing to leave on your word. We can even supply you with a properly trained and equipped guard if you wi-"

"My current guards are fine. I know you likely mean nothing by it, Crimson, but those picked to be my guards were chosen from over one hundred individuals. They have been granted this position over their fellow guards as a matter of trust and as an honor.
"I'm certain you and yours are well versed in many things and my guards are fairly new to this, but let me ask you something. If I were to offer to replace your own guards, how do you think they would take that? It's both an insult to those that trained them and to the guards themselves. Second, their training was handled by the previous captain of the Storm Talons, and I'm confident Amald taught them well. Finally, I know these individuals. I've not memorized some names, but I'm working on it, right?"

Queen Zelus mentally scoffed at the idea.
'Why would he not choose better guards if he had the choice? I would, especially if they'd proposed to serve me and I knew they would not betray me. It would be better than...oh.'
The queen's eyes widened in realization, a strange mix of anger at the thestral and respect for the alicorn filling her. To replace the guards was to claim that they, that she was incapable of doing their job. Cimmerian had seen that and sidestepped the issue. It was both a scolding for the thestral and a pat on the back for his own guards. For her as well, actually. She was one of those guards, in fact he had looked to her the moment he thought something was wrong.

That thought made her chest swell with pride. She'd always been raised to be looked up to, but this, it was a different kind of dependence. The stallion didn't truly need her as her drones would, as her children would need their queen. He looked to her because he trusted her. Trust wasn't something she'd been given very often. One had been Lestidae; a mutual trust that saw them surviving a world gone to Tartarus. The second was Pandinus, her hive sister. Now the alicorn before her had claimed her as a trusted individual. Normally she would have scoffed at the idea, but Din explained it in a way she never heard the idea before. Trust was being able to molt around others and not worry about a blade in your soft shell. It was about providing others with a boon knowing they wouldn't immediately turn it against you. Trust was being able to leave your hatchlings with another queen and knowing no harm would come to them, or leaving your mate in the care of another queen and knowing she'd do everything in her power to see him to safety.

Zelus had originally thought this duty was a sign of trust from just her sister, but she now knew different. It was trust from the stallion as well. Even as they planned the route the thestrals would need to take to reach the Temple, she fluttered her wings in poorly restrained glee. He trusted her to watch out for his safety, and she was trusting him to keep her fed, to keep her supplied with the energy needed to survive the harsh climate. It was different, strange, exhilarating even. She needed the stallion to keep supplying her with energy. The strange dependence was just so against everything she'd been taught.
'I don't even need a disguise while doing this, it's amazing!'

She redirected her attention to the male she was guarding, hearing him laugh at some joke made by the bat pony councilor. A frown crept across her face; he was smiling and laughing with them, but he didn't taste happy. In fact, his mood seemed to still be dropping though at a slower pace. That was something she'd have to learn how to fix. He was starting to taste kind of bitter.



"Thank you for the meal, Silver. I think I'm going to head to bed a bit early. It's been a busy day, and I'm feeling a bit fatigued."

Zelus followed the alicorn, her frown having grown. She wasn't going to call him out as being sad in front of all of the others, but she was growing more concerned as the time passed. The meal was eaten, but she knew he didn't really taste it so much as swallow what he thought he needed to eat.
'Now I know why a queen was entrusted with this task, a drone would go mad attempting to understand this.'

Closing the door behind her drone, the queen made her way to the bed mat that had been set up in the room. The stallion was already in a foul mood, and she had no desire to antagonize him by attempting to feed on him. As she settled the drone and herself in for the night, Her ears perked up at a whisper.

"Zelus. Zelly? Come on, I know you prefer being on the bed." Cimmerian called, raising an inviting wing. She scowled at the offer, not understanding his reasoning. Didn't most ponies prefer to be alone when sad? She certainly didn't want to be near him when he was exuding...ok, it wasn't just sorrow. There was some happiness in there too. What did the guard call it? Reminiscing? That seemed to be it. A strange blend of sorrow, joy, longing, and just the slightest hints of hope and despair. Taking one last look at the drone that was currently shutting down for the night, the queen cautiously moved to take her place at his side, the stallion chuckling and giving a brief flair of amusement at her wariness.

'Now he mocks my confusion. Frustrating creatures,' she fumed with a huff of annoyance. She hopped up on the bed and laid against him, immediately receiving a burst of happiness and a wing-based hug.

"Luna always felt better if she had someone beside her when she was feeling down. I usually kept to myself, but I might as well try it out," Cimmerian explained to her. "Might be an pony thing."

She nodded, not truly understanding of course. It still drew a little more happiness from him.

"Why do you taste a mess?" she asked after a moment. "I understand not wishing to look weak, but it does not explain the, mixture of emotions you exude now."

"I just ran out of steam, that's all. All of this, the holiday stuff, it reminds me of holidays back home. I was pretty good at making it back home for most Christmas breaks," he gave a mirthless chuckle at the idea, "but no amount of planning will let me see my parents for this one."

"I see. This is what causes you to taste so strange? What do you mean by you ran out of steam?" she asked him. It was likely beyond her understanding, but it didn't hurt to ask. Not too much at least.

He laid his head down on the pillow and relaxed, "I was just running out of happy thoughts, that's all. Ran a bit dry on holiday cheer."

Zelus blanched at the notion. Running out of happiness? Was she feeding too much? She quickly jumped from the bed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to feed too much, just let me get a jar, you can have it back!"

"What? No, that's not what I meant. You didn't drain me too much, Zel. Calm down," Cimmerian said with a chuckle and another burst of amusement. "I meant that the holidays are a mix for me. I've done my celebrating, now I just need to do some mourning. It's completely normal. I just need to not let it become too all-encompassing. That's what Pandinus got mad about last time. Now get over here. I was actually feeling better for a bit there."

Cautiously the queen resumed her position, still tense and ready to jump at a moments notice. The moment she was settled in again he gave her a devious grin.
"I just thought of a great way to relax. You ready?"

There was no time to leap to safety, no time to shake her head with a negative response. He leaned towards her, his horn alight, and Queen Zelus fell into the land of dreams.

No, not fell. She was dragged there, kicking and screaming.



<-(0)->


"Is it not considered a good thing among your kind to worry about the state of one's mate?" Queen Pandinus asked as she received reports from her drones. It was strange to the blue alicorn mare, but the meditative state that Pandinus used to communicate with distant drones allowed the queen to speak to Luna even while awake. Luna was more than happy to take advantage of this, talking to the queen even as the alicorn kept an eye out for Cimmerian's dreams. 

"It is, but that does not mean asking for constant updates. He spoke to you two days ago. Calm yourself," Luna said, watching the sleeping drones flitting about the hives dream-side. "I will let you know when I see him."

"Cadance will be going with us. She wished to speak with him again, now that she's recovering. She's also bringing Amare with her," Pandinus said, a smile gracing her muzzle. "Amare has been teaching Cadance to use the array. Last time I checked your niece was capable of controlling three drones at once. While not impressive for a changeling queen, her mind is not made for such things. I was impressed at her ability to multitask. Cimmerian tells me such things are difficult for other races.
"She did forget to breathe at one point though," Din told her with a chuckle. "She was so focused on what was going on around her, so focused on everything from their breathing to the steps and movements they were taking, she started holding her own breath and didn't notice until she passed out. She awoke a few moments later, confused as to what had occurred."

Luna cocked her head in curiosity.
"The array allows her to control drones? I thought it merely joined her to the link that changelings share."

"No, it actually was a connection similar to a queen's. It was why Amare and Vis looked to her for orders and guidance. I don't know enough about pony minds to attempt to remove it, and I must admit I find it humorous that she can now actively use something that was created to torment her. I was actually teaching Cadance and Amare about shifting one's perception to a drone earlier," the queen explained, focusing on the two individuals for a moment. "They are currently practicing on each other in my chamber."

"You mean they're trading perceptions? Amare controlling Cadance and vice-versa?" Luna asked in amazement. "I must say, that shows an exceptional level of trust."

Pandinus nodded, "I believe Amare still looks to Cadance as her mother figure, despite knowing it isn't true; Cadance did not even want the nymph at first. But they've, I believe the phrase is grown on each other. Both can see the love each has for the other, so there is no worrying about betrayal."

Luna gave a rueful chuckle at that thought, "I suppose Amare spending so long with a pony who was risking insanity to keep her safe would leave her feeling comfortable in trusting Cadance. I just don't know how Cadance can say the same. Giving such control to another is a frightening idea to most ponies."
Luna blinked suddenly, looking off into the distance and finding a grin of her own, "And there he is."

"This will only take a moment, and we'll be ready," Din said, her focus drifting elsewhere. Less than a single minute later, Amare and Cadance had appeared in the dream, finding their way to Pandinus in the link's dream-side. Both drew nearer to the larger mares while wearing large grins.

"It is wonderful to see you smiling again, Cadance," Luna told the pink alicorn. "And if I'm not mistaken, you've begun to grow again."

"I have, auntie," the pink mare answered with a smile. "I was hoping to see Cimmerian and Auntie Tia tonight, if it's not too much trouble."

"We'll ask once we see him. Do you require extra power, Luna?" Din asked, turning to the smaller alicorn.

Luna nodded, "Yes, it would help. I can move about freely, and even take a guest, but a larger group is not within my current capabilities."

The world shifted as the alicorn of the night and dreams dragged the three of them into the distance. it didn't take long, one of the positives of moving through the dreamscape. They group entered the targeted dream with a muffled thump of hooves on carpet. Three of them looked around confused for a moment, unsure of where exactly they were. Amare was the first to recover from her confusion, rolling around on the soft floor and giggling merrily as she eyed the room, the multi colored lights scattered throughout it holding her attention.

"Hearth's Warming?" Luna asked, looking about the room.

"I don't know, I don't recognize some of the imagery. Oh, but there's a Hearth's Warming wreath," Cadance pointed out, confusion breaking out across her face. "Why does the dream have both 'Christmas' and Hearth's Warming?"

"Likely because his mind is mixing the two," Luna explained. "I assume this 'Christmas' is his species' version of Hearth's Warming. He is also carrying around years of my own memories, so it is plausible he is confusing the two subconsciously." 

The small group made their way deeper into the dream, following the sharpening of detail to the dreamer. Amare chittered happily, enjoying the bright and festive decorations scattered all over the strangely built home, while the mares made guesses at the uses of various objects that were alien to them. One in particular that drew their eyes were strange orbs that gave off light without magic, not enchanted crystals but seemingly made of glass with wires.

'I suppose a species bereft of magic would find other ways to illuminate their homes,' the Luna realized, looking at the flickering globes.

The group soon came across the dreamer, reclined on the couch in his birth form. On his lap was the frazzled form of Queen Zelus, though she seemed to have been reduced in size and was currently being treated to the wondrous massage the stallion had given Luna not too long ago. The reduced queen perked up as they entered, directing a pleading look at the group and mouthing the phrase 'Help me!'

Luna burst into giggles at the mare's discomfort, stirring Ted even as Pandinus quickly trotted up to the couch. With a flicker of her horn, Zelus was removed from his grip and Din replaced her, jumping up on the groggy and confused creature's lap. Before he could register that his companion had been replaced, the larger queen snogged him.

"Oh, I like this form now. I'm bigger than you like this." Din told him, a predatory grin on her face.

Luna chuckled at Pandinus' antics, noticing Cadance staring at the two of them in confusion. The blue alicorn smiled warmly while pulling the other mare closer and explaining the situation to her.
"Cimmerian is not of our world, Cadance. This is the form he was born to. When the Nightmare fled my mind in the face of its defeat, it switched places with him, dragging him to our world. He then spent years in the armor, and was released by those ponies living at the Temple. He's adapting well, all things considered."

Luna's gaze wandered over to a still-frazzled Queen Zelus, who tried to speak but was unable to form any coherent phrases. After the changeling's fifth attempt, she finally managed to sputter out a question.
"How can you stand that? His emotions go all over the place!"

"Oh Zelly, you need to enjoy things that are different. I'm feeding on stored love right now and I can tell you for certain, I would rather be feeding directly from the source no matter his mood than consuming the stored emotions we have at the hive." Din chided the other queen from her position on the couch. "It's just not the same when you've had access to such a source of love only a week ago."

Luna giggled into her fetlock, turning her attention to Zelus even as Pandinus returned her attention to the male.
"So has anything exciting happened since we last spoke?"

"The Nightmare seems to no longer be content experimenting on changelings," the shape shifter told her. "Cimmerian and I came across a mare with chitin grafts and another array etched into her temple. She is currently under my control, but Cimmerian has requested I be kind to her instead of taking the information I seek from her mind."

Luna nodded in agreement, and Cadance perked up at the mention of another going through such an experience before speaking.
"Thank you for listening to him, Zelus. I know you'd prefer to just grab the information, but if it wasn't for Pandinus' kindness I don't know where I'd be right now. Mentally speaking of course. The mare will be scared, that much I can tell you. Give her a chance to learn of you, to learn that she's free, and I can almost guarantee she'll want to help you. Loyalty is a big thing for most ponies."

"Can you show us what this mare looks like?" Luna asked.

Zelus shook her head.
"I could likely tell you about her, but I don't know how to conjure an image."

"It's simple, Zelus," the blue alicorn instructed. "We are in a dream, so such things are much simpler to transfer or conjure. Imagine on this wall here a painting of your mare."

The shape shifter grimaced at the idea, but closed her eyes and imagined the wall bearing a likeness of Sapphire. Luna and Cadance watched the image with differing expressions; Luna's was one of shock at such treatment of a pony, while the pink alicorn's expression was one of sympathy.

"That poor thing. To be, twisted in such a way," Cadance whispered.

Luna growled at the image even as her niece pawed at it.
"The more I learn of this creature's habits, the luckier I count myself to have been possessed by such a fool. At least my nightmare had the decency to not plan too far ahead."

"The coat and mane...I think I remember Twilight telling me about a pony like that, but it was only in passing. Something about a mare grabbing a dangerous artifact just to show her up," Cadance mentioned to the group. "It wouldn't surprise me if it targeted that pony in retaliation. This kind of over the top punishment is something that would also hurt Twilly. The pony would blame her if she ever escaped."

"Cimmerian is correct, Zelus," Luna said giving the queen a warm smile. "The best way to win a pony's trust is through kindness. Such a thing may bring her to you, solidifying her loyalty more than any mind control could. It is the same reason Cimmerian and Pandinus trust you. They know you will not betray them, because they have won your loyalty through positive methods. If Pandinus had forced you into her hive, and attempted to subjugate you, would you not use the first chance you had to strike at her?"
At the queen's nod, Luna continued. "It is for that reason Cimmerian does not like such methods. They are fast, but they are not effective long term. The moment the mare broke free of your control, if only for a moment, she would do everything in her power to destroy you. We know nothing of her, and in spite of what you may think of ponies they are capable of horrible things if pressured. This mare is not even in control of her own body anymore, she could be extremely volatile if handled incorrectly."

Cadance nodded in agreement before turning back to the engaged couple, laughing at the two as while Cimmerian was no longer reclined on the couch, he was still sitting, and was now pinned against the back of the seat by the larger of the queens. Even as she rolled her eyes, Luna gave her a shove.
"I seem to remember you doing the same thing every chance you had with your beloved."

The pink alicorn giggled for a moment before her smile fell, her face gaining a far away look. All three mare's jumped as Pandinus growled, turning from her target long enough to forcefully pull the pink mare from her darker recollections. The moment she received a thankful nod from the pink mare, she went to turn back to her mate, stopping only to glance back curiously to Cadance.

While the two seemed engaged in some mental discussion, Luna looked over to Amare, the foal being much too quiet for her age. She found the nymph sitting before a strange flashing window, the images in the object constantly shifting, giving the illusion of motion. Looking from the glass to the nymph, the young filly giggled and chittered a few odd words before shouting one word at the blue mare, one that caused Ted to break into laughter.

"Blockhead!"



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Cimmerian chuckled to himself as he journeyed through the dream realm once more, the outburst of Amare had been just too perfectly timed. He was certain Din had something to do with it, or perhaps it was just the nymph picking up on the other mares' frustration with Luna's poor topic choice. Either way, Din had related Cadance's request, and he was on his way to find Celestia. He stopped for a moment, an idea forming. It was the season for gatherings anyway, right? Why not make this extra special for everyone involved?

With a final incorporeal chuckle, the alicorn set off into the dream realm, an additional destination now in mind. Twilight was beyond what he was comfortable attempting considering her possession, but the alicorns weren't the only ones who had missed a couple holidays.



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Once more Zelus was stuck in an unfavorable position. Cimmerian, after returning to his alicorn form, had departed to prepare the way for Celestia's dream, allowing the alicorns to enjoy a holiday night together. The stallion's departure had left her with a rather odd situation in the remnants of the male's dream.
Pandinus was glaring heatedly at Luna, the queen having said some choice words about topic choice around certain individuals (she was fairly certain the other queen meant Cadance). Luna was scuffing her hoof awkwardly, having apologized to both Din and Cadance for her blunder. Cadance was watching the two with no small amount of worry, hoping the larger shape shifter's foul mood was merely hormones and not a sign of a deeper hatred for the mare.

Then there was Amare. The nymph had gone right back to the strange glowing screen once no one was focused on her anymore. Seeing nothing better to do while waiting, Zelus sidled up to the hatchling, attempting to decipher the strange story being told in moving dolls. After nearly ten minutes, Luna alerted them that it was time to leave, and the queen was no closer to figuring out what was going on, only that the fat creature in red was in charge of the multi-horned beings, and the red-nosed one was a mutant. It was likely another strange pony- no, it wasn't even a pony story. It was another strange story that she would likely need the background information to understand the background information on, but it was preferable to watching the stare down in progress behind her.

Luna pulled the group along, empowered by Pandinus' own magic to allow the alicorn the additional passengers. The small group floated through the strange world that was the dream realm for a time before reality finally reasserted itself. Zelus looked around, expecting a similar dream to the one she was in recently, but was shocked to see a small house ahead of them. Luna seemed surprised as well, though her expression soon shifted into one of glee. She ushered the group inside, directing the group to an impossibly large receiving room and from there into what seemed to be a living space.

'More ponies. Wonderful.'
Zelus knew she needed ponies to live, but at this point she was almost willing to endure a week of starvation to avoid the confusion that seemed to follow. Zelus actually worried for the pink alicorn for a moment, the mare breaking into tears as she greeted and hugged the smaller mares. It was only Pandinus' warm smile at the sight did she allow it to continue. It had to be another pony thing. Who cries when they're happy?





"Thank you Cimmerian," Celestia mumbled, hugging the stallion with a grip that was surprisingly strong for her size. Cimmerian just smiled, watching the reunion from the sidelines and grinning all the wider when the mares began cooing and cuddling Amare, the nymph delighting in the attention. Even Fluttershy, who would normally hide from Luna if she was surprised, wasted no time in giving the filly her undivided attention.

"It's no problem," he said easily. "The holidays are a time to reconnect with family and friends. For those of us who can't reach family, friends are all we have. Right?"

Looking at Celestia's devious smirk, he rolled his eyes.
"I know, I know. I have a family here. I meant my parents and biological family. Yours too, and the girls' families. I can't do too many dreams at once, but maybe once I reach the Everfree and get closer to the girls I can bring them all together. I can do two dreams at once now, but I think this is pushing it even with my most recent boost."

"Boost?" Celestia asked curiously.

"I walked through Silver City last night," the stallion related. "The population was either terrified of me, or prostrating themselves before me. My magic fluxed a bit after that."

"Ah" the mare nodded in understanding. "Just be careful when you get close to Equestria, Cimmerian. I know she doesn't know about your trip, but she may lash out at any news at this point. She was extremely agitated the last time I spoke to her, and I think Twilight's causing her trouble."

The group soon devolved into a rotating meet and greet, the element bearers being introduced to Amare and Zelus and vice-versa, Cadance being reintroduced to Twilight's friends and speaking to her aunt about her newest abilities, and Celestia just roving about the party, enjoying the noise and the contact. Dream or not, it was likely the loudest thing the white alicorn had experienced in several decades.

"Wait, you can like, tell them things that and move them around just by thinking at them?" Dash asked incredulously. 

Cadance nodded in affirmation. "I can control two so far, three if I really push myself. I'm also learning how to project my awareness to another changeling, as well as learning how to accept another awareness into myself. Normally I'd be a bit squeamish to let somepony else into my head, but I've had Amare long enough that I trust her with that. I know she won't hurt me, and I won't hurt her."

"Don't that make yer head spin though?" AJ interjected. "Ah sometimes trip over mah own hooves, Ah can't imagine trying to walk in another pony's hooves, let alone two other ponies'."

Cimmerian suddenly clopped his forehooves together, drawing the attention of all the gathered mares. 
"Speaking of drones, Cadance said she recognized this mare we found, something about Twilight mentioning her years ago. Do any of you know a sky blue unicorn with a white mane and a wand cutie mark?"

"You mean Trixie?" Dash spat out. "That mare caused trouble both times she showed up in Ponyville. Why, she cause trouble for you too?"

Applejack nodded in agreement.
"Ah can't imagine ya could get within five paces of her without learnin' her name, sugar cube. She spouts it every five seconds or so." 

Luna and Cadance both winced at the biting comments, knowing the mare's current state. Before either could say anything, Cimmerian responded.
"She wasn't exactly in any condition to tell us. The Nightmare got ahold of her, and it seems to have taken, Trixie you said her name was? It seemed to take her one-upmanship personally."

The element bearers stopped cold in their seats, looks of apprehension slowly spreading over their muzzles.

"I, I dread what the Nightmare could do to the mare, even if she was a bit, uncouth." Rarity said, shifting uneasily. "How bad is it, exactly?"

The stallion looked to Luna, his questioning look being answered by a tired nod. In the center of the table an image formed, the current form of Sapphire, or Trixie as her name had been revealed to be, in her current state.

The reactions were instantaneous and sharp. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, a muttered 'Oh buck.' escaping her lips even as Applejack gasped into her hat. Pinkie's hair drooped, a look of sorrow and pity overtaking her normally cheerful expression. Rarity managed to keep her cool, though she studied the image in detail, more than Cimmerian believed may have been healthy. Celestia looked incredibly tired and sorrowful at the image's reveal, while Fluttershy burst into tears.
"Why, why would it do that? She was a bully, but... nopony deserves that."

"She was being used as a spy to submit reports to Equestria, likely to the Nightmare's hive network," Zelus told them. "I don't know how the Nightmare sorts through it all, but I sensed the mare from her hiding spot above the council chambers and pulled her down. I even ended up pinning her to the ground, thinking she was an assassin. Cimmerian asked me to take her into the Temple's hive since she was still alive, and after he disconnected the mare I pulled her into our own link. She's currently beside me, though she won't respond to anything I do through the link. She has been giving off bursts of emotion every now and again though, mostly surprise."

"Her name may help us as well. Sorry Zel, you can't keep calling her Sapphire if she already has a name," The dark alicorn said with a grin. Turning back to the bearers he smiled warmly.
"We'll take care of her. She's pretty stubborn from what Zelus could tell, so given some time, I think she could come back. No one is ever the same after something like this, but if she can spend how many years keeping herself separate from the link she was bound to, I'm sure she has the willpower to recover."

"I think that's enough on that for now," Cadance interrupted. "We're here to relax, and to enjoy each other's company again. So with such enjoyment in mind I have to ask Cimmerian, that creature that you were before. Does your species have any special holidays dedicated to love? What about romantic traditions? Certainly they have something romantic for Hearth's Warming, right?"

Cimmerian shook his head in exasperation at the sudden topic change, letting the image fade away.
"There are many holidays around the winter season, but the one I celebrated was called Christmas. As for romantic traditions around Christmas time, I never found out why, but there was this thing about mistletoe in the doorframes."
> Not that kind of love, geeze!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian slowly picked himself up from the bed's warmth, stretching his limbs and drawing out a few weak pops from his wings. The stallion was fairly happy with how things had progressed, allowing the alicorns their first full meeting in years, allowing the element bearers to enjoy some extra company, and apparently revealing the fact that freely given love can lead to withdrawal in changeling queens. That was really the only reason he could think of for the tenacity with which Din was attempting to remove his tonsils. Not that he didn't enjoy the attention, but he knew she couldn't feed from the current distance. All she was doing was riling the both of them up.

Glancing to his side at the still drooling Zelus, he managed to suppress a chuckle at her expense as he left the bed with a gentle leap. Wings made doing so much simpler.
'Might be a changeling queen thing, Din drooled when she was comfortable as well. Or maybe they salivate subconsciously in the presence of positive emotions.'

Slipping into the pony-styled bathroom and starting a warm shower, he pondered that last idea. It made a surprising amount of sense actually. She complained a few times about never drooling before she'd begun sleeping with him, and considering her species fed on emotion...
"I'll take it as a blessing they don't overfeed in their sleep. I don't need to explain that kind of mess to Silver."

A warm shower left him in an even better mood, a smile on his face as he tossed the towel into a pile of other used linens in the corner. Pondering his breakfast, he caught sight of the cornflower blue mare curled up in the corner. Approaching carefully and giving a quick glance to the still sleeping queen, he walked between the bed and the mare and created a power-based solid shield between himself and the unicorn. Leaning in, he whispered through the shield.
"What do you want for breakfast, Trixie?"

The mare's ear flicked at the sound of his voice and he grinned, quickly smothering it for a simple smile. Sharp teeth isn't something an herbivore wants to see in the morning. A couple hoofs to his muzzle had stopped him from waking Gleam like that after the first time he'd woken up early. One eye flicked open and blearily looked around the room, soon settling on the alicorn behind a blurring wall of magic. Instantly the mare's eyes widened and she launched a powerful burst of magic into the barrier. The shield absorbed it easily, and Cimmerian settled himself on the floor before her.

"It's ok, you're free of her. I promise," he softly whispered.

The mare's head jerked oddly and her legs were not moving in more than slight twitches. Her mouth cracked opened, but only slurred gibberish poured forth. The stallion frowned, seeing her fear and anger turning to frustration. He carefully lifted her and placed her on her stomach, facing her head towards him.
"I had the same issue for a second after I first was released from the armor. Control will come back to you I promise. Just give yourself some time."

A rustle from the bed drew both of their focus, the queen attempting to rid herself of the covers.
"Cimmerian, she's- oh, you already know."

The mare immediately went wide eyed, attempting to charge her horn but only getting sputters and sparks. Seeing her starting to panic more, he dispelled the shield and brought her muzzle up to his own.
"Calm down, look at me. She's not going to hurt you. Does she look anything like Queen Twilight's changelings? Does she sound like them?"

Once more her lips moved slightly, but she made nothing more than a garbled mess of sound. She began to tear up, trying again to speak, but no words were formed.

"Give yourself some time, just try every now and again to speak. It's been a long time since you've spoken, your cords might be messed up. We'll also see if there's a doctor around here, ok?"

Standing up again, he motioned Zelus closer.
"This is Queen Zelus. She noticed you earlier and helped me disconnect you from the Mad Queen's link. I know she brings up bad memories, Trixie, but she's only going to help you. She's not a mindless monster like the others you've been stuck with."

A knock at the door drew the attention of all three occupants of the room.
"Sir, breakfast will be served shortly. Lady Silver would like to know if you would join her for the morning meal."

"We'll be there shortly," Cimmerian responded, turning to the unicorn. "If you can't get your feet working we'll just have to carry you down there. You hungry?"

"She wants pancakes and syrup," Zelus called over her shoulder as she walked into the hallway. Trixie flinched, tears beginning to form in her eyes once she realized how the queen retrieved the information.

"You're not the only one with an array, Trixie. Do you remember the Princess of Love, Princess Cadance?" At the mare's focused stare he smiled. "She was left with one as well. She's learning how to use it to her advantage right now. She told me last night she could control a few drones from a distance and even move her consciousness into another changeling that's connected to her. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but Zelus can do what you can't. She can tell us what you want to say. Later tonight I'll see you in your dreams, and you can tell me anything you like but until then, Zelus can be your voice and your legs. She's the one who kept you fed on both food and emotions while you were still out of it."

Trixie's muzzle twitched, the idea of eating emotions likely not sitting well with her. She looked to her hoof, eyeing the chitin plating grafted to her right foreleg. Seeing her ears drooping again, Cimmerian picked her up in his own forelegs, giving the unicorn a firm hug.
"We'll see if it's possible to remove that stuff later. At the very least, Pandinus should know how to make it smaller and softer. She's our resident chitin expert as it is."

The idea she may be rid of the plates seemed to cause her to perk up, and the mare gave him the barest hint of a smile. She attempted to stand up once more, but once more her legs just didn't seem to want to cooperate. Shaking his head, he lifted the mare onto his back, smiling as she huffed in irritation and began attempting to move her limbs, remembering the sensations. Even if it was only to regain her freedom, she wasn't going to let a little thing like an unknown amount of time without control of her body stop her from her goals.



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"So she can hear me now?" Silver asked, looking across the table at the blue mare. The mare was still unable to move but Zelus was holding several muscle groups that allowed her to sit normally, even if the unicorn did look a little stiff. 

"Yes, though her muscle control is shot. I'm not surprised, since she's likely had no control for a long time," Cimmerian commented, taking a second helping of eggs. "Pretty sure she's upset that she still has no control, but at least she's aware of what's going on now. One hurdle at a time, I guess."
Hearing Trixie's stomach gurgle, the stallion looked over to her and her plate, taking note of her weakly sparking horn and her focus on a fork. Rolling his eyes, he used a wing to shove the queen.
"Your charge is hungry, and you're not eating. Help her out."

Zelus scowled, and the mare's horn suddenly gained a brighter glow as the queen took control of her magic and body.

"Warn her, Zel," Cimmerian chastised her, seeing the look of fear that had come over the unicorn's eyes. "You're using her body there. I've never had it happen to me, but I find even the thought of that terrifying."

Zelus rolled her eyes, huffing.
"Fine."

Trixie let out a strange gurgle of shock as her own magic suddenly became focused, the mare eating her breakfast in a rushed manner. Cimmerian watched her for a few moments, hoping the unicorn would at least accept the help grudgingly.

"She's still yelling at me," the changeling said with a frown. "I don't know what she wants me to do. If I don't do this, she'll go hungry; if I do she gets angry. I hate dealing with ponies."

Silver hopped down to the floor and approached Trixie, grasping the blue mare's head in her hooves and eyeing the unicorn's pupils.
"One of my sons was paralyzed in a flight accident a while back. He spent nearly a year being unable to move anything but his mouth and eyes. Once we finally managed to get an appointment with the proper specialists, a bunch of unicorn doctors, and made it out to Trottingham, it had been nearly a year and a half."
Moving on to the mare's forelegs, Silver continued her story and inspection.
"Even after he regained the use of his body, he was very weak. It will be something you will experience in a different fashion, dear. While you can't use your limbs properly, they have not been idle. You're in good shape and will be able to go straight back to doing as you wish as soon as you recover control of your limbs."

"Speaking of recovering, I'd like to get her pony parts checked by a doctor before we leave. We also need to resupply. Cold weather tents, blankets, preserved food, that kind of thing. Is there any way I can borrow someone to help us out there?" Cimmerian asked their host.

"I don't have anypony available at the moment, but I'm sure Crimson would be delighted to help you, or at least hoof over somepony who could," Silver mentioned, moving to the unicorn's barrel. "The council will also want to speak to you one last time before you leave. I think a few of them misunderstood your offer. I'd also appreciate if Trixie here would allow some of the councilors to inspect her. A few have asked me about the legitimacy of the spy's grafts, or if she was a fraud used to scare them by your party."

Trixie's eyes burned with anger at the dismissal of her state and Zelus flinched, the anger unexpected.

"Zel? What's up?" The stallion asked, noticing the expression of surprise and pain on the shape shifter's face.

Shaking her head, Zelus scowled once more at the pony who was causing her so many problems.
"She just started blasting anger and raving about ponies calling her a fraud. Have I mentioned I hate dealing with ponies in the link? Because I have to taste her anger even if I don't want to."

"Be calm, dear. I know this is a scary and frustrating time, but it will pass," Silver explained to Trixie. "The fact that your muscles respond at all shows improvement. Give yourself some time and you'll not have to rely on Zelus anymore. In the meantime, help her to help you. My son was frustrated as well, but venting on those helping him only spread the misery. Make the process of helping you less of a chore, and ponies will be more inclined to do it."

Cimmerian nodded to both pony mares.
"I'd be happy to speak to them again. How about it Trixie. Would you like to rub their noses in it, show them that you're not some sham that tried to spook them?"

The blue unicorns eyes couldn't have had more fire in them had they ignited. Zelus shook her head as she was once more exposed to the unrestrained emotions of a pony through the link.
"She says they'll rue the day they doubted her legitimacy. Honestly, you ponies are ridiculous. I'll be happy when we get back to traveling and fighting."

The alicorn shrugged in response.
"Din's still trying to figure me out, but seems happier for it. I'm sure you'll figure things out before too long."



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Pandinus was reclining on her bed as the sun was setting, a look of concern on her face. Cadance hadn't seen that very often, and even when the queen was bothered by something she often kept her features schooled. Something was bothering her, and it was doing quite a number on the changeling mare.

"What causes a pony to seek out their mate, what is it that makes a pony want to stay with them?" Pandinus asked her.

Cadance cocked her head, thinking up a proper response.
"It depends on the pony usually. Some stick around based on loyalty to one's lover, others wish to see their foals properly raised," Cadance explained. She blushed slightly, letting loose a giggle. "I think others stick around because they enjoy how their lover makes them feel."

Din nodded, shifting on her bed uncomfortably. "I think I'd fall under the last one at the moment. I know he hasn't been gone too long, but I miss having him here with me. It's just not the same, speaking to him or kissing him in a dream. I can't feed, I can't...actually I don't know if I can mate with him in a dream or not. I may ask Luna later on tonight. With my luck I'd just end up feeling even more frustrated."

Shaking her head at the queen's seeming one-track mind, Cadance giggled.

"You're never happy, are you? I guess I can't be too upset. I know me and, and Shiny were like that," the alicorn trailed off, the memories of her husband still causing her pain. "Thank you, by the way. You and Cimmerian, the two of you let me know it wasn't Shiny, that it wasn't Twily and my husband who attacked me. I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for your help."

Pandinus waved a hoof, dismissing the alicorn's thanks.
"You've helped me learn to better connect with Cimmer. I also have a better understanding of how pony minds work, keeping yours together over the last month. I do have another question about mates though. I was remembering the one or two times I'd fed on stallions in the past, and while I know I had reduced my sensitivity for my own safety, I can't remember feeling even a little bit excited or happy about it, yet I can't think of my time with my mate without becoming excited."

"What do you mean?" the mare asked.

Instantly the alicorn's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed, the changeling queen answering her question by pouring her experience into the other mare's mind.
"Oh, oh my goodness Din, you don't, why would you do that?!?" the pink alicorn sputtered, shaking her head and covering her muzzle with a fetlock. "There are some things I don't need to know, that is one of them! Why does everyone assume that being the Alicorn of Love means I care about their sex life, or that I need to know all of the details?"

Din just stared at Cadance dispassionately.
"Odd, Zelus barely reacted when I did that to her."

Steadying herself, Cadance actually laughed.	
"I forgot that I'm dealing with 'what's yours is mine and what mine is yours' changelings. Those kinds of things are usually considered private and intimate, not to be shared with others by most other races. Yes some may brag, but most keep the details to themselves."
Pondering the actual memories now stuck in her head, memories she had no idea how to remove, she blinked.
"There is no detail."

When the queen frowned at her statement, she explained.
"You gave me the actual, er, experience, but there's no actual details to it. How did you feel, what did he say, what did you smell, how did it make you react, that kind of thing. It's all horribly, uh, dry I want to call it. There's nothing here that would be considered exciting, just a few pictures or memories."

"Oh," Din said, the implications striking her. "Perhaps that is why Zelus hasn't been pursuing a mate as vigorously as I had anticipated. I thought that the experience would have spurred her search for and desire to claim one with a bit more enthusiasm."

"Would she even know that there were supposed to be sensations attached to the memories?" Cadance asked the queen. "I mean, you were first just looking for a mate, a pony to, harvest for seed. That's what all queens pursue, right? It's what Zelus would dismiss your memory as. At worst, she could view it as rubbing her nose in the fact that you already have one."
Closing her eyes in concentration, she tried recalling her first experience, dredging up every detail she could and pushing it towards Pandinus. Cadance owed the shape shifter so much, she could help with this.
She heard the queen squeak as the memories began flowing in, the full sensations of one of the pink alicorns first experiences being shared instead of just the barest of details. The scents, the sights, the sensations, she dredged up every detail she could remember, substituting from other experiences if she couldn't recall some things.

"This is what you should be trying to share if you're going to do something like that, Pandinus. Not just the facts, not just what happened, but all the things you found memorable, everything that made it so much more than just another feeding. Another issue that may come up though, is would Zelus even recognize the sensations? I don't know if she'd be able to understand some of what's going on. I can substitute my own knowledge for the ideas you gave me, but without that it's meaningless."

Pandinus closed her eyes, pondering what the pink alicorn had told her, as well as what she had shared. It was true of course, there was the chance Zelus found the experience to be an insult instead of the push it had been meant to be. There was also the chance the other queen didn't understand what it was that was being shown to her. Din's eyes flicked open, an idea coming to mind. Her lips curled into a grin and Cadance squawked in shock, the close proximity and tight connection to the queen telling the alicorn exactly what the queen was planning.

"You! You're a horrible creature you know that?" Cadance chuckled at the changeling. The pink mare burst into laughter at the queen's devious machinations, knowing no amount of persuasion would change her mind. Still, she would not fight the perverse, not this time. She would revel in it.
"If you're going to surprise him, I have a few things I can suggest. First of all, you can't tell him anything we discuss. Second, you need to know how his body works. I'll see if we have some anatomy books around here for you to look through. Having access through the hive is all well and good, but it would be better if it was your own knowledge. Oh, and knowing your own anatomy would help, as well as what excites you. You don't want any surprises, as they can give him the chance to reverse the position of dominance. Once you've studied those we can move on to..."



<-(0)->



The alicorn, the changeling queen, the unicorn, and the stallion's guards left the small hospital in a foul mood. Most of the doctors had been reluctant to check the blue mare. Whether it was out of fear of finding something that would upset him, or fear of not understanding half of how the unicorn's body worked at this point was beside the point. Even obtaining the minor check ups for reflexes and scans for parasites was like pulling teeth from a turtle.

Following the guide lent to them by Crimson, the group quickly acquired the materials that would be needed for the trip; heavier tents that the alicorn would carry on his back, food for the journey, and extra cold-weather clothing for the newest addition to the group. Having gathered all the supplies and deposited them at Silver's mansion, the group departed for the city's council chamber.


"Lord Cimmerian, while we appreciate the opportunity, the council will not be accepting your offer of asylum," Fruit Fox announced once everyone was present.
"We will not leave our city for the vague idea of Queen Twilight invading our country."

"Vague, hah!" another shouted. "We're not right next to Equestria, what are the actual chances of her making the journey around the Everfree to actually attack us? Not only that, we'd have plenty of warning to-"

"To do what, Crescent?" a third shouted. "To dig our own graves? If she actually marched on our country, with the numbers she's using, there would be nothing we could do! We would be over-run or have to close off the mountain completely. After that it would only be a matter of time before we starved."

"I did not come here to say you should leave your country!" Cimmerian's voice boomed out. "I came here to offer you an opportunity should an invasion ever happen, not to ask you to abandon your home. I don't need nor do I want a decision right now. It's a standing offer."

"Why did you remain in the city if not to await our response?" Silver asked, already knowing the answer.

"I needed to grab some supplies, and wanted to make sure Zelus had a proper grip on Trixie," the alicorn stated, gesturing to the changeling and her pony drone. The unicorn's eyes were once more blazing with fury, the queen having stepped several paces from the mare in discomfort.

"Saph-Trixie wishes to know which of the council claims her grafts to be a fabrication," Zelus spoke for the mare, walking her up to the stallion. Many of the councilors flinched slightly at the sight of her in such close proximity, the scars now much more visible in the light of the chambers.

Silver Light smiled at the blue unicorn.
"I myself have already closely inspected Trixie, and I cannot feel any disconnects between the chitin and the mare's coat."	

Several councilors cautiously approached, inspecting the mare for any signs of false scarring or a way to remove the chitin. A swat from Zelus was the answer for one overly zealous individual who'd tried pulling a plate off, the pain being transferred from the mare to the queen who immediately responded.

Cimmerian chuckled, watching the queen hovering protectively despite her frustration with the unicorn. It was possible they'd eventually connect the same way Pandinus and Cadance had. The other queen had been very frustrated by her charge, often complaining to him for extended periods when they'd first found the pink mare. Now Pandinus would likely react to any threat to the alicorn mare before he was even aware one existed.

After an exhausting examination, the councilors returned to their places and began speaking amongst themselves. Calling the queen and mare back to him, Cimmerian coughed loudly, grabbing their attention one last time.
"I'll be leaving tomorrow, but I hope you understand that Queen Twilight is not going to go away. The minotaurs and griffons are doing what they can, but they're battling what amounts to an infinite supply of soldiers. If you decide to stop sitting on the fence, get into contact with one of us and we'll give you the information you need to fight back. In the meantime, enjoy your holidays, councilors. Spend time with your families, those of you that have them. You never know when the last day you'll see them will come."

Stepping out of the chamber and leaving the increasingly loud shouts of the councilors behind him, he sighed. The trip hadn't ended up a rousing success, but neither was it a total failure. The whole point was to offer refuge to the thestrals should they need it, not get them all to move in with him by the end of the week. Still, the way some had looked at him; the fear and hatred in a few eyes, the undying devotion  and love in others, it was scary. He wasn't used to seeing that, to hearing that ponies would leave everything they knew and loved to follow him. Everyone else at the Temple of the Shadows was there as a last resort, they were at the Temple because they had nowhere else to go. He only hoped Crimson Lance followed his order to respect the chain of command already existing in the Temple. The last thing he wanted was a civil war in his city.

"I want to thank you, Lord Cimmerian," Silver Light said, following him out of the council chambers. The stallion stopped, surprised she wasn't staying behind to attempt to corral the councilors and restore some semblance of order to the room. Seeing his curious look, she shook her head.
"I know I won't be able to do anything right now. Sometimes the others need to scream and shout, and let it all out."

Cimmerian smiled at the older mare. "Your help is greatly appreciated, Silver. If you or yours need a place, I'll keep a place for you."

"I appreciate it my lord, but I doubt I'll be leaving the Silver City even at the worst case scenario. This city is everything to me. Should anything happen to me here though, please keep an ear out for my son. Waning Light was traveling the world when things escalated, and I haven't heard anything from him in a few weeks. I will also tell my other children of your offer," Silver Light said, smiling softly. "Silver Strike will likely be heading to the Temple with the Night Wings."

"I'll let Pandinus know next time I speak to her that she'll have some thestrals arriving. Crimson said he'd have full count of the numbers by tonight," Cimmerian looked over to the queen for a moment before looking back to the thestral. "I'm sure Din will be happy to hear the number of ponies will be increasing. It makes it easier on everyone if there's more ponies empowering the changelings. More ponies allows us to easily keep more changelings, or to burn the energy they harvest in other ways. Zelus here burned a lot of love healing from years of damage and starvation in a single week."

Following his quick glance to the shape shifter and her charge, Silver chewed her lip in thought. "It truly doesn't bother you, does it? The changelings feeding off of your emotions I mean."

The dark alicorn shook his head. "Nearly two months of feeding up to fourteen changelings every day left me feeling somewhat fatigued, but that was feeding changelings that were almost dead of starvation and that I had little emotional connection to, up to a comfortable level. I don't think it can be counted as a good measurement of drain. There's also the fact that I'm a bit more resilient than most ponies, being an alicorn. Now I'm feeding a queen actual love, love for a wife or mate, and she's positively glowing with energy. I can only imagine how easy it will be for the changelings to survive once things settle down for us all."
"Tonight we'll enjoy one last meal, and we'll be gone by lunch. We'll be out of your mane soon."

The mare bowed. "It's been no issue, Lord Cimmerian. It was a pleasure to host you and yours. It was also an, an eye-opening experience, meeting Trixie. Do keep her safe while she recovers."

"I intend to," Zelus stated, levitating the blue unicorn onto her back. The unicorn looked far from pleased at her accommodations, but considering the queen wasn't complaining about the hybrid mare's whining, the stallion assumed she was at least going along with things begrudgingly.

Chuckling as the queen and unicorn left them behind, the dark alicorn looked to the councilor.
"Pandinus treated Cadance the same way when we first found the pink mare. They grew on each other though. I think that given enough time, they'll connect as well. Take care, Silver Light."
> Retaliations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Gleam was going through her evening routine, grabbing a hot meal from the dining hall and chatting with a few of her friends about their herds and any ideas they may have for finally roping in her own stallion when it happened. A large shape moving into the room drew her eyes, the form of Queen Pandinus impossible to mistake with Cimmerian and Zelus gone. Without the others, the mare was the largest being living in the Temple. The thing that caused the unicorn to double-take was the queen's mood.

She was prancing.

'Oh sun and stars, now what?'

Waiting until the queen was seated with her dinner the mare excused herself, taking the remnants of her plate with her as she made her way to the changeling. With every step the queen's giggling and face-splitting grin just set her more on edge. She knew it would end in a headache for her. She just knew it.

Finally taking a seat next to the day dreaming shape shifter, Gleam gave her a rough jab with a hoof, drawing Din from her fantasies.
"What's going on, Pandinus? Why are you so chipper?"

Recovering her smile, the queen giggled, pulling the unicorn into a hug that in no way alleviated her fears. It merely exacerbated them.
"I just finished speaking with Cimmerian. He's finishing up with the thestrals and will be heading to the Everfree Forest to check something before he heads back. While not a total success, he told me there are at least two hundred and seventy six thestrals that will be making their way here."

Gleam's jaw dropped. Two hundred and seventy six? That was more than four times their current pony population! They didn't have the room for that kind of population boom, much less the space to give them all living quarters and feed them all!

"It will take them time to arrive, but the drones are currently clearing a large cavern for the thestrals to live in. I was debating on having it be accessible from the outside from a hole in the roof, but I think I may just go with a side tunnel at the top that moves upwards so that we don't have someone fall in by accident. I've also been looking into making a secondary wall, allowing us to create additional living quarters outside the wall if we need to, as well as trying to find new farmland," the queen explained, causing the unicorn's jaw to drop. "I think we're going to need to start using other locations for more farmland though. If we do too much around the Temple, we'll have no room to expand. I want you and Shadow to double check it all of course, but I think Cimmerian and I managed to work out a good portion of it so far."

Gleam just stared at the queen as the larger mare began tearing into her plate with gusto, drawing the cherry unicorn's gaze to the slightly more noticeable curve on the shape shifter's belly. Actually it would make sense that the queen would pursue the expansion of both her own and Cimmerian's powerbase so aggressively. She was currently carrying several foals, foals that would not only be her first sapient foals, but would also likely net her a boost in affection from the alicorn, if she hadn't already received such a boost.

"Ok, so you have an idea about where to put them, but we're still going to need to know what to actually do with them," Gleam said, causing Din to look to her in confusion with a piece of, of something hanging off her muzzle. "Jobs, Din. What are they good at, what do we need, what can we use them for, how badly do we really need whatever it is they're good at or trained for. Ponies work best when given jobs they understand or know how to perform. We can't just pull the information from others in a few moments, remember?"

Din's face scrunched up in thought, knowing it wouldn't be simple, "We're both aware it's not as cut and dry, Gleam, but there's nothing we can do until they actually arrive. Worst case scenario we can purchase supplies from Zarris until things stabilize here, and the griffons are producing more than enough fish to share some of it with the thestrals. In fact some of the thestrals will likely move to the port."

Letting loose a puff of air, the smaller mare shook her head in exasperation. Nothing would stop the queen from her goal, and the ponies were likely already on their way. At the very least they would already be preparing for the journey.
Seeing the queen begin giggling again, she frowned. There was obviously more. Despite being a consummate shape shifter, the mare was unable to actually hide much from anyone who paid enough attention. Her pathetic attempts at keeping a straight face may work on those who worked with her only in passing, but not a mare who spent almost every day beside her.
"What else happened?"

Chuckling at the mare's irritation, the queen leaned in close to the unicorn and whispered conspiratorially into the smaller mare's ear.
"Did you hear about that question I wanted to ask Luna?" At Gleam's nervous nod, Pandinus chuckled. "I got my answer last night without her."
Leaning in even closer, the queen's grin became downright malevolent. 

"The answer is yes."



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The alicorn stallion walked out into the shipyard once more, his cheeks still tinted slightly in embarrassment. Din had sprung her 'research' on him without warning, catching him in a borrowed bed in the same room as two mares. Zelus had seemed slightly agitated at the scent but had otherwise said nothing, while Trixie seemed too lost in her own world to try relating something to him through the queen. 
Trixie, bless her heart, was slightly shaken by her experience, but seemed nowhere near the level of damage Cadance had suffered. It likely was because the mare disconnected herself from her torture, where Cadance had no such opportunity. Looking ahead, he managed a smile as they finally came upon the ship they would be using for the next part of their journey.

The group was fully prepared for the road ahead, the guards all carrying their supplies, while Cimmerian himself carried a good portion of the newly acquired cold-weather gear. It had irked the guards, including Zelus, but the heavy gear hadn't even phased him. There was no need to exhaust those that were there to protect him while he lazed about. That was how one ended up fat.

Paying the dock master the required fees and boarding the ship, the group deposited their gear in the storage room, ready to grab it the next morning when they would leave the ship in mid-flight. Apparently, doing something like that was fairly common for unicorns and pegasi that were in need of a quick lift or who didn't want to sleep in the wild while headed to out of the way locations.
Stepping out onto the deck of the ship the group made themselves comfortable, Zelus dropping the mare off her back and taking a seat to enjoy the last sight of the large city. Cimmerian stared at her for a moment, noticing the queen seemed less agitated after the morning meal.
"Zelus? Zel, what's up?" At the queen's curious look, he continued. "You've been agitated lately, you look a bit more relaxed now."

Zelus looked over the Trixie, the smaller mare's eyes tracking over the city even as the queen spoke. "It's kind of like having the link again. I suppose most creatures would be angry about it, but she hasn't stopped talking since breakfast, and it reminds me of being in the hive again."

"Ah, I guess your used to the white noise then. Sorry I didn't manage to meet you two last night. Din caught me when I went to speak to her and warn her about the thestrals," Cimmerian explained.

"It's okay, though she may ask for an apology of her own. We, talked overnight, discussed the things that had happened to us in the last few years. She was looking forward to speaking to another individual, I believe. She was upset that you didn't show up, but I think I, I think that we managed to come to an agreement. Both of us have lost something important to the Mad Queen, both of us have reasons to distrust those around us. She's still mine though, and I told her the same thing Pandinus told me. The stronger my hive, the stronger I become, so I want her to become strong as she can be. I want her to heal."

The queen leaned onto the unicorn, nuzzling into her charge and drawing a strange huffing gurgle from the blue mare in response.
"I'm still going to call her Sapphire. She likes it, even if she says otherwise."

"Be nice, Zel," the alicorn softly rebuked. Looking at the mare and using his magic to face her towards him, he leaned down and smiled.
"You're feeling better?"

The mare nodded, causing the stallion to give her a confused look before he realized Zelus was allowing her the communicate in such a way. His smile soon matched by the one appearing on the mare's face, the queen listening to the movements the  unicorn was attempting to use and implementing them in real time.

"That's pretty impressive. You're translating her movements for her?" he asked the queen.

Zelus nodded. "It's not that difficult, I am capable of controlling about sixty drones at once in that little game Din was teaching the alicorn mare. Feeling what she is attempting to do, I can then issue the order myself, giving her a bit of delayed control. Drones don't speak though unless I'm directly controlling them, so I'm afraid I can't manage that for her. It was just something I never bothered learning to do."

"Well, it's something, right Sapphire?" he asked the unicorn, earning a raspberry from the unicorn and a confused look from the queen. The two mares both halted all movement for a few seconds, leaving Cimmerian wondering what was being discussed.

Seeing his questioning glance through her charge, Zelus spoke.
"She was explaining what that was. I've seen it before but I never understood why ponies held it as an insult. She said she's not sure why though, do you happen to know?"

Cimmerian shook his head, but one of the guards, Crescent, chuckled at the conversation.
"It's insulting because it Implies that you find the other individual unappealing, if I remember right. Something about how some ponies stick their tongues out when they taste something gross."

"I guess that makes sense," the alicorn muttered, thinking deeply on the topic. Or as deeply as one can think on a childhood insult. Before he could ask about griffons using the middle talon, the ship shuddered to life. Smiling widely, the dark alicorn turned back to the unicorn.
"When was the last time you saw the sunlight, Sapphire?"

In answer, the mare's head turned towards the bow of the airship, looking up the tunnel to the quickly approaching light of the outside world. Zelus wandered off, coming back just as the ship was reaching the barrier with both her heating bracers and the heavier coat for the unicorn.

"Too long," Zelus muttered, shuddering at the sudden drop in temperature despite the enchanted bracers.

Looking about, the Alicorn walked over to the open deck and tossed his pack to the side, pulling a large staff off the queen's recently upgraded arsenal. He turned to the guards and grinned.
"So who's going to beat the shit out of me today?"







The queen watched the alicorn play with the bat pony with disinterest. He had been reluctant to submit to her own training methods, stating they didn't have the time nor the proper medical facilities that such training would require. Fool, how did he expect to become better at fighting without actually doing it? One learned fastest when one's life was on the line, after all.

'He doesn't know how to fight?' her charge asked her, disbelief in the unicorn's voice. The queen shook her head and turned back to the mare.

'He hasn't even been a quadruped for half of a year, if what Pandinus has told me is correct,' Zelus responded through the link. 'He said he had some training before he became involved in this mess, but it doesn't help him much here. I've seen what he looked like before he was an alicorn, it was a very odd creature. Nothing like it on Equis, I believe. He'll show you if you ask. Whatever Din did to him left him embarrassed so he won't be going to her tonight, I don't think. We may also see Luna as well.'

'Wait, as in Princess Luna? Trixie thought Sparkle locked her and Princess Celestia away.'

'The Parasite did,' the queen corrected. 'Luna and Cimmerian are both certain that a similar creature to the one that had turned Luna into Nightmare Moon has taken hold of Twilight Sparkle. You knew her before her madness, didn't you? Did she ever strike you as the type of mare to go around committing genocide against all other races?'

Trixie's nose scrunched slightly as she recalled her first and second encounter with the bookworm turned princess turned dictator.
'Trixie will admit that Sparkle was more inclined to attempt to talk things out, even in the most absurd situations. Trixie still would like to have a few moments with Sparkle once she is in control again. She would like to be certain it is Sparkle that feels it when Trixie shoves her hoof up that purple mare's flank.'

Zelus smiled at the indignation rolling off the unicorn, a much better taste than the fear and anger her drone had been radiating earlier. A burst of shock and imagined pain drew the queen's eyes back to the battle, just in time to see the thestral make her move. Cimmerian swung too wide, leaving himself open. The mare flashed into his guard, sweeping his forelegs before coming back around and driving his muzzle into the deck.

The queen grinned at the dazed alicorn. 'Well, at least Crescent seems to know the proper way to teach a being not to make mistakes. Unlike the others.'



<-(0)->



The being stood tall among the structures of his city just as the first rays of sunlight cleared the horizon, staring out at the enemies encampments. The four-legs were busy making fortifications to their forward base, but he knew his own people had the advantage at the moment. It was for this moment, when the supplies actually arrived and were being unpacked, that he'd been waiting for.

"The troops are ready, Chieftain. We strike on your orders."

Chief Baine looked back from the field, his commanders suited up and ready to strike. Walking past them, the bull donned his helmet, the only piece of his armor he'd yet to put on. 
"The Equestrian queen has trampled every law and treaty her predecessors have laid. She has shamed my father, shamed us all with her callous treatment of those not of her own people. Today we teach her the error of her ways. Today, the ponies will learn to fear the minotaurs. Today, they will feel the strength of The Minoan Charge."

Rushing to the prepared soldiers, using hidden tunnels to go underneath the cities walls, the commanders were soon ready. Looking to the rising sun to his left, and his enemies before him, the proud minotaur chieftain raised his horn to his lips, and blew.

The blast of the horn rang out across the empty field, followed by a thundering shout. Bursting from their hidden shelters, hundreds of minotaur warriors raced out to meet the enemy, certain that the biggest threat to their safety had been dealt with. Each bore on their armor the rune granted to them by their benefactor, a creature that had given the rune to the Talons in the hopes that the mercenaries would be able to strike back against the Mad Queen. Baine rushed forward, his own personal guards flanking him as he charged the Equestrian lines. As the griffon mercenaries had told him, and as his own people's testing had proven, the changeling swarm made no move towards the advancing army. He smiled grimly under his helm seeing the ponies begin to rush to the walls of their fortress, hopelessly attempting to rouse the changelings and prepare to receive the minotaur charge. His army reached the walls almost completely unmolested, and axes were taken to the wooden structures and supports. Less than two minutes later, and with only a minimal amount of crossbow and spell fire from above, the gates were pulled apart by force. His soldiers charged into the camp, and he rushed in after his own soldiers.
The camp was already in a state of panic and disarray, ponies desperately attempting to mount some sort of defense against both superior numbers and better equipment. Rushing to the location that had been reported by his own scouts, Baine shoulder-checked the door, crushing it under the combined weight of a minotaur and his armor. He swung his warhammer, the ornately crafted head sending the nearest pony through a solid wood wall. He was in no mood to spare these fools, not with the insults they'd spat upon him and his people.

Walking up to the glowing crystal, he paused. The griffons had warned about destroying them outright, stating that the drones would go mad and attempt to kill any in the vicinity. Thus his presence. He would not allow the ponies to unleash this madness upon his city. He would not allow some pony to enter the room and activate some hidden failsafe that would destroy the crystal array.

"Spread out and fortify this position," he shouted, turning to his guards. "We will hold this room while the soldiers clear the camp. The changelings are a secondary objective. Once we're ready, we'll test them for sapience at our leisure."

The chieftain looked outside the shattered doorway, watching as his forces quickly overwhelmed the pony defenders. It was too easy. Did the Mad Queen truly depend so strongly on her drones that she had left the walls almost unmanned? Had her warriors become so arrogant that they felt that nothing could reach them?

The sounds of battle soon drew to an end, and less than an hour after it had begun the entirety of the forces had been defeated. Not just defeated; the invaders had been routed, his own forces only suffering a few casualties upon closing on the wall of the enemies base. Their fortifications, their traps, his scouts had found and marked them all. The ponies didn't even have proper patrols to watch for scouts anymore, so sure were they of their changeling screens.
'Now they know their folly. We will not be able to count on their foolishness forever.'

"Chieftain, the base has been secured, and we've begun moving the changelings in small groups into the magic-sealed room. Any further orders?"

The bull smirked, turning to run a single gauntlet-covered hand over the changeling control array. It was a work of art, even he would admit that. 
"No, it has already been planned out. I will be heading back to the city to begin plans on our assault on the next closest Equestrian base. If we move quickly, we will have it before they even know we have taken this forward base out. This is what I needed to see though. The arrays don't just shield us from the drones attack, it leaves us nearly invisible to them, while their arrogance blinds what little sight they retain.
"Send word to the diamond dogs that I have confirmed the usability of the arrays that we have sent them, and forward them the plans I drew up for an attack. The dogs already have the explosives they need. A small strike force to destroy the array would leave the fort an empty shell, ripe for the taking."

"As you command, chief," the warrior said with an arm across his chest. The warrior immediately went to send the runner to the meeting point, and Baine sighed as he sat down on a nearby table. He shook his head, surprisingly disappointed in how the battle had played out. There had been no effective leadership that had rallied the ponies, no brave souls that had stood in the face of impossible odds, there had been no shouts to rally, to stand firm in the face of their enemies, to never give up against their foes. Instead the Equestrian lines had simply collapsed. Had there even been any true warriors here?

Hefting himself up and shoving a communication array over with his hammer, the bull made to return to his own city at a sedate pace. Disappointed he may be, he no longer had an impossibly powerful enemy at his doorstep. He would need to learn the name of the bull who'd sent the array to him via the Talons. That guy had earned himself a true Minoan Feast. Tartarus, if the guy ended up helping them end this entire nightmare, he'd be willing to marry off one of his daughters to the guy. Never let it be said the minotaurs didn't reward those who aided them.

Of course he'd have to make sure the guy could fight. He'd not have one of his beloved daughters in the care of a male who couldn't even swing a stick properly.



<-(0)->



"Why is this so difficult for you? You swing the stick, you hit the thestral. End of issue," Zelus rebuked from the sidelines.

Cimmerian was in the midst of shaking off the latest powerful blow he'd received, the grinning bat pony that had just sent his vision spinning smiling at him from three different locations on the deck.
'No, not three different locations, my visions just a bit fuzzy at the moment.'

Signaling for a break, the alicorn stumbled over to his water and took a few hearty chugs as he let his vision clear. For some reason the guards seemed to like watching him wobble around after a sharp blow to the head. They aimed for it every chance they got.
'That or I'm just shit at defending my own noggin. It could honestly go either way at this point.'

"You're definitely doing better sir," Crescent said as she hovered nearby with a wet cloth, wiping the slight trickle of blood he hadn't noticed before. "I know it may feel like we're being really hard on you, but honestly when we first started I hit you three times and you didn't even react. We have to put quite a bit of power into the strikes for you to feel it properly, and it's difficult to find that level between 'will hurt an alicorn' and 'will lay an unprepared alicorn out'."

"It's fine, Crescent. I've literally asked for this several times. I need to figure out how to defend myself properly besides just throwing magic at something until it stops moving. Some incidents may require a bit more finesse than I'm currently capable of. This is also a good way for me to relearn control after wandering Silver City. Changelings aren't the only things that are empowered by love. It's not the same, but love or worship directed at an alicorn can boost their power as well."

The queen blinked at the statement, looking at him in confusion.
"You feed on love as well? Is that why you eat the honey sometimes?"

"I don't need it," Cimmerian corrected her. "I don't think I do, at least. It's just that I noticed it helps make me stronger, and I'll take any advantage I can get right now. There didn't seem to be any side effects that I've noticed, why would I not use it?"
The alicorn blinked a few times, his vision finally clearing after the second minute of rest. He stood up with slightly less trouble than he sat down with and began to make his way to the stairway to the lower deck.
"I think it's a good time to head for dinner and then get some sleep. We're not going to be very safe for a while once we enter the forest from what I've heard. We'll be keeping shifts once more once we enter the Everfree. That includes you and I, Zelus. You're not skipping out on watch this time."







It had been a long time since she'd been able to speak her mind, and though it was strange speaking to the changeling without words, the mare relished the interaction. The food, the snide remarks passing from the guards and the alicorn, even Zelus chipping in a few now and again, it was amazing; it was almost freedom. Almost.

Trixie twitched her tongue even as her body moved towards the room the alicorn and queen were sharing, the shape shifter burying herself into the stallion's fur even as she pulled the heating bracers off of her legs. A single piece of the unicorn's dinner had gotten caught in her teeth, and between the changeling not understanding such hygiene and the mare not having her own supplies the mare was left feeling the irritation of food stuck in between her pearly whites.

'Do you wish to join me on the bed, or would you like to use the other bed?' Zelus asked her through the link.

'Trixie would like to use the other, actually, Trixie will accept your offer. She has been alone for long enough,' the blue unicorn answered, feeling her body moving towards the queen at the decision. It wasn't direct control, but it was little things like that, the queen allowing her to make the decisions or asking the unicorn before she acted that had allowed the blue mare to accept the changeling's aid. It wasn't much, but it was more control than she'd had a week ago.

Settling onto the bed and having the queen help her snuggle into the covers, Trixie was soon drifting off to sleep. She snapped back to awareness in a familiar place, a large chamber that seemed to be underground. Looking about, she noted the queen dozing contentedly once more on a large throne, several ghostly images of changelings flitting in and out of tunnels that faded into darkness. The queen jerked into alertness as Trixie began exploring, wandering the dream and enjoying the freedom that was denied her in the waking world.

"Good evening ladies," a familiar voice called out to them.

She turned to look at him as he entered the dream, a pleasant smile on her muzzle for the first time in so long. That first face she'd seen after so many nightmares, the voice that woke her up form that eternal nightmare. That idiot who'd seen fit to promise to speak with her last night and left her to deal with the queen on her own.
"Trixie would wish you a good evening, but she's still a bit sore that somepony doesn't keep their promises."

The stallion chuckled at her jab, trotting over and shoving her with a hoof in retaliation.
"I told you already, I got nabbed by Din last night. It's nice to hear your voice, Trixie. Even if it is in a dream."

Trixie giggled nervously at the compliment, unused to the kind treatment. Certainly she remembered being treated well, but kindness for the sake of kindness? She couldn't remember the last time somepony had spoken to her with such warmth.

"I have to ask, do you remember what you did back before all of this? Back before Twilight was possessed?"

"Trixie, Trixie was an entertainer. She traveled the land of Equestria, wowing the masses with tales of her exploits and her amazing feats of magic!"

To her delight the stallion smiled brightly at such an introduction, recognizing the profession.
"A stage magician, right? Illusions and sleight of hand? Oh neat, I remember hearing stories about Houdini when I was younger. I actually tried learning a few of those tricks once upon a time. Let's see if I remember any tricks. No that one requires sleeves, that one requires hands, and... damn. I can't think of any good ones that I can do like this."

It took a few seconds for the mare to decipher his meaning, and she stepped closer to the alicorn.
"Hands, Zelus said you were something else before. Could you show Trixie what beast has seduced a changeling queen?"

She chuckled as the alicorn rolled his eyes, but soon her eyes widened as his form shifted. His muzzle collapsed into itself, his barrel twisted, flattening out. The strangest part was his limbs, twisting this way and that as they shifted into much more precise instruments of manipulation.
"A hooman...that crazy old mare was right, they did exist..."

"A what?" the creature asked, looking at her in shock. "Are you telling me you recognize this form? Where did you hear about it?"

"There was this mare Trixie spoke to in years gone by, she doesn't remember the mare's name but she was always going on about visions of these strange creatures that lived their lives without magic. They were strange enough that Trixie incorporated a few stories about them into her shows once or twice, but otherwise they were merely a novelty. Something dreamed up by a crazy mare."

"Interesting, do you remember any details about this mare?" a new voice asked, drawing the blue unicorn's gaze from the strange creature before her.

"Princess Luna!" Trixie squawked in surprise, looking between the queen and the princess a few times. "Twilight said she'd sealed you away!"

"The Parasite that holds Twilight against her will did indeed seal us in an unknown location, but I still retained my dream walking. Not very useful when nopony dreams, though. How are you feeling, Trixie?"

Shuffling nervously at the attention of royalty, the showmare smiled. "Trixie is certainly doing better than she was, though that isn't saying much."

The biped behind her made a strange snapping noise, causing all the mares to flinch at the odd sound.
"I got it, you want to see a neat trick? Watch this!"

To Trixie's horror, the creature bounded over to the princess, the blue alicorn unable to scramble away fast enough to escape his sudden approach. Laying his strange limbs over the princess, dancing them over her coat, he started laughing as he began to hum a tune. The princess could only struggle weekly as her body seemed to go limp, helpless in his grip.

"Try to understand, try to understand
try try try to understaaand, he's the magic man momma,
oooh, he's got the magic hands."


> I'd say Screw the Everfree Forest...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The group was back on the deck of the ship early the next day despite the still falling temperature. Zelus' bracer was now working in tandem with a blanket and her pony slash mobile heat source to keep the queen warm as she played back seat combatant to the alicorn. 

"No, you idiot. You don't parry a weak side strike, you step out of it's range. Otherwise they have the perfect opportunity to strike at you with their other limbs while you waste time and energy with a full block. Tartarus, just use your hoof, it's not like he has the power to split it even with a full strike."

"Why the buzz are you just standing there? Move forward! Crush your opponent! You don't win fights by staring at them, you're not a cockatrice!"

"Even Sapphire knows better than to try and overpower an opponent that is properly braced, fool. I could see them preparing the throw the second they settled themselves and waited for you!"

Cimmerian took her comments in stride, knowing the queen was just burning frustration at his being trained 'incorrectly' by the guards. Taking a moment to let the deck stop spinning, the alicorn turned to the queen and shot her a question.
"How the hell did you train so aggressively and not kill the drones you were training with? I mean, I assume your mother couldn't always take the time to train you personally, and learning from several teachers can sometimes help with such a wide subject."

"I did kill them," Zelus answered, to the abject horror of those around her. "Or at least, the true drones mother moved their consciousness to. After that, they'd snap back to their true bodies and the next would begin fighting me."

Cimmerian stared at her in disbelief.
"That is both disgustingly brutal, and horribly inefficient. Your hive was suffering from a food shortage and you were throwing away the resources to raise those drones."

"Not really," the queen replied lazily. "Mother would switch to producing true drones for a while every now and again, as they don't require as much food as a fathered drone. Pandinus told you queens need to lay eggs no matter the circumstances, correct? We would sometimes end up with several hundred spares we had no use for. Using them like that at least helped teach me to fight properly, instead of them just sitting around wasting space."

"I can't exactly do that with my guards, Zel. I break something, and they'll have to live with it," the stallion explained.

The queen blinked as she looked to the guards, as if the idea hadn't occurred to her. She fixed a stare at the unicorn sitting beside her only to receive a burning glare in return, Trixie daring her to try and volunteer the unicorn for such a purpose.

Zelus sighed in defeat, "Okay, so you can't use my methods here. Perhaps when we get back to the Temple though, we can do it my way."

"Well, now that we know why Zelus is telling me to kill my own guards, how about some lunch?" the stallion suggested, clopping his front hooves together." Last chance to fill up on decent food before we're stuck on trail mix for a while."

The shape shifter rolled her eyes, as did her charge.
"I agree, Sapphire. For a given definition of 'decent' food."

Just after the break for lunch the captain approached the group, warning the alicorn that they were approaching the point of divergence; the airship would be banking due south soon, leaving the Everfree Forest behind it.
The group quickly gathered up their supplies and made their final checks, Cimmerian making certain the unicorn was properly secured to the changeling queen's back. Trixie had begun to fidget a little more, but it was nowhere near enough control to hold onto the queen during flight if Zelus became distracted. The larger mare had huffed at his insistence, stating that if she couldn't focus on both an attacker and Sapphire at the same time she'd reform herself as a drone with her next molt.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Zel. It's just a thing. Better safe than sorry. 'Sides, this will allow you to put your full focus into the problem if something does go wrong. We may need to leave her up there too, depending on how thick the foliage is."
Seeing the unicorn glaring at him from her tied down position, he chuckled pitifully at her.
"You're not the only one who can't wait till you can move freely again, Trixie. It means we'll be able to let you do your own thing instead of keeping you nearby."

Securing his own supplies, several large bundles and his own large saddlebags, the group lifted off the airship and flew down to the tree line. Landing lightly, the group did yet another check of their supplies, this time making certain all their packs were properly secured to make the rest of the journey on hoof.

One of the griffon guards, Raymond, frowned as the alicorn meticulously inspected each strap and tie.
"Have you done this before, sir? I don't think my own mother checked my packs as thoroughly as you have."

"I have, though it was years ago in the scouts. One of the guys I was with was talking about keeping your stuff secure so you don't lose it. Some of us listened while others laughed off the warning. Next thing some of us know, several of the guys are missing canteens, extra cloths, one guy even dropped his sleeping bag somehow. We're not really going to be able to backtrack if this place is as bad as I've been told, so we need to be ready to go. On the other hand, the knots I have you guys using can be undone quickly in an emergency. Pull the second string to undo it. That way you're not trapped under all that gear if the processed biological waste hits the rotating air circulation device."

Seeing the uncomprehending stares, the alicorn took a few moments to look around, realizing the line, even in clear English, was likely useless on this world.
"When the shit hits the fan?"

"What's a fan?" the queen asked, looking to one of the griffons, who shrugged in confusion.

"It's, I... never mind, it means you'll be able to drop the gear in a hurry if everything goes pear-shaped."

"What do pears have to do with the jungle?" Crescent asked him, still looking horrifically confused.

"You. Can. Drop. The gear. If things. Go. Badly," Cimmerian enunciated clearly in frustration.

Zelus rolled her eyes while her charge gurgled something.
"I agree with Sapphire, if that's what you meant, why didn't you say it?"

One of the griffon guards shook his head.
"No, I want to know what an air circulation device and poo has to do with our situation, why would you bring that up?"

Planting his rear on the snowy grass heavily, the alicorn gave a tired stare at the griffon.
"Fans are usually made with metal or plastic blades that are angled and spin really fast to move air. What do you think would happen if shit hit a fan?"

"Oh..." the guards muttered, looking at each other as understanding finally was achieved.

A sudden hard landing nearby caused all the guards except the queen to jump, reaching for their weapons, but the alicorn merely approached the new arrivals with a welcoming smile.
"Glad to see you could make it Eloise. Thank you for coming out here for us."

The orange pegasus trotted forward, greeting the alicorn with much less hostility this time.
"You're headed to my old stomping grounds, I wouldn't miss the chance to regroup with an old friend of mine under the guise of official business. Besides, we've gotten lost in there enough times to know a few tricks. If you're not careful, the Everfree can tear up even the strongest units."

Trotting up beside the pegasus, a light yellow earth pony mare bowed in greeting.
" 'Sa pleasure ta meet ya in person, Mr Cimmerian. Yer a lot bigger in person, it seems."

The alicorn returned the bow and the greeting, "Pleasure's mine, Apple Bloom. Though I do have to wonder why both of you are here."

"It has to do with the magic o' the Everfree," Apple Bloom explained. "It can be right nasty if ya don't have the proper magical load out. Earth ponies have it easier in tha forest as we're anchored to Equis. Otherwise, ya can end up half-way cross the forest one minute, and two leagues south o' where ya started the next."

"I see. Shadow Weaver told me that what scared ponies about it was how it functioned on its own, nothing was mentioned about random teleportation," Cimmerian told the mare with a frown. "I would think that kind of information would rate a bit more unnerving than lack of enforced order."

"Shucks, there's plenty a' places where the magic o' the world gets a lil' wobbly. Everfree is the only place on Equis that functions totally independent of all outside control though."
Apple Bloom's smile dropped a bit, seeing the changeling queen's cargo. "Mr. Cimmerian, who's that? Ah swear Ah've seen that mare before."

Zelus moved forward, recognizing the pony from the alicorn's dream walking.

"This is the Great and Powerful Sapphire!" Zelus said, splaying a hoof out in a grandiose pose that sent the stallion groaning in exasperation. Zelus then scowled at her passenger the mare obviously not happy with the ruined introduction.
"I don't care, I like that name better. And I'm not going to waste my magic doing some petty explosions. Who do you take me for, your lackey? It's the other way around, pony!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both stared at Cimmerian, hoping for some sort of explanation. Seeing their pleas, he answered.
"The mare's name is Trixie. We found her in Silver City a few days ago. She was messed up by the Mad Queen in much the same way Cadance was, only she didn't retain control of her body. She's getting better and she can fidget a bit now, but it's a slow process.

Apple Bloom, still not quite understanding the situation, turned to her pegasus friend for an answer.

"When I was at the Temple of the Shadows, where Lord Cimmerian is based, I saw Princess Cadance," the orange mare explained" She, she didn't look too good, Bloom. Had this weird thing on her cheek, and she kinda' clung to him the entire time. Her feathers were also pretty ragged."

Cimmerian nodded in agreement with the purple maned mare, "Cadance is doing much better now. In fact, Din and Amare are teaching her to use the array for her own benefit. While I don't think Trixie will be able to use it the same way, she will likely be able to talk to anyone in the hive that's close enough to hear her. That's how she's talking right now, actually. She tells Zelus what she wants, and Zelus passes the message to us. Not ideal by a long shot, but it's better than being mute."
The stallion looked over the mares, making note of their bags and supplies.
"Thanks for agreeing to hold our hands on this little expedition through the woods."

"Gotten lost in there enough times to know most of the things you'd run into, at least near Ponyville. Zecora taught me how ta take care of mahself if Ah need to go in there for anythin'," the farmer replied. "Just follow us, an' don't touch nothing without askin' first!"

Nodding in understanding, Cimmerian turned to the guards.
"Right, you guys heard the lady. No licking the trees, no tasting the rocks, and no fetching the sticks, no matter how brown and sticky they may be."

The griffons chuckled at the alicorn's rules while the thestrals and the queen gave him a confused look. Zelus' faded a moment later, the mare on her back likely clueing her in on the sarcasm. Turning back to their new guides, the group ventured into the forest; Scootaloo and Apple Bloom in front, the thestrals next, Cimmerian, Zelus, and then the griffons.

"First things first, don't wander off on your own. Try to keep in sight of each other at all times. While the Everfree doesn't randomly teleport someone away the second no one's looking, it may do so if you wander too far off. You also need to be moving for it to teleport you, so you can sleep without worrying about that. If you can hear each other, your close enough."

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement before giving the second point.
"The second thing ya gotta worry 'bout in the Everfree is it's all about wild magic. I don't mean like nopony's controlin' it, Ah mean like it tends to mess with any other magic that enters it. Even the trails blazed bah earth ponies fade really fast. The only ones that stay are older than the forest itself. That or ponies that have earned the forests respect, like Zecora. Ahm not sure how, but sometimes a pony that spends a lot of time aroun' the Everfree just seems to have an easier time of it."

"And the third thing is, you don't bucking use fire spells in the forest." Scootaloo said, looking at the only casters in the group. "Almost every time a unicorn doesn't come back out is because they used a fire spell. The body, or the last place the pony was would be found with scorch marks around it, and that was it. After that, the Everfree stops playing Ms. Nice Mare."

Crescent snorted in amusement.
"I was under the impression that the Everfree Forest is already brutal. Wha-"

"Don't tempt fate, idiot," Cimmerian said with unusual seriousness, releasing the mare's muzzle from his aura before addressing the rest of the group.
"If I hear anyone asking how things could get worse, or saying it could get worse, any of the multitude variations of such phrases, or any other such invocations of Murphy's Law, you better hope whatever shows up kills you because if it doesn't I will."

"Who's Murphy?" Zelus asked from her position in the line.

"Murphy's Law is as follows," the stallion explained, subconsciously going into lecture mode. "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The extension says that it will likely go wrong at the most inopportune time, or that the thing that goes wrong will be the thing that will cause the most damage. There are also hundreds of variations, like the harder an itch is to reach, the worse it will itch and my personal favorite, if things are going well, you've overlooked something."

"Sounds like paranoia to me," Raymond muttered, eyes wandering the thickening foliage.

Cimmerian brightened at the comment.
"Ah, that's another good one. It's only paranoia until someone tries to kill you. Then it's foresight."

That one drew a laugh from the queen.
"Indeed. I do remember watching ponies scold their own for being too cautious. Those were usually the ones we liked to target, the ones who ridiculed others for their caution. It was fairly obvious they didn't pay much attention to their surroundings."

Apple Bloom shot a long look at Scootaloo after hearing that comment. The orange mare responded by rolling her eyes and turning back to the queen.
"Do you have any plans of using that now?"

"I have ready access to emotion, a home, and a hive," the shape shifter responded easily. "Unless I find the need to infiltrate another country or city, I see no reason to. Why?"

"'Cuz talkin' like that makes ya sound kinda evil, Miss Changelin'," Apple Bloom told the queen dryly.

Zelus rolled her eyes.
"Ah yes, when a changeling kidnaps a pony to feed the hive, it's evil. When ponies start wiping out changeling hives it's justice, correct? Please tell me again what the enslavement of my species does to benefit your race?"

Wincing at the remark, Scootaloo looked back at the alicorn.
"You're just going to let her talk like that?"

"I fail to see why I should intervene," Cimmerian said coolly, not looking at the queen or the earth pony. "I'm not going to stop her every time she insults someone. Not only does she need to learn to interact with others without me holding her ha-hoof the entire time, I didn't hear a retort from either of you. Who's ruler is it that's wiping out the other races again?"

Both Equestrians went silent at that, the queen holding her head high with a victorious grin on her face. Cimmerian shook his head. Hopefully this wouldn't be their entire trip. He didn't need his guides and his guards at each other's throats.

"I understand these are extenuating circumstances, that Twilight's not a bad person. But you're going to have to remember what I've told Din, and what I've been trying to teach Zelus. It's not the truth of the situation. It's also how everything looks to everyone around you."



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The group made decent progress through the woods, only a few close brushes with the strange creatures of the forest that had slowed them only slightly. The forest had quickly turned temperate despite the snow and cold outside the tree line, causing most of the group to stop and pack up their cold weather gear. Zelus was the happiest of all, finally no longer needing to rely on the bracers for comfort.

The odd wolves they'd seen, Timberwolves Scootaloo had called them to Cimmerian's endless amusement, were a very tempting target for fire spells. The alicorn had caught himself several times thinking about how well a simple fire-ray would work, igniting the entirety of a pack. Zelus wasn't much better, her instinctive reaction in combat being to use the most efficient mode of eliminating her opponent going against the rules of their guides. She'd managed to hold off so far, but Cimmerian had taken to reminding her every time a wolf had prodded their defenses. After the third time and the queen almost aiming a spell at him though, he explained it was as much a reminder for himself as it was for her.

After the third time Zelus had waded into a small group of forest creatures, Trixie had been passed to the alicorn for her own safety. While Zelus was capable of defending herself, she was also used to allowing glancing blows to slide off of her chitin. Trixie may have had some plating, but those claws and teeth would sooner or later find something softer to connect with on the immobile mare. Not an hour after the unicorn had been passed off, Cimmerian heard Trixie sigh in relief as Zelus charged in to fight the latest 'random encounter' as he'd taken to calling them.
The creature was a large blue blob of slime, at least six feet in height and nine feet wide, much like some of the basic enemies he remembered from so many video games. Several pseudopods formed as the queen closed, swinging at and attempting to either bat away or ensnare the changeling. Zelus dodged them all, squealing in gleeful triumph as she drove her spear into the gelatinous mass, only to be swatted away when the creature didn't seem to register the strike.

"Of course it wouldn't just roll over and die like a good little mob," Cimmerian muttered as he launched two shadow blades at the creature. The blades were Luna's version, as he had no desire to splatter the creature over the landscape just to find out it was acidic. They passed through the creature with little visible effect and dissipated in the forest behind it, much to the alicorn's chagrin.
"Look for some kind of nucleus or something inside that would function as a brain."

Either not hearing his words or too lost in her own rage at her attack having no effect, Zelus charged again, this time with her blades drawn. She began hacking and slashing through the tentacles, even scoring a few useless hits against the main body. The shape shifter squawked in surprise as the goo changed thickness on her, leaving both of her blades stuck in its mass. The creature took advantage of her momentary surprise, quickly nabbing her with its tentacles and attempting to drag her into its mass, including a single tentacle wrapped around her horn to prevent casting. The queen held her ground for several seconds before the creature took a different approach, rolling forward and right over the queen.

"Dammit Zelus!" Cimmerian shouted, still looking for a weakness as the other guards continued trying to fire arrows or bolts into the creatures mass. He soon spotted it, surprisingly close to the flailing queen that was being pulled into the center of the slime. A large blob that was nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the beast.
'Never thought biology class would save my life, or that of a friend.'

The dark alicorn shifted his body, not daring to fire a spell with the queen inside the slime.
"Trixie, see the circular shape near Zelus? I need you to tell her about it! It's gotta be the weak spot, the brain of the entire slime."

To the alicorn's joy, the queen stopped flailing, the information having been passed from the unicorn to her via the link. The queen twisted, pulling yet another blade from her pack and flailed downwards, finding some sort of purchase on the ground even through the muck. With a powerful push off of the ground, she propelled herself forwards and up, driving the blade into the creatures core before ripping the blade free, spilling the core's contents into the rest of the creature.

Deprived of its core the beasts pseudopods fell limp, allowing Cimmerian and the others to rush forward and begin digging the queen out of the slime. It took only a few moments but he finally managed to pull her out by the tail, the queen instantly beginning to hack and cough as fresh air rushed into her lungs.

"Holy shit, Zel. You gotta be more careful about animals in the forest," the stallion said, lifting the queen's head up off the ground. Seeing her slit pupils looking unfocused and slightly bloodshot, he swore loudly, pressing an ear against her muzzle to be certain her chocking wasn't just reflex. He let out a breath of relief when he felt her exhale, but still went about using a spare towel to remove the ooze from her muzzle.

"..I-it.." the queen gurgled, breaking into a coughing fit. Several chunks of slime escaped her throat during her coughing, the changeling breathing a little easier with the obstruction gone.

"What's wrong with her? She was coughing, so she's not dead right?" Scootaloo asked, looking over the queen for any cuts or punctures in her chitin.

Her breathing finally stabilizing once more, the shape shifter attempted to speak once more.
"It's in my everywhere," Zelus quietly sobbed, using a hoof to weakly wipe at more of the grime.



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The group had quickly decided it was for the best to remove as much of the slime from their persons as possible, and to do so as quickly as possible. Finding a small stream, Zelus had wasted no time checking it for any more unpleasant surprises before running a wet rag over the entirety of her form, all the while chanting a continuous 'ew ew ew ew ew!'
Cimmerian chuckled quietly at the queen's antics. Just an hour ago she was rearing and ready to take on anything the forest threw at her. Now she wanted nothing more than to curl up in the deepest part of her hive and pretend the fight never happened.
'At least everyone lived to laugh this off. I thought slimes were supposed to be the easiest things to kill, not nearly capable of killing one of the strongest in our group.'

"Cimmerian!" Zelus shouted from nearby, rushing over to him with three towels in her aura.
"I can't, it's still there, you're going to help, now!"

Flinching back as the queen nearly hit him with one of her ooze-covered towels, the alicorn looked around at the others present before turning back to the queen.
"Why me? Can't you have Crescent or one of the other girls take care of this?"

"Fool, the goo is in my wings and under my shell, do you think I'm going to trust them with such a thing?" she quietly hissed at him. "I won't have creatures that are not of my hive touching the insides of my elytra."

Squeezing the excess water from his towel and carefully running it over her back and removing the slime, the alicorn sighed to himself, realizing the awkward position his wife had unintentionally put him in.
'She considers Din her sister, and I'm Din's mate, so I guess that makes me part of Zelus' hive. I think I remember Din saying something about queen's not letting anyone near their backs like this.'

"I'm sick of this place. I want to go home already," the changeling whined, vigorously scrubbing several locations with her other towels. The queen suddenly snarled, baring her fangs at someone who had gotten a little too close while her wings were being cared for.

Scootaloo backed up quickly at the unexpected display of aggression.
"Whoa! Easy there, Queen Rush, I was just going to offer-"

"I have enlisted Cimmerian's aid already, pony. Back off before I-"

"Relax Zelus," Cimmerian whispered, leaning to her ear. "She doesn't know about the wing thing. Wing care among flying military units is considered important, so she's just following her own culture's rules. She'd be expected to help her friends, and they'd help her."
Turning to the orange mare, he smiled apologetically.
"Changeling queen's are protective of their wings and the skin underneath them, Scootaloo. It's nothing personal, she just doesn't want anyone she doesn't know that well near them."

"Speaking of being near wings," he continued, turning back to Zelus, "Why do you trust me with this?"

"Pandinus spoke highly of your ability to care for her wings," the mare explained. "Said you knew exactly what to do and what not to do to them. I assume she was speaking from personal experience considering she seemed to reflect quite thoroughly on your abilities afterwards. From what I have felt, she was not misleading me. You haven't pulled or pushed them while wiping them down as I expected you to. Thank you."

"It's no problem, Zelly," the stallion said with a smirk, ignoring her glare, "I'm just glad you made it out of that okay. You had me worried for a bit there, I thought you'd stopped breathing. Just be careful, because we may run into another one of those things, or something similar. You're my guard, and that means protecting me. While it does count as protecting me when you kill everything that looks at me funny, it doesn't help me when you manage to get yourself killed. Din would probably be pretty upset if that happened."

The queen cocked her head in confusion, the towels ceasing their work for a moment.
"Why would she be upset? You're the one the hive needs."

"Don't sell yourself short, Zelus. You're one of two queen's currently capable of reproducing at the Temple. If something happens to Din, you're next in line. She's learned to care for those who live with her like I do, and that includes you."
Wiping away the last visible bit of slime, the alicorn pulled the queen's elytra shut with his magic before pulling her into a comforting hug.
"That, and all of our hard work on teaching you about living our way would have been for nothing. I don't like teaching others just to have them die on me."

The queen turned to stare at him a few moments, leaning towards him till her muzzle was just shy of his own.
"Din was right," the queen mused, "You taste strange sometimes. It's a different kind of love. I think she called it familial love? I never really noticed the difference in taste, but it's there. Thank you for the snack."

Watching her trot over to her gear he stared in confusion, the unicorn still tied to his back heaving with muffled laughter.

"Shut up, Trixie."

The blue mare heaved even harder.



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It wasn't even dinner of the first day in the forest and Cimmerian's group was getting sick of it. Between the all the random encounters with wild life, the twisted paths that were sometimes overgrown with vegetation, forcing them to back track and find another route through the forest, and the times that the group had to back track because their guides said an open field wasn't safe, the alicorn and his guards were becoming frustrated.

"For what reason are we turning around now? It's another open field, why can't we just go forward?" Zelus asked Apple Bloom in frustration. The mare rolled her eyes, walking up to the field and stopping just shy, pointing to the seemingly innocuous field of flowers.

Cimmerian cautiously scanned the field, looking for some sort of snout or muzzle poking out of the vegetation.
"I don't know, I'm waiting for some sort of dragon to be hiding under it all. A safe, open field in this forest? Bullshit."

"There's nuthin' under the flowers, trust me," the yellow mare said. "It's the flowers themselves we gotta avoid. It's called poison joak. Stuff is mean if your not careful around it. If ya walk through it, it leaves a jynx on ya, like mah sis got turned really small while Twalight's horn went limp. S'kinda funny in hindsight, but it wasn't very fun at the time considerin' they thought this zebra, Zecora, had cursed them."

"We're turning around for a damn plant?!?" the queen shouted. "Why the hell don't we just- no, I'm done with this!"

Seeing the queen trot up to the field, her horn glowing with energy, Cimmerian's eyes wide as he realized her intent. Even as the rest of the group took off in the other direction to put as much distance between themselves and the queen as possible he galloped over to her, attempting to contact her horn with his own to dispelling her gathered energy before she could unleash the spell that would likely doom them all.
He was too late though, a torrent of changeling green flames flooding from the queen's horn and over the field. The effect was instantaneous, the green flames quickly being replaced by a cloud of blue smoke that seemed to rear up as if alive. It came crashing down on the queen and the alicorn, engulfing them both in the shimmering spores.

Were it normal joak it likely would have had little to no effect on the stallion, but charged by the queen's own magic he felt it burning all over his body. The swirling cloud was finally fading as he passed out several paces from the changeling, but he managed to utter one last thing before everything went black.

"God damn it, Zelus."
> ...But It May Derive Some Pleasure From Such an Act
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian returned to consciousness feeling...off. He already knew that, considering what Apple Bloom had told him about the plant, he had likely been altered in some way. Shifting on what turned out to be one of the sleeping mats the stallion braced himself for the worst, standing up and opening his eyes.

To his confusion, it seemed that no one was there. He was apparently left alone, except for a single individual he didn't recognize. An older zebra sat by a campfire, poking the weak flames with a staff and muttering to herself. At his movement her ears perked up, though she didn't look away from the crackling fire.

"Foalish is the one who uses fire spells in this forest I call home," the zebra said. "Many who do so often end up buried beneath the loam. Scootaloo speaks quite highly of your intellect and caution. Tell me, what made you act in such a reckless fashion?"

"I don't understand. I didn't-" Cimmerian paused, a hoof reaching up to his throat. His voice was off, having an almost alien echo. Raising a hoof to his eyes, he blinked in confusion.
"Well I can't say I really expected that. Then again I suppose that's the point."

He continued to inspect himself even as the zebra rose from her spot by the fire and approached him. A gleaming, full black shell of chitin covered his form at the moment, while a clean deep navy blue silk hung form his head and fomed his tail. His horn was now jagged and sharp, though it's usefulness as a weapon would depend on its sensitivity; if it was anything like his alicorn-form's horn, that would be a no. Looking over his shoulder he frowned, not able to see his wings but noticing the same type of shell-covering that Zelus had over her own wings.
'My eyes probably didn't change much, but I still want to check them out. Wait, do I still have my-'
A panicked check revealed that, though once more it was altered to fit his current shape, protected by several chitin plates of its own, he was still quite male. Cimmerian exhaled in relief, 

"The effects that the leaves leave are varied and odd, but I found nothing out of place on your rather large bod. Normally the effects are quite obvious, perhaps you can point out what it was that I missed?"

"Well, I wasn't a changeling a few hours ago," Cimmerian answered dryly, finally finding the muscles for his new wing-covers and wings and managing to splay them out.

The mare raised an eyebrow at his lack of panic.
"Most would be unnerved by such a radical transition. How do you remain so tranquil at such a revelation?"

"Not the first time I've found myself in an alien form, miss," the stallion replied with a rueful chuckle.

Inspecting himself further, he hummed thoughtfully
"Actually, this is kind of funny. I mean, considering the other changelings that are of this size are queen's, I'd list myself as a changeling king right now, if such a thing exists. I was also already practically carrying that title since my wife's a changeling queen. Creative, I give it a nine out of ten. Oh, if there's never been any changelings like this, maybe I can name it? I want to be known as a Changeling Lord. Ha, I'll be the overlord of the Temple of the Shadows! Wait, that means I'll lose. Nevermind."
The large alicorn-turned-changeling turned to the zebra with a suddenly worried expression.
"How's Zelus?"

"You speak of the large mare similarly cursed? She seemed untouched, I thought it would have been worse."

Cimmerian cautiously approached the huddled form of the queen, more curious than worried at this point. So far all he'd seen and heard of this weed was fairly inane changes that didn't leave the victim in pain or incapable of living, just incredibly annoyed. After all, it's not a joke if the victim doesn't survive. He stumbled as something caught his attention; a faint echoing curiosity, the emotion barely brushing against him.
'Is that Din?' he wondered, realizing he may be capable of touching the link in his current form. He attempted to let his mind push off towards the curiosity, thoughts of his lover filling his mind. He felt the curiosity turn to worried confusion and he smiled. He'd likely have to talk to the mare later on to assure her he was still alive and kicking, and that he was the one that she was reaching through the link now.
'Speaking of the link, wasn't Trixie- oh! Uh oh, she was caught in that cloud as well. Did it change her as well?'

Reaching the second bag, he lifted the covers and peaked in, finding Zelus currently curled up under her blankets. Only where the day before he'd seen a changeling queen, now he was staring at an alicorn mare with a black coat and blue stripes, the same dark colorations the queen had held.
'Oh this is going to be a riot, right until she starts panicking at least.'

Cimmerian nudged the queen, drawing a soft groan of irritation before her eyes flew open, the mare nearly jumping out of her blankets in shock.

"What happened! The blue, I, where is everyone?!" the ex-changeling shouted.

Catching the mare's muzzle with his hooves and bringing her eyes to his own he spoke quietly to her.
"Calm down Zelly, nobody got hurt. Relax a bit."

"Who-Cimmerian? Why.." Zelus' eyes soon tracked down, taking note of the strange looking form standing in front of her before her eyes noticed her own situation. She began breathing heavily as she raised a hoof, then splayed the wings of her current form. Her eyes wide in shock and her horn sparked wildly, likely trying to undo the transformation as she normally would have. After the sixth set of sparks, she lost control of herself.

"I, I can't, oh Tartarus, I can't change back. What happened to me!" the mare shouted, looking to the similarly cursed being before her.

The stallion just smiled kindly before explaining the situation.
"Poison joak leaves weird effects on those who walk through it. We ended up washed in a cloud of it. Does this really surprise you Zel?"

"This. This is my fault," the ex queen mumbled, her head drooping in shame. "I can't, I'm sorry, I can't do this. I keep messing up, I'll just end up getting you hurt. I never should have left the hive."

Even as the alicorn mare began to walk away from the campsite, the stallion was staring off with a glazed look, feeling fairly sick to his stomach from the despair Zelus was giving off. Shaking the effects off as best he could and powering through the rest, he stomped a hoof into the ground.

"Zelus, get over here. Now."

The queen turned alicorn stopped, looking back at him for a moment, seeming to debate following the order while tears began to stream down her cheeks. He pointed to the ground before him one more time, and she sighed in defeat before approaching. Stopping just shy of the changeling she looked up cautiously, as if she expected to be struck. He didn't lash out at her though, instead he started pulling her away from the camp, just out of easy earshot from the group. He could still see the fire from the new location, so there wasn't any possibility of getting lost at this distance.

"Zelus, stop crying," he said as he turned back to her. When she refused meet his eyes he once again grabbed her muzzle, this time with his sparking aura.
'I need to figure out the differences between the types of magic, this seems to function in a weird way.' "I mean that literally Zelus, I don't know how to control the emotion-feeding, so you're making me dizzy."

He received one more burst of sorrow and shame from the queen before she picked herself up slightly, her eyes still shimmering with tears.

"Now, tell me what happened," he demanded. "You're not stupid enough to just disregard what Scootaloo and Apple Bloom told us about it, so what happened in that field?"

"I, I wanted to get out of here," Zelus mumbled, slowly picking up volume. "I wanted to fight things, I wanted to make everyone proud, wanted everyone to say how good I was at being a guard and one of the first things that didn't buckle to a single strike...
"I've been fighting things for years, Cimmerian. Ponies, griffons, minotaurs, chupacobras, reavers, quaray eels, rockadiles, jagulas, all kinds of things. I never walked away with more than a few simple scratches. Now, now I'm fully healed, I just molted with the love Queen Pandinus gave to me, gave to me so that I could protect her mate! I'm more powerful than I've ever been in my life, and that thing, it just..." Zelus broke into sobs once more, unable to contain herself.
"The power, the armor, it was useless. It didn't matter what I did, it didn't matter how hard I could hit it, or how many hits I could take. It was suffocating me. I felt so weak when you pulled me out, I was ashamed! I couldn't even stand afterwards, I was so out of it! I just wanted to go home!"
Giving a few heaving breaths to try and stabilize herself, the distraught mare continued.
"But then we found that damn field, those flowers that made us turn around. I didn't want to turn around, I wanted to leave this place, I hate this forest. So I burned it, I burned it so we could leave faster. Now I messed up again, and I screwed everything up. I can't stay here, I need to leave, before I mess something else up. Before you get hurt anymore. I can't be a guard when the one I'm supposed to be protecting is keeping me fed and saving my life. I failed, I failed my sister, my first family in so long..." Zelus sobbed, collapsing on the ground in tears.
"Now I'm stuck like this, I can't hear her, I'm alone again, and I don't understand my own body. I, I'm just so confused..."

Cimmerian settled in next to the mare despite her emotional state causing his stomach to do somersaults. He felt his wings buzz uselessly, unable to wrap around the mare like he'd intended, so he settled for using his foreleg to pull her closer.
"So you got scared and made a mistake. I've done that a few times, and a few times it's ended worse than this, trust me on that one. The biggest mistake you made here Zelus, was not saying anything about it to us. I ended up scared a bit too when I almost got eaten by a snake, but I also had Luna's memories to help me put it in perspective. Humans also don't like to think about death that much, and when we do it's usually with a touch of humor to make it more bearable. I've come closer to dying here than I ever did at home, I think. Trust me when I say this world has put me through my paces.
"So the next time things are backing up you talk to us, okay? You're not with another queen that will abandon you if you seem weak, you're not with a hive that needs a strong queen all the time. Din is pregnant right now, and when Lestidae tried taking over, who did they side with. The queen who was inhibited by her pregnancy, something that is completely alien to her species. They chose her, and the stability she brings them over your old ally's traditional rule. Din knows that if she has a problem, she can talk to me and I know the opposite is also true. That goes for you too though. If you need to talk to someone, but don't want it public, you come to Din or I, and we'll hear anything you need to say. Okay? Even if I have to stop the trip for an hour or two until you feel better, you tell me you're not feeling well."

Standing up and motioning for the mare to do the same, he smiled warmly at her, drawing a ghost of a smile from the cursed queen.
"Besides Zel, I need an expert in changeling bodies to help me adapt to this, and I don't think you're going to know what to do when your body starts sending you the signals I know it will. After the trouble you had with Trixie, think of how bad it will be when you don't have her or Crescent telling you what you need to do."

The mare blanched, memories of caring for the pony-changeling hybrid resurfacing like some suppressed nightmare. She shuddered, feeling her wings rustle in agitation and turned to glare at them. Cimmerian chuckled at her before noticing an odd muscle group near his upper jaw. He tested them almost reflexively, gagging and spitting as an acrid taste rolled over his tongue. Spewing and sputtering, the ex-alicorn coughed slightly before noticing his most recent issue.
'Why does my mouth feel like I've just been shot up with a ton of novacaine?'

His tongue lolling out of his mouth uselessly, Cimmerian led Zelus back to the campsite just as the rest of the guards returned with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, all carrying different plants, fruits and several large fish in the case of the griffons. All the guards gave the changeling and alicorn a cautious look as they walked back into the campsite and set about preparing the evening meal. Apple Bloom trotted up to the pair. Strange as it was, Cimmerian could literally taste the concern washing off of the farmer.

"How are ya feelin' Mister Cimmerian?" Apple Bloom asked Zelus, causing the stallion to burst into laughter, his limp tongue making it sound even more ridiculous.

Seeing the male changeling currently too busy laughing at their confusion, Zelus sheepishly corrected the group.
"Actually, I'm Zelus. Cimmerian's the changeling right now."

Even as the queen was shrinking back from the slack-jawed stares of the group, a small blue blur flitted up to Zelus' muzzle, landing right on her snout. Focusing on the little blue form, her eyes widened as she realized just what, and who, she was looking at.

"Trixie will have many hateful words with you. Many, many angry and hateful words for what you have done to Trixie!" the Tiny and Miniscule Trixie shouted, though her voice was barely heard by the changeling and the alicorn.



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The Queen of the Shadowed Hive was once more in her meditation, Luna watching for the dream of her mate with a bit more anxiety this time. Not only was the Everfree much more dangerous than anything the stallion had faced so far, Din was certain something had happened to the group. Her connection with Zelus had been interrupted and she still couldn't feel the mare, but something else had taken her place, something that had responded to her query with love and reassurance.

"You're certain of what you felt? And the new connection is still there?" Luna asked the queen, her worry evident on her muzzle.

Pandinus scowled as she attempted to pull more information from the distant link, but failed.
"I can't even call it a new connection. It's strange. I feel like I should recognize it, but it just feels...wrong. Like something's affected it. Something unnatural."

Luna jerked as the dream appeared to her, though she too was soon wearing a scowl. "I think I found his dream, but you're right. There's something wrong with it. We should hurry."

The two left for the newly solidified dream with a flash of magic, the blue alicorn's own power being supplemented by the queen's to cover the sheer distance between Din's own dream and that of her mate in a second.

"Cimmerian, are you okay?" Luna asked even as the queen began to inspect the alicorn, as if she'd find something out of place in the dream world. To Luna's confusion, the grin on Cimmerian's muzzle was both disturbingly similar to her own when she had some prank planned for her sister, while Zelus was looking distinctly uncomfortable at the larger queen's actions.

"You're not going to find anything wrong in a dream, Din. This is a representation of how I think I should look, remember? It's why I can shift it so easily between my two forms. I can add a third to that list now, though!" he told her cheerfully, his form shifting before their eyes.

Luna watched with open wonder as the alicorn before her shifted, his sleek fur taking on the sharp and angled forms of changeling chitin while the opposite transition was taking place with the changeling queen, Zelus. Before long, Din and Luna were staring at a dark blue changeling male, and a black alicorn female with blue stripes.

"W-what, how, I mean what kind of magic is capable of..." Luna sputtered, the changeling queen beside her completely silent.

The newly revealed changeling chuckled at their shock.
"We had a run in with something in the Everfree, poison joak. It caught Zelus, Trixie, and I and twisted our forms. We ended up like this, and Trixie...well, Apple Bloom said she looked like something called a breezie, though I've never seen one before, nor had Luna before her banishment as far as I can tell."

"Yes, Tia told us of the breezies," Luna said, nodding. "Very strange beings. Fairly useless, but strange."

Din walked up to Cimmerian, circling his form with a critical eye.
"How did this happen, and how long does it last?"

Zelus seemed to shrink in shame at the questions, taking a step back.
"The, the zebra said it was because I used a fire spell on the joak, she told us how to make the cure, but suggested against it for at least a week, especially if we're going to be moving through the Everfree for a while longer. Any other patches of poison joak may react to our presence for a while, since I attacked it."

"The zebra, she would not happen to be Zecora, would she?" Luna asked. "I remember hearing my sister mention her while we discussed some of Twilights latest misadventures. I was not impressed with Ponyville's hostility towards what was such a powerful ally after the fall of Discord."

Cimmerian nodded, "That's her. Said she felt the Everfree get agitated from the use of a fire spell, but she also said the forest isn't a fan of the joak either, it tends to mess up the natural flow of the Everfree. Joak spreads quickly, and the Everfree still hasn't generated a creature that can destroy it besides slimes. That's actually why we ran into one, I think. It was moving towards that patch we came across."

The mention of the slime had Zelus shuddering again, only to be pulled into another hug from the ex-alicorn.
"Zelus had a bad experience with the slime. Armor and power doesn't protect from suffocation. Think you can talk to her about her new form, Luna?"

The smaller alicorn nodded, drawing the still-shaky form of Zelus away from the two changelings. Looking to his wife, Cimmerian found himself taking a instinctive step back.
Pandinus' stare was intense, as if she was checking him for the slightest flaw, or-
'Trying to memorize the new form.' "You know, I'm sure Luna could teach me a transformation spell even after I get this jynx removed. If you're good, it won't be the last time you see it."

That caused a stir, the queen's eyes immediately meeting his own. He stepped back, a little intimidated by the hunger that was present in her stare.
"I was wrong you know," Pandinus whispered, circling him slowly, "I thought it was an alternative, using the dreams to enjoy time with you. I ended up feeling even worse the next day though. My stomach was gurgling, as if to ask why it wasn't full afterwards. My body ached, not feeling at all refreshed as there was no love to pull in during our time spent together. In short, by the next day I was swearing to myself I'd never do that again. Now, now as I sit at the Temple waiting for you to get back I find out that you've accidentally gotten yourself turned into this?
"Make sure you say your goodbyes before you enter my hive, Cimmerian. Because you won't be leaving for at least a week."

With what was a cross between a hiss and a snarl the queen left the dream, opting to return to the Temple than to spend more time around the stallion. Cimmerian slumped at the frustration in her voice, even if he found himself exited by the warning. Hearing her like that wasn't something he enjoyed. He'd have to see if he could hurry the trip along a bit. Besides he missed his own bed, and the one who kept it warm for him.







Zelus stood before the blue alicorn, feeling smaller than the current form of her new drone after explaining the fights and mistakes to the blue mare. Fear and frustration wasn't something a queen was supposed to feel, it was something that could spell the end of a hive if the queen fell to them at the wrong time. Her mother would be ashamed to call her daughter at the moment, and she was certain Pandinus would be ashamed to call her sister.

"I see," Luna said, nibbling her lower lip in thought, "Power is a very strange thing, isn't it? You have more than you had before, yet you never came this close to death. The boost made you reckless, Zelus, but the important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Just as your actions can and will impact those around you, it also means that there are others nearby to rescue you from your own foolishness. I abandoned my friends as much as they left me when I fell to my loneliness and jealousy. It left me weak and easily manipulated by the Nightmare, who I first thought was just another part of my being. I allowed it to grow and fester, often committing acts that anypony who knew me would have acknowledged as strange behavior. As I was alone however, the signs went unheeded. By the time I realized what was happening it was too late and my own body was no longer mine to control.
"My sister was still there for me, though; she never gave up on me. Like I sought to defend my subjects through martial might and the destruction of our enemies, so too do you defend your sister's mate through strength and skill. Just how I fell to the idea that I needed to be strong at every turn, you too have fallen for this pitfall. You need not be strong all the time, as I'm certain Cimmerian has told you.
Luna giggled lightly, a smile gracing her muzzle, "A dumb, stubborn male he may be, but he does have several hundred years of memories as a mare to slightly offset that."

Zelus cautiously allowed herself a smile as well, Luna's mood somehow brightening her own even without being able to taste it.

The reminder caused Zelus to lose what little of her cheerfulness she'd recovered, but Luna was fairly certain she knew why.
"It will pass, Zelus," the smaller alicorn explained. "You will not be like this forever. Take this for what Cimmerian sees it. An opportunity. You have a chance to see things like we do, just as Cimmerian will see and feel things as a changeling for a while. I'm certain he's already trying things out. Did you know that your current form is likely more resistant to magic and recovers faster than your previous form? I've been laid low in combat and been on the field of battle in three days time. Broken bones, fractured ribs, the works. With a little healing magic from a unicorn to properly set everything, and my own healing trance, I was good as new and back on the field before my opponent had even been properly stabilized."

That news caused Zelus to giggle, the memory of the stallion accidentally activating his venom glands and numbing his entire mouth popping into her mind. She quickly shared it with Luna, who soon joined in the laughter.

"Oh, I see. Make fun of Cimmerian Day. Two can play at that, Zelly. Luna, you might want to explain to her what happens to all that food she scarfed down earlier. I think she's going to enjoy the fact that she won't have to regurgitate it like I would right now," the changeling stallion said with a devious smile.

Luna roared with laughter as the queen-turned alicorn blanched at the reminder.
"Indeed, I recently instructed Cimmerian in the care of the alicorn form. I would be thrilled to teach you what I know as well!"

Stepping back from the two mares, one looking way too excited for the upcoming lesson and the other likely looking how he was feeling after his own experiences with Luna's lessons, the large changeling sighed.
'At least I don't get bored here.'


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"Ah thwere, Ah fee ike ar-ar inks, alkin' a-oun ike hiss," Cimmerian mumbled over his limp serpentine tongue. He'd recovered overnight, but during breakfast had once more accidentally activated his new venom-glands, leaving his tongue limp as the group continued their journey.
The zebra, whom Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had introduced as Zecora over dinner the night before, was currently leading them through the winding paths of the forest, and oddly enough managing to avoid every single predator along the way. It was almost unbelievable. It would have been, in fact, if not for the issue of him already being slightly jaded to strange things.
'I swear, it's getting to the point where nothing would- no, don't do that, that's when weird shit starts to happen more often.'

A tapping on the inside of a shoulder plate nearly caused him to jump, but he focused on the plate, shifting it enough to open the natural storage pocket and allow his passenger some fresh air. The miniscule pony flitted up to the top of his head and settled in just outside of his ear.
"Trixie wishes to thank you for not leaving her in Silver City, and for thinking of her safety after her transformation. Trixie was very, put off by her new situation, but she believes you are correct. At least like this she is mobile again."

"Goak can's pwank ew ith ew can's 'oove," The stallion mumbled, wincing at his garbled English. He spat, accidently releasing yet another dose of the venom into his mouth, the sixth one in the last two hours. His eyes narrowed in frustration. At least he was learning the triggers for that muscle-group. Zelus was having her own issues, and he watched her mutter and walk off the trail, likely to take her tenth toilet break of the hour. She was quite upset with her new needs, and her lack of understanding of just what her body was capable of. He'd have loved to explain that her body could wait, but he was trying to keep his own speaking to a minimum.

"True. Being so small and easy to miss, Trixie would likely be quite irritated at such a turn of events. However, while Trixie will not remember this with any fondness she is quite pleased with the increased mobility."

A slight rustle of the branches over the changeling's head caused the mare to yelp, literally diving into his ear for cover. It took a great deal of willpower, and yet another spurt of accidentally released venom, but Cimmerian managed to settle for just pressing his ear down as additional cover instead of flicking the mare out of his ear and into the open.

"S-sorry, Trixie finds herself quite ready to be out of this forest, much like Zelus. The sooner Trixie is no longer fearing for her now much more vulnerable life, the better she will feel." the mare spoke softly, doing her best to keep her wiggling to a minimum so as to not tickle him too much.

"How is Sapphire?" Zelus asked as she caught up with him, looking tired from her own string of learning experiences. Between not having any hive connection anymore, not having innate transformation magic, learning her bodies new wants and needs, and sweating after trotting around for a bit rather than buzzing her wings to fan herself (something that often left Cimmerian feeling too hot or too cold as he couldn't find the right amount of time to buzz to keep comfortable), the mare looked absolutely miserable. Realizing it would be a good chance to be rid of his passenger for a while, he pressed his snout up against Zelus, holding it there while raising his ear for his ear's occupant. Seeing the offered ear as a much softer ride as well as someone who would not mind endless chatter, the breezified Trixie flitted across the small space into the alicorn mare's ear.

Zelus, who had begun to flush at Cimmerian's proximity, immediately sobered up, realizing he was just dumping her drone back on her. The two began chatting about every little thing, from the sky, to magic in general, to things they'd seen or would like to see, even what they thought of their breakfast. The mares seemed fairly good for each other actually, Trixie still reveling in having someone to talk to, while Zelus needed the constant chatter as reassurance that someone was nearby. 

'In her ear is about as close to in her head as Trixe can get,' the stallion contemplated.

Cimmerian grinned as for the third time the alicorn went silent for an unnatural length of time. It had become obvious she was attempting to use the link to talk to Trixie, but kept forgetting no such connection existed between the two of them. The changeling was brought out of his musings as a large form stepped into the clearing. A manticore, easily twice as large as himself, and with a large pattern of scars crisscrossing its body.

The guards all tensed at its appearance, even Zecora, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo all preparing to fight the creature. Cimmerian saw it though. A small scrap of cloth tied lovingly around it's right paw just as the mare had told him several nights ago.
'We'll see if her name still carries weight in these woods.'

Walking past the guards cautiously and getting as close to the creature as he dared, he took a calming breath and spoke to the manticore.
"Miss Fluttershy is expecting us, Mr. Whiskers. We'd like to pass by so we can see if we can help her."

The large stallion winced as the manticore roared in challenge, as if ignoring his statement.
'She better be right about this. I'd prefer to avoid this fight, but I'm not getting filleted by this thing for being too nice.' "What would Fluttershy say, if she saw you talking like that? I bet she'd lay into you, don't you think so?" he said with a disappointed tone. Surprisingly, the thing recoiled as if he'd physically struck it.
"I said that we're friends of hers, and we're trying to get through the forest to see if we can help her. Are you going to let us pass, or will I have to tell Fluttershy that I got into a fight with one of her animal friends because he was being mean?"

That seemed to do it. The manticore took a few steps off to the side of the path, cowing its head as if the mention of the shy Pegasus was akin to invoking the wrath of an angry god. Or, considering how the mare had cared for animals, a disappointed mother.
The group passed by the manticore uneasily; even Zelus seemed more eager to get past the predator than to add to her collection of trophies at this point. The second the last guard had passed it, Cimmerian reached into a bag and pulled out a large jar of honey, popping off the lid and setting it next to the beast.

"Miss Fluttershy may not be able to care for you much right now, but she still asked me to give this to you if you were nice," the inept shape shifter explained. "Enjoy, and thank you."


The second he was back with the guards, he was assailed on all sides by question, causing his senses to flare up at the focused curiosity and excitement. He stumbled for a second, unable to see the path. With one last step he fell on his face, the stallion who'd faced a giant snake and talked down a manticore laid low by simple questions and excitement.

"Back off, you idiots," Zelus roared, shoving them away from the heaving changeling. Their curiosity had shifted to concern, but once more it was all focused on him. "He doesn't know how to shut out emotions, you're overloading him!"

"Push it, Cimmerian. Push the feelings that aren't yours out," the mare coached, and the changeling hacked and wheezed, slowly vomiting up several blobs of multi-colored gel. He seemed to settle down at that, though he was still shaky. Zelus made sure her own gear was secured, then carefully levitated Cimmerian onto her own back. Though she was loath to admit it, her new form was likely as strong as she was when running on pure love, so she barely felt the male and his gear being added to her own considerable equipment.

"So what, we can't even be concerned about him right now?" Scootaloo asked, trying to keep her mind off of the large changeling.

"It's not that concern is bad for him, it's that he doesn't know what to do with it," the blue-striped alicorn explained "I think he also still feels something from the Temple. I don't believe he'd be able to get within a day's journey of the Temple in his current state, not without going into a love-coma."

The group came to a halt as Zecora raised a hoof, turning to gesture to a small, rundown cottage just a little farther down the path. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom began muttering about how unfair the world was, while Zelus stared at the hut slack-jawed. Looking to the thestrals and griffons, she could tell they were similarly confused, one even staring at a map and looking from the hut to the path they had followed. After a few changes between the sights, the griffon began laughing. It wasn't a happy laugh either. Zelus couldn't taste the griffons emotions, but she had a feeling the creature was quite distraught. The black alicorn turned to the zebra, looking at her with the obvious question burning in her eyes.

Zecora just chuckled at the confusion of the group, waving a hoof back to the forest.
"When one understands the Everfree as I, one learns where all the shortest paths tend to hide."

Her confusion slowly shifted into irritation, and Zelus trotted up to the zebra mare. Not two paces away from their striped guide, the alicorn growled in irritation.
"That's bullshit." 
> Bunnytopia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The cottage the group approached was old, likely not having been properly cared for in at least a few decades. A few bushes had grown into the building, and the trees surrounding it felt more like a protective curtain than an invasive reclamation of property.

"Miss Shy's cottage," Apple bloom explained while leading the group closer. "Miss Fluttershy was a kind mare who took in any an' every kinda critter under Celestia's sun. Ya could set some unruly beast right in fronna her and in a few minutes she'd have it eat'n outa her hoof, rollin' on its back and lettin' her pet its belly, or lettin' her treat it fer whatever was wrong with it. Hay, she was the only mare I knew who could give Opal a proper bath instead of a quick rinse." 

Zelus, still carrying a recovering Cimmerian, trotted up to the yellow mare and stared at the cottage with curiosity.
"It looks like something is in there."

Scootaloo nodded in agreement, "I know last time I passed by here Angel had taken to guarding it in Fluttershy's absence. I don't think rabbits live that long, but he wasn't stupid. I wouldn't be surprised if he left someone else to watch this place if Fluttershy wasn't released in his lifetime."

Zecora chuckled knowingly, bowing to the group in farewell.
"I have guided you to your destination in safety, and now must make an exit most hasty. If ever you find yourself in need most dire, you need only ask for the assistance you require."

"Thank you. Oh, and Cimmerian thanks you as well, or he would if he could," Zelus told the zebra. "I apologize if I've been short with, everyone actually. This has not been a pleasant or simple trip, as I thought it would be."

"I take no offense at your frustrated outburst. My own first encounter with joak left me acting much worse," Zecora explained with a knowing smile. "Learning of our shortfalls can be a bitter pill to swallow, but know that we grow stronger with every new tomorrow."

Zelus turned slightly, giving the heaving changeling a worried look before realizing he was laughing weakly, likely at the constant rhyming. He raised a shaky hoof, waving farewell to the zebra as she left. The rest of the group bid their zebra guide goodbye as well before turning back to their destination, keeping to the treeline.
Zelus shook her head in irritation at her passenger.
"You know, at least Trixie could talk to me when I was carrying her."

"Yes, but Trixie was not very happy with losing control of herself to a bug she didn't know," the little mare retorted from her place in Zelus' ear, "Trixie only hopes she keeps her mobility after she is cured of this transformation."

The group came upon the yard unmolested, though that changed as soon as they approached the door. The griffons and thestrals perked up, looking around for the source of rustling in the trees even as Cimmerina noticed faint traces of emotion floating around the cottage.
"Somethings still living here," the changeling muttered to his vehicle.

Suddenly the trees were lined with hundreds of eyes, all pointing tiny makeshift spears at the group. Several primitive bows, and even what appeared to be a ballista was set up and aimed at the group. Feeling the alicorn tensing up below him, Cimmerian nudged her and whispered into her ear.
"Remember, Zelus. We don't want to fight so talk to them, see if we can work this out."

"They're rabbits," the alicorn deadpanned.

"They have ballistae," he retorted, pointing to the siege machine, "and if they have that one in plain view and are smart enough to build and use it, I'd bet they have more hidden in the foliage; I know I would. My shell will probably deflect most of what they have, and I don't think they'll be able to puncture your skin with anything but the bolts, but we're not looking for a fight. Step ahead of the group and announce our intention."

Cautiously the alicorn moved ahead of the group and spoke in a clear voice.
"We're here for the Coin given to the yellow pegasus by Discord."

"None shall enter the chambers of The Caretaker!" a deep voice spoke out, causing Zelus to take an involuntary step back in shock. A single rabbit in a brown robe hopped forward to meet the changeling-turned-alicorn, a glowing amulet around its neck. As the rabbit chittered, the amulet pulsed.
"For generations we chosen of The Caretaker have guarded her abode, awaiting her glorious return! What right do you claim to invade our lands!"

"The Caretaker is likely Fluttershy," Cimmerian whispered into the mare's ear, "We're going to try to use the coin to summon help for The Caretaker."

Zelus nodded, encouraged by the stallions coaching.
"We want to use an, Artifact left in the pegasus' cottage to summon help in freeing her."

"No such thing exists in the Home of the Caretaker," the bunny argued, "Had it existed, the First Guardian would have used it."

"The Caretaker was caught offguard by her friends betrayal. She did't tell him the password to her vault. She gave the password to Cimmerian."

"So you say. What proof do you have that it was she, the most kind of the four-legs, that sent you?" the robed rabbit challenged.

Shifting himself off of the alicorn's back, Cimmerian wobbled a bit on his hooves before steadying. With Zelus keeping him upright, he approached the elder.
"The Caretaker has given me the password and ordered me to never reveal it to another, binding me by the most holy of oaths."

Several of the bunnies squeaked in shock, one even swooning dramatically and being caught by a nearby friend. One bunny, wearing several odds and ends that had been fashioned into an ill-fitting set of armor, hopped right up to the elder and began squeaking and chittering rapidly. The elder silenced him with a raised paw.

"I know the Oath of which he speaks, Hoppalong; it is no myth. Many generations ago, The Caretaker was befriended by several other four-legs. One of them knew the magics of a powerful oath, one which no four-leg would dare break. If he is indeed bound by such an oath, it is out of our paws. He may pass."
Turning to the changeling, the bunny stared hard at him with more intensity than a rabbit should posses.
"Prove to me, outsider, that you know The Oath."

Cimmerian sat back on his haunches, taking a deep breath as if to center himself, to prepare for some ancient ritual. The griffons and thestrals watched on in interest, wondering what ancient right they were about to witness, while Zelus cocked her head in curiosity. With great reverence, and with his eyes closed, the stallion crossed his heart with a hoof, then fluttered his forelegs like wings. He then proceeded to tap an eye with a hoof, wincing as he pressed too hard against his eyelid to be comfortable.

The robed rabbit gave a knowing nod, stepping aside and motioning for those behind him to clear a path.
"The Holy Oath. You and your mate may pass, though the others must remain here. The Caretaker's chambers are small, and I do not believe your group would even fit. Be respectful of The Caretakers abode, outsiders. It is all we ask of you."

Zelus attempted to protest at the misclassification, but Cimmerian cut off the mare with a quick application of his magic to her muzzle, whispering into her ear.
"I can still barely walk straight Zelus. Let it go. And Trixie? Keep your head down."

The two walked into the cottage, passing through the overgrown living room and the creaky but still serviceable steps to the second floor. Zelus stopped the changeling for a moment, entering the room first to make certain it was empty before waving him in.

"You're learning, Zelly. We'll make a guard out of you yet," the stallion joked, earning a glare from the alicorn.

"I want nothing to do with this stuff anymore," the mare retorted, "The moment we get back, I'm going to talk to Pandinus about doing something else. Maybe I can guard the hive instead."

"You jumped into this with no prior training as a guard, Zelus. It's kind of to be expected that you'd make mistakes. You're not here as a bodyguard anyway. You're here as our heavy hitter. If we need someone to break an ambush open, you're our mare," the shape shifter countered, looking about the room for a small safe. "You had a bad scare. I understand that, I was kind of nervous after I almost got eaten by a giant snake. But I didn't have the time to worry about it happening again. Besides, we won both of those fights, and we'll win any others that come our way as well. Now look for a small safe with three butterflies on it."

After about four minutes of searching, Cimmerian was jolted out of his search under Fluttershy's bed by a loud 'We found it!' from Zelus. Despite his warnings, Trixie was flitting around the newly revealed safe, an illusion having been cast over the area to hide its presence.

"Trixie spotted the illusion as I was looking around the room and walked me through dispelling it," the black alicorn explained with a smile. "The charm was quite powerful, but we managed to take it down."

"Awesome. Now, let's see," Cimmerian muttered leaning closer to the safe. Running the password through his head one last time, he sighed at the ridiculousness of said code.

"Discord Rules, Celly drools."

With a click, the safe popped open, revealing a coin sitting in the middle of the safe, surrounded by-

"I did not need to see that," the changeling muttered, grabbing the coin with his magic and quickly turning away from the safe. As he pondered how to activate the coin, the pegasus' advice being 'do something random with it', his ear flicked as two mares approached the safe, his hearing picking up a shout of excitement from the minuscule magician.

"Playcolt? Oh, Trixie hasn't gotten her hooves on one of those in ages! Quickly! Open it, open it!"
"Why are they wearing socks? And why does that make them more appealing?"
"Oh Celestia! Look at that barrel! Look at that horn! Put it in the bag, Trixie will have need of this for later!"
"Perhaps you can explain later what this is about. Should I take this as well?"
"Ew, Trixie refuses to acknowledge you asked her that. Have you never seen one of those?"
"Well, it looks like-"
"Trixie knows what it looks like, and she refuses to play with another mare's toy."

"Zelus, please tell me you're not planning on taking Fluttershy's..."
The words died in Cimmerians mouth, the queen holding a small plastic figurine of some superhero, a pegasus in a green body suit and purple mask.
"...toy."

The stallion rolled is eyes, placing the coin on Zelus' snout. The alicorn mare crossed her eyes to try and stare at it, and it glimmered slightly, apparently activating.

"That did it?" Cimmerian asked in shock.

After a few moments the coin deactivated, giving no clue as to whether Discord had heard its call. Cimmerian sighed in defeat, returning the coin to the safe and closing the door.
"If he's not going to show up, I'm not going to carry that thing around with me. I can feel the magic radiating from it from here, and if the Nightmare is scanning for magic, it's going to pick up something like that pretty easily. It would be like dragging a bucket of chum along behind you as you swam through the ocean."

"So what, the trip was wasted?" Zelus asked, following the stallion back down the stairs.

"No, not in the least," Cimmerian dismissed, "But this part of the trip was useless. That's why we're doing so many things in one trip. If something doesn't pan out, we still have other things that were successful. We talked to the thestrals, and we went to the Everfree like you were asking, though I don't think that ended how you had hoped. There's still two more things I want to do out here though. First, I need to check in at the town hall for missing persons flyers, see if I can find some information on the foals back at the Temple. I don't know which idiots decided to kidnap children, but I need to know if their parents are looking for them. Second, I want to know where Celestia, Luna, and the Element Bearers are being held. Once we get to Bloom's farm, you're going to give me a lesson on shape shifting, and I'm going to check it out. As it stands, the griffons and thestrals would be cause for alarm in this part of the country, and alicorns are looked to as royalty. Normally I'd have sent Apple Bloom or Scootaloo to check this, but as a changeling I think I can check the records myself."

"And what about us?" Zelus growled. "We're supposed to be guarding you, remember?"

"I'll bring Trixie. If anything happens, she can warn you guys, and you can destroy anything that gets in your way," the dark blue changeling answered, stepping into the sunlight. Walking up to the robed rabbit, he bowed his head.
"The artifact did activate upon our discovering its hiding place, but Chaos did not heed its call. Thank you for your aide, but we will search for another way to free The Caretaker. I have a way to find her as well as those imprisoned with her, and will be using it tonight. If all goes well, I will have the location and be able to see her with my own eyes tomorrow to begin to devise a way to free her."

"Beware, four-leg," the elder said as Cimmerian's group gathered their things. "They say The Caretaker is guarded by a beast most foul. To see her with your own eyes is to risk its wrath."

The changeling bowed one last time to the rabbits as they departed.
"I will be wary of such a beast. Thank you for the warning, and thank you for allowing us access to The Caretakers Chambers. May your people continue to serve Her with dignity and honor."

Safely out of earshot and sticking to the cover of the forest on the way to the farm, Zelus drew closer to Cimmerian and shot him a question.
"The Tartarus was that about? Why did you talk like them back there?"

"It felt right," Cimmerian answered with a grin. "Besides, they were kind enough to let us in; I can at least humor their cause. I don't get to talk like that very often. It's fun."

"Buck, that was awesome!" Scootaloo squealed, prancing on her hooves. "Did you see the ballistae those rabbits had? Those things would have punched through royal guard armor! And the ambush! I knew Angel was smart, but holy horse-apples, that was nuts!"

"Ah didn't realize it had been so long since we stopped by Shy's place," Apple Bloom said in a daze. "That was, Ah can't believe we've got a little civilization o'bunnies right next door ta the farm."

Listening to the idle chatter as they approached the farm, a different question played through Cimmerian's mind.
'Why did that rabbit sound like Morgan Freeman?'



<-(0)->


Gleam rose from her bed with a groan, unable to sleep. She knew something was going on, but what it was she hadn't a clue. The changelings had started acting off. Agitated was a good word for it, and even Pandinus was staring off to the north-west on several occasions, as if there was something out there. The niggling feeling at the back of her mind wouldn't leave her, and so despite the early hour, the unicorn rose and went to confront the queen.

The changeling queen currently residing in the Temple of the Shadows was sitting on the roof of the Temple, looking towards the north-west when Gleam found her. Already worried, the unicorn cautiously approached, making uneasy note of the fact that Cadance and Amare were beside her, and both staring off in the same direction as the queen.

"Pandinus?" the cherry mare softly asked, "There's something going on with the drones, and I was wondering..."

"We're not alone out here," the queen answered. "I've already sent a messenger to Zarris and Shadow Talon to warn of the possible threat, and considering changelings are not fans of water, I doubt it's some long lost hive. A link approaches from the sea, Gleam."

"Do you think the Nightmare's discovered us, Din?" Cadance asked, not looking away from the horizon.

The queen shook her head.
"I don't think she knows the specifics, but she may have an idea. The last batch of drones that were sent out here, they were a multitude of things. Anger, fear, despair, and so much hunger. But these, these are empty of everything. I don't know what it is we will be facing, but we must prepare for conflict."
"Gleam, tomorrow things will begin," the large changeling said to the unicorn, turning to face her. "The weak and frail of Shadow Talon will be arriving around noon. They will be directed to the newly excavated area that was being prepared for the thestrals. I know griffons don't like being underground, but we can't waste time moving them to safety when an attack could happen any moment. The open chamber should calm them a bit, at least. In the meantime, we will be shoring up defenses around Shadow Talon and preparing towers for both casters and archers. Should they be over run, we will activate the shield Shadow Weaver has been working on. It will seal the Temple for several days, and it will be up to Cimmerian to destroy the array while it holds. If that does not work... we will evacuate by digging new tunnels and escaping underground."

"But, but this is our home. You want us to just-"

"Cimmerian has asked that I keep you all safe. This entire temple could be razed for all we care, so long as the beings that live here survive. We have the ability to survive, we have the ability to rebuild; twice as fast and strong this time. That being said, we're not a few random beings lost in the woods anymore. We are a nation. I will not allow this country my mate has left me in charge of to burn on my watch. I have plenty of love; if nothing else, I can hold the barriers up myself."

"That would be dangerous, Pandinus," Cadance said from her position to the left of the queen. Tearing her gaze from the danger lurking in the distance, the alicorn looked to the shape shifter, Amare cradled in her forelegs.
"I want to, to help with this. I learned how to maintain barriers myself. I'll use a lot of energy doing so, but it would be safer for me to do it than you."

"But-"

"I'm not going to let you do this, Din," Cadance cut the queen off, "You're pregnant. That kind of strain could harm the foals."

Pandinus winced, holding a hoof over her barrel protectively. The pink alicorn smiled at the sight and continued.
"You and Cimmerian have done so much for me, I have to start helping too. This is something I can do to repay your kindness."

Pandinus chuckled, using her aura to pull the smaller mare into a hug, crushing the small proto queen between them as Din nuzzled the top of Cadance's head.
"Thank you, Cad."

"You know, most ponies would take that name as an insult," the pink alicorn said with a grin.

"Well it's a good thing you know why I find it a good name," Din replied before turning back to Gleam.
"My hive will be ready to defend the Temple to the best of our abilities. Later on today you will leave a note on the message board about the danger, and ask everyone to begin preparations for the assault, as well as moving medical supplies and a good amount of food into the storage chambers. The emotion storage rooms may be used to store your own food as well, as long as you keep it properly secured. I don't know what would become of solid food that's dropped into a pool of emotion, but I do know that food can rot. I don't want someone dropping food into a pool and not noticing."

"What about Cimmerian?" the unicorn asked hesitantly. The queen had been in a foul mood ever since her slight boost had worn off after her 'experiment' and Cadance had explained that there were unexpected side effects that had left her feeling miserable. Thus Gleam was a bit hesitant to bring up the absent alicorn.

"He should still be able to help if we need it, as the armor is still here. That would actually be something I'd like to try. The captured hives berserk after the array is destroyed, and they can't taste him when he's not physically there. The drones would attack whoever is nearby, leaving us to worry about whatever's left."
Turning back to the horizon, the large changeling continued.
"However, he needs to be able to find it, and even if I can feel him at the moment, he that won't help us, as the distance between his physical form and myself is too great. I can speak to him when he takes the armor, but I won't be able to direct him to the other hive."

"Wait, you're speaking about him as if he was a changeling, did something happen, is that the side effect Cadance was talking about?" Gleam asked, earning a glare from the pink mare.

Pandinus scowled at the alicorn still in her forelegs, but sighed after only a moment.
"No, that wasn't the side effect. Cimmer and Zelus came across something in the Everfree, a plant called poison joak. It switched their species, so now Cimmerian is a changeling and Zelus is an alicorn. From what Luna told me afterwards, Cimmerian spent most of the first day unable to speak properly as he kept activating his venom glands by accident, leaving his tongue numb," the changeling explained with a faint smile. Cadance and Gleam shared a giggle at the thought, but both looked to Din to continue her explanation.

"That's him we feel in the distance now Cadance, not Zelus," the queen said, continuing her explanation. "It's his physical mind I would be in contact with, it's through an actual mind that we communicate. His possession of the armor does not allow for me to feed off of him, nor does it allow me to communicate clearly with him in his current form."

"So you can't direct him to where you sense the danger," Gleam finished, nodding in understanding.

"Nor can he find it himself, unless he has other ways to detect the arrays. I won't send him out over the ocean to find a single ship. He could easily get turned around or get lost and then he'd be less than useless to us, and he'd have to abandon the armor in the ocean somewhere," Pandinus finished.

The queen released her grip on the pink alicorn and set her gently on the bricks beside her.
"We need to work on a transfer array for this. It will keep you supplied with love while you channel the shield. Several drones will be in the emotion chambers, consuming what you need and sending it to you. In the meantime, I am going to be flying over to Shadow Talon to oversee the preparations. I will let Luna know about this latest threat when I next see her, and she can warn Cimmerian. I have much to do."



<-(0)->



"We're nearing the port designated on the map, Your Highness. By the navigator's estimates we'll be in visual range in two days," the image of the commander said.

"Good," Queen Twilight replied. "The sooner that area is cleared, the sooner I can figure out what they did to my drones, and the sooner we can get back to purifying Equis. The changelings could be repurposed, the griffons, minotaurs, dragons, and thestrals cannot. I want that area clean of living beings by the end of the week."

The image flickered as the connection was cut, and the mare turned back to her most recent acquisition, a manic grin on her face.
"Always thought you were too good for us, didn't you? Thought you could go where ever you liked, do whatever you wanted. But now, now you'll be what my changelings cant be. I will find a way to use you, my dear friend. With your consent or without it."

From his place in a heavily warded room made completely of arcanite and crystal, the Avatar of Chaos floated lazily even as arcs of lightning kept him tethered to the ground. He cast a disinterested glance at the purple alicorn and sighed.
"What is it with you alicorns and not having any self-esteem? I mean, I heard Lulu fell to one of those things, but you, Spackle? I thought you were made of sterner stuff than that."

Recoiling at her captives knowledge, the alicorn sneered through the magical barriers.
"She fell as they all will. The Nightmares are unstoppable. I will finish the job that the first was unable to; I will see this planet destroyed."

"Well that's no fun. What if I don't want you to destroy this world? Besides, I hear there's this most interesting individual working against you now."
Discord turned to face her, head resting on his paws.
"I don't work with ponies who don't have my best interest in mind."

The mare gave him a grin that would not have been out of place on a dragon.

"I'm afraid, my dear friend, that you really don't have any choice in the matter."
> Those Who Suffer in Silence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"We're just about there, fellas," Apple Bloom called out as the group tromped through the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. "Can't wait, we haven't had company in a while. Big Mac's never been one for conversatin' an between him not really invitin' anypony over and my havin' to pick up the slack since AJ disappeared, we ain't had nopony over in a long time."

Cimmerian smiled at the mare's eagerness, though he did worry about using such a public location to rest. Needs must, however, and the farmer had even promised to whip them up a cure for the poison joke that they could take with them. That had been helpful, considering they weren't quite done with the Everfree just yet.
"Hey Bloom, is there any way to replicate the effects of poison joke at a later time? Or is it random every time one is afflicted by it?"

The yellow mare thought deeply for a few moments before answering.
"Ah don't rightly know, Mr Cimmerian. Most ponies don't look to gettin' another cursin' at the hooves of poison joak. Ah'll ask Zecora next time I see her, but Ah do know how to whip up a smoke bomb usin' poison joak leaves. Pinkie and Dash asked Zecora for some for prankin' a long while ago, and it was one of the first things Ah mixed up for anypony. They got in lotsa' trouble though, and Ah did too once Applejack figured out Ah was the one who made the powder.
"Ah just gotta ask though, why didn't ya seem too shocked about the bunnies?"

"I was, Bloom," the changeling replied. "But I've also been through quite a few shocks since I started helping out. I don't think I'm immune to shocks, but I'm almost to the point where I just kind of go along with whatever shows up. I mean by our recollection, magic didn't exist last year. Now it's one of the fundamental forces of the world I live in. I'm married to an egg-laying emotivore, I've personally killed a snake longer than a bus, I got drunk sharing drinks with a dragon, we had our species altered because of some weird pollen, and I talk to immortal demi-god ponies in my dreams. Weird is par for the course at this point."

The group slowed a bit, noticing they were coming out of the forest and that the ambient temperature was dropping sharply, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo continued on their path. The farmer called over her shoulder to them, telling them there was no need for alarm.
"We're comin' up on the back of the farm now, Ain't nopony gonna bother us round this time. Oh, Ah can't wait. Ain't gotten no visitors in a long while, with AJ bein' gone and Big Mac not gettin' out much. Ah have a few friends of mah own I invite over every now and again, but Big Mac don't like us havin' parties at the farm, he's gotten kinda reclusive since he spent a few years in the Royal Guard."

After only a few moments exposed to the cold, Cimmerian found himself shivering, or at least attempting to. His new form wasn't equipped with the proper muscles, leaving him spasming painfully every few moments.
"Dammit, this is w-w-worse than I expected. Z-zelus, allow us to wield thy brac-c-cers."

The alicorn took a quick look at him before her eyes widened, looking around her at the gathering snow and likely realizing it wasn't effecting her at all. She dropped her bag and dug out her bracers, helping the stallion snap them on and activating them with her own magic, seeing as how her magic pool now regenerated without feeding on emotions.

"Something wrong?" Scootaloo asked, noticing the group had stopped.

"Changelings can't shiver. I'm sorry, Cimmerian, I should have noticed," Zelus responded, holding the shape shifter against her barrel as he'd done for her on the ship. "We can replicate the visual cues, pretending we're shivering, but for the most part we either burn emotion to keep going in the cold, or we hibernate through it. Since shivering is instinctive for most races though, he's trying to shiver with muscles that aren't there. It's causing the muscle-spasms." Almost as if in response Cimmerian began seizing again, his body shuddering uselessly every now and again.

After a minute the bracers and proximity to the alicorn mare began to have a noticeable effect and his body temperature finally began to approach comfortable levels.
"Okay. I, I think I'm good now. Thanks Zel."

The group approached the farmhouse, a few lights on the house showing it was occupied. Apple Bloom smiled widely, turning to face the group while walking backwards.
"Looks like Big Mac's home. Ah'm gonna let him know ya'll are comin so he don't get too much of a shock, kay?"
With that, the mare took off, easily plowing through the light dusting of snow and rushing up to the door, kicking the snow off of her hooves before running inside and shouting for her brother. The rest of the group slowly came up to the farmhouse, arriving at the porch just as the red farming stallion walked out the door. He took one quick look over the group before turning around and slamming the door shut, leaving Apple Bloom outside with everyone else.

"Big Mac? Macintosh, you get yer flank out here!" Apple Bloom shouted. "You know well as Ah do we don't turn away guests. Open the door and at least let us in outa the cold!"

The door peeked open, the farmer sticking his head out just enough to glare at his little sister for a moment before turning his glare to the orange pegasus. 
"Don't deal with monsters, carnivores, or traitors. Git off mah farm. You too Bloom, maybe yer new friends can give ya a new place to stay."

"AJ'd sock ya for sayin' that an' you know it!" the yellow farm mare growled while pointing an accusing hoof at him.

Big Mac narrowed his eyes at her for the comment.
"Well AJ's gone, and she ain't comin back. Farm's all Ah got left of 'em, so Ah ain't gonna let nopony take it from me."

"I think your sister would be a bit upset that you buried her without a body," Cimmerian cut in, realizing they were speaking of the orange mare from the Elements of Harmony. "We're actually in the area to find out where she's being held."

"Ain't nopony in the area got the power or ponies to keep those mares squirreled away for this many years. Besides that, we got family all over the place, we'da heard sumthin' on her by now."

"Big Mac, this is Cimmerian," the yellow mare introduced. "He's supposed to be an alicorn right now, but he's had a run in with poison joak. He's linked ta Luna, and he's the reason ponies started dreamin' again. He saw her, Big Mac. He spoke to her, and Scoots got ta speak to Dash."

"They're still young, like they haven't aged a day since they disappeared," Scootaloo added. "Luna said Queen Twilight cast some sort of petrification spell on them, and they're being used to keep the princesses sealed away."

"That's not true. Twalight told the guard the changelin's did something to her an' the others. That's why we were checkin' all the hives."

"So what happened after you checked the hives?" Zelus asked dangerously. "What happened to the changelings that you broke from their hives, to the eggs and queens and nymphs?"

"Dunno, was too busy lookin' fer any sign of missin' ponies to really care," the farmer replied without missing a beat. "Found a bunch of em, some had been missin' fer years. Others we had no idea were gone. Never found AJ or her friends though."

"Well, it's likely you never found her because she never left Equestria," Cimmerian said, a slight smile on his face. "I know the dream originated from this area, so she's gotta be in the neighborhood. I'll be getting a better idea tonight. Scootaloo, while I'm working on that, do you think you can take care of something for me? I was going to do it, but with the cold, we do not believe I could manage it even if we did figure out shape shifting."

Scootaloo nodded.
"Probably. I can take care of it in the morning, if nothing else."

The big red stallion looked over the large changeling for a few moments, as if weighing his word against his form before nodding.
"You prove to me you can find mah sister, and I'll give ya whatever help ya need. Give me the run-around though, and Ah'll plant ya in the western fields."

Zelus chuckled at the threat, knowing the stallion would likely get his flank hoofed to him on a platter. Between herself, the guards, and Cimmerian's own power, there wasn't much the earth pony could do to lay out the changeling. Still, with an uneasy truce worked out the group moved into the farmhouse. Apple Bloom immediately appropriated the thestrals and Scootaloo to help her prepare a decent meal, while everyone else warmed up in the living room.

Cimmerian sat as close to the fire as he dared. Even with the bracers, a blanket, the fire, and the alicorn sitting beside him, he'd have sworn he'd never be warm again.
'I'm never dismissing changelings' complaints about cold again.'



<-(0)->



Luna was passing through the dream realm, a grin on her ethereal muzzle. Pony dreams, the dreams of her ponies once more accessible to the lunar princess. She flitted her and there, calming nightmares and enhancing already wonderful dreams to be truly memorable. She had no idea how long it would last, or if it would disappear the moment Cimmerian left the area.

'I suppose I should enjoy this, but I must be cautious. Ponies speaking of my appearance in their dreams will only exacerbate Twilight's instability. More so than the return of dreams, at least.'

Flitting hither and thither, the mare reveled in the large number of dreams, even spotting her sisters before the white alicorn left to attempt some dream walking of her own. With so many in close proximity, she could practice much more easily. Her decrease in power would also leave Celestia less likely to burst the dreams when she attempted to enter them.

An oddity soon grabbed the lunar princess' attention, a dream-orb that simply wasn't. She slowly circled the dream, wondering just what it could be when it suddenly started pulling her towards it. With a soundless yelp Luna was sucked into the dream, leaving her floating in an endless white space.

"Who's there?" she challenged, attempting to get her bearings. "Show yourself!"

"Well, it's good to see you too, Little Lu," a voice from behind her answered, causing the mare to jump with a squeak. Turning, she found herself muzzle to muzzle with the avatar of chaos. Discord took out a measuring tape, taking the measurements of her eye and then the bottom of a hoof, tutting as he checked the numbers in a notepad.
"I seem to remember you being a bit larger than this the last time we met, Luna. What happened, has your sister been eating your portions as well now? I told you she was getting bad."

"Discord? Wha-when did you return to Equis? I was told you were traveling beyond the veil!"

"Oh I was, so much to see out there, it was a real eye opener," Discord said, pulling out a photograph of himself and a strange, many eyed and betentacled creature. Luna cocked her head, attempting to decipher how the draconequus had taken the picture so accurately before it was replaced by yet another, this one of Discord sunning himself on a world that had four suns. All around him were molten pools of various materials. He seemed to be enjoying it, even if he looked a bit, yellowed with pink spots?

"Zantrox Seven, four suns all circling each other, leaving all the planets in the area absolutely inhospitable. But you know my favorite part? There was civilization there! It wasn't native, but some creatures had figured out how to mine the cooler side of the planet. Oh, the technological marvels that race created. It was a shame about the flesh-eating parasites that wiped them out, though. I had to learn about them from a little robot they left behind, 666 Devil's Advocate. Charming fellow, if a bit out there. Just between you and I though, I think he was a tad insane.
"Oh, and the fungal gardens of Se'Percian Alpha, absolutely stunning. Of course, the spores kind of grew out of control, so nothing goes there at all anymore," Discord explained, a small picture that seemed to be mostly covered in black spots. What was visible though, were large mushrooms and fungal stalks larger than mountains.

"Ah, it was wonderful, each world home or unwilling host to its own brand of chaos. Even met a few other multi-dimensional beings. One chap invited me along for a visit to one of his favorite spots, a restaurant at the end of the known universe? Of course, it was their own universe, and some time travel was involved, but still, to watch it all just disappear in a flash of light...I don't know, I don't think I liked that part. The soup was fabulous, though. Can't say enough about it."

Tossing the album of photos away, chaos reclined in the void, stretching his arms and yawning unrealistically wide, causing the mare to flinch as his jaw slowly stretched to envelope most of his face.
"Still, it seems that you and yours haven't been without their own brand of chaos. I come home to find things all a mess, and I wasn't the one to cause it. Do you know what that does for my self-image, Luna? Absolutely destroys it! I mean, Sparkle-butt has done more to damage this world in a few years than I managed at my release, and I'm suppsed to be the Avatar of Chaos, the Duke of Diversity, the Viceroy of Variation, the-"

Luna rolled her eyes at his titles.
"I understand, Discord. Twilight is not herself though, she has been-"

"Taken over by a Nightmare, yada-yada. I know, I could tell the moment I looked at her," Discord said, waving a paw dismissively.
"Truly Luna, I messed with ponies' heads often enough to know about how they work. I've been able to read most of them like open books for centuries; how do you think I can twist them so accurately? The Nightmares though, they're a tricky bunch. There are a few races out there that have actually managed to hunt them down and destroy them, even warding their veil against further intrusions by the little ear-worms. My big question though, is if you already knew they were out there, why didn't you act before this? Aren't you and Tia supposed to be the responsible ones?"

The alicorn looked away in shame.
"My sister and I, we wanted nothing more than to forget about the incident. We know now that this was foolish, but by the time it was made apparent to us, it was too late to act."

"Made apparent..." the draconequus repeated with a raised eyebrow, "You didn't even notice on your own, did you? You and your sister, one of whom knew this pony her whole life, who practically raised her, needed someone else to tell you there was something wrong with her.
"I'm sorry Luna. You and your sister usually get top marks for intentions, but this time, I'm afraid I have to fail you on perception," Discord said, handing her a paper with a large F emblazoned on the front, a flowing red cape wrapped around the document.

Pulling out a rolodex, the self-proclaimed Lord of Chaos began flipping through the cards.
"So who was it? Tirek's still in Tartarus for another few centuries at least, Chrysalis, no, couldn't have been, ew, Grogar's found other things to occupy his time, heard he even started a school of his own, Sombra got vaporized a while ago..." Discord frowned as he pulled a single card out of Luna's ear and began to inspect it.
"New guy, shadows, yada yada. Oh, changeling wife, that must be interesting. Shape-shifters can be a real hoot in the hay. Currently living in the Temple, well at least someone found a use for that old place. Used to be dedicated to me, you know. I think there were a few hidden rooms in the area, I even left them with a few gifts, though your sister destroyed most of them. Then the Nightmare cultists decided to use it, I think. Those guys were truer to the Nightmare than they realize. Didn't do a lick of work themselves."

The misshapen creature walked casually around Luna, tossing cards left and right as he skimmed through the information.
"Original species, human? Oh, I think I saw a few of those in my travels. Odd little things, most didn't have much in the way of magic, but by chaos are they fun to watch. Did you know they're the only species I came across that developed crystal matrices to allow for magic spells even among the magically inept? Even someone devoid of magic could use basic spells that way. Spent forty years in, ouch. That must have been less than, no never mind, he likely doesn't remember much of it. I know my own frame of reference was off when I became petrified. Adoring subjects, the usual hooey when it comes to alicorns ruling ponies, ooh, gnolls huh?"

"Cimmerian is currently ruling a mixed country. Gnolls, ponies, thestrals, griffons and changelings," Luna said, watching Discord warily. "Fluttershy asked him to use something to contact you, something that she was unable to reach."

"Yes, yes. The coin I gave her. I honestly thought for a while that the instructions were beyond ponies; I thought Flutters couldn't figure it out, and that's why it never called me. But no, it was because Tia's wonderful student had a mental breakdown and a Nightmare capitalized on it. She's quite clever, you know. Had a teleport trap all set up for me the moment I returned to this dimension. It drew me in like a lightning rod, plopped me right in the center of this big ol' chamber designed just for yours truly. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so used to these kinds of things. You know she's not the first to try this kind of thing, right? Starswirl spent a good decade working out the kinks that come into play when trying to contain my power as a mental exercise, never could figure it out. What hope does she have?"

"You mean she can't hold you?" Luna asked incredulously. "If she cannot contain you, why are you allowing her to hold you captive?"

"Oh, it's not that simple. Nothing ever is. You see she can keep a good chunk of my power contained, but the wards that solidify reality around me actually damage the strength of her magic barriers. It's one of those things that drove so many beings that tried to capture me to drink. The more arrays and barriers you start layering over an area, the more they start to interfere with each other; the more holes you try to plug, the more leaks you cause. I've been held in this kind of trap before, so I know the holes. But what fun is it to just walk right out of a trap? I like poking it, and I like to poke the one who made it even more. You know she came by to gloat? Oh it was adorable, a little pony princess trying to tell me how she would destroy the world, bring darkness and end all life, yada yada."

The draconequus' expression turned serious for a moment, pressing his muzzle up against Luna's own.
"I hope your friend can find a way to pull that Nightmare out of her Luna, considering she's already taken out the Elements of Harmony. I'd hate to have to smear that nerdy little librarian across the aether of the world. I like this world, and while I'm no good at the reformation and 'saving everypony' that Tia seemed to live by, I won't let this world die."

The seriousness left his expression almost as quickly as it appeared.
"Well, we're not getting anything important done besides some extra exposition, so why don't we head to the next dream?"

Before the alicorn could ask what he meant, Discord snapped his fingers, whisking the two of them away with a loud belch.



<-(0)->



"So this is how you keep track of where all the buildings in the Temple are located?" Zelus asked as she followed the stallion through the blocky corridors.

Cimmerian, able to reclaim his alicorn form in his dreams, nodded as he led the changeling queen through the replica of the Temple of the Shadows.
"It's been a big help. I can plan a bit ahead, guess as to the traffic that will be flowing through an area, decide on fortifications, and I can even see how it's all going to look ahead of time. It's been a bit help, I even taught Din the basics of the physics and block types so she can use it if she wants."

"I think I saw one of her early models," Zelus said, poking at a strange green-speckled creature. "It made no sense when I came across it in the link, but seeing this, seeing what it's supposed to be... Yea, I can see this being useful. I'll ask her for the basics as well when we get back. Maybe I'll design an obstacle course or some sort of arena."

Leaving the Temple and taking off for the West, the stallion called back to the queen.
"Come on, I want to go make sure I updated Shadow Talon before we left. Otherwise I'll have nothing to base it off of. See, we can already see the tower...from here..."

As the two came to a stop just shy of the town's border, Zelus could only stare in wonder at the strange sight before her.
"Cimmerian, why does the town look like cheese?"

The stallion quickly approached the tower, testing it with a hoof.
"Sponge...there's only one type of person who would dare turn someone else's creations into sponge."

"HAX!!" the stallion shouted, launching several televisions at a mismatched creature even as he was turning another building into sponges. Zelus stared with her jaw hanging open as the alicorn persued the creature throughout the town, soon realizing that the misshapen creature was none other than Discord.

Even as the draconequus warped in various barriers between himself and the alicorn, the stallion continued to pursue.
"You may be a hacker, but I'm the admin, bitch! I'll teach you to screw with my stuff!"

Even as the queen watched as the two took off into the distance, a smaller alicorn came flying up to Zelus.

"Have, have you seen Discord? I came across him earlier, and, and he said we would go see the next dream," Luna gasped out, "I, recognized this as being something Cimmerian used but, Discord took off before I could say anything."

Zelus merely pointed across the way to the sight of Discord zipping through the town, the dark stallion keeping pace while swinging around a large hammer that seemed to vaporize anything it came into contact with. Wincing as yet another building was removed from existence by the enraged alicorn's wild blows, Luna shouted for their attention.
"Cimmerian! I need to speak with you! Both of you!"

Cimmerian came to a sharp stop, looking back to the two mares before launching the hammer at his opponent. Discord stopped as well, looking at the two mares before looking back to his pursuer, only to get a hammer to his face for the trouble.
Both males reached the queen and the alicorn at about the same time, Cimmerian still glaring at the draconequus while Discord was pouting, a large imprint of a hammer inlaid with the word 'BAN' still highlighted on the mismatched beings face.

"We must be going. Please calm yourself, Discord is not an enemy," Luna told the dark alicorn.

"I know, but I'm still pissed he was messing with my stuff. That, and I just felt really angry when I saw him. Luna, after this, do you think you can check the seal again? I think I'm leaking a bit."

"Leaking?" Discord inquired, leaning over and peering into the alicorn's ear. Sticking most of his face into the ear, he was quickly yanked out by a still irritated Cimmerian, but ignored the glares of the stallion.
"Luna, when I said you needed to do something about those anger issues of yours, I didn't mean give them to someone else. Though you do get bonus points for creativity on this one."

Luna rolled her eyes, before addressing the other alicorn.
"I will check it after the meeting. You know who you will be bringing?"

Cimmerian nodded "Yup, got one extra on my end, AJ's older brother, but otherwise we're good to go. I should be able to pinpoint their location this time by comparing my current location versus where their dreams are."

"He can find people based on the locations of their dreams?" Discord said with feigned offense, "Hello, can you say police state?"

The dark alicorn raised a hoof while holding another over his heart.
"I promise to only use my powers for evil, I mean good."

"I like this guy." Discord stage whispered, leaning into Luna. "He's actually got a sense of humor. Welp, lets go everyone. Before we waste too much time ruining Cimmerians cruddy replica of his own house."

Once more the draconequus snapped his fingers, and once more the entire group was pulled into another dream.

Once Cimmerian's vision cleared, he found himself staring at the house that Pinkie was using to host the other element bearers, while a confused Celestia looked about wildly and gibbered nonsensically at her unexpected displacement to his left. Rolling his eyes, the stallion picked up the pony princess and followed after the slithering form of Discord as the reality warper rang the doorbell. The door soon swung open, the cheerful expression on Pinkie's face soon dropping as she took in the sight of the draconequus. The mare glared for some reason, stomping right up to Discord with no fear and pointing down by her hooves. With a sigh and crossing his arms, Discord floated down to her level and Cimmerian fully expected the mare to begin chewing him out for not showing up sooner. To both their surprise though, Pinkie grappled Discord in a fierce hug, giggling and nuzzling into his chest.

"Dissy! Why didn't you send me a letter? We missed you, and nopony knew where you disappeared to!" Pinkie shouted, the smile back on her face.

"Well, trans-dimensional postage is horrendous, my dear," Discord answered nonchalantly "Not to mention you never know if the mailman actually knows how to reach the address you wrote down. That and the whole point of the trip was to wander around. I really didn't know where I was going most of the time."

The mare nodded in understanding, opening the door for her guests "That's okay, I hear the reliability gets worse the farther from the Source you get. Eventually it just gets so bad that the Outsiders deliver it, just to throw off the numbers. They probably read your mail, though, so I wouldn't send it that way either."

The large group soon entered into the building, following the pink mare into the living room once more, though the room was about twice the size as before. Even as family rushed to see loved ones once more, Cimmerian pulled Pinkie Pie aside for a moment.
"How did you know we were visiting tonight?"

"Well, my tail itched, then my nose wiggled, or at least tried to, then the voices in my head started singing the pony pokey. That means a family reunion, and since I knew that would mean more ponies, I expanded the room a bit," Pinkie answered with a smile.

Cimmerian frowned at the mare, gripping her head between his hooves to her confusion. He stared at her for a few moments before nodding.
"You're hurting yourself doing this. Pinkie, I know you like to help, but you need to take a break."

"What are you talking about, Cimmy? I'm fine, I mean-"

"Pinkie, I can feel you straining from here. Three minutes and we're leaving," he told her.

"No, no you can't. We, I can't do this anymore. I can't be alone like this anymore, I need this!" Pinkie sobbed, her mane deflating. Before she could continue, Discord was in front of her, having noticed the alicorn's inspection.

"Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie," the draconequus tutted, "I thought you knew better than to do that to yourself. If you needed the extra help holding the ponies here, you should just say so. Luna, Cimmerian, Tia or myself would be happy to help take the weight off of your mind."

With a quick tap on her forehead, the pink party pony seemed to relax, her form going limp in Discords paws. Picking her up, he floated out the doorway, calling to them that he'd return shortly.

"I cannot believe I didn't think of such a thing," Luna muttered darkly from beside Cimmerian. "I'm supposed to be the one who understands dreams. I feel like a little filly, having my ponies discomfort discovered by other beings."

"Well, technically it was your abilities that spotted it, remember? I just tend to rely on them a bit when around individuals I don't know. Helps me read them easier. You've also been kind of starved for interaction, and Pinkie was trying to hide her discomfort from everyone."

Looking about the room once more, the conversations much more reserved without Pinkie's constant zipping about the room, he turned back to Luna.
"I'll try to get them out of this in the next few days. From what I can tell, they're about where my, where your old castle was. It's pretty out of the way, and the rabbits said there was something out there guarding it now. It's likely Queen Twilight is following the bad-guy handbook here and has them guarded by some monster, the question is what is it and how difficult will it be to defeat."

Luna nodded.
"I will teach you how to dispel the petrification after the party. After that, it will be putting the multiple-target teleport to use. You have been practicing it, correct?"

"Yeah, I have. I think I've got it down pat, but I'm going to use an anchor point for this and leave them as statues. That way I don't have to worry about them fidgeting while I'm casting, and Zelus can make sure they don't tip over after the teleport."
Watching the changeling queen arguing with Rainbow dash over who went next on the game system, Cimmerian chuckled.
"We're likely going to have to use the antidote for the poison joak once we reach the Castle. I need to be at my best; we all do, so I'll be hitting Apple Bloom up for that tomorrow morning. While we're working on that, Scootaloo is going to take my list over to the town hall. I want to know if there's been missing persons posters put out for the kids. Even if I can't get them home, or let the parents know they're okay, I can tell the kids their parents are still looking, or worse case scenario, I'll adopt them. Most of them already call me father or daddy, so I may as well go the extra mile for them."

"What of your apprehension with beginning a family here?" Luna asked with a sly smile. The stallion shoved her while wearing a grin of his own.

"I think that idea went out the door when I ended up giving Din exactly what she'd been asking for. She's showing now, you know. Scared her to death when she realized she wasn't going to lay these like she normally does."

"I am well aware of that. She was screaming at me when I visited her dreams one of those first nights. She's calmed since then obviously, but she misses you quite a bit. They all do," leaning against the larger alicorn, Luna sighed.
"Be careful Cimmerian. Do what you can to rescue us, but please put our ponies first. The girls deserve more than they've received in their lives. They're heroes, and most of their world is now beyond them. Life has passed them by; I fear what may become of them if they are left to fend for themselves."

"I know, Luna. It's a common motto back home, 'Leave no man behind.' Or mare, in this case." The stallion said with a chuckle.


> Pandinus Discovers Pranks and Cimmerian Embraces His Feminine Side
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"You're certain you have it?" Luna asked the larger alicorn for the sixth time. "If something were to happen to me during this attempt, Cimmerian, it could take you years to learn it yourself. The texts are in the vault in Canterlot, you will not find them elsewhere, at least not legally."

Cimmerian chuckled at the small mare's constant need for reassurance.
"I think the legality of the method through which I learn the spells is of lesser importance than my knowing them in the first place, Luna. Besides, I have the arrays tucked away in my mental drawer, I've practiced it for half an hour, I'll try it a few times before we head out, and I'll double check everything before I do it. If I have to, I'll levitate the girls out myself so I can cast the anti-petrification spell in peace."

"Very well. We're all trusting you with this Cimmerian. I can guarantee that if you pull this off, this nightmare will be less than pleased. She will likely begin to act out even more. I would say use caution, but you sometimes act more paranoid than I do. You're certain you don't want me to tell anyone?" Luna asked him, looking over to the now mixed group of ponies talking in somber tones about the changes that had occurred since the disappearance of the five mares.

"I am. If something happens and I can't reach them, I may need to try again later. You have a direct line to me, but they don't. They can't ask me or my guards our progress, or when the next attempt will be. Their biggest enemy right now is time, time spent thinking about this," the stallion's gaze wandered towards the doorway momentarily. "Discord's going to help Pinkie out so she won't be hurting herself trying to keep everyone sane, but I don't want them counting down the days till the next attempt, especially from the first shot."

Luna sighed in defeat.
"It makes sense, and my sister isn't doing very well either. She's living for these moments right now, you know. She needs her ponies more than they need her sometimes. At the end of the day, if my sister and I were to disappear off the face of Equestria, unicorns can move the sun and the moon. When we're separated from our ponies though; well, you know firsthoof what happened to me."

"We'll be taking off later on. Apple Bloom will have the antidotes after breakfast, or so she tells me. After that we'll head back into the Everfree. We'll take them once we reach the source, I think it's our-sorry, your old castle. The rabbits at Shy's house mentioned something guarding her, so I know they're not being held too far," Cimmerian explained, his face lighting up with an idea. "Worst case, I could even ask if one of those rabbits could take us to where they're being held."

The smaller alicorn nodded, a crashing sound drawing their attention to the television as once more, a changeling queen was dragged into a fight with Rainbow Dash. The two trotted over, each grabbing a tail and separating the participants.

"I think we're going to be heading out, Luna. I'll see you later. I'm going to relax a bit."
With that, he walked out the door, Zelus following shortly after swearing vengeance on the polychromatic pegasus.

Catching her sister's attention, Luna made her own departure apparent.
"Tia, I'm going to be visiting Pandinus. Is there anything you'd like me to pass to Cadance?"

"Just my love and my hope that I see her before too long, sister," the white mare responded. "I think I'm going to stay here for as long as I can."

With a flicker of her limited power, Luna left the dream, moving across the dream realm with practiced ease and slipping into the changeling queen's meditation dreamscape. She watched for a few moments, allowing the larger mare to notice her on her own so as to not spook her. Luna had made that mistake once, and it had been less than pleasant.

The queen opened her eyes, looking in Luna' direction without her stony expression changing.
"Luna. I was hoping to see you. Things are happening. Just this morning before the sun even rose my hive detected another hive approaching from the sea."

"The nightmare's forces?" Luna asked with worry.

Pandinus nodded. "I'm going to assume so. We're already preparing, but they'll be within flying range in about a day or two, depending on the weather. I have the pegasi working to send harsh winds against them, and we're fortifying everything we can in preparation for the assault. I even sent word to Cimmerian's friend Sahkest. I don't know how he feels about changelings at the moment or what he expects from Equestrian forces, but my drones say he's currently preparing for the worst. The Talons are also making preparations, setting up both fortifications and ambush points fully stocked with both rations and the wards. They've started inscribing those wards into the buildings to see if that helps, but I don't know if it will. We'll have to see.
"In the meantime, we're moving those that won't be able to fight into the tunnels. Cadance has basically demanded that I stay down here as well, but I don't know if I can. Your niece has volunteered to hold the shield should things go badly at Shadowtalon. If that happens, we're going to need Cimmerian to destroy the array. If they push us that far, I've no doubt they'll make landfall. He should have no issue finding their boat and destroying the array."

"He's approaching the area where the Elements of Harmony are being held. We also believe the nightmare is keeping Tia and I nearby, so the power isn't being piped too far. If he's correct, and we're in the old castle in the Everfree, they could be there by dawn your time."
Luna frowned, searching the room for her niece.
"Where's Cadance?"

"Finishing up her practice with Amare, then she'll be reviewing shield spells. I have them spending at least an hour each day swapping with each other, and they can only stop if they spend at least half an hour of that time without a non-changeling realizing they've switched places. It's excellent practice, and it teaches Cadance misdirection and coming to a friends aid by either distracting the suspicious party, or by solidifying the other's cover story," Din said with a grin. "After all, Cadance's speech is much more practiced than Amare's, so there's a big difference if you listen to them for extended periods."

"Thus Cadance learns to keep her charge moving, or distracting those who may question why she's not speaking," Luna nodded in understanding. "She's okay with learning this?"

"With the array etched into her cheek, she's accepted that she may never be rid of the link, so she asked to learn about us. I'm, flattered really, but there isn't much to teach besides our infiltration techniques, so that is what I'm giving her. All of it, including the things my mother told me. It puts her into the proper mindset, allows her to understand us better I think. If she were a changeling, she'd make a proto queen I'd be proud to raise."

The alicorn winced at the statement.
"I don't know how Tia would feel about that, but Cadance is aware enough of her situation to make her own decisions, I suppose."

"If Cimmerian manages to make his move without causing too much of a stir, ask him to go back and agitate the nightmare. At the very least, there's a chance she'll recall her forces to attempt to deal with him," the shape shifter explained. "He's moving fast though, so he should be fine."

"Possibly, but the Element Bearers may be weak after their imprisonment," Luna countered. "I know my sister and I will be, and we're alicorns. The process will not be pleasant no matter what comes of these engagements."

"Yes, well we'll deal with it as it comes," the queen said, waving a hoof almost dismissively before blinking. "Now he's got me doing it. Speaking of him, I would like to talk to Cimmerian and warn him of the coming troubles. Could you take me to him? I'm already in my chambers for the night."

"Yes, though he said he was retiring for the night. I don't know why, but sometimes he just lays about in the dream realm. It's not like he can sleep in dreams," Luna muttered with a huff. "Let's go, I wish to ask him why he does that now."



<-(0)-> 



Pandinus found the stallion in his usual location, an alien beach before an alien sunset, the gentle sound of alien waves drawing her eyes to an alien ocean. The differences were enough to give her pause though. Instead of just reclining in the sand as he had the first few times, Cimmerian seemed to have created a comfortable beach blanket to relax on, dozing peacefully. Second was a bit more, well worrying wasn't the word she was thinking of, it was just odd considering his earlier objections.

"Don't say a word," Zelus muttered, the stallion currently wrapped around her barrel, his muzzle in her neck. Din giggled, knowing that the alicorn tended to find himself in the same position he was actually sleeping in if he wasn't paying attention. She'd woken from these dreams several times to find the two of them in the exact same position she'd seen before waking up, and knew that Cimmerian likely had just as good a grip on Zelus in the real world as he did here.

"Why, whatever do you mean Zelly?" Din asked, her fanged grin leaving her intentions clear.

"He keeps getting closer to me every time I push him away; I think it has to do with body heat," Zelus explained with a scowl. "I know I did it when I was the changeling so, so I stopped pushing him away. I argued for being able to keep warm, so I'm not going to leave him cold. Wasn't that the whole thing with you and your 'golden rule'? He won't be able to push me away now, not after he does the same blasted thing."

"I actually came here to warn you that something's approaching the hive. It's about a day out, give or take the bad weather we've been sending its way to keep it busy. I suppose you'll have to give him the information when he wakes. It's about that time anyway, isn't it Luna? Yes, just about morning over there. I know just how to wake up Cimmerian, as well," Din said while circling the two like a shark. Zelus shifted uncomfortably, trying to keep the other queen in her sight. "He tends to take the same position in the waking world when he dozes like this, you know. So he's likely wrapped just as tightly around your currently warm body as he is here."
Coming up behind the stallion with a giggle, she whispered over him to her hive-sister.
"And you know what? He feels things the same here as well." She said, giving a nip just under the stallions jaw before trailing a line of nips down his neck.

"Din? Din, what are you doing?" Zelus asked, her voice tinted with confusion and worry.

"Just something to wake him up," the ashen queen replied, moving on to nibble lightly on her mate's wing. Before Zelus could demand her hive-sister stop the stallion shifted, nibbling on her own neck and drawing a squeak from the blue-striped changeling. Cimmerian began shifting more as Pandinus continued to play with his wings, eventually beginning to trail his own nips and kisses up his captives neck. With one last squeak of confusion, Zelus found herself the target of a powerful kiss, just as Cimmerian opened his eyes.
The desire in his eyes quickly shifted to confusion as he found himself staring not into the orbs of his wife, but the very confused eyes of the other changeling queen. His confusion quickly shifted over to shock, the dream shattering as the two shoved away from each other, leaving the echoing cackles of Luna and Pandinus ringing in their ears.







The two large equines were tripping over each other, attempting to untangle themselves in a hurry. Zelus was no help either, her new alicorn wings splayed in shock and refusing to heed her commands. Eventually the two separated, just as the griffons and thestrals were waking up to see what the commotion was about. The guards quickly left though, all bearing red faces once they saw the condition of the part of the barn Zelus and Cimmerian were using.

"Oh, I'm going to have words with her," Cimmerian muttered, walking awkwardly after his wife's ministrations. "You okay, Zelus?"

"I, I think so," the mare replied awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably. "You're the one who knows how ponies work, right? Is there, is there any way to uh, to turn it off?"

The stallion frowned, looking over to the alicorn.
"Turn what off?"



<-(0)-> 



An hour and two cold showers later, the group was eating breakfast with the apples. Cimmerian was nibbling on a pancake, muttering darkly about not being able to fully enjoy it, while Zelus was still staring off into space as she mechanically filled her own gut. The sensations that had filled her earlier were confusing to say the least. She'd been with males before, but her current body seemed to have different rules for its functions. For one, she knew it wasn't ready to lay- no, it was a pony body, so it would be a pregnancy. She knew it wasn't ready for that, so its desire for male contact was pointless.
The stallions instructions of 'Don't think about sex' were both frustrating and effective. The moment she tried recalling previous times she'd stolen love or seed, her body heated up once more, even during her plunge into a nearby river as suggested by Apple Bloom (the Apple family's shower just couldn't produce a temperature low enough to effect her). Even worse, just thinking about these oddities seemed to cause her to warm up, her cheeks flushing and her heart speeding up if she spent too long pondering such things.

'I miss my control. I never had this issue as a queen,' the mare lamented. She had been avoiding looking at any of the males in the room for the entirety of the meal, leaving several confused as to why.

"Luna brought Pandinus, my wife, to my dream last night. I feel better if I zone out for an hour or two each night, let my mind process what's been happening, so I didn't notice them. I forgot to let Zelus leave my dream though, so I curled up with her because she's warm. Din messed with me, and let nature do the rest."

'Messed with, yes, that's a good way to describe what happened last night, as I was laying in bed, wrapped in the hooves of-'
"Excuse me," Zelus stated, jumping up and rushing out the door. For the sixth time that morning, she cursed her sister's prank. The second the yellow farm mare finished those antidotes, she was taking one. For now, though, she had a date with a half-frozen river.







"What's wrong with Zelus?" Scootaloo asked as the queen shot out the door.

"She's trying to understand a weird body that works differently. It's the same kind of issue that means that I can't just start scarfing down pancakes. I'll have to hack this stuff up later, if what she told me is correct. I've been feeling kind of bloated since I was changed, and Zelus said the next time we're in the forest, I'm going to have to puke out everything I've eaten so far. I can't digest it properly, just turn it into that gel that changelings use," Cimmerian explained, looking at his plate with a forlorn expression. "I like food too much to be a changeling. The not being hungry thing is cool, but I think that's because I have such a following in both Silver City and the Temple. I can almost feel it from here, and I'm not really that hungry as a result.
"This sucks, it smells delicious. I'm probably going to gorge when I get back home."

"The potion will be done settlin' in about twenty minutes. Ya could save some pancakes till then," Apple Bloom offered with a smile.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to change back while feeling so bloated like this. I don't know how the rules work, but I want to do that on an empty stomach," the changeling explained, before gaining a curious smile. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to know how to projectile vomit, I wonder how accurate I can get."

"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat," Crescent shouted from across the table, her grey fur looking slightly green.

"No, not at all," Cimmerian responded quickly, earning a few groans of irritation.

"Ya could use the sink or the bathroom, spit it out there." Big Mac offered with a cautious smile.

The large farmer's mood had done a complete 180 from the previous night, and Cimmerian had even caught him whistling a few times. Still, Cimmerian had no desire to ruin his mood like that.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. Changelings can get a lot of force behind their, uh, spit. Seeing as I've never done this before, I don't want to end up shattering your sink or toilet. Bad manners, destroying your hosts bathroom, ya know?"

Big Mac's eyes widened at the thought, giving the changeling a thankful nod for thinking about such things. The rest of the group soon finished, the thestrals and griffons all giving the Apples well deserved praise. Scootaloo merely belched loudly, rubbing her stomach with a hoof and congratulating her friend on doing the one thing the other two of their group had never been good at; cooking.

"You shoulda seen it, Cimmerian. Rarity's sis, Sweetie Belle, could burn anything. I think she burned orange juice once. I don't know how, considering all she had to do was pour it from a container," Scootaloo told him, the two friends cracking up at their friends lack of culinary skill.

"Ah swear, Ah used to think she'd grow outa it. She even married a chef, an Ah thought he'd be able to teach her how ta do better. Last Ah heard, she wasn't allowed inta the kitchen anymore on account o' her meltin' four of his favorite pots," Apple Bloom said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Ah remember tryin' ta teach her a few things, an' Ah just ended up throwin' mah hooves up in frustration. She just don't pay no attention when food's involved."

The table was cleared soon afterwards, and Apple Bloom left to retrieve her potions from her personal alchemy lab. The group gathered their things, Big Mac even offering Cimmerian a few pancakes to take on the road for once he returned to his original form. After refusing about four times, he grudgingly accepted the gift and tucked it away. Trixie, despite his objections, immediately consumed her antidote, returning to her hybrid form and resulting in a gasp of shock from the red-coated farmer. Zelus grabbed one as soon as she saw it from her place in the doorway, chugging the potion and wincing as her fur all fell out, leaving a slowly dissipating pile of fur all around her. Not being as put out by his transformation as the others, Cimmerian winced as the queen and the mare began chattering through the link, their voices ringing inside his head even though their lips never moved. Holding a hoof to his temple, the stallion took the last potion, drinking it while pointedly ignoring the put upon expression of Apple Bloom.

"Ah thought ya said it didn't bother ya that much, and that ya were gonna use 'em when ya got to the Castle," the farmer asked, gathering the empty flasks for cleaning and reuse.

"That was before I had two other voices rattling around in my head," the once again alicorn said as he massaged his temple with a hoof. "My ego takes up quite enough space in my head, I don't have room for anyone else."
Pulling off the last piece of chitin, he inspected his once more warm-blooded form. Nothing seemed out of place, no second or third right foreleg or extra horn jutting out of a random place on his back or sides. He sighed in relief, turning back to Apple Bloom.
"Thanks. Sorry about-hurk!"

Cimmerian rushed out the door, barely clearing the porch before he exploded a large stream of green changeling goo all over the front lawn.



<-(0)-> 



A strange gurgling noise once more echoed through the group, Zelus wincing as her insides churned.

"You sure you're okay Zelly?" Cimmerian asked, watching the queen hobble slightly as she curled around her aching insides. She stepped into the bushes once more, making unpleasant hacking noises as she attempted to empty her body of the stray bits of food that had become trapped when she returned to her birth-form.

"Zelus says she will be fine once she vacates the remainders of the accursed pancakes that she had enjoyed an hour ago," Trixie answered from the alicorn's back. "She will likely be finished soon, as she can only feel two or three more bits hiding amongst her innards."

"Ah didn't realize it would cause the two of ya so much discomfort. Ah'm awful sorry 'bout that."

A weak looking queen soon exited the bushes, waving a dismissive hoof in the mare's direction before returning to her place in the line.

"Zelus does not hold you accountable, she merely has found even more reason to hate that cursed blue flower," the blue unicorn translated once more. "She also is thankful for the wonderful job Trixie does of relaying her messages with Trixie's much more commanding voice."

"We're all thankful for that, but if Trixie keeps shouting in my ear, she's going to find Cimmerian forgetting to properly secure her to his back, possibly resulting in her face getting dragged through the muck," the alicorn countered, turning to face her. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"You wouldn't!" the blue unicorn shouted in shock.

"Uh oh, I think something's wrong with the rope. Gosh darn it Apple Bloom, I thought you said this stuff was the good, sturdy type of rope." Cimmerian said as his horn glowed. The unicorn on his back began slowly listing to the right before slipping off, only held by the ropes. She continued to drift closer and closer to the ground until her muzzle was being tickled by the grass.

"Trixie yields, she yields!" The mare shouted, hooves flailing and attempting to keep her face out of the mud.

The glow around the ropes intensified, this time including the mare and pulling her back to her original position, the ropes tying themselves tightly around her barrel once more. The blue mare huffed but otherwise remained silent, though judging by the low chuckling from Zelus she was far from silent in the link.

"So what was that thing ya asked Scoots ta take care of?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I asked her to check on some missing person notices. I've got four ki-foals in the Temple. Rose mentions her dad every now and again, but otherwise the others don't really talk about their families, even to Cadance. I want to know what's up with them, if they have family looking for them, that kind of thing. Shadow Weaver mentioned the expedition being less than a year ago, but I don't know how long they had the kids. I can't bring the kids back to Equestria just yet, not with how much they've seen and how much they know about the Temple; they'd be a tempting target for the Royal Army, not to mention how dangerous it would be to get them through the borders," Cimmerian explained, slowing down as the group approached a whispering river.

"Oh. Ah, Ah didn't realize ya had some foals over there." the farmer responded softly.

"It's not just the one's the cultists found or took, though," Crescent responded, looking back to the yellow mare.	"I've heard several of the herds are expecting foals soon, and some of the griffons are looking to settle down and start their own families. Even Queen Pandinus was beginning to show before we left, so the changeling's numbers were set to increase a bit before we left as well. Really, the only things we don't have at the Temple is minotaurs and dragons."

Just before the group could move to clear the river, Cimmerian moving to pick up Apple Bloom and carry her as well, a pair of eyes were spotted looking at them from the river.
"What's this about dragons?"

The residents of the Temple all tensed up, the griffons reaching for their weapons, but Apple Bloom trotted over to the river and happily waved to the eyes.
"Mornin' mister Magnet. We're just talkin' about the place these folks were livin' at. Said the only thing they don't have at the Temple would be dahmond dogs, minotaurs and dragons."

"Oh, how nice!" the eyes responded, rising out of the river and revealing a purple scaled and, oddly enough, orange haired and mustached serpentine being. The creature then proceeded to laugh daintily while waving an arm at the mare.

"Oh it's just been years since I saw you and your friends! How are Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle doing?" the river serpent asked, leaning on the bank.

"We're doin' pretty well, Steven. Scoots is taken care o' somethin' in town for Cimmerian there, and Sweetie is in Manehatten," The farm mare informed him.

Motioning for the group to cross the river, Cimmerian approached the two, keeping a cautious eye on the large purple serpent. He slowed beside the farmer, allowing the mare to introduce him on her own time.

Seeing him out of the corner of her eye, the famer obliged.
"This here is Mister Cimmerian, Ah, sorry Cimmerian, Ah can't remember yer full name," Apple Bloom said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

"It's fine, Bloom," he said with a chuckle before turning to the serpent. "I'm Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, though I've been going by Cimmerian lately. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'd hate to interrupt your reunion, but we do have somewhere to be. Pandinus has passed on information that the Temple may be in danger later, and I may need to control the armor to help them fight off an attack. I'd like to finish this as quickly as possible."

"Yea, we're goin' ta try and free mah sister and her friends. Cimmerian says they're probly in the old Castle," Apple Bloom said, waving farewell to Steven.

"Well, don't let me stop your journey, friends. If you ever find yourselves in the area, give me a call. I'd be absolutely delighted to help you out in any capacity," the purple dragon said, diving elegantly back into the river.

Wrapping a single fetlock around the mare, Cimmerian cleared the river in a few flaps of his wings, landing lightly and releasing Apple Bloom on the other side.
"T'was an odd fellow."

"Your doing it again, alicorn," Trixie called out, chuckling.

Cimmerian growled at the mare's mirth.
"We are aware at the moment, but I'm going to have to press on despite the adversity we find bearing down upon us."

After passing through a section of the forest with strange trees and over a canyon whose bridge had collapsed due to disrepair, the group finally caught sight of their destination.

"We're almost there, keep your eyes peeled for the guardian the rabbits spoke of," Raymond whispered, jerking in shock as Cimmerian walked right past them all.

The alicorn led the way, pushing past his guards and throwing the doors open with a burst of magic. Zelus stopped the thestrals and griffons from approaching him, instead opting to carefully  take Trixie off of his back. The stallion looked around the decayed hallways, tears forming in his eyes.
"What has befallen our home?" he whispered, his voice having an odd, almost feminine tone. "Do our subjects not care for us anymore? Where is our sister? We can not feel her presence either. We-"
The alicorn jumped, almost as if seeing them for the first time.
"Wha- no, we-I know them, we're, we need to move on, need to find the Array," he muttered, shaking his head and tapping his forehead with a hoof.

Zelus cautiously approached him, keeping in his sight and keeping her head low to appear unthreatening.
"Cimmerian, if you need, we can scout the area while you rest. I'd be happy to help you reinforce those, those things Luna was checking last night."

"No, we-I need to keep moving. The longer I'm here the worse it will get. It's the magic of the Everfree playing with my head. We will move forward and free the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony before the next fall of our sister's sun. We need to move before the nightmare knows of our presence," he said, casting a few quick spells at the thestrals and griffons, their armor taking on a blue and silver tone. The changeling queen soon noticed a crescent moon glowing on her barrel, marking her as one of Luna's guard as well.
"There, that should help. No matter how I speak, follow my commands. When you're in that armor, she'll see you as allies as well. Worst case scenario, just, just remind me every now and then why we're here. We must continue."

The group walked through the courtyard, the stallion stopping every few steps to mourn another destroyed statue or to replace a knocked over table with a tender care that left the guards slightly unnerved. He seemed almost alien to what they knew of him, constantly falling back into the old Equish and muttering about days long forgotten. After finally approaching the throne room, they were stopped dead.

In the middle of the chamber was a glowing array, five statues surrounding a crown. Each statue bore a glowing amulet bearing a resemblance to the marks on the statues flanks. To either side of the array were two glowing rooms, the walls of the prisons newer than anything in the castle besides the statues. The stallion approached them, then proceeded to walk right past them, stopping before the dilapidated throne and shedding a few more tears of loss.

"F-focus, this is what we're here for. Zelus, prepare the anchor in the previous room. We, I am going to use the teleport once we are prepared," Cimmerian shouted, his voice echoing across the empty throne room.

A sound answered his echo in the distance, and the guards all went for their weapons. The alicorn wasn't having it though. With a flash of his magic, he was encased in a silver and sapphire armor, the stallion shifting and molding the armor to fit his form with pure will. With a second flash, a glowing silver longbow appeared floating in his aura, accompanied by two ornate obsidian daggers spinning around his form.
With another blast of his aura, he turned to the sound, shouting, "Thou dare trespass in our domain? Reveal thyself, cur, that we may remove thee from this plane!"

The rumbling continued to increase in volume, the beast drawing closer. It finally arrived, moving through the doorway from behind the group. The guardian lumbered into the chamber, feeling nothing but hatred for those who dared to trespass in the area he was commanded to guard. It towered over them, easily five times as tall as the alicorn and changeling queen; it's thick purple scales likely being impervious to their weapons and it's rippling muscles only wishing to aid in their deaths. The Guardian bellowed in rage, before shouting at the group.
"Mine! Not steal!"

Apple Bloom stared in horrified fascination at the creature.
"Oh stars above, it's Spike," the farmer muttered.
> Jailbreak
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	With a resounding roar that echoed through the dilapidated castle, the dragon inhaled, the licks of flame he was preparing visible to everyone in the room.

"Scatter!" Crescent shouted, only to be overridden half a second later.

"Nay, converge!" the alicorn shouted, clearing the ring of statues with a single wing-assisted leap and landing before them all. His horn ignited like a miniature sun just as the dragon exhaled.
Flames washed over the group, passing over the statues harmlessly and leaving the growth all around them blackened and scorched. The guards were unharmed however, looking up to see Cimmerian holding up a radiant shield . Turning to the others, horn still blazing with light as the dragon smashed a massive claw against the bubble, he shouted out orders.
"Begin the preparations! Zelus, you shall prepare the anchor as we have previously instructed. We shall deal with the dragon!"

"Please be careful, he's always been nice, Ah don't know why he'd do this!" Apple Bloom pleaded, drawing a nod of acknowledgement from the stallion.

"We shall endeavor to end this without mortal wounds inflicted upon the dragon. See to your duties." With that the dark alicorn released the shield in a massive shockwave, forcing the dragon off balance, Seeking to capitalize on the opening, Tedicae launched himself from his position, the floor shattering under the force of her takeoff. The alicorn struck the dragon in the chest, carrying both combatants out of the room and out of the sight of the guards.

"You heard him, clear an area for me. Let's go!" Zelus shouted at the other guards, even Apple Bloom doing her best to clear an area for the anchor. As soon as the smallest area was cleared, the queen began scrawling on the ground with her chalk, several pieces floating about her and beginning the intricate rune that would allow an easier and safer teleport.

"What was that?" a griffon asked, the thestral beside him drawing a blade and cautiously moving towards the empty doorway to the left of the entryway.

"There's a battle going on, fool, what do you think-" the queen's retort died quickly, her focus turning to the far hall that the thestral was approaching. She yanked the pony back, levitating the chalk to the Apple Bloom and Trixie.
"Take care of the anchor. Trixie knows what we need, ask her for any corrections or questions you may have. I'll take care of this."

Just as the others were about to ask what she was talking about, a single changeling drone walked slowly out of the doorway, its eyes unseeing and empty as it approached the group. Zelus struck it with a quick blow, knocking it aside even as two more stepped into the light. With a roar of challenge, the shape shifter waded into the hallway, bulldozing dozens of the slow-moving drones that were making their way to the throne room. She couldn't get all of them, not without stopping and losing her momentum, but at the very least the griffons and thestrals would only be left with a fraction of the tide to contend with. She followed the stream of bodies upriver for what felt like an hour, the constant impact of chitin hooves on chitin plates, the cracks of the bodies striking the walls or each other, or her own hooves landing heavily on the stone floors being the only sounds that reached her ears. There were so many; where were they all coming from? What supplied them with the emotion to continue functioning?
Zelus snarled again, this time more in frustration than actual anger. She pulled a nearby support pillar down in front of the tide, crushing a few drones and causing the rest to butt their heads against it mindlessly. Eventually the press of bodies would flow over the obstruction, but it would buy her time, time to find the source. Grabbing a single drone in her aura, she flew to the middle of the room, her face taking the expression of a wordless scream as she ripped into the drones mostly empty mind. She was already destroying the things left and right, she'd seen them move. There was no intellect here, no sentience behind their eyes. She tracked the link back to its source, and nearly shouted in triumph when she felt it. It was a sensation she'd feared for years, a sensation that had driven her and her hive from their land; an array crystal was nearby, holding them and forcing these half-dead drones on an endless march to their own slow death-march. 

Flying over the still flowing river of bodies, she stopped only long enough to pull down a few more pillars, doing everything she could to give the others just a little more time. After the fourth hallway, she started noticing the changelings' numbers thinning, though they were coming from several directions at this point.
'There's so many, they can't even sleep in the same room, or in the same hive-chamber. If we had the time, I'd suggest pulling back. The effort to get to the throne room and then return to their chambers would likely kill most of them. The Mad Queen won't allow a second chance at this though; she'll post actual soldiers here, or reinforce the hive by feeding it criminals or malcontents.'

Following the ever-thickening layer of black material plastered over the halls, Zelus continued to the heart of the castle's hive. She winced as an echoing crash reached her from the distance, a reminder that she wasn't the only one looking to help free the mares from their prison. A flash of rage ahead of her and to her left brought her to a sudden stop, pulling back and moving to the ceiling just as an alicorn was thrown through the castle walls. A rampaging dragon burst through the walls in hot pursuit, uncaring of the changeling drones that were trampled or crushed by his passing or the falling of stone and lumber. The queen fought her urge to follow, knowing she had her own part to play at the moment. If she could find the source of the changelings, she may be able to make it easier on the griffons and thestrals, or possibly turn the drones against the dragon.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Zelus continued down the halls, still pulling down what few remaining supports she could find along the way. A few sections of the ceiling even fell, causing even more damage to the tide as it passed by, but it was like holding a hoof on a gushing wound. The drones still came, still moved to the throne room.

She finally found it in a dead end, a tattered bed with a bloated queen sitting in the corner of the room laying an egg every now and again, the eggs being carried off by the first flying drones she'd witnessed all day. The mare wasn't what held Zelus' attention though, it was the pile of gold and jewels that sat on the other side of the large room. At the top of the pile sat a large crystal, impossibly perfect in its cut and clarity. Amid all the facets of the crystal though, there were runes and arrays, all glowing with the green pulse of changeling magic; the pulsing power of the link.

With a scream of rage, the changeling queen lauched herself at the crystal, even as she felt it pushing into her mind, attempting to subdue her as it had so many others. She was protected, though; she was already linked to others. She was already in a hive. She would not betray her sister, nor those who saved her from death. She struck it again, a slight crack appearing on its surface, the arrays in the connected facets dimming and sputtering slightly. Seeing her assault produce an effect, she struck again, and again, and again. Each strike punctuated by a shout, a scream, an oath, a promise to destroy the offense against the one thing her species held sacred.

The link was hers, was theirs, it was for changelings to communicate with others of their hive, it was the assurance that they were not alone, that their mother watched them, that their queen knew of their actions, that her hatchlings were alive and well. This abomination twisted that link, turning queen and drone alike into mindless creatures that existed for the purpose of serving one mare. Standing before such a crystal array, she finally had a target. Her mother, her hive, the years in the jungles evading pony patrols and feeding on what little emotion they could find, until they, she and Lestidae, were finally reduced to cycling what little emotion they'd gathered as they fled into the deepest parts of the jungle. Weeks of hunger, months of fear, years of abandoning her hatchlings to a quick death of starvation and predators so that they wouldn't link with her or be captured by the ponies, several instances of her and Lestidae destroying their own eggs to prevent the hatchlings from bringing their presence to the attention of the tracking arrays. It all came back to her, all of it having a target that floated lazily before her eyes as if taunting her.

'I'm the reason your mother is in the shape of that queen behind you,' it said. 'I'm the reason you had no hive of your own. I'm the reason only a few of your mother's hive still live today. Submit, and be made to serve. Submit, and become like the queen on the bed behind you.'

With a final scream of rage, she drove a blade blazing with her own magic deep into the crystal, a large crack going down the entirety of the gem. With a sob, she twisted it, feeling its power failing even as the crystal separated into two sections, falling lazily down to the pile of treasure. She beat it, but its promises lingered in her mind. Purpose, unity. A single hive for a single purpose. She'd see her mother, they'd both work for the master's purpose, seeing the world united under their banner. Her children would be numerous as the stars in the sky, bringing order to the world. So many children, all looking to her...

...with empty, mindless eyes.

With another sob, the queen picked up her blade, putting it away and stumbling off the shifting pile of gold. She tripped, landing heavily on her side, breathing heavily as pained tears fell from her eyes. She'd wanted to, it made her want to listen so badly. It called to her instincts, instincts she felt even now pulling at her as her newest batch of eggs shifted inside of her. She would need to find a place to lay them soon. Luckily they'd foreseen this, and she and Pandinus had even managed to add a few chambers in the mare's chitin armor that could hold eggs in an emergency. That being said, it would be a large drain on her energy, feeding the eggs as well as protecting her sister's mate.

A muffled chuckle drew her attention to the bed, the bloated queen looking at her with tired, unseeing eyes. 
"It was beautiful, wasn't it? What it showed you, what it told you, what it promised you?" she asked, her eyes unable to focus on Zelus. "It's all a lie, though. There is no peace, they're not your children once they're under the control of the array. They're another spear for her army, another arrow even, as at least a spear is usually recovered and repaired after it is thrown. She doesn't even give the, the proper food to maintain the numbers she demands, just leaves those who have already hatched to die slowly. I have to take from them, take what little food they scrounge up to survive, letting them wither away to keep myself going."
The changeling's abdomen shifted, her dry chuckles causing her bloated body to jiggle with her dark amusement.
"I didn't even get a choice, you know. I couldn't chose to stop laying, I couldn't let them keep the emotions they stole. I took it all, and they'd all wither away, most not even intelligent enough to realize they were alive in the first place."

Zelus picked herself up off the ground, carefully approaching the other queen even as the drones stood about the room, many collapsing from exhaustion, nothing forcing them to keep moving anymore. She walked up to the newly freed queen, and lifted other mare's head to meet her own.
"It's over. I, I promise. My sister and her hive, our hive, won't let the pony queen keep them all. You, your retention of your mind gives me hope. Maybe my mother is still herself underneath the mindless broodmare she's been turned into."

"It's a possibility, though my own survival has been, it's mostly been thanks to him. I heard something, saw him fighting something. You may want to be careful, dear. An enraged dragon is not something you want to fight," the weak queen said, her eyes squinting as she attempted to focus on the mare before her. "How, how are you so, so brilliant? A few scuffs, a few scratches on the chitin, but no breaks. All the queens had some sort of chips and cracks before this happened. It should be, it should be so much worse now."

"Pandinus has a mate, an alicorn. He and his followers feed our hive freely. We work to keep them safe, help them with construction, defense, foraging, whatever they need. In return, they don't fear us, we don't have to kidnap to keep strong. They, Pandinus and Cimmerian had a fountain of love in the middle of their temple's courtyard; it was beautiful. I wish I could show you, I...I'd link with you if I could, but I don't think we could move you like this," Zelus trailed off, waving her hoof at the queen's body.

The nameless queen looked across the room, Zelus tracking her eyes to a single egg separated from the others. The mobile queen approached it, testing it through the link.
"It's empty."

"The daughter it was to carry, there was not enough emotion to preserve both of our minds. I, I had to let her go, the Master-Link wouldn't allow me to destroy myself to preserve her. Thus the egg went dormant, and my daughter's mind faded. The body is still there though. I, I know it may seem strange, but will you help me?"

Eyes widening in realization of what the mare intended, Zelus trotted over to the egg, lifting it in her aura and bringing it to the immobile queen. The mare gave her a grateful smile, her own horn beginning to sputter weakly as she focused on the transfer.
"Thank you. I, I know it isn't much at this point, but I swear by my magic and my life, I will serve you until my death. Please, just don't leave me here to be retaken. I don't know if I would survive that link again."

Zelus touched her own horn to the shape shifter's, the glow given off by both of them solidifying as Zelus took over powering the transfer. Eventually the light in the queen's eyes faded, and the egg cracked. A weak nymph pulled itself out of the egg, stumbling awkwardly as it took its first steps in years. Zelus carefully lifted the nymph with her forelegs, the eyes staring at her with a mixture of fear and hope. With a deep breath the guardian queen touched her horn to the reborn queen's own horn, pulling the weaker mare into her own hive's link. Seeing the small hatchling shuddering from the contact with other minds she smiled, levitating the shaking nymph over her back. A plate shifted on her back, revealing a chamber she was planning on holding eggs in if she needed to. She set the queen inside, closing the chamber and feeling the gratitude of the mare flowing over the link even as she fell asleep to the faint droning of voices over her new connection to a hive.

"Every queen is one step farther from extinction." Zelus repeated her sisters words, walking up to the now empty shell that even now continued to lay eggs. With a grim expression, she drew a large blade, plunging it into the bloated form that sat on the bed before her. A simple ravenous-fire spell finished the job, ensuring the body would not be used as a broodmare again; it was beyond recovery.

'Queen Zelus, Trixie believes we are finished with the anchoring array. What was that other voice T-I heard?' Trixie called to her, snapping the queen out of her reverie. A quick burst of images explained the situation, and she felt as much as heard the mare sigh over the link.
'I suppose I understand. If you'd given me the choice, i'd likely have taken that solution as well, though I didn't realize a queen could do that.'

'Normally it's not something we do, as it requires swapping with a daughter, or destroying a proto-queen's mind to leave a viable shell for such a transfer. If you messed up badly enough to need such a transfer, you deserved the death you faced,' Zelus responded. 'Times have changed though. Not only does this win us another queen, she will no longer aide the Mad Queen in providing more troops.  How are you all holding up?'

'The drones all went catatonic a bit ago, though a few started moving again, trying to bite the guards. They've been reaquired by another array I think, but the signal is pretty weak. Like a true drone being remotely controlled by a queen from a long distance. Why does Trixie know of this?'

'My knowledge is yours, my drone. Just as yours is mine. We pull from each other in times of fear or danger. The knowledge will pass, as you haven't truly learned it, but eventually you may be able to access such things with a thought. That is why the hive is a family. There are no secrets among your brothers and sisters. There is only the things we broadcast, and those we do not broadcast. Warn the others; I'll be returning from the hallways shortly.'

Receiving a nervous affirmative from the blue unicorn, the queen took a swig of the special jar her sister had gifted her, allowing some of the emotion to flow to her newest sister. It also rejuvenated her, causing her muscles to relax as fresh energy flowed into them. Spreading her large wings, the queen took off to the throne room once more, eager to be out of the chamber housing the array. Even now, she could hear the faintest of echoes from it, and the dark promises it tempted her with. The farther she was from it, the better she would feel.



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"Not steal, Mine!" The dragon shouted, unleashing another torrent of fire at the alicorn. The dark stallion/mare dodged easily, firing shot after shot of magic from her bow, but no individual bolt having the power to penetrate the creatures hide. Growling in frustration, Luna launched a few scraps of the crumbling castle at the beast, feeling each brick as it broke against the scaly intruder as a strike against her own heart. This was her home, no matter its condition, and here she was throwing pieces of it at this monstrosity. Were it not for that mare, and this inkling she had in the back of her mind, she would have already started trying to teleport a rock into the beasts brain and been done with it. The scales of a dragon tended to mess with teleportation spells, and the rocks she and her sister tried using in the past often ended up in the beasts eyes or skull, only enraging them further.

"Come, welp, thou believes thine strength is a match for our own? We shall teach thee otherwise!"
With a shout, she launched herself in a sweeping pass, her blades drawing a long gash despite the thickness of the scales. Blood flowed form the wounds for a few moments before a fiery glow sealed the wound, leaving the dark alicorn gaping in shock. Too stunned by the ineffectiveness of her enchanted blades to react, she was struck by the dragons tail. Once more Tuna sent through several walls, vaguely noting the strange black mare she'd seen in the throne room among her guards pressing against a small tide of similar creatures. She pushed the rubble away with a wince, feeling a few dents in her armor as a result of the powerful strike.

"An Arcano-Drake. It had to be an adolescent Arcano-Drake guarding its hoard. Wonderful," Lunacae muttered, using a burst of magic to knock the dents out of her armor. A voice called to her, a faint whisper that echoed in her ears, and she took up a chunk of wood, stripping it into a bolt with a sharp point on the end. She settled it on her bow even as the dragon stormed through the holes after her, waiting for the right chance. Seeing her before him, the drake inhaled, a powerful heat visible deep in his gullet even from across the room. She loosed the bolt as the voice suggested, striking the drakes uvula with a splinter that was enchanted by her bow, holding its form even in the intense heat.

The drake choked, sputtering and hacking as it struggled to remove the splinter from deep inside its throat. Eventually it spewed another gout of fire at no particular target. The splinter was vaporized and the irritation removed, though it still spat out a small amount of burning blood. Looking about the room, it failed to see the panting mare behind a support pillar. With a mighty shove, the blue s-mare knocked over the granite support pillar, the whole thing collapsing on the drakes head and knocking him senseless.

"Huzzah! Victory for Equestria!" the alicorn shouted, before a foreboding rumble rocked the large room. Looking up, the mare blanched as the rest of the ceiling collapsed.

"Perhaps we should have evacuated instead of celebrating prematurely." Luna said, even as a particularly large boulder landed on the armored pony.



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"We're ready." Zelus said, inspecting the anchor for the sixth time. It wouldn't take much to move the mares, but she didn't want to start without the alicorn's presence. Unless he stopped by and said otherwise, she'd wait for him. Looking at the slowly sinking sun, she shook her head. It was past noon now, they couldn't wait forever. She took another sip of her stash, the love causing her eyes to tint slightly as the power flooded her mind. The proto queen hiding safely under her plates shuddered as the smallest amounts of love trickled into her body through the link. It was such a small amount, and yet it was more than she'd tasted in years. Zelus had question for her, but the queen was just not in any condition to field them.
Her memories were broken and spotty, even her name lost to her. She called herself Heart, as she'd been claimed by the dragon as the heart of his hoard years ago. Memories of the queen speaking to him, the only sapient being near the drake for years that he didn't try to run off. He held a claw over her form, the resistance of his scales actually interfering with the array enough to allow her some mental clarity. He offered her what little emotion he could, keeping her going while she spoke to him, her voice calling him back from madness time and again. It was the symbiosis that Pandinus and Cimmerian had spoken of and had been in effect for years. It left Zelus boggling, and even in her near-hibernation inside Zelus' shell, the larger queen could feel Heart's hope that the drake survived the battle with the alicorn.

"Someone's coming," Crescent muttered, the group preparing to repel another wave of mindless drones as they'd done several times before. Instead of drones though, and instead of through the broken doorway, a shape stumbled in from the main doors, an armored alicorn stumbling in with a purple form dragging behind it, several ropes keeping the insensate drake attached to the silvered armor.

Zelus galloped over to the stallion, grasping his head between her hooves and staring into his unfocused eyes. She lit her horn, a small ball of magic floating before the alicorn's eyes as she checked them.

Cimmerian chuckled as he watched the glow moving ahead of him.
"Has anybody told you your magic ball is pretty, Zelly?"

"How badly did you get hit?" She asked him, visually inspecting the stallion and cringing at the blood and rents in the armor. The drake didn't appear much better off, a simple cloth wrapped around his muzzle and eyes as well as several sloppy bandages applied to the purple dragon's body. Cimmerian's body wasn't much better off, covered in scratches and bruises, even his horn had a few chips and cracks along the length.
Shaking her head in irritation, she led him carefully to the anchor.
"Are you still capable of using the teleport spell?"

"The spell," he repeated carefully, his face scrunching up in concentration before his eyes lit up in recognition. "The teleport spell, the spell for teleporting the mares, the spell specifically created for teleporting several objects that we're using to move the elements out of the trap-arrays... that spell?"

"Yes, that spell!"

"Got it right here," he answered, tapping his head before wincing in pain. Walking up to the anchor with the help of the queen, he stumbled before settling down and igniting his horn, the sputtering from the focus drawing a scowl from the stallion.

"I'll provide the power, you just use the spell," Zelus told him, touching her horn to his and igniting her own aura. The alicorn giggled at the contact, rubbing his horn against the queen's in a way that had Trixie and Apple Bloom blushing before pushing the spell forward.

With a blinding flash of light, the statues that were in the center of the room disappeared, reappearing a moment later on the circles that had been scratched into the floor at the front of the room. The arrays flared and sputtered, the traps attempting to activate an destroy the occupants of the other parts of the array holding the elements. The magic flashed and flared, finally sputtering out uselessly as the power ran out, absorbed into the still power-hungry wards on the holding cells on either side of the room. The white and black rooms faded, the black one showing a burned Celestia while the white room held a smoking Luna. Both alicorns took uneasy steps, looking around the room and hearing the sounds of nature for the first time in decades. Both their eyes soon tracked over to the only major source of noise in the room, the small group that had managed to pull this off.

Zelus, upon seeing the unfocused look on the dark alicorn's eyes, began shouting orders.
"Sapphire, check the prisons for secondary traps before entering, then get the alicorns over here. We're not going to have much more time. We need to move. Raymond, you and Durin get ready. You two are each going to be carrying an element. I'll take the alicorn's, Cimmerian will take the drake. Cimmerian, focus!"
At her shout, the stallion blinked, looking back to her from the wall he was staring at.
"The other spell, you remember it? The anti-petrification spell. You need to use it, now!"

The stallion stumbled over to the center of the anchor, his horn sputtering slightly before flaring once more. The magic flowed down the anchor, using the already existing flows to spread the spell to the petrified mares. As the light faded, Zelus heard several bodies hitting the ground, followed by a few pained groans. The voices included the stallion, who now cradled his head in his hooves, likely to stave off an encroaching migraine. The queen growled in irritation. Casting with a concussion was the surest way to make things worse, but they didn't have time to relax.

"There were a few stunning spell-traps set up, but nothing Trixie couldn't spot." Trixie shouted, carrying Luna even as Apple Bloom approached with Celestia.

"The, the girls, are they alright?" Luna croaked, sliding off the hybrid mare's back.

"We'll check them later, we have to move before," Zelus' statement was cut off by an echoing crack, a smoking purple alicorn shaking off the effects of a long-range teleport standing near the throne. Before the Mad Queen could recover, Zelus rushed her, delivering a vicious double-hoof buck and sending the possessed alicorn crashing through the windows behind the throne.

"We are out of time, let's go!" Zelus shouted.

Luna shook her head, standing up and moving towards the alicorn stallion.
"She'll track you down, and all of this will be for nothing. I will delay her. Take the others and leave, Zelus."

"She'll kill you, are you insane? Cimmerian, tell her she's nuts. You know her better than I do, talk to her."

"Unfortunately, I do know her, Zelly. Give me the jar," Cimmerian responded, taking Luna into an unsteady hug. He took the love in his aura, popping the cork and floating it to Luna.
"Focus on your sister, on your subjects, on your love for them ,and drink it slowly. It will help, it's all the help I can give you right now. I'm sorry."

"Protect my sister, and the girls, and I will never demand anything from you, Cimmerian, no matter what I experience," the small alicorn answered, taking a few lip sips of the love. Her eyes flashed with energy at each gulp, her feathers regaining a shine and her singed and matted fur returning to its pristine condition before their eyes.
"Tia can't do this again, not after being so close to freedom. Her mind would break. Keep my sister safe, Theodore. I will wait for you for as long as it takes. I know you can win against her. My experiences in life, with you especially, have taught me to hold onto hope. I will wait until time itself ends if I must."

The dark alicorn smiled lovingly at his mentor, nuzzling her even as he hobbled over to the others. Apple Bloom had her sister on her back, Trixie was carrying Rarity, Zelus had Celestia, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were secured to the back of the griffons. None of the bearers spoke, though he could see Apple Bloom whispering reassurances over her should at the sobbing orange mare. Even Trixie was speaking quietly, while the griffons stoically gathered what supplies they could into their talons, unable to secure it to their backs properly. With a quick but painful flash of magic, Cimmerian pulled the drake onto his back and lashed him down, tying the dragon onto the armor.  He took one last look at Luna, and seeing her smiling warmly at him, mouthed the word 'promise' while marking an X across his barrel with a hoof. The alicorn nodded before turning back to the window. Gathering her still recovering power to enact what she knew was likely an act in futility.







The group took off leaving Luna by herself as the Mad Queen returned through the shattered window. It didn't matter though. Tia would be safe, her sister would be cared for as Cadance was.

"This is it?" the mare shouted in rage. "You're supposed to defeat me? Or did they abandon you? Abandon you to a fate worse than death in their cowardice?"

"I chose this, Nightmare. I do this for the mares who freed me, who may one day find the way to free your host. I do this for the sister I love, and for the male who has given me hope when I had none. Why do you fight? To destroy? A pony's magic is strongest when they fight for what they believe in, for those they love. I know you can't beat me, and I know I don't have the endurance to beat you. But you will not harm them this day."

The purple mare's eyes narrowed in fury, stalking up to the smaller alicorn with her lavender aura blazing.
"You knew what would happen if they stayed. Clever, but it will not save you. You're mine now, Luna, your escape was for nothing!"

Allowing her own aura to ignite and push back the possessed mare, Luna stood her ground.
"Your soldiers are the threat. Tia told me about the soldiers she trained after my fall. She taught them how to defeat an alicorn, in case she went mad as I did. She made certain this land was protected from everything, including herself. They have the means to disable us alicorns, to incapacitate our friend, as well as capture queens and drones. In fact, they're already approaching, aren't they Nightmare? It's too bad they won't find them. Even you can't navigate the Everfree Forest freely. This day goes down as a victory for us, no matter what you and yours may do to me."

The Mad Queen circled the blue alicorn like a shark, growling and gnashing her teeth but unable to get closer with the flaring of Luna's aura. Seeing the opportunity, Luna launched several of Cimmerian's own spellblades, the explosions tearing up the nightmare's previous location as she teleported across the room.
"Trixie was with them, Twilight. Our friend told me his changeling ally detected her, and they disconnected her from the hive and connected the mare to her own. Even she wishes for your freedom, if only so that she can lecture you on the hypocrisy of falling for dark magic after complaining about her own fall."

With a scream of rage the purple mare launched a powerful burst of magic at Luna, pushing the smaller alicorn back as her aura sputtered against the raw magic. The love was powerful, but it was still a single bandage on decades of neglect and starvation. With a cry of pain, Luna's aura collapsed and she was thrown against the far wall, even as the impacts of several sets of hooves on the stone floors reached her ears.

"Take her to the prison, make sure she's properly secured. Where's my communication crystal?" Luna heard the mare shout even as her vision blurred.
"Have you launched the attack yet?"

A voice answered, sputtering with static every now and again.
"No, your highness, we've experienced a few issues with unexpected storms. We believe pegasi in the area are the cause, as they're moving directly against our position. We'll be close enough by tomorrow night at the latest."

"Launch the attack now, dammit!" the mare screamed. "Launch the drones and return to Equestria. We don't have time for that, the minotaurs are moving on us even now. I want you ready to move out again by next week for your next campaign!"

"Y-your highness, it will take at least a week to get back if we don't run into any bad weather, it's-"

"Get back in a week, or don't bother returning at all!"

Luna heard the click as the communication was cut, and felt a suppressor being fitted to her horn. After that, the world went dark.



<-(0)->



The group rushed through the forest on hoof, the griffons abandoning most of their supplies as they couldn't run and carry them at the same time. It would make the trip ahead brutal as hell, but between capture and dealing with hunger and the cold, everyone knew they at least stood a chance against the elements. A royal guard managed to catch up to the group, landing ahead of them and slightly to the left and shouting at them to halt, only to scream in pain and fear as, as something grabbed him and dragged him from sight. The alicorn didn't even stop to look though, urging the group ahead, urging them to greater speeds until they were clear of the forest and the dangers within, both natural and Equestrian.

Another scream cut off suddenly from the north, and the mares attached to his guards whimpered in fear and regret at the sudden end of another pony's life.

"This way travelers of the Everfree!" a voice shouted out to them, drawing Cimmerian's gaze. "Follow me, hurry and flee!"

Without a second thought the group charged after the zebra, the mare leading them through several patches of brush that Cimmerian would have avoided altogether before leading them to a yawning cave. Not hesitating in the slightest, the witch of the everfree dove into the cavern, a loud splash sounding as she struck water below. The group followed, several horns lighting up to provide light and allowing the flyers to land on the far bank without even touching water.

"Ptoo, next time, Trixie asks that somepony warns her before asking her to make a dive with another pony strapped to her back."

A squeak of fear escaped several of the ponies, and even a griffon as the light above them suddenly cut out. Breathing heavily, the group gathered back up and looked to the panting form of Zecora for further instruction.

"The Everfree guards those who aid it with fervor. You freed the elements, and thus have found its favor. We must move on though, we mustn't tarry. As the will of the forest is that of a creature with whims most arbitrary."

The weary group picked themselves back up and moved on, following their striped guide through the cave by the light of magic and torch. It would be along road back, but Cimmerian smiled despite his pain and exhaustion, sideling up to Zelus and giving her passenger a nuzzle.
"I told you we'd get you out, Tia."

"M-my sister. Luna stayed. Why, why did you let her?" Celestia wheezed out, looking at the stallion with teary eyes.

"We know you waited for us, for her for a millennia, Tia. We both love you, and would gladly spend eternity in torment for the assurance of your safety. What's a few months to a year to be certain you'll be well cared for?" Cimmerian answered easily, a sad smile on his face.

Zelus for her part was silent, pushing through the link to her sister. After allowing her magic to boost it sufficiently, she managed to get a single word to Pandinus across the distance.

'Success'



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On the deck of the Equestrian navel ship, the commander stepped out into the raging storm. He shouted to the crew, desperately trying to be heard over the howling winds.

"Release the drones on the programmed route, we make back to port now! Alert all hooves, we are moving out the second our payload's cleared ship!"

There was a great thundering buzz echoing through the storm, the burning glow of hungry eyes as they turned to the distant shore. Whether or not the drones would succeed or not, the commander didn't care. The moment the last drone was clear, they crew began preparing to sail home. Their queen had spoken, and the stallion knew better than most that to argue with her was suicide. He'd watch his calendar. If it went badly, or they wouldn't make it, well, there were other things to do, other ways to make a living. He'd have to explain that to the crew as well, of course, but if he had to tell them of those he'd seen that had failed her, so be it. He had no intention of ending up like one of those things.

> The Mad Hive Vs. The Shadow Hive
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian and his group silently trudged along, the dripping of water echoing through the cave and their own steps being the only sounds piercing through the darkness. He blinked the fuzziness from his eyes. He, and many of the others as time wore on, was desperately in need of sleep. The battle against Spike was surprisingly brutal, even if he only remembered half of it and knew he never really had full control of himself during the entirety of the fight. What he did remember was blood; lots of blood, mostly the drakes, but those wounds seemed to heal near-instantly. He'd struck the blasted dragon so many times, and yet the damage it was suffering from, the thing that had left it knocked out and reduced in size, had been shoving a simple support pillar on the damned lizard's head.
'When in doubt, go for the classics I suppose.'

The zebra never wavered in her path, always certain of the route she led them through. It drove some of them nuts, as he could hear the griffons muttering and ruffling their feathers, he saw Rainbow Dash nervously looking around, her wings fluttering anxiously at the feeling of claustrophobia. It wasn't as bad for the changeling queen or the alicorn, the former being a cave-dwelling species and the latter not having wings most of his unaltered life. Everyone else seemed put out by their current location though.

After what amounted to what the stallion figured was somewhere between 'way too long' and 'oh my god, I miss the sky' the Zebra began leading them in an upward direction. Cimmerian sighed in relief, soon spotting a light ahead of them in the darkness.
'Normally you stay away from the light, but after being down here? Fuck that noise.'

They came to a cave entrance and, after Zecora had checked the outside for dangers, moved out and found themselves on the edge of the forest. Zelus opened a bag and quickly put on her bracers, muttering about the cold weather. As they cleared the forest proper, Cimmerian saw a pair of ponies walking by, these not wearing the armor of the Royal Army. In fact, they appeared to be Talons, complete with the three white marks on the front of the armor. The alicorn sighed, approaching the group easily and calling for them to wait up. The ponies jumped, turning and getting ready to draw weapons, the unicorn mare's horn flaring with magic. Seeing the group, they blanched.

"The-the Night-" the unicorn's exclamation died on her lips as she noticed the others being carried by the group. The element Bearers.

"We're in need of shelter. Herrick mentioned safe houses in each area. Is there one nearby?" the stallion asked, moving ahead of the group.

"W-why should we, I, I don't know who you are..." the earth pony stallion stuttered, looking from the alicorn to the changeling queen.

Zelus snorted at the fear radiating off of the two, while Trixie rolled her eyes. The hybrid mare couldn't feel it personally, but her connection to the changeling queen had only grown stronger over the past few days, and she was subconsciously pulling enough information to be able to feel their emotions.
"We have no time for your doubts, ponies," Zelus growled at them in frustration. "The alicorn you speak to is the one who provided those runes you bear, as well as coming to you bearing both the Element Bearers and Celestia. We need a place to rest from our ordeal, and you will provide it!"

"But, but I"

Zelus hissed, bearing her fangs at the two and the stallion fainted, leaving the mare alone against the group. She looked back from the stallion to the alicorn, who's eyes kept drifting off to either side as he stared at her. They did look pretty bad, and she could always claim she was... no, Talons didn't work that way. It would be on her either way.
Hanging her head, she levitated the stallion onto her back with a defeated sigh.
"This way."



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The safe house was almost invisible without knowledge of the markers used by the Talons, but the mare led them into the underground bunker and they quickly set about laying the Element Bearers into various beds and rolling out blankets and mats for the rest of the group to sleep on. Cimmerian himself had claimed a carpeted area that currently also contained a blanket and pillow. Despite his fatige, a pink-maned Pegasus was slowly inspecting him and going over his injuries, refusing to let him sleep.

"Con, concussions are not something you uh, want to go to sleep with, Mr. Cimmerian, sir," She stuttered, using a cloth to clean another cut. Most of the punctures and rends in his pelt had been from the armor being struck with enough force to twist it into his skin, and thus it had been difficult to remove. Now he was bound in scattered bandages ranging from the tip of his muzzle (a broken nose apparently, or at least a bad cut as it was covered in dried blood), to the middle of his barrel, where the Pegasus was currently at work removing another shard of rock. Fluttershy had already gone over both the alicorn and the dragon for life-threatening injuries, before beginning to work on the individual who would need to be awake during his discomfort. Spike would likely sleep long enough to not be bothered by them till the mare could get to him.

The alicorn's eyelids drooped again, the day not leaving him feeling very good. It was approaching sunset, and they'd already torn through a good portion of the Talon's supplies, both medical and food. The de-petrified mares had eaten several rations each, desperate for something to eat after such a long time in stasis. Trixie was looking herself over in a mirror towards the showers, asking Crescent murmured questions, likely about just how badly it looked while the changeling queen Zelus...

"Are you done with him? I need him for a few minutes," the queen nervously asked the Pegasus, shifting in place. Zelus had already tried demanding the alicorn's presence the moment they'd entered the safe-house. A quick application of some sort of Pegasus mind-control had the queen cowed quickly, as Fluttershy went on for a full minute about needing to check the injured parties for life-threatening injuries.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't even notice, I didn't mean to leave you in discomfort like that. He doesn't have anything life-threatening, though I still need to finish with him later. Go ahead. If you'd like I can-"

"No! I mean no, thank you. I, I can't have anyone else in the, the room. Besides him and Trixie." Zelus explained, her horn lighting as she lifted the alicorn from his reclined position.

Cimmerian rolled his eyes, following the mare towards a back room as Trixie entered behind him.
"What's the matter Zelus? I'm sure Trixie has enough control now to wash your wings if you need it."

"I, I'm going to be laying soon, I need, I need a sense of, of safety," the queen muttered, eyes darting nervously about the room.

"What."

Trixie snorted, trotting over to the door and opening it with her magic. "You're her sister's mate. You're literally the safest thing on the planet to her. What did you expect? Trixie is going to need a bucket and towels, and this better be something else I lose after the fact, Zelus, I don't need this rolling around in my head later!"

Cimmerian watched her go, looking back to the queen as a muscle spasm rocked her. He winced, remembering what had happened to Din when she'd tried to hold the eggs for too long; they'd almost forced her to lay them on his bed. Still, it didn't seem like it was that long, and the other queen seemed perfectly content to lay in the-

'In the middle of the hive she was digging out," the alicorn realized with a sigh. There wasn't anything familiar about the area to her, and not only that, he'd remembered seeing the changeling drones in the throne room. The queen might have been shaken up by the contact with other drones.
"You're gonna be fine, Zel. You're among friends. I'm proud of you by the way. You did wonderfully back there. I'm still not really clear on what happened, but we got out with everyone except a pony that didn't want to go."


"There was, there was a crystal in the castle." Zelus whispered. "It spoke to me, it was terrifying. I heard it, and it was trying to make me listen to its promises. It already had a queen, but it was calling to me, demanding I start laying eggs for the drone army the Equestrian Queen has. I, I think that's why I need to lay now, otherwise I'd be fine for another week. I need you to make sure, Cimmerian I need you to make sure the arrays don't have any lock on them, I need you to guard them. I know they're true drones, but, but I can't have them belong to her, can't-"
The queen's rant devolved to sobbing, the stallion pulling her into a comforting hug.

"I think I got it, Z. I'll help you, I promise," Cimmerian consoled her. "We'll get back home, and you can stay there for as long as you like. We're not going to force you to do anything. Now, what do you need me to do?"

"You, alicorn, will be standing there looking pretty like you should," his answer came from behind him, Trixie returning with her supplies. "Trixie is unfortunately the one who will be tasked with this, and she will likely be taking a long, hot shower afterwards. Alright, in position, queeny. The 'nest' is ready.

"I, are you sure you don't need, uh, me to leave or-" Cimmerian stuttered, before the queen began laying her eggs right before him. He blanched, looking away in embarrassment. Still, he flushed, hearing the complaints from the blue unicorn and the grunts of effort from the shape shifter.

"You can look now, you squeamish little colt," the hybrid mare chided him. 

He turned to see the queen now on her side, panting with effort but still staring at him, focusing on him while Trixie used her muzzle to push the metal pail to the queen's flank. The queen nodded in acknowledgement of her drone's presense, shifting the plates to allow the eggs to be placed into the safety of her chitin when the blue mare squawked in surprise, followed by a heavy impact on the floor.

"Zelus, focus on me!" he shouted, grabbing the queen's muzzle with his hooves. She was already tensing up to look, her eyes flashing with a feral need to defend her clutch.

"But-"

"Focus, focus on my aura, safety, focus on me, this is your hive, you're safe, close your eyes and lay down," he gently commanded. The queen nodded despite her tense body, and Cimmerian never turned from her.
"Trixie, take care of, of it. I'll take care of the eggs."

"But, but it, she, and-"

"Do it, Trixie. Now!"

The blue unicorn squeaked and took off out the door, dragging a pink maned and coated mare out the door. How that pony managed to get inside the chitin compartment, much less without Zelus realizing it, he'd never know, but right now it wasn't important. Zelus was extremely agitated when Scootaloo approached her when the queen's wings were exposed. He could only imagine what would happen if Zelus noticed the strange pink mare right next to her eggs.
The door slammed shut, and the alicorn sighed, giving a gentle nuzzle to the shaking queen. It wasn't fear that was causing her to shake, it was her fighting the instinct to protect her clutch from, from anything that wasn't of her hive. He circled her, using a towel to gently lift an egg and move it into the slotted compartment in the queen's chitin.
"You don't want them wiped down?" he asked cautiously, levitating the second with the same towel.

"The, the amnia helps transfer emotions through the shell. It, would hurt them to remove it," she answered, still not lifting her head or opening her eyes.

Cimmerian nodded, gently depositing the other two eggs into the chamber one at a time before dropping the towel into the bucket and returning to her head. Nuzzling her once more, he pulled her up and led the still shaky queen out into the halls. He laid her down by his own blankets, reclining on the carpet and resting with his wing over her back. She began to settle down at that point, the eggs safe and safety literally draping over her back.
"How is she, Trixie?"

"The, surprise, is currently comatose. I don't know how she did, uh, that but she's none the worse for wear, at least compared to the others," the unicorn responded, moving closer to the alicorn and changeling. The blue mare sighed, moving under the wing and laying against Zelus, drawing a hum of contentment as the larger mare curled around her hive-mate. It wasn't much, but it was a bit more safety for the queen, and would hopefully help her relax after that incident.

Cimmerian's eyes once more wandered the room, taking in the recovering ponies and dragon once more before a grin broke out on his face. It was the first major mission he'd run knowing full well what he was getting into, or at least most of it, and it was a success. A brush against his unoccupied side drew his attention, a white alicorn smiling at him from her place on the floor.

"There's a bed for you over there, you know," he muttered, laying down on a pillow.

The mare just hummed in acknowledgement, enjoying the physical contact as she tucked deeper into the stallions side. Lowering his other wing over the alicorn, he relaxed, the soft breathing of those around him lulling him into a deep sleep. Fluttershy would yell at him later for sleeping, but he'd just have to live with the consequences.



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The day was dawning when Amald was woken by a racket. He jumped from his cot in the barracks of Shadowtalon Port, changelings and griffons alike calling the town to arms. He donned his helmet, having slept in his armor as many griffons had opted to, and charged out into the cloudy morning.
It was still dark, the pegasi, sending storm after storm out to sea by using every cloud they could find. It would play merry havoc with the local weather in the near future, but currently their survival was a bit more important than a quick dry-spell for the jungles around the town.

"Sir, the hive has detected a large presence moving in from the sea. There doesn't appear to be any large driving presence, but that is just making the queen more suspicious. She has ordered any and all units we see to be treated as lethal-on-contact unless otherwise advised," a single drone reported, buzzing along after the griffon as he made his way to the town hall. It was currently serving as the command post, most non-coms moved out of the town and into the Temple's underground tunnels. 
'I'm sure it's playing merry havoc with the minds of some of those griffons, but I honestly don't think I'd have that much of a problem with it at this point. We certainly wouldn't have been able to fortify this place this quickly without the 'lings.'

"Captain, we have the first reports from the fastest scouts that were riding the edge of the storm," a griffon lieutenant reported with a salute. "A large force of about ninety drones is slowly making its way to us and about fifty more are moving to Zarris. A runner has already been sent, warning them of the danger as well as Queen Pandinus' word of caution. We've got everyone ready to move when you give the word. The bugs won't know what hit them; we've got them outnumbered 2:1 at least."

A few changelings scowled at the remark, earning a few chuckles and cuffs delivered around the room. Amald sighed while shaking his head. A multi-racial base was certainly not without its hiccups.
"Alright, the towers are occupied and the archers are ready, right? I want everyone in position, including the ambush squads. One changeling at least with each group, and one by me at all times. We have a nice thing going here, as Lord Cimmerian pointed out. We can communicate faster and better than any force out there besides a full hive of changelings. I'd say we're going to show them what happens when you mix griffons military with changeling coordination, but not a single one of those things will be surviving to make the reports, much less complete their mission."


The group moved out, spreading out to deliver their messages personally. They had time, and some things were just better done in person. It would help moral to hear their commanding officers giving them the information, if nothing else. Amald took his place at a tower towards the middle of the line, watching carefully as a dark mass approached through the storm just beyond the beach.

They were once more the sickly drones he remembered attacking his own home, over-running Stone Talon Peak. Even the growing buzz- Amald blinked, looking to the drones beside him. They were buzzing their own wings, actually leaving the incoming force sounding much quieter than it was. The griffon nodded a moment later, returning to his vigil. At the very least, he may be able to hear himself think during this battle. The swarm finally cleared the storm, and the first few volleys of arrows were loosed from hidden ambush points. One drone began to drift to the ground, then another, then two more. He knew the chitin would protect them, but he could see several changelings out there that looked like pincushions. The only reason those few drones were falling was due to wing-damage.
A horrid screech suddenly emanated from the swarm, a single drone bearing down on a group that had strayed too close for a few extra shots. The drone latched onto a griffon, the two beginning to fall when-

The next thing he knew, there was a bright flash, and the concussive force of an explosion. The changelings around him began to chatter about 'sacrilege' and 'the bastardization of feeding'. A lone drone turned to him and answered his unvoiced question of 'What the hell did I just see'.

"The drone drained the griffon on contact, using the motions to power a cascade. The drones seem to be living bombs, using the emotions of their victims to cause destruction. If, if they reach the feeding chambers, there wont be anything left of this continent. That kind of feeding only nets the barest of emotional energy, and the stuff at the hive is pure, freely given love. You may as well toss a ton of fire rubies and storm crystals into a volcano, the damage that would result would be easier to survive!"

Amald growled at that. He'd be damned before he lost this position as well to the Mad Queen's armies.
"Fire at will, but don't let them touch you! If you have to, pull back, they're useless without a source of emotion to power them! Aim for the wings when you can while they're over the water, then finish them off from a distance, preferably from a safe height!"

The griffon turned to the drone, the strange lessons and strategies the alicorn had offered him already setting his mind racing.
"I want several teams of drones to drop jars of liquid emotion on the swarm, we'll get a few of them to dive into the ocean, or maybe even take out those around them. Go!"

Less than a minute later the drones were taking off, several jars of concentrated emotions attached to their bags. The first enemy drone came in range, screeching as it flew towards a tower, it stumbled, falling short and hitting the wall with a wet crack, a soft detonation not even enough to shake the wall as it died. Three more dove at the defenders, as the first jar of emotion gel was dropped from above the swarm, six drones dove for it, their horrible screeching continuing until they broke the waters surface. The three that had made the dive for the wall all fell, one bouncing off the ramparts right next to a defender.

"Scatter, leave the walls and spread out!" Amald shouted, the order being relayed through the drones. The defenders all took wing, the unicorns teleporting or  hitching rides with griffons as the kamikaze drones began to reach the wall, unleashing horrid screams of, what? Hunger? Anguish? The griffon didn't know, he just knew that the mad queen really was trying to incite a war of attrition, one he couldn't afford to fight. So as the alicorn had instructed him, he fought back in other ways. A few more jars of emotion fell into the swarm, one of the suicide drones actually managing to consume the thing and detonating like a star right in the middle of the swarm. Several cheers rang out over the buzzing, even as he heard a single griffon shout in fear. Another griffon tackled the enemy, bearing it down into the empty town below and into a building, the explosion blowing out the windows and doors. Another of his soldiers, this time a changeling, let out an enraged chitter, the enemy drone attempting to sap its energy already glowing with power. The allied drone flew right into the swarm, causing the ensuing explosion to take out even more of the encroaching army.

Amald watched the battle, firing his own crossbow into the swarm at every opportunity. He had to hold this point. Had to-

"Sir, about fifteen of them are moving straight to the Temple, the rest of the remaining drones are giving chase to the defenders. We've broken off as many as we can, but between keeping our distance and the swarm flying all over, I'm not certain if we'll be able to pursue effectively."

Amald watched the fifteen drone flying at top speed over the jungle, cursing under his breath. Turning to the drone that he'd assigned as his 'Radio-man' as the dark alicorn had described them, the griffon received a nod of confirmation from the Shadow drone.

"Queen Pandinus has already been notified, and is preparing to repel the attackers," the drone said, relaying his queen's commands. "She commands that the defenders not pursue any plans that will result in unnecessary deaths. We will need all the able bodies we can get our hooves on to repair, rebuild, and recover. She also sends her thanks for a job well done, and excellent use of changeling resources."

Amald nodded, reloading his crossbow and taking off in pursuit of a few nearby berserkers. The fastest griffons and pegasi had already learned the trick of drawing the attention of the monsters, leading them past groups of armed griffons to be picked off safely, while he also saw a single griffon bearing down on a door, another griffon firing his crossbow at whatever was pinned underneath it.  A unicorn teleported out the path of a drone, having it spear itself on a wall of pikes, while a armored gnoll ambushed another, crushing it before it could sap any emotions. The dead drone exploded, but the weak detonation didn't even knock the warrior off of his paws.

"Once this is over, I'm going to take Thrisha up on her offer," the older griffon muttered to himself. "A candle-lit dinner sounds wonderful. I'm getting too old for this."


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The alicorn sat at the top of the Temple of the Shadows, several weak drones scattered around her in a final defense. The ones beside her were a last ditch effort, having very little in the way of energy to be drained in the case of the alicorn's shield failing, so the enemy hive wouldn't gain much from draining them. More defenders were outside the shield, armed with crossbows, arrows, and spells, but Cadance and Pandinus had already seen a problem with their defensive shield.

It was powered by emotion.

The bright pink shield that was currently covering the Temple was the result of a day-long bath in some of the last remnants of pure love, the rest of it being spread throughout the hive in preparation for the assault. The changelings would be able to survive on other emotions in the meantime, and Din still had a bit of love to keep for herself, the drones refusing to leave the queen without in her current state. As a result, the alicorn mare was glowing with power, her eyes blazing as the love-bath along with her desire to protect her new home left her infused with enough pure love to feed a small hive for a year. She grit her teeth, her ears flicking as her array picked up the emptiness approaching. It wasn't the emptiness of space though, of a place where there simply wasn't any living thing. It was a void, a black sense of yawning hunger that seemed to suck the life out of the world as it passed by.

Din had already tried grabbing a drone, hopping to turn them to the use of the hive, no matter how disgusting they were. At the very least, it would leave them easier to dispose of at a later time. Instead, Cadance had heard her swear, feeling the energy of the hive being sucked into a yawning abyss as the drone drew from the source of love, using the energy to power its own destructive arrays. The drone was disconnected almost instantly, a light explosion being seen in the distance. Cadance shuddered. It had pulled a lot of energy in the short time it was connected, leaving her feeling slightly dizzy despite her tightened connection to the queen.
She focused, watching the fourteen remaining drones approach. They ignored the defenders, flying straight to her shield. One, then two latched on, soon giving off large explosions that threw back both the defenders and the other drones, but barely dented the shield. Cadance winced as four more went off, sending a few cracks that the changelings around her moved to repair, using their own limited reserves to repair. A single drone fell to the combined fire of the defenders, but it just wasn't enough. Six latched onto the shield, drawing long and hard on the energy powering it followed by two more. A defender hissed, driving another down to the ground, carrying it into the base of the shield where it detonated weakly, barely able to drain the defender before it's neck snapped after an awkward impact with the shield.

'For my hive, my life' whispered across the weak link, though she knew it was more of a battle cry. She hiccupped, having heard many such oaths from the port before Din had closed her off from most of the link, seeing how it was hurting her. Cadance still felt them, still felt the drones disappear from the link. Voices that had been so kind, had wished her well when she was hurting and that had given her support when she needed it, gone forever. Another two drones latched onto the shield even as the other seven detonated, and the alicorn recoiled, the power of her own shield being used against it. Large cracks ran up and down the shield, but she held it firm. She had to keep the Temple safe.

Another large explosion shattered the shield, the alicorn's horn cracking from the effort of channeling so much power into failing spell. The recoil surged through her, and she screamed in pain. She heard a voice cry out in fear; she looked up to see her defenders diving at the remaining drones. Her defenders rose from their places, rushing the remaining three even as the other defenders swarmed through the growing hole in the crumbling barrier. They tackled two, carrying them away from the alicorn, but the last one reached her, reached he source of so much love. She screamed in fear, seeing it starting to glow as it pulled at her energy. Her horn sputtered and sparked, the still-smoking cracks leaving her unable to teleport away. With a strangled scream of fear, instinct overtook her, and she twisted it off of her, crushing it's skull beneath her hooves. She flailed, wings flapping as she tried to get away from the increasing intensity of the cascading drone. A twist in her stomach, a flash of white, and she knew no more.



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Cadance felt no pain as she returned to consciousness. She blinked groggily, feeling the odd texture of a hospital bed as she stirred. It didn't feel right though. She raised her head, noticing Pandinus across the way, the pregnant changeling staring into a pod, one of many that were currently occupied by injured griffons or changelings. The occupant caused her to freeze up though, fear in her eyes.

"She loves you more than I though was possible, dear. I didn't even think such a sacrifice was possible to make," Pandinus said softly, running a hoof along the side of the pod.

Cadance scrambled out of the bed, her chitinous hooves clacking as she rushed up to the pod and stared in terrified shock. In the pod floated her own body, the right foreleg badly mangled while the bone of her muzzle was visible through the burns, burns that tracked down the entire right side of her body, leaving not a single feather left on the right wing.. The mare choked back a sob, staring at her own injured body as the true meaning of that last sensation occurred to her, that twisting pull in her stomach before the insane drone had detonated.

"Amare, why. Why did you do this," Cadance whispered, the queen pulling her close as she broke into tears. It wasn't right. A child shouldn't have to suffer that kind of pain, especially one that had been through so much and yet remained as happy as she had. 

"She'll survive, but we can't transfer you back until she comes out of the pod, and doing so now may kill her," the changeling queen explained. "Your hatchling has given you a gift, Cadenza. Do not squander it by mourning those who are not dead. We will need all the help we can get to rebuild. In the meantime, I will be relying on you to be my eyes and ears, as you have been for the last week. You represent us changelings now more than ever. I want you to go to Shadowtalon tomorrow. Find out what they need, an actual list preferably, as opposed to continuous requests. We're sending a large supply of medical supplies as well, and a few prepared pods for those who can't be moved. Calm Cloud will be going with, and she's been instructed in the use o the pods. A runner will be reaching Zarris shortly, and will return with any news of damages they have. You did wonderfully, Cadance. The temple roof was a bit damaged, but considering the numbers and what you needed to use, you did well."

"But, but Amare-"

"-Will be fine," Pandinus cut her off. "I spoke to her before we put her under, and her only concern was for her 'mommy'. Go and rest, and remember to pack some honey of your own before you leave. You need it in your current form, and changelings are expected to bring at least enough to feed themselves. If you have any questions about the quantities, ask Mist before you leave."

With that the queen slowly lumbered out of the room, giving a loving nuzzle to several of the drones she passed and even one to a griffon hen who smiled weakly at the affection. Cadance took one last look at the pod before taking a few cautious steps towards the door, remembering the differences in size and weight. She followed the queen, intent on finding her bed. She'd rest and do what she needed. Din was right; she couldn't waste this.
> Madness Unleashed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Pegasus made it to Zarris without much trouble, having stayed well above the forest. The jungles were quiet, most of the animals having taken off at the sounds of combat for safer areas. She landed at the entrance of the town, having been intercepted by a large squad of Talon griffons. She was checked for weapons, disarmed, and brought in through the front gate. The guards brought her to an bustling town square, a familiar dragon and an older gryphon shouting orders and receiving reports as citizens moved about the town, clearing rubble and moving the injured to a large white tent that was marked as a field hospital.
The dragon was much less jovial than she'd last seen, not drinking next to father, but shouting orders, spitting curses, and making demands, several burnt patches on his previously clean scales. It didn't take much thought to realize he'd likely been subject to several explosions, one even leaving a scale-free patch that looked red and raw.

The dragon stomped a single claw into the dirt in frustration, barking a few more orders before turning his gaze to the guards, causing the mare's heart to thunder in her chest. Still, she had to be strong. She was tasked with this job, and she'd see it through. Mother had personally asked this of her.

"T-the Temple is looking for news on Zarris' condition," Blur yelled, covering her mouth with her hooves in embarrassment afterwards.
'Oh, I hope he doesn't get mad, I didn't mean to do that, I'm just so nervous I could-'

"So you and yours all made it through?" the dragon, Sah Kest rumbled, giving her a fanged grin. He unleashed a rumbling chuckle when she recoiled from his smile, shaking his head. "Ah, for one so easily frightened, you certainly are willing to travel far by yourself."

"I, Mother asked me to do this, and I can't let her down," the little yellow Pegasus explained, finding a bit more courage in her words. "Is, is there anything you need? We have about ten spare changeling pods for those who are critically injured if it's needed, but it may take time to move them here. If you can get them to the Temple though, we can get them treated quickly. Otherwise we, we have spare poultices and bandages, and we can always send a few changelings to quickly patch buildings in the event of a storm."

The blue-scaled dragon nodded.
"You can tell Pandinus I appreciate the offer, but I think we'll live. If we do end up needing to use the pods, I'll drop the injured off by tonight. We experienced a few losses, but otherwise the bastards were all put down. The runner was very much appreciated, as we were able to scramble the entirety of our forces well before the drones were in view of the port. If Shadowtalon needs a place to repair their ship, or supplies to do so, well, we lost two trade-ships in the attack. Plenty of ship-grade wood and other things to salvage. There's also a few locals looking for a fishing boat to use. They'll be heading to Shadowtalon later on to hopefully help in the fishing, earning a bit to bring back. After all, one of the ships that was sunk was a fishing trawler."

Before the Pegasus could leave and return home, the griffon called for her attention.
"Once more, the Talons have Cimmerian and his followers to thank. I actually received a report that he hit something important to the Mad Queen. Whatever it was, she's lost it. Ponies are leaving the country in droves, fleeing ahead of swarms of drones and even her own guard. It's worrying, but from what I've heard, the arrays still work. As such, we have Talons slipping any who are captured amulets with the runes and moving them to safety. The message has been passed to the Minotaurs as well. Whether they will allow the ponies to flee through their own country, I don't know. Whatever the case, pass it on to Queen Pandinus that her husband has once more earned a boon from our people, and we'd be happy to help him."
The griffon laughed, slapping the pegasus' back.
"If he can use a boon from our forces to screw up that much for the Mad Queen, I'm all for giving him another! Go with the grace of the Sky Lord, miss. And tell Lady Pandinus that she's earned the respect of the Talons, no matter what happens after this point."

Blur nodded quickly, taking off and flying back to the Temple as quickly as her wings could carry her. She knew it wasn't right, and that Father would likely be disappointed, but she couldn't stand dragons. Luckily, there weren't any at the Temple.



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Zelus purred contentedly, the sleeping nymph and her eggs contained inside the shell by her sides. The alicorn was providing warmth, as well as a small flow of affection, while the drone/pony in her forelegs was also warm, leaving the queen content in the darkness of the shelter. The annoying yellow one with the weird eyes had attempted to rouse the alicorn, but the changeling had dealt with her, knowing not to meet her eyes and giving her a quick nip. The venom left the pony mumbling apologies into the floor even as Zelus used the sleeping form of Sapphire to move the mare back to a bed. Sapphire would likely whine about such an unauthorized use of her body, but between that and having the yellow mare laying on the floor next to them, forcing Zelus to wake up every few minutes to an hour to reapply the venom, the shape shifter was certain it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
The queen shifted under the wing of her sister's mate, a hint of lingering worry running through her mind as she reached out across the world. The link had become frantic a while ago, but there was nothing she could do, even with all of her strength. Thus she'd waited, worrying until a single tone reached her, the one the two queens had agreed upon as an all-clear. She'd slumped in relief as the tone reached her, finally letting sleep claim her. Cimmerian left her alone, but with his current state she wasn't certain he wanted any company in the dreamscape. He really was a silly thing, radiating embarrassment when she'd laid her latest clutch. Her drone had been angered, but not too put off by the event. The stallion was mating with Pandinus, what did he expect a queen to do?

The memory of Pandinus bearing the stallions foals in an alien way floated back to her, and she giggled. Okay, maybe it was reasonable that he'd be a bit put out by such a thing, especially if Din was right about him being very self-conscious. A yawn split her muzzle, and the queen shifted out from under the wing, pushing her drone closer the alicorn in her place. She walked over to the entryway and bumped the dozing griffon, earning a burst of relief and gratitude as he made his way over to the beds and mats. The queen sat before the door, feeling her clutch under her shell and the sleeping form of the proto queen as the hatchling recovered from her ordeals. Zelus would need to bring the nymph to the drake when he woke up, as Heart was quite attached to him. Perhaps he was attached to her as well; perhaps the two would find the same connection Din and Cimmer shared.
She buzzed her wings a bit, stretching as she reached out her senses, keeping watch of the outside world in a way that the gryphon could not. She'd know of an approaching creature well before they reached the door.


The queen blinked, coming out of her meditation as a single presence approached the door. She tensed, ready to rip the intruder apart if it should dare to enter when she managed to taste the emotions; hope, fear, excitement, regret. Zel blinked, moving out of the sight of the doorway, watching from the shadows as the presence opened the door, even more curious as only Talons should know of it. The changeling smiled as she recognized the mare walking down the stairs even with the hood.

"Scootaloo, correct?" the queen asked, walking out of the shadows and causing the pegasus to squawk in fear.

"You're that queen, Din? No, Zelus. What are you doing in here, how did you find this bunker?" Scootaloo asked, throwing back her head and allowing the hood of her cloak to fall off.

"We came across a pair of ponies while leaving the forest," the queen answered, resuming her post in front of the door. "Zecora left us as we left the forest, but we, convinced the pair to lead us to a safe house. They're in the other room, if you wish to speak to them."

"Did you, did you guys manage to-"

The queen lit up her horn, floating a single green orb of light over to the sleeping area. The orange mare watched it for a moment, confused, until the light revealed a rainbow mane among the bodies resting on the beds. With a sound that was somewhere between a squeal and a sob, the mercenary bolted, rushing over to the bed and ripping the blue Pegasus right out of the bed, swinging her confused and mumbling captive about like a doll. Zelus chuckled, tasting the overwhelming joy radiating from the pony, soon being matched by the blue mare as she realized who was jerking her about. The two began talking in hushed tones, their excitement at being reunited barely restrained by the early hour and those sleeping around them. The two descended into mumbling for a bit, before the orange mare pranced back to the entryway.

"Thank you so much," Scootaloo whispered, reaching into her bags. "I don't know what you guys did, but before I get to bed, I wanted to give you these. It's the information Cimmerian was asking for. Also, Ruby should have flipped the rock outside. it's a symbol of danger and that the shelter is occupied, and warns the others who may try to use this place that the ones inside may be a bit jumpy. If you hear someone knocking, let me know and I'll clear them."

With that the mare trotted back over to the sleeping area, kicking off her cloak and armor and hopping onto the rainbow-maned mare's bed, the two curling up with each other as they dozed off. The queen chuckled before her gaze came across a pink coated mare, the pony currently comatose and dead to the world.
Zelus knew that something had happened, and after calming down had reviewed Sapphire's memories of the event. She still didn't know how the mare had entered them, nor how she had occupied the chamber without the queen knowing. The queen shifted, feeling the eggs pressing against the soft skin of the pouch, while the proto-queen nuzzled into her from the other side. Any occupant should have given a similar sensation, yet she could recall nothing of the sort during the journey. Tartarus, she didn't even taste the mare's emotions.
'At least Cimmerian distracted me. With how agitated I was already, it would have been, less than productive if I attacked the pink bearer in my weakened state.'


The queen drifted off once more for a few hours, allowing her senses to warn her of the few individuals she sensed going past the shelter. She frowned, noticing there seemed to be a lot of traffic on the road just south of the hidden entrance. There was no one coming close to the entryway, though, so she ignored them. Then one did come close. Several ones, actually. She stalked over the sleeping area, waking the orange mare and motioning for silence as she pointed to the door. 

Scootaloo nodded, grabbing a blade and slinging it over her back before gliding over to the door, marveling at the queen's silent movement on the hard floor by the entrance. The door rattled with a strange serious of knocks, followed by a silence, then a second series of knocks. Scootaloo returned a few knocks of her own, nodding to the queen with a reassuring smile.
"It's a Talon group. I'm going up to check, keep Dash safe." 






"Scootaloo? Your a Talon?" a voice asked in curiosity, causing the orange Pegasus to blink in confusion as her eyes adjusted. She looked around, seeing several ponies scattered around the entryway, though only one of them bore Talon armor. The speaker was an old friend of hers, Featherweight. The stallion smiled carefully, waving a hoof in greeting as she carefully took in the gathered ponies.

"The safe-house is kinda full right now, guys. What's wrong, Silver?" Scootaloo asked, turning to her one-time tormentor.

"Di ordered a general evacuation," Silver Spoon responded, shifting her light armor in discomfort. "Something's happened, something big. Everyone wants out. Tartarus, even the bucking guards are fleeing. They're running, and they're telling everyone they see to do the same. She's finally lost it. Twilight's gone absolutely insane."

"What do you mean, even the-" the words died on her lips, noticing the gold armor on one of the ponies nearby. The stallion was shaking, a manic look in his eyes as he looked into the trees, whispering to himself and chuckling. The Pegasus was about to ask what he was doing there when she saw it.
"By the Fields, she's trying to do that to everyone?" Scootaloo asked in fear, trotting over to the guard. She grabbed his head with her hooves, forcing him to stare right at her. "Do you hear anything? Are you in control?"

The stallion, an array burned into his cheek, giggled at her questions.
"Tried to catch me, tried to make me listen to the rocks, but I didn't let them, nope nope nope, hehehe. Burned me, but I got out, got out before my own magic activated it, got far enough. Not others though. Some were still asleep, I was asleep, but I ran, ran and flew. I can hear it, but I don't listen. It's mad, so mad and I'm happy, so very happy. Because it can't catch me. No, the rock won't catch me, not like the others, and it never will."

"The guards with the arrays and tons of changelings are moving all over the countryside, grabbing anypony they can find," Silver supplied. "Some can get away, but others...they're not themselves. The population is fleeing, Scoots, and we have no idea where we'd go. They can't go east, as the minotaurs are launching a counter attack, the griffon lands to the north-west are filled with raiders, and the jungles..."

"The jungles are where I'm headed. I have some friends, not just Talons, but someone else. You remember the array, the one that let us hit the drones without them seeing us? He's actually here, the guy who gave it to us, and he's headed back. We're headed to his home, and you guys, I'm sure your friends would be welcome. It won't be easy, but you do what ya gotta do, right?" Scootaloo looked back to the soldier, still worried.
"We need to get him linked though. Any caravans bring an array this way, and it will grab him and then they'll know we're here."

The stallion backed up a step.
"More, more talking rocks? No, no no no, gotta hide, gotta get away. She knows though..." rushing up to Scootaloo he grabbed her roughly, a terror born of desperation in his eyes. "How do I hide!?!"

Scootaloo attempted to dislodge the stallion, shoving at him but his grip was superequine, fueled by fear and adrenaline.
"There's a stallion, he masks the link. He's got a hive working for him, and they don't feel the arrays pulling at them. The queens to the hive he protects are undetectable, so are the changelings with him. You're gonna have to trust her though, she'll help you if you trust her."

"Trust who?!?" The stallion shouted, drawing several shushes from the group, some looking back to the road and hoping they weren't heard.

"Me"

The ponies whipped around, the stallion nearly screaming at the sight of a changeling queen. If not for the powerful aura wrapped around his muzzle, he likely would have. He was pulled from the orange mare and floated to the queen, Zelus looking over the array with a scowl even as the stallion's flailing ceased, devolving into muffled, blubbering pleas for mercy.

"S-scoots, that's-"

"That's Zelus, she's part of a hive that the Mad Queen can't detect," the orange merc explained. "She's also part of the group that is using the safe-house right now. I'll explain it all, but trust me, she's on our side."

Zelus looked from the array to the ponies gathered around the entrance.
"The array isn't actively transmitting, so we can move this inside. I suggest we do so. The longer we are in the open, the longer we invite misfortune upon ourselves."

With that the changeling turned around, floating the still-sobbing stallion into the safe house after her. Scootaloo began herding the others inside when she saw another group making their way to the safe house while sticking to the cover of the trees.

"Scoots? What are you doing here?" the approaching Talon whispered to her.

She sighed, preparing to explain the situation a second time. It was going to be long day; maybe she could get someone to carry her while she caught up on her sleep.



<-(0)-> 



A racket at the door had woken Cimmerian from his slumber. The stallion hadn't even done any dream walking the nigh before, just allowed himself to recover. Between the damage he'd suffered and the leaking of Luna's memories, he spent a good three hours plugging holes opened up by wild magic before settling down to sleep, allowing his body to heal itself. Now he was still achy but it was much less intense, allowing him to try and remember what his goals were and what had been accomplished.

"Elements are in the beds, Tia's right next to me, there's the drake, and...where's Zelus?" he muttered, blinking as she came back down the open hatch from the outside, a Pegasus in gold armor flailing weakly in her magical grip. He rose, stretching and attempting to remove the kinks from his body as the queen was soon followed by several scared looking ponies, including a grey mare in a minimal suit of Talon armor. Trixie got up, the mare's eyes still closed as she walked over to Zelus. 

"You may want to wake her up while she's laying down, Zel. She may fall otherwise," Cimmerian called to the queen, drawing the attention of all the ponies. One, a Pegasus stallion with a brown mane and cream coat, made a few skittering steps back at seeing him.

"The, the-the-the Nightmare!" he squeaked. "I never forget a face, that's- Wait, Nightmare was female. Are you some sort of lost son of Nightmare Moon?" his fear turned to confusion, leaving Cimmerian to laugh at the stallion's confusion, as well as the confusion of those around him.

"I'm no nightmare, just a, stallion who looks a bit creepy to ponies. What's going on, Z?"

"Twilight's lost it at the success we experienced, and she's going all out. The stallion here has been marked as Sapphire was, and the nightmare is apparently attempting to burn the array onto the entire equestrian population," The queen answered, moving the guards cheek enough for the alicorn to see it. "I'd like to link with him, but it's going to take focus, and I don't need him striking me in the face while I'm trying to help him."

"Link with him?" the grey mare said, backing away along with the others. They gasped and took a few more steps back, finally noticing the sleeping blue unicorn now being poked by the queen.

"Trixie needs her beauty sleep." the mare muttered, popping open an eye. She blinked a few times at the crowd as well as her new location before scowling at Zelus. "Next time just wake me up instead of moving me. It's weird."

"I need you to talk to him. Tell him I'm not going to overwrite him like he seems to think," Zelus said, ignoring the unicorn's complaints and gesturing to the shaking guard in her aura.

Trixie took a look at him, saw the ponies staring at her chitin grafts, and threw back her cloak, showing off the grafts to the group while giving a nasty grin.
"Do you like my new look?" she asked in faux curiosity. "Trixie has Sparkle to thank for this. Grafted it on while I watched from a mirror, even got to watch as she burned this into my cheek, watch as my body started wandering around on its own, doing whatever she told me to do. It was even more fun when she had me spying on the thestrals, sending her reports through a communication gem that was hidden in the city."
"While there is much about the situation that frustrates T-me, including the fact that I find myself less inclined to speak in third person, as is Trixie's prerogative, I find this situation much more agreeable to being stuck anchored to an array. I'll make this simple for you, colt. You either allow the queen to anchor you to her hive, or the first array crystal that wanders into range will snatch you up like a hungry manticore. So, would you rather put up with an annoying queen and keep your freedom, or try to run and end up a slave as Trixie was. For I'd guess was about fifteen years. Not pleasant at all, Trixie didn't get to shower properly, or eat anything nice, or sleep in. It was just constant orders, constantly doing things I'd rather not do, constant-" the mare cut off with a squeak, the queen giving her an irritated look.
"And if Zelus wants you to shut up, she asks. Twilight doesn't ask, you just don't get the choice to speak."

"You're not the only one in this situation," Cimmerian consoled, drawing the stallions eyes. "Trixie is in this situation, as is Cadance. If you'd like, I'm sure you can speak with Cadance about this later. Otherwise, I ask that you listen to Zelus. She'll take care of you, and let you keep your hold on your own body."

"Unless she needs something while your asleep," Trixie grumbled, sticking her tongue out at the shape shifter. The unicorn then slapped herself, growling before launching herself at the giggiling queen. Zelus caught her in a hug despite the mare's fury, giving her a loving nuzzle even as Trixie swore to end her.

"That's your choice. Be bound to either a queen who will take care of you, or to an array," Cimmerian said. Turning to the queen, he smiled and asked her to release the guard.

The stallion was still shaking, but he was looking from the queen to the unicorn, as if he didn't believe them.
"She'll, she'll make the voices go away? I won't have to hear them anymore?"

"She will," Trixie said, putting a hoof over the queen's muzzle to cut off her objection. "The constant buzzing in your ear, the screaming and shouting will stop. All you'll hear will be normal conversation, mostly me as I yell at the queen a lot. It's interesting, being able to talk even if you're not next to each other. Trixie would be happy to teach you."

The stallion looked over them one more time, closing his eyes and taking off his helmet before lying on the ground. He put a hoof over his eyes, leaving the array exposed.

"D-do it, do it before it lose my nerve. I don't want to be one of those, I can't."

Cimmerian tugged at the rest of the ponies around the entrance, pulling them away form the queen and her charges and into the safe-house.
"We're going to be moving on, but I'm afraid we had to raid the supplies. You're welcome to join us on our journey. We're heading back home now, and we could always use extra help."

"We're actually going to a small Talon base farther along the way," the grey mare supplied. "There's supposed to be a few airships moving there to pick up the ponies who are evacuating. Even if the Talons are griffons and have something against the ponies, they're not going to just let this go. Besides, every drone and pony that's grabbed is something they'll end up fighting later. I don't know if the minotaurs and the other griffons realize what's going on, but Talons don't hurt civilians. It should be our best bet. I'm sure you'd be able to get a ride there if you needed."

"Awesome," the alicorn said with a grin. "We're heading to Zarris. Herrick's a neighbor, you see. I actually heard there was an attack headed to the area, so I'd like to get there as soon as possible."

"So Scoot's said that you..." the mare's words were cut off as she took a look around the room, seeing ponies that had been missing for years. Her stuttering search for words cut off a moment later, every eye on the mare currently giving a gentle poke to a sleeping Pinkie. 
"P-princess..."

The white alicorn's ears twitched and she turned to the doorway, looking at the ponies that were staring at her in shock. Celestia blushed at the attention, smiling warmly at the ponies.
"It, it is wonderful to see you all again. Please excuse me if I if I don't walk over there and, and greet you properly. It's been strange, walking about again."

"Celestia, if you don't mind I think Zelus would appreciate your help with one of your own. He's by the front door," Cimmerian called over to her, moving about the room and rousing the occupants of the sleeping chambers. He saw Crescent moving to the alicorn's side, a wing holding the white mare close as the thestral helped the alicorn walk to the entryway.

'Well, that should help solidify the stallion's opinion of who we are. Or not, I don't know, maybe the guy doesn't like her.'
Cimmerian finally came to a bed sporting a pink tuft of hare sticking out, the rest of the pony wrapped in blankets in a way that made him want to question if she was sleeping or posing all night. With a shrug, he poked the blankets, receiving a grumble in return.
"Pinkie? Pinks, we're going to be moving out."

"I know I don't work today, Mr. Cake," the mare grouched. "I'm sleeping in. Wake me in about four years."

"Come on, every other one of these mares are already, oh, that's right. She was holding them all," he muttered. "She's probably a bit worse off." A commotion across the room drew his attention, the ponies attempting to shout down the dragon as he began to thrash around, growling and swiping his claws at anyone who came near him.

"Spikey, please, it's us!" the white unicorn, Rarity if he remembered correctly tried to soothe. Dash was being held back by Scootaloo, the cyan mare flailing and demanding to be allowed to teach the drake a lesson in manners. A small form trotted past the alicorn, a small proto queen walking up to the raging drake with no fear. Just as Cimmerian was about to move to pull her back, she began humming, the drake tensing up and turning his head towards the nymph. He laid down on the floor again, waiting cautiously as the hatchling approached him. 

"I, I'm here, my guardian. Your Heart still lives," the proto queen said softly, nuzzling the drake. That seemed to be the key as suddenly the purple drake gave her a lick, earning a giggle from the hatchling and a confused stare from the rest of the room.

"Good, she was right. The drake does recognize her."
Cimmerian turned around to see Zelus walking into the room, Celestia perched on her back. Trixie was speaking softly to the gold-armored stallion with an array on his cheek, while the stallion was still nervously looking about, waiting for the other hoof to drop.

"Thanks, Zel. When did you pick her up?" the dark alicorn asked. "I don't remember seeing the proto queen last night."

"She was in my other egg-pouch," The shape shifter explained. "I found her in the Castle, when I destroyed the crystal that was the source of the array in the area. It, it freed her, and I couldn't leave her there. She had laid an egg containing a proto queen a while ago, but it wasn't fed properly, and the hatchling went into a stasis, eventually fading away from lack of food. She switched to the empty proto queen, and I destroyed her old body. Her presence isn't a problem, is it?"

The stallion blinked, seeing the nervousness of the queen.
"No, no! Of course not, Zel. I was just curious. No, we won't turn her away. I trust you to have checked her, and if you think she can be trusted, well, you're the one who can hear what she's thinking."

Zelus nodded in understanding. "Okay, I was just, worried is all. Unlike Amare, Heart will likely be able force a few molts, moving to a full queen fairly quickly. It should help clear her mind, and she'll get her crown back."

"Wait, what do you mean 'back'?

The mare shuddered. 
"The nightmare removed her crown. I saw the scar, Cimmerian. She removed it from the other queen's head, likely by force."

Cimmerian sighed. That, that was nasty, even by the standards the nightmare had already set. At least the 'ling was free of that though, even if she was somewhat reduced in stature. And traumatized, and mentally broken. Okay, so it wasn't as much as he'd like. It was something at least.
"We need to get everyone ready. I'll carry Pinkie if I'm not needed for anyone else, otherwise I'll carry a heavy body."

"I think the drake is moving again, so he'll likely be able to walk. Are you not going to offer to carry me?" the queen asked, a mischievous grin splitting her muzzle.

Cimmerian returned the smile with one of his own. "Sure, I'll carry you. But you're going to have to carry Pinkie. I'm sure she'd love to go back into any spare compartments you have handy."

As the large mare's grin faded into a glare, the door opened up again, Scootaloo running down the stairs with a smile.

"Guys, we're gonna have to leave like, now. But it's okay. I found us some help," she explained, gesturing to the pony who followed her down the stairs.

The alicorn grinned at the new pony before rushing over to a bed, snagging a mare still struggling to get out from the covers and carrying her to the doorway, offering her like some sort of prize while laughing like an idiot.
"Does this make up for our bad first encounter? Are we good now?"

The large red stallion looked over the pony being offered to him, listening to the orange mare complain as she attempted to wipe the sleep from her eyes. A faint smile came over his face, and he reached out and pulled the offered pony into a crushing hug.
"Eeyup."



<-(0)-> 



The party loaded up the farmers cart with the beings incapable of moving freely, which at this point included Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy(despite her protests), and Spike. The proto queen had managed to get the drake to listen, and he was loaded into the cart, still wearing the bandages over his eyes and snout. Celestia was riding Cimmerian's back, chattering happily as they traveled, moving down the path and passing several groups of ponies that just stopped and stared at the passing group. Celestia waved weakly, ecstatic to be seeing and speaking with ponies again even under these circumstances. When Zelus asked her about it, her response was short and simple.
"I've not had a country for several decades now, Zelus. I've mourned the loss of my kingdom, the loss of everything I had. The ponies are what I need. I don't need the gold or the marble, or the pretty throne room. Each pony I see on the path is another that escaped, another pony that will survive to see another day. At this point, it's all I have, and it's all I really want."

"Well, we'll be heading back home soon, and you'll be free to spend your time smothering ponies with your affection as much as you like," Cimmerian called over his shoulder, earning a giggle from the white mare. The giggle spread through out the group and soon all the freed ponies were giggling, relishing their newfound freedom. Rainbow was already trying to fly, though her wings seemed to be giving her trouble. It left her landing every few minutes for a rest, though she refused to use the cart. Applejack was trotting beside her brother for a while, but was soon relegated to the cart. Once he caught her, Cimmerian added the blue Pegasus to the cart as well, threatening to tie down her wings if she ended up hurting herself.

"There it is!" Scootaloo shouted, hopping along next to the wagon with glee. "Freeside, we can grab an airship here!"

"That would be great if we didn't leave most of our shit in the forest, you know. Anyone got any cash on them?" Cimmerian asked, looking at the group. He chuckled as Celestia hopped off of his back, beginning to pat down Zelus.

"What the hell are you doing?" the queen asked him, only to have his grin grow wider.

"You've got all these extra chambers in your chitin, right? Did you stick your wallet into one?"

"Look, if nothing else, I can talk them into letting us on one as a Talon. It may cost me a month or two of pay, but to get you guys clear of Equestria, it's worth it," Scootaloo offered, trotting up to meet the approaching griffon patrol.

"The alicorn and the changeling," one of the griffons asked, not even waiting for her to speak. "Is that Cimmerian and Pandinus?"

Scootaloo blinked in confusion, not expecting the party to be recognized
"Uh, close. It's Cimmerian and Zelus. Pandinus is another changeling queen. We're trying to get back to Zarris. I know it sometimes causes problems with the treasury, but-"

"Done," the griffon said, cutting her off. "The commanders have ordered any aid requested to be given to the alicorn, within reason. He's apparently been causing a lot of trouble for the Mad Queen, and the bosses want him to keep doing it. There's a ship leaving in that direction in a few hours. You'll be on your way to Tealder by evening meal. The galley should have a bit of food if you need it. I'll send word that you're here."
The griffins began to move when one sputtered in shock, pointing over to the cart. The sergeant followed the claw, his own jaw dropping before he burst into laughter.
"He found Celestia? Most of the world was certain she was dead. Holy hang-time, no wonder the bosses are talking about this guy. Yea, I'll definitely give the galley a heads up. It will be great to hear how this goes. She gave the Talons a lot of manure about our profession when she was in charge, oh this is hilarious. Princess Celestia accepting Talon hospitality."

The orange pegasus trotted back to the group, a slightly confused expression on her face. Still it meant they were good to go at this point.
"So it turns out Herrick and the rest of the Talon brothers got a kick out of what you've done, and offered to help you if you needed. Thus, we've got access to the galley, and an airship later on tonight. We'll hop from that one to another once we reach Tealder. After that it should be a straight shot to Zarris, and a two hour flight to the Temple from there."

The dark alicorn nodded thankfully.
"Awesome, come on guys lets go get something to eat."
Leaning in to the smiling white mare, Cimmerian chuckled, whispering the magic words.
"I'm sure they'll have cake there."

The stallion blinked as a second later he found himself watching two slowly dissipating dust clouds, soon registering the fact that the pink mare was gone from the cart as well.
"For a bunch of crippled mares, they move awfully fast when sweets are mentioned."
> Do Griffons go on Dates?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian was in the middle of enjoying something called a hayburger (which bore a striking resemblance to a hamburger, and he'd quickly asked for cheese on it, to the cook's confusion) when a decorated griffon approached his table.

"So you're the alicorn. Cimmerian, right? Somehow I was expecting bloody fangs, or an alicorn that absorbed the light around him with how much you've been talked up lately," the griffon joked, taking a seat across from the stallion. "Base Commander of Freeside, Captain Hackett."

Swallowing his latest bite, the stallion took a sip of cream soda, the first carbonated beverage he'd tasted since his imprisonment and release, and coughed to clear his throat.
"The red stuff on the fangs is ketchup."

"Ha! Finally, an alicorn who isn't a stick in the mud!" the griffon barked with laughter. "I heard Celestia would sometimes play pranks, but when you talked to her, she would be all business. Her sister was even more stiff, but she was getting better before all of this manure started to fly. I saw who you have over there, the flappin' mares, half of them are heroes. The other's an immortal alicorn, there's some changelings, and a pluckin' dragon. You said you're headed to Zarris right? We're sending some supplies their way, just got word that they fought off some weird strike force of kamikaze drones, and they're asking for a few unicorns to analyze the arrays on the one or two they managed to kill without the blasted things exploding. We can get you on that ship, I'm sure. The higher ups want you to keep causing problems for the pony queen, and Herrick's given a request to provide any aid to your cause while you're out and about. The enemy of my enemy and all that.
"I know normally he's a stickler for the rules but something's got him worked up, and he's shared it with the other commanders. Any idea what it is that could make that griffon turn a new leaf?"

"Likely the fact that the nightmares have tried this before, and they won't stop until the world is dead, devoid of life?" the alicorn deadpanned. "The creature holding Queen Twilight is the same type of creature that caused Luna to attempt to plunge the world into eternal night so many years ago. The first failed, and now a second nightmare is using a different route. With the information of what caused its predecessor to fail, the nightmare took out all of its enemies beforehand. My interference was unaccounted for. Now it's panicking, and the minotaurs and griffons can fight back without horrible losses. I'd be happy to help you guys more, but right now I need to oversee my own people. I've been gone for too long. Besides that my wife is pregnant, and I don't want to be away from her any longer than I have to be."

"Ah. I heard Herrick had seen Cadance at some point, gonna be popping out even more alicorn's?"

Cimmerian shook his head. "Cadance only came up to my shoulder last time I saw her. Maybe when she's fully recovered she'd be pretty enough for me to think of her that way, but right now it's more of a 'she's cute, in the way a teenager can be cute'. Besides, her husbands still walking around, even if he's not all there. She should at least have a chance to burry her husband before someone else asks her out, if what Celestia told me is correct. The nightmare has him still walking around but his mind is, gone for lack of a better word. For all intents and purposes, the Mad Queen's captain is a walking corpse."

"If it's not the alicorn then, the changeling?" he asked, looking over to Zelus.

"Not that queen, no. Pandinus is the name of my wife, and she stayed at the Temple to watch over things while I was gone," the stallion said, finally giving up and lowering his burger. "Her pregnancy has been... I'd call it normal by mammalian standards, but changelings are normally egg layers. She's probably still worried about it, and she'll probably jump me the second I reach the Temple. I miss her too, as strange as it feels. Changelings, they can be extremely affectionate. They can tell when you're agitated, or sad, or moody much easier than anyone else, even if they don't quite understand the details. She's kept me going though some hard times."

The griffon blanched at the thought of such an odd pregnancy.
"Wait, she's an egg-layer and she's having a live-birth? Oh geeze, Kass would kill me if I did that to her. How does that even work, anyway?"

"I have no idea, my best guess would be that alicorn's are naturally close enough to changelings to allow some bleed-over, while changelings are extremely adaptable. That, or it's more magical bullshit i don't understand. Din's been doing very well changing herself in other ways as well, though. She's linked to another queen now, and normally they don't share hives; two queens would apparently do everything in their power to kill each other. This mess hasn't been kind to changelings either, and we only have three changeling queens that are aware of themselves. The rest may very well be beyond saving.
"I think that's why Din's been so willing to adapt and listen to my requests," the stallion said, staring at his plate. "Dammit, now I feel bad about being so squeamish about being intimate with her. Her species is facing extinction, and she's found a male that was willing to protect and feed her. Of course she'd want to lock me down, it's survival at this point."

"You've already gone through that kind of thing though, right? So what's the issue? I mean, it's not like you haven't already accepted her as your mate," the griffon said, taking a swig from his mug.

"I know, but I'm kinda worried about how, how much she's taking this talk of looking to the future. She's accepted other queens into her hive, and depending on how the pregnancy goes..." the alicorn trailed off, looking to the the table currently occupied by a changeling queen.

"You think she may want to invite others into the relationship? What's the issue with that? I mean, I thought most ponies were okay with that kind of thing." Hackett said, giving Cimmerian a curious stare.

Cimmerian ruffled his wings, shaking his head in irritation.
"It's something from, before all of this. You could say I was raised differently. I know it seems fine here but, it's just odd. I mean, I feel odd about it, but in this case the queens are literally looking to keep their species going. Din trusts me and I trust her, but Zelus? Zelus knows Din trusts me, and because of that, that queen over there has no issue with me helping her clean her wings or lay her eggs. Things she doesn't let anyone outside her hive near her for, hell she almost lashed out at Scoo-Eloise when the queen had her wings open. It's just, I feel like I don't deserve that kind of trust, and yet they seem completely okay with it. Just, trusting me with everything like that."

Hackett chuckled at the stallion's frustration.
"So you feel like you'd owe them to allow such a thing. I guess I can see how that would be an issue in some ways. You shouldn't let them pressure you though, 'specially considering all the things you've done for them so far. You're already pulling them out of the fire, right? Gave them a place to sleep, eat, and grow safely? I usually have tom's complaining about the opposite, you know. 'My hen doesn't want another female, doesn't want a flock, how can I convince her to try it?' or something like that. I say get to know the other hen a bit first. Talk to her about it instead of avoiding the subject, otherwise it will just fester. Your wife wants your love, in this case more than a normal hen would as it is literally her sustenance. Just remember, marriage is compromise. Not just on your part, not just on her part. If you're not sure about it, ask her to hold off. Maybe you'll end up changing your mind later, maybe that other queen will find another creature to pursue. That's just how life works."

"You're married?" Cimmerian asked, lifting his own glass for a drink.

"Happily, for about twenty years. Had a second hen join us for a bit, though it was a friend of Kass' who was going through a rough patch. She'd just broken up with another tom and things were just a mess for the poor girl. It was more of a matter of support than anything sexual. I honestly don't remember if we even ever made it official, but I also don't remember ever spending time specifically with her. It was more along the lines of her finding comfort with a stable family while she found herself. You may be able to convince Pandinus to try that first. Find out if the other one's compatible before you allow her into the bedroom. It may be odd, but I'm sure you could find a way to meld your ideas of dating and find something that-what's so funny?"

The stallion was striking his chest, having choked on his drink from laughing so hard.
"You, you think the changelings have, have dating rituals? Din didn't want to be my mate, she wanted to screw me so she could have more powerful hatchlings! Changelings don't have dating, they don't even normally keep a mate! Oh my god, man, she literally referred to it as harvesting from a male, that's how little emotional connection they usually develop with the father of their clutch. The only one in this relationship whose culture has dating practices is me, and It's kind of hard to take Pandinus out for dinner and a movie when dinner involves her eating my emotions, and the closest city doesn't even have a theatre. I don't think that poor lady's ever even seen a play before, and it's possible the first fictional story anyone ever told her was the one I was telling some foals."

"I...see. I guess I failed to take into account the, the changeling thing. I really don't know much about them," Hackett said apologetically.

"It means they were doing a good job. That's where they put most of their effort, apparently. Not being seen, not leaving any traces, I'm pretty sure they plugged any leaks as well, maybe even took out a few individuals that became suspicious. That or did something to discredit them. So I gotta ask, what's a griffon do to invite a hen out? Is there something special, do you need to ask the family, what?"

"It depends on the age of the couple. A tom or hen who are fully independent can request to enter a courtship attempt at any time, but if the griffon is still living with the parents, the parents are the ones who receive the request. After that, it's the usual dates. Going to a city fair, a hunting trip, perhaps they'll challenge each other in a test of strength, agility, or speed. You know, find out if the other griffon is worthy of joining blood with.
"If both parties are satisfied, they invite family as witnesses, and depart on the Wild Rite. The couple will spend a week in a heavily forested area, living off of their kills. It's actually a bit tricky here, because while some see this as an opportunity to consummate the relationship, there are predators in those parts. I've heard of a few anxious toms getting hurt because they and their mate were too exhausted to fight off a wildcat or something. That ends up being a smudge on ones honor. If you can't defend your mate during the Wild Rite, then are you truly loyal, are you strong enough to defend them and your cubs? Thus most put off any sexual contact until afterwards; it's the way to go, trust me. By the end of it you'll be all over each other, and you can do it without having to worry about wild animal attacks. Joining a pre-existing flock's a bit easier, as there's no major rites, but you still have to offer some sort of tribute. In the case of my wife's friend, it was simply three hundred gold coins. If the couple find the tribute acceptable, the new member is welcomed into the family."

"That, I don't know if my people had anything like that. The first part, asking the parents if the couple was young was considered good manners. As for date venues, the most popular were fancy restaurants or places of entertainment. I think there are a lot of people who would be insulted if you tried testing them during a date."
The alicorn had finished most of his burger during the explanation, and took a long pull from his glass.
"As for the actual marriage, there are plenty of ceremonies based on where you lived. Some were heavily ritualistic, but the one I'm most familiar with was a religious marriage. It was done by a higher member of the religion, everyone dressed up, the priest conducted the ceremony, vows were exchanged... 'for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until in death do we part.' It was always just one male and one female for those in my country, and in many others. None of this, 'flock' or 'herd' business. Sure there were guys who dreamed of such things, it's a common teenage fantasy when the testosterone first starts clouding your head, but in actuality? I don't know if I'd survive two of them."

"I guess I can see that being strange if you weren't raised around it, though that only raises more questions. Oh, we also had something called war-flocks during long military campaigns. An already established flock would allow pairs to join in, then those pairs would break off afterwards. In combat it's not an issue, but doing so in times of peace is considered cheating, and pretty dishonorable. Even the flock who sponsored the new couple could end up facing shame, allowing such an undercutting of tradition to take place."
The griffon chuckled, shaking the memories away.
"But then you have ponies. On the one talon, you had some ponies that were pretty clear and open about such relationships. It's not common knowledge, but there was this one earth pony town, Sunnytown I think it was called. They had a fertility festival. A crazy sight from what I heard. On the third day everyone would go out into the sunflower fields and pick a partner. Couples usually stayed together, but otherwise it was a free-for-all. There's even tale of one of the alicorns, the blue one, taking her beau to that festival and donning a disguise. If the stallion could find her and spend the night with her, she accepted him as her consort.
"Then you have the other side of the spectrum. Most of the ponies in Canterlot are pretty uptight about bloodlines and heritage, but some are monogamous by choice, not heritage. This one couple, Fancy Pants and Fleur de Lis, were like that. Oh, they allowed ponies to try and join them, but they found other ways to drive the interlopers away pretty quick if they didn't like the new ponies. Like pulling out the ball-gags on the end of the first date. Turned out they were both incapable of having kids, too, which is a shame. Fleur is one of those unicorns who could even cause griffons and diamond dogs to choke on their drinks."

A griffon came up to the table, whispering something into the captain's ear even as Trixie rushed over to the table, a jittering white alicorn bouncing on her back and giggling the whole way.
"Cimmerian, we have a problem."



<-(0)-> 



The stallion and the griffon captain left the galley and walked to the front gate of the city, seeing a veritable tide of ponies that were all looking to escape the Mad Queen's wrath. Beyond the walls of the encampment though, were about twenty or so royal guards, all keeping their distance from one another and watching those around them carefully. With a squint, Cimmerian was able to make out why they were all so cautious.
'More of those damned arrays, but they look like they're in control of themselves. Silver Spoon mentioned something about reports from her friend that the ponies that were controlled moved like zombies, really jerky and not all that aware of their surroundings.'
With a quick flare of his horn, the dark alicorn stole Trixie's passenger, setting Celestia on his own back.

"What are you doing, Cimmerian?" the white mare asked in curiosity.

"I need a reason for them to listen to the strange dark alicorn, and you're going to be my reason," he answered, motioning for Trixie to follow him before trotting out the front gate amid the gasping and pointing civilians.
"Alright, listen up," he shouted to the soldiers, drawing a few strangled yelps and some wide-eyed stares "My name is Cimmerian, Lord Cimmerian of the Temple of the Shadows. You lot have just escaped by the skin of your teeth and now hear the control arrays, even if they don't have a grip on you, right?"

A few stallions nodded, their eyes zipping from the dark stallion to his passenger in awe.

"In that case, I have a solution. One that Celestia endorses, and one that a fellow soldier has already gone through. Zelus?" he called back, soon seeing the shape shifter trotting out into the sunlight.

A few ponies screamed, a few more fainted, but most of the guards were busy staring at the stallion walking beside her, the array on his cheek no longer glowing a sickly green like their own but a light blue, the same color the guards then noticed on the chitin-bearing blue unicorn sitting beside the larger alicorn. The soldiers traded a few whispers, never getting too close to each other for fear of their arrays linking as the queen took in the sight before her.

"Let me guess, you want them linked?" the queen said with a tired sigh. "You know this is exhausting, not just forming the link, but calming them down as well. The pony here has had two panic attacks in the last hour, both of them from looking at me while daydreaming."

"I'll put it this way, Zel. Each one you nab is one we won't have to fight later." Cimmerian explained to her, followed by a poke by Celestia.

"They're as close to a family as I have right now Zelus," the white alicorn said softly. "Can you please help them?"

The changeling queen rolled her eyes before approaching a single stallion, causing him to tense up despite Celestia's constant reassurances.
"Watch closely, watch his array and you'll see the Pony Queen's claim to him fade," Zelus announced, touching her horn to the unicorn's forehead. The shaking stallion seized up on the contact, the only thing keeping him from bolting being the reassuring grip of the alicorn mare's hooves on his own leg. After about thirty seconds, the green glow faded from his cheek, replaced by the ashen blue that filled the arrays of both Trixie and the pegasus stallion. The unicorn staggered before falling forward, his exhaustion finding a hold on him now that the voices were silenced. Several of the other guards made for weapons, others made to flee, when the soft sound of snores reached their perked ears.

Cracking her neck in anticipation of a long day, the changeling queen looked over the crowd of stallions with an impassive expression.

"So who's next?"



<-(0)-> 



Cimmerian was reclined comfortably in the grass, allowing a flow of gratefulness and pride to flow to the changeling queen at his side. Celestia was on her other side, watching each soldier that was being pulled from madness and allowing her gratefulness and happiness to be channeled at the source of this miracle. Zelus had long since given up trying to link with each soldier individually, using several unicorns to perform the links instead. It saved her own magic, and allowed her to multi-task in the claiming of the guards. Many were wary of the offers, even seeing the sleeping guards all dozing on mats in a large tent, but speaking to a few of the others that were now in full control of their faculties seemed to help.
Trixie and the first guard, Cool Breeze, had taken to training the new inductees in their new telepathy, the unicorn mare reveling in having so many eyes on her. It was funny, seeing the mare so animated about such a thing as the mental link, but it was more likely that she was just happy to be able to speak to large groups of ponies again. The other mares were once more dozing about the emptied wagon they'd been transported in, curled up around each other while Big Mac was running a hoof through his sister's mane and humming a soft tune. Apple Bloom and Silver were talking in hushed voices across the way, while Scootaloo was speaking to Hackett, likely telling him everything about what happened in the Everfree that Apple Bloom had filled in for the orange mare during the trip to Freeside.

A griffon nudged the dark alicorn, waking him just as he was dozing off in the grass.
"Lord Cimmerian, the airship to Zarris will be taking on cargo and passengers in about ten minutes. It will be leaving in about an hour after that."

The stallion nodded, picking himself up off the grass and stretching, feeling a few pops as his joints were moved for the first time in several hours. Looking over the ponies being inducted into the link, he saw the queen's unicorns resting and gave her a shove.
"We're going to be leaving Zelly, you want to stay here and continue this, or what?"

The queen blinked coming out of her hive-trance and looking around. She attempted to rise, but just stumbled a bit, causing the alicorn to laugh and levitate her onto his back.

"Well, shall I carry you to the airship, or will you stay to work on those who are still arriving?" Cimmerian asked once more.

"I, I don't know, I mean I'd like to go, but I can't just-"

"Go, I will do this," Heart answered, riding atop the drake's head. The bandages had mostly been removed from the purple dragon, though his left eye still seemed glassy.
"I will help, for my, for..." the queen slowed, looking to Zelus nervously.

"I will prepare your own chambers in the hive, sister," Zelus responded with a warm smile. "I'm sure that within a few days of Pandinus getting her hooves on Cimmerian, they will start producing a surplus of love again. Once you come home, we will help you grow back into a full queen before too long."

"Thank you, sister," the proto queen squeaked, a stray tear falling from her muzzle. "I will not let you down, I promise. I will keep a few of the pony soldiers here for protection, but send most of them to the Hive. Between two squads of the soldiers, the griffons, and Guardian, I should be fine."

Cimmerian nodded at the queen before focusing on the drake.
"Keep the little lady safe, okay Spike?"

The drake blinked, focusing on the alicorn with his good eye. His gaze then wandered to the sleeping mares, before returning to Cimmerian.
"Protect...friends?"

"With my life," the alicorn said, putting a hoof across his barrel. "I will explain a few things when next I see you, so take care of Heart. She may not know how to express it, but she loves you."

"Promise," the drake rumbled, moving his arms in a slow version of the Pinkie promise. He deftly avoided poking his own eye, but Cimmerian assumed it was only from growing up with the originator of the strange oath.

The alicorn bowed respectfully and the drake stared curiously for a moment before repeating the gesture, nearly losing a giggling proto-queen with the speed of his bow. Goodbye's said, Cimmerian gathered his group and made for the airship.

'The Bearers of Harmony, the actual elements themselves, Celestia, Trixie, some nice armor and weapons I picked up in the Castle, a few pony guards, a trio of troublesome mares, an apple farmer, and oh, can't forget the eggs. Heart and Spike will head home once the flow here stops, but I don't know how long that will be, may have to send a jar of love out here via the Talons for her. Yea, I'd say the trip went pretty well. Considering I've never touched politics, or fought in actual combat before, or even traveled half this far from home before all this shit.'

Laying down in the cargo area of the airship, the group all curled up and made themselves comfortable for the long journey. It wouldn't be long now, home sweet home was just a day or two away, from what Hackett said about this speedy little ship. The stallion blinked as he was laying down, the oddity of what he'd just thought nearly making him laugh.

"I'm going back to the Temple, back to Din, back to my family. It really is home at this point, isn't it?" he muttered, using a wing to pull a passed out Celestia closer to his side.
"I can't reach my old family, so I'll just have to love my new one all the more."
> Home at Last, and the Mistress is Hungry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"They're getting close, they're getting close, they're getting close!" the queen chanted, giggling happily while bouncing around her bedroom. Cadance just smiled at Pandinus' excitement, knowing exactly what would happen, as she'd done the same thing with, with...

'I'll see you freed, Shiny, and Twily too. Don't you worry,' the mare thought, the idea dragging her mood down a bit. Pandinus lifted Cadance up and gave her a smothering hug, still giggling like a school-filly, before prancing out the door. 

'I need to...' the mare's thoughts drifted off and she found herself headed to the infirmary. It was strange, she thought to herself as she looked at the pod. She'd heard ponies speak of out of body experiences, but had never really thought about what it would be like. Now she was standing here before the pod, before a changeling pod that held her body. Amare was now even more precious to the pink alicorn, and as soon as she was back to normal, back to her own body she'd smother that little bug in as much affection as that nymph could take.

'I love you, mommy.'

The memory still drifted in every now and again, usually when she was thinking about Amare. The little hatchling's message was delivered by Pandinus later on, after most of the shock had been dealt with by both the alicorn-turned-hatchling as well as the rest of the town. It made Cadance feel, it made her feel strange, thinking of her charge in that way. It was true though. She'd cared for Amare for a while now, keeping her fed and safe, keeping her warm during the cold nights, keeping her clean and healthy even as the hatchlings constant yelling in Cadance's mind drove the alicorn to tears. Now, now that the mare could actually think properly while near the nymph, she could enjoy the antics of the little foal even as it asked her constant questions over the link.

"She'll be fine, Cadance. We're already seeing some improvement on the burned skin," Mist explained to the displaced mare, moving over and grabbing a sheet of paperes from a nearby stand. "The hoof is starting to regrow, while the skin around the skull is also beginning to shed the damaged tissue. We've had to cleam the pod...four times of dead tissue that's being pushed away by the body in the last day. After the last of that's gone, it will just be a matter of keeping the pod topped off with emotion. She's burning a lot of it, even if it isn't the purest love we have. If what mother said is true though, she may start healing even faster once we get a stronger source of love. Lord Cimmerian is nearing Zarris by now."

"A-alright. Thank you, Mist. Take care of Amare for me?" the foal squeaked, causing the drone to giggle.

"Oh, you're hilarious, you know that? Yes, I'll watch your daughter and your body, I promise. Just like I'm watching the rest of the injured. Changelings heal faster with pure love, but our sources are limited at the moment. A few ponies have started feeling closer to changelings, as have a few griffons in Shadowtalon after the raid, but it's not enough to make any type of surplus. Even at this rate though, I can't see this taking any longer than a month or two to heal. You alicorn's are amazingly resilient," Mist said, moving the paper back to the desk before giving Cadance a nuzzle. "Just don't let this drag you down too much. She's going to be extra cuddly after she gets out, so don't be surprised if she doesn't let you switch back until she gets a few hugs in."

Cadance giggled, a strange, echoing titter in her current form.
"I think I can live with that."

'Cadance, I need you in the courtyard. You're leaving for Zarris in ten minutes, I've already had Supply pack you a meal.'

"Uh-oh, better get going. She's not your mother, I know, but Queen Pandinus is calling, it would be best not to keep her waiting. Besides, I'm sure Lord Cimmerian would like to know what's occurred here," Mist said, having been close enough to hear the directed message.

Cadance nodded, "I will, thank you Mist. I'll be sure to give you a few extra hugs when I get my body back from Amare. I'll get you looking like Mirage in a few days."

"Don't you dare!" the mare yelled as Cadance scampered out of the room, giggling. "I work hard to keep myself trim, do you know how hard that is in this environment?"



<-(0)->



Cimmerian woke up with a strange weight on his...well, everything. He blinked, noticing a tuft of pink wrapped around his snout, Pinkie hugging it like a teddy bear and somehow not coming lose as he lifted his head up. Looking around, he found the rest of the element bearers, as well as Zelus and Trixie, had all migrated over to him while he was sleeping.

'Forgot to turn off my swag, woke up covered in...'

The stallion focused, his aura creating an outline around himself before he faded into smoke and drifted out of the pile, reforming in a clear spot in the hold. He lowered the ponies into each other, watching as they all readjusted to the disturbance before turning for the door.
'Wonder if I could weaponize that level of cute?'

The sun was, strangely enough, beginning to drift down to the horizon when he came up on deck. Okay, maybe it wasn't strange. The ship was rocketing over the ocean, only few shielding and momentum wards keeping him from being cleared from the deck by the winds. He walked up to the captain's cabin, inquired as to their arrival time, and then went back on to the deck to watch as the sun began its downward journey.

After watching the waves flash by for an good while, the stallion's face split into a grin, the barest hints of green on the horizon. A shout of 'Land ho!' was heard about thirty second later, making him wonder just how good his vision really was as an alicorn. The crew were instantly swarming the deck, causing Cimmerian to step off into an empty area and allow them to work without distraction. He turned back to face the quickly approaching landmass, though as soon as he could make out individual trees, the ship began to slow. With a giddy chuckle, he went below deck to wake the rest of the group.

Zelus was already up and moving, a large smile on her face as she stared in the direction of the Temple, while Trixie looked towards the port ahead, a nervous expression on her face. The few pony guards they'd taken were wearing only a single pauldron at this point, the should plate that had the anti-detection array etched into it while the rest of the armor was stashed away. His own guards were stretching and chatting, while Celestia was at a port hole, looking out to the jungles ahead.

"We're just about there, you ready to sleep in your own bed again, Zelus?" he asked, drawing the queen's attention for a moment. In an instant, there was a change, the mare's eyes becoming gleeful and predatory. She lunged at the stallion, kissing him deeply and drawing a few gasps from the ponies. Trixie just looked back at the sight and rolled her eyes.

"It's not Zelus, the queens can move their consciousness around their hive pretty easily. It's Pandinus that's attempting to eat his face right now," the unicorn explained, causing the confused stares to focus instead on her.
"Don't ask how, Trixie just knows it works."

After about a minute, the queen broke off, a pink tint to her muzzle while she helped the stallion back to his hooves.

"Yea, yea I think Din missed me. If that's how badly though, I hate to see what she has planned later on when it's her hooves on me," Cimmerian said with a chuckle while he ruffled his wings. A few giggles from the pegasi told him he enjoyed the kiss a bit more than he'd admit, but his grin never faded.
"Lets get up top, I honestly don't even care about the gear, we can get it shipped to the Temple later."

As the ship made its final approach, the newcomers were given a truly otherworldly sight. A large squad of changelings were waiting on the docks, in the middle of them a small proto queen that was giggling and waving long before the ship stopped. The second the ship was settled, Cimmerian lauched over the side of the boat, scooping up the nymph and giving her a nuzzle.
"Amare, what are you doing out here? Din send you out here to meet us?"

"Uh, actually, Cimmerian, I'm uh-"

"It's Cadance," Zelus said, landing lightly beside him, a white alicorn landing beside them shortly afterwards.

The smile on Celestia's face fell instantly, looking over the nymph and trotting over with a confused expression.
"What do you mean, it's Cadance?"

The nymph jumped down from the stallion's hooves, approaching the white mare with an embarrassed look.

"I, I got hurt in the battle, I was holding the shield, and one of the drones made it through to me. It turned out their explosive arrays worked based on how much emotion they drained, so all the love Pandinus had me soak in, to both heal me up and to boost my strength, it just made the explosion bigger. Before it blew up though, Amare...she switched bodies with me, and now I'm stuck like this until she heals. She looks awful aunty, and I'm worried for her and, and-and it's so good to see you again, oh stars and sun, I missed being able to actually hold you!" Cadance shouted, rushing up to Celestia and almost tackling the slightly larger alicorn mare with a hug.

Though she was awkward about it for the first few seconds, Celestia soon eased into it, returning the affection just as passionately as her adopted niece. It was heartwarming, but it just made Cimmerian ache for his own wife and adopted kids more. He smiled for a moment before his eyes came across a few blackened marks on a nearby building. His frown fading, the stallion's eyes began to track along the entirety of the town, noticing several parts of the town that were undergoing repairs.
"Cadance, get them all back to the Temple, will you? I'd like to check a few things before heading back. I'm also going to hit Shadowtalon."

"Pandinus won't be happy," Zelus said, chuckling.

"I know, but that's one of the reasons i'm going to hit the Temple last," the alicorn responded, receiving a giggle from the queen. "I have a feeling that once I get there, I wont be leaving to check the damages anywhere else, so I'm getting this done. Sah Kest!"

"What?" came a booming response from farther into the city.

The dark alicorn grinned, taking flight and headed towards the origin of the response. Flying over the city, he soon spotted the drake and started to descend, keeping a good bit of speed. The dragon saw him coming, saw the grin on his face and hunkered down. With a meaty impact, the alicorn ran into the dragon, bouncing off the blue drakes braced position and rolling along the empty road. Bounding back to his hooves with a chuckle, Cimmerian trotted over and gave an 'additional' greeting.
"How are things holding up?"

"Not too bad," the drake said, chuckling at the stallion's odd way of saying hello. "Your wife gave us the heads up well before the attack, and we managed to shoot a good portion of the buggers down before they entered range to target us. A few Talons were killed, a few of the city guard were killed, but considering what we were fighting against, that's getting off lightly. Lost two ships, but the crew of the fishing boat is currently in Shadowtalon, and their ship is running double crews at the moment. It's going back out as soon as it finishes a run. Leaves the other crew with more shore leave than they'd get otherwise, but there's plenty of work helping with reconstruction, I've heard. Shadowtalon took the brunt of the raid; last reports were that at least 75 of those things hit them, and there may have been more, we're not sure. We took about 43. Only 15 made it to your home, but all but one of those were stopped before reaching it. Last one hurt the pink alicorn pretty badly, from what I heard."

Cimmerian nodded.
"I talked to Cadance, it seemed the changeling proto queen she was caring for swapped bodies with her at the last minute by using her connection to the link. Cadance is over with Zelus and the, let's say the spoils of victory."

"Spoils? I heard you were going out, but what-"

"Hello, Bad Drake, I was wondering if you've improved over the years, since our last encounter was less than stellar."

Both males turned to the voice, seeing a pink maned unicorn walking down the path. Cimmerian blinked in confusion for a moment before the mare's words registered, sending him into a bout of laughter.

Sah Kest was just sputtering, confused.
"But, but you, that was almost three hundred years ago, you should be, unicorns don't live that long and... what?"

"Oh, I always enjoy doing that to those who live longer than most mortals," the pink unicorn giggled, her wings returning in a flash of light. Her mane also returned to its previous state, leaving the one-time princess of Equestria giggling in front of a confused dragon.

"You're telling me some unicorn mare I messed around with years ago was Celestia? Oh by my mother's hoard, I can't, and those things I said. I was sure they'd die with me," the Sah Kest griped, dragging a claw down his face.

"Nope, I get to remember them every single time I speak to a dragon, and now I get to share this with you!" the mare said with a grin, using a wing-assisted jump to land on the drakes snout, balancing there as she looked into his eyes with a big grin.
"I wasn't very impressed by the 'Bad Drake', Sah Kest. Have you improved since then?"

The drake gave off a rumbling chuckle, finally managing to swallow his embarrassment and returned her mischievous grin.
"Improved my technique, my stamina, and my body's gotten a bit bigger, though I could always shrink down a bit, learned that trick a century ago."

Cimmerian rolled his eyes, looking over to a curious griffon commander and tuning out the two old friends as they began speaking in a way that would make a marine blush.
"How are you holding up, Herrick? Oh, and thanks for the word to the rest of the Talons, it would likely have taken a week to get here otherwise, instead of a day and a half."

"Not bad, Cimmerian. Repairs are going nicely, and the unicorns that came with you are already heading out to take a look at the bodies. Hopefully we'll get some more information on how those things work besides 'they grab you, they explode'."

"I heard Cadance say it was something to do with actively draining emotions, using those to power the arrays," the stallion passed on. "Basically they use their victim as the power source. The more emotional the victim, the more power they'll draw, the more powerful the explosion."

"That would make sense, any idea why they ignored the runes?" the Talon commander asked. "One of the victims, he had the array on his armor, and we checked it afterwards, it was still working."

"I hadn't heard they were ignoring runes, but that may be because they were kind of used as a saturation bombing. Throw them in the direction you think the enemy is, and let them go. If they didn't have a strong connection to an array, it's possible they would ignore the usual prohibitions set on them,' Cimmerian said, cocking his head in thought. "I'll ask Din if she tried to nab one, I can almost bet she did. She's gotten pretty strong, and Zelus managed to actually destroy a control crystal in the Everfree. She was pretty upset about it, saying it was trying to grab her even as she was swinging at it, but I think their hive link has gotten a lot stronger.
"Oh, and you may be getting a bit of traffic coming through. I don't know how much you've heard, but apparently Equestria's coming apart at the seams at this point. Ponies are either getting out of the country, or the mad queen's doing to them what she did to Cadance."

Herrick gaped at the alicorn.
"You're serious? The entire country?"

"It's true, sir," another voice called. "Silver Spoon, Equestrian Undercover branch. Everyone's leaving the country at the moment, Diamond even called for an emergency evacuation of Canterlot and the surrounding cities. She also specifically said to leave the arrays on at all times. The guards and drones seemed to miss those who had them, and they were slipping those arrays to civilians who were captured. It made it easier to break them out when the drones can't keep track of who's in the prisons."

"Damnit, what about Diamond's status?" the griffon asked, looking irritated.

"No idea. Last I heard she was attempting to sneak some Talons out, but she's in the center of that mess. I, permission to return to Equestria when the Skimmer heads back, sir?"

"Denied, get some sleep, rest up. I know how you ponies get when friends are in danger," the older griffon said, shaking his head. "I'm not going to lose another decent agent when there's no reason. Report to the barracks and rest. We'll get this sorted and find out if she's actually in danger before sending a rescue op."

"Scootaloo, er, Eloise arrived with us as well, but she's currently latched on to one of the other mares we pulled out of the Everfree; Rainbow Dash, one of the Bearers of Harmony. I'm having Cadance bring them all to the Temple now, get them settled in and allow them to recover. I don't know what several decades of petrification will do to a person, but Pinkie Pie seemed kind of exhausted, she keeps dozing off. Any problem with her staying with us?" Cimmerian asked.

The griffon shook his head before turning to another Talon mercenary, nodding a farewell to Cimmerian as he began speaking to his subordinate. The stallion walked back to the dragon and the alicorn mare, chuckling as they rambled on and on about the 'old days.'

"Sah Kest, you keep rambling about the old days, you're going to shrivel up into an old dragon, I don't care how long your species lives," Cimmarian chided before turning to the white mare. "Are you going to be staying with him, Celestia, or will you be joining me on my come-back tour?"

"I, I think it would be best to spend some time with Cadance and the girls. I'll speak with you at a later time, okay Sah Kest? It was a pleasure to speak with you again."

The dragon nodded in agreement.
"My door's always open to an old friend."

The two continued to trade farewells and barbs until they were out of earshot, Celestia riding on the larger alicorn's back to the next location. Shadowtalon came into view before too long, a patrol of griffons intercepting him and escorting him to the town hall. The moment they touched down, Lady Thrisha was coming out to greet them.

"Lord Cimmerian, it's a pleasure to see you again. How was your tri- Princess Celestia?"

"Thrisha! Thrisha Frostpeak, oh it's wonderful to see you!" Celestia said, hopping off Cimmerian's back and hugging the old hen. "I remember when you were just a little chick, how are you doing? Did you ever find a nice stallion? Oh, wait it would be a tom, correct?"

The matron tittered at the mare's joke. "No, no I didn't. I do have a nice dinner planned in the next few days though. I think that this last battle finally rattled that old tom, Amald, enough to dislodge his fear of a date."

"I better hear of little ones, Thrisha! I'll be upset if I find out you waited too long to find a tom and you never brought me any cubs to dote on."

Cimmerian rolled his eyes at the by-play, looking about the town and finally spotting someone who wouldn't be distracted so easily.
"Hey Amald, I know you'll have a report for me, or maybe Gleam has it already, but I'd like to hear it from you. How bad was it?"

"My lord," the griffon said with a salute. "It was pretty scary, and we lost a few buildings as well as about eighteen griffons and ten changelings to the Mad Queen's drones. More were injured, but by now most of those still injured are pulling through. Reports from the medical chambers in the Temple had most of the casualties in stable condition."

"That's great, wait, medical chambers?"

"Lady Pandinus has expanded the medical room into a two-leveled complex, digging under the original medical room and doubling the amount of patients they can hold. They've also added an entire additional room with those healing pods for even more capacity. It's kind of strange seeing her and the unicorns, Gleam and Shadow Weaver, working out the plans for the Temple. Ponies and griffons tend to build in sprawling patterns, adding on as needs become apparent, while Lady Pandinus wants to build downward and plans ahead to allow easy access to high traffic areas. It's caused them to butt heads a few times, but I think they're working out compromises for the most part, and waiting on you for the things they can't agree on.
"Finally, a large chamber was dug to the north-west of the Temple, just under a hill over there," the griffon said, pointing to the north-east. "The behemoth was staying there, and they had that hill excavated for the new arrivals. It's not much right now, but it will probably be more comfortable for the thestrals than the tight tunnels and segmented chambers under the Temple."

Cimmerian nodded, "We'll have a service or something for the dead, if you haven't already. Everyone should have a chance to properly mourn. I'm certain you have some sort of ritual, but would it be too much to ask that the changelings be allowed to participate as well?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to do. I think having fought beside them in this battle raised them in the eyes of most of those here, especially those who were saved due to the amazing communications we had for the entire battle. I've never felt that in control of a battle, my lord. It was something special, that's for certain."

"Good to hear. I'll be back later to actually look over the damage, but for now I've got a wife to return to, and hopefully a bath with my name on it. Though depending on how bad Din gets, I may not get to that bath," the alicorn joked. He nodded in farewell to the griffon, picked up Celestia as she said her goodbyes to Thrisha, and took off for the Temple.

"I had no idea you knew Thrisha," Cimmerian called back as they pulled away from Shadowtalon, the Temple quickly coming into sight.

"It was a long time ago, and honestly I only remembered her by name," Tia responded softly, her voice just barely reaching him through the wind. "It can be difficult, remembering faces when you've seen so many ponies pass you by in life. I'm just glad it wasn't so long that there were none that I recognized. I can't imagine what that did to Luna."

"We can discuss that later. Maybe having you here in the flesh, you can give me a better solution to this memory problem I have," Cimmerian said hopefully, before grinning at the sight of the Temple and the town springing up around it. "Ah, home sweet home."

The pair of alicorns landed lightly in the designated landing field and were immediately set upon by a large changeling queen, Celestia actually being thrown from the stallions back as he was smothered by Pandinus. Celestia laughed at the sight as she picked herself up, watching as the eyes of a few drones nearby began to tint pink. Nearly a minute and a half later, the alicorn pushed the queen away, Pandinus attempting to reconnect with his muzzle for a second session.
"I missed you too, Din. All I ask is a chance to grab something to eat and a chance for a bath. I feel grody and don't want to be spending too much time carrying whatever muck and mold I picked up in the Everfree."

Pandinus whined pitiably, but removed herself from the stallion, instantly stealing another kiss before speaking.
"I have some drones making up a bath right now, and Slop's assistants should have something heated up for you in a minute. They were already setting something up for the group Cadance brought back. You better hurry, I'm not going to wait all night."

With a final nibble on his neck the queen trotted back into the temple. Her wings buzzed with energy even as she smacked her lips, the fresh taste of love giving her a much anticipated rush. Celestia was still giggling, though the idea of a bath was sounding wonderful at the moment. She followed the larger alicorn into the Temple and soon found herself in the dining hall, the sumptuous smells sending their stomachs announcing hunger the second they'd reached their table.

"Good to see you back, my lord!" Slop shouted as he approached with a large platter. "Made ya somethin' special, and even had a desert set up, though most of it disappeared in a flash of pink. That mares gonna be feeling my spoon on her flank if she doesn't learn to keep her hooves out of my kitchen!"

The aforementioned mare blushed from her place at the table, waving sheepishly at the chef.
"I couldn't help it, Sloppy! it was just sooo good!"

"There's several people you don't mess with, Pinkie," the dark stallion lectured. "The ones who handle your food, the ones who handle your hair, the ones who build your house, and the police. Or guard, whatever you guys call them. You rely on those people, and it's a bad idea to piss them off."

"Instead of messing with him, Pinkie, why don't you help them?" Celestia offered. "I'm certain your time as a baker would allow you to be of aid."

Slop scowled at the Pink pony.
"If she works in my kitchen, she follows my rules. I'll test her out later, just like I did with all the other cooks."

"Oh boy, that's gonna be good!" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. "Pinkie tends to be a little nutty and weird at times. I don't know if he'd be able to take her. Speaking of jobs, you guys need another Pegasus for your weather patrol? I saw a lot of clouds out there."

"We don't have a patrol, Dash. The weather is left on its own. Ask around, I'm sure we can find a use for you around here somewhere. In fact, talk to Gleam or Shadow Weaver when you get a chance, they may be able to direct you to people who need help," Cimmerian said with a smile before pulling the lid off of his dinner. The stallion took a deep whiff of the meal, sighing in contentment.
"Dang, that smells good."

Several more dishes were passed around to the gathered mares before the cooks dispersed, though Cimmerian caught a glimpse of Trixie and Cool sitting off to the side, chatting quietly at their own table. The stallion, apparently a pale blue under the armor's enchantment with a dark green mane, was much calmer now, his array glowing with a dim blue light.

The group devolved into a few discussions about possible jobs or questions about the local area, but the alicorn stallion focused on his dinner. It was delicious, and he was in a bit of a hurry. An off-handed comment by the fashionista about his mane drew his attention though.
"How long has it been since I cut it? I don't remember, actually. I guess it's never been cut, though I can't let you at it tonight."

"Nonsense, darling. it will only take a little bit, and you'll look stunning afterwards, I promise."

"I'd love to Rarity, but I'm going to be busy."

"Surely it can wait until-"

The mare was cut off by a green aura wrapping around her muzzle, the generous form of Mirage waddling up to the alicorn with a grin.
"It really can't wait. I don't think you'd survive getting between Queen Pandinus and Lord Cimmerian. She's been giggling about his return all day, and now she's pacing in her room, waiting for him to finish here."
The clutch-nurse turned to the dark alicorn with a giggle.
"I'd finish up soon, I don't think she's going to leave you for too much longer. The bath is ready when you are by the way. It's waiting for you in your old room."

"As for the rest of you," she continued "there's a public bathing area at the edge of town. We've gotten it set up to run clean, warm water into the pipes like Cimmerian requested and have it separated into male and female sections. There's even a soaking pool in the back. That pool is separated, but only by a wall; it's still one pool. The ponies in charge of it will help you out. If you need direction, ask any changeling and I'm sure we can get a drone that's not busy to lead you there."

"Well, it sounds like I'm timed, so I'm going to grab a bath before Pandinus drags me off to her room. You girls take it easy."
His farewell delivered, Cimmerian rose from his seat, chugged the rest of his drink, and made his way to his bathroom.



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The water was steaming hot when Cimmerian stepped in, causing him to sigh in relief. Swift and Humble were on him in a second, scrubbing him down and running the hot water over his entire body. He stood up, allowing them access to his legs, but shooed them out before he rolled over in the tub, laying on his back and finishing up. Some areas weren't meant to be washed by others. He continued to relax in the tub, letting the hot water sooth him until his right ear twitched, a sound waking him slightly. A body pressed against him as he was reclining in the tub, and lips soon met his own, waking him fully to the sight of Pandinus pressing against his barrel in the water, purring gently and causing the water to bubble slightly.

"I'm getting tired of waiting," the queen said with a giggle, nuzzling into his cheek before trailing nips down his neck. "Are you really more interested in spending time in the bath than with me?"

"You have to admit, it's pretty comfortable here," Cimmerian joked.

"I know somewhere even more comfortable," the queen responded, lighting her horn. The sense of falling hit him, and the stallion found himself and most of the tub's water supply now on the queen's bed, a fiery ring of a changeling teleport-circle glowing on the roof of the chamber while he could see the ceiling of his bathroom through the hole.

The stallion scowled at the mare still on his barrel.
"Can I at least get a towel? I'm soaking wet."

Pandinus laughed mischievously, leaning in until her nose was right against his.

"So am I."
> Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Marriage Counseling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Deep in the changeling hive of the Temple of the Shadows, Cimmerian finally awoke. He blinked a few times, blearily reassessing his position and allowing his mind to once more catch up with just what had happened the night before. The stallion sighed, cuddling into the form beside him for a moment before he realized something very important.
'Din isn't this plated.'

Opening his eyes, he realized he was currently beside Zelus. A quick review of the night before reminded him that Pandinus had brought the other mare into their room after their intense, discussion about the Temple's future. Yes, it was very intense, and it left him sweaty and hungry and possibly a little dehydrated as well. From the talking.
The second changeling queen had arrived afterwards, Pandinus claiming Zel was shaken up after her time in the Castle against the array crystal and that Din wanted to make sure Zelus' connection to the hive wasn't compromised. It bothered him a bit, and he wondered why it couldn't wait until the next day or at least until they'd aired out the room a bit. Perhaps those kinds of scents didn't bother the other queen? Maybe it was okay to, share a bed that your hive-sister had just...
'Okay, that's weird no matter how I look at it, but I can ask Pandinus later on, or Cadance. I don't know what the rules for that kind of thing would be.'

He yawned, feeling his body finally recovering from the previous night but no where near full strength. He'd likely spend a few days resting before he was ready to take on another dragon. He blinked in confusion as his movement caused the queens to reposition themselves; not because they did, his movement was translated through the gel-like mattress he was laying on. What caused him to blink was when Zelus snuggled into his side, actually burying her muzzle into the crook of his neck. She took a few deep breaths before relaxing, a sigh escaping the sleeping mare.
'Is it the safety thing?' he pondered. 'Zelus said she was feeling a bit rattled, and she was already treating me as a safe-spot. Yea, makes sense.'
With one last shift on the bed, the stallion dozed off again.







Zelus sighed as she readjusted herself, snuggling into the alicorn more. She'd woken up when he started shifting, but her paranoia seemed to not be able to bother her as badly as it usually did. She was sitting in a bedroom that wasn't her own, sitting next to two creatures whose magical power matched or exceeded her own, and yet she felt no need to run. Just as Pandinus had predicted. Just as the other queen had said Zelus only felt safe, she only felt a desire to press closer to the source of warmth and love.

The night had been stressful of course, but when learning things that go against what has been the standard changeling procedures for centuries, a little bit of stress was to be expected. The things that Din had decided to 'share' with her were still running through her mind. The intensity of the emotions the alicorn focused on her sister, the feeling of safety that just suffused the area, and the pleasure, oh by the stars she didn't know she could feel that good. She stifled a giggle, taking a deep breath of the male's scent and drifting off into a peaceful sleep once more.



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It was nearly one in the afternoon when Cimmerian finally managed to pull himself out of bed. He was surprised how clingy Zelus was, and was actually beginning to worry about the mare at this point. The second he'd left the bed, she'd begun moving around, eventually waking up and looking at him oddly, as if wondering why he was leaving. He told her he was getting up and she'd nodded, curling back into the mattress beside Pandinus. Both of the queens shifted around each other for a few moments before settling down again. But even as he left she was watching him, looking sad to see him leave.

He went straight to the changeling bathing area, not trusting to make it all the way to his own bathing area without being bothered by the residents of the temple, and dove in. Using the clean towels provided he gave himself a good scrubbing and removed any evidence of the previous nights activities. No need for anyone else to know just how hard he and his wife were debating topics of importance.

Feeling sufficiently clean, he dried off and headed upstairs, passing several batches of residents who all stopped to throw him various greetings. He returned them, smiling and even stopping to ask about how they were doing or how an individual was adapting to the odd lifestyle and location. It wasn't something he'd be able to remember, but he didn't need to remember it get a few cheerful smiles from the ponies and changelings he passed by. Finally arriving at the dining hall, he grabbed a few remnants from lunch, waving off Slop's offers to make him something special, and stopped before sitting down.
'I'll have to grab something for Din as well. She's going to be hungry as well, by now.'

The stallion grabbed a few extra bits, even throwing a few cookies onto the plate for Zelus. Sure the other queen didn't need them, but food always made him feel better. Well, usually anyway. There were some things a big bowl of ice cream just couldn't make better.
'That's something else I want to get sometime. I'm sure with magic users we could finagle something, even if its only once in a while.'

Cimmerian suppressed a yawn, making his way back to the queen's chamber with his food and a few drinks levitating in his aura. He smiled a bit, planning on having a bit of fun with Din. He silently opened the door to the queen's chamber and stepped in, placing his plate and the drinks on the desk. He then approached the bed and took a single steaming hot sausage in his aura. The alicorn waved the food in front of Pandinus' nose, drawing a few sniffs as well as a hungry gurgle from the mare. Her muzzle followed the food for a bit before he bopped her on the nose with it, causing her eyes to open in shock.







The delectable scent in the room and the gurgling of the mare's stomach drew her from her slumber. She wanted to go back to sleep, she was just so warm and comfortable. However, the pit in her belly would not be denied. With a blink, she opened her eyes as something bounced off her nose, catching sight of a grinning alicorn and a floating piece of food.
"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," the dark stallion greeted as Pandinus' bleary eyes focused on him. "I brought you a little something."

Pandinus smiled warmly, sitting up to eat when a dark aura surrounded both her and her hive-sister. They floated in the warm aura for a moment, watching the linens get pulled as fresh ones from the side of the room were laid over the bed. She frowned; why did he always insist on changing the sheets? Sure, she'd found them to be comfortable especially when combined with her bed, but what was it with ponies and changing them so often? Did they not enjoy the basking in the scent of their lover? Besides, it was just going to get ruined again. Several times, if she had her way.
The stallion finished by jumping onto the bed himself, flipping Din over and laying her on her back with her barrel raised on  his own. The changeling blinked in confusion, watching as he floated the platter over to his side before levitating the breakfast link from before to her muzzle.

"What are you doing?" Din asked, watching the meat hungrily but with confusion. If he was going to bring her food, why would he not let her eat it?	The queen felt the chuckle rumble through him, causing her to bob slightly against him.

"Feeding you in both ways. Now be quiet and go along with it" he teased, levitating the snack closer.

It struck her as strange, but she'd thought his insistence on mating without her dampening spells were strange. He'd been right about that, so why not? 
Din took a tentative bite, enjoying the taste but also noticing the spike of emotion that passed from the stallion. Curious, she opened her jaws and allowed him to put the rest of it in her mouth. She chewed the sausage link and swallowed it, taking note of the flash of happiness that passed from Cimmerian.

Allowing him to feed her a few more bites while nuzzling up against her, the queen put her hoof up to stop the latest snack.
"Why are we doing this?"

"Because it's something couples do. They spend time together by doing more than mating," the alicorn explained, drawing a curious look from both queens. "I want to do a few other things later, show you what other races do to cement their bonds and enjoy time with their companion. I told you before, Din. There's so much more to this than love to feed on and sex."

"Like what?" the queen asked. She remembered him saying something about this a while ago, but she'd never given in much thought since they'd begun spending their nights together.

The alicorn chewed his bottom lip, giving the question some thought. 
"Well, sometimes a couple will go somewhere to get dinner served to them, like a restaurant. That's kind of hard to do here, since we already have a chef at the Temple, but maybe we could do that over at Zarris sometime. The next thing is walks, but again that would be tough. I know there's not much out there that could take us on, but I'd rather not have a romantic walk get interrupted by a wild animal attack."

"But that sounds fun!" Zelus interjected, drawing an eye roll from Cimmerian.

"Maybe for you, but considering it's to give the couple a chance to talk, or even just to be alone for a bit, an animal attack kind of defeats the purpose. Another thing is they'll go see a movie, play, or performance."

Zelus was silent for a moment, thought Din could feel a connection being established before the other queen began nodding happily.
"Sapphire said she'd love to do a show sometime, though she may need some time to remember her act."

Din found herself actually intrigued, looking over to the other mare as she communicated to the hybrid unicorn.

"What kind of show did she do?" the stallion asked.

"A magic show," Zelus answered with a confused expression. "I don't really see how that would be impressive, many can do magic."

"A magic show...like card tricks and sleight of hand, well, sleight of hoof?" Cimmerian asked, beginning to trickle excitement. Excitement and, Din couldn't place the second emotion, but it tasted slightly bitter, but not unpleasantly so.

'A pony called it nostalgia.' Zelus supplied, seeing her confusion. 'It has something to do with being reminded of the past. He tasted the same way when he was in the bat pony hive, and saw their green and red decorations.'

'I remember hearing him speak of those with the other mares in the dream realm. I almost forgot about those!' Din communicated through the link with a giggle. "I need to get some of those missile toes that he was speaking of. The pony holiday is only a week or so away.'

Pandinus smiled, settling limply against the stallions side even as he offered another treat. She took it without hesitation this time, feeling each burst of emotion the stallion radiated. Reading about ponies being pampered was one thing. Having her mate do something so superfluous, yet so nice for her? She could enjoy this. Perhaps she would ask Cadance about things to do in return?

After nearly a minute of her pampering, she felt a soft ping from Zelus. Drowsily opening her eyes, the queen looked to her sister questioningly.

'Can I try it?' Zelus asked softly, eyes switching between her and her mate meaningfully.

Pandinus mentally shrugged, allowing the swap to happen and nabbing a cookie meant for Zelus in her sister's magic. She watched the other queen melt under the attention of the stallion, barely suppressing a giggle at how easily her hive-sister's fear of such contact was overcome. Sitting on your back with your belly exposed next to a pony, much less with another queen in the room? It was absolutely unheard of! Yet there Zelus was, accepting the fact with the same nonchalance as the younger shape shifter.

After a few minutes of enjoying the company of his mate Cimmerian shifted, moving Din's body off of his side and allowing her to lay flat on the bed. Zelus absentmindedly groaned in irritation, drawing a chuckle from both the stallion and Din before the stallion began nuzzling her and wrapping his wings around Din's barrel, kissing the swapped queen with the same passion he'd used the night before. Despite Zelus' protests, Din managed to get the other queen to agree to swap back. She immediately was assaulted by just how much love the male was giving her, almost forcing it down her throat. A quick check on her hive-sister out of the corner of her eye showed the other queen to be staring off into nothing, a dopey grin on her face. 
'Cimmerian did make a big point about sharing. I think I like this kind of sharing. She's funny to watch, I can only imagine how she'd be if he actually accepted her as well.'



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The alicorn-turned-changeling nymph found all three of them in the war room just after dinner. She trotted in with a frown plastered on her face and came to a halt before the trio. As she'd expected, Pandinus was under his left wing as the two rulers worked on the paper-work pileup, though Cimmerian kept sneaking kisses and the Din kept nipping him, giggling like a filly the whole time. The reason Cadance was here though, was underneath his right wing.

Zelus was there, not really certain of what she should be doing, but pressing herself against the alicorn none the less. She looked over a few papers, turned to her hive-sister, nodded, then proceeded to make notes or sort them into different piles for the other two.

Clearing her throat, Cadance made her presence known.
"I need to speak with Pandinus and Zelus. It's kind of important. "

The trio looked over each other for a moment before both queens nodded, rising from their seats and following the younger mare out the door. They followed her for a good while, returning to the hive and eventually to Zelus' room. Cadance sat down by the bed and shut the door behind them, even using a locking spell and a privacy spell before turning to the changeling queens.

"Are you out of your bucking minds?" the nymph squeaked, causing the larger mares to jump back slightly. "Do you have any idea what it is you're doing? Din, do you have any idea what you're doing to your sister and your mate? You're betraying both of them, and the worst part is I don't think you even realize it!"

"B-betray?" Zelus said, looking to Pandinus with a hint of fear.

"No, not, ugh, it's not that kind of betrayal," Cadance corrected, burying her muzzle in her hooves. "She won't hurt you, not physically at least. But Pandinus, what do you think's going to happen if Cimmerian finds out you and your hive-sister are swapping without him knowing?"

"He's...going to be upset?" the younger queen guessed, confusion in her voice. "But why? I mean, he's not mating with Zelus. It's still my body, right? So there's no problem."

"I, give me a moment, I need to think about this," Cadance said, pacing the room a bit with her eyes closed. "Seriously, how do I make this clear. Ah! You see the hive as being inseparable from you, the hive doesn't exist without you, and you don't exist without it, right?"

At the nod from both queens, the nymph continued.
"Cimmerian sees Pandinus as one being, and Zelus as another. Zelus' mind and Zelus' body are considered inseparable by him, in fact most ponies think that way as well. We can't just trade around like changelings can, so there's a constant mind-body connection. Cimmerian has pledged himself to you, Pandinus, not to your hive. The hive gets the emotion for food, and he understands that. But mating is considered very private by some ponies, and Cimmerian is one of those ponies. He thinks of his time with you as being very special, something he doesn't share with anyone but you.
"This could scare him, Pandinus. He trusts you a lot right now, and this will hurt that trust. If he finds out some other way, he may never trust you with his love again."

Both queens blanched at the notion. The simple enjoyment of sharing an experience, an action Pandinus thought the alicorn had endorsed, could damage the love she harvested?
"But, but he was always talking about sharing, about sharing the love with the hive and, and about the ponies and hive being like a family." Din whined in confusion. "I don't understand, why would that hurt him? I was doing what he asked!"

Cadance's left eye twitched slightly. Working without her alicorn senses, or at least with them dampened like this was making this more difficult than usual, and she couldn't just bring forward the love Cimmerian and Pandinus shared. This was a deep-rooted issue that stemmed from the difference between the stallion's rearing and the queen's understanding of mind and body connections.
"He's, Cimmerian thinks of it like giving you a gift, something for you and you alone, Pandinus. He can't tell you not to do this because the thought likely hasn't even crossed his mind."

"But I can give a gift to another if they want it, right?," Din countered. "It's mine, so if I want to give it to Zelus, I can."

Cadance made to retort, but just stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open. Logically, Pandinus was in the right. However that didn't matter if Cimmerian caught wind of this, and considering how many were either woken up the night before or were already awake when Zelus screamed, it wouldn't take long for everyone to start putting two and two together. Add in the fact that the other queen was now clinging to Cimmerian now, and it would go from possible to obvious.
"Okay, you know how Cimmerian has his, his quirks? He sometimes does things that don't make sense, or that don't really help anyone? Like how he likes certain ponies more than others? He' really nice to Mirage, Gleam, Blur, and Shadow Weaver, but he's even nicer to you. For him to want to give this kind, this level of love to you, he has to trust you. He doesn't have that trust with Zelus, and he'll be hurt when he hears about this. It could damage the love he has for you. That love can heal, but it will be hurt, and not as strong for a time. He may not even sleep with you for a while."
"I'm not trying to tell you that he's not going to love you anymore, Din, I'm trying o help you save some of that love. You need to be the one, though I think both of you should go, to tell him about this. If he starts hearing ponies talk about him being with both of you, and he doesn't know what's going on, it's going to be worse.
"Finally Din, what do you think this has done to Zelus?" the hatchling asked, gesturing to the other queen. "I can't see it well, but I know she feels love for Cimmerian as well now, but it's unreciprocated. He doesn't and may not be able to return it. How do you think she would feel if she can never feel his love again?"

"What?" Zelus squeaked, looking wildly to the younger queen with tears forming in her eyes. "What does she mean? What does she mean I can't have it again? I need it!"

Cadance backed away in surprise at the outburst, not expecting such a powerful attachment to be born from a single feeding.

Pandinus just stared at the other queen, a fearful look on her muzzle. She turned to Cadance.
"Could love be addicting?"

The alicorn-turned-hatchling looked at the near-hysterical form of Zelus, and while it sounded like a silly question at first she was dealing with changelings.
The pain of a loved one passing was real. It was very real, and sometimes left ponies unable to cope. They would sometimes pass on as well if the connection with the deceased was too powerful. It was rare, but she'd heard of entire herds passing in the span of a few days. Granted the members were all old, but it had happened enough in the past that it had a name; Chain Heartbreak Syndrome. Even if a few of the herd members were strong enough to survive the loss of one, if another fell that weight doubled, sometimes taking the life of another. If three fell, it was very likely the entire herd would pass on at that point.
Now, while thinking about just how dependent changelings were on emotion and therefore love, could they be physically addicted to it? Could a changeling queen become addicted to an individual? 
"It, I suppose it's possible. We'll have to watch Zelus closely, but it would actually make some of your rules more sensible. If a queen ends up attached to a pony, they may not be able to survive without them. Add to that the fact that ponies only lived about 80-120 years in the distant past, and a long lived queen would be better off never getting attached to one. I do have a question though. Cimmerian was gone for a long time, how did you make do without him if you're addicted to him?"

Din gave a weak smile to the nymph.
"I kept a few jars of the most potent of his love for myself. I didn't find myself needing them, but I still ended up drinking three of them in the time he was gone. I was, I began to get a bit nervous when I saw I was on my last one. It helped, but I still really wanted to be with him."

The proto queen nodded, her eyes focused on the floor.
"Alright. We need to talk to him about this, but first things first. I want you to apologize to Zelus. It was by accident, but you exposed her to Cimmerian's raw love and I think that's what did this. I haven't heard of any of the other changelings having this issue with the love-gel, so it may be the unprocessed stuff that's the problem. Oh Tartarus, I wish Twily was here, she'd know how to figure this out properly."

"I don't want an apology, I want to taste it again," the armored queen whined. "Now you're telling me I can't, what am I supposed to do? It won't let me taste that love again, it won't make me feel better, I can't, I can't just-"

"He's been very nice to everyone so far, right Zelus?" Cadance whispered, trotting up to the whimpering changeling and patting one of her legs. "He won't hurt you, or anyone else, and he'll do what he can to make you feel better. We'll figure this out, and learn a little in the process."
"This is part of what I did when I was just Cadance; before I was princess of the Crystal Kingdom. I helped ponies learn to adapt to each other, or helped other races learn about each other to prevent things like this. Sometimes it was damage control. That's what we're going to be doing today. I know you don't think you did anything wrong, but it's not always about what you feel or know, it's-"

"-It's about what others perceive." Pandinus cut in, rubbing a hoof across her muzzle. "Tartarus, this is the griffon thing all over again isn't it?"

"Griffon thing?" the other mare's asked, waiting for more detail.

"Cimmerian was attempting to explain to me the difference between truth and perception and had me introduce myself in a specific way to Lady Thrisha. Because of that, the hen took me to be familiar with nobility and how to act around them. The opposite is true, but because of how I introduced myself..."

"He taught you a formal introduction, and so Thrisha assumed you were educated in such things. Yes, it's exactly like that. He perceives you as an individual, a single person who happens to be connected to the hive. You know that this isn't true, and could take advantage of this error. However, since he's someone you love, you need to tell him about this; you can't use this against him or it could hurt him. You can fix this problem, but it's going to take work. Work and patience."

"It's always patience, isn't it?"  smaller queen said in irritation. "It never requires me to blow something up, or have fun with my mate."

"It is. Aunt Tia told me the hardest thing for any individual to learn is patience, but needing to be patient with those you love can make it worth it. Stars know she was patient with me when I first found myself with a horn," Cadance said with a smile. "It's just one of those things we need to learn, and I'm sure you can pull it off, Din. In the meantime, we need to find a solution for Zelus. Depending on how our talk with Cimmerian goes...actually, he may have an idea as well. We can discuss this with him. Lets go."

With that, the nymph bounded for the door, only to be snatched up in the auras of both queens. They both began talking at the same time, and the young mare's eyes crossed in confusion.
"One at a time! Zelus, you first."

"Do we need to tell him? Can't we just keep doing it this way, I only need a little bit, right?" the queen asked, nervously trotting in place.

"Zelus, this isn't going to go away, especially with how you've been acting. He may dismiss it for now, but he's going to start getting worried and asking questions. Just because he doesn't feel the same about you as he does for Pandinus doesn't mean he won't be watching. If you approach him though, and let him know what happened, he'll be much more willing to help the two of you make amends, and maybe help you find a way to deal with this."

"But what if he stops loving me?" Pandinus nearly shouted. "I can't do this, I can't lose it. I need it, my hive needs it, it will help you too! What if-"

"Pandinus!" Cadance shouted, pulling her out of her spiral. "This needs to happen. He will be upset, he may even get angry, but if you don't talk to him now, it's going to get worse. what happens when you don't take care of an infection?"

"It, it festers, it gets worse," Pandinus said, not seeing the connection.

Cadance nodded.
"Exactly, it gets worse. If we take care of this now, and write it off as a mistake it will be taken care of, but-"

"But if he figures it out, I get it. So we have to do this, and now?" the queen asked looking at her hive-sister, who looked just as nervous.

Cadance nodded, and both queens whined in despair. This was not how the day was supposed to go.



<-(0)->



"So tell me again how this happened?" Cimmerian asked Gleam, who was scratching the back of her head while looking at the report. Currently all five of the de-petrified mares were in his office for either causing a commotion or picking a fight with other residents. All except for Fluttershy, though she was in the infirmary getting bandaged up from a wild animal attack.
The moment he asked the question all four of the mares started trying to explain themselves, leading to an awful cacophony in the war room.
"Shut up! Gleam, give me the report."

"Slop has requested that the pink mare never be allowed in his kitchen again, as she only ever made baked goods and treats. He asked her several times to cook normal meals, and each one was so saturated with sugar the griffon taste-tester couldn't finish it. Miss Pie also ran through a hefty chunk of our sugar in the process, and thus we either need to make an extra trip to Zarris for more, which is expensive in both funds and manning, or we're going to be cutting down on snacks and sweets for the next week or so."
The latter option drew a gasp of horror from the pink baker, the mare's eyes widening comically at the prospect of less sugar in her future. Before Pinkie could defend herself, Gleam moved on.

"Miss Applejack apparently got into an argument with Machination over the farming set up, though that's really not a surprise. Nothing much came out of it, just a request that she gets the full situation before she tries taking control of the farmland. Miss Fluttershy went on a walk outside the fenced area with no guards, and was mauled by a Chupacobra-"

"Which is really weird because 'Shy's really good with animals, and I don't think I ever heard of an animal attacking her, and even if our magic isn't fully recovered I didn't think something would attack her and-"
A dark glow cut off Pinkie's tirade, and Cimmerian nodded in understanding.
"She figured her ability to communicate with animals would protect her. In a way I suppose it did if she survived the confrontation. We've lost several residents to wild animals after all. I'll speak to her about it later. We're not in Equestria right now, and she's not at full strength. Rarity?"

Gleam flipped to the next report and continued.
"Rarity was kicked out of several buildings for making a commotion about the decorating. We really haven't had the time or resources to decorate, so most of the buildings are, in her own words, 'horribly drab and uninteresting.' I've explained to her that most of the residents of the Temple of the Shadows would rather live in a drab and uninteresting home than have a few nice houses with about half the population stuck outside.
"Finally, Miss Dash has been reminded several times that there is no weather patrol here, and that the weather runs naturally. She insists on the necessity of such a thing, though. Thus she's been kicked out of the local airspace by our own pegasi, and when she tried to violate the restriction, well..." Gleam trailed off, pointing to the tied up and gelled Pegasus struggling in her bonds  on the floor. She was bound and gagged, a few dollops of changeling gel binding her wings to prevent her from flying. Looking over the report, they were just about to throw her into a pod right next to Pivot Pelt to keep her out of the way.

"I understand you girls want to help, and each of you have your own ways of doing it, but this isn't Ponyville," Cimmerian tried to explain. "We live differently here, and I need you girls to work with me. I want you each to take a few days to recover, as well as learn about the area and the locals, then you can talk to Gleam about something you can do to help. Four days minimum, understand?"

"Ah ain't gonna sit around on mah flank when there's work ta be done, Ah'm fine," Applejack argued, drawing several agreements and a vigorous nod from the still silenced Dash.

Cimmerian just stared at the mare for a moment before countering.
"At no point did I say that you had to sit around. I just don't want you trying to change how things are done here. I know for a fact you didn't work with changelings before, as everyone I've spoken to about them either didn't know anything about their race, or was hostile to them. Did you ever work with griffons? What about thestrals or gnolls?"

"W-well there was this zebra that we met, and-"

"Shucks, Rares, you know as well as Ah do we didn't take to Zecora all that well when we first met her, and Gilda was our first experience with griffons. That went over about as well as..." Applejack conceded with a sigh. "Alright, we take time ta get used to the place, and the changes. What then?"

"That's completely up to you dear," Gleam chimed in.
"I know you ladies all have your, quirks," the cherry mare said while casting a meaningful glance at a beaming Pinkie Pie "but that doesn't mean you cant find work, or even happiness here. Tartarus, I was just another pony following Shadow Weaver on his mad quest a few months ago to secretary and advisor to an alicorn who runs a small country. The same alicorn who's brought together griffons, ponies, changelings, thestrals and gnolls all under the same banner. Anything is possible at this point."

"All I ask is that you girls try to keep your noses clean. I'm willing to give you some slack considering your circumstances, but I have to keep my subjects, my family happy as well. You're still considered outsiders by most here, and while we're welcoming, we're not going to let some new arrivals break down all that we've worked for because they don't like our methods."
Taking the gag out of Rainbow Dash's mouth, he gave her a harsh glare.
"That includes you, missy. We don't have the numbers to regulate the weather for this entire area, nor are we capable of producing the needed weather with our current set-up. That's why we don't want you setting up a weather patrol. It's not that we doubt your ability, or that we want to keep you from showing off, it's that it's not feasible with our current resources. If you keep causing trouble, I'm going to allow the changelings to pod you like they requested, am I clear?"

"Pod? Like  one of those changeling things? I thought you were supposed to be a good guy!" Rainbow Dash squeaked out, remembering her own close encounter with such immobilization techniques.

"I am, and right now you're coming close to being a public menace. I want to help you, but I have an entire city here to watch. If you want to know how far I'm willing to go, ask around. I'm sure everyone here will tell you what I'm willing to do to keep this place going, including personally fighting off giant snakes and raiders."
The stallion dismissed them, watching them leave and making a note to check up on Fluttershy at a later time. For now he had-

"Cimmerian? We need to talk to you," Cadance said, entering the war room/office with the two queens in tow.

Cimmerian watched in confusion as the queens sat on the other side of the table while Cadance closed the newly attached double door to the room and applied a privacy spell to the area.  Afterwards, Cadance sat to the side of the table, almost as if she were playing the part of a third party in a discussion. Seeing her use that spell, as well as the positioning of the queens caused a knot to form in his stomach.
"What's this about, Cadance?" 

The proto queen pointed to the queens, Pandinus and Zelus, who both looked nervous. After the two traded a few looks, and Cimmerian was certain some words as well through the link, Pandinus started.
"Cadance, she brought up an issue that I didn't think about that could hurt you, could hurt our relationship. She said I should talk to you about it, so I, we came here to clear this up. She said you may be mad, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Would you be mad if I switched with Zelus while we were mating last night?"

For his part, Cimmerian took a few moments to realize just what it was that was being said. The moment it set in, his eyes widened, and both queens recoiled slightly at the blast of emotions that rocked them. Cadance felt it as well, but it wasn't directed at her. Still, what she could feel radiating form the alicorn just proved her point.

Taking a few deep breaths, Cimmerian gestured to Cadance.
"I'm going to assume this isn't a hypothetical question, considering I know it's possible."

Pandinus squirmed a bit, only now realizing just how much this bothered her mate.
"I wanted to, to reward Zelus for her help, and since it was still me, or at least my body, I thought that it wouldn't bother you. I mean, you were always talking about sharing the love we gathered, and treating each other as family, so I-"

"Din, I was talking about the love you harvest, not the love I'm giving to you, or what we do in our room!" Cimmerian cut in. "Once you feed on it and process it I don't care what you do with it, but I love you, not her. Zelus is a friend, not a mate. I don't want that kind of relationship with her and I've told you that before. Hell, I've told several people that. Remember that entire spiel you gave me  when you were frustrated about me being monogamous?"

"But you told me to share it! How am I supposed to know what's okay to share and what's not? Memories, feelings, emotions, a hive shares all of these! I'm not just Pandinus, I'm a queen, I'm connected to everyone in my link; Zelus especially! I've not felt this complete since I left my mother's hive, Cimmerian. Another solid point in the link after so long, it's more than I could ask for. We're hive-sisters now, and I can't just drop that," Pandinus shot back with a quick hug to her fellow queen.

The stallion scowled at the excuse.
"So because you can't accept that I'm not interested in her, I have to accept that you don't care, that my own standards are worthless to you? That because it's a 'hive thing', my personal opinions can go jump off a cliff?"

"That's not what's being said, Cimmerian," Cadance said, attempting to placate him. "They're trying to correct your assumption about how the hive works. You can't specify rules for a relationship if you don't understand how an individual works, after all. I brought them here so this doesn't boil up, so that it's taken care of quickly. They're going to explain this and answer any questions you may have, and in the future they'll do their best to bring these issues to your attention before they become a problem."

"So you want me to forgive them, forgive Pandinus for going against what I asked her, to forgive Zelus for taking advantage of the fact that I thought it was Din. Are they even apologetic, or are they just acting like that because I'm angry?"

"We're worried about the hive, dammit!" Zelus shouted, choking a bit as the anger was directed at her. "It's gotten better but you're still the primary source of food for most of the changelings. If something goes wrong and you stop loving her, we're going to be facing a dearth of emotion!"

The dark alicorn blinked at that statement before closing his eyes and taking a breath. Of course it wasn't something he could understand, but the implied betrayal of his love was just...
'They don't think of it as a betrayal, though. It was just two members of the hive sharing information, sharing food. God, when did my life devolve into this?'

Rubbing his muzzle with a hoof, he spared a glance back to the mares. Sure enough Zelus was almost hysterical while Pandinus looked hurt and nervous. Cadance was attempting to keep her cool, but she kept looking back to the two.

"I, I'm going to take a bit of time to think about this, mess. Was there anything else?" Cimmerian asked, standing up to leave.

"Do you think it's possible for a changeling to become addicted to love?" Cadance asked, stopping him cold.

"What?

"We were talking about Zelus not being able to, experience the love anymore, and she became distraught." Din attempted to explain. "With you not wanting me to swap she won't have access to the pure love anymore, and as I told Cadance..."

"Please, I just want a little bit." Zelus said, going around the table with tears in her eyes. "I don't care if you love me, I just want to taste it again, just a quick swap every now and again, you won't even notice! I just-"

"Whoa, calm down Zel. Calm. Are you calm?" Cimmerian said, catching the queen with his forelegs and holding her up. She nodded once and started a second time before vigorously shaking her head no, leaking more tears as she pushed forward the last few steps, latching onto him with a desperate hug.

"I need it, please I don't want to go without it again, it was so good. There was just so much and it tasted so wonderful," Zelus sobbed, clinging to the stallion's barrel. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't make me go without it!"

Cimmerian blinked a few times, looking over to the other mare's for help. Cadance coughed into a hoof before attempting to explain.
"Even though she physically wasn't exposed to the unprocessed love, which we think is what's causing the addiction, she was exposed to it mentally. While mental addictions aren't as bad as physical ones in most cases, they can be just as hard to break. They're even more difficult to break when the individual doesn't want to break them."

"When did you become an expert on addictions?" the dark alicorn asked.

"It's part of my old job. I counseled married couples all the time before I took over the Crystal Kingdom. Even after I was crowned its princess, couples would come to me from all over the world for blessings, advice, or counseling. Addiction was one of the bigger problems spouses ran across. No amount of love magic can stop a pony from running right back to their comfort in a few days; the magic doesn't last that long. It's possible she could get over it if she's not exposed to your love while her system burns it out of her body, but until then she's going to be clingy and irritable, and she may do this every now and again. It may not even work, as changelings don't always work like ponies. I didn't even know a changeling could be addicted to an emotion, or that emotions were addicting. There's just not enough information."

Cimmerian looked from the sobbing queen to Cadance, then to Pandinus.
"Are you not affected by this or something?"

"It's entirely possible I am in some way, but I have both more access, as well as a small cache of love that I keep for my own use. I've also not gone without it for that long, nor have I had to look at the possibility of going without it," the smaller queen explained while scuffing a hoof on the floor. "It helped me deal with your absence, but I was still running short on it and was getting nervous. I don't know if I'm addicted like Zelus seems to be, but I know that I really like having access to your love, and most other emotions just don't cut it anymore. That's why we, we're both nervous about this. I didn't think I did anything that was wrong, but Cadance said you may not agree, and going by the anger earlier I guess she was right."

"Yeah, she was right. Just give me a bit to cool down and we'll talk, okay Din? I know you didn't mean anything by it but, but that doesn't help me feel better about this situation."

"Just don't try to make any decisions without asking them first, Cimmerian," Cadance counseled, knowing the stallion was going to be taking his leave soon. She'd done enough of these to see it in his movements, in his constantly twitching wings. "I know you feel hurt by this, but they don't have anything but the best of intentions. You need to work with them, work with the hive and your wife to make this pan out. All I can ask is that you don't just give up on your love because of this confusion."
The stallion nodded before he turned back to the shaking queen and pulled her into a comforting hug, placing a kiss on her forehead before he left.
"I don't love you like that, Zelus, but we'll figure out a way to help you, okay? I'm not going to hold something you can't help against you."
Zelus gave a weak nod, watching him leave like a hawk.

He shook his head in frustration before walking out into the fading sunlight, taking off for a flight over the jungle. With any luck the evening air would help him clear his head. He soared through the cloudless sky, not paying much attention to his surroundings but letting his magic and his wings carry him in large circles around the area.
'Even coming back home is a pain in the butt. What to do, what to do, what to do...'

It was a weird situation to be in, that was for certain. He had to wonder sometimes, what would his life be like if the parasite didn't grab him?

"It would likely be a hell of a lot simpler, that's for sure," he muttered with a self-deprecating laugh.
> The Talk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sun was already set and the moon was rising when Cimmerian was finishing his flight. In many way it was like the walks he used to take back home. It allowed him to clear his mind and flush the emotions from his system. He was still hurt that the queen would do that to him and not say a thing, but Cadance was right, the idea of the queen pulling that stunt had never entered his head.
'Not to mention Zelus looked terrible. Yelling at her would be as effective as yelling at Fluttershy. Poor mare was more confused by the animal attack than scared or hurt by it. Kept mumbling about 'it just wouldn't listen'. I'll have to check on her one last time before bed.'

The stallion made one final pass of Shadowtalon Port, coming to a halt just over the docks and staring out over the ocean. Far off in the distance, he could see another storm rolling in, this one looking pretty nasty. It was reportedly due to a bit of meteorological backlash from the local pegasi throwing storms at the Equestrian Naval ship. By the alicorn's guess it would be making landfall in about two days time.

Cimmerian took off for the Temple, following the energy the location seemed to radiate at all times, calling to him even in the darkness. There was Pandinus, Zelus, Cadance, and now Celestia all living there, and he could practically feel all of them if he opened himself to the magic in the area. He followed the signals, stopping short when he noticed a white dot on the Temple's roof.

"Shouldn't you be resting up?" he asked the white alicorn, who just turned and smiled at him.

"Shouldn't you be talking with Cadance and the queens?" Celestia fired back.

The stallion rolled his eyes and sat down heavily next to her.
"Sometimes you need to separate yourself from what's irritating you to think properly. After hearing what they did I was a bit, okay, really pissed off. Walks always seemed to help me clear my head back home, so I figured why not try a flight. It was nice. It's quiet, the air is fresh and cool, and I can fly over the beach. The sound of rolling waves has always calmed me down even more than walks, so combining the two was very helpful. Oh, and my anger tends to translate directly to them as making them eat dirt, or worse."

"It was about the two queens, correct? Cadance stopped by earlier to ask me about you, specifically anything I knew about your views on relationships. Judging by her irritation, they did something you didn't agree with and didn't tell you. Am I close?"

Cimmerian nodded, laying down next to the ousted princess and allowing her to lay against his side. It was comforting, in an alien way. He'd never really been so open to physical contact with friends before, though it could be his memories of Celestia being a sister talking.
"They swapped when I was spending some time with Din. I don't know if they'd done it other times where it wasn't obvious, but it's possible. I guess I dismissed the possibility of Din doing that during our private time, but she didn't. Said she was sharing like I asked her to. Pah, once again my wording comes back to bite me in the ass."

The mare's ears flicked at his rough language, but she nodded all the same.
"I've tried enough relationships to have been courted by other races, and sometimes we just can't anticipate some aspects of a relationship that they find important. I remember one time a griffon noble offered to take me on a date. I accepted out of curiosity more than anything, and the next thing I know we're meeting blades with him in a practice match. Not a romantic dinner, no time spent talking or cuddling. Sometimes they want to test their prospective mate, make sure they're worthy of the time. I can only imagine what kind of issues would pop up with a race that's so interconnected as the changelings."

"I know that now, and I think that's what is causing me so much grief. Pandinus even told me that she doesn't consider herself an individual. It's weird, but it sounds like I've basically become part of the hive without being linked and seeing as how they've shown the willingness to share thoughts, memories, hell, even bodies in the case of Amare and Cadance, I don't know how I should be thinking. I could accept that I don't love Pandinus, but I love her hive. That would include Zelus in this case, as they seem to think of themselves as inseparable right now. Or I could try to do that, that herd thing and keep considering them separate, but the question then becomes, 'what happens if another queen joins the hive?' How many queens would they expect me to accept in either case? What's to stop any of the other changelings from swapping out with the queens?" Cimmerian asked, shuddering at the thought of Pandinus' body kissing him and calling him daddy.

Celestia nodded.
"I suppose that's something that you'll just have to ask them. What was that last part though?"

"I realized it could just as easily be Amare or Gem swapping with the queens. That more than anything scares me. There were a few times I remember seeing newscasts about these communities that accepted polyamorous relationships, and more often than not it was because they were in trouble with local authorities. Either for not properly caring for one of their herd members or for abusing children."
At the smaller alicorn's expectant look, he continued.
"I've heard that in a few places marrying a child is considered okay, but overall Earth doesn't accept that. I just can't see a kid understanding what they're getting into. Love is supposed to be a long-term thing, something you dedicate yourself to. Is a child who may not even have reached puberty ready for that kind of experience?"

Celestia blinked in realization before grinning.
"Thus we come to the heart of the issue. You fear being seen as such by your peers. Seen as a male who pursues little fillies who are not ready for such things."

"That's part of it, but it's also a matter of being raised that way. I know you and your sister were okay with herds, hell I've stuffed the memories of Luna's herds about as far back behind that lock as I can shove it, but my family isn't. I've already lost everything that was familiar to me Tia, I'm scared of what giving up too much of myself will do to me.
"I've lost myself in them before. The memories I mean. When the gnoll raiders first hit us, I lashed out at them, wiped them out. The residents never found any trace of them, and I'm worried what I'll find if I try looking for that memory. I wasn't Cimmerian during that fight, I was Lunacae Nocturnis. I was the Princess of the Moon and those damned beasts were enslaving my ponies. I know it was the sight of my mark that brought me back, because I remember what she was thinking  at that point clearly. She was wondering why she was a stallion, wondering where she was, wondering why she couldn't sense you. I've never been more terrified of those memories than I was that day, I was ready to have them ripped out of my head."

Cimmerian settled his head on the cool stones of the Temple's roof, directing an eye to the alicorn beside him.
"What do I do, Tia? How do I keep from losing what makes me, me during all of this?"

"There's no good answer I can give you, Theodore," the mare replied, drawing a smile from him at the use of his birth name. "We change every day, and I've heard of ponies getting changed to other races. Sometimes they go mad, sometimes they lose themselves in the new instincts, sometimes nothing changes but the shape of the face. The same can be said of ponies who ended up with memories that were not their own, though I don't know of any reports of both happening to the same individual. It's always been a case by case basis.
"Instead of thinking of what you've lost though, remember what you still have. You remember your family don't you?"
Cimmerian nodded and Celestia smiled sadly.
"That's more than some individuals with memory issues have. You still know who you were, still remember your old goals and your old life even if they are out of your reach now."
"There was once a pony I knew long ago," Tia recited, her face becoming solemn. "His name was Churning Nova. He was a bright young unicorn that I ended up adopting years ago, and he made quiet a name for himself. His line eventually culminated into one of the most powerful lines in our world. Twilight Sparkle is the end result of that line, if you need a reference to just how strong they became. I don't know what became of her family, but I know that once upon a time her ancestor Churning Nova went by another name.
"Even before he was Churning Nova he was a brilliant pony. The things he could do with a scroll, ink, and quill would take your breath away. Sadly, in his haste to preserve himself from death's calling the pony elderly stallion he once was made a mistake. He damaged himself during a spell gone wrong. He was experimenting with time and age spells, and ended up regressing himself to a newborn foal. A foals mind cannot contain all of the information we keep about ourselves. He both was unable to recast the spell to age himself back, and unable to teach me the spell as some of his work was damaged in the miscast. Thus I watched helplessly as his old personality slowly disappeared into the drooling foal he turned himself into. Thus Churning Nova was born, and I buried my old friend, Starswirl the Bearded."

Cimmerian pulled the mare closer to his side, hoping to give her some comfort as a few tears were shed at the memory.

"Thank you, but there is a reason I bring up Starswirl. You may have already been altered by these changes, and not even realize it. Churning Nova never reclaimed his old memories, even in the presence of old friends or mementos. But do not despair as you still retain much of your old life. Changing and adapting to the situation is fine. I understand you may feel you are betraying your family and the values they taught you, but I also ask that you keep in mind several things.

"First, relationships are give and take. Yes you've given the changelings much, but our subjects will always need more. It's something I learned long ago and it's why I held court even though I didn't need to.
"Second, which I'm glad to see you following already, just because you think you understand how a role works for your species doesn't mean another species sees it the same way. Pandinus is a changeling, and thus the hive is more important to her than her own life. If she were to pass on, I'm certain she would want you to protect and preserve it in any way possible, including taking Zelus as a substitute queen and lover. It may sound strange to you, but that is a mother's love; we put our children ahead of ourselves.
"Finally, don't be offended if your mate does something that you don't agree with but didn't know they were capable of. I found out the hard way that dragons sleep for very long lengths of time, and lost several friends to that long slumber. Sometimes a dragon wakes up, and a chance encounter just isn't remembered. Sometimes, as much as it hurts us, those we speak with and interact with just can't remember everything about us, and may end up hurting us again. That is why patience with those we love is so important. It allows us to take those wrongs, to accept those accidental betrayals and mistreatments and give them a chance to seek forgiveness. In some cases though, it allows us to forgive without ever letting our other know we were wronged."

Cimmerian nodded as he stared off at the sleeping town. The tiny town growing around the Temple wasn't anywhere near what he'd call a city, but the locals seemed to have a different gauge for such things.
"I'll talk with them, I'm actually supposed to meet the queens and Cadance tonight. I'm sure they're already waiting for me. I mean, If I can sense you from a distance, I can only guess that Din could pick me out from several miles away. Don't stay up too late, Tia. Recovering alicorns need their beauty sleep. That, and if you stay up to late I'll throw you in the nursery. Put Mirage in charge of your sleep schedule. You can play, take naps..."

"Do I get snack time?" she asked with a giggle before nodding in agreement. "I'll be headed to bed shortly, you go work things out with your mate and her hive. And if you're still interested in a marriage, I can help you set one up. I can run it as either an elder or a family member of the groom. I'm surprised no one warned you about marrying under another ruler. Sometimes such things are considered bad luck, while others will take it to mean you submit to their rule."

"Well, I'll have to see if a marriage is even something Din would want at this point." Cimmerian said with a laugh as he rose to leave. "I'll think about it, I should see how the conversation goes first. Thanks Tia."



<-(0)->



Once more the stallion found himself sitting at a table with the queens across from him. To his left sat the nymph form that currently contained the mind of Cadance, and apparently his marriage counselor. The stallion was breathing deeply, keeping himself as calm as possible to avoid causing any undue stress to the changelings. It was hard, but he didn't want to cause them any more trouble.

Cadance was about to speak, beginning the meeting when he raised a hoof, calling for attention.
"The first thing I'd like to do is apologize. Pandinus and Zelus, I know I shot you two a nasty blast of anger and fear earlier, and I'm sorry. I'm not used to watching my emotions, and sometimes I let them go out of habit. Will you forgive me?"

Pandinus nodded.
"After Cadance's lecture, I figured you may have been upset even if I didn't know why, so I was prepared. I shielded myself a bit, and didn't take the full brunt of your mood swing."

"I was hurt by it a bit. I didn't know you were capable of having your mood switch so easily and was open to it. I'm still a bit bubbly inside from the anger, but it's settling. I should be fine in another hour," Zelus offered.

"So you're going to have to make that up to her," Pandinus said with a playful smile, pulling a smile from his own face. If nothing else, Din was still being playful.

The stallion schooled his expression, looking at the two queens stoically.
"The first question I have is, what am I to the hive?"

The queens traded a look before they hissed and clicked out a series of unrepeatable sounds, their wings buzzing during at least half of the title. Cimmerian and Cadance both stared in curiosity at the queens, waiting for a translation. Pandinus provided it.
"Few would be able to understand the word anyway, as we made it up ourselves earlier. There is no real word for mate as you ponies describe it. So the title is a combination of things. Bounty, cloak, spear, safe, trusted. There is no one word, no one title that can name all that you do for the hive, Cimmerian, and there is no title for the position you fulfill. Thus we had to make one. We will be sharing it with the hive, and hope you accept it. For now, we will officially use the Equestrian term hive-father."

Zelus smiled softly at the alicorn.
"You are not the only one who spent your time thinking. We have discussed much as well."

"How do you see us?" Din asked.

"I, I see two changeling queens, one who I know and have come to care for deeply, and one who did her best to guard me, even though she had no idea what she was doing. One is also the mother of my children, and I wouldn't hesitate to do anything to keep her safe," Cimmerian answered, looking at the two mares.

"We both sorted through what Cadance and Sapphire could provide us about how ponies see individuals, hoping to learn where the disconnect was," Pandinus explained, looking to her hive-sister for a moment. "We are not as you see, Cimmerian. We may have been hatched from separate hives, but we are both hive-mother to the Shadow Hive. Your hive, your ponies, already call you Father, and to our hive you are the Father of the Shadow Hive. In the case of our children, we ask that you treat them as you always have. As your own."

"We are writing our own traditions now, attempting to find something that works for us, something that we can understand and at the same time that uses a little of what you've given us," Zelus continued, the two in an almost eerie synchronization. "But just as you do not see us as we are, we are not certain how to view you. You are, complex. We have one goal, the betterment of our hive. You have many goals. The raising of your young, the improvement of those around you, your own comfort, the health of your mate...you pursue all of these separately from what we have seen, seeing to each task as a way to help it becomes available. We find it silly, but we cannot argue that it does bring about results. Your, lateral approach to some issues is also strange to us. We have always been taught to either overwhelm a problem or subvert it. You asked if it was really a problem. You took the problem of 'changelings feeding on your ponies to avoid starvation' and turned it into 'changelings providing for ponies who provide for changelings.' We find this important, and do not wish to lose it, to lose you."

Cadance waited for a moment, noting that the queens were finished in their explanation before turning back to Cimmerian. The stallion nodded to her and voiced his next concern.
"My next, issue is about your ability to swap. There are a few questions it brings up and I need answers."

The queens motioned for him to continue.

"How many queens do you uh, intend to link with?"

"As many as we can, though not all of them will be of this physical hive. If you worry about how many will be here with us, with you, I do not think it will surpass three or four at any given time, unless we convene for a sort of meeting. That may be important actually, I'll have to remember that," Pandinus mumbled, her distraction passing the baton to her hive-sister.
"If you wonder how many we will ask you to provide for, it would not surpass three. If your seed isn't viable for proper hive expansion, we can't use it that often anyway. It will no doubt be in demand when breeding new queens, but drones would take too long. Which leads us to our next problem. If Pandinus is any sign, we need to be able to harvest from other sources to expand the hive at an increased pace."

Cimmerian's wings twitched, the stallion suppressing his desire to be outraged. Logically it made sense and the queens were being nothing if not logical about this whole ordeal. He watched both mares across from him shuffle a bit, likely tasting his flashing emotions. The alicorn shook his head in frustration. Zelus still called it harvesting; there was no emotional investment when they mated. He'd have to swallow his pride here and try to be logical as well. Even if it went against everything he knew.

"I, I accept that," he ground out, causing Cadance's jaw to drop. "I also want to be informed of any and all beings who have 'access' to your swapping. I don't mind you swapping among one another, but I want to know if someone new tags in. I also reserve the right say no if I feel it wouldn't be appropriate."

"What do you mean not appropriate?" Din asked him, a smile forming on her face as an answer to an old question was being presented. " This is one of your causes of discomfort, is it not? Please explain."

Cimmerian drew an unsteady breath before explaining as best he could.
"I can easily see anyone in your hive swapping with you at any given time, and it bothers me. I don't want to find out one day that one of the ones who used your form was, was a small child or something like that. It's a crime back home, and I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole. It's just, I can't risk have that happening."

Pandinus and Zelus both blinked in confusion while Cadance blanched at the idea before offering the stallion an apology
"Oh stars, I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry, Cimmerian! Here I am, an adult alicorn in the form of a foal and, oh wow..."

"You worry about a nymph trading, or being exposed to such things?" Zelus asked. "Why would they be exposed to that? It would do them no good. Nymphs are not developed enough to understand what is happening. To do such a thing would be a waste. It could also be dangerous, as the emotions present are powerful. Their mind could be damaged. Such swaps will not be allowed among any but queens, both for their safety and to promote the drones' pursuit of other sources of love."

"We are also aware of your, need for a mate as other species define it, so we have agreed that we will keep a designated queen for you," Din said with a suddenly bright smile.

"Pandinus has, of course, volunteered her body for such a position," Zelus said, giving her hive-sister an even look. "On top of her growing mental attachment to you, it is also because you have the greatest emotional investment in her, as she currently carries your young. Depending on how her second pregnancy goes, we will review your viability as a mate. As it stands though, you are not a proper source for drones."

The dark alicorn stared at the armored queen's clinical dismissal of his 'viability' before stifling a laugh. It was somewhere between insulting and humorous, but he wasn't certain how he should feel about it. It almost sounded like those people who spent all that time breeding pokemon for the proper traits and statistics.

"We also want to limit the number of changelings directly exposed to your most potent love, that which you express during mating, until we learn more about its effects. We don't want the entire hive to end up addicted to it, and we don't think you do either," Din said. "So even if we find another queen, we're going to keep her separated from our chambers for now. That way we have at least one queen that is unaffected by this oddity."

"Heart?" Cimmerian guessed.

"She is...unwell," Zelus stated, the queens looking a bit uneasy. "Her mind is fragile right now, and she has a very powerful attachment to the dragon she was with. I don't think she would survive being separated from him at this point. No, we speak of Amare and Pandinus' odd hatchlings. If one is a proto queen, we'll have more to work with, but until then Amare will be kept separate from you after her final molt."

"We need a queen that we know will be able to carry on in the event of your death," Zelus continued with a nervous buzz of her wings. "If Pandinus and I are truly addicted to your love, than we may not be able to. Such an event would be catastrophic to the hive even without an assault from the Mad Queen."

"I told you I hated how you made me start planning, Cimmerian," Pandinus told the dark alicorn. "I've even begun running scenarios of how the hive would continue in the event of each important being's death."

"Finally, my sister's actions have left me burning," Zelus stated, shooting a glare at her hive-sister. "My body is trying to use seed that isn't there, and with the deaths of several hive members in combat, we have felt a need to replenish the hive's numbers. It was kept at bay with the influx of drones that readily submitted to our link, but a queen still needs to expand her hive. Pandinus told me this was going to be the oddest thing, and we weren't expecting you to accept it. I need to start harvesting soon. I would prefer tomorrow, but I'm willing to wait a few days if you require time."

Cimmerian chuckled to himself before turning to Cadance.
"So miss marriage counselor, what does your knowledge of love and happiness say about a marriage with a changeling?"

Cadance winced at being called out but managed to try to give Cimmerian a smile.
"I know it's weird, but I think if they, I mean...okay it's not really marriage to a changeling queen so much as marriage to a hive. I think the drones work differently, and they're willing to attach themselves to one partner, but the queens have a different drive. I asked them earlier, and they don't have a word for marriage. The closest word or phrase they have translates to 'swan song' in Equestrian. To bind themselves to a pony is considered to damn the hive, as it minimizes the variation in the queen's drones."

"Don't be too upset, Cadance. Your information about pony culture has given us something to work with in regards to understanding Cimmerian's drive," Pandinus said, attempting to comfort the alicorn-turned-nymph. "I didn't realize it was a priority for him to see his bloodline continued. It is similar to my drive to expand my hive, and to birth a proto queen. To learn that the reason males mate is because of such a reason was something we'd never considered. It just wasn't something we cared about."

"There was also the thing about pheromones, sister. I didn't know about the attachment thing," Zelus said, nudging Din. "Ponies don't use pheromones as actively as changelings. Thus we don't recognize some of your binding signals that would cause two ponies to become attached to each other after mating. Changelings are already as attached to each other as possible, so pheromones are not as important for identification, just general communication, and it is often only from a queen to the drones. A content queen releases pheromones that tells her drones she is doing well, and they relax upon picking up those signals. A distressed queen releases different pheromones, agitating the drones and making them naturally more alert."

"So what do my pheromones say to you?" Cimmerian asked in genuine curiosity.

"It doesn't mean anything in particular actually. It's just something we've come to associate with food, shelter and a feeling of safety," Din answered. "It may not even be your love that's doing this to Zelus, it could very well be your pheromones. I molted into a queen already being exposed to them, while she was already a queen for her first exposure. We just don't know at this point. If it is the pheromones then there's not much we can do aside from keeping additional queens away from the Temple."

"Wait," the stallion said, holding up a hoof. "Is that why you get mad when I change the sheets?"	

Both changeling queens nodded in unison.
"Sometimes the new ones still retain some of the pheromones, but they're thickest in the air after you mate. It's relaxing, and makes us feel calm. I could likely bring one of your blankets and be able to sleep soundly in Canterlot," Zelus estimated.

"Alright, I have a question of my own," Cadance interjected. "Why do you two sound so, clinical all of a sudden. You're both usually a bit more identifiable by speech and personality."

Once more the queens traded a look before speaking simultaneously.
"We spent a good portion of the day closely linked to each other while working out what was causing difficulties in the Temple. We are more synchronized than we care to admit right now. We are certain it sounds strange, but it feels stranger still. We have never been this attuned to another queen before," they finished, shaking their heads.

Cadance shuddered at the echo in the queens' voices while Cimmerian stared a them in awe. That kind of synchronization was amazing, he could easily admit that.
"But will this have any long term effects on the two of you?"

"Again, we don't know. We've been actively pushing each other to speak first so we don't end up doing this," they said in stereo. "We are hopeful that having different schedules for the next few days will allow us to desynchronize a bit more than a different reaction to a comment or one of us finding humor in something the other doesn't find funny. As with many things we've been coming across here at the Temple, no changeling has ever heard of such things happening before. We are exploring uncharted territory for our species, both in working with other races and in working with each other."

The group waited a few moments for any more question to be raised. None were forthcoming, so Cadance nodded and stood up.
"I'd suggest holding these meetings a few more times in the future, just in case anything else comes up that needs answering."

"You wish for us to do this again?" the queens asked. "Why? Have we not covered everything of importance?"

"No, she's right," Cimmerian said. "We've tried working things out, and given ourselves some rules, but we may need to adjust them. Thanks for pulling us into this, Cadance. I hope it helps."

Cadance nodded happily.
"So do I, Cimmerian. I didn't really know what they were talking about when they said you tasted bad when you were upset, but I kind of understand it now. It's not very pleasant, and I can't imagine it being any better when the emotion is focused on an individual changeling."

"Speaking of which, Zelus is owed some additional attention, don't you think?" Din said while looking to the stallion, both queens smiling happily.

"Fine, but give me a day or two to get used to this before you girls try anything. Besides Din, Zelus can't play with us that way. She's going to be the hive's designated egg layer, remember?" Cimmerian reminded them, gesturing to the armored changeling.

Zelus huffed in irritation as she circled the table.
"That doesn't mean you're not relaxing to be around. Just as you enjoy Pandinus' purring we enjoy your warmth and scent. Now come, it's been a long day. We must be up early tomorrow for the griffon and pony ceremonies."

With a shove from her snout, she started pushing Cimmerian around the table, where Pandinus was laughing gleefully.

"Oh, Cadance had this wonderful memory of directing misbehaving ponies, and it seemed to work no matter the age," the smaller queen giggled. "I wish to try it!"

Before the stallion knew what was going on, Cadance whispered an apology and bolted out the door. The next moment, Pandinus was pulling him by his ear down the hallways, Zelus prodding him forward with a poke from her horn every now and again.
"Ow, ow ow, dammit, stop it! I'm perfectly capable of walking!"

About halfway to Queen Pandinus' chamber, she released him, his irritation burning brightly enough to not be worth the amusement. The three of them climbed up onto the mattress and settled in for the night, Pandinus taking her spot on his back while Zelus buried herself into the crease between his shoulder and barrel. Cimmerian felt his muscles going limp at the vibrations of the purring and the echo from the bed, and easily draped a wing over the armored queen. She snuggled a bit closer, mumbling something about forgiveness before dosing off. 

'I'll get her for exposing them to that idea,' Cimmerian vowed as he drifted off to sleep. 'Watch your back Cadance. I will get you for that.'
> On Alicorn Hygiene Practices
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian wandered the dream realm once more, distracting himself from the talk between the queens a few hours ago. He'd already thrown in with Pandinus two months ago, and she was beginning to show just a bit more now, just enough for her otherwise streamlined form to have a bit of a bulge towards her lower abdomen. He had to make this work, but it seemed the mares were hell bent on dragging him through the moral wringer.
'It was just so weird hearing them both talk like that,' he thought while touching another nightmare, this one in the griffon mountains. 

He was happy to find that his power seemed to leave a, mist seemed like an appropriate word. His aura left a fog of power in the areas he'd traveled through, cutting a wide streak across the world where tracking and disruption arrays used by his enemies just didn't work. Thus there were several parts of the old griffon country that were now free from the nightmare's grip, free to dream again and regain some sense of normalcy, or better yet some sense of hope. It was something the Mad Queen was losing her grip on and it would boost the moral of the griffons and minotaurs for the coming conflicts. In fact, he'd likely have to find a way to hit the minotaurs soon. What was the chief's name again?

Cimmerian shook his head. The chieftain would likely be awake at this time, considering he was on the other side of the world, or at least waking up soon. The dark alicorn made a mental note to take a mid-day nap and try and contact the bull sometime in the future. He passed over the sleeping world easily, the last few months causing him to grow comfortable with this new plane of existence. If you could ease someone's dreams just by brushing against them and willing it to turn for the better, wouldn't anyone do such a thing? He hoped they would, but there would always be exceptions.

He willed himself back to the Temple, easily picking out Celestia's dream and tapping it to request entry. It pulsed a bit in response, and he entered, curious what she would dream about. After all, the last few times he'd seen her dreams, they were held together with magic. What would an alicorn princess dream of on her own?

Cimmerian blinked as the world formed around him, a decadent palace overflowing with signs of wealth and prosperity. A quick glimpse out the door confirmed it; he was in the castle he'd seen in the distance from the Sweet Apple Orchard. The hallways were beautiful, of course. Marble floors and pillars, the pillars carved expertly and polished to an inspiring shine. The paintings that hung on the walls were all magnificent as well, some bearing more detail and thus likely older. Celestia had more time to memorize those details in her daily walks through the palace. He saw suits of armor,  polished to a gleaming shine, weapons that were likely older than any living mortal, busts and statues of ponies in a multitude of poses. Cimmerian would almost swear some of those statues moved, and he knew that they were important to the white alicorn. They were friends, friends and acquaintances long gone but preserved forever in her memories.

Cimmerian shuddered at the idea. He couldn't say which was the greater punishment. Forever living, watching loved ones fade to dust around you, or ending up as one of those memories, forever leaving an ache in the heart of a friend.

He wandered the halls for at least ten minutes, the level of detail in the structure around him fading in and out depending on how often Celestia had paid attention to her surroundings over the years, or how often she'd spent time in an area. He found the throne room, a plush red carpet and an expertly crafted throne, gorgeous stained glass windows buzzing with protective magics that would preserve them from both the living and time. He found her office, actually thinking it was her current location due to the sounds of a clock ticking and the scratching of pen on paper, but it was a secretary, a pony just outside the office who seemed to shift colors and shape every time he looked away. The office itself was lavish, like every other part of the palace. He saw a few documents scattered across the room and for some reason he found himself moving a rug on a whim, finding a hidden cabinet that, no surprise, held a single bottle of some form of alcohol. He chuckled at the discovery; Tia did like something to unwind after a particularly stressful encounter.

Cimmerian shook the thought loose. That was Luna, not him. He'd have to ask the mare about anything she knew about memory bleed-over, or if she could provide additional help in that department. The trip to the Everfree had done him no good in that department. He'd managed to keep from slipping up on his pronouns and from using ye old English, but he wasn't going to keep hoping his luck held.

After nearly an hour of wandering the castle by his reference (it could have been less, time in dreams seemed wonky), he was about to call it a lost cause when he heard a low humming. He blinked in confusion for a moment before placing the voice. It sounded like the alicorn he was looking for, but it was...off for some reason.

With a renewed sense of purpose he trotted down the halls, finally stopping before yet another ornate entrance that reminded him of Celestia's office door. He pushed the door open, stopping cold as he realized what he was looking at.

It was Celestia, but she was larger than he'd ever seen her except for in the memories Luna had. A small part of him realized she just barely beat out his current size, but that was soon overridden by the realization of where she was. Celestia somehow had memorized enough of the palace to remember exactly how the bath looked and felt, leaving the room a steamy sauna as ghostly maids scrubbed at her back.
The mare's eyes popped open, confusion on her face.
"Cimmerian?"

*Slam*
The stallion slammed the door shut the next moment. He stood in the halls for a minute, collecting himself and trying to reconcile what he'd just seen. Celestia, in her pre-imprisonment form, was actually quite beautiful for what was for all intent in his mind still an alien. The issue here was she was in the bath. He'd just walked in on a female who was bathing and na-
'Wait, they don't normally wear clothes. Is it still impolite to walk in when another person's in the bath?'

His answer came in the from of the door opening and the mare craning her neck from the large pool that served as her bath, her forelegs bracing her as she tried to catch a glimpse of the one who'd walked in.
"Cimmerian? Are you still out there? Oh dear, this is one of those alien things, isn't it? I'm not mad, I promise. You just surprised me."

"Sorry Tia, didn't mean to walk in on you like that," he called back, not looking into the room.

"Well? Are you going to stand out there, or are you going to come in?" the mare's voice called out to him.

Cimmerian, figuring she was out of the tub, turned around and once more sputtered a bit. Celestia was decidedly not out of the tub. In fact, she'd gone right back to her bath.
"B-but you're still-"

"Oh hush. Come here, I've not been able to properly spend time with my new nephew lately, and I'm enjoying this dream too much to just end it here. Did you not bathe with your family back home?" Celestia asked him with a curious frown.

"Uh, no," Cimmerian answered, still not certain if he should be meeting her eyes or not. "In fact bathing was private. Walking in on someone while they were in the bath was pretty high on the list of social taboos back home."

"But you have Swift and Humble helping you bathe," Celestia countered. "What's the difference? Come over here, I won't kick you out. The water's nice and warm."

Heaving a sigh, Cimmerian approached the pool, slipping into the realistically warm water and giving a small huff of enjoyment  from the sensations.
"It's impressive. The entire castle was detailed beyond what I've seen with anyone else beside Din's dream-hive. I can even feel water on my skin."

"Of course. I may not be as good at dream manipulation as my sister, but I still can adjust things to my liking. If I remember how something feels or tastes, I can have it in my dreams. It's not as good as the real thing of course, but it's something. And considering I won't be able to see the Castle for, for a while I need something to remember it by. It feels nice to be able to do this again. Even if it isn't real."
"Come over here, I promise this will make both of us feel better," Celestia said as she waded deeper into the pool. At his confused expression she rolled her eyes.
"I mean that in a clean way, Cimmerian. I haven't been able to bathe with family in a long while, and you're the closest thing to family I have right now, aside from Cadance. She can't dream-walk all that well, either. I used to do this with Luna all the time, as well as Twilight and...well, I've had a few herds over the centuries. It was always a nice bonding time. You should try it with Pandinus or Zelus. I know they don't understand many things about strengthening the bonds you all share, but it would make you feel better. It may also help them learn to strengthen your bond for their own benefit."

The white mare began using a nearby brush on his back, tutting as his tense wings sold him out.
"Relax Cimmerian, this is not improper. It is intimate, yes, but intimate does not always mean between lovers. It can also be between close friends and family members, and I don't think one gets much closer to being part of my family without actually being a blood relation than you have. Even preening, which is seen as a bonding activity, can be shared with more than just those who are close to you. It was standard procedure for weather teams and Pegasus guard units to check each other's wings before beginning work, and sometimes one just doesn't have family nearby. In such cases, some pegasi form plutonic flocks."

"Don't you mean platonic?" the stallion asked, still shifting uncomfortably.

Celestia shook her head.
"He was a rarity among his kind, but I speak of an old diamond dog philosopher, Pluto. He was such a sweetheart, too. Very smart, even put many ponies to shame."

Cimmerian laughed at the coincidence.
"We call it a platonic relationship back home. Named, much like your own word, after a philosopher. Ours was named Plato though. Hence calling it a platonic relationship. I have to say, Tia. I've been learning a lot of different definitions of intimate lately. The queens have been, well, I'd say they really don't have a good definition of intimate or private. I found out earlier that Pandinus, in following my request that she share love with her hive up to and including other queens, decided to let Zelus swap with her during our alone time. Hell, they're synced right now, maybe they're sharing sensations. If that's the case, they could likely both feel what Din and I were doing.
"I think their definition just boils down to what you can do with the hive, and what you can do with anyone else. Otherwise, it's all fair game."

"You, you think they were sharing the experience when you were mating with Din?" Celestia stuttered out, giggling uncontrollably.
"I, I must say, that must have been quite a large amount of information being shared. I'm surprised she could take the whole thing; the experience I mean."

Cimmerian looked over his shoulder, glaring at the white alicorn.

"I'm sure it really opened her up to new things!"

"I bet she found the experience very fulfilling!"

"She may feel a bit stretched thin until she can learn to accommodate her new relationship!"

"Are you quite finished?" Cimmerian asked, his glare never faltering.

"Don't worry Cimmer, there'll be no question about when I'm finished. Just as I'm certain there was none about when Zelus finished!"
At her last line, the mare with the pastel mane actually burst into gales of laughter, holding her barrel with a hoof as tears fell from her eyes. Cimmerian gave a growl of irritation, forgetting his mortification in the face of this new embarrassment. With a shout of rage he lunged at the other alicorn, throwing her under the water and causing her to (hopefully) inhale a good bit of her bathwater. Instead she rolled, pinning Cimmerian under the water and keeping him there despite his flailing.
After realizing he wasn't going anywhere, that yes, Celestia was much more experienced in such things thanks to her years with Luna, Cimmerian remembered he was still in a dream. He didn't need to breath. In fact, he could stay down here all day.

"And before you go thinking you can stay underwater all night, I know how to reinforce my dreams, Cimmerian. I may be unable to dream-walk well, but years of pranks from Luna has taught me a few tricks regarding my own dreams. Do you surrender? Or do I have to get mean?"

Cimmerian blinked, feeling a slow, rising burn in his chest, the familiar need for oxygen reaching his brain. While it was true he could just leave the dream, there was just no need to be such a spoiled sport. He tried waiting a bit longer, but the mare began to poke strange points on his wings and barrel.	He realized in a burst of precious air what she was doing.

She knew an alicorn's ticklish spots.

A few taps from his hoof on her own foreleg and she pulled him out of the water, still giggling as the stallion spat and choked on the water. Water that wasn't actually in his lungs.

"I have to say, you're a better sport about this than Luna was. She left my dreams whenever I got her like that," Celestia said with a giggle.

"I had a sister, we teased each other a lot, but we never really got to the point where we just gave up," Cimmerian explained. "It was a mutual thing. She didn't leave when I got her good, and I didn't leave when she got me. We bore it with what little dignity we could muster at the time."

Celestia nodded, her eyes gaining a far away look as she reminisced on better times, times spent with her sister. With a start the mare stood up, moving out of the pool and using a wing to gesture for the dark alicorn to follow her. She opened a nearby door, a few wispy ponies moving in and out of the room, and took a seat on a large tablet the center of the other room.

"You had not only a private bathing pool, but a sauna?" Cimmerian asked, looking around the room in awe. Seeing his pseudo-aunt motioning for him to join her, he hopped up on the slab as well.

"Yes. It was nice, a place to relax. Papers didn't do well in the high humidity, so my secretary couldn't follow me in here," the white mare quipped, sitting up and pulling one of his wings out. Before he could say anything, she began preening it, moving through the feathers and humming gently to herself. The stallion was about to ask why she felt he needed such attention before getting a look at the alicorn.
Celestia was moving slowly with her eyes closed, going through the motions with an ease that spoke of years of practice. She finished a line, then went back to the shoulder of his wing before beginning a new line, then another and another. Before long Cimmerian was also dozing off, the gentle humming and the warmth of the sauna setting him at ease. He laid down on the slab, idly noting that Tia had left a towel right under his head for such a possibility. With a smile the dark alicorn dozed off, letting the rest of the night zip by.



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Cimmerian woke up sometime the next morning, vaguely aware that the dream he was in had collapsed. He shifted a bit, feeling the queens react to his movement in their own ways. Pandinus began purring again, awake enough to react to her comfort but still close enough to sleep to not want to move. Zelus burrowed deeper into his side, breathing deeply and apparently attempting to inhale his coat, also beginning to purr.
Cimmerian gave a weak groan of pleasure as the two vibrating queens unintentionally massaged his top, bottom and one side of his barrel. If only he could just sit here for the rest of the day. It would be perfect.

It was not to be, however. The door swung open, causing the three occupants of the bed to stare blearily at the intruder. Or hissing at it, in Zelus' case. Celestia wasn't discouraged though, trotting right up to the bed while being followed by a very confused looking Cadance.

"Good morning you three. Sleep well?" the mare asked with a beaming smile. "I know it's still early, but we need to get ready. The griffons wish to hold the Ceremony before the storm hits. It's supposedly bad luck to have lingering spirits during a storm. As such, we're going to get cleaned up."

Cimmerian warded her off with a hoof, waving it at her.
"I'll take a bath in a bit. Just give me some time to, to wake up."

Pandinus didn't even manage that much of a response, staring blearily at the small alicorn.
"How do you happy so early?"

"Early?" the mare asked in shock. "It's nearly nine o'clock! How are you still in bed?"

"Like this," Zelus responded, turning back into the stallion's side and using her magic to pull his wing over her barrel like a makeshift blanket.






Cadance stared at the scene unfolding before her with a mixture of shock and amusement. At the very least, none of the queens were morning ponies. That bode well for Cimmerian, as no one would wake him up early. On the other hoof it meant that it was up to the other residents of the Temple to wake the ruling family up. Gleam was apparently the usual one who set about on this task, but it seemed her aunt was looking to intrude on one of the pink unicorn's jobs.

"Come on, we're going to the baths!" Celestia explained, using her recovering magic to try and roll the larger beings off the bed.

"I have a bath upstairs, Tia, and I already told you what I think of them." Cimmerian answered, a burst of irritation and embarrassment of all things radiating from the stallion.

Din and Zelus merely buzzed in irritation.
"There is a changeling bathing area just down the hall. We will wash ourselves there," Zelus mumbled.

"But don't you girls want to know how to get more love from him?" Celestia teased, bringing Zelus' head up so fast she blurred.
"You need to do things to bond with him, and bathing is a great way. I'll even teach you how to preen his wings. We can all go as a big family. It will be like old times, right Cadance?"

Knowing better than to argue with her aunt, the changeling nymph rolled her eyes and nodded along.
"Just go with it, Auntie Tia won't change her mind, and I'm sure you'll learn something from the experience."

"If I need to preen Cimmerian's wings, I'll retrieve the information from another drone," Pandinus muttered, finally hopping off the dark alicorn's back. Zelus too was finally rising, though she was looking to her hive-sister with curiosity. Sensing it, Din smiled at Zelus before giving her a verbal answer.
"The more bonded a changeling becomes to a pony, the more love they can obtain. It's why you don't get as much as I do right now. He doesn't know you very well, not as well as he knows me anyway. I know it seems trivial but I can feel the difference over our link, Zelus. It's a much steeper difference than I realized at first."

"Oh? I thought I was your walking seed dispenser," Cimmerian shot at the smaller queen. Din winced at the remark.

"I, we were talking about the future of the hive. When we were bonded like we were last night, it melded our priorities. Zelus and I both hold the hive in the highest priority, but she hasn't learned just how much you mean to me, to the hive. She's still learning that and telling a changeling something is different from getting them to understand it. You of all of us should know this, Cimmer," Din responded, shifting uneasily. "That being said, I'm sorry if you took insult to anything our altered state said to you last night. We were looking out for the interest of the hive, and a queen must be willing to do anything for her hive. Even raising her replacement."

"I, understand Din. It's just weird to me. My people are naturally greedy. Family and self run very high in the number of things we care about, though sometimes we have trouble deciding between them. Many would prefer to never have to make such a choice if it was possible. I just ask that you, not that you put me ahead of the hive, but that you give me a bit of consideration. The way you two were talking left me feeling a bit like property.
Cimmerian turned to the armored queen, who was listening intently at this point.
"You want a better share of my love, Zelus? You're going to have to do better than what you said last night. Din's learned a bit about me, and we've spent quite a bit of time together. I trust her, but I trust you because she trusts you."

"And I'd be happy to tell you a bunch of ways to earn a bit more affection, Zelus," Tia chimed in, moving to the door. "Now let's go. This may take some time, as I have a feeling the queens are going to need some practice, and you, mister, are going to pay me back for last night. I haven't had a proper preening in years!"

As Cimmerian collapsed back on the bed in defeat, Cadance giggled, walking up to him and patting a foreleg with her own hoof.
"Don't worry, Cimmer. Auntie Tia will walk you through it. She usually comes through for me on advice as well."



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Once more Cimmerian found himself in a bath with Celestia. The problem was, this wasn't a dream. Nor was this bath limited to just the two of them. No, this time it was a full blown-
"Bath Party!" Pinkie shouted, diving into the too-shallow-for-diving water, and yet somehow not breaking her neck.

"I'm going to die. Just let me curl up in a corner and die. Better yet, let me leave. I'm fairly certain my private bath would work just as well," the stallion muttered to no one in particular.

"Oh hush," Celestia chastised, using a brush to swat his foreleg. "I don't feel my wings getting set properly. How are you going to take care of your foals if you can't bring yourself to preen another's wings?"

With a depressed sigh, the stallion went back to work, carefully tending to the white mare's wings while she lectured him on the basics and any tips she could think of. Meanwhile, Cadance was coaching the two changeling queens, each working on one of his own wings. He winced, pulling a bit too hard as Zelus yanked out a good feather, causing Celestia to flinch as well.

"Zelus, you need to be gentle. That was a good feather, and it caused him some pain," Celestia chided the queen, earning a frustrated growl as she used a cloth to wipe away the small trickle of blood.

At his curious stare, Zelus pouted.
"This is supposed to be a bonding thing according to the alicorn mares, and I keep hurting you. It's not a very good one."

"It's just something that takes practice Zel. I pulled out a few of my own feathers while learning this and I was the one getting the pain-reinforcement when I made a mistake," Cimmerian said, trying to reassure the queen. "Unless you'd prefer I yank on your wing to help you make the connection."

"Just keep yourself open to his emotions, sister. It will tell you how well he is responding to your work."
A sudden shudder worked through the dark alicorn's body and his wings ruffled, slipping out of his caretakers' grip. A giggle from Pandinus told him all he needed to know.

"Not in the public bathhouse, Din. You can do that to him in your own room," Cadance said, the clack of chitin on chitin telling him Cadance had swatted the larger changeling.

"You better not be teaching her anything your mother wouldn't approve of, Cadance," Cimmerian called over his shoulder.

Celestia chuckled in response.
"Her mother and father were members of a flock. I'm sure they'd not only approve of such uses of preening, but could teach you a few tricks as well. Now, you're almost done, finish up and Cadance and I will double check your own wings. Then we'll move on to drying off and brushing."

The male blinked. "Brushing...right. You do know that before I had this much fuzz my brushing consisted of running my fingers through my hair to make sure it wasn't too bad, right?"

"Then once more, Cadance and I will teach all three of you to do this," Celestia answered. "Actually, I think it would be best if Zelus and Pandinus took pony forms for this. It may allow them to experience the relaxation part a bit more. The only reason I didn't ask them to try preening themselves is because it would both take too long and I don't know how it would feel to them. Cadance told me brushing feels the same as a disguised changeling though."

Cadance nodded in agreement, adding "You two can also practice tonight while Cimmerian attends the ceremony. I wouldn't suggest having any changelings going there, as they may get sick. It will be a very solemn occasion and there will be a lot of sorrow and depression in the air."

"I'd hold off on your harvesting as well, Zelus," Cimmerian chimed in. "At least until later tonight. Asking for sex while a funeral is going on is pretty high on the list of social don't do's, and you'll hurt your future chances as well."

Pulling loose a single feather from Cimmerian's wings and placing it in a nearby floating basket, Celestia hopped out of the bathing pool and walked out to the designated grooming area.
"Come on, we don't have all day, and Cimmerian needs to go over a few final checks for the rite tonight. Cimmer, if you don't mind I'd like to see what you have planned for your part. I'd like to make sure no paws get stepped on tonight, if you know what I mean."

The stallion stood up, feeling quite embarrassed even as the giggling queens followed after the white alicorn. Their bodies flashed with their respective flame-auras and two alicorn mares walked out of the room, Zelus' form based on her time when she actually was an alicorn while Pandinus was once more in her ashen-furred form. Stepping out of the pool and taking a deep breath, he shook his head once more in frustration.
"I'm going to learn to brush my wife's hair. I don't know if that's sappy or effeminate."

'Cheer up Cimmer,"Cadance said with a laugh, giving him a push from behind "It will make the queens happy, and if you enjoy it? Well, they like it when you're happy, so you may end up getting pampered a bit if your mood drops. Trust me, this will feel nice."

Cimmerian slumped as he was directed into the other room, seeing Zelus and Pandinus already testing the brushes on each other.
'Here you go, Mr. T. It's my man card. No, I won't need it back, I don't think anything I can do will remove this blot.'



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The griffon funeral was a simple rite. The names of the deceased were inscribed on a wooden shrine. The friends or family of the deceased would leave a final offering near the shrine, which would all be set ablaze by natural fire. There was to be no magic used around the first part of the ceremony, something that Celestia was quick to point out. The only exception was basic telekinesis, as Cimmerian would need it for what he had planned.
About ten minutes before the sun set, the alicorn approached the monument, gazing over the list of names that were chiseled all over the face of the wooden shrine. He pulled out a simple metal chisel and his own list, the list Shadow Weaver had delivered to his room weeks ago. The names on it, they were the names of ponies that had died making this all a reality, the names of ponies who had brought him out of the armor. None of them had been given a proper funeral, nor had many even been verified as dead by those in the Temple. After several months of no contact in a highly dangerous jungle however, the chances of their survival were miniscule at best so he added them to the monument. Right beside the names of several griffons, of a few changelings, a thestral, and the names of two or three other ponies who had been lost to the Mad Queen's raid.

Finishing his task, the stallion backed away and took his place by Amald and Thrisha. The two griffons began the moment the sun touched the horizon, humming an old griffon war song. The tune was taken up to the rest of the gathered, Cimmerian himself joining in once he was certain of the beat. A single griffon wearing full battle armor approached the monument, his wings keeping him upright as he stood before the pyre. The tempo of the song began to accelerate, the griffons all picking up the volume as the torch-bearer set the monument alight. Just as the wooden slab began to burn, the chant cut off. The griffons had been kind enough to signal the unaware of the sudden change, so there was no out of place voice as the silence pervaded the town.

A single chime of a bell rang out from a ship in the harbor, followed about ten seconds later by another, then a third. The wish was to draw the spirits towards the sea sending them towards the fertile hunting grounds beyond the horizon. To send them on towards their brethren that had gone before them since the beginning of the griffon race.

After about an hour and a half, the monument was but a smoldering collection of ashes, and Cimmerian watched as a few griffons began to take flight. They circled the pillar of smoke respectfully, wings never touching as they rode the warm air of the fire. Amald leaned over to the stallion, whispering an explanation.
"It's a request for the blessing of the spirits of the dead. A wish that they may carry us forever onward and support us in their own ways, just as the thermals support us in flight. While the ground-bound are not expected to participate, all winged beings are. I suggest you take flight, my lord."

His message delivered, the old griffon took to the skies, joining his kin in a slow circle around the dying heat. 

Cimmerian stretched his wings, readying himself for a flight after such a long ceremony when he spotted Buster among the gnolls. The co-captain of the city watch was close to many of the griffons, being a fellow hunter and carnivore. His own people meshed well with the griffons, and Cimmerian approached him with an offer.
"I could bring you up if you'd like. Come with me, Buster."

The gnoll looked up at the circling griffons longingly, a fierce look of determination crossing his features. Setting aside his heavy weapons and a few larger chunks of his armor, he bound up on the alicorn's back, using the stallion's mane and his own powerful arms to hold himself steady. Cimmerian briefly lit his horn with a simple sticking spell to keep the gnoll attached to his back before taking off.

It was peaceful. A serene ambience up in the skies with pegasi and griffons flying easily in circles around the smoky column. He heard the gnoll on his back offer a few muttered prayers to his own ancestors. It didn't take long for Cimmerian to realize Buster was asking for the safe travel of his friends and the admission of such worthy pack mates into the afterlife.

For his own part, Cimmerian's mind raced back to the funeral's he'd witnessed in the past. He'd been blessed in that way, either not being old enough to understand when a family member died or not being too connected to a cousin's grandparent. The losses never really hurt him. This felt different though. This wasn't a far removed family member dying of natural causes in their bed. This was an attack, an attack on his children while he was away. He allowed himself to embrace to loss, to feel the sorrow flow over him like a wave. Each name that was inscribed on that pyre was another face that the Temple would never see again. He let a few tears flow, not caring about harming any changelings this time. They were far enough removed that they wouldn't be harmed, and Din had been specifically warned beforehand that this would likely happen.

The slow circling of the remains of the pyre continued well into the night, until the last embers had faded away.
> Practice Makes Perfect
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian had just left for the day, off to take part in the ceremony. Pandinus lounged lazily on her bed, the odd habits of the ponies still flitting through her mind. She'd had a bit of fun despite the circumstances, and even managed to play with the stallion's wings a bit, learning a few more sensitive points for later use. Now if only she could both get Zelus to try such things on the alicorn, and get Cimmerian to agree to rut the other queen into a quivering pile of happiness.

It was harder than she anticipated. Zelus seemed to think that the male's acceptance of Din entitled her to the same, and Cimmerian was still held up on that odd preference for a single partner. The single partner thing still didn't make sense to her. If it was a natural prerogative to want to breed and continue the bloodline, then wouldn't several females be considered a good thing? It meant more offspring would be created, right?
But instead Cimmerian was tense around the second queen ever since their apparent mistake. How was she to know swapping out with another queen wasn't acceptable? He said he only wanted one mate, and she didn't make him mate with Zelus, the other queen was just feeling the sensations. It was Pandinus' body that was being bred.

At least she'd learned a few more things about ponies today. Cimmerian was a bit iffy on them as well, but he seemed more malleable when the new white alicorn was around. Tia always seemed to be on her side of most arguments, perhaps she could get the mare to help her convince Cimmerian to accept the position of proto queen breeder? Oh, that would be amazing, an entire generation of queens fathered by an alicorn, the most powerful of the tribes. She'd thought of trying to get him to also breed the daughters, thereby boosting the potency even more, but according to the pony memories she had access to such a thing was taboo. Her curiosity about why eventually turned up the fact that consistent inbreeding between close relations often led to birth defects, genetic issues, and a general drop in quality of the offspring.
'That won't work, which means we need to find a way to increase the number of alicorn stallions in the future.'

Pandinus looked to her barrel, the pregnancy now showing in what would normally be a horrific case of internal parasites that would set her panicking. If not for Gleam's constant reassurance and the images of pregnant mares Cadance and Sapphire had seen, she'd likely still be panicking. Her lower barrel was beginning to inflate a bit, the soft plates of her chitin bending and shifting easily.

She sighed in irritation. Zelus was going to have to avoid the stallion in this capacity for the foreseeable future. Her chitin plating wouldn't have nearly as much give as Din's did. That would likely end up being very painful for the larger mare, and thus she'd need to go through a focused molt before she was able to safely breed with the male.
'I've never been happier that I went with the minimal plating than when I found out what I'll look like by the end of this mess. At least it will boost Cimmerian's connection to me even more, according to Cadance."

Din was drawn from her thoughts by the door swinging open, a softly smiling Zelus walking in and approaching the bed.
"Well, it took a bit of time, but I managed it. I should be ready to lay by tomorrow evening."

"You didn't use any female forms that are here did you? Sapphire was mentioning that it may cause issues amongst the ponies if they think a mare was receptive to mating when they aren't," Din explained, drawing a shake of Zelus' head.

"I didn't, I used an old disguise from a long while ago," Zelus offered in response. "I'm fairly certain the mare's dead, so there's no issue with a stallion running into her again. At the very least, they wouldn't recognize her."

The smaller queen nodded, sending a quick command out to the hive. Two minutes later, several drones walked into the room with a collection of towels, brushes, and a bucket of warm water. Zelus looked curiously at the items as the drones left, giving her hive-sister an asking look. Pandinus merely took the utensils in her aura and brought them over to her bed before rising.

"I thought we might use this time to practice what we learned today," the younger queen ordered. "I also wish to try something, a changeling alternative to brushing. Lay down on the bed."

Zelus did so, watching curiously as the queen wrung out a wet rag and began wiping the warm cloth over her hive-sister's chitin.

"That...that feels kind of nice. I like it," Zelus said, relaxing under the ministrations. Din smiled, running the rag up and down the plates of the other queen, making sure to pay special attention to all the areas she knew were likely to catch dirt and debris. Her own chitin did the same thing and like Celestia had said about preening, knowing the problems faced by your own form directly translated into how well you could care for another.

After wiping down nearly every available surface, Din nearly burst into a fit of giggles when she noticed Zelus was dozing off, nearly falling asleep at the contact with the warm washcloth. She gave the lethargic mare a playful nip on the flank to wake her up, then traded off, taking her own place on the bed as Zelus carefully soaked a new cloth for her hive-sister. The process was repeated, this time with Pandinus being the target of the pampering.

"Couldn't we use the drones for this? I mean, some of them have the time to spare," Zelus asked as she ran the rag over the smaller queen's leathery skin. The much smaller amount of chitin covering the other queen's body meant that Zelus was having to rinse the towel a lot more, as there seemed to be more grime attaching itself to Din's hide than anywhere else.

Pandinus hummed contentedly for a few seconds before answering.
"We could, but it would defeat the purpose. Besides, the free time is time they spend strengthening their bonds with the ponies and griffons. I know it may not seem like much, but it does help. The amount of emotion we've needed to pull from Cimmerian is steadily dropping. Added to the fact that several changelings are attempting to merge with some of the herds in the Temple, and we may be able to survive even in a worst case scenario; that of Cimmerian's death."

"You've gotten awfully interested in making certain the hive could continue without us. Alright, done. What next?" Zelus asked, tossing the dirty rag onto the one Din had used on her.

"Now we try brushing," Din answered, levitating a brush over to the pair and motioning Zelus to take a spot on the middle of the bed. Once the larger queen was shape shifted and on the bed, Din continued.
"I want you to take that alicorn form you had earlier, and we're going to use a full connection. I want to compare sensations. You've been an actual alicorn, so you know the sensations a bit better than I do. You'll go first."

A second wave of fire washed over Zelus as she attempted to recreate the exact body she had been trapped in due to the poison joke. She was a bit apprehensive about such a thing as she knew it led to all kinds of other problems, but she wasn't going to be stuck in the new body this time.

Pandinus carefully ran the brush over her sister, making note of the sensations and making changes to her own form accordingly. She stopped just under the wings as the other queen burst into giggles, an familiar sensation flooding their shared sense of touch.
"He's ticklish under the wings? Oh, I'm filing that away for later! Where else?"

So the experience continued, the two queens trading notes and learning a few tricks about brushing that would be put to use later. At long last though the two arrived at the part Zelus was dreading.

"You do know that if we do this too many times, Cimmerian's not going to be able to fly," Zelus chimed in. "I'm going to pull out too many feathers."

"Come on, it's not that bad. Besides, this time you'll feel how hard you're pulling and know when to stop. I'll go first to show you the amount of force you should be using," Din explained, both queens preparing for the preening practice. It didn't take long for Din to once more run across a few sensations that struck her as strange.

"What is, whoa! That's what he felt when I did that earlier?" Din asked as the queens both gasped. The smaller queen had accidentally hit a sensitive point on the other mare's wings once more, discovering the warm echo it left in both their bodies. Curious, Pandinus began working on the area specifically, attempting to find the full range of contact the point was receptive to.

"S-stop it, we're supposed to be, we're supposed to be practicing," Zelus moaned, her wings tensing up.

"I am practicing. I need to know what will make Cimmerian feel good. This is very important information to have, Zelus. I would think you'd be more than happy to help. Maybe we can even get him to, hmm reward us later?" the smaller queen said, her hum buzzing against her hive-sister's wings. Zelus squeaked at the pleasure running through her body, but the second she tried to move away Pandinus was making her move.
"What's the rush, Zelly? We've plenty of time before Cimmerian returns for the night, and we're far from done. There's just so much more to learn!"



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Cimmerian strode into the Temple in a sleepy daze. The ceremony had gone on for a long time and while he felt for the lost and the ones who had been lost, it was still a very, very long ceremony, especially at the end. He'd been up in the air for nearly an hour with Buster on his back. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, but it had just gotten so tedious, especially when he'd have to flap his large wings to keep himself in the air. He'd nearly hit several griffons or pegasi a few times when he'd started to lose altitude.

Opening the door to his room, he blinked a few times as he ran into a figurative wall of scents.

Both queens were sprawled on the bed, though Zelus seemed to have had the worst of it. Pandinus was still awake and aware, though barely, and looking to him with a mischievous grin on her face from her position on her hive-sister's barrel. Both queens were holding tightly to one another, leaving no guess as to what the two had been up to while he was gone.

"I don't know why I'm surprised," Cimmerian muttered to the queen. "You're the worst when it comes to sex, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before you went after Zelus now that she's in this little family."

Walking up to the bed, he sighed and levitated both queens while changing the sheets. At Din's irritated huff, he rolled his eyes.
"I'm not sleeping in a mess I didn't make. How long did you torment her, anyway?"

Din snickered weakly as she nuzzled her hive-sister.
"Not very long. We could only go for a little bit before we used up my extra bottle of love. We were practicing the things Tia taught us when I found out just how sensitive your wings are. Zelus was letting me copy the sensations, so I think I've managed to make my alicorn form a bit more natural. It should react the way a normal alicorn would now, I even added the ticklish spots."

Nodding, Cimmerian crawled onto the bed, chuckling as the insensate form of Zelus reacted to his warmth by shifting to get closer. Din just snuggled closer to Zelus, enjoying being in contact with both of her mates, and the three were soon fast asleep. Or in Zelus' case, passed out.



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There was no early morning wake up call this time. Cimmerian later learned that Celestia had tried waking them, but a few well-placed drones and some liberally applied changeling mucus left the mare glued to the wall and unable to bother them until Gleam came by around eleven o'clock. The white mare was struggling in her bonds, staring at the queens with outrage in her eyes as she mumbled threats and general hatred through the gel currently keeping her muzzle shut.

"I think I have an idea," Cimmerian muttered to the queens, getting the attention of both mares. "I want you to bind her wings and legs, then detach her from the wall."

Pandinus did so quickly, applying the new bonds as Zelus removed the paste keeping her stuck to the wall. Din held the still-struggling alicorn in her aura and allowed her mate to take Tia. Cimmerian just grinned at Celestia, grabbing her and trotting off merrily while the two large shape shifters following curiously.

Cimmerian trotted through the halls with a smile on his face, greeting the residents and acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary despite the confused looks he was receiving. Finally reaching his destination, the stallion threw open the door and walked into the nursery.

"Hey guys, I have something for you. Aunty Tia here isn't feeling well, and she needs lots of hugs to make her strong again. You guys think you can do that for me, and keep her warm?" the stallion asked the gathered children.

He was answered with a resounding cheer, the kids all bouncing around happily even as Celestia thrashed in her bindings. With a final laugh, he chucked the mare into the sea of happy children, watching as the white alicorn disappeared under the wave of cute.

"That was interesting. I'd never have thought of such a distraction," Din stated as Zelus watched curiously from the doorway. The roiling sea of bodies gave way to a single white hoof for a moment, Gem or Adamant taking off the bindings so they could get a better angle for their hugs and allowing the mare to flail a bit more. After that the hoof slowly sunk back into the crowd, never to be seen again.

"A tear is shed for those who were lost," Cimmerian recited, pressing a hoof over his barrel in mock respect. Din followed suit, giggling a bit as she sense the quick flash of irritation from Celestia before it gave way to happiness.
"Okay, any idea what's on the agenda today, Din?"

"First order of business is lunch. Both forms," the mare said, placing a simple kiss on the stallions cheek.

Cimmerian grinned, wrapping his hooves around the mare and affectionately nuzzling her before planting a kiss on her nose.
"I'm happy to help. We can continue this in the dining hall though. Come on."

The three left the happy shouts of children and soon were making their way along the buffet lines, Cimmerian and Pandinus piling up their plates while Zelus was grabbing a few cookies. The three took their place at a table all beside each other, with one queen on each side of the alicorn. Din began almost immediately to ravenously tear into her meal, only stopping with her teeth halfway into a fillet after Cimmerian hit her with a burst of irritation. She turned to him with a piece of fish still hanging from her muzzle before choking out a laugh.

"Didn't Thrisha teach you about eating properly?" Cimmerian asked the messy queen.

"She did, but I'm hungry and this tastes really good," Din answered, giving Zelus a quick glance.

Before Cimmerian could ask what they were planning, the other queen pulled his head to face her, licking the splatter of fish off of his face.

"Huh. She was right, it does taste pretty good," Zelus commented, her ears perking up a moment later.
"That tasted pretty nice too."

Cimmerian whipped around and scowled at Pandinus.
"You planned that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she answered, her smile only furthering his suspicion. It was either a smile of amusement, or a smile of a successful plot. With Din it was hard to tell sometimes.

As the stallion was turning back to his meal, Zelus spoke up again.
"She said yesterday I need to earn the affection, that I can't just expect to get as much as she does because you've agreed to try things our way. Please accept my, my apologies for not understanding how pony emotions work. This is new to me."

"Accept her apology, Cimmerian. You know how much we queens don't like admitting we're wrong," Din whispered into his ear, poking him with a hoof.

"Fine, but I still find this weird," Cimmerian said dismissively. "I don't mind it too much Zelus, it just...surprised me a bit is all. It's something I expect from Din but not you."

"So it's something I should do more often?" Zelus asked in genuine curiosity.

While Cimmerian was staring off at the far wall, a flash of irritation washing over him, Din leaned forward to look at her hive-sister.
"Speak to Cadance about things ponies do with their mates. It helped me a lot and I'm certain it will help you. Just be sure to tell her it's for him, as he doesn't like all the things most stallions do. Oh, and if you find he's angry at you, just display yourself to him. That tends to distract him."

"Din!"

The accused changeling giggled at his roiling emotions, giving him a long kiss and moving closer to his side while pulling a wing over her back. Sighing in defeat, the dark alicorn continued working on his meal, stealing a few bits from Pandinus' plate in retribution as well as a cookie from Zelus. To his surprise the armored shape shifter hissed in anger, only stopping when Din bopped her on the head with a spoon.

"Stealing food is a major offense with how strained the hives were for resources, Cimmerian. I know you didn't mean it, but as you do know Zelus is still living by many of the old ways. She likely didn't even notice your amusement," Din explained before turning to the other queen, likely giving her an entire explanation via the link.

After waiting for the mares to return to their meals, he shot Din a question.
"Anything planned for today?"

"I'm headed to the infirmary for a checkup," she answered. "Gleam says pregnant mares receive them often during any pregnancies that are not normal, and this qualifies. We've even found a decent doctor that will be helping- oh, hang on."

Both Cimmerian and Zelus watched the smaller mare cock her head in curiosity as she communicated with a distant drone for a few seconds. Afterwards she nodded before turning to her mate.
"There's an airship on the way. It stopped in Zarris, but it's making it's way to Shadow Talon for now. We may need to allow it to land in the airfield while this storm passes by."

"The thestrals?" Cimmerian asked, receiving a nod from Pandinus. He smiled in response.
"I'll go with you for your little check up, I'm curious how it's going as well. After that I'll head to Shadow Talon to greet them. Then, as much as I'm going to regret it, I'm Gleam's for the rest of the day. She told me last night that there's a ton of stuff I need to catch up on after my trip."

"Well, Zelus can go with you to Shadow Talon, and I'll get started with Gleam," Pandinus offered, Zelus looking at her in curiosity.
"I don't like wandering around ponies I don't know like this, Zelus. It makes me feel vulnerable. I'm not putting my hatchlings in a situation where they could end up in danger, no matter how small the chance."

Their schedule made up for the day, the three turned to finish their meals. Or extract it via cuddling, in Pandinus' case. 



<-(0)-> 



The medical room looked much more full than the last time Cimmerian had been there, both in terms of staff, supplies, and after the raid, patients. About half the beds were occupied, though most were for injuries that were far from fatal. To his surprise, Cimmerian spotted a pink mane among the crowd.

Pinkie was sleeping deeply on the bed, not even twitching as the crowds moved around her. A single caretaker, a griffon medic, came by and checked her chart before looking back to the alicorn.
"I was going to send for you sir, but since you're here you can take care of this. A few of the changelings want to pod her if she's going to be out for much longer. She's been sleeping almost constantly since her little spurt of energy upon arrival. Talking to Celestia brought up a case for mental exhaustion, so an induced coma in the pods may give her time to recover in peace."

"Have you told her friends about this?" Cimmerian asked the griffon.

"Fluttershy,"he said, motioning to the Pegasus two beds down "was fine with it, as she's come to know the local changelings enough to understand their goals. It also helps that she spent a day in a pod herself to help prevent scarring from the attack she suffered. The unicorn helps during the night shift here, and she's fine with the pods. The other two we haven't been able to contact. The blue Pegasus has been pretty belligerent with the changelings and we've kicked her out of the infirmary while the orange mare is busy in the fields. She's sent a few baskets of various fruits for the staff and her friends, but otherwise we've only seen her here her once or twice. She's pretty content to let us do our job."

"I think it would be fine," Din chimed in as she walked by, stopping on her trip to a large bed towards the back. "The pod will allow her to be cared for on a more long term basis and they wont have to awaken her for food or water. The pod will sustain her."

Cimmerian nodded.
"Fine, do what you need to. I'll see if I can speak to her in her dreams tonight and let her know what's going on. That way there's no panicking on her part once she wakes up."

Walking past the prohibitively pooped pink party pony, he stopped once more as his mate wandered off without him.
"How are you feeling, 'Shy?"

"Oh, much better. Thank you," the butter-yellow pegasus answered. "It's been, well, very scary but everypo-er everyone has just been so kind to us."

"Glad to hear that. I know it's a bit weird, but listen to the guards about the animals for now, okay? You're not full strength yet, and even then the animals are different. We have some books and scrolls on the local fauna upstairs if you're interested. I'm sure someone can grab you some reading material in the meantime," Cimmerian offered.

"Um, actually I've already asked. I've read two or three of the books already. T-thank you for the offer though," the mare apologized with an embarrassed blush.

Cimmerian nodded, giving the yellow pony a sad smile.
"I know things are bad for you girls right now and you're out of your elements. Trust me when I say I know the feeling all too well. But if we do manage to free Twilight from the Nightmare, she's going to need support. So you heal up and keep your friends safe for her sake, alright? She's going to need you and you wont do her or your other friends any good if you get torn up by wild animals. Don't go off into the woods again until your certain you can handle the local fauna. I'll show you something later, there's a healing spring where you can safely play with anything that comes near it."

"If, if you have a healing spring nearby, why not use the water for the ponies here? I mean for the injured, um, residents?"

"Because if you try to remove water from the spring, everything nearby gets angry, even the birds," the stallion explained. "I'm not turning the jungle against the Temple, and I don't think it's wise to carry the injured through the forest. The spring is nice, but it's use is limited. It also doesn't reset bones or replenish blood.
"Get some rest, 'Shy, and if you see Dash, Rarity or AJ, send them to the war room. I'd like to speak with them as well."

The animal caretaker nodded before pulling a book out from under her left wing.

Cimmerian made the rest of the trip to the back of the room in silence, smiling and greeting a few of the injured as well as their caretakers on the way. He even helped a unicorn power a healing spell, though the effect was apparently in the acceleration of healing. Spells that would actually heal the damage before one's eyes were considered master-level healing spells.

"It's about time you're here, she's already started," Din grumped from her bed as Gleam and a second mare went over her body and their notes. The second mare, a blue unicorn with a white mane, was currently comparing notes with Gleam, a frown spreading across her muzzle as she poked at Din's baby bump. At his cough, the unicorn jumped with a squeak.

"S-sorry sir, I'm Soft Touch. I'm in from Zarris for a weekly checkup for your mate. Normally I wouldn't be making such a trip, but since your people are providing the transportation, the port's hospital felt they could spare the time.
The mare giggled nervously
"It doesn't hurt that your hive here has helped them deal with cuts and scrapes much faster with the pods and the changeling medic you sent them. My assistance was considered a small price to pay for that."

"What's got you upset about Pandinus' pregnancy, though?" Cimmerian asked while waving a hoof at the lounging queen.

"Um, the records state that she's only been pregnant about two months, and yet she's showing signs of being at least three months along. Maybe four," Soft Touch explained while flipping through her notes. "I understand she's a different species, but it's been a bit frustrating trying to plan accordingly. I'd like to get her to an actual hospital to get this information officially recorded, but that's just not possible out here. That, and I don't think she'd react well to such a public location in her current state."
"We've got three distinct hearbeats, confirming the fact that she's expecting triplets, we've also got scanning spells that show three masses in her womb. The thing is, one is smaller than the other two, while the third, I don't know, I think it's a changeling. The spells act weird when they run into chitin."

"My proto queen. I hope," Din added sleepily.

"Um, yes. That's a possibility. Queen Pandinus has told me she's beginning to feel wisps of emotion from the other two, while the third is starting to pull emotion from her. Her caloric intake is almost exactly what I'd expect from a mare expecting twins if we take into account the fact that she doesn't normally eat. Maybe a bit on the high end, but I don't think it's possible that she'll get fat from it."
Soft touch took a deep breath after her rambling explanation. She looked at the queen one last time before looking back to the stallion.
"I'm sorry if it's I come across as a bit flustered. I've been working with pregnancies and foals for almost five years now, and I've never run into a case that laughed in the face of everything I knew. I've just been feeling a bit, inadequate I suppose."

"You're doing fine. It has been a strange experience for everyone, not just yourself, Touch," Din reassured the mare. "Have I not accepted all of your recommendations for foods and allowed you access to my barrel like you requested?"

"Only after freaking out the first time she got close to you," Gleam muttered from her place near the unicorn.

"Hush you!" Pandinus shot back "Oh, and since I haven't spoken to you lately, congratulations are in order. I take it Shadow finally accepted your offer of being mates?"
As Gleam turned from a pink unicorn to a sputtering red unicorn, Din just giggled as she laid her head on her crossed hooves.
"Oh come now, every changeling in the Temple can taste when ponies consummate their love. We of course don't say anything as some of you get weird about it but that doesn't mean we don't know. If you need anything done though, like a nice dinner set up on the beach, I'm certain I could find a few changelings to set it up and even a few more to guard you during the outing. It wouldn't do for one of our most important ponies to be eaten while bonding with her mate."

Gleam stared long and hard at the queen before turning to grin viciously at Cimmerian.
"Keep teaching her about dating and caring for one's herd. It's good for everyone."

"Thank you for your help, Soft Touch," Cimmerian said to the unicorn as Gleam and Pandinus began chatting amicably. "This strangeness has left me a bit worried. If you need anything that I can get ahold of, just let me know. I owe you big for keeping her healthy."

"It's her job, Cimmerian. Now we should get going, the airship will be arriving shortly," Zelus cut in, nudging the alicorn with her shoulder.

Cimmerian smiled warmly at the unicorn. "Just because it's someone's job doesn't mean it hurts to hear a compliment, right?"

The mare nodded, waving as the two walked off to see to the newest additions to the Temple. Cimmerian trotted alongside Zelus for a while, soon emerging from the Temple and turning to the armored queen.
"We still haven't had a new name decided on for the Temple of the Shadows, have we?"

Zelus was silent for a moment, likely asking around or just asking Din before shaking her head. With a growl of frustration, Cimmerian spread his wings and stretched them, preparing for the journey.
"Ask her if El Dorado is fine. Means The Golden in English, or Equestrian. Whatever the case may be. Everyone keeps saying Temple, and that's the first thing that comes to mind. I'm sick of calling it the Temple, or the Temple of the Shadows. It sounds too generic and like a place a bad guy would live, and no one here will get the reference anyway."

"I will." Zelus answered, giving the stallion a confused look before spreading her own wings and following after him.







As Zelus followed the stallion to the port, she caught a strange sound on the wind. It took her a moment to realize he was humming. Soon the humming became louder, until he was outright singing. It was a strange song, but it was calming and peaceful.

"Through sunshine and shadow, from darkness 'til noon...
Over mountains that reach from the sky to the moon.
A man with a dream that will never let go,
Keep searching to find, El Dorado..."

She giggled as he continued his strange tune. It wasn't the first time she'd heard him singing songs from his home, but it was something only she was listening to at the moment, something that was for her ears only. So she hummed along, doing her best to memorize the words. She would keep them to herself. As Din had suggested, it would be something the two of them shared. Something that only Zelus and Cimmerian knew.

Such sharing was important according to the other queen. It would get her access to the love she sought.

Zelus' smile fell into a scowl as she followed the stallion, his happiness a beacon in the midday light over the leafy jungles. It was so much work, so much more than what she'd ever put forth and focused on a single male. All of this focus and energy had better be worth it, or she'd-

"Come on, Zelus, we're almost there, and the first group should have my stuff from Silver City! Ah, I can't wait to get a Christmas tree set up!" The stallion said in excitement, picking up the pace and leaving the queen in a daze.

The sheer joy that had begun to radiate from him when he'd remembered that silly enchanted acorn had been focused on her for a moment, leaving her eyes glazed with a white tint. She was directly connected with his memories of the aforementioned seed. His happiness had leaked over to her, blasting the unprepared queen with an emotion that nearly reached the levels of what she'd drank from Din's stash of love. Perhaps Pandinus was on to something, then. The emotions a changeling could receive from a willing host would always be stronger than what could be stored for later use in gel form.
'I, I guess I'm okay with working a little harder for it,' she thought to herself, shaking off the wave of emotion before letting off a drunken giggle. Yes, nothing wrong with putting a bit more effort into it if the rewards were so high. Or tasted so good. Or left her feeling fuzzy inside. He was fuzzy too, maybe she could feel both later?

> The Shell Shocked and the Settled
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Her mind flitted in and out of consciousness. It was pain that once again brought her up from the murky depths. Pain. Her old friend and a near-constant companion her long life.

Luna blinked groggily, watching the fuming form of Twilight Sparkle as she raged over her latest failure to subjugate the mare of the moon. She'd made several attempts by now, but each time she pushed magic through the arrays burned onto the blue mare's cheek, Luna's body used the magic to heal itself. It was never enough to fully heal the damage, but it always seemed to be enough to break up the rune, just enough to prevent to rune from taking effect.

Luna smiled slowly as she watched the Nightmare throw another table across the room, this one landing on top of a mindless drone and likely killing it. She felt the pull a few times, and now had enough experience with the effect to know that even if the Mad Queen managed to subjugate her body, her dream walking would be untouched. In fact in order to make Luna do anything outside of the castle, the Nightmare would need to allow her to leave the arrays that held her prisoner in her own body. Leaving the castle would mean leaving behind the arrays, as the Nightmare had no way of making the dream-suppression array mobile and targeted.

"Maybe if I, no, she'll heal that too...what about... bucking Tartarus!" the Mad Queen Shouted, throwing another set of tools across the room.

Luna let out a weak chuckle, immediately regretting it as the Nightmare's focus turned to her.

"You think this is funny, huh? Find it funny even after all of the death and agony I've brought to your cute little country? You do know that I've ruined Equestria now, right? It's gone, all that's left is the ponies and changelings that are under my control. I've had to change some things, as some of the changelings were draining ponies over the link and I've had to set the ponies up so they could care for themselves in basic ways, but otherwise there is no more free Equestria," the mad queen said, her tone deadly serious.

"I find humor in how quickly it's all fallen through for you," Luna said, no longer suppressing her mirth. "The moment an unknown power comes into play and removes Twilight from your control and gives the griffons and minotaurs a way to fight back, you fall apart. Your plans have fallen through, and you're barely capable of using Twilight's notes and research to further your quest. Your trouble in subjugating me is just another failure on your part and with Equestria as it is, there's not much you can use to attempt to subjugate the mare.
"She knows her friends are free and safe, correct? That Tia and the bearers are in the care of our ally? Tell me, what did you have to threaten her with to earn her silence? Perhaps you threatened some more foals? Or did you threaten her parents? Oh wait, you already had them imprisoned. Are they even still alive to use against her?"

"I don't know if her parents are still alive, though I may look into that. As for foals, they're under my control, why would I threaten them? I need all the resources I can get right now. Nothing like a small, portable battery for a few changelings, right?" the Nightmare answered, turning to look to the blue alicorn.
"That wasn't my predecessor. She would have killed the bearers, or attempted to kill the dragon and myself. Instead that, that stallion was allied with a changeling. A changeling I can't detect with the arrays! I don't mind you not telling me though, Luna. Because as soon as I find a solution, I will order you to give me everything you have on that stallion. You will, too. Because slaves obey, and when I'm done with you, you'll be my favorite slave. Do you know why, Luna?" the purple mare said, caressing Luna's cheek.
"Because the first Nightmare failed to keep you. I won't though. You'll be mine, and you will follow my orders until your dying breath. If I can help it, that won't be too far away, either. This world will burn, Luna, and as soon as I figure out how to bind you to the hive, you will be yet another chisel against the foundations of this world."



<-(0)->



The dark alicorn and changeling queen arrived in the landing area of Shadowtalon Port within a few minutes of leaving the Temple. Din had immediately thrown the name away, arguing that gold was shiny, and while chitin could be shiny, it was against changeling nature to draw attention like that. She'd instead offered Colony as a name, though surprisingly Zelus whined that it sounded too generic and specific to changelings. A changeling hive could be named Colony not a, whatever it was the Temple had turned into.

"I still say something like El Dorado would be fine, or maybe even Eden. Something that inspires an idea of wealth and new beginnings," Cimmerian explained.

"New beginnings do not imply great wealth. Opportunity would be a better name in this case." Zelus countered, walking beside the stallion to the docks.

"Not a bad name, actually. Prospect would be another along that vein. Oh, I got it. Freedom-land! Huh? What do ya think?" he asked with a stupid grin.

"Cadance's knowledge of love says that it is not dulled by justly administered pain," the changeling countered. "I strike drones for such stupidity all the time, do not think I am above administering such punishments to you."

"Oh, come on," the stallion joked. "If you're gonna break out the whips, at least take me on a date first."

Zelus paused, looking at him in confusion.
"Such things are considered pleasurable to stallions?"

The alicorn jerked to a halt, looking at her in shock for a moment before he realized he'd once again assumed a basic knowledge of relationships while talking to a queen.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. What I said was meant as a joke, but yes. There are some guys who are into such things. They get, uh, sexual pleasure from pain. They become aroused by punishment."

Seeing her open her mouth, he scowled at her.
"No, I'm not one of them."

The queen's ears splayed and her head drooped.
"You ponies. Ergh, it was simpler when queens let the drones deal with them and just focused on ruling the hive. We'd set up additional chambers, fallback points, and seeing to the hives numbers. A while ago a queen found a way to harvest seed from stallions that the hive had captured. It was actually a special pod that allowed her access to the males while keeping them under. A queen could actually-"

"I think I get the idea, Zelus, thank you," Cimmerian cut her off. "Here I thought changelings didn't innovate. That must have been quite the boon for queens."

"Oh it was, a queen no longer had to go wandering outside the safety of the hive to harvest for her clutch. The only things that one had to watch out for were making sure the male was properly secured in his pod and make sure he was properly cared for. It was a bit more resource intensive, but it made harvesting faster and safer. If a queen was doing well, she may even be able to keep a variety of males to resupply her stores with as the situation required. Of course the nymphs would take longer to develop than the true drones you've seen growing, but a wise queen kept a well balanced hive," the mare recited. "Specialization often led to a hive's death. Something changes, or the hive needs to relocate, and suddenly your entire force is almost useless."

"You speak from experience?" Cimmerian asked.

"Not myself or my mother, but one of my...aunts as ponies classify them did so. She had to flee an area where her flying-specialist drones were unable to use their full power, and she had no mages or melee combat drones to pick up the slack. Her hive was attacked by large spiders, and they launched webbing all over the place. It left her flying drones pinned in and because that was all she had, her hive was over run by the spiders. She managed to survive, but at that point it can be difficult for a queen to recover. She was already wounded when her hive was driven out of their last home, then a spider bit her. I don't know what finished her off, but her chewed crown was found by another queen's drones on the outskirts of their territory."

"About that. You have a crown, and Din's is growing, how do those work?" the stallion cut in. "What do they do?"

"I-" Zelus looked around nervously for a moment, suddenly realizing she was discussing these things in a public location.

"It's fine, Zel. They're on our side, remember?"

The changeling nodded nervously but still spoke in a softer voice.
"A crown is the symbol of power for a queen. It's why the pink pony's memories of the crownless queens scare us so badly. Those crowns are not easily separated from a queen under force, and to remove it would almost require more force than most beings can focus on such a small thing. We have heard of creatures ripping crowns off of queens in the past, but such beings are often targeted by other hives. Not in retaliation, but to protect their own queens. Such defacement scares queens, and they quickly remove any who would be willing to do such things."

"That's nothing too bad," Cimmerian said to the mare, nodding in understanding. "Most beings would look to eliminate such a threat."

"You don't find it over reacting? I know most of the creatures found such retribution over the top." Zelus said, looking to Cimmerian for an explanation.

"They may think of it as just a crown that you can take off and put on. I know better though; Din's crown is growing in, I saw it myself earlier. It's just peaking out of her mane now. If someone were going around ripping parts of my species off, I'd probably look into getting rid of him before he hits me next.
"You also need to consider most thought of changelings as less than sapient," Cimmerian postulated. "Some may have thought such a connection was impossible, that changelings weren't smart enough to identify the perpetrator, and that the guy just got unlucky while looking for another crown."

"I...suppose that could be true," Zelus admitted. "The crowns are, they are said to be..."

"It's fine Zelus. If you're not comfortable, tell me later. That, or I'll ask Din. I can wait. Besides, I think that's our destination," the alicorn said, gesturing to the airship with a wing.

"Just ask me when there are less creatures that are not of the hive nearby. Changelings of my own hive I don't worry about, but even if my sister says the ponies and griffons are to be considered an extended hive it makes me uneasy."
The mare paused after speaking, shifting uneasily for a moment.
"Blast. I, with everything going on this morning I forgot I was going to be laying."

The stallion stopped cold, looking at her with a stony expression.
"And you don't think you can make it back to the Temple before you lay them."

The queen nodded and he drew closer, pressing his muzzle against hers. The queen winced, tasting his irritation and carefully taking a step back.

"Did you plan this?" he asked her.

"W-what? Laying out here, with a group of creatures I don't know? I had a difficult enough time before, what makes you think I want to do it out here! Shit I, I'll have some drones make a small underground chamber in one of the shelters. You won't have to be there, I'll just have them lock the door and keep the thestrals and griffons away," Zelus offered, looking around the town.

Cimmerian sighed in irritation.
"If it wasn't so uncomfortable for you I'd think you planned this to make me help you. Have them set it up and I'll be there. First we're going to check on the thestrals though."

Zelus nodded quickly as the alicorn backed away, continuing on his path and rustling his wings in irritation. It was a bit too subtle for her now that he thought about it. Zelus seemed to prefer being up in someone's face more than skulking around, despite being a changeling. Actually, the more he thought about it the more he realized all of the queens he'd seen lately were painfully blunt. It was the drones that were used to sneaking around. Queens just didn't need to be sneaky in their day to day dealings.
Plotting out the demise of an opponent through assassination? Din could likely do that, even taking into account the weather and any wild animals the assassin would run into on the way. Actually talking to another being and hoping to hold down a disguise? Hell no. Everyone around them followed their orders no questions asked. In the case of recruited drones, they didn't have a choice.

"Thus we get to the point of why they're so blunt," Cimmerian muttered to himself. "They've never had to be anything else."

Taking one more glance over his shoulder to make sure the queen was following, the stallion approached the busy dock and dropped his irritation. It wasn't focused at the bat ponies, so there was no reason to drag it out with them. He'd have to talk to the armored queen at a later time.
'Though when I'm going to get the chance for a one on one like I had with Din I have no idea.'

The dock was currently hosting an airship that was moored like any normal ocean-going craft. Thestrals flitted here and there, moving supplies off the boat with a speed that divulged a sense of urgency. Cimmerian's smile dropped slightly as he finally made out the faces of the new additions to his city.

"Lord Cimmerian. I'd have liked our formal introduction to your city to be a bit more ostentatious than this, but we've received word from a griffon runner through the Talons that the Silver City is being evacuated. A sect that follows who they deem 'The True Darkness' has made a move, running off with a good deal of stolen supplies and crippling the cities defenses before leaving," Crimson explained, waving away a messenger. "We're going to make a second trip and try to make it back there before the Nightmare's forces hit the weakened city."

"I'm sorry to hear that, though I know the Mad Queen was getting hit by the minotaurs and griffons at the moment. I don't know if she'll be able to spare the troops, but I will wish those heading back luck. Has Thrisha been helping you settle in?"

"She has," Crimson confirmed. "She's currently at the Town hall with my wife, Misty Spring, and they're discussing the cavern you had dug out. I have to say, my lord, such capabilities surprised me. Some of the cavern walls are solid stone. How did you accomplish this task so quickly?"

"I would like to work this out with Thrisha as well, if you don't mind. May we move this to the Town Hall?" 

"Oh, of course lord Cimmerian," the thestral agreed with a light bow. "I was only standing by as an overseer, they can manage without me. The sailors know what's at stake."

Walking to the Town Hall, Cimmerian answered his question.
"We acquired a large changeling that was guarding Cadance when Pandinus and I found her. Vis is a behemoth, and hasn't had much to do lately as he doesn't fit in the rest of the hive. This has not only given him something to do, but we've even assigned him to guard the cavern, making sure no animals get in. Once your people are ready, we'll either move him back to his own cave or set him as a more permanent guard of the caverns. I also want you to take the time to decide if the cave is in a proper location. We had it dug out, and it all looks good, but make sure it's a location thestrals would be willing to live in."

"You used a bucking behemoth to dig a cavern?" Zelus sputtered from behind the two. "You used what amounts to a changeling siege engine for construction. What in Tartarus, I mean...I can't even formulate a proper response for this!"

"He's not doing anything else, Zel," Cimmerian explained with a shrug. "The guys been sitting around sleeping most of the time. I know he's not very bright, but it was likely a nice change of pace to have a task to perform again. Heck, maybe we can use him over by the mine. I heard a group of changeling diggers and a few gnolls were going to be starting on setting up the mine in the next few days. We could also use him for heavy lifting and transportation of the ore later on."

At her deepening scowl, Cimmerian just smiled warmly at her.
"Zel, one thing my species was good at was using technology for alternate purposes. We made big advances with military tech during wars, then we got to find ways to play with it during peace times. What, you'd rather Vis just sit around twiddling his hooves for weeks on end?"

The queen looked like she was going to respond for a moment but seemed to think better of it, chewing her bottom lip carefully as she followed along. A few seconds later, she asked a question.
"You said you repurposed him. Isn't that what the Mad Queen says she does?"

"The difference is I ask, Zelus. The Nightmare gives you a job then forces you to fulfill it. Some queens may like laying eggs all day, in fact I'm certain there would be at least one or two that would gladly do so if they were properly supplied and able to keep their authority. Din and I technically repurposed you, in fact. We used you as a guard instead of a queen," Cimmerian said, giving her a concerned look.

"We find ourselves repurposed as well, my lady. The Night Wings are supposed to be an order that fights for the Lunar Diarch, a group of soldiers that have sworn themselves to the moon. Now we're following Lord Cimmerian and hoping he leads us well. I've always been a soldier, even after I retired from the guard. I'm not sure if I can do anything else at this point, but I'm willing to do whatever I need."
Stepping ahead of the alicorn and entering the Town hall first, Crimson Lance approached a thestral mare with two colts at her sides, both shying behind the mare as the larger beings entered the hall.
"Lord Cimmerian, this is my wife, Misty Spring, and my sons Silver Axe and Golden Axe."

"A pleasure to meet you all. I hope the trip wasn't too hard on the children, I know I wasn't very agreeable when I was stuck inside a small room for a long time as a child," Cimmerian said, offering a hoof to the Misty. She tapped it in greeting and Thrisha spoke.

"Things are going smoothly, if that's what you're going to ask, Cimmerian," the old hen said with a sigh as she continued pouring over papers scattered over her desk. "We're setting them up in some of the old changeling shelters for now, though we may have to move a bunch of them into the Temple when the storm hits. The shelters aren't made with this sort of weather in mind and there's no way to prepare the cavern that quickly. The storm's likely to be here by tomorrow morning to tomorrow afternoon."

"I see. We'll be able to let everyone sleep in a dry place, right?" Cimmerian asked.

"With how tightly changelings tend to pack in when they have a reason to, I think we can manage. Things may be a bit cramped during the storm, but as soon as that passes we can use the changeling shelters again, and soon after that we'll either have a the cavern set up to properly host the thestrals, or we can set up more of the temporary shelters. I'm always amazed at how quickly changelings can build those..."

"I think I'll have a few of my soldiers take a look at the cavern if you don't mind. I'd like to know if we can use it or not," Crimson added.

Zelus nodded. 
"I'll have two changelings go with your scouts. Vis won't bother anyone with changelings from our hive."

"You have enough supplies to make it back to Silver City with no issues?" Cimmerian asked the thestral stallion.

"We do, my lord. We brought a surplus of supplies because in spite of what you said, we aren't going to assume you can just put up a large group and feed them out of your own pocket. This first ship was mostly ponies to get a place for our people started if needed and to bring in a good deal of starting supplies. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that we won't need half of it, but we'll keep some of the tools as spares," Crimson Lance explained. "Pony picks aren't as effective as changelings from what I've heard, but it's good to have a choice in the matter. Do you have a smith?"

"We have two, actually. A gnoll by the name of Spot, and a unicorn by the name of Sterling. They run the smith in town and..."







The two just droned on and on, with occasional input from the griffon female on subjects that caught her attention. Zelus was dozing by now. Nearly two hours of chattering, yammering, talking, discussing. Dinner eventually came and went, the two eating a quick meal before returning to their planning. Finally the bat pony left but still he chattered, now with Thrisha and the bat pony's mate. The foals were interesting, zipping around her once they were certain she was no threat. Their curiosity kept her somewhat entertained, but they just deepened the ache in her gut. She didn't have any hatchlings besides a few true drones that were in the hatching chambers. They were growing quickly in the high-energy environment, but what the queen really wanted at this point were nymphs of her own like those her mother had shown her years ago.

She'd yet to actually raise a batch to adulthood, and the first clutch of a queen went to their mother, a parting gift and show of loyalty to their progenitor. A queen wasn't supposed to know the fate of those drones, but Zelus had snuck into her mothers breeding chambers and found her own eggs. She'd immediately been caught, but her mother was surprisingly soft about her breaking such a rule. She'd said she'd done the same thing, that it was her motherly instinct that drove her to such lengths. Zelus' mother had allowed her to be present for their hatching but after that she was to leave the hive. After all, the point of the gift was a final show of trust between mother and daughter. Treachery amongst other queens was fine, but ones progenitor and offspring were off limits in such games.

As the queen was wistfully watching the foals playing with a few toys, something she vaguely remembered her own mother providing her with, she felt the stirring deep in her body. There wasn't any more time to play around with the bat ponies. Even her complete lack of activity couldn't help her hold them any longer; the eggs were ready to be laid.

She sent a quick message to the drones that were preparing an impromptu egg chamber and trotted over to the stallion. Not waiting for him to acknowledge her, she merely told him it was happening, and took off for the door at a good pace. She heard him excuse himself and follow her, sensing his emotions begin to roil a bit at the prospect of going through this a second time with the armored queen, but the only thing Zelus was concerned about was that he was still present and currently moving after her.

She found the shelter easily, fresh dirt surrounding it from the fast excavation the drones had done to make her a comfortable place. The inside was still warm from the fires used to harden the gel into a solid substance, and she could see a small egg basin in the far side of the room, away from the entrance as was normal. The stallion entered behind her, and she heard the changelings above close the door, giving her a dark, sealed room to work with. It only helped a little. The city above them was bustling with activity, emotions of creatures she didn't know flitting all about as they prepared for the coming storm. Zelus took her place, attempting to calm herself as her instincts screamed at her to find a quiet place to lay. She was shifting a bit, her mind a whirl and almost contemplating doing this in the jungle when Cimmerian put his nose against hers.

"Breath, Zelus. You're safe, I promise. Take care of this, and we'll get the eggs back to the Temple and a proper egg chamber, okay?" he soothed. "Look at me, not the emotions around you. Focus."

Zelus nodded, focusing on the male and the emotions he was radiating. It was no longer mostly irritation but concern that he gave off, all focused on her at the moment. She sighed, doing her best to ignore the hundreds of strange sources of emotion she could sense nearby. The changelings upstairs would keep the strange beings at a distance and Cimmerian was right there. She'd be fine.

With a final breath to brace herself, she began pushing. 



<-(0)->



"Shy, pst! Over here!"

The yellow pegasus looked up from her book to see a muddy and blackened Rainbow Dash looking at her through a nearby window. The window was a nice addition to the infirmary, if Fluttershy did say so herself. It helped keep the air cleaner.
"Rainbow, you know you're not allowed in here."

"I know, that's why I'm outside," the cyan mare answered with an eye roll. "Hey, you seen Pinkie? I know she was on that bed over there, so what happened?"

"Pinkie Pie was moved downstairs so she could sleep for as long as she needs. She wasn't doing well, and her...the doctors said it's likely she's recovering from hosting us all for so long. Mist said she's in an induced coma at the moment. They're keeping her in a... they're keeping her safe until she gets better."

Dash scowled at the butter-yellow pegasus' slip.
"Where are they keeping her? Did they stick her in one of those pods? I bet they did, didn't they! They're gonna do it to all of us, 'Shy, we can't let the changelings trick us like that!"

"Rainbow Dash, listen to yourself! They've been nothing but kind to us and have done nothing to earn your anger. In fact they do everything they can to make those around them happy. They become stronger when those around them are happy. That's why I trust them. That, and even Princess Celestia said she trusts Queen Pandinus. I haven't seen a reason not to trust them, and they've all been so very nice to everypony."

"That's how they get you! You remember the wedding right? We need to find out their plan so-wah!" Dash's tirade was cut off as she was pulled through the window by a flaming grey aura.

"I specifically told you to stay away from the infirmary, pest. I know you have undergone the opposite of Cadance and Sapphire's experiences, but I have a limit to how much I will tolerate. Your anger towards changelings is unwanted where there are sick changelings that could be harmed by your poisonous attitude, and should you direct this anger towards my hatchlings there won't be a cloud high enough or a pit deep enough to protect you from my wrath," Pandinus threatened the pegasus, dropping the slightly shaken mare on the ground.
"Come, I will show you our 'true plan' for your friend. You will not disturb her though, as she is attempting to heal damage she incurred helping you."

The queen moved to the ramp going to the lower level of the infirmary and to Rainbow Dash's surprise, Fluttershy quickly moved to follow her. Not wanting to be left behind, nor trusting the queen not to try to replace Fluttershy, the brash pony took off after the pair, scowling at any changeling that came to close.

Stepping down the ramp, the mare was greeted by a sight that haunted some of her nightmares. Nightmares that she kept from everypony else. Ponies and changelings alike were in the strange pods the changelings made, all floating in the strange fluid that she never understood nor wanted to learn about. A few changelings wearing cloth strips with red plus signs were flitting around, checking on the various pods and chittering to each other before moving on, making notes on sheets of paper that were nailed to the walls beside the pods. Then, following the path of the queen and Fluttershy, she saw it.

Pinkie was stuffed into one, her mane cut short for some reason. It made her skin crawl seeing Pinkie so motionless, as Dash often envisioned the party pony as rolling around constantly even in her sleep. But sitting there in the changeling pod that was hanging from the wall, the pink mare didn't even twitch. Before she could move to try and save her friend though, another pod caught her eye. Rainbow took one long look at the pony in the pod, and promptly vomited on the floor.

"Ah. Yes, Cadance's body was damaged quite badly during the raid a few days ago," Pandinus explained, moving over to the distressed pegasus. "Alicorn's are very resilient so it's possible she would have survived, but she'd be in agonizing pain for a long time while the muscle and skin regrew. In this case though, Cadance's connection to the hive was used by the proto-queen she was caring for to remove the alicorn from danger. Amare took the hit instead, and allowed her mother to borrow the nymph's body until her own was healed.
"We're feeding a bit of extra love into the cocoon and she's responding well to it, but it will still take time for her to heal. Tell me Rainbow Dash, if your life was on the line, would you accept this treatment? If you found yourself with your wings hanging by a tendon, would you submit to this? The alternative would be amputation of course."

"I, I wouldn't...I wouldn't let myself get into..." Rainbow tried to say, but her breathing was still ragged from her earlier sickness. Before she could say anything more, Fluttershy was at her side.

"It's fine Rainbow Dash. It's a very scary thing to be put in such a restrictive place, but if it was to keep your wings I would hope you'd let them help you," the yellow mare said while rubbing her friends back. "I've been talking to a bunch of the changelings here, and they're very sensitive to emotions. You make them sick when you're always angry at them, so they stay away from you. It's not because they think you'll prove that they're evil, it's because being around you is like being around a pony who never showers."

"I do too shower!" the rainbow maned pegasus shouted. Fluttershy gave her an expectant smile and Dash slumped slightly, looking away.
"I get it, that's not the point. I still don't like it."

"Then we may have to ask you to stay in Shadowtalon for a while," Cadance cut in, approaching her healing body in the form of Amare.
"She looks...better than last time at least. Do you think the damage will interfere with the array?"

"I don't and even if it does, we can replicate it in a much less painful way, like ink or some pounded gold or silver. The latter options would hold the link long enough for you to transfer back to your own body," Pandinus theorized.

Cadance nodded, looking to the two mares with a smile. When Dash scowled at her, she approached Fluttershy with a smile.
"Do you remember the thing I showed you back in Canterlot? The thing you asked me about after the wedding?"

Fluttershy giggled and nodded, leaning closer to the nymph.
"Sunshine, Sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!"

The two began to giggle while Dash grumbled, trying to find a way a changeling would know about that stupid dance. Pandinus however...
"What the fuck was that?"

"Uh, a little song I made up?" the nymph answered.

"No, the song was fine. That, that dance thing that went along with it, why would you, why would you-" the queen sputtered, fumbling for a way to word her thoughts.
"Why does it look like you're trying to seduce each other? Isn't that how females tell their mate that they wish to rut?"

Both mares blushed furiously, Cadance stuttering out denials while Fluttershy tried disappearing behind her mane. Rainbow Dash meanwhile was torn. She wanted so badly to laugh at the queen calling out the dance for what it was, but that would mean taking the bugs side over her friend. She opted for silence instead. The snickering was just a trick of their ears. Yea, she'd go with that.

Pandinus confusion faded as she giggled at the burning embarrassment pouring off the two ponies. It wasn't something that would sustain her, but she'd gotten used to tasting the different emotions ponies would radiate during different situations and she was learning to manipulate those emotions now. It was no post-rut love bath like she was subjected to with Cimmerian, but the different tastes had begun to grow on her.
"Hmm, I wonder if that's another part of this weird pregnancy," she muttered.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking Miss Pandinus, when are you due?" Fluttershy asked, trying to divert the attention from herself.

"I'm not actually certain, dear. Queens normally lay eggs, and this has been a strange experience. I think I have a queen among the three, but the other two could be anything at this point," the changeling replied.
"Cimmerian and myself are putting it to alicorns being a bit closer to changelings in physiology than was originally thought. If that's true, it's possible one or two of the nymphs will turn out to be ponies, or even alicorns. We just don't know at this point. My body doesn't really allow for scanning spells that would normally be used to find the race and genders of the, the foals. If you're looking to help with nymphs though, Zelus will be laying a clutch soo- oh dear, that may be an issue. I hope Cimmerian isn't too upset about that."

"What happened, Din?" Cadance asked.

"Zelus is laying her clutch at Shadowtalon. Cimmerian is with her, but she's keeping him very close to her while she's laying her eggs. The port is full of people she doesn't know, so it's driving her to a nervous breakdown. He's keeping her calm thankfully. She'll likely be frazzled for the rest of the night though," the larger mare answered with a sigh. "He's going to be irritated, I know it. He doesn't like doing that for her, but neither will he leave her to suffer her anxiety by herself."

"Aren't queens some of the strongest things on the planet when they're charge on love? I mean, one pushed around Princess Celestia," Dash said with a frown.

"Fighting is one thing, pony," the queen explained casually. "Normally a queen wouldn't be wandering around outside the hive when she's expecting a clutch. We forgot though, and she's paying the price now. I'm certain she won't let it slip her mind again after this though."

"The two of you should do something nice for Cimmerian to make it up to him. I think he'd appreciate it. Maybe that dinner he was talking about on the beach? I'm sure there's a few nice spots by Shadowtalon. I'll ask the changelings if they know of any spots that would work. I already have the kind of place that would work in mind, so if we can find something like that I'll let you know," Cadance offered, leaving the group with a mission in mind.

"Zelus' clutch will likely be delivered to the egg chamber later on. After a few days they'll hatch and I'll let you know so you can see them, okay?" Pandinus told the yellow pegasus with a smile.

Fluttershy squealed in delight at the thought.
"Oh, I bet they're just adorable? Do they look like foals, or are they more grub-like when they first hatch? Oh, that's not insulting, is it? I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," Din cut her off. "They'll look like pony hatchlings from the start. We'll have to give you a shot of antivenin before you handle them; young hatchlings don't have control of their venom glands and while they're not very powerful, a few bites could start to hurt you."

The mare nodded following the queen out the door as she described the care of hatchlings in detail, the yellow pegasus absorbing every detail she could. Rainbow Dash watched them leave, giving a quick glance at the pod holding Cadance and shuddering before moving closer to Pinkie's pod. She frowned as a changeling handed her a mop and bucket, gesturing to the mess she'd made earlier.

"You can stay with your friend if you stay out of trouble, but I'm not cleaning up your mess if you're not a patient," the bug told her, flitting off to check on the other pods.

Dash scowled after the changeling but begrudgingly set about cleaning up her mess. She finished quickly and after disposing of the supplies as instructed returned to Pinkie's side. Maybe nopony else was nervous about this, but she wouldn't leave Pinkie here surrounded by changelings. She'd stay right here till the pink mare was ready to get back to her old ways.



<-(0)->



The sun was setting, Princess Celestia lowering the sun from the roof of the Temple and bringing a familiar comfort to the farmer as she finished her days work. Applejack smiled to herself despite the situation. She was so far from home. So much had gone wrong, but at the end of the day she still had Apple Bloom and Big Mac. The three of them had put in with the Temple's farmers, helping to give a good boost to the productivity of the farmland from years of experience. The other ponies here had a way to do things that the three had learned to adopt, but the three apple farmers had begun to gain their own following as they showed their skill.

Make no mistake, the orange mare was thankful for Machination's request that she look into the local issues that would be cropping up. The weather was natural, so no scheduled rain; if it became too dry, plants would need to be watered the earth pony way. Many of the plants were different from what she was used to growing and those that were recognizable required much more attention in the jungle.

Big Mac had come through for them though, bringing a few packs of various seeds and even several different breeds of apple seeds that they'd already planted. Machination warned that they may need to move the trees later, but the Apples were well-versed in transporting apple trees. It would be no issue.

Her brothers support had been unwavering since their reunion. She'd originally been furious at the stallion for leaving the farm unattended, but his words had stopped her cold.
'The farm can be repaired when things simmer down, AJ. Ain't nuthin' there that can't be replaced; Ah brought everythin' valuable with me. The rest Ah had sent to others in the family. 'Sides, Ah lost you for nearly thirty years the last time Ah let you outa mah sight. Ah ain't gonna make the same mistake a second time after just findin' ya again.'

The mare smiled wistfully as she saw her sister pulling a full wagon-load, remembering how the last time she'd seen the filly she'd barely been able to buck a few apples from a tree. Applejack may have lost more than she could properly understand for now, but she was a mare of the soil. As long as she had a farm to tend to and work to do she would sleep easy at night. The world would sort itself out if given enough time, and if Mister Cimmerian needed her to help pull Twilight back from whatever had taken her? Well, let none say an Apple left a friend hangin'.

> Dream-Sweep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Zelus was flying without her wings. Cimmerian, her hive sister's mate and a stallion who she seemed to be addicted to in some strange way, was currently carrying her back to the Temple from the port as the sun set. The laying shouldn't have left her so exhausted, but for the longest time she'd been laying minimal batches of true drones. To do a full batch of fathered drones, not to mention Pandinus' experiments regarding mating and sex for pleasure, had left the mare's legs weak and wobbly. The male was thankfully willing to carry her back with minimal argument, his irritation giving way to concern when she'd nearly fallen over afterwards.

Cimmerian was proving to be everything her sister had said he was time and again. Not only had he been there to keep her calm, letting her focus on him while she laid her eggs, he then even went as far as focusing his affection on them, giving them a powerful dose of a familial love that was likely as much as they could hold. The amniotic fluid had helped keep the emotions from overwhelming the eggs and even now she could feel it transferring the extra affection over to her in order to keep the eggs in a comfortable state. He was accepting then as his own already, odd considering what Sapphire had said about males and the offspring of other males. There was apparently some sort of thing with most males of various species that caused some to reject the offspring of other males, likely to ensure their own progeny would be birthed by their mates.

She found it ridiculous both for the minimal variation of drones such a restricted pairing would yield as well as the fact that Cimmerian was immortal and thus in no need of securing his bloodline. As Pandinus had stated though, he was only recently made that way, and his mortal instincts were still strong. As for the restricted pairing, the younger queen had also told her a little about the creature he'd been before his imprisonment and subsequent release. The species he was a member or reproduced at an agonizingly slow pace compared to their own. A batch of three nymphs would have been a rarity, much less a full clutch of six to eight. That wasn't even a queen that was focusing on egg-laying. If she really focused and put a few molts into it, Zelus could likely produce up to twenty in a single clutch.

Zelus giggled slightly, the idea of laying so many eggs giving her a fuzzy feeling. Almost as fuzzy as Cimmerian in fact. She rubbed her cheek against his neck, enjoying the strange sensation against the plate on her face. Maybe she'd look into getting her plating reduced just a little bit. Pandinus seemed to take a lot of enjoyment in physical contact with the stallion, and after feeling him with her hive sister's leathery skin she could kind of understand why. The fuzzy coat was enjoyable to feel against her body.

A spike of irritated amusement burst from the alicorn a moment later, though most of the irritation seemed to be turned inward. When she asked about it, he said it was because he lost track of the time. It really didn't make sense to the mare. The bat ponies were there to ask questions, right? He did what he needed to do. Finding no flaws in that logic, she said as much.

"It's not that simple, Zelus. I knew you were waiting on me and needed to lay your eggs, and I let myself get distracted. I want to apologize for that," the stallion answered.

So it was because he caused her discomfort. That was...nice. She didn't know anyone who apologized after causing her trouble. The weird fuzzy feeling in her belly returned and she gripped him tighter, feeling a combination of amusement and relief flow from him. She wasn't sure if it was her tight grip or the perception of her accepting the apology, but she decided she'd go with both. It wasn't like he wasn't trying to make up for it. That was more than anyone else had done for her in the past.

The stallion landed in the Air Field and quickly made his way to the Temple, greeting a few remaining ponies on the way. Most seemed to be in shelter by now or gathered in the clear field behind the Temple. It was too soon that she found herself being deposited on the large bed in her hive sister's room. The stallion's emotions were focused elsewhere, but she didn't want him to leave just yet. She could deposit the eggs in the hatchery later.
As Cimmerian dropped her on the bed, the alicorn laying on the bed and trying to roll the queen off so she wasn't dropped on the floor, she shifted and began preening his wing. He flinched slightly, but spiked with irritated amusement once again. He called her out on attempting to keep him in the room but she didn't answer, focusing on using the right amount of pressure on the feathers to set them but not yank them loose. She felt the irritation drop off completely in favor of amusement when the door opened up, admitting a single drone with a bucket of warm water and a towel. Maybe he was right when he said she wasn't that good at subtlety?

Zelus sighed in contentment as the dark alicorn...would his position as hive father make him her hive brother? She'd better not say that to him, he may find it weird considering pony taboo about mating with family. She melted into bliss as Cimmerian ran the rag over her shell, nothing but concern for the hatchlings and a weak sense of happiness emanating from the strange male. She was vaguely aware of Pandinus entering the room, the younger queen arming herself with her own towel and setting to work on Zelus' other side. With a gentle pressure over the link, Din gave the armored queen the final push into slumber.







"She's learning, wouldn't you agree Cimmer?" Din asked him, finishing up and throwing the towel to the floor.

Cimmerian nodded absentmindedly before yawning. He climbed up on the bed, taking his spot between the two queens as they both shifted closer to his warm body. He still felt strange about the other queen laying eggs that he knew weren't his children especially after the fuss of naming him hive-father, but then again it was just the next step. None of the residents of the Temple were his blood relations, and yet they called him father. Most he even protected with the same passion he would his own blood relations. Was what the queens asked of him really beyond his ability to give?
With their classification of him not being viable for general drone repopulation, he knew logically that asking the mares to keep to specific relations would damn them. It just wasn't how they worked. It went against what he knew, against what he instinctively needed, but these queens weren't having one or two kids in their lifetimes. They were mothers of their perspective hives. Most new changelings would come from the two females beside him.

Unfortunately, knowing it logically and accepting it were two different things. He had been worried he wouldn't be able to accept Zelus' hatchlings but the memories of his accepting Blur as a daughter returned to him even as Zelus was laying her eggs. He held on to that feeling. They were all his, even if they weren't blood. He wouldn't allow race or ancestry to interfere with taking care of those who needed him.

Feeling Pandinus working on the wing that was ignored by Zelus, he shifted to get a look at the smaller mare.
"Will her eggs be okay until morning?"

"They will," the queen assured, lifting her head from his wing to speak. "I could feel your concern for them from outside the room, actually. The amniotic fluid helps to not only keep them supplied with energy, but in the event of too much being focused on them, it can pull it away. Zelus is actually being used as a sink for the extra energy at the moment, so her eggs have plenty of food for now. Thank you for taking care of her, Cimmerian. I know you don't feel comfortable accepting her presence, but I need her. Since I'm unable to lay during this pregnancy, she's going to need to produce the next generation of the hive, and she'll need your support. We're doing things we're not exactly comfortable with, and Zelus may become irritable when she realizes her hatchlings will be mixed with my own. Queens would normally not bother caring for the young of another queen, but we're going to have to learn to accept each others nymphs, not just drones that are already grown and mature."

Din was silent for a moment, but after she didn't return to his wing he looked to her, nodding for her to speak her mind.

"I want to thank you again, Cimmerian. I know this is, difficult may not even begin to describe it from what I've learned from Cadance. Zelus and I have been dealing with a lot of issues that crop up with two queens ruling a hive. She's also asked me to sync with her again. She's starting to feel the pull of her addiction again, and the synchronization diluted it. I believe it had something to do with our swap that left her addicted, because you, you haven't really been focusing a lot of love on my these past few days and I don't feel too bad. She's starting to get antsy though," Pandinus explained.

Cimmerian immediately looked to the smaller mare, concern written over his face. He shook his head before rising, moving to set his muzzle against the queen's slightly inflated barrel and began nuzzling it gently.
"I'm sorry Din. It didn't leave them uncared for, did it?"

Pandinus squeaked in shock as a strange sensation rolled over her.
"N-no it didn't. In fact, I think I can now confirm which sensation is a changeling. The one closest to you now is reacting to your affection. It, it feels weird."

Cimmerian grinned, pressing his muzzle against her belly and cooing.
"So one of my little girls is right here? Well, dad's got plenty of love for both her and her mom. The other two would be alicorns then?"

"I don't know, the doctor said one was smaller, so maybe a mix. I just know that I've been eating even more food lately, and I've been craving the strangest combinations. Slop and his aides have been very accommodating, and I know I'm not the only one getting the strange cravings anymore so that's reassuring. I'm just...I'm just waiting for her to speak to me through the link. I know she's there now, but I want to hear her, I want to speak to her," Din mumbled, staring at her barrel.

Cimmerian placed one more kiss on her side before moving back between the queens, pulling Din into his side tightly.
"She'd tell you that you're warm and safe, and daddy's love tastes good, right? Oh, and that she doesn't like sharing her room."

"No,  I think the close proximity would be good for her. Changelings don't mind such things, as it's security. The other two, I can also feel them warming me a bit. I've been working on keeping my body temperature up like Gleam suggested so it's not as noticeable, but sometimes when I'm laying under the covers I swear I feel a bit warmer just laying in bed. Warmer than I can account for anyway." 
Din shifted, pressing her nose against his neck and breathing deeply.
"It scares me, scares us sometimes. What we're doing here, I mean. If either of us get a little clingy, don't get mad at us, okay? You're our safe spot, and I have to say it's nice to have one again. On that same note, please speak if something's bothering you. We can taste it, but we can't read your mind. I also know sometimes you get weird if you feel we're too close, especially Zelus. We both want you to keep supporting the hive, and we're both willing to do a lot for you. All you need to do is ask."

"Thanks Din. I know I've been cold to you two lately, but I've just been a bit confused," the stallion offered weakly. "I know it's not much of an excuse but I feel kind of torn on this topic."

"Zelus and I didn't exactly broach the topic in the most intelligent of ways either," Din offered solemnly. "In fact, I didn't even consider it a topic at the time, just an interesting experiment and a way to reward my sister. I ended up getting her addicted to you and ended up hurting your trust, so I'm sorry for that. And you better be willing to accept my apology, because you likely won't get them very often.
"Oh! Before I forget you may wish to speak to the blue mare you brought back tonight. She's been causing a little trouble for us again, but as I've learned from the ponies here, she was covering her primary emotion with a secondary one. Her anger was a cover for fear. I think she's scared for her pink friend."

"Thanks, Din. I'll speak to her tonight. You keep Zelus out of trouble in the meantime, okay? Don't let her go playing with anything of mine she shouldn't while I'm dream-walking," the alicorn said with a smile.

With a final shared nuzzle, the two drifted to sleep. Zelus shifted once more as well, pressing more tightly against the warmth of her sisters mate. In the hive, Din gave one last order before allowing herself to enter a resting trance like her sister was in.


"Keep Celestia out of our room."



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It didn't take Cimmerian long to find Rainbow's dream and he was soon watching the mare. The dream she was having was not a pleasant one, but he hadn't interfered for a little bit while he learned the issue. She was currently inside what was obviously a changeling hive, surrounded by the an uncountable number of the changelings Scootaloo had remembered from the wedding. Here and there a changeling that looked closer to those at the Temple could be seen, but it seemed to be her mind remembering them as a variation, not a sane changeling. He watched as the mare fought through them and could see her goal; several pods filled with her friends.

Cimmerian pulsed magic over the nightmare with a flap of his wings, feeling the nightmare had gone on long enough. The mare immediately jerked looking about for the source of the magic that had swept away the changelings. She took a step back as he landed nearby with a crack. The fear in her eyes soon turned to anger and then to confusion as she remembered he wasn't Nightmare Moon but a different individual.

"Dreams are a funny thing, Dash. Sometimes they're just your brain taking a dump, a weird mix of images and memories that really don't mean anything. Other times they're memories of happier times. Sometimes though they're signs to individuals like myself of what the issue is. The wedding wasn't long ago for you, but that queen that attacked the wedding is gone. Pandinus told me she was mad with hunger, that no queen would try something like that while sane. The queen made an army of true drones and attacked your city with them, but she was directly linked to every drone in that city. When that shield threw them out, her connection was garbled, and she couldn't cut herself from the drones before they were killed from the impacts. That queen cracked from the strain of her connection to hundreds of drones being forcefully severed, leaving her a gibbering mess."
"The changelings are in an unfavorable position," he explained, moving to some of the changelings that weren't banished, the ones that looked healthy. "They need you and your race, but everyone else sees them as monsters. The can't get food through legitimate means, so they turn to deception to survive. They disassociate from ponies, the barriers between races deepens, and soon ponies are just a food source for them. A dangerous one at that."
"The Temple of the Shadows has been a reset button to this issue though. This is what it could have been if things were done differently. You may have grown up knowing changelings, in fact your family may have adopted a nymph or you could have been adopted by a pair of changelings. The love of family is enough to sustain them for a long time. They want ponies to be happy because happy ponies give them more energy."

"I know, I know," the mare groused. "Changelings aren't bad, Twilights not actually insane, and Celestia...Celestia makes mistakes too. I mean I felt like something was wrong, but nopony could prove anything was wrong with Twilight."

After a moment of silence, the pegasus looked at him in irritation.
"Why are you here, anyway?"

"Well first of all because Luna's AFK."
When Dash gave him a confused look he laughed.
"Sorry, Away From Keyboard. She's not available right now, so I have to pick up the slack. Nightmares aren't all bad, and not all of them are caused by evil spirits, but you and your friends are a bit of a special case. That, and Queen Pandinus asked me to look in on you. She could taste the fear, you know. She's blunt though, too blunt to be able to try and diffuse the situation and she realized that. She doesn't want to cause a rift between you and your friends."

"She could-I'm not scared of nuthin'! I just get mad!" Rainbow said, puffing up and flaring her wings.

"Everyone gets scared, Rainbow Dash. I was terrified when I first got here. I'm still scared sick for my family that are now in the same state, let alone planet as Nightmare Moon. I'm scared that by the time I get home, if I ever do, my family will already be dead. If not by a planet-destroying plot by the first Nightmare then by the hands of time. I may be known back home by now as a monster who tried to drive humanity to extinction. I may never see my mom and dad again because of this, but I won't leave you guys to deal with the Nightmare on your own.
"Celestia's scared that Twilight may not survive this. She's scared that she could get caught again and locked up again, something she may not be able to take. While you and your friends were petrified, Celestia and Luna were completely aware of the time that was passing. The Nightmare taunted them daily, weekly, then monthly. By the time I spoke to them, it was only appearing every year. Otherwise they were sealed off and alone with their thoughts. That is a terrible place to be, especially if you think you did something wrong. In this case, Celestia was left in that room for nearly three decades wondering where she went wrong and who would stop Twilight before she destroyed everything Equestria was. That's a lot of time to be alone with such thoughts, Dash."

The pegasus was silent for a moment as she digested the information. She shifted a bit as she tried to comprehend so long in a small room, her wings twitching in agitation. Her ears drooped a bit before she scowled at him.
"So Celestia and Luna had it bad. I'm supposed to feel bad about it, right? Maybe feel bad about the changelings too, even though everything I know is gone as well? My home, I don't know where my dad is, I don't have a job, I, I just..."

"I'm not asking you to feel sorry for them, I'm asking you to understand that everyone's been getting hit with the shit-stick lately," Cimmerian told the pegasus. "You, the princesses, Twilight, your friends. Dash, the entire planet is in an uproar over this. This isn't just the Mad Queen messing with Equestria. She's conquered High Talon. The griffon homelands are under her control right now."

Rainbow's eyes widened in shock.
"W-what?! But the griffons are, they'd shred any army to bits before they gave up their city!"

"Even a race of Spartans can be dragged down by overwhelming and tireless numbers," Cimmerian said with a sad smile. "The drones the Mad Queen is using don't fear death, they don't sleep, they don't eat anything besides the emotions they drain from their targets. The changeling queens she has access to pump out hundreds of eggs a week and provide her with an unlimited amount of soldiers. She sent so many changelings at that city the roads were filled with changelings bodies, and she still sent more. That's why when I offered a way around the changelings they jumped on it. Herrick has been sending a few drones he finds disconnected from the arrays after a raid my way, but with the most recent advances we've made, I think she's running on all true drones at the moment. Most of the sapient changelings are here now."
"I don't need you to love a changeling, I don't even need you to care about them. I just need you to understand they won't hurt you. They'll do everything they can to keep you and your friends safe. You and your friends are important to this world, and they know that. If you like, tomorrow find and talk to Gleam, ask her if she has need of a courier between here and Zarris or Shadowtalon. I'm sure we could find something for you to do to pass the time. Otherwise, maybe you could look into being a scout? Fly around the area, make notes of things of interest. In the meantime, I think you'd like to see a friend of yours, right? I need to check on Pinkie anyway and let her know about her current situation. Would you like to come as well?"

The pegasus perked up at the offer, nodding wildly and smiling for the first time that night. The stallion spread his wings and flared his horn, pulling the two of them into the dream realm and easily finding the party ponies dream. He reinforced it with magic before even touching it, making certain to keep any and all strain off of her mind for the visit.

"Pinkie! Pinkie, are you there?" Dash shouted as soon as the world solidified around them.

Cimmerian put a hoof to her muzzle to silence her and motioned for her to follow him, moving through the white void towards the dreamer. Pinkie was sleeping even in her dream, the mare curled up and snoring softly as she recovered from her exhaustion. The stallion carefully nudged her, causing her to crack an eye open to see who was poking her.

"Hey Cimmy," she mumbled softly. "I'll be with you in a bit. I need a bit more sleep."

Cimmerian grinned at her.
"We'll be out of your head in a bit, Pinkie. Dash wanted to make sure you were okay, and I need to warn you about something."

Pinkie lifted her head up, looking over and smiling at her friend before letting loose a muzzle-splitting yawn.
"Hi Dashie. You're not causing them trouble are you?"

Rainbow sat down next to the party pony, pressing up against her and using a wing to pull her closer.
"Psh, me? Why would I cause trouble? I'm the last pony who would cause trouble for anypony! I mean, I don't-

"Dashie," Pinkie warned.

The pegasus huffed in irritation and crossed her forelegs.
"Fine, I don't like the changelings. They stuck you in one of those pod things, and I got mad."

Pinkie giggled, pressing against her friend before turning to the dark alicorn.
"She didn't hurt anypony, did she?"

"No, Pinks. She didn't. Managed to make Din irritable, but even then Din knew she was just being protective of you and her friends. Will you be okay in the pod? They usually cut manes and tails down a bit for that, so you're going to be less poofy for a bit," he said to Pinkie. "Don't panic when you finally feel better, okay? They'll open it up for you when you're ready to wake up. The pod just lets them take care of you for a long time much easier. No need to wake you up for meals and such."

Pinkie nodded, laying down to doze off again.
"Thanks Cimmy. And thanks Dashie. Don't cause too many problems, I need you to pick up on my-" she cut off with a powerful yawn "my job while I'm here. Make ponies smile for me, Dashie. That's the job I'm leaving you with."

Cimmerian gave the two a few moments before pulling Dash away. They returned to the polychromatic mare's own dream in short order, and Cimmerian finally released his hold on the pink pony's dream.
"Sleep well, Dash. If you need to talk, ask. Or find your other friends. They're all looking for ways to distract themselves, but it's only a delaying tactic. You'll all need to talk about what's bothering you. I used Celestia and Luna, and I'm still venting to Din every now and again. In the meantime, ask Amald for a bit of training. I'm sure he could find you a way to pass your free time."

The mare grunted a noncommittal response as she curled up on a cloud in her dream. He left her, returning to the dream realm with the intent of grabbing some extra information. It had been a few days since he'd heard anything about Heart, maybe Herrick was up to date on her situation?

He soared over the dreamscape, sensing the pinging of the individual he was looking for easily. Cimmerian belatedly realized he could find Heart later that night anyway and it was possible she wanted a message passed to her new hive sisters. For now he had a griffon to pester.


Herrick was actually speaking to some troops when he found the old merc, going on about some attack that had likely taken place years ago. He listened for a few moments, trying to figure out what the tom was going on about, but it was one of those dreams that seemed to be a mixture of nonsensical pleasure for the dreamer and older memories. Rangoon rebels? The alicorn was fairly certain his dinner and his job were melding into a weird reenactment of an old battle. Not surprising, though. Cimmerian had eaten weird things before bed plenty of times himself.
"Hey Herrick, get your tail off your soap box. I need to talk to you!"

The griffon's response was instantaneous.
"Who the hell do you think you are, interrupting my plan! We're preparing to destroy those crunchy bastards and you think...Cimmerian?"

"Hey Herrick. Might want to stay away from seafood that's nearing its expiration date right before bed. Does weird things to dreams. I speak from experience of course, done that a few times myself," Cimmerian explained to the tom, smiling the entire time. "I wanted to ask you if you'd heard anything on Heart. I'll be checking on her later, but I wanted to know if you had anything for me."

"That proto queen you left back in Freeside, right?" Herrick asked. "Yea, I've heard of her. Hackett's been going on about how weird it is having all the ponies reacting faster than he can get his own soldiers to move. The Equestrian soldiers that have been showing up are working with the Talons to keep the city safe, and they're even assimilating the Mad Queen's patrols into their own forces at any chance they get. The pony hive there is up to around six hundred individuals, ranging from soldiers to farmers to little kids. The Mad Queen wasn't really specific when she started grabbing everyone in sight, it seems. As it stands, Heart's using farmers to supply both her makeshift hive and the Talons with food and shelter as well as running full patrols at all times. She also reported to Herrick a confirmation that the array you gave us blocks the control of the Mad Queen's control array. If a pony has both, they hear the hive but don't lose control of themselves."

"Ok, so it's all been good for her? Heart's not running into any issues, or giving your men any?" Cimmerian confirmed.

"She's a bit bigger now, and apparently feeding off the happiness and gratitude of the ponies she's safeguarding as well as the emotions of the drake. She's also been surprisingly calm around our soldiers. Her drake is going to be wearing an eye patch for the foreseeable future though. That eye was pretty mangled."

Cimmerian winced.
"Gonna have to apologize for that one, even if we weren't in our right minds for most of that fight. As for the queen, I assume every soldier and civilian she obtains or has nearby is another body between herself and the Nightmare. It doesn't surprise me she's been willing to help to the best of her ability."

Herrick nodded in agreement before clicking his beak.
"I have a request of my own. Diamond Tiara, one of our Canterlot Informants, has been missing for a while now. We can't pinpoint her location, but we don't think she's been captured either. Could you find her for us?"

"I'd be happy to help, Herrick," Cimmerian told the mercenary. "It's getting pretty thick out there, so any additional ally is appreciated."

"Thanks, Cimmerian. Tell Heart to pass it along to Hackett that we're going to need another report soon and that my brothers are sending some reinforcements his way, as well as some boats to take some of the refugees off his talons," Herrick said, giving the stallion a mocking salute. "Now if you don't mind, I'm in bed, and would rather not be working. I give the Talon's enough of my waking hours as is."



<-(0)-> 



Diamond wasn't that hard to find. Apparently she'd been marked but had been wearing the array as most Talons were at this point. She was currently moving about with a small group of Equestrian soldiers while hoping to keep clear of the Nightmare's attention. Cimmerian had offered Freeside as having a solution, not giving details besides 'trust Heart. She'll help you' in case the mare or her companions were caught. He also wasn't sure how much information the array crystals could pull from its captives or if it was even capable of such a thing.

Moving into Heart's dream-link, he watched a large number of ponies sleeping easily in the non-existent chambers of Heart's hive. He found her sleeping peacefully on the throne, taking her rest for the moment before returning to her duties of guiding and guarding those how had approached her for safety.

"The queen is sleeping, alicorn. Is there something I can help you with?" a pegasus asked, a single pauldron with the anti-control array etched into it being the only sign he was Equestrian military.

"Just looking for an update, and if she needs anything that I could send to her. I'm Lord Cimmerian of the Temple of the shadows, and the Hive my mate runs is the same one that accepted Heart and freed her from the array."

"This one, I, am doing fine," Heart slowly answered, having been awoken by the alicorn's intrusion. "Thank you, Scope. I will handle this."

The pony bowed and stepped away, moving away to sit beside several other ponies who were all watching the dark stallion.

"They seem pretty loyal for a bunch of ponies who didn't care about changelings a week ago," Cimmerian commented.

"Amazing what losing your body will do, isn't it?" Heart shot back. "I keep their minds separate, they protect me. That is our agreement. Are my, are my sisters doing well?"

"Zelus has begun laying full clutches of fathered drones, and Pandinus is pregnant with my own children. The Temples drones are well fed and a few of the drones are even in active relationships with ponies and griffons at this point. Food is no issue at the Temple. How about you, Heart, are you doing well out here? You certainly sound better."

"I've used the minds of those connected to the hive to, to repair myself. I don't remember a lot from before, but speech is easily repaired in such a way," the changeling explained. "I'm certain I'm acting strangely for a changeling, but I don't really remember how I should act, so I've been using their mannerisms and speech patterns. It helps them to remain calm around me, and I find myself no longer stuttering like a brain damaged foal."
Heart blinked for a moment in confusion before sighing.
"I do find myself using pony terms instead as a result though. Like saying foal instead of nymph or hatchling. A simple trade off, it could be worse."

Cimmerian nodded in agreement.
" 'Could always be worse. So you don't need us to do anything for you? Don't need us to send you some food or anything like that?"

"Spike could use some gems to eat. Those should help him heal faster. Maybe some pony food for the soldiers. I have a bunch of them working a nearby farm, and have had them triple the land being used, but it still takes time to make it. Anything like that would be a great help. The few sapient drones I've recovered and myself are currently fine with what the ponies are giving me in terms of emotion," the proto queen explained, giggling a bit. "If getting affection was this easy, I wish this had happened years ago. I think I had a large swarm back then, and I would have been able to hold off quite a few of the Mad Queen's attacks. It's just been wonderful having food and freedom again. Tell Zelus I am forever in her debt."

"I'll let her know, Heart," Cimmerian answered with a grin. "Herrick asked that I pass on to you that the Talon brothers will want another report from Hackett soon, and that they're sending a few ships to help reduce the strain of refugees on Freeside. I'd expect those before too long, and would like you to pass that information along. There's also going to be a small group of soldiers making their way to you, one of them will be a marked Talon by the name of Diamond Tiara. I sent her your way, so she'll be asking for you by name. Oh, and tell Spike I'm sorry about the eye, and that we'll do what we can to heal it when this is all over with."

"Thank you, I'll pass the information along. It would be nice to feel more happiness from Spike, he's been very quiet lately. I think he's still in shock at the moment and is keeping himself busy guarding me. It's the only job he still has at the moment," the mare said, looking over at her new hive. "Thank you for helping my sisters, Lord Cimmerian. I can't thank Zelus and yourself enough for what you've done for me."

"Just do what you can to help those who come under your care. That's thanks enough," the alicorn answered, giving the mare a friendly nuzzle. "I've got one more thing I want to do tonight, I'll pass your message once I wake up."

The queen gave a respectful bow before moving back to her dream-throne. The ponies seemed to relax finally, seeing her moving away from the intruder. Cimmerian decided it was a good sign. It meant they were loyal to her, that they would fight harder to keep the queen and the civilians safe. Stepping out into the dream-realm, he focused on the last name for the night, not certain if he would get a response. It had been a toss up, but in the end, he just didn't find contacting the Chief of the Minotaurs to be as important. Luna was an option, but if she wasn't in the dream realm under her own power, it was likely magic that held her back. With a final focused breath to mentally prepare himself for the possible dangers, he braced himself and entered the dream.



<-(0)->
 


How long had it been since she had seen the sunlight, or felt it on her face?

She didn't know.

How long had it been since she'd spoken to loved ones, or held them close?

She couldn't remember anymore.

It had been so long in the darkness, so long with no hope that the moment she'd heard the familiar voice calling out to her, she'd listened with the rapt attention she'd given it in days long past. It said to hold on, it said it knew the truth. She believed the voice. After all, the voice may have been wrong in the past, it may have been misled, but the voice never lied. It always said what it believed.

The mare was curled in the darkness of her empty dreams when she sensed it. Somepony had entered her dream. She braced herself against the coming assault, wondering how long it would torment her this time. She wondered what cruel jokes it was coming to play on her, what lies it would tell her to attempt to break her back down into a malleable little puppet. She wouldn't listen, it wouldn't break her this time.

The soft clopping of hooves approached, and she tensed, waiting for the twisted sound of her own voice to begin speaking. It never came though. Instead a hoof touched her side.

She flinched from the contact, but soon it ran gently along her side once, twice, three times before the body drew closer. She pulled her hooves from her muzzle in time to see dark forelegs reaching out to her, pulling her into a warm barrel. It was trying to crush her now, or maybe it was trying to absorb her through osmosis? Was it really becoming that desperate?

Opening her eyes fully and looking at the body she was held against though, she realized it wasn't the Nightmare. Looking up as the stallion held her gently, she was vaguely reminded of another nightmare she'd seen years ago, but there was no hatred in those eyes. There was only concern. Only a gentle kindness that she'd not seen or felt in decades.

The stallion stroked her mane for a few moments, just letting her mind come to grips with what she was seeing before he lifted her gently up to nuzzle her cheek. 

"Hello Twilight. I'm the friend Celestia was talking about, the one who is working against the Nightmare, that saved Cadance and freed your friends. I'm here to give you some much-needed hope. We haven't forgotten about you."
> Hope to the Hopeless, The Brightest Shadow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian sat there for a long time with the smaller alicorn. She had first chattered excitedly, laughing at the smallest things and giggling like a mad woman. Then the other shoe dropped and she began to sob uncontrollably. She cried and babbled tearfully, likely the first words of apology she'd been able to deliver to anyone since the Nightmare first took her.

The stallion felt torn in this instance. Twilight was throwing some apologies that sounded extremely personal, but at the end of the day Cimmerian was the only one she could deliver these words to. While it felt like it wasn't his place to hear these words she wouldn't be able to deliver them to anyone else Thus he kept silent, allowing her to vent decades of tears and misery into his barrel. He wrapped her up in his wings like he'd done Tia and Cadance, letting the purple alicorn achieve the first sense of safety, the first sense of support in too long a time.

"..and Cadance. Oh Celestia, poor Cadance, she was so nice, and I just couldn't stop it, and then it threw her out with the changelings and I thought she was going to die and..."

Cimmerian pulled her closer, whispering reassurances and stroking her mane. After nearly half an hour of senseless babbling the mare began to peter out and Cimmerian rocked left and right slightly, the motion nearly putting her to sleep. As much as he'd have loved for her to fall asleep like that, the last thing he wanted was for her to doze off without getting a chance to say anything. In the worst case, she'd think it was a hallucination and be even worse off.

"Twilight, I need to talk to you, okay? I have some things to ask you and some things to pass on to you while I have the time."

"Time? Oh r-right, dream. I, I got carried away, and I, oh gosh, I don't even know you and-"

"It's fine, Twilight," he gently reassured. "You've been alone for a long time, but we're working on helping you. The changeling hordes aren't working well anymore and while I won't tell you why, it was something I did. Celestia and your friends, the bearers, are currently safe. Some of the changelings are also recovering in spite of what's been done to them. Right now the most powerful of the queens are with me, and both know the creature that is doing this is the same type that attacked Luna years ago. Even Trixie knows it's not you. You remember Trixie? She's with Cadance now, they're learning from a queen how to use the array to communicate, to use it to their advantage. It's not just some horrible curse the Nightmare put on them."

Thinking for a moment, he brightened. "Oh, and I met a purple drake with green fins while in Equestria. He's working with us too, and next time I see him I'll talk to him about what happened to you, okay? Anything you need me to say to- ah, let me just..."
The stallion grinned as he set the mare down, conjuring a memory-scroll like Luna had taught him.

Twilight's eyes widened at the sight, recognizing the spell.
"A memory scroll? Luna taught you that spell? I could never get it to work right!"

"I'm a bit closer to Luna than we'd like, but that means I'm a natural with dream-spells. It's why I can meet up with you like this. She's better at it, don't get me wrong, but because of how my mind works, I find it easier to find individuals and navigate the real world based on the dream-realm. Now, you have a lot of friends that haven't heard from you in a while, give me a few lines to deliver!"

Twilight sucked in a breath, a smile blooming on her face as she realized what he was using the memory scroll for.

"P-Celestia, please forgive me for failing you. I know there's nothing in the world that can make it up to you but..."

Cimmerian winced but began writing the apologies down anyway. He wanted something more, something like well wishes or requests that they be happy, but he didn't have the heart to cut off the mare. She needed this badly.

"-and I'm sorry girls, for putting you through that. I don't know why, I don't know why I let it convince me it was for the best. I knew you wouldn't really be harmed by the spell though, not physically, and I never really thought about how horrible it would be to wake up years later to realize things had...had changed without you. Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry. Spike, I'd love to tell you to watch out for the girls, but I can't. I can't ask anything of you after what I've put you through. I can only hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me in your lifetime."

After filling about eight of the memory scrolls, the purple alicorn finally seemed to be running out of names. She was pulling at straws by now, giving Cimmerian a good idea of why she was being so thorough.
'She thinks this will end only with her death.'

"I, I hope to see Celestia again when this is all over. I know it may not be possible, and I hope you all place stopping the Nightmare ahead of my own safety. Girls, I-I miss you so much, same to Cadance. I can't imagine how horrible this has been to her, and I miss her so much. Just hearing that everypony's safe, I...Spike, I wish you hadn't been involved, but I know better than to hope the Nightmare took mercy on you. Please, sun and stars, I want to apologize, Mr... Mr... who are you?" the mare asked with an embarrassed blush.

"You can call me several things," Cimmerian answered. "Nightmare's Nightmare, N^2, Mr. Night. Sir would be fine as well."

"No names, thank you for not giving that. I want to think I could resist her, but we still share a brain. She's bad at figuring out science and magic, but specific information like names and places she can still pull from me. 

"It's fine, that's one of the reasons I was cautious about approaching you before now," Cimmerian said with a smile. "She's seen me though, so hiding isn't necessary anymore. At least, not as necessary as it was. You said she's probably going to search you for information right? Well, how about we tell her that there's a group of four hundred changelings moving to Canterlot from the north? Oh, and don't forget about all those minotaurs that are in the Everfree Forest. Those guys will be hitting you soon. Can't forget about the griffons that are using Apploosa as a staging ground. Around seven hundred of those guys there, I think."

The mare's eyes widened in shock.
"Why would you... oh, oh!"

"What? I'm serious! There's not a bunch of thestrals moving towards you. I mean, I wouldn't send my own followers on such a suicide run, not without a proper plan at least," the alicorn said, waving the mare's words away. "How is Luna doing, by the way?"

"She, the Nightmare's trying to use an array on her. It's not working and if I gave it some thought I'm sure I could-"

The stallion once more cut her off.
"Don't even entertain the thought, Twilight. Even the mental exercise could hurt. Now, I want to ask you something very important. After this is over and you're free, what are you going to do?"

"Over? I, I don't really know. I haven't thought about much, but...oh stars I can't see ponies forgiving what happened, even with the Nightmare being the actual culprit. It was Twilight Sparkle that ruined Equestria, it was Twilight Sparkle that drove the griffons out of their homeland, it was Twilight Sparkle that, that linked every pony she could to hive-crystals."
"I'm not getting out of this alive, Mister. I appreciate what you're doing, what you've done for my friends, but-"

"I know I didn't hear that," Cimmerian muttered, scowling at the purple pony and causing her to take a step back.
"I know I don't hear you giving up, that I don't here you planning your own death. Here's your homework, Twilight. You owe this world at least fifty years of hard labor to help undo the damage caused by the Nightmare. After that fifty years, I won't stop you. If you want to end your life, you may. But for now, I want you to focus on what you can do to help those in need. Once free, what will you do to help them? What can you do to provide shelter for the homeless, to provide food for the hungry? What can you do to heal the sick?"
"I'm not blind, Sparkle. I know people are going to be calling for your blood. We don't always get what we want though. You will have to disappear from the world for a time, but you will not be thrown to the screaming masses to sate their bloodlust. For the first few years, you will likely spend most of your time with the changelings who know better. More so than the ponies that are now slaved to the hive-crystals, they understand what it's like to not have control of yourself. More importantly, they follow my orders. From now until the time you see the world through your own eyes again, I want you to plan what you can do to make this world a better place. That is your penance."

Twilight stared at the alicorn for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was saying. To live that long and focus on making the world better, by the time-
Then it hit her, the reason for the work. Depression was something she'd read about so many years ago, and even the most joyful of ponies could make bad decisions during the worst bouts. He was giving her time to heal from it, time to recover from the darkness that even know clouded her decisions. After fifty years, the likelihood of her following through with her ideas...it would be a completely different mare who made that decision.
"I, I understand. Thank you, Mister. I will do my best to, to think up ways to help ponies while I'm waiting."

"There's a reason those who follow me often call me Father, Twilight. I want you to be happy, I want everyone I know, and even those I don't know to be happy. If you find yourself unable to continue moving forward when you're free, talk to me. I'm willing to listen. Remember also, that the stronger your hope, the more trouble you cause the Nightmare. If you start believing you won't survive, that's a form of hopelessness and it will give it strength. The more trouble you cause it, the easier it will be for us to free you. The easier it is for us to free you, the sooner we can do so. The more you despair, however, the harder it becomes for us. That's why I need you to focus on your future. You have one, no matter what you or the Nightmare may say."
Cimmerian leaned down and nuzzled the mare's cheek and kissed her forehead, giving her a warm smile.
"We've learned a lot about healing alicorn's too. I'm sure that even if you get hurt, we'll have you back on your hooves in a week or two. Cadance was hurt badly during the raid a while ago, and while she was only one of a few that were hurt or killed, it was pretty bad. There was bone and muscle showing in several places, but with the changelings and our knowledge of how love empowers alicorns, the bones are no longer visible. She'll be back on her hooves in no time. A month at most, though it's more likely to be a week or two."

"That's...kind of good to hear? Not that she was hurt, but- no, never mind. I need to ask you Mister. I need to know, what do you want? I know Celestia always wanted me to love and follow her, my friends wanted me to be there for them, what do you want? What do you need from me?" Twilight asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Cimmerian asked, leaning over the mare.

Twilight nodded, bracing herself and closing her eyes.

Instead of making a request though, Cimmerian once more picked her up, holding her close and wrapping his wings around her.
"I want you to be happy. I want you to go to bed early or stay up late because you want to. I want you to have fun with your friends. I want you to talk to Celestia, the two of you spending time together like you used to. I want you to live, Twilight Sparkle. I want you to wake up each day with a smile on your face and hope in your heart."

"This is all very touching, but could you explain to me what in Tartarus you're doing in my host's dreams?!?"

Twilight cringed, clinging tightly to Cimmerian as a larger version of the mare walked into view. In spite of the Nightmare's hostility, the stallion smiled.
"Ah, Nightmare, or as I've heard so many times, the Mad Queen. Truly an honor to meet you at last. I'm afraid my guard introduced herself before I could last time. Are you truly so ashamed of your true form that you hide behind that façade, or do you not have a form of your own? Are you really nothing more than a parasite?"

"You dare mock my power?" she growled, stepping closer. "Mock the power that has laid low the most prosperous country of Equis?! I am the Nightmare, and I will see this world burn, you pathetic fool!"

"Oh yes, your power, the power that you stole from another, because without this mare here you're nothing more than a wisp of magic," Cimmerian said with a smile. "That's what Nightmares actually are, right? Just little wispy things that couldn't move a blade of grass under their own power. That's why you target the alicorns. They have what you don't. Power, or even more importantly to you, control."

The Nightmare lunged, attempting to gore him with her horn. The world twisted, and the mare found her horn stuck into a log while the stallion called to her from a short distance away.
"Really? Attempting to gore me in the dream realm? I've already heard from Celestia what you actually look like, so why do you keep up the disguise? You're a withered thing, helpless without the armies you've slaved to your cause. You started feeding too soon, you were so certain your plan was flawless. Funny how that works, huh? As they say, no plan survives contact with reality."

Wrenching her horn out of the fictitious wood, the mare whipped around and glared at him.
"Who are you to take what is mine? Twilight Sparkle has given her body to me, and I will use it as I please! Her mind will fall soon enough. Why do you resist me?"

"I am whatever my children need me to be, Parasite," he said, spitting the word with venom. Cimmerian placed Twilight on the ground and moved forward, meeting the Nightmares gaze with equal intensity.
"I am their shield, I am their sword. I am their father, their brother, their protector, their ruler. I am the Alicorn of Shadows, and you are encroaching on my territory!"

With a shout of rage and a blast of wind from his wings, the Nightmare was thrown backwards into the darkness. She shouted a few more choice words about the stallions ancestry before the voice cut off, her momentum carrying her right out of the dream.

"You...you threw her out," Twilight muttered in awe.

"It-it was a temporary measure," Cimmerian said, breathing heavily. "You'll sleep well tonight, Twilight, but she will be back. You will need to find the strength to keep pushing her back, to keep resisting her. The good news is I don't see this lasting another year, much less four months. After three decades in this hell, can you hold out until we can reach you?"

Twilight stared at him for a few moments, her mouth opening and closing a few times as she considered his words. After a time, she nodded.
"I'll try."

Cimmerian shook his head.
"A wise little monster once said 'Do or do not, there is no try.' I want you to give this your all, Twilight. Feed it random ideas that don't help it, tell it about the troop placements I mentioned, or make up your own. Make dealing with you too painful for it to want to do so. It's almost over, and you can sleep for the next few years if you really need to. I won't stop you. Until you're free though, I need you to fight. You have a reason to now, will you pick up your sword and move forward?"

Twilight's stare slowly melted into a cautious smile. She nodded, standing up and giving her wings a slight flare.
"I will."

"That's what I want to hear!" Cimmerian shouted in approval, giving her his biggest smile and standing tall before her. "Watch for us, Twilight. You'll know when the time has come. The Nightmare's reign is coming to an end. The last push is coming."



<-(0)->
 


Cimmerian blinked as he came back to his own body, a grin on his face. He'd been fairly successful if he did say so himself, but he felt a bit tired from pushing the Nightmare back like that. A weight on his back caused the smile to fade a bit as he felt a gentle nibbling on his neck. Looking to his left he could see Pandinus smirking at him, so he knew exactly who was on his back.
"I thought you said you'd keep her from messing with me?"

"I did. I kept her from nibbling anything more sensitive than your neck," Din replied, the smirk never leaving her muzzle. "If you're ready for a meal, we can head out anytime. I'm certain there's still some breakfast left, or we can have it sent to the war room. As much as I'd love to stay here in a warm nest all day, there are things to be done."

Cimmerian flexed his wings and rolled his shoulders as he stretched and hopped out of bed, Zelus somehow keeping her place and giggling childishly from her position. She nuzzled him again and began purring as the group headed out.
"War room, we've got a ton of stuff to catch up on. And Zelus, if you're going to be doing this you're going to at least help, Got it?"

Zelus hummed and affirmative before continuing to purr, never loosening her grip on her makeshift ride. Not long after they arrived in the war room, a few ponies walked in, setting out several large servings of food for the ruling party while Gleam walked in behind them.

"Finally decided to stop putting this off?" she said with a sigh. "It's only going to get worse if you keep finding other things to do, Cimmerian."

"Sorry, Gleam. More to this than just rescuing the pony princess. I talked to someone important last night, but had to kick her bully around a bit. That left me a bit tired. I'm also going to be taking a nap later to try and contact the Minotaur chieftain. Would be nice to know what's going on over there."

Gleam nodded.
"I understand there's more going on. I still need a bit of your time, Lord Cimmerian. I've got the most urgent things right over here. After we finish this stack, you can take your break and find the minotaur chieftain."

The group dug into both the meal and the backlogged administrative work. Many of the most urgent required Cimmerian's direct approval or expertise, as anything less that was important had already been checked over by the changeling queen or Gleam. A request to build an actual school which he quickly approved while setting a few hours aside to choose an actual location in a few days. A request for a residential zone to be set up, where the residents could build their own houses if they wished. After a bit of deliberation, that one was put off for the moment. It was cramped as it was and most housing was going to be quantity over quality at the moment. Quality could be sorted out once the refugees could go back home.

Cimmerian was under no delusions about where most of the griffons would rather be once the Nightmare was defeated. Many had homes they'd been driven from, many of them had lost land that had been in the family for years if not generations. The griffons were a proud people no matter which way you sliced it. They'd want to go home when this was all said and done.
'Most of them will at least. I'm certain I'll have a few that will stay, maybe a few families that don't want to move while kids are being raised. After that, it may be a few families that decide they want to raise the kid where they already have a home set up, not where the kid will be sleeping outside while the family repairs their old house. No, I have no doubt that we won't lose everyone that lives here once the crisis is over. The thestrals will likely stay, the ponies will stay, in fact many more may move here once things settle down. They seem to like congregating around alicorns and right now this place has three of them. Soon it may be four, at least until Celestia and Cadance have recovered. Most of the changelings will stay, Amare will likely go with Cadance back to the Crystal Kingdom when this is over. Din is a no brainer, Zelus...I don't know. Zelus really wants in on what Din and I have, but-'
The stallion looked to his side. More specifically, the queen currently tucking herself far under his wing as possible. Only at her worst did Pandinus ever become that clingy, and that was right before she'd molted, before she had an actual hive to call her own. He looked over to the other queen and frowned. Din never got like this, it was specific to Zelus. The only thing he could think of was that it wasn't his love, it was the method.
"Din, did either of you think it could have been the fact my love wasn't focused at Zelus that caused her addiction?"

Pandinus nodded as she absentmindedly scanned another report.
"We've actually been discussing it while we sleep. I wanted to do tests on the love she harvested that night, but we ran into a problem. She ate it all."

"That's not possible," Cimmerian said. "You said it yourself that there's usually more than you can harvest at any given time, especially during uh, a peak. She was there for one, wasn't she?"

"Well there wasn't. In fact, it was about what an infiltrator would normally pull from a pony they were feeding on the old way. I don't know why, but despite the fact that i could sense so much love through our connection, she only managed to harvest a small percentage of it. The combination of a changeling being loved and the personality being loved getting changed out during harvesting also made it addictive, made it almost toxic. I'd like to experiment with that, find out if it's true, but that would require..." the mare trailed off, giving the older queen a meaningful look.

Cimmerian nodded in understanding.
"Thank you for not going through with that. Is she recovering? She's still clingy, but not as badly as she was. She was almost desperate at one point."

"I'm right here you know..." Zelus muttered, nipping him sharply.

"Did you hear something, Din?" the stallion asked in mock curiosity. "I swear I heard something, like a leech that won't let go of me or something. Or maybe it's a mosquito, a blood sucking little thing that just bit me? I should find it and squish it."

The group gave a chuckle at that but Zelus pouted, looking torn between returning to her comfortable place and distancing herself to ease back the teasing. Cimmerian chuckled a bit more at her deliberation, answering the question for her by pulling her in with his wing.
"We're teasing, Zelus. Nothing is meant by it. Think of it as something else to learn to be able to coax different emotions from those around you. Right Din?"

"Yes, it's surprising how you can change someone's emotions by talking to them. It's fun sometimes, as well, tasting as their emotions roll around as they try to ponder out what you said."
Pandinus giggled, shoving the unicorn near her gently.
"You're most fun to tease when it comes to Shadow Weaver, you know. Sometimes you burn with a bit of lust, other times it's irritation, still others it's love."

Gleam turned a bit darker as she blushed at the comment, causing Zelus to perk slightly. 

"Interesting, I will need to practice that," the armored mare muttered.

Cimmerian pushed away the final piece of urgent administrative paperwork before noticing the papers in front of Zelus. He stopped short, looking between her and the papers for a moment before finding his words.
"Are those..."

"The papers you asked the orange mare to retrieve, yes. I haven't had a chance to give them to you though. After the first night and, and the things that followed I wasn't sure when it would be a good time to bring them up," Zelus mumbled, pushing them in front of the stallion.

Cimmerian picked them up, shuffling through the files for a few moments. It...wasn't what he was expecting to see at all really.

"Brick and Opal are orphans, so no one's going to be looking for them... Rose is...oh hell Rose's dad is a guard, stationed at Canterlot. Of course it couldn't be simple. Disappeared from a family friend while they were watching her. Great. Any idea who it was who grabbed the foals, Gleam?" Cimmerian asked, turning to the unicorn.

"No, Cimmerian. I think the small group responsible for that were among those who didn't make it, but otherwise I didn't know about them until we were leaving Equestrian soil," the unicorn answered nervously. "By then it was either bring them along or leave them in the wilderness."

"It's a bit difficult explaining to people that we're the good guys when my followers started out kidnapping foals, Gleam. What about the, ah. Steady's mother was part of our group, wasn't he? Why was he supposed to be sacrificed? I can't see a mother willing to do that to her child."

"His mother didn't make it through the trip. He was, it was either list him as a sacrifice or leave him behind, and I think a few of us held out hope that it wouldn't be too bad, that if we failed we'd find a better place to live at the least," Gleam answered mournfully. "It didn't turn out that way."

Pandinus picked up the sulking unicorn and nuzzled her.
"You did find a better place to live, right? The foals are safe, the ponies here are safe. We're all going to be fine now. You're as much a part of my hive as I'm a part of your community. That's what we decided, is it not?"

"It's all going to work, Gleam. I thought I already told you that," Cimmerian chided her with a smile. "I want you to find out if there's anything official I need to do to go about adopting them, unless there's someone else who wants them. That means you're going to help me take care of them, Din. Think of it as practice for when you have your own kids in a bit. I won't have Mirage taking care of my children the entire time, you and I will be working with them as well. Hopefully this crisis ending will make it all easier on everyone. I'm not going to assume things will get easy, but there will definitely be less worrying about death and the end of the world. I'll also have to see if I can find her father. He'll either be among Heart's soldiers, or under the control of the queen...hopefully."

"I'll see to it, Cimmerian," Gleam said with a wan smile. "I think that was the last of the important things, so if you'd like to go find the minotaur chieftain, we can take a break. If you take too long, we may need to wake you though. About two hours is all we can spare right now, as we still have dinner coming up.
"With Hearth's Warming right around the corner as well, I'd also like to get something set up for the foals, a bit of a play or something. I think a holiday celebration would be nice about now. A bit of familiarity for the thestrals and griffons. They had their own holiday for this time of year, The Burning. Something about the griffons uniting during the great freeze to keep warm, they celebrate it every year now with a large bonfire in the middle of winter."

"Oh crap, I almost forgot about my acorn!" Cimmerian shouted with a stomp of his hoof. "I need to get my Christmas tree set up. I know things got kind of ridiculous around Nightmare Night, but this time we'll try to get a full ceremony with the different holidays being explained. It's nice to know where your friends are coming from. I'll do Christmas, which is my race's winter holiday, we'll find a griffon to do the Burning, and a pony for Hearth's Warming. Maybe Tia would like to do it?"

Gleam seemed a bit off-put by the casual mention of the god-princess of Equestria, but quickly overcame it. Having seen the mare playing patty-cake and tag with the foals at every chance she could get, Gleam's idea of Celestia being unreachable was quickly put through the grinder.
"I'm certain she'd love to. If you ask her, you may get the actual version, not the poppycock they feed everyone these days."

The stallion frowned for a moment, digging through the memories Luna had on the topic. Finding memories of the original Hearth's Warming, he blushed deeply before shaking his head.
"You don't want the actual version, Gleam. Let's just say it wasn't just friendship that they discovered that day. Activities keep the body warm after all, and the ponies found a very fun activity to keep themselves warm while finding a special kind of friendship."

Zelus looked confused for a moment as Cimmerian rose to leave, so Din filled her in.
"They fucked each other for warmth. I heard from Cadance that hate-sex can be quite interesting. Sometimes it turns enemies into close lovers. Not very often, but it does happen. Still, to hear that the basis of pony society was based around hate-sex...I think it would be best if that was kept between the four of us. Five if we include Celestia."

"Agreed." Cimmerian called back as he walked out the door. "I'll talk to you all later. Go take a break, Gleam. I know you work on this stuff way too much. If you can, find a helper or three. Heck, ask Tia for help. I'm sure she has a few ideas about organizing this mess."

With that Cimmerian made his way back to the bedroom. He reclined on the bed, just beginning to doze off when a presence made itself known. He opened his eyes, finding Din curling up beside him on the bed.

"I can control the hive just as well from here," Din answered his unspoken question. "Zelus is currently seeing to her hatchlings, but she'll likely show up soon. I'll keep her away from anything sensitive, I promise."

Cimmerian nodded, closing his eyes as he drifted into the dream-realm. He had a minotaur to find.
> A Bunch of Bull
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian slowed in his journey. The dream realm was...wrong here, for lack of a better way of saying it. The 'air' was thicker, like he was moving through sludge. He found the dream eventually, but even that was difficult, the dreamer having an odd protection around it, one that he felt brushing against him even as he entered.

The dream itself was simple. An open field, tall grass stretching for as far as he could see. The dreamer much less so. The minotaur was large, a towering creature that would have stood over any thing from griffons to ponies to changelings, even most gnolls. As it was, the creature was just a head taller than Cimmerian was. The bull blinked in confusion for a moment as he took in the surrounding area before focusing on the alicorn standing before him.

"Alicorns. I grow tired of your kind," the minotaur grumbled. "It matters not to me. The time of your kind and those that follow you is coming to an end. Once we push back the pony queen and her hordes, your capital will belong to us."

Cimmerian bit back a retort at the large beings insulting words. "Cairne, correct? Leader of the minotaurs? I am-"

"I do not care who you are. You have no power here, no right to be in my dream. Our ancestors provided a way to fight the dream-walker and it will protect us from your attacks. Now be gone!"
With that, the minotaur lashed out with his fist, punching Cimmerian right in the muzzle. The alicorn was thrown from the dream in both pain and shock.

"Is this guy serious? Does he really think he can just throw me around like that?" Cimmerian muttered to himself. There was no way he  was letting that one slide. Pushing back into the sludge-like area of the dream realm, Cimmerian felt a push against him. It was odd, but the source of the force seemed to also be the source of whatever was mucking with the dream realm in this area.
'With Cairne declaring me unwelcome, whatever's messing with the dream realm here has decided I'm unwelcome as well. We'll see about that.'

Cimmerian returned to his body, carefully extracting himself from the dozing queens. He quickly found the Nightmare armor back in the ritual room and slid it on, mentally chuckling at the fact that the armor once more expanded to fit his ever-increasing size.
'That should slow down soon though. I think this is about how big Luna was.'

"Cimmerian? What happened?" Din asked, trotting into the room. "Did the minotaur do something? You're upset."

"He punched me before I could even say who I was or why I was there. He wants to play this game, I'll play. I'll kick his ass at it too. Dreams are part of my domain, where I rule. That son of a bitch thinks he's hot stuff, but he's got another thing coming."

"If he doesn't want to help us, that's fine. We'll deal with it later," Din said in an attempt to calm him.

"I'm not waiting, Din," the dark stallion replied. "We weren't sure what he was doing with the ponies that fled over the border that way, but with his attitude I'd bet slavery at best, death at worst for the refugees. He wants to throw his weight around, he's going to learn there are some out there who are bigger than he is. He's going to talk to me, and he's going to tell me what I want to know. That, or he'll tell me who can give me the information."

The queen uneasily followed him back to his own room this time. Knowing she was likely tasting his anger and worried it would only get worse, he turned to address her.
"I'll be done in a bit, Din. You and Zelus relax in your own room. I don't want you getting burned by my anger and frustration with this. I'll try to keep myself calm during this as well, but this may turn for the worst. If it really goes south, I'll head out on a flight so you guys don't have to deal with it, okay?"

"I will only accept if you allow Zelus to go with you," Pandinus countered. "She can hold her own, and if you'd like I'm certain you two could spar to burn off your anger."

Cimmerian chewed his lip in thought before nodding.
"Fine. Warn her that she'll need to shut me out for the duration or she may get sick. I'll let you all know what I learn later."

Closing the door on the worried queen, Cimmerian went back to the realm of dreams, this time equipped with the Nightmare armor and the increase in power it provided. The sludge-like effect was still there, but much less noticeable this time. Once more Cimmerian entered the minotaur's dream and once more the minotaur, after recovering from the shock of seeing him return, attempted to attack him. Cimmerian was not going to let that happen. With a flap of his wings, the bull was thrown back across the field. A flash of dark power followed, ensuring the dreamer wouldn't wake up until Cimmerian allowed it.
"We're going to have a chat, you and I. I have questions, Cairne, and I will have my answers. I tried asking nicely and introducing myself, but now we do this your way."

The dream twisted, an empty parking lot and desert surrounding the two. Blurry bipedal shadows stood nearby, some holding weapons in their hands, items the minotaur wouldn't likely be able to identify other than the fact that they may have been weapons. With a final flourish, Cimmerian shifted to his winged human form.

"I said before that my name is Cimmerian. I was brought here by the first Nightmare's escape. I was human and now I'm an alicorn. I want to know what you did with-"

The cross-breed's demands were cut off as the bull made a bellowing charge across the field. With a quick flap of his wings, Cimmerian was airborne, while all six of the shadowy guards he'd summoned raised their weapons and fired.

"Rock salt. Doesn't feel very nice does it? It should also prove to you that I'm not fucking around, cow. You want to act like a spoiled child, I'm going to run you over."
Landing and grabbing the minotaur by the chest hair, he lifted the male into the air and shouted in the bulls face.
"What are you doing with the refugees?"

Cimmerian flinched back a second time, barely dodging a clobbering blow from the bulls fist.
"I said your time is over, freak! Not only are you one of them, you claim to be one of the demons of old? I will not be swayed by one wearing the skin of the deceivers!"

"I'll have my answers, worm, even if I have to drag them from your mindless body," Theodore said dangerously.

He squared off against the minotaur, taking a step back when the minotaur drew a large axe from the ether.
"I rule my dream, monster. You are under the effect of my tribes Dreamcatcher. There will be no escape this time."

"Is that what's tainting this part of the dream realm?" the winged man asked curiously. "I'll have to fix that."

His face gaining a small smile, Ted drew a weapon of his own; a small metal cylinder. The large bull bellowed a laugh before charging forward, swinging the axe in a cleave that was meant to overpower his opponent.

Ted spun away from the blow and to the left, bringing his weapon to bear with a snap-hiss that brought a child-like grin to his face even as the minotaur slowed in his charge to stare at the smoking remains of his axe. A moment later and he realized that one of his hands was missing as well.

"What kind of idiot charges a stranger with a strange weapon?" the ruler of Kharazi jungles muttered to himself even as the bull stared at the smoking stump in shock. Under normal circumstances, the minotaur would have woken up at the loss but Cimmerian wasn't letting him off that easily.
"I'm not wasting time with you, Cairne. You're supposed to be the leader of the minotaurs, a warrior and a role model. Xenophobia does not work in a world of so many species.
"I came for answers. You will give them to me, or tell me who I can get them from. Am I clear?"

"I will...never bow to your kind, monster. Neither those you serve nor your own kind, who look like minotaurs but are an unholy mockery of our form!" Cairne shouted, staggering back from Theodore.

"What did you do with the refugees, you son of a bitch? The last I've heard from the griffons they were headed out of Equestria in any direction they could manage. That includes through the plains. What did you do with the ponies fleeing through your territory?" Ted demanded once more.

Cairne snorted in rage.
"Those ponies are paying back what's owed to the minotaur people. Their own pride and ignorance led to their downfall and now the minotaur are left to clean up. We will take back what was once ours, then move onto your lands. I will see my people ruling this world!"

"Slavery is your answer?" Cimmerian asked in disgust. "Slavery and conquest? Haven't you had enough of that from the Nightmare's campaign? Blood begets blood, Cairne. If you were a true leader, you'd know that. Instead you seek to prolong the conflict. Let the blood on the soil dry before you begin another, for pity's sake."

"You and yours are weak! You have no stomach for what must be done. My father thought peace was possible between the races and lies dead because of his foolishness."
The minotaur spat on the ground in contempt. "I will triumph where he failed. I will lead the minotaurs to an age of victory!"

'Somebody has daddy issues...' Cimmerian thought to himself.
To the human/alicorn male's surprise, Cairne didn't immediately throw himself back into the fight. Instead, he took a kneeling position, bowing down on one knee and muttering with his remaining fist over his chest. Cimmerian fought to keep his feet as the dream buckled, the shadows he had created being ripped out of the dream easily. Theodore wouldn't be so easily overcome though.

Bracing himself, the winged man watched as the sky behind the bull slowly came apart, revealing an artifact that resembled a dream catcher. At the sight, Cimmerian actually started laughing. That was Cairne's secret weapon against him? An artifact Luna had given them a thousand years ago as a peace-offering?

The minotaur's triumphant grin slowly fell even as he continued his chanting. Cimmerian just shook his head, the smile still on his face. As the artifact was constructed before the Nightmare separated itself from Luna, its construction was included in the memories. It was a broken memory, a patchwork mess like everything else he'd received from his unwilling benefactors that was missing important chunks that would allow him to recreate it, but he didn't need to know how to make one. He just had to unmake one.

"That's your secret weapon against dream-walkers? An artifact Luna made for your people in years gone by as a peace offering?" the hybrid scoffed. At the minotaur's confused expression, his irritation shifted to mirth.
"You didn't even know, did you? You didn't even know that the artifact you were relying on was made by an alicorn! Oh, this is rich! You know what the best part is though?"

When Cairne failed to reply, Cimmerian moved. Thrusting his hands forward, he surged his power into the artifact, pushing more power through the object than it was ever meant to channel. It began to spark wildly as it overloaded, the ancient spell-work unraveling quickly under his assault. It didn't take much in all truth, as the dream-ward was only ever meant to stop creatures based in the dream-realm.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Cairne asked in panic as the dream-ward began to fall apart. With a final echoing shatter, the artifact and the effect it had left on the dream shattered into so many shards.

"It was only ever made to ensure nothing that lives on the dream-plane enters the dreams  of your people, not stop an alicorn from entering. Add to that the fact that it felt like it hadn't been properly cared for in ages, the thing stood no chance."
Cimmerian stepped back from the minotaur, fading from visibility in the dream. He was done fighting with the chieftain for now, but he still needed a name at the very least. Preferably someone who was high-ranked in the minotaur tribe, like a healer or something. Those usually were fairly benign, right? At the very least they might be more willing to talk to him. So he set the minotaur up with a dream based on the camp. He made certain to keep as much detail as possible, listening to the bull as he rushed through the camp. He'd get the name, and then he'd give the fool a good scare for his trouble.







Cairne rushed through the camp, desperately looking for the tribe's seer. The old crone was the last person on his list of people he trusted but only she would know the meaning of the two-formed alicorn. Pushing into her tent, he bowled over the bull that was already in the tent working on some pointless task for the cow. He approached her and roughly grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Crone Ravendraft, I have need of your-"

Cairne stumbled back in shock from the face of the female, terror filling his mind. For the crone's eyes were blazing white voids that seemed to reach for his very soul. He stumbled back, bumping into the bull he'd shoved earlier only to feel the minotaur grab his shoulder. Looking back at the second occupant of the tent, he heard it speak before it lunged.

"Make us whole!"







"Crone Ravendraft huh. I'll likely have to speak with her tomorrow, seeing as the artifact being destroyed likely woke her up," Cimmerian muttered as he floated in the dream-realm. Sure she'd likely be pissed he broke the dream catcher, but from what he could tell it wasn't a tough fix.
He'd allowed the dream to collapse after the jump-scare to keep it from getting to be too much but he still wanted to give the bull a full piece of his mind. Strange as it was he didn't feel particularly angry anymore, just irritated. Cairne was a glory-seeking whelp that wasn't ready for leadership.
'Too bad he's like that. At this rate we're going to be butting heads. Too bad for him mine has a built-in pike.'

He almost took off for the Temple once again but stopped short, remembering Heart had been working to free many of those who had been forcefully inducted into the Nightmare Hive. Seeing as he was in the 'area' and the re-developing queen should be sleeping, he decided to stop by.

The dream hive was different now. Whether it was because she had so many ponies in her hive at the moment or because she had to rebuild her own mind with the help of those around her, the dream-hive was more of an open field than a cave now. Trees dotted the landscape and a throne that likely housed the queen could be seen in the distance. As he made his way through the fields he suppressed a shudder. It wasn't just soldiers here anymore. Stallions, mares, foals, even a few griffons and a minotaur were scattered throughout the dream. The number of changelings he saw in the dream could be counted on his hooves though. From what he saw, there were only two beside Heart.
'Could just be that most changelings get night shift though. Would make sense.'
"Good evening, Heart. How are things going for you and yours?"

The developing queen, about half again the size she'd been when he'd first seen her and now about the size of a grown mare, raised her head from the throne and gazed at him curiously.
"What are you doing here? Is there something that you need?"

"I was attempting to talk to the minotaurs to find out what was happening out there," Cimmerian explained with a frown. "Unfortunately, they don't seem to be very kind at this time. I'll try contacting someone else tomorrow, but for now it seems that Cairne is looking to either kill or enslave any ponies he comes across. Pass it on to the griffons, would you? I'm not certain what Cairne's stance on them will be once he learns we're working so closely together. As for my first question. How are you and those you've freed? No big issues?"

"No, none that I can think of. It's a bit hard remembering how to do this, but it's been nice hearing others again. It was always so quiet in the castle. The drones were mostly hibernating to save energy and Spike slept most of the time. He's doing better as well. The Zebra has given him something that she says may allow him to regrow his eye in a few years."
The queen's muzzle twisted into a tired smile at that thought.
"He has been recovering as well. I believe he enjoys being around others again as much as I enjoy having a hive to oversee. I will ask that you send any and all food you can manage to go without though. Supplies are hard to come by here, and right now the size of our town is passing the population of a city."

"I'll see what I can manage. It's getting a bit cooler, but the farmers are certain we can keep going throughout the winter season as well. Any word on the Nightmare?" the alicorn asked.

"She's not been seen in public, but that can be attributed to the fact that anything that comes near Canterlot is over-run by berserkers. The array's were meant to be used to keep changelings in line, and our species was already capable of being suppressed. The drones were, at least. Ponies are too different, and it's causing trouble with the control arrays. they aren't capable of running anything more advanced than patrols or attack groups.
"Oh, she did manage to patch the control crystals ignoring ponies that were wearing the array on their armor. Three guards had to be restrained for a moment before I was able to disconnect them and take them into my own hive," Heart explained.

"So you don't need anything for the changelings? No love, or other emotions?"

"No, the changeling population here is fine. Between the goodwill from the ponies and griffons we're helping and my own connection with spike, I think we'll be just fine," the growing queen answered, a goofy smile on her muzzle.

At Cimmerian's quirked eyebrow Heart giggled before opening a small dream-window next to herself. It was the view of a changeling that was currently awake and the alicorn burst into laughter at the image that was displayed. The mare was currently barely visible, safely tucked away in the dragon's grip as he slept soundly.

The stallion chuckled at the sight.
"Ah, so that's how it's going to be huh? Well let him know I talked to Twilight Sparkle, the real one, and she's still alive in there. That mare may yet walk away from this with her life."

"I will tell him, sir. And thank you for helping us. All of us." Heart said, making a sweeping gesture with her foreleg to the gathered hive-mates.

"It's no problem, Heart. All you guys needed was some help. I'm happy I was able to provide that help, and I'll be happy to keep helping till everything's settled again. After that you guys get to help me though, got it? I've got my own projects I'd like to work on once the worlds no longer in danger."

"I'm certain you will find no shortage of volunteers for whatever project you may pursue. Go with the shadows, friend."

It took a good portion of Cimmerians willpower to not snark "I am the shadows" as he walked away.



<-(0)->



"You broke their artifact?" Celestia asked in shock as the group ate dinner in the war room. All the usual suspects were gathered to help take on the monster of a mess that had built up over the last month.

Cimmerian was strangely calm as he partook of his meal. He figured he'd be angry at the minotaur for what was implied, but all he felt was irritation.
"I did. He seemed to think it was part of his 'My ancestors support me!' campaign, so I smashed it. I ga- Luna gave it to them years ago, and now he's going to use it against me? I don't think so. Luna and I can rebuild it after this war. In fact I may look into getting those things installed all over the place or maybe even making one to cover the entire planet. Those may be capable of keeping Nightmares away before they even take root. The dream catchers were actually a thing back home, you see. They kept nightmares and evil spirits away. In a world of magic, I would bet my wings the things would do a measurable job of such things, whereas back home we had to just guess as to whether or not the things actually worked. That or have faith. You'd be surprised what could be done with nothing more than a little faith and some hope."

Celestia tittered at that.
"A year ago I'd be asking for examples. Now I have one right before me, Cimmerian. You've given us an opportunity I didn't think possible. You said Heart reported the Nightmare is running into trouble with the control arrays?"

"Yea, they were never intended to hold down the will of hundreds of ponies. The experiments the Nightmare conducted on slaving ponies to them were done after the control crystals were created. Like some of the computer programs back home, sometimes new software just isn't compatible with old hardware. She'd have to re-create the crystals. With how complex they are, possibly from scratch. I don't know if she has the time or the resources. Hearth's Warming is next week, right? We'll do all of our holidays, then I'll likely be going back to Equestria. I'd like to see this end as soon as possible. The faster we can get everyone back to their homes and their lives, the faster the world will stabilize again. I'll also have to be there for Cairne's assault, as even if we take out the Nightmare and her hordes of drones the minotaurs are going to attack Canterlot."

"I see. Cairne's father was a respected stallion. It's sad to know his son hasn't followed in his hoofsteps."
The white mare nodded once more before excusing herself, claiming to be late for a game she was setting up for the various children in the nursery.

"He called you a demon? What's that?" Pandinus asked him, pressed firmly against his side.

"Demons are usually malevolent spirits that either trick mortals into doing evil, or lead them to their death. It's actually kind of surprising to hear they have some mythology on humans. It's even funnier when you know that humans have their own mythos on minotaurs.
"I have to wonder what he'd think of my own species thoughts his people," the alicorn chuckled to himself. "What was the creation story of the minotaur of the maze? A woman having sex with a bull? I think it was something along the lines of a female human going through this long plan to mate with what for our world is a beast. I'm sure mentioning that would go over well. Have to wonder what their legends say about us though to have him call humans demons, though. Damn, now I'm curious."

"I'm certain you will have plenty of time to pick the brains of the minotaurs once they've been pacified," Zelus interrupted, "but for now we still have work to do. While I'm glad you're no longer leaking rage, I'd like to finish this up as soon as possible. Cadance is offering to teach me a few things about pony mating rituals and I hope to find my own source of love, since you find our arrangement uncomfortable."

Cimmerian looked to the armored queen in surprise.
"I appreciate that Zelus, but what brought this about?"

"I, I may have enjoyed my own time with a stallion a bit more than I realized," the mare answered sheepishly. "I'd like to have my own source without straining our most potent source of love as well. That means finding love elsewhere. It also helps that I'm finally mostly clean of whatever it was that I pulled from you earlier. That was...both unpleasant and dangerous. it will definitely cause our idea of the hive-father to be re-defined. I do hope you will still be willing to supply the hatchlings with love though."

"I don't mind doing that, Zel. It's just, you guys were asking to share a little too much. I understand it's a different social concept, but I just can't wrap myself around it."

"You didn't have to, you know," Din responded with a smile. "All you had to do was let us wrap ourselves around you."

Cadance giggled at the remark even as Gleam rolled her eyes.

"At least wait until you get back to your room before you begin molesting him this time, Pandinus," the pink unicorn muttered as she checked off another report on the mine while a sandwich floating in her aura.

"He's my mate, Gleam," Din answered quickly. "It's not molesting; it's foreplay."

"Have you tried those things I taught you, Din?" Cadance said with a dirty grin.

"I want to, but he doesn't like an audience. I can't get him to have fun when Zelus is there and with her addiction, she's been around almost constantly."
Seeing Zelus slump at the accusation, Din gave the other queen a nudge over the link.
"You know as well as I that the addiction incident was an accident. We've never had the opportunity to do this, so we both know this has never come up before."

"Doesn't make me feel better knowing I'm interfering with a good portion of the hives most potent love," the larger queen muttered.

"Actually, from what I've been hearing that may not be holding true for much longer. A few of the herds were looking at accepting a changeling into the group. I can think of at least three that were talking about it.
I'm kind of curious to see what a full herd will supply a changeling with," Gleam said as she tapped a hoof against her chin. "It's just so strange thinking of something like love being a resource."

"Speaking of love..." Cadance said leadingly, her eyes motioning to the unicorn stallion.

"Leave it be, mare," Shadow weaver growled. "I'll not have you jump on this as well. Bad enough I have the queens over there pestering me about my feelings."

Cimmerian shook his head as Cadance practically squee'd at the idea of another couple in the Temple.

Tackling the paper-monster was definitely preferable to being stuck listening to Cadance and her ideas for 'improving one's experience in the bedroom'.
> Dreaming of a Green Christmas.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next morning was normal in many ways for Cimmerian. Pandinus was still beside him, as was-
"Zelus, I thought you said you were going to find your own mate?" Cimmerian muttered as he stared at the queen. The queen who was currently pressed against his right side as she'd done for the last...how long had she been doing this again?

She stirred, blinking as his question registered.
"I said I was looking for one. I didn't find one, so I came back here. I'm not going to interrupt your time with Pandinus, so I don't see the issue."

"The issue," the alicorn ground out in irritation "is that I currently smell like sex, and there's a female that's not my wife right next to me."

"And this is...bad?" Zelus asked, still not raising her head from the bed.

"Yes Zelus," he said. "Yes it is."

"...would it help if I shifted so I can't smell? Though I have to say I like the scent." Zelus said, a grin blooming on her muzzle.

"I'm going to strangle you, mare," Cimmerian growled. "I don't care how awkward it is with hooves, I'm going to do it."

"No strangling queens, Cimmerian," Din admonished him with a tap of her hoof from his other side. "We need her to keep popping out eggs. Once we find a replacement you can do that."

The stallion groaned, wrapping his head in his hooves in defeat.
"I'll never get you guys, I swear. Every time I think I have something on how you tick, it's whisked away by something else you do."

"Psh" Din hissed dismissively. "I've gotten past that part. I just try to adapt to your habits. The why's are beyond me, so I just deal with the what's."

Cimmerian stepped off the bed, ignoring the irritated buzzing of the queens as they were deprived of their heat source. Stretching a bit and now ignoring the giggles of the mares behind him, he tried to remember the things he still had to do that day. The season's holidays were approaching, so he'd need to make sure that went well. There really wasn't any better morale boost than a familiar and well-liked holiday celebration. The trick would be trying to get them all done for the perspective races that were living at the Temple and make sure no toes were stepped on, metaphorically speaking for the ponies and changelings of course. He was certain there was the possibility for some misconceptions or confusion during the different festivals, plus they had the question of which would be held first.
'Likely have to do something like a rotation or something if everyone holds the holidays in the same time-frame. I'll probably end up flipping a coin to decide on the order, put my holiday last because I'm the only one who will be celebrating it.'

Slipping out the door and passing by a few changelings with their alpha-queen's breakfast, the stallion quickly made his way upstairs and into the dining hall. It was almost always busy at this point, having so many beings using it. The line was almost constantly being resupplied with more food or new dishes as the day went on. Even the chefs were being changed out every now and again, Slop making certain to keep fresh cooks in supply and allowing others to take time off or swap off to other jobs if they wished. Approaching the line and grabbing a tray, Cimmerian grinned at the idea of finally getting a decent supply of deserts. The next week would likely be sparse on the sweets compared to what many were used to but decorations should be simple to come up with. That and he'd finally get his damn Christmas tree.
Finishing the meal quickly, he went about trying to find out where the acorn he'd bought ended up.

It turned out to be more difficult than he first suspected.





"I think it ended up with Machination." Gleam answered, not looking up from the war room's table. "It was a seed after all. I don't think they threw it away, as oaks aren't local and familiar wood would be nice to work with for the crafters."





"That acorn that they gave us when you came back from your trip? I think the orange mare you brought back took it out to one of the fields with a bunch of her apple seeds."
Machination looked up from his charts and graphs, a pencil stuck to his hoof as he kept track of the farms near the Temple.
"I think she said she and her brother were capable of increasing the speed of growth and the yield of trees, comes with working the land for a long time. Some earth ponies are just better at accelerating tree growth, some are better with annuals, or crops that are fully destroyed or collected during the harvesting process. It just depends on what you put your time into."





"Hey there, mister Simmer'on! Pleasure ta see ya' again!" Applejack greeted, approaching and grabbing his right hoof in both of her own forelegs. He'd seen enough handshakes to recognize one even if it lacked hands, but when the mare started vigorously pumping his hoof up and down, he almost lost his footing.

'Almost knocked me on my flank, and that's with three other legs to balance on. Good gravy!' he thought while shaking his hoof.
"Pleasure, Applejack. I'm looking for that acorn I brought back from Silver City. Have you seen it?"

At the mention of the acorn the mare scowled.
"Yea, Ah know the one. Dern thang won't grow no matter what Ah do to boost it. Everthin' else we've planted has already sprouted."

The stallion chuckled at her irritation.
"It's likely because it's an enchanted seed. It isn't even an oak. It's actually a pine, one that I wanted for an upcoming holiday from my home. To get it to grow, you need to activate it."

Applejack stared at him for a moment as she processed the information, her eyes crossing before she fell heavily on her backside and pulled her hat down over her face.
"Magic. It's always gotta be magic, don't it?"

"It's fine, I got caught up in all the stuff happening and didn't keep track of the seed. I'll just...actually, I could pick a spot and I wouldn't even have to chop it down," the alicorn said, beginning to think out loud as his mind wandered.

"W-what?! Why would ya chop it down! All ya gotta do is move it, ain't like it's a tough thing ta do. All ya gotta do is get some unicorn ta lift it after somepony digs it lose and wraps it. Heck, I reckon ya could even get some of the changelin's ta move it for ya," AJ offered, looking strangely upset with the idea of cutting down a tree.

"It's just a tree, AJ. I'm sure we could let it grow long enough to get some pine-seeds or something, though I don't know how we'd get them pollinated. I don't even remember how pine trees work like that, just that the cones were sticky sometimes. There's also the issue of it not being native, would it need pollinators? Would the local animals or bugs even recognize it?" he mumbled, putting a hoof to his chin in thought.

"Just a tree? I-what are ya talkin' about?" the farmer asked, horror in her voice. "Those're our lifeblood! Without tha apple trees, Ah ain't got no farm, no product ta sell! What's a farmer without 'er farm?"

"Relax, AJ. Pine trees were farmed and harvested for this exact purpose back home. With how widespread the holiday is, they sold thousands if not millions of pine trees every year. In fact a lot of trees were used like that. Businesses would plant thousands of trees all in different areas and harvest them at specific growth levels depending on how big a tree someone wanted or needed. In this case though, I'll just stick the acorn over by the large field. There's a nice spot I saw earlier over there and since I plan on keeping this thing, it will probably grow pretty large.
"Come on, I'll show you the spot and you tell me what you think," Cimmerian said before stopping. Looking at the farmer he chuckled half-heartedly.
"After you tell me where the acorn is, of course."



<-(0)->



The acorn was planted with little fanfare less than an hour later. The instructions were simple. Set the seed where you wanted your tree, touch your hoof to it and give small jolt of unfocused magic (which was why the Apples were having so much trouble with it; their magic was attempting to speed the seeds growth and thus it had a focus), then stand back and watch it grow. It didn't take long for the tree to sprout and begin growing, leaving the alicorn giggling and jittering in excitement. After about ten minutes the growth finally stopped, leaving the tree sitting at about four feet tall.

"You plan on making a tree similar to the one in your dream," Pandinus said as she approached, Zelus walking beside her.

"I do," the stallion affirmed. "It's something familiar and as I said it's nice to have something I can recognize. I have a lot of good memories attached to this sort of thing."

"We can tell," Zelus chuckled as she walked around the tree. "You're positively glowing at the moment. it's a nice change from yesterday."

"You ladies do realize it's not normal for someone to be happy all the time, right? It's perfectly natural for someone to cycle through different emotions," Cimmerian said with a shake of his head. "Most people would ask what's wrong with someone if they actually were happy all the time."

"'Ceptin for Pinks. That mare was nuthin' but cheer and smiles all day," Applejack said with a wistful smile. "She doin' better now?"

"It's not physical damage she sustained that must be healed. It's mental strain, so it's just going to take time. If she were linked Pandinus or I could rush the process by personally repairing any damage and inspecting her mind for any weaknesses, but such is not the case," Zelus explained. "For Pinkie Pie, it is simply going to be a matter of time as she rests from the strain. Even in her dreams she is tired."

The farmer nodded.
"Ah understand, Miss Zelus, it's just with how things were goin' fer a while there, hearin' about Pinks being under tha weather was just about more than Ah could stand. Shy was hurt, and we already knew Twi was basically foalnapped, it's just gettin' ta be a mite too much."

"Crap," the dark alicorn knocked a hoof against his head at the reminder. "I completely spaced that. Applejack, I want you to get your friends together in the war room after dinner. This includes Celestia. I have something to give you guys. Din, I may need your help getting it all onto physical paper. Before that, I've got a name to check into with the minotaurs and then I'll speak with you about the thing for the bearers, Celestia and Spike. No, I'll give the information to Heart, and she can give it to Spike. I can't believe I spaced that."

"I will, Cimmer. I'll be overseeing the hive until you're ready and have a few changelings ready to put whatever you have to paper," Pandinus answered even as the alicorn took off for the Temple. Watching him go, she spoke to the farmer.
"Do what you wish to keep the tree healthy. I'll see about getting your friend to throw together some additional decorations for it for now. I'm certain we can find some ways to replicate his 'Christmas tree' in most ways. The lights may be beyond us at the moment though. I don't know if we have enough gems to enchant for such a large number of lights."

Before the mare could ask what she meant by additional decorations, several changelings approached with boxes and began flitting about the tree, laying simple gold chains around the tree.

Sensing the farmer's confusion, Zelus grinned.
"Changelings are quite industrious when it comes to digging. Normally we have no use for gold and merely stock it as something that looks nice. Other times we give it to infiltrators to trade for the local currency. It also holds magic decently and is often found in higher concentrations than gems so we can use it for inlays when we have the energy to spare on enchantments. That's not been very often the last century or so, however."

Applejack nodded as she turned her attention back to the tree. It already had a bit of a holiday look to it, and a pony had just attached a few simple ornaments to the lower branches before a few more pegasi showed up, one bearing a cloud. Several unicorns were discussing cold spells before Celestia herself noticed the commotion and approached.

Seeing the tree and cloud, she giggled in a way that honestly left many there a little uncomfortable. It's not everyday Celestia of the Sun starts giggling like a foal, after all.
The white alicorn moved between several unicorns and whispered them instructions before lighting her horn with power. The unicorns around her did the same, channeling the power into the older mare to help power the spell. Celestia unleashed the spell at the cloud, causing it to crackle with energy before a single snowflake fell from the dark fluff.

"Thank you, Celestia," Din said as the first few snowflakes began to fall onto the tree. All would fade after a while due to the ambient temperature being so high, but the effect was still beautiful. The queen's smiled happily as the residents of the Temple began to gather, chatting excitedly and emitting emotions the changelings had come to associate with nostalgia. They couldn't wait to taste the stallion's shock when he saw what they'd been preparing.



<-(0)->



The dream realm was still a bit...sticky for lack of a better word around the area the minotaurs resided in, but even as he passed by the effects were lessening. Easily slipping through the lingering tar the artifact had left over the area Cimmerian quickly focused on his target and entered the dream. He was starting to feel doubt about targeting this minotaur. A seer, a witchdoctor, a sage; whichever she may be this woman could very well be the first dreamer he faced that may be openly hostile and had prior dream-walking training. As such, he'd been certain to don his armor before heading to the ritual room and surrounding himself with a few defensive runes to better protect himself while dream-walking.

'Likely the easiest way to kill someone who's as physically durable as myself, actually,' he thought to himself even as he neared the dream. Surprisingly it had more shape to it than the other dreams he'd encountered so far, even having a distinguishable top and bottom somehow.
'She's expecting me...'

The alicorn gingerly set down on the grassy plains of the dream world and quickly took note of the large tent nearby. He approached it, watching every step for any traps or anything that may seem dangerous. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he stopped just shy of the entrance and spoke.
"Crone Ravendraft, I need to speak to you."

After waiting for about a minute, the tent flap opened slightly, revealing an older minotaur female poking her head out to scowl at him.
"Well, you have some manners. Better than I can say about most of the beings I deal with these days."

Taking a moment to look at him, her scowl soon shifted to confusion.
"You're not the Dream-Warden."

"You mean Luna? No, I'm Cimmerian. Theodore Cimmerian Fredson, ruler of the Temple of the Shadows and likely your biggest supporter during this problem with Queen Twilight and her Changeling swarms," the stallion replied while giving a slight bow. "While Luna and I are fairly close, I am not the same being as her. In fact, I didn't even know her until recent- no wait, I've been... sorry, my timeline's a bit skewed. I spent a lot of time in a, a compromised state of existence. I was recently freed, and have been working to help both those who helped me and the world at large. I supplied the Talons with the runes and asked them to give them to you."

That last bit seemed to draw a reaction out of the cow.
"So it was you who gave the griffons the key to her armies...why would you stand against a fellow alicorn?"

"Twilight Sparkle is infected" he responded. "She's host to a parasite that's controlling her actions, the same type of parasite that brought Luna to madness and nearly made her destroy all life. I've spoken to her, both of them, actually. Both Twilight Sparkle and the Nightmare that even now masquerades as a mare. Twilight is sickly at the moment and I believe it has to do with the parasite that has been feeding off of her misery."

The old cow stared at him for a few moments before asking him a single question.
"How long have you been dream-walking?"

"Uh, about two, four months? It kind of happens when I go to sleep whether I try or not," Cimmerian explained.

"You were not taught dream-walking?" Ravendraft asked, her confusion only deepening.

The alicorn shook his head.
"It was something I've been capable of from my release. Luna taught me a trick or two when she had the chance, but she's no longer available. She had other things to teach me as well."

"No formal training in dream-walking...I suppose it makes a bit more sense in that case. Very well, enter. I will teach you what the Dream-Warden has neglected."
Even as Cimmerian's jaw dropped at her comment, the minotaur stepped back and held open the tent flap. Not feeling a particularly aggressive mood being given off by the minotaur he followed her, entering her tent and sitting down across from her.

"I was certain one would be coming to visit me this night," the cow explained. "Had you attempted to breach the tent without my permission, you would have found yourself both ejected from the dream and subject to a rather painful defensive spell. My magic is not as instantaneous as a unicorns, but do not doubt that it exists.
"Dreams have been fleeting for the last decade or so. When Chieftain Cairne came to me speaking of demons and nightmares I had to refresh my memory on old spells and laws. Tell me, have you heard of the Dream-Accord?"

When he shook his head, the crone did as well.
"Before one is taught how to use such abilities they are often taught the rules associated with them. The Dream Accords are a set of rules that govern the use of dream walking. Included in these rules are promises to not invade another's dreams to attack them, with the intent to steal information, or to remain after you have been asked to leave. I'm certain you can guess how this pertains to your current situation. You have broken several of the Dream Accords laws and will be held accountable for-"

"Your going to yell at me for not following laws I had no idea about? And expect me to listen when Cairn is talking about enslaving those I'm working to free?" Cimmerian asked in disbelief. "I came to him in peace hoping to learn the fate of those who fled to the plains, as well as possibly finding a way to coordinate our attacks against the Nightmare's forces. I understand that he has the right to refuse hosting a dream walker, but I'm not going to cripple myself by dropping one of my best ways to communicate from the other side of the planet because some laws say I need to ask permission ahead of time when I have no way of doing that, nor am I going to allow someone to punch me in the face after threatening those I'm working to protect do so without consequence.
"Lives are at stake, in fact according to Cairne your people will be attempting to conquer everyone else. I need to know if this is in fact how it's going to be, Crone Ravendraft. I'd be more than happy to work with you and yours, but I'm not going to stand back as innocents are enslaved. I don't want to fight more people, but Cairne is putting me in a very bad position. I don't know what he expects, but I'm not going to just stand around while he does whatever he pleases to people who have already lost their homes."

Eyes narrowing at the minotaur, he spoke in a low tone.
"I'd like to add to my allies, but I'm not afraid of making another enemy."

"And what of your destruction of our people's artifact?" the minotaur shot back. "By what right do you destroy something that has been in our possession for so long?"

"Do you even know where that thing came from? It was a gift from Luna before her banishment to your ancestors," the stallion said with a snort of disgust. "You claim it as a priceless artifact of historical importance to your people, then go and enslave the very race that gave it to you as an offering of peace? I'm certain Luna and I could reconstruct one given a bit of time, in fact I plan on making several of them and use them as a defense against further incursions by the Nightmares. Until I find that you're willing to work with me though I'm not giving you any more support besides further distractions for the Nightmare. And you can tell Cairne that if he tries to attack Canterlot once we've taken it back, you're going to find out what happens when an alicorn that's not afraid of tearing up the countryside cuts loose."

"Are you threatening me even after I offered to teach you what the Dream Warden failed to? I am offering to enlighten you in ways she neglected to. One of your abilities should have been taught these rules from the start to prevent you from breaking the laws of-"

"I'm not threatening, Ravendraft. I'm telling you. I'll leave, and I promise not strike your people through dreams. That I swear. I will not sit idly by though. You can be certain that I'll be heading towards Canterlot in the near future. Tell Chieftain Cairne that if he continues to treat those around him like so much waste, him and I are going to have a problem. Once this world is stabilized again and people have a chance to get back home, both the ponies and the griffons, I'd be happy to learn the rules. Until then, I have more important things to worry about. Like the lives of those who are currently having their bodies stolen by the Nightmare."

The old cow stared at him with a look between anger and irritation. She took a breath and gave him a smirk.
"I look forward to seeing what comes of this. At this rate we'll get to see who stands above the other. I'm certain that if you take Canterlot first, Chief Cairne will challenge you for the city. Now leave. Unlike you, I will abide by the Accords and not harm a being that is not presently hostile."

Cimmerian opened his mouth to argue, to say that Cairne started that fight. He thought better of it though, deciding it would only sound childish and that he should take his leave while he could. He'd never had to fight a talented dream walker in their own dream and until he was properly trained he'd like to keep it that way. Without further words he left her dream, irritation coloring his mood. He'd need a more hooves-on approach for checking the minotaurs. It would be something he took care of later though, when he went to back up Heart and the griffons. The Nightmare was at its weakest in a long time. If he were to strike her at any time, it would likely need to be soon.

He stopped by Heart's Dream-hive, handing over a small dream-construct scroll that contained Twilight's message to the drake and told the proto-queen to wish Spike a happy Hearth's Warming.
"I'll be heading your way after the holidays, Heart. We're going to need to finish this soon. The minotaurs are looking to take Canterlot. Pass it on to the griffons as well, would you? And ask Spike or one of the ponies about holiday foods. If you can spare the resources, the boost to morale will be amazing. Not to mention you should try some as well. I think I've got Din and Zelus hooked on it."

The queen waved farewell as he left and the stallion made a beeline back to the Temple. Looking about the dream realm near his home he quickly found Din and entered the dream-hive. He wordlessly passed a few drones copies of the notes Twilight had given him to transmit to their waking counterparts. The awake drones would write down the notes on separate papers to be given to the intended recipient.

"I take it contacting the minotaurs has once more ended in failure?" Pandinus asked as the drones worked.

Cimmerian nodded.
"They seem pretty dead-set on causing us problems. Crone Ravendraft was a bit more personable than Cairne but she was still giving me flak for breaking some ancient laws I've never heard of even as her people engage in slavery. Granted they may not see it as such, but I have better things to do than argue who's right with minotaurs."

"They will be dealt with. You are correct though, we have other things to deal with besides a minotaur with delusions of grandeur," the queen said dismissively. At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged.
"Changelings have had to resort to enslaving other beings to survive until recently. I won't fault them for that. I do wonder what use for such slaves they could possibly have though. It seems wasteful."

"Sometimes it's not about efficiency, Din," the stallion replied. "Sometimes it's just about power."

"Yes, well I'm certain he'll be happy to know he can be our slave next. That's how it works right? He takes slaves, so we make him a slave," Zelus said with a fanged grin as she approached them.

"No Zelus, that's not how it works," the alicorn replied. "We make sure they don't have any of ours slaves, then we either beat them back, preferably with the biggest stick we can find, or we teach them what happens when you pick a fight with a few alicorns, a few changeling queens and all the subjects those beings rule."

"Well that's no fun," the armored queen responded.

"It's not supposed to be. I'm trying to be a good guy, that means no slavery," Cimmerian explained to the larger queen.

"I don't want a bunch, just one. Please?" the larger mare pursued. "You can't tell me they'd notice a little one just disappearing. It happens all the time, right?"



<-(0)->


"So when are you going to tell me what's going on?" Cimmerian asked in a mixture of irritation and amusement.

The queens had started shuffling him back outside the moment he was done with his meal. He figured that with their giggling and knowing glances they'd set something up for him, but considering what they considered 'nice' he wouldn't be surprised if it was another queen they wanted to add to their 'family' or something equally odd. As he approached the door, he saw Pandinus snatch an offered cloth strip from Rarity, the unicorn's knowing grin the last sight he saw before the queen's magic had wrapped the cloth around his eyes. Now blindfolded and stuck between the two changeling queens who were still directing him forward, he sighed.
Unless he wanted to either try to go through a fully empowered and armored queen or the mother of his kids there wasn't any getting away. He could have taken the cloth off of course, but if even Rarity was in on it, it must not be too bad.
'At the very least I don't think she'd be accomplice to either an unwanted binding marriage or something weird.'

"Okay, we're just about there. Are you ready?" Zelus asked, surprisingly sounding more giddy than Din had moments ago.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he answered. "If it's not interesting, I'm going to take it out of your paycheck."

The queens just laughed at the threat, though whether it was because they understood the joke or were just reading his mood he'd never know. His ears flicked as he was led ever forward. There was a crowd here. A big one, by the sounds of it. They were all strangely quiet though. As if they were expecting something. Anticipating something.

"Stop," Din commanded, using her neck to hold him back. "Tell us what you think."

With that the cloth was pulled back. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light but noticed something in front of him. It was green, a familiar green shape that smelled faintly of pine. His tree.

The details become more clear as his eyes adjusted and he was soon tracking over it, noticing the golden chains that were draped over the entirety of the tree. Each shimmering golden ring was crafted personally by either the smiths Sterling and Spot or perhaps one of the new thestrals. Hand, hoof, or talon-crafted orbs that hung from the branches, each sparkling, gleaming, or shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. Some were glittery, others were simply glass or metal that had been colored for the holidays. A few gems twinkled brightly with contained magic from their positions inside the needles, giving the tree a pseudo-Christmas tree light effect. Finally, a fluffy cloud was suspended only three feet over the tree, slowly releasing snowflakes onto the tree that would stick to a needle for a moment before melting.

He stared for a long while, in fact he was uncertain just how long he took in every detail. He circled the tree, committing every detail to memory. This was the first, as far as he knew. He'd need a star later, or perhaps an angel. Still, recreating the decorations they'd only seen once in their lives? Yea, he'd give it Din and Zelus, as well as whoever else helped out on this project. There was more here then he'd hoped to scrap together on his own.

He turned to the giggling females that were whispering and grinning amongst themselves. Din was nearly jittering with happiness at this point, just repeating 'he likes it, he likes it' over and over again while Celestia was being strangled in the pregnant mare's forelegs. Zelus was giggling as well, but it was more of an energy at a job seen to fruition. Approaching the group that had likely set this up, he pulled Din into a hug, coincidentally crushing an already squeezed Celestia between them.
"It's beautiful Din. I love it."

Looking out over the gathered crowd, he gave a more general praise as the white alicorn escaped her prison.
"It's beautiful, everyone. Thank you for the work you put into it. I hope that this is just the first of many holidays celebrated here."

"We're going to continue building, we're going to keep making this place a better place to be. We're going to be the best not because we've existed longer, or because we have more people here. We're going to be the best because no matter what heads our way, we can find a solution. A solution to not only circumvent the problems we face, but to turn some problems into strengths. We had no way to mine for the materials we needed but we've taken in changelings, some of the most natural tunnelers I've had the pleasure to meet. We live in a dangerous area so we took in the griffon refugees and made their strength our own. Our population grew so the earth ponies stepped forward, harvesting in weeks what would normally take months to grow to maturity, let alone harvest. Now the thestrals lend us their strength, a group that will find themselves welcome in a place where we don't ask what an individual is doing here.

"We don't ask why a changeling, a gnoll, or a pegasus wants to stay here. We don't ask because we're better than that. We've learned that each being here has their own gifts to bring to the table. I appreciate what you all have done, both here today in giving me this gift, and in what each of you do every day to make this place home. I'll be speaking to all of you later on, before a few of us begin preparations to head out to Equestria and  support both the Equestrians, the freed changelings, and the griffons in ending this threat. It is one of my greatest hopes that this entire conflict will be spoken of in past tense in the very-near future. Right after your continued safety and happiness."

Looking to the queen still pressed against his side, he gave her a kiss before adding one more addendum.
"And the healthy birth of the kids, but that goes without saying."

As the crowd began to dissolve, some returning to their duties while others talked with friends or family, the queens, Celestia, Cadance, and the Bearers all stayed nearby.

Cimmerian smiled brightly at the gathered Bearers of Harmony as well as Celestia.
"You girls have been doing well and staying out of trouble, for the most part at least. Celestia, thank you for your help, both with the tree and the nursery. Heaven knows those kids deserve every moment of attention they can get. I'll be doing a dream-thing for them tonight, so give them a heads up please.
"Now onto business, or at least what I was calling you for. I have a bit of an early Christmas/Hearth's Warming gift for you all, I hope you enjoy it."

Without needing prompting, a changeling flew up to the group bearing a small stack of scrolls. He checked each name before giving the scroll to the correct mare, leaving a final scroll at Din's hooves before giving a short bow to his rulers before leaving.

As Celestia, the first to receive her note, began to read it, her eyes widened in shock.
"Th-this is..."

"Ah don't believe it, you mean, ya managed to find her?"

"Oh my goodness, I had no idea the poor dear was..."

"Oh that's it. That nightmare's gonna be eating out of a straw by the time I'm done with it!"

"Oh, oh my. This is, this is..."

"Twily..."

"I know this is big for you ladies," the stallion said gently "but please don't worry yourselves about her too much. I've given her a job and she's accepted, so I'm not worried about her looking to self-harm too much. I will ask that if all goes well, you keep an eye on her. She's going to be scared and riddled with guilt and not everyone will accept possession as a viable excuse."

"I understand, sometimes my little ponies allow their fear to blind them to the truth," the white alicorn responded.

"I'll also likely have her help me research trans-dimensional magics. I really have no idea where to start with that stuff," Cimmerian admitted sourly.

"I thought you'd given up the idea of returning home?" Din asked while pressing tighter against the alicorn, her tone between fear and hurt.

"Not going home, per se," he explained. "At the very least I'd like to know that my family is okay, or that the first nightmare hasn't blown the earth up. If I can get a message to my family back home saying I'm still alive and kicking it would be wonderful but I'll honestly settle for 'Earth's still there, it wasn't scoured of all life in the nightmare's mad attempts at genocide.'"

"I'm certain Twilight would find the challenge acceptable. Cimmerian. Thank you for giving us this. Be certain that Pinkie gets hers when she's felling better. I'll let the foals know about tonight, enjoy your holiday."

"Oh, we will," Queen Pandinus said with a fanged smirk. 

The dark alicorn gave en exaggerated sigh of disappointment. 
"Is that all I'm good for to you, Din? A boy-toy to keep you satisfied?"

"No, you're also decent to look at and your emotions are delicious" she answered with a laugh.

Not wanting to be outdone, Zelus made certain to put her two cents in.
"I'd keep him in the throne room if I was still queen of my own hive. Or maybe in the bedroom. Yes, tied to the bed, ready to serve his queen at any time. He's certainly soft enough to sleep on. Warmer too. Much better than my old bed."

Even as the stallion blushed deeply at the mental image, the queen at his side put a hoof to her chin, humming in thought.

"I think I know what I want to do tonight."
> Dream Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It wasn't difficult to gather all the children in the nursery, in fact it wasn't that difficult to gather most of the kids from around the Temple, those in the port and if he was completely honest he likely even picked up a few from Zarris. He wasn't certain though, as he'd done an age-based sweep of the area to make sure he didn't forget anyone. Part of him worried about angering the parents, but with what was about to be discussed, there likely wouldn't be a better time. Also, what kid would want to get left behind, having all of his friends talk about it?
The large collection  of children, Queen Pandinus, Queen Zelus, Cadance, and even Gleam and Celestia were all looking around, as were the kids. He didn't blame them; it's not every day you find yourself standing on the moon.
"Is everyone ready to start? First of all, does everyone here know who I am?"

There were a few nods, a few vocalized affirmatives. There were also a few negatives, the kids looking around in confusion. Many of those that seemed confused were clumping together with others they knew, friends from around their homes.

"I apologize if I've scared you, I wasn't certain of the range of the spell. Right now we're all in a combined dream. Everyone here is currently safe and asleep in your homes. The only part of you here is your mind, your consciousness.
"My name is Cimmerian and I'm in charge of the Temple of the Shadows. I'm here to give everyone a little lesson as well as let you have some fun and enjoy a very interesting experience. As you can see, we're in a very strange place. Can anyone tell me where we are? Raise you arms or forelegs."

Instantly a large number of them rose into the air, a few hushed giggles and whispers going through the crowd of children. It was fun in his opinion. He'd always liked tours of the Children's Museum when he'd been given the chance to go. With a little power, he lit up a small griffon tom.
"You."

"This is the moon, I think," the child answered, drawing a few gasps of realization from the group. After the words were spoken, most of their eyes tracked upwards, zeroing in on the planet above them with shouts of awe.

"You're correct, though it's not your moon. We're going to be talking about another moon, as well as all the planets in the area. We're also going to be talking about some interesting things about different types of planets. The planet above us is called Earth. Yes, it's the same word as earth pony, earth meaning ground or soil. It's a very interesting place, with millions of living creatures, some of which still have not been discovered in spite of the best efforts of those that live there. There are actually seven other planets similar to this in this star system. I could have chosen Equis as the target planet, but we'd be missing out on a lot of cool stuff. Does everyone knows what the different colors we're seeing on Earth are? Raise your foreleg or talons to answer, there's quite a few of you."

He lit a few of the children up with his magic, acknowledging them and allowing them to answer one at a time.

"Clouds."
"Grass!"
"Water. Lots and lots of water!"
"Snow!"
"I heard some places are just dirt. Is that the brown?"

"Good answers. The brown is actually very dry areas that don't have much in the way of plant life. Many of those places are deserts, where a lot of the ground is nothing but hard, dry dirt or sand. It's not an easy place to live, but it is possible to live there. Now how many of you have ever seen a full picture of Equis?"

A few arms went up, the chattering and giggling increasing every moment. Without actually picking one, Cimmerian shifted the planet above them to one from Luna's memories. Specifically the days before and after her slumber on the moon. There were a few patches missing from the memory, but he was able to fill those in from his work with the maps in the war room.

"...and we are riiight...here!"

A small section of deep green right against blue lit up in a white color, highlighting a small section of the jungles and shoreline. He made certain to include Zarris as well, seeing as he'd accidentally brought a few of those kids along as well.
"It's a lot bigger than it seems, isn't it? Some of you know how long it takes to get from one end of Zarris to the other, or how long it takes to get from one side of the Temple to the other. Here's the actual size of our homes. They looks pretty small, don't they? 

Instead of actually lighting up the area, he highlighted two very small points. Certain that the kids had been able to see the points, he connected the two points with a simple line of white light.
"Walking this distance especially with a supply convoy, so with wagons for trade goods, takes about two to three days. That's a lot of walking. Now, lets give some perspective."

Rotating the world above them, he highlighted a series of mountains.
"These are the High-Talon mountains. That's where a lot of the griffons come from and where they keep their capital."

Drawing a long line, the alicorn began rotating the planet back to it's starting position. After connecting the two locations, he lifted the line off the planet and floated it next to the line from Zarris to the Temple.
"Now if it takes almost three days of walking to reach the Temple from Zarris, how long do you guys think it would take to walk from Zarris to High-Talon?"

There were a few guesses that were shouted out before he saw a confused gnoll pup raise its paw.
"Isn't the blue stuff lotsa water?"

Smiles broke out amongst the adults as the chatter increased three-fold, some of the kids chiding their friends for their guesses, others offering that they knew how to swim.
"He's right, it's a bit difficult to march through water. So your going to need a boat or ship. Now, what would you do if you wanted to get to the moon?"

That question drew a renewed cacophony from the crowd, the children shouting answered from 'you keep flying up' to 'you can't'. 

"There actually is a way, but it's very difficult. You need to make a boat that's completely air-tight. Up here on the moon, there's no air to breath. That means we need to take our air, food, and water with us. Can anyone tell me another problem we'd run into if there's no air in space?"

The kids looked around, chattering loudly as they tried to come up with some answer. To Cimmerian's surprise, even Zelus and Pandinus were mulling the question over. The armored queen suddenly went wide-eyed as realization struck. As if she were included in the class, Zelus raised a hoof.
"Quiet down! Zelus?"

"Didn't the airship we used require wind to accelerate?" Zelus asked. "I know it was magically manipulated air, but it was still pushing around air to move."

"Correct. Both airships and those that sail on water use air to move. That, or oars. This is a problem when there's nothing around to push off of, don't you think? So the simplest way to solve this problem, without magic anyway, is by using something that's contained within the ship."
To punctuate the statement, he had a space shuttle drift into view, the engines blazing silently as it passed by.
"Normally the sound from the engines would be deafening. There isn't a good way to transfer noises in space though, because there's no actual air to help it reach your ear. So even if you were this close to an engine that would hurt your ears on Equis, you won't hear much of anything. Now enough of standing around talking, how about we go out and see some cool things?"

At this announcement the crowd of children went ballistic with cheering and shouting. Cimmerian gestured to his right and their eyes tracked to follow his gesture, soon spotting a descending Imperial Lander that settled nearby in the lunar dust. As soon as the ramp was down and the alicorn had told them it would take them to their destination, many raced up the ramp, curious to see what the inside would look like. Even those who were much more weary of their situation were soon cajoled by their more enthused compatriots into entering the ship.


"We could just blink there, you know. It is a dream after all." Din muttered as she followed the stallion up the shuttles ramp.

Cimmerian just chuckled as he shoved the queen on board.
"Come on, Din. The trip is half the fun." 



<-(0)->



The tour took the group from Saturn, where the children had the opportunity to ogle the massive rings of the gas planet,  all the way to the frozen plains and craters of Pluto, the poor planetoid that was demoted by the hateful scientific community. Currently the children were roaming a flat, empty block-world, giving them plenty of space and resources to try and build their own ships. Some looked like boats, others tried to mimic the two space-ships they'd seen earlier that night. As he watched them go about their task, Cimmerian noticed a grinning Celestia practically prance up to him.

Looking about to make certain there were no younger ears nearby she looked him in the eyes and asked him a single question.
"How was it?"

After a few seconds to decipher what the 'it' the mare was reffering to he began sputtering.
"I fail to see how that's your conce-"

"It was fun," Pandinus answered, cutting Cimmerian off. "My only complaint was that we need something stronger. I used changeling adhesive, but he ended up tearing a few chunks out of the wall at the end of his turn. I enjoyed my own turn immensely. There was just something about it that..."
The queen shivered at the memory, a dazed look crossing her face.

While the white alicorn burst into laughter, the darker stallion blushed hotly.
"Dammit, Celestia. Leave it alone please, especially with the kids here."

"Oh they're fine. They're much too absorbed in the puzzle you've given them," the alabaster alicorn dismissed with a wave of her hoof. "I must say I had fun as well. Twilight would love to see that, I'm certain. The field trip that is, not your bedroom escapades. Last I remember hearing of her, she was still a bibliophile. 
"We have telescopes, but I don't think we had anywhere near the amount of information your species does. The idea of throwing cameras off of the planet? I bet most scholars would find the idea ridiculous. The entire tour was enjoyable."

"I'm glad you had fun, both of you. I wanted your opinion on something though. I, I'm a bit nervous about it, but I want to tell everyone the truth over the holidays. That I've no relation to the Nightmare. I've already let many know, even Herrick and Sah Kest. Is there any way I should do this?" he asked nervously.

"I think you should tell them during your, your Christmas party," Celestia offered. "That was the last one you plan on having, right? Tell them about the holiday, then tell them where it comes from. The only ones who may take offense are the ponies who originally freed you and perhaps the griffons. The Thestrals know that Luna has faith in you, so they shouldn't cause any problems. The changelings follow Pandinus, and she already knows. That, and as with most who have been welcomed into the Temple it wasn't the Nightmare who offered them a place to rest. It was Cimmerian."

Queen Pandinus didn't respond, merely sidling up to his side and leaning against him while resting his wing over her back. Sitting there watching the hundreds of different young playing and chattering excitedly, she let her mind drift to the future of her own hive, of her own children.



<-(0)->



Three days later and the first holiday celebration was scheduled to begin. Rather than the suggested coin flip, Weaver, Gleam, and Thrisha all decided that the griffon holiday, being only a day long event, would be the first celebrated followed by Hearth's Warming, a two day event. Finally, Christmas would finish off the event, many of the changelings taking their ruler's holiday as their own. Being a species that was either sleeping through the cold winter or was never celebrating much of anything, it stood the chance of being the changelings' first official holiday as a species.

The griffons holiday, The Burning, was a souped up bonfire event with a splash of food everywhere. A celebration in the dead of winter to both boost spirits and give them all a reason to meet together and swap stories, to make sure everyone was still alive and kicking. It eventually picked up the tradition of gift-giving from the pony holiday, but otherwise it wasn't so much a historical celebration as it was an ancient tradition from time immemorial. Oh, and booze was to be drunk by all celebrants, some of the younger griffons that were just on the cusp of maturity being granted a small, watered down drink as a privilege of their coming maturity.

The bonfire was set to be held by the port of Shadowtalon, seeing as it was the location most griffons had settled. A large area just outside of town was cleared and Shadow Weaver, with Celestia's help, set up a field around the bonfire that would keep the area comfortable. The array was designed to both keep back the cooler night's chill so that the changelings could enjoy the festivities as well, while also dissipating the heat from the fire so that it didn't become too warm. The holiday was meant to be held on snowy mountaintops after all. The large bonfire would be a bit warm in a jungle that was barely dropping into what Cimmerian considered a brisk Maryland fall day.

"So we have about forty trees to keep the bonfire going," Gleam said as she checked off her list. "The food's being cooked as we speak; everything from fish dishes to some ponies getting their hearth's warming recipes done early. A good portion of the Talons from Zarris are headed here as well from what I heard. This celebration will be a bit larger than the port's own, so they're looking to get a taste of home. Over all, we're set to have an interesting night."

Cimmerian nodded as they toured the port before turning to Amald.
"I want the same set-up as before with guards. Those who are on duty for this celebration will have at least one of the holidays off. Be certain to remind them that they may be on shift the next morning so unless they want to work with a hangover, keep the drinking reasonable."

"Idiots should think about such things before chugging an unhealthy amount of booze," the old griffon said dismissively. "Still, I'll mention it. I know not all of our guards have experience in such things. Living through that kind of thing is a great learning tool but if they're smart enough to avoid it I don't see why I shouldn't help them out. Will the Dragon be there?"

Cimmerian shrugged his wings.
"I don't see why not, though I don't think he'll spend all three holidays here. I don't want to deal with a drunk dragon again. I'd hate to have to try to pry him out of the guard tower, that poor building's seen too much action as it is."

The group came to a halt as Zelus flew down to intercept the group, a smile on her face.
"Cadance's body is just about done healing. With a bit of a boost from an additional portion of love added to her pod, we estimate she will be able to participate in the festivities, though her skin will still be raw. Din and I have advised her it may be a bit painful, but she seems adamant that Amare will spend the holidays in her own shell. Celestia's offered a painkilling spell, but we're not certain how well it will hold after so long in the pod."

"That's wonderful to hear," Gleam responded. "I'm certain Cadance will enjoy being a bit on the tall side again, as well as being fuzzy. Don't get me wrong, Queen Zelus, I don't have anything against your kind, but I can't imagine sleeping while encased in chitin."

"I admit that was one thing I enjoyed about the transformation. Everything just felt more...vibrant. The food also tasted much better, likely because my body actually needed it at that point," the queen hazarded a guess.

"The not eating thing was cool, but kinda weird," Cimmerian added. "As for the shell, I didn't really think about it at the time. I guess the best part was that I was kind of resistant to cheap-shots."

Amald looked to the alicorn in curiosity.
"What do you mean?" 

"Most species have pretty sensitive genitals. For my changeling form, I think everything was under the plates," the dark stallion explained, rapping on Zelus' shell as an example. "I don't want to put it to the test, but I think I could have been bucked and been relatively okay, instead of crippled."

Amald winced as he realized what Cimmerian was talking about.
"I know some toms trust spells to help them perform better, but you'll never catch me allowing magic anywhere near that part of my body."

"Even if it meant the mare's would be falling all over you?" Zelus asked, sidling up to the griffon with a mischevious grin. A moment later she found herself shoved away by an irate hen.

"Find your own male, Zelus," Thrisha scolded as she pulled the old tom into a hug. "This one's mine."

Zelus slumped in irritation at the hen's claim.
"I'm trying, but finding an agreeable male that's willing to allow me to harvest on multiple occasions is harder than I thought it would be. Griffons are too strict, ponies are still jittery about changelings and those that aren't are uncomfortable with how close I am to their princess's size, and changelings... changeling kings don't really exist as far as I know. Cimmerian's the only one that I ever saw. I didn't even know that such a version of changelings was possible."

"I'm sure you'll find your harem someday, Zelus. I believe in you," Cimmerian said with a patronizing pat on the back. 

Instead of taking the insult for what it was, the queen's ears perked up.
"That's not a bad idea. If I have several males available, I could chose whichever type of seed the hive was most in need of. The males would be well cared for of course, and I'm certain I could spare a few drones to entertain them in the meantime. Perhaps that would work..."

As the queen stared off in the distance, fantasizing about her own harem, Gleam  rose up on her haunches and punched the alicorn in the shoulder.
"Do you see what you did? Do you have any idea what we're going to have to put up with now?"

"Oh it's not like she's going to go around kidnapping them against their will," the alicorn said while rubbing his shoulder. "Heck, I'm certain there would be some guys back home who would be A-Okay with being a boy-toy. Now come on, we have a party to get started."



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In the depths of the Temple, a long-silent creature stirred. From the pod burst a single pink hoof, caked in slime. The hoof tore at the membrane restraining the creature, allowing it to breath its first breath in too long. As its eyes opened, a single word escaped its lips in a desperate hiss.



"Paaarrrtiiies!"





"Dammit, all you had to do was ask and we'd have let you out of the pod," a changeling nurse complained as she began cleaning up the spilled gel. "Ugh, you also ripped the membrane, the pod will be out of commission while we repair it. Those things are meant to be cut, not ripped open."

The creature winced at the scolding, nearly pulling back into the pod.
"Soooorrrryyyy..."
> The Party Mare Cometh
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The torches for The Burning were lit the moment the sun touched the horizon. The torches were to be flown in from twelve different directions, most of them from the forest but two coming in from a ship off the coast that was placed there for this exact purpose. Five of the twelve torches would be doused en route to the bonfire, a reminder of those who wouldn't be making it to The Burning no matter where it was held. It was a time of Celebration but for the griffons it was also a time to remember, a much more sober start to a holiday party than anything she was familiar with.
Rainbow Dash watched quietly as the torch bearers arrived at the bonfire, all of those with lit torches standing back at a marked position east of the bonfire. Those with the doused torches stood at attention on either side of the path to the bonfire, a reminder of those you had lost, those who wouldn't be making it and thus would be passed by in life.

The pegasus shuddered in spite of the cool air. It wasn't nearly cold enough to cause her any problems, but the imagery, it was painful. How many had passed her by while they were petrified in Nightmare Twilight's spell? Scootaloo was already a fully grown mare, as were the rest of the crusaders. In fact, Scootaloo was now physically older than the five of them. If things had gone well for them, the Wonderbolts probably would have retired years ago, allowing a new flight of pegasi to be known as "the best of the best" while they went off to either teach or pursue their own passions. She'd not only missed working with her heroes, but didn't even know who had replaced them. As such a big fan of the flyers it was almost insulting. If it wasn't for this mess she'd already be digging through everything that had happened while she was petrified, getting herself up to date on the latest Wonderbolts and what became of her heroes. She couldn't though. After this, there may not even be any Wonderbolts left. If the Nightmare really was trying to wipe out Equestria, it had certainly done a good job.

The torchbearers passed their counterparts, those with unlit torches staring blankly to the east as they approached the bonfire. The bearers reached the bonfire and in one motion, thrust the remaining torches into the wooden pile. The wood slowly took, nothing special being used to accelerate the process like oils or spells in the wood.

The mare swirled her drink as the fires picked up, some griffon brew called mead. It wasn't supposed to be that strong as Dash didn't want to knock herself out just yet, but it would likely leave her a bit tipsy. It's not like she had much of an alcohol tolerance. She didn't have many reasons to drink back in Ponyville. A late night Pinkie party, a dare, a storm that was way more trouble than it should have been, either because of the magic of the Everfree Forest or because somepony bucked up the schedule. Not many reasons to drink at all, and it wasn't like she wanted to spend her mornings or afternoons with a hangover. She had practices to think up, weather to take care of, schedules to set, the list went on.
Her mood soured at the memory of Pinkie Parties. Here she was getting ready to celebrate Hearth's Warming and one of her best friends, a mare who lived for parties, was stuck in some bug-pod while she recovered. Dash had let it go after a while, not standing in front of the pod at all hours after the first two days but she still didn't like it. Pinkie was a pony who was always moving, always in action. That kind of stillness, the absolute loss of connection to the outside world had scared Rainbow more than she'd ever admit. It was wrong on so many levels. Too many for her to count.

The fire was beginning to pick up now, the griffons all standing by with their mugs as the sun set. The moment it set, the party would commence in full. It boiled down to about two or three minutes of silence for those who couldn't be there with them. She decided she'd keep Pinkie in mind. Twilight too; according to the Nightmare Moon look alike, she was in a much worse place at the moment. Dash wanted to be mad at Twilight for buying into the lies it sold her and for taking the five of them away from what they knew and loved, but she couldn't find it in herself. The alicorn would be even worse off than Pinkie was now and she was still living it. How do you even recover from something like that? From knowing that you betrayed those around you so thoroughly for a lie?

"Been a while since I participated in a good Burning," a griffon in armor said as she approached. "It's a nice time to sit around and talk. Be it of what you hope to gain, or to remember what you've lost."

Rainbow turned to the new arrival and grunted a response. She wasn't in the mood to talk.

"You know, there's a tradition you may like," the griffon said, not seeming to take the hint. "I'm sure you're all set on guzzling that drink of yours but before you do, ask yourself. Is there anypony you wished could be here drinking it in your stead?"

The pegasus blinked in confusion at the tradition. Of course there was somepony she wished was here. There were several in fact. Pinkie, Twilight Sparkle (the real one, not the monster that was wearing her skin), her parents whom she hadn't seen in years even before the incident, even...

"Got 'em in mind? Good, come over here."
The armored hen led Dash over to the bonfire, holding a mug in her own claw. The hen took a deep breath before blowing out through her nostrils. Raising her mug, she toasted to the fire. 
"To the one's I've lost, the one's I've gained that can't be here..."
Turning back to her, the griffon pulled off her helmet, smiling at Rainbow Dash.
"..and to those I've found again."

Dash stared at the hen, an odd sense of familiarity ringing in her mind. She watched in confusion as the hen splashed her drink into the fire before turning back to her and chiding her for her lack of movement.

"Don't take all day, dweeb," the griffon said, her smile never dropping.

"No bucking way... Gil? How in Tartarus did you get here?" Dash shouted, rushing over and nearly dropping her mug in the process.

Instead of answering, the hen just grabbed the pegasus' mug to steady it and gestured to the fire. Rainbow took a calming breath before tossing the drink into the fire. This time she kept all of them in mind, even those she didn't think she'd see again. After all, if Gilda managed to find her who knew? Maybe her family was still waiting out there somewhere for her to come back? She could almost hear her dad complaining about how she'd never find a nice colt with a good job.

Before the mare could wheel around on the hen, Gilda used a wing to pull Dash to her side and walked away from the bonfire, letting the rest of the griffons follow through with their tradition. Not a moment after they were clear, Gilda pulled the rainbow-maned mare into a crushing hug.
"Idiot, who'da thought I'd find you here? I wasn't even thinking about you till I saw you putzing around the fire."

"Twilight, she was...she has something in her head and it made her turn me and some friends into stone," Rainbow Dash explained as they took a seat in a relatively empty part of the clearing. "We actually just got out thanks to the locals. I didn't even realize it had been so long till Scoots came along. She was... G, she was a filly who'd just found her cutie mark the last time I saw her. Now she's a mercenary in the Talons and older than I am! How am I supposed to accept this? It doesn't make any sense, nothing does anymore!"

The griffon smiled at her one-time classmate.
"Dash, I know it's rough but you can't let despair get to ya, not even if you lose your wings. You've still got your friends, right? You said a few of 'em were trapped with ya, right? They're going through the same thing, so just pull together with them. Talk to 'em, ask how they're getting along, ask how they're coping and if they have any ideas that could help you."

Rainbow stared back to the fire for a few moments before turning and shoving Gilda's shoulder with a hoof. She couldn't help but let a smile play across her face.
"When did you start getting all mushy and smart?"

Gilda's own smile fell a bit.
"When I went back home. I kept hearing about how Dash and her friends did this, Dash and her friends saved the world, Dash and her friends fought during the Canterlot Invasion. There I was moping while you were doing amazing things and making a name for yourself, leaving me in the dust. I hated it. So I joined my old town's militia to get some experience, transferred over to the Talon Peak Army as soon as I could, and went from there. By the time I heard about you and your friends disappearing, there was talk about invasions left and right. Changelings were everywhere. We didn't know it at the time but they were running scared. Most got away from us but after seeing this place and hearing what was actually going on, that's probably a good thing. Since we didn't know what to do with them, I think most griffon towns ended up handing over any changelings to Queen Twilight. They didn't bother us after we did, we were certain of it. It wasn't until recently that we saw any more changelings.
"We finally had an answer for what she was doing with all those changelings."

"What happened then?" Dash asked.

"They swarmed over the griffon cities. Mindless beasts at that point. I remember capturing a few way back before it all went to Tartarus. They were scared, you could see it in their eyes if you looked. Most of us didn't think anything of it at the time. A few begged to be released, one even said the pony queen was going to destroy us all; changeling, griffon, and dragon alike. I remember my old commander laughed at that one. He died at High Talon. I didn't see it, but for some reason I can just see the changeling that spoke, that tried to warn us being the one to kill him."
Gilda shook her head.
"I told you that if you cut that mane or hid it in any way the world would be a darker place," she said, gesturing to Dash's mane. "I didn't know I was a seer, though. I was just being supportive. It's like the moment you and your friends disappeared was the moment everything started going sideways. Part of me still regrets not heading out to look for you after I heard you'd disappeared, orders be damned."

Rainbow Dash scuffed a hoof on the ground, not meeting the older griffon's gaze.
"I-thanks, Gil. I'm sorry how things kind of died out between us after..."

"Don't mention it," Gilda said, waving a talon dismissively. "No, seriously. Don't mention it. Abandoning your post is punishable by death. Even talking about it would have ended with my butt locked up if not for the mess the worlds in right now. In the meantime, I think you have a delivery."

"A wha-"
Dash's words were cut off as a passing pair of changelings dropped their cargo, their aim spot on. Before the blue pegasus could react, the missile impacted with a soft thud sending the jumble tumbling into a table, much to the chagrin of the griffons using it. As soon as they spotted the cause though, they gave a few chuckles before moving to a less contested location.

As Rainbow Dash's head finally stopped spinning she realized just what had hit her. Or better yet, just who had hit her.

"Dashie! I missed you guys so so soooo much!" the pink blur shouted.

"Pinkie?" Dash asked. Or would have. Instead it came out as "Hrghlr!"

"I think she needs air, kid. Let her breath," Gilda said, pulling at the earth pony's hooves.

"But my hugs!" Pinkie argued. "I'm way behind on hugs and parties and presents and the baking, oh my goodness the baking! So I've got to make up for it! That means each hug has to be longer and stronger than any hug I've ever given before. Dashie especially needs hugs, and I've got another twenty minutes at this pressure before I have to move on to Rarity!"

"I don't think she'll survive another two at that pressure," the griffon chuckled.

The pink pony looked the her blue friend, who was starting to turn a lovely shade of purple, and shrugged.
"She looks fine to me."

When the hen cocked an eyebrow, Pinkie relented.
"Fine, fine, I'll let go...just a little."

Rainbow Dash wheezed as air was once more able to fill her lungs. Sweet succulent air!
"How, when did you get out?"

Gilda mouthed the word out in confusion while Pinkie giggled.

"Well, I started getting all twitchy because there was a big, big, big party going on and I wasn't able to get to it, so one of the orderlings let me out early. She, I think it was a she, if I'm wrong I'll have to send her a "I'm sorry I guessed your gender wrongly" card, said that we should see how I feel after the parties and that if I need to I can just sleep it off afterwards. Oh, I can't wait, I need to see AJ and Fluttershy and Rarity and Pinkie and, wait, I've already seen me. Never mind. Anywho they said that if after the parties I start to feel all droopy again they'd let me sleep in the pod again until I was good to goop," Pinkie said, the stream of thought blasting the pegasus and griffon's brains. "I'll give you more hugs later, Dashie. You're not the only one I owe them too!"

Pinkie released her grip on her friend and bounded away...for all of three leaps. As she landed from the third leap her body jolted and she slumped to the ground like a wet noodle.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, at her side in less then a second. Several other beings were also moving closer, curious about the mare's sudden loss of liveliness.

"I told you not to try running around at your usual pace, but did you listen? Nope, nobuggy listens to the nurse. Why would they? It's not like she knows what she's talking about," A changeling with a red cross on her shoulder grumped as she pushed the polychromatic pegasus away. Flipping the mare over, she checked her breathing.
"How many hooves am I holding up?"

Pinkie squinted at the hoof.
"All of them. No, wait, just one. Three? You should really make up your mind, Miss Nurse Changeling.

The changeling, a female if Dash guessed based on the voice, wiped a hoof down her muzzle in exasperation.
"If it wasn't for Queen Pandinus specifically asking me to watch this one..." the changeling muttered, carefully pulling Pinkie back to her hooves.
"I want you to take it easy. I know you have a hard time understanding what that means so I'll break it down for you. You will walk when you travel, you will eat sparingly as your body is still recovering from the restorative sleep the pod put you in and you will listen to me if I tell you to settle down. Do I make myself clear? I'm not above dragging you back to the Temple and shoving you back in a pod. Your health is my job right now and personally I think you'd be safer sleeping."

"But, but the party!" Pinkie blubbered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes, you're at the party. Look, there's a table right over there. We can sit there and Miss Dash can gather your friends and have them come to you," the nurse said, pulling Pinkie to her hooves and guiding her to the table.

"It's not the same..." the earth pony mumbled, her hair losing some of it's luster.

"Listen Pink's, I'll get the girls. I'm sure they'd all love to see you up and about. You just relax okay? I'll be back in a flash!" Dash said, giving the party pony her best smile. She took off at top speed, earning a few angry shouts due to her aftershocks. She needed to get the other girls as quickly as possible. They all owed Pinkie a debt of gratitude and while the pink mare would never collect on it, being there for Pinkie when she needed it was the least they could do.



<-(0)->


Cimmerian watched the group of temporally displaced mares sitting around a table, an older hen sitting close to Rainbow Dash and answering questions for the group. She seemed to know them, or at least Dash. An old friend perhaps? Mist sat beside Pinkie, keeping the mare in check and making certain she didn't hurt herself during her time out of the pod. It seemed that Din was right about that one, Pinkie Pie required a full-time nurse right now. Not because she was ill, but because she didn't have an off switch. The pink pony just didn't seem to understand why her body couldn't keep up with her mind. Or why her mind couldn't keep up with her spirit.

"It's nice to see them together again. Most of them anyway," Celestia said sadly. 

Cimmerian nodded.
"Tomorrow is your holiday. I heard there's going to be a play."

"It's tradition," the alicorn mare explained. "I'm certain it will be wonderful as always. I've memorized the lines. I wrote them down for the ponies who will be acting the parts."

"Zelus was upset," Cimmerian added with a grin. "She said changelings would have been able to match the physical features and voices of the ponies that were being represented better."

Celestia giggled daintily into a hoof.
"I'm certain they could. It's not about matching them though, it's about the experience. It's about passing down the information to the next generation."

"Din was also upset," the stallion continued. "Said she wasn't going to go to a play that wasn't historically accurate."

The mare blushed brightly at that line.
"Yes, well when she's done with her pregnancy, she can set something up herself. I'm certain there would be plenty of individuals, pony, changeling or otherwise, who would be interested in watching that sort of thing. She can tell me how it goes afterwards."

Cimmerian pulled the older mare into his side with a wing in a soft hug.
"I've got something to give the six of you tomorrow morning. A little something that I'd like to try before I leave."

Celestia stared at him for a moment, trying to come up with an answer.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're alluding to."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "One of the best things about presents is unwrapping them and finding out what you're getting."

"Agreed," Pandinus said, hefting herself onto his back and draping her hooves around his neck. "That's why for your holiday, you're not going to know what we're doing until you walk into the nest at night. I have so many ideas, Cimmer, so many ideas from Cadance and I want to try them all..."
> Warming Hearts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Everybody here?" Cimmerian asked, trotting into the Queen's chamber.
Pandinus and Zelus had both personally seen to its preparation. The blankets and cushions were scattered about the room, while the queens bed sat in the middle of the chamber. Pinkie was finally slowing down now that the adrenaline was wearing off. It seemed wrong to see her look so sleepy, but she was fighting every step of the way for just a little more time with her friends. Cadance was also present, Amare wrapped in her hooves and basking in the love the mare was radiating to the nymph.
Celestia trotted in as well, a curious expression crossing her face before she began to smile excitedly. It was possible the mare had figured out his plan, but she was keeping quiet.

"Alright everyone. I'm going to be using a knockout spell Luna taught me to get everyone here asleep then we're going to meet up in the dream realm.

The five mares from the past, Celestia, Cadance and Amare all made themselves comfortable as Cimmerian soared to the bed in the center. Din giggled a bit as she bounced from his landing and Zelus once more pressed against him as well the moment he was dozing off. It was something he'd have to get used to until the queen found a more permanent mate.
Casting the spell, he guided all present to the same dream.

"Din, Zelus? I want you two to hold this together for me. Celestia knows how if you're not certain so ask her. I'll be back."
The alicorn took to the dream realm, searching for his target. As expected there was a bit more shielding in place to stop his progress but it was fairly sloppy. The Nightmare had no idea what it was doing when it came to spellcraft, it seemed. Landing quietly, he found his target curled up in the darkness, chanting words of encouragement.

"It's going to be over soon, it's going to be over soon, it's going to be over soon, it's going to-"

"Twilight?" he asked, drawing an eep as the purple mare jerked in shock. "I'm back, and I'd like to try something. Will you allow me to?"

"W-what do you want? I-oh, it's you. Did...did you give the girls my letters?" the alicorn asked, her eyes brightening at the though.

"I did, I even had a friend give Spike his, since he was sleeping at the time. Fun thing about changelings is they can communicate even when asleep, so it's easy to have a sleeping drone read the information to an awake drone for transference into the waking world. Your friends were also very happy to hear you were still here, that you were still alive. Cadance was beside herself when I first brought up the possibility of you being possessed, because it meant that the little filly she took care of wasn't some heartless monster.
"Yes, Twilight. They were all ecstatic to hear you were still keeping yourself together."

"Thank you, thank you so much," she sobbed, rushing up and latching onto his foreleg. "It's wonderful to hear. I...I tried doing what you said, giving her useless information and she gets so mad. I give her wrong calculations and even though it makes me mad as well, I- I love hearing her rant about how something didn't work, or how everything's going wrong. I want to help, I want to make this end. If there's anything I can do just say it. I'd even-"

"Calm down, Twilight," Cimmerian whispered, gently picking her up. "You're doing plenty. I even have a little something I'd like to try if you give me the chance."

The purple mare nodded emphatically/
"Yes, anything! Anything you want!"

"Then we're going to go for a little trip," he said, gathering his power. A shout of alarm and anger from across the dream-void drew both their attention. Cimmerian chuckled, switching to a one-leg carry and grinning viciously at the Nightmare. With his other leg he drew his hoof across his throat in a cutting motion before his horn flared and the two were taken from the dream.

Cimmerian let the mare float in the dream realm long enough to reposition himself under her, catching her on his back and taking off for his second destination. The hardest part was over, this would be a bonus.
"Anybody home?" Cimmerian called into the darkness of the dream.

There was a shuffling in the distance, a gleam of reptilian eyes. Then the dreamer stepped into the light, drawing a gasp from his passenger.

"I...am. What...do...you...want," the drake asked in exhaustion.

"I was wondering if you'd like to participate in a dream get-together. I've already gathered Celestia, Cadance, Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack together and I was just picking up an extra for the Hearths Warming present," Cimmerian explained, twisting to drop the smaller alicorn and picking her up in his hooves.
"This is Twilight, the real one."

The drake moved forward, leaning to one side to allow his good eye to take in the mare before him. The purple pony was shaking under his inspection, but that seemed to put the drake at ease.
"It's different...no cruelty. Nightmare was...responsible? Heart said...that."

"I actually saw the Nightmare just before we left the dream. It's going crazy since most of its plans are falling apart, and it just learned I can steal its host. Well, we learned I can steal its host. Would you like to join us?"

Cimmerian watched as the drake ponder the offer before nodding.
"Want to see...them again. Be..nice."

"Excellent," the dark alicorn said. "Let's be on our way then."



<-(0)->



Cimmerian reappeared in the shared dream in a flash of light, Spike stepping back to reorient himself to his new location. Before Cimmerian even opened his mouth in greeting though, Celestia had already ripped the mare from his forelegs.

A stream of happy, tearful babble was all he could make out as Celestia nuzzled and kissed her one-time student, tears streaming down both their faces as the purple alicorn babbled apologies and attempted to bury herself in the other mare's chest. The others, none faster than Pinkie in spite of her exhaustion, launched themselves to the pair. They were soon joined by a squealing Cadance as well, the pony pile growing bigger and bigger until no slip of purple was visible.

"Celestia figured it out while you were gone," Din said with a giggle before her eyes began to run over the drake beside him. "And who's this?"

"This is Spike, he was Twilight's assistant in years passed by and more recently Heart's guardian," Cimmerian introduced the dragon. "I hear she's quite enamored with you." 

That drew a blush through the purple dragon's scales.
"She was...only friend for...long time. Wonderful to see...her well again. See her happy."

"A dragon huh? I think any queen would be happy with that kind of setup," Zelus giggled. "How is our sister doing? Is she well enough to begin laying again?"

"Not yet. Soon, she said. Few months. Said will become...thorny?" the drake rumbled, causing both queens to burst into laughter.

"Oh you adorable little thing, that's going to be a treat for you," Din said with a predatory grin. "She's going to be after you worse than Zelus and I chase Cimmerian."

Spike's confused expression just made them laugh harder. Cimmerian shook his head and patted the dragon's arm.
"I'm sorry, man. You are royally screwed."

"Don't be using that kind of language around my boy," Celestia chided, flying up and grasping the drake's snout in her hooves. She planted a kiss on his nose and patted him lovingly.
"It's good to see you again, Spike. I can't wait to actually see how much you've grown. I'll even see about bringing some Sapphire cookies, though I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of them."

"Sounds nice," the dragon rumbled, his expression shifting to a smile. "Haven't had gems in...long time."

"We'll fix that," the white alicorn assured. "Have you gotten your eye looked at?"

"Zecora," Spike answered with a nod.

"Zecora's still hangin' round?" Applejack asked, the group of friends finally joining them. In the center of the group and being pressed against from all sides sat a still shaking Twilight Sparkle, her eyes betraying the mare's fear that this was all just a horrible dream- well, a fake dream, or...whatever.

"Give medicine for...eye. Need lots because eye...big," Spike rumbled. His gaze shifted from the Apple to the mare in the center of the group.

"S-spike, I'm so sorry, I-"

The dragon held up a claw, motioning for her to stop.
"Not apologize. Two reasons. One, feel slow. Things fuzzy now, not mean as much. Two, never hate you. Not ever, big sister."

Once more the purple mare began to weep at the kindness her friends were willing to give. Spike reached over and picked her up in his claws, holding her against his chest in an awkward hug.
"Not hate you, ever. Promise."




 


It was nearly three hours later when Cimmerian figured he was reaching his limit. Maintaining a dream with participants from so many locations was beginning to wear on him, oddly enough. Spike was the first to leave, the dark alicorn returning him to the dragon's own dream with the promise of his arrival before too long. He also fleshed out the warning he gave the dragon earlier, detailing what the queen would likely want once she recovered. Seeing the drake's eyes bulge at the prospect had been a wonderful treat.

"Good to know I'm not the only one dealing with horny queens," Cimmerian muttered as he flew back to the party-dream. The mare's were all giving tearful goodbyes and promises to see Twilight the moment she was free while Twilight was being made to promise she would do her best to see them in return.

The time was coming though.
"No dream lasts forever. But neither do the nightmares. We'll come for you soon, Twilight," Cimmerian said as he flew back to the alicorn's origin point.

He slowed as he approached, looking about in confusion. Where normally the place he was returning to would be obvious, he couldn't find it now. There was no place to put the purple alicorn. No location to return her to.

Her dream was gone.
'It was a shared dream, a shared dream between her and the Nightmare. Her body had two minds, two spirits...oh shit. What would happen if one of the spirits woke up?'


He looked around for a few more moments, the mare on his back becoming increasingly agitated.
"Cimmerian, sir? What's wrong?"

"I...I don't know. I can't find your dream...I-it looks like were going to have to jury-rig this," he said, looking about in anxiety.

He quickly flipped the mare into his hooves. He wasn't taking any chances with this, this was her spirit he was guiding right now, not just her consciousness. Her spirit, her soul. He'd accidentally separated her from her body. Did it happen every time he pulled someone from a dream or was it because of her unique situation?

'The hive. The hive is always up, I can always access the dream-hive. Maybe...'

With a flash, the alicorn was back at the Temple. The queens and the ponies had already returned to their lives the moment he left, free to wake up as they desired. Zelus was guiding drones from the dream-hive when he arrived, his anxiety causing her to stare and drawing Pandinus to the dream not a second later.

"Cimmerian? What's wrong, why-why do you still have that pony?" Din asked, her focus switching to the purple alicorn.

"The Nightmare woke up. She woke up without Twilight. I can't return her to a dream that doesn't exist anymore. I, can you keep her in here? I don't know how the dream-hive works, but can it support a mind like this?"

"I do not know," Zelus stated as she walked up to the pair. "I may have a solution though. It's worth an attempt. Don't you think so, Din?"

The second queen's eyes lit up in realization a moment later.
"Oh, I think that would work! Come dear, let's go get you situated. Leave it to us, Cimmerian. You have a play you're expected to attend."



<-(0)-> 



As the ponies reveled in the cool jungle air, singing songs of old and passing out gifts and tokens of affection, a few drones continued about their assigned tasks. Suddenly one jerked, it's eyes beginning to focus on its surroundings with clarity it lacked before. It stared at he world around it, as if it had never noticed its surroundings before.

Hoofsteps nearby caused its ears to perk and it turned to the sound. Well, it tried to turn only to fall on its face with the dull thump of chitin impacting the soil.
"Careful dear. You need to give yourself some time to adjust," an echoing voice said. The drone was righted, facing the queen who smiled lovingly at it.

A second queen approached, this one nearly twice the size of the drone. The second queen lifted the drones face to meet her eyes.
"How does it feel to taste fresh air again, to want to move and have your body react?"

The drone shuddered, its jaws moving as it attempted to speak.

"Drones are not normally capable of speech I'm afraid. We may be able to make that adjustment later or the body can be shifted for such, but for now you must do without. I think it's worth it though, don't you think so?"

The drone nodded emphatically. It would likely have been crying if it remembered how-oh, nevermind. It was crying now.

"Well, I believe we have some ponies to visit. Come along, dear. Let's go meet them," the smaller queen said, turning towards the temple.

The drone made to follow only to stumble. The second queen held it upright, keeping a soft glow over the drones shell for support. Nodding and mouthing its thanks, it stepped down, taking its first step of its own power in over a decade.
> What to Do With A Spare Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian sat in the crowd, watching the ponies on the stage play through the...heavily edited version of the unification of the three tribes. Celestia was playing the part of the narrator, telling a story she knew by heart as various ponies in improvised costumes played out their parts. A few pegasi and changeling's flew through the air, terrorizing the actors as the dreaded windigoes. Finally, a glass jar had been filled with love, the glowing fluid being used to symbolize the fire of friendship at the end.
It was cute, reminding him a bit of the story of the Grinch who Stole Christmas. It did leave him wondering what became of the Windigoes. Something that powerful doesn't just disappear overnight, or even over a few centuries. They were likely still out there somewhere, though whether or not they were still dangerous was up for debate.

"Oh dear, we missed it? How sad," Pandinus said, doing her best to mime a pout.

"You know, you don't have to pretend to like something," Cimmerian said, looking to the approaching queens. "Did you two figure something out?"

"We did," Zelus answered, lifting the drone that had been following her in her forelegs. "I think she looks better this way."

"So you put her in a drone...can't say I didn't think about it but I wasn't sure if it was possible," Cimmerian said as he looked the drone over. "How does it feel to be in control again?"

The drone tittered happily, it's mouth moving as it tried speaking in a rapid-fire pace while no intelligible sounds were produced.

Cimmerian raised an eyebrow, looking to the queens.

"She seems to forget things when she gets excited. It's kind of adorable, honestly," Din said, patting the still incoherently-babbling and wildly gesticulating drone's head. "We've already told her drones can't speak under normal conditions. They can shift vocal cords, but otherwise they're mute. Mindless drones don't usually have much of interest to say anyway. We'll look into creating a more suitable drone-form later but for now this will work. It's our, what was the holiday? A Christmas present from the two of us to her."

"The Christmas Celebration isn't until tomorrow. It's Hearth's Warming that's being celebrated," Cimmerian said with a smirk. He picked up the drone, placing it on his back even as it continued to soundlessly babble and wave at its surroundings. "Lets go, I think Celestia's going to want to see this."

"See what?" the white alicorn asked, approaching with the rest of the group from earlier.

"Ah, just the mares I wanted to see. So after the dream, I ran into a little issue. Spike was easy enough to return, but the Nightmare woke up. This left me with a problem."

Celestia's eyes widened.
"Is Twilight okay?"

"Better than okay at the moment," he said with a smile. Levitating the drone off of his back and setting it in front of him, he sat down and set his hooves on its shoulders.
"Ladies, until we can evict the Nightmare from Twilight, this young mare will be staying with us. I expect you to take good care of her and try to keep this relatively quiet for now."

"You don't mean that...this is..." Celestia started, moving closer to the occupied drone.

Twilight gave a false start, shying back for a moment before moving forward, taking Celestia into a hug as she once more descended into silent babbling.

"The drone we used is incapable of speaking and she doesn't know how to shift so she can't change that, but Zelus and I will be adjusting another drone later. Once it's done, we'll move her mind to the altered drone and she'll be set," Din explained, her horn glowing as the ponies surrounded their friend. "Mist, will you require help siphoning her off or will you be alright? They're a bit excited to see her and she may require a changeling to keep her at a proper level of energy for now."

"I think I can handle it, your highness," the nurse answered. "Pinkie has settled down a bit and the others are watching her. If I need a few friends to help out I'll call for it, I doubt they'd pass up a chance to help with this."

"Very well I'll. I'll leave you to it. Remember she thinks like a pony, so she won't be taking things like too much emotion into consideration," Din instructed the nurse before turning to Cimmerian.
"Come along, Slop wanted to do something special for your holiday and has been asking about Christmas recipes. As it's highly unlikely any here will know any of them, he's going to need to ask you personally."

The stallion nodded and followed the queen.
"That sounds good. Oh, I can already taste...did we get any potatoes on the last trip? Potatoes and carrots were usually there, not too hard to prepare. Any kind of meat would be fine, since the usual choices would get me in trouble here. Have you ever had mashed potatoes, Din? Zelus?"

The queens shook their heads and Cimmerian guffawed.
"You two are in for a treat. You can season them as you like, but I like mine to be a bit spicy. Used to mix this sauce in, sriracha it was called. If you weren't used to hot stuff it would set your tongue on fire. Heh, good times..."

"I'm sorry, but you found it enjoyable to have your mouth burned by foods?" Zelus asked in confusion.

"Not temperature hot. You remember that chili a week ago?" he asked, holding the door open for the queens.

"I still don't understand why it is called chili when it burns my mouth," Pandinus grumped. "There was nothing chilly about it."
Zelus nodded in agreement.

"It's that kind of hot. Spicy. Ah, I love it when I get to eat something that clears my sinuses," Cimmerian chuckled.
"Slop! I come bearing food ideas!"

"Cimmerian! I plan to cook them!" the chef answered back, causing the two males to burst into laughter.

"I heard from the ladies that you're looking for some ideas for tomorrow. A lot of it would be kind of iffy with the local ingredients, but I'll do my best to think up substitutes. Maybe you can come up with a few as well," the alicorn said with a large grin. "You have something to write it down with?"

A nearby aide walked towards them, some paper and pencil at the ready.

The Cimmerian rubbed his hooves together in anticipation.
"Okay so the first thing we need is mashed potatoes. I don't know if it would work, but you may be able to use local tubers if we can't get potatoes. I'd suggest peeling about half of them and leave the rest of the skins on for some texture, I find that to be nice. Add a bit of milk and butter to smooth them out and...no, nevermind. Pepper may be okay but no salt, I have to remember that.
"Next thing is going to be carrots. Steamed, boiled, sautéed, I don't really mind. I need carrots with a Christmas dinner. Then we're going to need the main course. Usually this is a hearty meat-dish that..."







Even as the two stallions went over the dinner for the next day, Queen Pandinus was hard at work. Checking the foods against their stores, having the drones finish making the proper decorations that were to be placed overnight, even a few drones in Zarris to pick up things that would be needed. At the mention of sugar cookies she mentally added asking the pink pony about the ingredients for them. She'd need the information soon though. She didn't need the drones in Zarris making a night flight when it was so cool outside. It would leave them sluggish, a dangerous situation in the jungle at night.

'Zelus, I'm going to go speak with the pink earth mare, she'll know what we need for the cookies. You keep me updated on anything else he adds,' she sent to Zelus.
The larger queen nodded in response, turning her focus back to the drooling alicorn as he described the different methods of preparing broccoli and cauliflower.

Making her way back outside, she sent a ping to Healing Mist and was surprised to find the mare was inside the temple. A quick explanation was sent back. The Twi-drone was reacting poorly to the cooler weather so the group had made their way inside, heading upstairs and into the currently empty war room to speak privately.

Din frowned at the choice of location. If not for the fact that the mare was cut off from the nightmare it would stink of espionage. As it stood though, Twilight was almost as dependent on the hive as the true drones were. More so in fact, because she didn't know how to shield herself from emotion or feed properly. Her friends would solve the latter issue of course, but such powerful emotions could easily overwhelm a true drone.

The queen found the mares curled up in a corner of the room, talking quietly amongst themselves or, in Pinkie's case, sleeping with her friends. A few blankets were scattered over the floor providing a bit of cushioning while others were draped over the mares to focus the warmth to the center of their group, a currently sleeping drone that was drooling a bit of gel.
Pandinus couldn't help but giggle. The drone that was prepared to hold Twilight's mind would need a bit more emotional capacity as well, it seemed. Standard capacity would be overwhelmed too quickly at this rate.
'At least she's gathering enough to cover the energy costs such changes will incur.'

"Healing Mist? I thought you said you would call for assistance  if you needed help keeping her stable?" Pandinus called, looking about for the nurseling.

"She's over there," Rainbow Dash said, pointing across the way to the comatose changeling. "Applejack went to get another changeling to find out what was wrong, then Twilight started getting sleepy too. They're not hurt, are they? They started drooling that glow-y stuff..."

"No, the opposite in fact. It's too much emotion for them to process. All the love and happiness has overloaded them. It's why I told Mist to ask for help keeping your friend stable. True drones like the one she is currently riding are not made for this kind of interaction. Zelus and I plan to correct this in the next drone we use for her. That drone will also be capable of speech."

"That's kinda weird, how you keep talking about...swapping her around to different bodies. Is it really that easy?" the blue mare asked her.

Din closed her eyes while making the preparations in the hive. It wasn't necessary for her to switch but sometimes it was nice to show off a bit. When she opened her eyes again, she was beside the pegasus. She rose and quickly wrapped Rainbow in a hug, earning a squawk of fear at the sudden contact.
"Drones are born for this kind of use. Right now your friend is in the hive. Once she settles and calms down, she may be capable of using any drone she wishes to. Drones like Mist will be beyond her grasp, but any true drone in the hive will be open to her if she wishes to use them. Given the fact that Zelus and I will be making one specially for her, I doubt she'll truly be interested in such an ability though."

Rainbow Dash looked to her body and back to the drone, processing what had occurred.
"You! You took the drone from her, what happened to Twilight?"

"She's been pulled back to the hive. She's currently in the dream-state of the hive, still only half-lucid because of the emotion overdose. Even if this body is destroyed, she will not be harmed. Zelus and I have anchored her to ourselves."

Closing the drones eyes and switching both herself and Twilight back to their respective forms, Din finished siphoning the rest of the surplus emotion just as several more changelings walked in through the door.
"Watch the drone, keep it from overdosing. You may take your fill of the emotion you siphon, I'm certain there will be plenty to go around. Just be nice. The pony currently using the drone for mobility has been tortured for years and thus may be in worse condition mentally then the pink alicorn was when she first arrived. If she begins to act up, do not hesitate to contact me."

Stepping over to her original goal, she nudged the pink earth pony, earning a sleepy yawn and some random mumbling about a lazy author. Ignoring the mare's comments, Pandinus leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"I need to know the amount of ingredients we'll need to make sugar cookies for the a good portion of the population to enjoy, especially the foals, nymphs, chicks, and pups."

Pinkie's eyes jolted open instantly. The pink pony pressed her nose against the queen's and grabbed the larger mare's muzzle in her hooves.
"I need a list of aaaall the ponies who live here, not-ponies as well. Give me numbers and I'll give you the amount of ingredients we need to make everyp-one happy. And I want access to the kitchen again. Slop kicked me out."

"It will only be temporary," Pandinus countered. "This is a special occasion, otherwise we can't afford your baking. Do this for me and I'll allow you at least a day in the kitchen each month. Once things improve we'll see about increasing the number of days."

"If I can teach ponies how to grow gems, would that help?" Pinkie asked, earning a confused stare from the queen. "I grew up on a rock farm, we grew gems there and I know how to do it. I haven't looked, but there may be a good place nearby for it. I'll show you how to farm gems if you give me my baking supplies."

Din scowled at the pony.
"You drive a hard bargain. Prove to me that gems can be grown and I will have drones build you your own building for baking."

"Deal," Pinkie said, reaching out a hoof.

The queen tapped her own hoof against the party ponies hoof before lifting Pinkie in a magical aura and setting the earth pony on her back. 
"We have a lot to prepare for, dear. I want everything to be perfect for Cimmerian. Any aid you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

"Weeeeell, he has done some good things. I guess I can spare the time," Pinkie said, sounding almost put out.
"Meh, I haven't baked in a long time. I'd probably make cookies to celebrate Armageddon at this point. Lets go do some baking!"
> Cross-Culture Christmas
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	With a start Cimmerian woke up.

'Christmas morning,' he thought, his mood souring slightly a moment later.
'Or at least as close as I'm going to get for now.'

He rolled off of the large gel-bed in the queen's room, or better yet the room he was sharing with Pandinus, finding that for once he'd woken up alone. He scowled at the door, knowing the mare was up to something. It took a lot to get Din out of bed early and those plots were the few things she didn't trust merely assigning changelings to from her bed.
'So the question is what is she up to? She knows about the announcement, she knows about the holiday, a little about it at least, knows about some of the food...'

There was nothing to do but go out and find out what the shape shifter was up to. It had actually been kind of endearing, watching her start to try to reciprocate physical signs of affection but now he was just worried.

Pandinus didn't do half-measures. Whatever she was planning would be big.

Stepping out into the hallway, Cimmerian's jaw dropped. Lining the tunnels and hallways on the way to the dining room was a ton of garland, though where the people found it he had no idea. Some changelings had red hats with white puffs on the end, others were wearing sprigs of leaves and berries on their horns, stopping every now and then to give each other a peck before continuing on their way, giggling and laughing at the custom. Even the odd pony was sometimes equipped with the festive gear. 
Some changelings had even taken the holiday spirit a step further, shifting  their shells to greens, reds, and whites to match the holiday's colors. It was awe inspiring the things they'd come up with. Even stranger was the fact that the alicorn had seen none of this desire to enjoy the holidays with the other days, even if Pandinus and himself went to The Burning and he went to the Hearth's Warming Eve play. The reason struck him a moment later.

This wasn't for the other races. It was the changelings accepting the holiday as their own. It would be the celebration, the first holiday that was celebrated by the shape shifters in their history that wasn't a simple and quick nod to an ancient queen or the founding of their hive. It was the first holiday that would see them showing off to the world just what they could do to show their spirit. Judging by the changeling sporting a white tuft of what could only be a silky beard, it was quite a bit.

"Rats, I was just about to wake you up," Zelus pouted just ahead of him. She too was sporting a bit of festive additions, mostly a few sprigs of what he assumed were supposed to be mistletoe over her body and green stripes instead of the blue stripes she usually bore.

"You guys do know that mistletoe is supposed to be over doorways, right?" he asked her on the way to the dining hall.

Zelus looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"And leave out those who are outside for most of the day? Ha! I wanted to add one to my tail, but Celestia said that was going too far. Something about it being too intimate for the delicate pony senses."

"It's basically asking them to kiss under your tail. So yes, it's too far," he shot at her with an unamused stare.

"The holiday's supposed to be about love, right?"

Walking into the dining hall and taking in the decorations set on each table, the dark alicorn chuckled.
"You know damn well there are different kinds of love. A changeling queen of all creatures should have that memorized."

"You're all no fun," Zelus pouted.

"Once you get your own hive set up somewhere you can demand sex from your visitors and walk around displaying yourself to everyone as much as you like," the stallion said while grabbing some food from the buffet. "While you're living in a mixed community though you're going to have to accept that there are some things other people aren't comfortable with."

"Like herds?" she ventured.


Cimmerian stopped, worrying his lip.
"Yea. Like herds. I've told you already, Zel. You're nice, but it feels weird to me. Even the fact that you keep ending up sleeping next to me, that's like...you know even that made me uncomfortable for a while. It's still weird but I get why you do it."

"It's nice. Strange, but very nice to wake up to a scent that relaxes me like that. It was the first night I slept with the two of you that was the first night I remember feeling like I could truly sleep soundly without watching myself through a nearby drone's eyes. I don't think ponies can truly appreciate the paranoia we queens develop.
"Being able to watch yourself sleep through a drones eyes doesn't help, either. Ponies have to trust they can sleep safely otherwise they'll never get any rest."

"You didn't develop that way though. How was it, to know in your heart that you were safe? To feel like nothing would harm you?" Cimmerian asked as he took a seat at a mostly empty table. By his reckoning it was about ten in the morning, so most of the Temple's residents were already done with breakfast.

The queen sighed, leaning against him as he began to eat. She pressed her muzzle against his neck, taking a deep breath.
"It's something I don't want to be without again."

"I guess you're just going to have to put up with the rules we prudes inflict upon you."

Zelus nodded forlornly.
"I know. It stinks."

Finishing his first pancake he voiced his first question.
"How did you guys manage to get the garland? The mistletoe looks like a local berry but the garland's a bit expensive, considering it almost looks like real gold-leaf."

"A few unicorns had some experience with illusions. Add in Twilight, who knows so much about spellwork and it wasn't hard to do a lot of it. It won't last more than a few days before it starts turning back into jungle vines but that's long enough to accomplish the goal. As for the sprigs, Din wasn't sure about the species and Tia pointed out we may not even have it on Equis, so we used a substitute with a color enchantment. Normally the berries are purple."
Popping one off of a sprig and popping it into her mouth she hummed happily.
"Also fairly sweet."

"I think actual Mistletoe is poisonous," he said with a grin. "Not certain, but I remember hearing it. We didn't regularly eat our floral arrangements so I can't say for certain."

"Another strange thing. The eating in a special room for meals I understand as some foods are messy but I don't understand putting extra stuff on the tables. Cadance said it's tradition and Celestia said it was because it looks nice. What do you think?" the queen asked.

"I think of it mostly as a conversation starter," Cimmerian offered, taking a snowflake decoration in his magic. "For instance, do you know how they form, or why people use these weird shapes to represent the tiny flakes of white you see in winter?"

Zelus shook her head.
"I heard they were made of ice, but even seeing snow for myself I didn't really think much of it. I had other concerns at the time."

"It's actually not just ice, it's crystalized water," he explained. "Some of them actually do look like this when they're falling from the sky." 

Zelus stared at the decoration dispassionately.
"But then they smash together with the rest of them and they disappear. You never see the formations and then they're gone. Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't in the grand scheme of things, but we just spent a moment talking about it. All it took for that conversation was a simple decoration and a bit of curiosity. Which you don't have, so I had to prod you along," the dark stallion said with a grin before shoving the queen with a shoulder.

"You ponies find the strangest things to talk about," the shape shifter muttered. "I'll admit it's nice to have Twilight here though. She's been a huge help with spells and she is actually quite knowledgeable about changelings. She did almost burn the drone she's riding trying to cast a transmutation spell by herself but I assume that's because she's used to having more magic at her disposal."

"So she's doing well?"

"She's doing as well as can be expected. The mares from the old castle are providing more than enough energy for her to thrive, in fact Pandinus and I have already started setting aside energy for an altered drone. Increased capacity is the most obvious thing she needs so she's not overloading every five minutes or so, maybe some more magic efficiency, about the same as an average unicorn so she can use all the normal spells-"

"Y-your, um, Queen Zelus? I was actually going to ask you about that," a soft, buzzing voice said.

Cimmerian and Zelus both turned to the voice, finding what was for all intents and purposes a normal drone standing in the hall beside them. It was looking a bit ragged, a burned horn and sunken eyes accompanying a few cracks in the chitin from emotional bloat, the drone not being built to sustain any kind of emotional input, much less the focus of almost ten close friends and a teacher/mentor/mother figure.

Zelus nodded to Twilight, using a hoof to turn the drones head to either side as she inspected it.
"Good. I think we're going to have to do this some time today, anyway. It shouldn't take that long, either. You'll be in the new drone in a few hours. Drones are easy to alter and I just laid a batch a few days ago. They'll be ready for alterations by now."

Cimmerian stared at Zelus, half in shock and half in horror.
"Hearing you talk about laying the drone Twilight is going to be using is one of those things that's weird, especially when I know I'm going to be seeing her walking around in that drone later today. And I thought drones couldn't speak."

"She memorized not only the transformations necessary, but already knew the biological requirements for speech in both species. I've never seen someone learn that fast, even with the link," the queen muttered.

"I'd normally be a bit weirded out by it as well but I've been working with changelings for a long time. It was actually the drones that I started with. Did you know that with the proper alterations changelings can subsist off of nothing but magic? Seeing as how Canterlot is on a ley-line convergence, the ambient mana is plenty to keep a large number of drones alive, it's why they didn't tear the castle apart when their numbers swelled. Of course, feeding on pure mana tends to be detrimental to a changeling's health, but with the drones being disposable-"

"It wouldn't matter too much," Zelus interjected. "She also said it's not the love in changeling honey that's been boosting your strength, but the magic. Apparently changelings naturally convert emotions to magic."

"But Celestia and Luna were convinced that the more subjects they had the more powerful they were. Were they wrong?"

Twilight shook her head and waved her hooves in a warding manner.
"Oh no, you do but the impact isn't as pronounced when the emotions go from pony to alicorn as from pony to changeling to alicorn. Changelings tend to catch a lot more energy and they can convert it a lot more efficiently than an alicorn can. Alicorn's process magic at a much more efficient rate then emotion and they tend to pick emotions up passively. Changelings subsist almost exclusively on the magic they process from pony emotions so their rate of conversion is much higher. That's why the changeling honey and the pods were able to heal Cadance so quickly. She was being saturated in magic.
"On the other side of things though, alicorns don't actually need anything but magic to survive. It's why Luna could live out her banishment on the moon and why even after the...Nightmare began feeding I was still alive. In fact it's possible that the magic that's so prevalent in Canterlot is the only thing keeping that body from just giving out."

"So what about the queens?" Cimmerian asked. "I know they were in y- that a few were captured, but would they be able to do that kind of conversion? Wouldn't it cause damage?"

"That's the most impressive thing I learned," the drone rider said with awe. "The queens would draw magic through the drones. The drones would suffer from it of course, but the queens suffered no side effects. The drones bore any and all damage from directly consuming magic. The consumption of so much raw mana actually led to the queens producing even more drones, some of them seemingly more resistant to mana-burn. The Nightmare didn't pay attention but I...I only used the older drones, the ones that had already started to suffer from the burns. Nightmare is weakening the queens by using all of the drones at her disposal. It will hurt them, but in response they'll start to suffer from the lack of magic and produce fewer drones."

"That's a good thing, right?" the alicorn asked. "Fewer drones means less to deal with in the future."

"Possibly, but we are talking about the queen's producing twenty drones a day down from thirty. The rates they're producing drones at is a ridiculous number and extremely unhealthy for any queen to experience. It's one of the reasons they don't even bother attempting to connect to the drones anymore, just allow the crystals to make and drop the connections. It's too much for them to process. The constant traffic would drive them mad."

"Assuming their minds are not already damaged by their imprisonment and enslavement," Zelus said with a bit of anger.

Cimmerian looked at the queen with confusion. It sounded more like irritation than the anger one would have when discussing the condition of her mother and others of her kind.

"That's another interesting thing I learned. The queens may be fine. They shut themselves down mentally, preventing damage to any major parts of their minds during their enslavement. I studied the process extensively and it's not even a conscious effort. It's a survival instinct," Twilight gushed.
"You don't even realize this but your own body will react to any perceived threats, even to your mind. It's why some changelings go into a feral state if they go for long periods without a queen. The mind shuts down, going into stasis and the instincts that are otherwise unneeded by the changelings come to the fore. Once they are reclaimed by a queen or find themselves in a better situation they can revert, though I'm speculating on this topic as I was unable to witness such a reversion. There could be some damage, but anything like that would be from contact with the crystal arrays or feeding on the mana personally. The last check I remember doing had only three of the fifteen queens suffering from any kind of mental damage, and two of those were due to pre-existing starvation."

Cimmerian chuckled, looking to the queen.
"At least we managed to get something out of all of this. The mare's probably the most knowledgeable being on the planet in regards to changelings. I'll leave you two to discuss the new drone shell, but have you seen Din? She's not one for getting up before me in most situations."

"Oh, I saw her walking inMPh!"

"Oh dear, l think the drone shell's giving out on her," Zelus said flatly, nudging Twilight and causing the drone to fall over like a puppet with its strings cut. "I best go pick out that drone for her, bye."

"Zelus, that was the most obvious escape I've ever seen," Cimmerian shouted after the queen.

She was already gone though, walking out the door and heading towards the hive tunnels. Not wishing to pursue the mare while he still hadn't finished his breakfast, the alicorn slumped. He asked a few of the changelings and ponies about the queen's whereabouts but it seemed Din had been thorough. The ponies just shrugged in what he figured in some cases had to be feigned ignorance while the changelings flat out refused to answer.
'Because they can't say they don't know where she is.'

He wandered the Temple after breakfast, taking in the decorations that seemed to cover almost every available location that wouldn't cause trouble. It was impressive to say the least. Holly, more garland, snowflakes, Santa hats, even a-wait, was that...?

"Buster?" Cimmerian asked in shock.

The gnoll turned to him with a fanged grin, completely out of place with the full red and white outfit he was currently wearing. The gnoll looked like the sick love child of Santa and the Wolman.
"G'morning Alpha. Queen say you like this outfit, that it nice guy. Queen asked white pony to make this, it feel nice. May see about keeping it."

"It's...nice," the alicorn said cautiously. "I just didn't expect to see a Santa outfit here, even with the hats. Pandinus tell you anything about him?"

The gnoll shook his head.
"No, just that he important to holiday. Like Nightmare Moon on Nightmare Night but reversed. He good guy."

"Saint Nick was a guy that brought presents to all the good little...uh, children," Cimmerian verbally stumbled. "I was going to say kids but that doesn't really work when kids is a specific kind of child. I can see about telling the story just before dinner in the clearing by the Christmas tree. Oh, if you really want to be in character, you have to get the laugh right."

The gnoll gave of a chattering, barking laugh and Cimmerian shook his head.
"No, it's a belly laugh. Like this: Ho ho ho!"
"Ha ha ha?"
"No, Ho ho ho! Deep, feel it in your gut!"

The gnoll took a deep breath and bellowed out his third attempt.
"Hey hey hey!"

"Ho!"
"Hee?"
"Ho."
"Oh, Ho?"
"Now you have it, Ho!"
"Ho!"
"Ho ho ho!"
"Ho ho hoo!"

Cimmerian shoved the mutt, shaking his head.
"Now you're just messing with me. I'll give you the guys full story later on, but don't mess that suit up too much. I may have you stand nearby to give everyone an idea of what he looked like."


"Got it. I be there," Buster said, pressing his paw against his chest in a salute before heading off into the town.

Cimmerian shook his head but was unable to fight the smile that was creeping over his face. Explaining human traditions and holidays to aliens wasn't what he planned on doing today but it was shaping up to be a downright silly day. He started asking around for the seamstress, finding Rarity in a small open workshop and currently busy making several Santa hats at once.
"Hmm, I guess I shouldn't start on the fact that Christmas is a holiday of a species that is devoid of magic?"

The unicorn turned around, paling slightly before she saw him laughing.
"Oh wonderful, another one that likes to make my poor heart leap in my chest for their own amusement. If it wasn't for the fact that Queen Pandinus supplied the materials  to cover the hats I wouldn't be making them. They're so simple, I can whip one or two up in seconds. Still, they do feel festive. Surprisingly so, considering how easy to make they are. I didn't have the materials for the buckles that would have been added to Buster's outfit, but perhaps in the future I shall have a second chance with proper materials."

Cimmerian dismissed her concerns.
"It's fine, Rarity. The outfits and hats look wonderful. You've done a splendid job, considering you haven't really seen many decorations."

"Actually, Prin-er, Celestia showed me some of them earlier with an image spell," the designer corrected. "It was simple, yet...I don't know. It felt strange, looking at such the creature wearing it. She said the creature, Santa, was heavy for the race but I don't remember ever seeing a creature like him before...at least she said it was a him. I'm afraid I couldn't really tell."

"He's pretty plump for a human," the alicorn admitted. "I don't blame you for not recognizing the species either, since they're not natives. I'll actually be talking about that later. Have you heard?"

Rarity nodded.
"That you were going to be speaking to the...town? Yes, I heard. I remember hearing that you weren't from around here back when we were all still petrified but I never felt that interested. I suppose I had other things on my mind. Oh, before you leave Pandinus had me make one for you."

The alicorn giggled childishly as Rarity levitated one of the Santa hats to him, fitting it snugly on his head before turning his head left and right to confirm the fit.
"Excellent. I shall see you later at the dinner. I've heard it will be some new dishes or a new twist on meals I've already had. It should be an interesting experience if nothing more. I do like the feeling of the holiday, it's been nice seeing the changeling side of the holidays as well. I didn't know they could alter their shells like that. I may see about hiring one once I get back to...once I..."

"I'm certain there will be plenty of opportunities to either rebuild your home or repair it. You won't be the only one who's been chased away, from the sounds of it," the stallion reassured.

Rarity shook her head.
"You misunderstand, I had a business before all of this. The Carousel Boutique was my life's work and I was just making a name for myself, well my clothes line anyway, when this happened. I don't know if I'll be able to start it all up again. Years doing my best to ride the trends of fashion and now, I don't even know what's in anymore! What am I going to do? Short manes, long manes? What's the current trend?"

"I think the ponies in Canterlot have more important things ta worry 'bout, Rares. Like gettin' away from the Nightmare and her changelin's," Applejack cut in, tapping her hat in greeting.
"Think the only fashion they're interested in right now is freedom."

"Darling you can't wear freedom," Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

Cimmerian laughed.
"I respectfully disagree with that. Give me a bunch of ammo bandoliers and grenades, maybe a camouflage bandana and I'll be the free-est individual on this planet."

"Camouflage?" the unicorn asked with a shudder. "Ugh, that's tee-aye-see-kay-why."

The alicorn poked her with a hoof, still laughing.
"Silly pony, that's not how you spell freedom. Have either of you seen Pandinus today? She seems to be hiding, which makes me even more nervous about the whole situation. She's usually not that secretive with me and it makes me wonder what she's getting into.

"Pandinus ya say?" the farmer asked, her face scrunching up. "Can't say I've heard from her today, nope. Definitely haven't heard a word about where she's goin' or what she's doin'."

The alicorn stared at the orange mare for a moment, watching her eyes flick back and forth nervously before the unicorn stepped in.

"Honestly, Applejack, I would have thought you'd have learned to just not say anything at this point," Rarity said while shaking her head. "Pandinus asked us to not speak and that is all I shall say."

Cimmerian nodded, grinning in spite of the admission.
"I kind of figured. I guess I'm doomed to wander around until I catch her. I'll speak to you two later on, I'll be telling a Christmas story tonight, this one about these silly hats. The story of Chris Cringle was always a fun one."

"I'd heard you'd also be speaking. The Temple's been in a buzz, Queen Pandinus and the hive was going on about some announcement. Something about your origin. Some of the foals were speaking of...of another world," Rarity continued.

The alicorn looked to her, his smile faltering slightly.
"I figured it would be best to get it out of the way. This is my people's holiday after all, a time of solidarity and love. I can't exactly stand with them if I can't be honest about myself, can I?"

"Ah've always thought honesty was the best policy, and not just 'cuz Ahm the Element of Honesty," Applejack offered. "Ponies just feel better if they know what they're dealin' with."

"I know that. I know it in my head, and I know that there are plenty here who will stay even after this. I also know that there are many who look at the Temple as a temporary home. Many of the griffons are going to be heading home after this, many of the ponies will be leaving as well. I know it's not going to be for a while, but...I've got plenty of time to look ahead according to Celestia. I have no plans of moving to Equestria myself, but for many of those here that's their home," he said his smile slowly fading. "I know how much it hurts to not be able to go home."

Cimmerian bid the mares a good day and left, his mood dropping at thoughts of the future. Din sometimes got on his case about tasting off but it was normal to experience a bit of emotional flux. He wasn't some happy zombie, always wandering around with a smile on his face. Would there ever be a time when the mare actually understood that?

His pace slowed a bit. What about the kids? Would they inherit their mothers dependence on emotions, or would the changeling be forced to deal with children as he knew them? Would they develop as he had? As he assumed most creatures did? Would they be some strange hybrid that was capable of drawing energy from emotions while still giving off their own?
"God help us when they hit their terrible two's," the stallion muttered, his muzzle twisting into a grin. His cousin had been a nightmare for his aunt when he'd reached that age, what would happen when you added magic, flight, or shape shifting to that mess? He'd need a microchip just to be certain of the kids' locations if they could shape shift as well.
"And oh god, the teens," he added to himself with a laugh. "Turning themselves black and screaming about it not being a phase!"

"I'll never get over how quickly you flux sometimes. I don't remember ever feeling ponies do that."

Cimmerian turned to find Pandinus approaching, a few drones following along with several boxes. The changeling queen herself was stepping off of a small pedestal that was now on the ground, several larger drones having apparently carried her to her destination, not surprising considering she was becoming a bit heavier. She was also getting nervous about any type of strain, since queens normally didn't go through this.

"It's a good thing I shed most of my chitin plates when I molted into a queen. Otherwise I may have split a plate or two before this is all over," Pandinus complained as she walked past him, using her shoulder to push him in her current direction.
"Even worse than that, I've seen Celestia's images of pregnant mares. They're positively bloated! I don't understand how they can do this, and for so long as well. Mist has offered that my body is adding a bit more padding to give the hatch-foals some cushion from my activities but with three of them it's going to get uncomfortable before too long."

Cimmerian just smiled as he followed the queen, draping a wing over her back and using it to keep her against his side as they walked. Her anger deflated a bit at the affection but not much.
"The worst part is I can't just disconnect myself. Celestia said sometimes physical pain is the only warning a mare gets that there's something wrong, so I need to keep the nerves active. My body is shifting in ways I've never even imagined, and I can't ignore it! You owe me for this, alicorn."

"If I remember correctly, it was you who sought this situation out in the first place. With absolutely dogged determination, no less," he countered. "I'll gladly see you through it, but don't try pulling that 'this is all your fault' crap with me. I know better." 
After a moment of silence between them he smiled.
"Would you prefer to not have undergone this ordeal?"

Pandinus opened her mouth but snapped it shut, catching herself from responding. She slowed in her pace, eventually coming to a halt and sitting down.
"I don't know."


Tapping a hoof against the slight bump in her midsection the queen looked at him with a mixed expression.
"It's scary. I don't know what to expect from this even with ponies telling me the details of their own experiences or knowledge and during this time I'm not producing more drones for the hive. At the same time though, I know my proto-queen will be powerful, possibly one of the strongest in the history of our race. I can also...I can feel them. Not just physically but in other ways. It's on the edge of my senses, but I swear I can pick up the barest hints of emotion and even some odd burbling in the Link."

"...no, I don't think I'd give it up," she finally said, a slight smile growing on her face. "I'll worry and it will hurt, but I don't think I'd give it up."

Cimmerian pulled her against his barrel in a deep hug and she giggled, snuggling into his warmth.
"The fact that you've gotten even more affectionate is a nice bonus as well."


Taking advantage of the mare's distraction, he led her towards the tree and relaxed on the ground. He pulled her closer with a few tugs of magic and allowed himself to enjoy the relative peace, his wing draped over her back and curling under her barrel.
"Why don't you let the kids know i'll be doing the stories soon. You have a changeling in Shadowtalon as well, right? Can you have them relay the story?" 

Din closed her eyes as she did as requested, opening them again to stare at a curious stallion.

"You've told me you don't have to close your eyes to do that," he said.

"It seems to make others more comfortable. It also lets them know that I'm splitting my focus. Gnolls and ponies are less likely to bother me when I do that," she explained, relaxing into her fuzzy pillow.
"A few changelings are relaying the offer in Shadowtalon, and one will be repeating the story when you start."

Cimmerian laughed at the idea, even if he'd proposed it.
"This broadcast brought to you by Love. Powering your transmissions since time immemorial."
"We don't have phones and televisions, so I suppose the Link will have to fill in for that until we can work that out.

The two enjoyed the comfort they provided each other for a time, waiting for the young and the curious to arrive. After a sufficient crowd had formed, Cimmerian sat up and cleared his throat.
"I've already told this first one to some of the foals, but this is the holiday that started it. I'll get to the hats in a bit, but for now we're going to focus on a small town situated high in the mountains. It's just about Christmas time, and the citizens are preparing for the celebration. Unbeknownst to them, however, a creature is watching them, one who doesn't share their joy. He's watched for a long time now, knowing that each time this holiday occurs, he would have to spend the next few days listening to the horrendous racket the children would create. He'd had enough. This time he had a plan. The Grinch would steal Christmas."



<-(0)->




He'd told two stories, both the tale of the Grinch(he was quite proud of his ability to remember most of the song and skip the parts he couldn't remember cleanly enough to not draw attention), as well as Santa Claus is Coming to Town. It had been too long for him to remember the songs, both One Foot in Front of the Other and the one by the Burgermeister Meisterburger, but the general flow of the tale was still a fun example of stories for the holiday.
Dinner was served, an amazing combination of local foods prepared in familiar ways and even a few familiar dishes along with a plethora of cookies and cakes baked by the recovering party pony. Cimmerian had been ecstatic, dragging both Slop and Pinkie into a crushing hug when he'd seen the Christmas Dinner.

Knowing the day was fading, Cimmerian called for one last meeting before his trip back to Equestria. He was nearly shaking, even with the encouraging smiles from his new family.

"As many of you know, it was nearly half a year ago now that we started out in the Temple. The ponies here, they were starving. They had the Nightmare's armor and hoped to send the Nightmare against a mare they thought to be just as twisted. The Mad Queen has since shown her true self, a creature similar to the one that had attempted to wipe life from the planet all those years ago by driving Luna to madness.
"But something went wrong. Some may argue that it went right, but the fact of the matter is that the ponies who performed the ritual sought to resurrect the Nightmare. The creature they freed from the armor did not kill them, however. He helped them, protected them while they foraged for desperately needed supplies. He welcomed the changelings, giving them the first place they could openly call their home. He welcomed the griffons, the thestrals, the gnolls. He even went over to Equestria to help destabilize the armies the Mad Queen was creating."

"He never acted alone though. When he defeated the gnolls, it was Princess Luna's memories that he fell into, her memories of spells and combat that allowed him victory. When the Elements of Harmony and Celestia were pulled from the Castle, it was again Luna's memories that were giving him the edge, as well as the aid of Queen Zelus. She was the one who saw that operation to its successful extraction, as I was suffering from the wild magic as well as a concussion. Now I'm going to be leaving for Equestria once more, this time to finally pull that parasite from the throne.
"Many will be returning to their homes afterwards, either to rebuild or merely start again. Others may stay, either because they feel it is their duty to the one who helped them in their time of need or because they feel comfortable here. In either case, I feel it would be prudent to give you all the full story."

"When the Nightmare was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, it did not fall. It instead used a spell to switch places with a creature so far removed from this place, this world that the Elements of Harmony could never find it. That creature, Theodore Fredson, was then trapped in the armor of the Nightmare for forty years. In that time, I managed to cobble together what I could from the memories it left me with, a large mess of memories from the Lunar Alicorn that would sometimes become agitated by events or emotions."

"I was a human, a young man studying to become a member of my country's Guard. I have memories of guarding ponies, of fighting off horrors and mourning friends I have never met. I do not reject those without, because without Shadow Weaver and his group, I would still be trapped in the armor, lost somewhere in the Everfree. I've both learned and been taught how to use my powers over the last few months by one of the best spellcasters on the planet. Without their aid I would have nothing, so why would I reject those in my situation?"

"Not once has any victory my followers achieved been through my actions and my power alone. Luna, Shadow Weaver, Gleam, Celestia, Pandinus, everyone here and those at Shadowtalon as well. It was only through your support and your courage that this town, this country has sprouted from the jungles around us. I have no doubt many will return to their homes. To those who leave, and to those who stay, I have only two words. Thank you. Thank you for making this work, thank you for the blood, sweat and tears you poured into this town, this Sanctuary that has been built from a monument to death. Thank you for believing in me when even I didn't believe in myself, thank you for standing beside each other even when nature and nurture screamed that those I welcomed would only cause us grief."
"I'm going to Zarris tomorrow, hopefully to see both the leaders of the Talons and the Resistance that is growing in Equestria and find a way to end this quickly. Whether you leave or stay, I owe my strength to those who found me a worthy being to follow. As such, I can only wish you all good luck, no matter where your decisions take you."



<-(0)->



Cimmerian wandered back to Din's bedroom after his 'rousing speech'. He felt like he'd betrayed them, going on to tell them all he wasn't the Nightmare. He'd started out using the creature's name though, so now he'd pay the price.
"Better than living a lie, in some ways at least. We'll just have to see."

Din had left before he'd even moved off his makeshift stage, though where she'd gone he couldn't guess. She was unlikely to leave, having already known his origin and seeing no issue with it. Celestia had just smiled as he spoke, though she seemed a bit upset at his wording.
"Wasn't born a politician, so sue me," he chuckled morosely.

Walking into the queen's chamber, he paused as his eyes once more found Din waiting for him. Once more, she was doing her level best to seduce him, though why she felt the need to he had no idea.

"I thought we'd enjoy a little more time together," the queen drawled from the bed, shaking her flanks at him. "It may be some time before you get back."

Cimmerian slowly grinned as he walked into the room, his eyes roving the queen and drawing an excited giggle from her as he approached.
"I knew, I just knew someone would try this. I guess I should be grateful you waited."

"Well, while I won't wander around with it, Cadance said there's no issue with doing such things in the privacy of your own bedroom."

"Ah, so you're getting more help from her, huh? A shame, I like finding out what works through trial and error. Heck, I seem to remember a certain female who was absolutely certain that mating was something done for love and seed. Whatever happened to that?" he said while shutting the door with a burst of magic.

Pandinus had decided to bring the Mistletoe into the bedroom.
"We're all entitled to be stupid every now and again, Cimmerian. Some of us more often than others. You've dipped into your allowance quite heavily over the past few months, wouldn't you say?"
And it wasn't hanging from her horn.

> Beginning of the End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was early in the morning when Cimmerian left for Zarris. A quick shower, a trip to the ritual room that now sported two set of armor to collect Luna's silvered armor for his trip, and finally a stop by one of the supply buildings for his packs and he was on his way.

Zelus followed closely, still grinning widely at him. She'd been asking him repeatedly how he slept, knowing full well that both Pandinus and himself had spent the majority of the night engaged in other activities. The fact that the queen was walking around with several jars of love in her bags told him she knew exactly what had occurred.
Still, he wouldn't harp on her too much. How often had she been allowed to tease or joke with another in the past? The fact that both Zelus and Pandinus were developing a mischievous side was fine with him. It expanded their personality. They weren't just some Overmind of the hive anymore, doling out orders that would be carried out by mindless and inconsequential drones. They were learning to interact with servants and followers that didn't have to serve them. They were learning to interact with equals as well, learning to accept that others could be their equals.

Pandinus had been adamant about queens not working together when they'd first discussed it months prior but now the two queens were completely at ease in each other's presence, trusting in each other to fulfill duties the other could not. The fact that they would acknowledge such shortcomings to another queen was in itself an alien idea. To trust in another queen to cover such weaknesses and to not take advantage of the provided knowledge? It was insane...but it worked. The two had said several times that they'd never felt better about their current situation, both in terms of general health of the hive and how they felt personally. Not only did two queens split the worries, it also split the jobs normally only a queen could perform, like egg production and directing the workers. This left them both with plenty of time to grow in other ways, from pursuing their pranks to learning how to interact with others to picking the brains of the alicorn mares on various topics.
'Come to think of it, Cadance has been just as likely to corner Din as Din has been to chase after Cadance or Celestia. I think they've been teaching each other.'
The fact that Cadance had begun using the array to control and direct drones had left Twilight following the pink alicorn for several hours, asking hundreds of questions a minute, some of which he didn't understand more than three words of. Going by the twitching of the smaller alicorn's eyes, Cadance wasn't picking up much more than the fact that words were being flung at her either.

Speaking of Twilight, the mare was currently riding her new drone, this one with several streaks of purple and a much sturdier frame than the last one, and flying beside Zelus. Being so intimately familiar with both the layout of the labs the queens were being kept in and the layout of Canterlot in general, it wasn't a difficult decision to bring her along as well. Zelus was keeping a tight grip on the drone as well, preparing for any issues that may arise when they came closer to the control crystals.

"...and the tertiary tunnel systems are connected directly to the sewer systems, so that's another entry point if we're having difficulty with the overt routes. Of course, I'd be looking to drive you there myself, as it's easier to overwhelm a strike force when they're trapped inside magic-insulated tunnels and can't teleport away. The drones can sleep for a long time so the ones I assigned to those entrances may still be there. Now, the crystals are only capable of being programmed from a specific chamber inside the labs. I made certain they couldn't be bypassed from a distance, though I never considered a queen wandering into that room. If we can get in there I can walk you through the shut-down or over-ride process and we'll break what little control of the swarms the Nightmare still has. After that it's a matter of breaking the control crystals in such a way as to avoid too many rabid drones at once and disconnecting the queens."
"The queens shouldn't be too much of an issue themselves. Most were in the mental hibernation last time I checked. I'd be cautious of getting too close, but they were also de-horned, so they wont be able to cast even if they see you."

"We're going to have to figure out how to deal with them," Cimmerian said to the mares. "I know she wasn't here for it Zel but remember what happened with Lestidae?"

The armored queen's mood soured at the mention of her one-time ally.
"Yes. Do you think we'll really have to fight some of them?"

"It's a possibility. Some of them are old. Some will be flexible enough to recognize a better way while for others it may be the opposite. They'll have been living a certain way for so long that change may not be possible. As much as I hate to, we may have to keep them with us for a while. So many queen's would likely strain our supply. The other option would be to let a bunch of half-starved, hornless and possibly bloated queen's waddle off into the wilderness. After that it could go several ways that we won't be able to easily counter.
"Option one: they fully recover and go right back to kidnapping ponies and infiltrating societies. The infiltrations I don't mind but kidnapping? That's kind of scary. It won't just be ponies at risk either. Known changelings who aren't near another hive member would be simple targets, because ponies may not be able to tell the difference."
"Option two: Chrysalis. They go and kill a ton of wild-life and build a drone army with the emotions. With, what was it, about fifteen queens? That could cause a lot of damage."

"Of course, even if they willingly stay, that will come with its own issues. Their drone production is currently too high, so we won't be able to supply them with enough emotion. In that case we have a whole new list of issues.
Option one if we keep them: the queen's keep producing drones and use the emotion to make even more drones, overwhelming us with much stronger drones.
"Option two: they do what Lestidae did. They recover and then steal several sapient drones to start a hive, thus leading back to option A1."


Both mare's drooped at the list.

"That's a lot of things that could go wrong," Twilight muttered.

"It is, but as Cimmerian said the other day we were both given the opportunity to recover. Would you damn another when you were given a second chance at life? If my mother is one of the surviving queens I want her to see me, to hear that I've never felt safer, that I trusted another queen with my hatchlings and they were waiting for me when I returned to the hive."

"She may accept it, or she could hate it. Lestidae saw this way of life as a perversion of the changeling race. Others may embrace it, while still others could be lost entirely. This whole experience, its not going away. Ponies are currently bound to a queen back near Equestria," Cimmerian pointed out. "Those ponies aren't going to forget the changelings. There won't be anymore of this fading into the shadows. Everyone knows about them by now, the only thing you can do is move forward, trying to find something that works in this new world."

"Another queen?" Twilight asked.

Zelus nodded.
"She called herself Heart. She was left to guard the Elements and the princesses."

"Oh, I remember her. She was left in the castle...with...oh Spike..."

"Zecora and Applebloom are patching him up, so don't worry about him," Cimmerian said. "We're going to remove this threat, find a way to deal with the minotaurs, then we can start worrying about cleaning up the mess the Nightmare made of everything. No worrying about issues it's created until afterwards, okay? It doesn't help anyone."

"Agreed. We don't start training drones before they're hatched," Zelus added. "Even you took some time to come into your new abilities, though I will admit you surprised me with how quickly you adapted. You've done well, aside from that mistake."

The drone buzzed her wings and giggled nervously.
"I'm kind of used to having more magic to work with. Even when I was a unicorn, if I pushed myself too hard there weren't any real negative side effects aside from a headache. If I use too much power as a drone though..."

"She almost killed the drone she was riding," Zelus said with a chuckle. "Most changelings understand there's not much difference between our magic and our life force, but for one used to them being two separate pools of energy she didn't think twice about burning it all. If it wasn't for the fact that her friends were there immediately pouring emotion into her, she would have been waiting for the new drone in the dream-side of the hive."

The group landed outside of Zarris' gates, waiting patiently for the guards to run their checks and inspections before walking into the city. The city wasn't too busy at the moment, but Cimmerian was also aware there wasn't much to be done outside the city in this direction just yet. Maybe one day, but that would be sometime in the future. Until then, most of the activity would be towards the docks and the Talon compound.

Zelus took a deep breath, smiling brightly as they walked through the streets.
"So much energy, so much emotion. I'm getting giddy again just being out and about. You'll travel a little after all of this, right? I heard of so many places that I want to see, there's just..."

"I'm certain you will have plenty of opportunities in the future."

Cimmerian nodded and opened his mouth to agree but stopped, jerking his head to the source of the voice.

"Prin-er, Celestia! What are you doing here? What about...why is everypony here?" Twilight asked, flitting closer to the approaching group of ponies.

"Several reasons, dear," Celestia said with a calm smile. "For one, I wish to see my subjects again. I've already started to recover, and with the collapse of the Nightmare's power I do not believe there will be any real danger from her or her forces. Not away from Canterlot, at least. The reason the Element Bearers are here is for, well they're here for you. Or the Nightmare. Her body. Once the Nightmare is captured, we can properly purge her from Twilight's body."

The mares behind Celestia, the full number of the Elements of Harmony if you included the changeling drone that was currently hugging two of them, nodded emphatically at Celestia's reasoning.

Cimmerian groaned in irritation.
"We're not walking into a discussion, we're walking into a warfront. Canterlot currently has drones flying all over, the minotaurs are marching on the city, Heart and the Talons are holding Freeside. We're literally walking into a three-sided war."

"Hey, we've dealt with changeling invasions before, right girls?" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky grin.

"No, you dealt with a dying queen who wanted everyone alive so that she could feed. The drones will have no qualms killing you, your friends and anyone they can find if they don't try to force you into their link as they were doing when we first escaped," Zelus responded, jabbing a hoof into the smaller mare's nose. "It has been a while, so before we even consider letting you close I wish to know how the situation has progressed in our absence."

"The biggest question is what has the Nightmare done in the interim," Cimmerian said as he walked through the group on his way to the Talon compound. "Has she launched an offensive? Has she consolidated her drones and set up defenses? What about Discord? What about Luna?"

The stallion stopped as he spotted Herrick making his way to the group, a squad of Talons following him.
"We can discuss that in private, Cimmerian. Things have gotten...odd in Equestria since your assault."

"What do you mean, odd?" Celestia asked. "Have you seen any trace of Luna?"

"No, but as I said we'll discuss it in private. This way please."



<-(0)->



The group was lead to the Talon compound, Cimmerian following the griffon into what looked like a meeting room that was occupied by several other griffons while the others were guided to another room to wait. 
"Actually Herrick, I'd like to keep Zelus and the drone."

The older griffon shrugged, nodding to the mercenaries to allow the specified individuals to follow. Closing the door behind them, he introduced the other group.
"Cimmerian, the griffons you're looking at are going to be leading strike forces to retake our lands. The glyphs are still causing a bit of confusion amongst the changeling drones. We're still using them but the effectiveness is falling."

"It's likely that the Nightmare is trying to just add new orders on top of the ones already active," Twilight said, shrinking back when the griffons focused on her.

"What do you mean? Do you know how the arrays work?" a hen asked, leaning closer.

"She should," Zelus huffed.

"Herrick, do you remember what I told you about the Mad Queen?" Cimmerian asked before pulling the drone a bit closer. "You can think of this as proof."

"What do you..." the griffon started before looking closer to the drone. specifically the purple streaks and the focused eyes that the non-sentient drones tended to lack.
His feathers started to bristle as he made the connection, but he looked to the alicorn before acting.
"You've given us a lot, Cimmerian, so I'm going to give you a chance to explain. What in the Skylord's domain made you think it was..."

"I've had her for a day. I really don't know what this will do to the drones, but Twilight has been working against the Nightmare for a while now. This is the last straw, Herrick. That thing, that thing that wants to ruin this world, has lost one of its last cards. The only thing it still has is the queens and the drones and even then it doesn't know how to use them properly."

"She doesn't know how to program them," Twilight explained. "I was the one doing the programming, or at least...it was my memories of the programming that she was using."

The other griffons began to tense up, realizing what Herrick was getting at. One splayed his claws, moving closer. Herrick motioned for him to stop, but he continued to glare at the drone.
"Why did you bring her here? Why should we not just kill her?"

"Because I worked hard on that drone," Zelus shot at the griffon with irritation. "It wouldn't destroy her either. She's bound to my hive and would be returned to the hive's dream-side if you destroy this shell. It would do nothing to help us either. You are looking at a veritable font of knowledge, including all routes into the city, side passages, secret tunnels, patrol routes and most importantly, how to deactivate the arrays. With the arrays down, we would be able to stop the queens from producing so many drones, or at least start to slow their production. She built them, she is intimately familiar with how they work."
"Besides, if anyone had a reason to hate her it would be the changelings. If Pandinus and I, whose species has been brought to the brink of extinction by the Nightmare, can accept her presence and even allow her the use of a drone then you can leave the drone unharmed. She can hide nothing from us, but there is nothing she wishes to hide. Bound to her and with access to both her mind and emotions, I can speak with certainty that she wishes for this horrific experience to be over. Even if her body is destroyed in the process."

Herrick scowled at that last bit of knowledge.
"What would happen to her if we destroyed her body? Her alicorn body?"

"I don't know," Cimmerian answered. "I didn't actually anticipate this outcome when I gave the Element bearers a holiday gift. After I brought her to the shared dream I'd set up the Nightmare woke up, leaving me with a mare's soul attached to me. I put it in the one place where I figured it wouldn't be harmed, my wife's hive."
"I could try to put her back, but I don't think it's worth it. As it stands I think it would be easier to capture the Nightmare then work out returning her to her body afterwards."

"We may not be able to capture the Nightmare, though," one of the other griffons pointed out.

"Which is why I've said I don't mind if you destroy my body," Twilight said to the gathered griffons. "It's...it hasn't been mine for a long time. Even if I did get it back, that's the pony that did this, the face that betrayed Equestria. I don't...I don't want...I don't think I could look at myself, much less have ponies looking at me."

"One thing I have to ask," the hen from earlier said, holding up a talon. "It was your, er, brain that the information was in, right? So how-"

"Oh, it's like being hooved a book. Only the pages are scrambled and sometimes its not even in Equestrian. The information is in my brain, true, but the Nightmare has no idea where to find the information. It's fascinating because changelings don't actually have this issue. A queen can decipher a new mind in less than five hours after being linked to a pony. They're minds are all but made for decrypting the minds of those connected to them. It's why queens can steal drones and have to be careful about how much information each drone has access to. The Nightmare doesn't bother to learn anything though, because it's host provides the index, the translations and everything else it needs."
Putting a hoof to her muzzle, the drone frowned.
"Actually, I don't know what the Nightmare really does have without me. It's possible that it went through a period of having to relearn how to walk after I was removed from its control, but I don't think it was that reliant on me."

"So you're willing to work against the Nightmare?" Herrick asked, his gaze moving from Twilight to the queen and alicorn. "You've not put us in danger yet, Cimmerian. I hope for all our sakes you know what your doing here."

"I visited Twilight shortly after Celestia revealed someone was working against the Nightmare," he said. "I was curious and as expected, the Nightmare didn't waste time protecting its host from dream walkers. Why would it when the only one who could force dreams was contained? I saw both of them there, the Nightmare and Twilight. It actually was using her form even in the dream. I don't think it has a form of its own."

"If we do manage to stop this Nightmare..." another griffon began, only to receive a nod from Cimmerian.

"There was an item created by Luna in the past, a dream catcher. When powered they actually make it more difficult to force your way into a dream. With a creature that's as weak as an unattached nightmare, we might be able to use them to stop any further attempts at these creatures to enter this world. Make no mistake, though. I intend to find out what I can about these creatures and how to stop them."

"Know your prey and you increase the chance of a successful hunt," Herrick said, nodding in agreement. "Not something I expected to hear from a pony, but then again-"

"Griffons are actually closer to the species I lived as before the first Nightmare used me to escape the Elements of Harmony. Don't be so surprised when I act more like a predator than a pony in some instances, as I have the instincts and upbringing of both," Cimmerian said, flashing the griffon a sharp-toothed smile.

Herrick chuckled, his gaze flashing to the queen before settling back on the alicorn.
"Right. I assume you want passage to Equestria?"

"I do," the stallion answered. "I don't plan on taking Celestia or the Elements, though. If they want to go back, they're going to have to find another way. As it stands I have gold, medical supplies, and-"

"The last time we gave you passage to Equestria, you ripped a gaping hole in the Nightmare's power-base. I'll take the medical supplies, as those are always in demand, but gold wont do us any good right now," Herrick explained, gesturing to the next room. "Besides, Equestrians were the ones that held to the gold standard. Without that, well let's just say bits aren't worth as much as they used to be."
"I assume you'll want to bring these two, though. That's why you asked to bring them into this meeting, right?"

Cimmerian nodded.
"Twilight will be willing and able to explain patrols and forces when we get there. I can't think of anyone on the planet with a more intimate knowledge of how the changelings will react to any and all attacks or feints. We may even be able to use the programming against them and lead them into what would otherwise be considered an obvious trap."

"I, I remember most of the programs I wrote in the crystals," Twilight offered. "I can write them out if you need. Maybe you can think of other ways to use the programming."

"I still don't like it," one of the commanders said before shrugging, "but it's your call, sir. You haven't led us wrong yet."

"And Cimmerian hasn't been wrong either," Herrick said, nodding. "Stupid, yes. Foolish, impatient, and all the other kinds of things that would get him killed were he a normal leader, certainly, but if he's willing to take the hits, I'll allow it. Heart's last report was...interesting. I think you three will be interested to know what's been happening in your absence."

"Excellent, do you know when the next ship leaves?" the alicorn asked with a grin.

"Ship?" Herrick asked, picking up a grin of his own. "Oh, I don't think we're going to use ships this time. After all, we have two alicorns and a lot of supplies I'd like to get to Hightalon. We're going to take back our home, Cimmerian. And you and Celestia are going to provide us the power to do so. In return, you'll get your passage to Equestria. After all, goods and services are worth more than gold. We'll consider it payment for the queen and drone's passage."

The alicorn looked confused for a moment before realization set in. The talons were planning on using the grid and they were planning on using it extensively.
"Have you asked for volunteers from Shadowtalon? I'm certain you'd get plenty of griffons that want to go home, even if it means fighting the entire way."

"The ships are already filled with griffons on their way back. We haven't made it official yet, but with all the griffons and even ponies swelling our ranks after the latest incidents, we're going to be pressing our supply lines as it is. The grid is only going to be for the elites. The ones I want there now. We're leaving tomorrow, alicorn," Herrick told him with visible anticipation. "Make sure you're rested, I've been told the power drain is significant."



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The meeting concluded with the griffons asking to keep Twilight with them for any and all information she may have regarding the defenses at Hightalon. The strike leaders seemed a bit reluctant to accept Twilight's information, which was perfectly understandable, but Herrick wasn't hearing it.

"We're taking back our home. Those queens the alicorn keeps around have become extremely protective of him. There's no way they'd let a pony that wanted him dead get that close to him. If the Nightmare actually controlled her, that would be her primary goal," the old tom had finally said, leaving Cimmerian shaking his head and Zelus holding her head high.

It was true though. He'd had to hold Zelus back several times on their trip, her first instinct to any perceived threat being to maul it.


"Your speeches could use some work," Celestia said as he entered the next room.

He shrugged his wings in response, moving to a cushion beside the white alicorn
"I'm not a born politician. I really would have preferred not saying that but by the same token I cant stand the idea of not being truthful with those who are putting so much trust in me. I don't need the infamy now, so I have to deal with the repercussions of using the Nightmare's infamy to boost my own powerbase."

"I don't think you give them enough credit," the older mare said with a gentle smile. "The ponies, the gnolls, the changelings, even the few thestrals that I ran into spoke fondly of you."

"The changelings I get. Zelus and Pandinus wouldn't give up what they have now for this. Not only that, Din knew a while ago and it never even slowed her...attempts. The gnolls..." he trailed off.

"...follow their alpha. Buster explained what happened. While I would have preferred to hear the situation was resolved peacefully, you're not exactly a pony. Neither are some of your subjects. Even I have had ponies who challenged my rule. I've learned how to subvert them from a distance over the years, but you don't have that luxury. There was a time when I didn't either."
"As to the thestrals, they were quite impressed with you. I believe some even cited you as truer to their way of life than Luna, which is impressive considering the fanaticism some view her with. They also see you as her son, or at least a direct relation to her. So you have what they see as a blood-relation to Luna, the endorsement of their goddess and you went to them directly to offer them shelter should the worst come to pass. You also found a spy in their midst, which I'm certain helped prove your case."

"I didn't find Trixie, Zelus did."

"But she never would have been allowed in the city if not for the fact that she was your bodyguard. Anything guards do is seen as a reflection of the leader they serve. The same goes for diplomats, Cimmerian.
"I'd be happy to teach you a bit about running a kingdom after everything is settling down. I know it doesn't sound like much of a deal after this, but-"

The dark alicorn shook his head.
"No, you were all caught by surprise by a mental parasite. I'm not going to hold it over your heads forever...just long enough to make you uncomfortable. I still need a lot of practice with magic as well. You're not useless to me just yet, Celestia."

"I'm glad to hear that," the older mare said with a rueful smile. "I'd be more than happy to speak with you, either offering advice or just an ear to voice your concerns. After all, it has been a long time since I've been able to offer help to somepony who may be around as long as myself."

"Right," Cimmerian nodded, his ears drooping at the reminder. "Right..."
> Hightalon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The day dawned early for Cimmerian. The griffons had decided to move out at an early hour, meaning they would be reaching Hightalon late in the evening. Twilight was already in the room that the griffons used for their array, the drone-riding mare already going around and offering the griffons suggestions on improving the efficiency of the array while gushing over the impressive arrays the griffons were using.

As he entered, he was directed to a collection of circles that would be powering the teleport. The lines around him were old and well used, most likely by unicorns and magic-storing gemstones of one kind or another. Celestia was present as well, along with several unicorns in Talon uniforms.

"We will be holding the portal for most of the supplies and troops. Once that is over the unicorns will take over, allowing us to use the portal," Celestia explained as he took his place.

Cimmerian frowned at the smaller mare.
"I'd still prefer you didn't go. You're nowhere near full power, nor do I want the Nightmare to get her hooves on the Element Bearers again."

Celestia bristled at his words.
"Those are my ponies over there. I will not sit in comfort while they experience horrors the likes of which they could never have comprehended before this coup. I will not leave them to be saved by another when I can help. If nothing more, I can stay with the refugees in Freeside. I remember seeing many of my guards there. I can't assume the griffons will be that interested in taking Canterlot back, so it will be my ponies that will do so. My guard may have been scattered by the Nightmare, but they are loyal. They will follow me, Cimmerian. And if I ask them to, they will follow you."

As the room began to fill with noise in preparation for the assault, Celestia's firm demeanor softened slightly.
"Cimmerian, if I don't see you after the assault, please make certain Luna is freed."

"I will," he said, starting to channel his power into the arrays at Herrick's signal. "I promise."



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The minutes turned into an hour, the flow of griffons and supply crates not stopping for a moment. At one point a side-portal had opened, allowing a griffon from Hightalon to return with a report of the ongoing battle without stopping the flow of supplies and troops but for the most part his experience was uneventful. That changed when he saw yet another messenger approach Herrick. Unlike before, the old griffon responded by sending a messenger back into the compound. The runner returned moments later with a fully prepared Zelus in tow, the queen wearing a grim expression as she slowed to speak to the griffon commander before approaching the portal.

"Focus, Cimmerian. Do not let the battle and the movements around you draw your attention from your task," Celestia admonished, her own horn glowing brighter as she took up the slack his distraction had left.

Nodding in understanding, he boosted his own power, allowing the smaller mare to ease back before they evened out the power load again. That didn't stop him from worrying though. The last time he'd seen Zelus that grim had been during their assault on the castle. If something was both bad enough to warrant the griffon requesting the changeling queen's presence and enough to shake her normally battle-hungry attitude, it would likely be something big. Something that they didn't know how to deal with.
"There's a queen in Hightalon."

"Two actually," Herrick responded, approaching the alicorns. "No, this didn't surprise us. Your insider warned us about them. We thought we could break through to them though. The unicorns that were stationed there have been runed, though. We need some power to break through their shields and Zelus should be able to do that. She's just a bit apprehensive about approaching other queens."

Nodding in understanding, Cimmerian focused more on the array. If Zelus was willing to face two queens and their forces with the griffons, the least he could do was keep their supply lines open.



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Zelus shivered in the cold night air as she left the mercenary compound in Hightalon. Bodies were piled high around the compounds hallways and large doors, the mercenaries using the inability of the drones to think for themselves in order to funnel them into kill-zones. By her estimate, the only reason she was able to traverse the halls the griffons had used was because there was so little left of the drones in the first place.
It was well into the winter months so what would normally have been a cold mountain peak was currently a bone-chilling, windswept warzone. Even with the enchanted bracer she could feel the cold seeping into her shell. The faster she dealt with this, the faster she could get somewhere warm. Preferably with Cimmerian's wing over her. The stallion made a wonderful security blanket, something she would likely need after dealing with this.

The city was eerily quiet for what had just taken place. A few fires burned here and there, but with most of the town made of carved stone there would be no permanent damage. Some of the fires were for warmth of the troops she passed by, the griffons huddled close as they tended to their wounded or took meals. Others were cheering loudly with their fellows, their dream of seeing their home retaken already fulfilled. In truth the battle wasn't quite won. There was still one last bastion of the Nightmare's forces in the town.

Following the griffons through the all but deserted city, she quickly found the last holdout of the Nightmare's hordes. In truth she didn't need the escort. She could hear the array calling to her the moment she stepped through the portal. She had Heart's knowledge of the truth though. She knew exactly what the array's honey-laced promises consisted of.
The griffons were dug in right in front of the castle's prison, a shimmering glow barring the entrance. A few drones flew through the barrier, quickly cut down by the griffon archers. On didn't even make it through the barrier, it's body starting to decay while half-through the shield.
'So it's one of those. I wonder if it's changelings in general or just the drones?' the queen wondered, walking out into the open yard. She felt the emotions of the griffons, some holding back both fear and anger at her presence, some overwhelmed with joy at being home again and so close to victory.

The queen paused in her journey, turning that last emotion over in her head. Normally the thought of home was inconsequential to a queen. Her home was where ever she decided to raise her brood after all. Now though, it brought memories. A very specific cave, home of a very specific queen. A smile bloomed over her features. Din's hive was her home, and no amount of whispering would convince her otherwise.

She reached the shield, ducking aside as another wave of drones came forth and were cut down by the defenders. Curiously, she trotted up to the shield and touched her hoof to it.
"Solid. Of course it's solid," she muttered. Still, she could see the alcove the unicorns were stationed in. If did this right...

Motioning for a griffon, she relayed her needs before standing well clear of the doorway. Several waves of drones came and were dispatched before the runner returned, several horn rings in the hen's talons.
"You're certain you can just..."

"Yes, yes I am. I wouldn't have sent you for the rings if it was beyond me," Zelus dismissed, waiting for the next wave of drones. "If they've been here for any length of time they may have information. Information on both who the queens are and what kinds of supplies they were left with. At the least, I'll know what they're allegiance is. They can speak Celestia's praises all they like when they're freed, but I'll know the truth."

Another wave of drones, six this time, broke through the barrier and were quickly cut down. The moment they were dead, Zelus lit her horn. A ring of fire appeared in the wall before her, showing the unicorn's back. Before the array-bound guard could react she lunged through the portal, giving him a powerful shot of her venom before lunging across the hallway to do the same to the second unicorn. The barrier fell as the unicorns collapsed under the anesthetizing affects of the changeling venom, allowing the griffons to push forward once more. A few more unicorns farther in tried bringing up barriers as well, but with no proper thresholds to bind their barriers to, they soon collapsed under the assault.

Zelus followed the griffons at a sedate pace, her jaw tightening as the siren song in her mind continued to grow louder. She passed the griffons that were forming up for a final push into the queens chambers, using a quick burst of magic to shove the caretakers away. They were all that was left, the newest batch of drones still trying to rush out of their eggs to defend the queens. No, not to defend the queens. To defend the array. Drawing her blade once more the queen circled the large glowing crystal, letting the sword glide up and down its surface.
The prism was pulsing green with every push she felt in her mind but it was for naught. She knew what it was promising. To be like them. Like the queens currently staring hungrily at the griffons in the entryway. To give up herself, her children, her hive. The blade clicked against an unseen imperfection in the crystal's surface and she swung the blade around, striking the area with the blade as it spun around her. Against an actual opponent, the technique was easy to defeat. Against a stationary, inanimate object that she was attempting to weaken, it would work just fine.

The queens began to twist and thrash as she struck the crystal, attempting to answer its desperate call for aid. Another batch of drones hatched, the creatures immediately turning to her with screams of rage. They barely cleared their shells before the griffons fired upon them.  Slowing her blade, she dragged it over the surface once more, finding the gouge she'd left in the surface with her blade and settling it into the groove. Then she reared up against the blade and shoved with all her strength.

The stand holding it upright creaked ominously as the brace bent, but the crystal was weaker than its base due to her prior work. The blade began to warp the crystal, slowly wiggling deeper into the structure as the green pulses became more erratic, as the queens' thrashing became more desperate. A few more eggs started hatching, the drones being summoned not even finished reaching the basic maturity needed to cross the distance to reach the crystal. Two eggs went still on their own, another broke open but no changeling emerged. Several fell out of their eggs, their bodies not developed enough to actually do her any harm. She would have been surprised if the mindless things could have even reached her.

With a final heave she wrenched the blade downwards, separating the top quarter of the crystal from the rest of it. Without a full circuit, the green runes began to sputter and spark, slowly dying in power along with the fading voice calling to her.

Zelus stepped back from the crystal, looking at the blade appreciatively. With a flair of her magic she gouged a nick in the hilt, right next to one she'd added not too long ago.
"Two."



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Cimmerian trotted along the relatively empty streets at a quick pace. He'd already been informed that Zelus had taken the queens and the control array. The griffons were now in full celebration mode, a good amount of them currently sleeping in their own houses in spite of the fact they'd been abandoned not too long ago.
It hadn't been without casualties though. He'd seen several Talons with sheets over their heads, as well as a few dead ponies here and there. All of them had arrays in their cheeks, and most of them were also dangerously malnourished. The few ponies that had survived had either been knocked out and policed up after the battle or had been freed when a griffon had slashed into the array with their claws.

That wasn't why he was here though. Zelus had requested his presence as well as his aid in dealing with the queens. Two changeling queens who Zelus was terrified to even try to wake up without someone else there. Someone she could trust.

"She's inside, Sir. The other queens are down there too," a griffon near the door said. The alicorn wondered at his presence, then decided it was likely for the safety of the griffons just as much as it was for the queens.

There were several locations where the speckled  blood on the floor took a red tinge, signifying another pony or griffon injury, but for the most part the halls were relatively clean. In a large room the scent of death struck strongly, likely the last defense the ponies under the arrays control could make. It had done them no good and for this instance, the alicorn wasn't certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Thanks be," Zelus breathed as he entered the jail. Before he could even open his mouth, the queen was at his side pulling him into a hug, shivering in what was either fear or the cold. Either way, he pulled her tightly against his side with a wing as he got his first good look at an enslaved queen. The sight did not fill him with much hope.

The mares were obscene, their chitin long since fallen away from their bloated forms in favor of more mass to catch the passive magic in the area. As Twilight had described it, the bloat was a side effect of forcing the hungry queens to produce so many eggs. By removing the drones that would have suffered in their place, the queens added extra mass to protect themselves from the constant burn, a form of physical insulation from the magic that they had to feed on. Towards their flanks, they expanded even more, reminding him of the cartoonish bloat some associated with ant queens. Actually, they were closer to the, what was it called? The queen Xenomorph than to anything he'd ever seen before. Their barrels extended well beyond what was healthy, their frail forelegs scraping at the stone in an attempt to pull themselves towards him. The rear legs weren't visible, likely lost somewhere under the bloat that was their body. With a sigh, he looked to the queen under his wing.
"Can we pull them out of this, Zelus?"

"I don't know," she mumbled, shivering as she looked back to the queens. "I don't even know if their minds are intact. Part of me hopes that we can help them, but part of me-"

"You don't know how anyone could recover from such a thing," he finished for her, earning a nod. "There's unfortunately only one way to find out. Are you ready?"

The armored queen nodded, taking a few more preparatory breaths before approaching the queens. Cimmerian walked closer as well, making certain to stay out of their range while trying to maintain a certain proximity to Zelus. If anything went wrong, he wanted to be able to pull her away as quickly as possible.







Zelus was silent as she searched the first queen, her mind quickly checking every nook and cranny for the hibernating mare. It would react to the intrusion, no matter how animalistic the reaction would be. A push, a shove, an attack, Zelus was ready for anything the torpid queen would attempt. Or so she thought.

It was a complete surprise when the sleeping mind she was traversing suddenly latched on to her, pulling her conscious into a simulacrum of her own hive's dream-side. She landed with a thud, the queen not being all that concerned with kindness to the intruder. As she shook off her shock though she found herself face to face with the enslaved queen. In the form the apparently older mare remembered herself having.

"You're not one of her usual test subjects," the queen stated in confusion, looking over Zelus from her throne. "You don't, how do you support so much armor? She wouldn't waste that kind of, I don't-"

Zelus shook her head.
"I'm not one of the Nightmare's captives, I'm free. I'm part of a new hive, one that she couldn't detect. Pandinus and I are free queens and the Nightmare's arrays are falling. I've destroyed two myself, while the griffons have eliminated many more."

"I trust you'd be willing to offer more than a simple word. She often connected us to individuals who would make such offers and statements, attempting to coax us out into reality where she could study our minds in greater detail. It was not a pleasant experience."

The armored mare was silent as she searched her memories for an image that would prove her statements true. Showing the crystals destruction would be one thing, but certainly she could do better than that. A smile slowly grew on the queen, her mind conjuring a clear image of the Temple from just before she left.

Pandinus was speaking to Cadance as the two sat in the morning sun, Amare hanging over the edge of the fountain in front of their home. The proto-queen was currently splashing around in the honey, much to Cadance's irritation. Zelus smiled, the memory of her sister and the safety the hive meant to her bubbling to her surface thoughts.

The unnamed queen stepped off her stone throne, approaching the image in both confusion and curiosity. The pink alicorn likely meant something to her, especially considering the array visible on Cadance's cheek. What seemed to hold the mare's attention though, was the contents of the fountain.
"That's impossible."

"I have three jars of it being brought over as we speak. You won't be able to eat it for a while without getting sick, but it exists. I'll bring it here if I need to. My sister's mate put forward the idea. It's what drew me to them; I could smell it from miles away."

The queen was silent as she stared at the image, shifting her head left and right as if a different angle would reveal the memory to be a fraud.
"This...what did you call her? The Nightmare?"

"A Nightmare. Similar to the parasite that drove the Dreamwalker to madness years ago. It moved against all those in power very carefully, even planning a trap for Change himself. Discord-" the other queen hissed in anger at the name, but Zelus pushed on "-has told us that he could escape from the prison but that he would be taking things into his own hooves if it came to that. Otherwise, he is willing to wait for us to do what we can. The mare it possessed is currently bound to my hive as well."

The queen's eyes nearly crossed at that point.
"You, you have her in your hive? Are you mad? She could-"

"I've checked her every memory for any form of betrayal," Zelus cut her off. "There is nothing the mare does that I am not aware of. She wishes to see this madness end as much as we do, even if it means destroying her body. You know as well as I do that there is a difference in speaking such words and feeling them to be truth."

The older queen was silent for a while, turning her gaze back to the image of the Temple.

"So this is it then," she said with a sad smile. "Once more the world changes and we must either adapt or die out."

Turning away and walking back to her throne, she seated herself and looked at Zelus with a spark of determination.
"Three times our kind has been put through such trials. I survived each one in turn, I will survive this one."

"You don't need to do it alone this time, though," the younger queen said. "Pandinus, the queen you see in this memory is not a blood sister. I, I hated it at first, but to know there is another I can trust with my life, that I can trust with my hatchlings? I left her a clutch before I left on a mission and when I returned those drones were waiting for me. If you need something that I can provide, I will gladly help. I can do no less after being offered such a chance myself."


The queen was silent as she contemplated her visitors words. Finally she nodded.
"Very well, youngling. I will...speak if I find myself needing aid."

"It's very likely you will," Zelus said, replacing her image with a recent vision of the queen. The older mare's eyes widened in shock before the cavern shook. Zelus looked around in confusion for a moment, trying to remember that this was a mental construct. You couldn't experience an earthquake inside someone's mind, not in the same way as one perceived it in the living world. Her eyes fell on the older queen though, and she understood.
The mare was shaking with rage.

Taking a step back, Zelus swallowed hard as the queen screamed at the image and the dream-hive shattered around them.



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Cimmerian jumped as Zelus was shoved from the bloated queen with a weak detonation of magic. He was preparing to retaliate when he noticed the queen struggling, her eyes alight with rage. She thrashed in the prison her body had become, gurgling what he could only assume were oaths and promises of pain. Zelus quickly recovered from the surprise, moving forward and speaking to her in their own language, stroking the mare's ragged mane and nuzzling the other queen's cheek. Eventually the bloated mare started to slow, clicking a few words back, though as far as he could tell she had no wings to buzz.

"She's still with us, Zel?" he asked, a bit of excitement slipping into his voice. That was rage, not a feral mind breaking lose. It also spoke back to Zelus. If he was right-

"She is," the armored queen sighed, pulling back as the other halted her thrashing completely. "She said she may know a way to get free of this, but I have to check the other one as well."

"Do you mind if I see to her? Or should I keep my distance just yet?" he asked. She was likely starving and considering the way this whole scene twisted his stomach, the queen could probably taste his sympathy.

Zelus stopped just before she touched her horn to the second queen and looked back to him. Sniffing at the air, she began to click and buzz at other queen who perked slightly at being addressed.

"I've told her that if she harms you all bets are off and that the best way to feed is to drink, not pull. If you feel dizzy, step away from her. Also, keep in mind her body is still burning much of its energy with drone production. Until we can find a way to stop them, she may use a good bit of your energy on-"

Zelus was interrupted by indignant clicks, the queen doing her best to look offended at the accusation.

"Excuse me for not assuming all queens have that kind of self-control!" the younger queen shot back. "If you think you'll need help, just wait until I finish with her. Oh, and we would like your name."

The queen gave a few more clicks and Zelus rolled her eyes.
"No, I don't think it matters, but it does to him and he's the one with the emotional energy. Something about it helping to focus the emotions to an individual. Pandinus had a better explanation, I don't remember it at the moment."

Zelus closed her eyes and touched her horn to the second queen, once more going still as she delved into the other mare's mind in search of signs of life.

Cimmerian cautiously moved closer to the queen, placing a hoof on her bloated shoulders.

"Pulmonus," the mare wheezed, coughing afterwards. He waited a moment as she settled again before taking out a canteen and offering her a drink. She accepted a few sips but soon weakly pushed it away.

Not really certain what to do at that point, he began running his hooves gently over the mare's shoulders and neck. After all, contact seemed to help. The queen's eyes drooped as he sat there humming idly while waiting for Zelus. There was a slight tug at the edge of his senses, a little prick of what he thought might have been the queen pulling a bit, but looking at her, at the state she was in, he couldn't find the strength to blame her for it.

Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to a good half hour, and still Zelus worked. Pulmonis had long since fallen asleep, leaving the stallion resting his foreleg over her shoulders as he waited for his bodyguard to finish her work. With a growl the armored queen rose to all fours, rearing up and coming down on the second queen's head with a scream.

"Nothing!" the queen shouted, casting an immolation spell on the rest of the body. "No thought, no memories, no desires, I couldn't even find a stray thought left over from her hive's drones! She's empty, completely fucking empty! Do you have any idea what that means? Do you know what it takes to leave a queen's mind that desolate? I-I can't even..."

Cimmerian grabbed her with a quick spell, pulling her away from the burning body and wrapping her in his wings.
"It's okay Zel, this won't happen again. We'll make sure of it. We already saved two queens, we'll do what we can, alright? We'll do what we can for the rest and then we'll head back home. We'll go home and you can stay with me and Din for as long as you need to. I promise."

Zelus let out a strangled sob as she shook in his grip.
"They, these queen's are worse off than Heart. They didn't have a source, they, the guards came close so many times before when Lestidae and I were running and-"

"Shh," he whispered, rocking slightly. "You're my bodyguard, right? Din needs you to be strong so you can keep me safe from myself. Come on, Zelly. You're safe, you know this. We're going to make sure the rest of these things are destroyed and this never happens again, right?"

Zelus nodded, beginning to rock with him as he did his best to calm her frayed nerves. The armored mare soon perked though, pushing away from him and moving towards the other queen.

"Zel?"

"You idiot!" she shouted at Pulmonus. " I told you to ask for help if you-rargh!"

Before he could even process what was going on, Zelus drew her blade and cut a large section of the bloated queen's side open, causing Cimmerian to gag as the furious queen began to dig through the gore. His questions as to what in the nine hells she was doing were answered a few moments later when she shouted in triumph, pulling a skeletal changeling form no larger than an adult pony from deep inside the queen's body.
"She really is a master," Zelus muttered in awe. She became serious a split second later, lunging towards Cimmerian and shoving the gore-covered form into his hooves.
"Keep her warm, I'm going to get my love and some towels. Oh my gosh, if she'd just waited another-"

And with that, the mare was gone, tearing off at speeds that surprised the alicorn. Looking from the doorway to the form in his hooves, he held it against his body while wincing at the feeling that was slowly trickling down his barrel.
"I'm never going to be clean again."



<-(0)->



Zelus returned before too long, refusing to take the skeletal queen from his grip as there was no other willing heat-source nearby.
"If she'd made herself a bit smaller I could have taken her, or if she'd taken a little more time to add some mass we may have been able to...listen to me, going on about something I have no experience in. She rearranged herself in less than an hour and I'm complaining that she didn't do well enough. I don't think I could pull this off with a full supply of love and three days."

The changeling in his grip shuddered slightly, a wheezing laugh from what he could tell. Zelus scowled in response.
"You think that's funny? Maybe I should have left you in there? How would that have turned out do you think? You'd have suffocated in your own body, you idiot. If you'd waited for me before beginning I could have been ready to pull you out the moment you were ready instead of having to pull you clear just before you passed out from suffocation.

Pulmonus' only response was another bout of weak chortles, her head hanging limply against Cimmerian's foreleg as Zelus wiped her chitin clean.

The larger queen sighed, leaning down and touching her horn against the older mare's horn. Zelus performed what he assumed was an energy transfer, causing the changeling in his forelegs to hum happily.

"It's Pulmonus, right?" the alicorn asked at last. "I mean I assume it is, but well, there's a saying about what assuming does, so-"

"It is. Pulmonus, you asked if it was true. You said it was impossible, correct?" Zelus asked as she leaned down to look the other queen in the eye. Behind her Cimmerian saw a jar of love floating in her grip, slowly being brought closer to them.
"Here's one."

The form in his forelegs weakly reached out a hoof, brushing it against the jar with an almost reverent manner before she began to shudder again. Cimmerian frowned as she laughed, watching as Zelus' expression dropped. The wheezing laughter soon gave way to heaving sobs though. The mare waved Zelus forward, touching their horns together once more. Zelus straightened afterwards, closing her eyes in thought.

"Zelly?"

"Two drones match your list," She said after composing herself. "Recon is currently working at our mine while...we lost Prism in an attack on the Temple."


"He was...fed?" Pulmonus rasped. "Cared for?

Zelus nodded.
"No drones at the Temple are hungry. We wouldn't have the fountain if it was merely taunting our hive. Any who are hungry may drink from it. As for the safety of the drones, Pandinus personally hunted down a...a queen who attempted to subjugate some of the drones who had joined my sister's hive. Recon is doing what he wishes to do."

Pulmonus nodded, her muzzle forming a wan smile as she slipped from consciousness.
"I do not like debts, youngling. I will see you...compensated."

The alicorn breathed a sigh of relief as Zelus busied herself with cleaning the rest of the smaller queen's shell.
"Sixty-six percent."

"Excuse me?"

"We found two queens, we managed to save one. That's a sixty-six percent success rate so far. Din, you, Lestidae. Heart, Pulmonus, her," he said, gesturing to the location the other queen had occupied.
"I hope we get better chances moving forward, Zelly, because that's not a trend I want to see continue."
	
> Heed the Words of the Elders
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As the cave became brighter, Pulmonus slowly woke up. Not as quickly as she used to, not as quickly as she had trained herself to, but for some reason she just wasn't concerned at the moment. She felt...lethargic. The hive was quiet, as if-

Pulmonus' eyes snapped open, taking in her surroundings. It felt like a cave, but from the way a wall was moving and the trickle of concern, it was more likely to be a living being.
'The alicorn, the one that was working with that strange queen.'

Peaking out from her cave, she found it to be a combination of blanket and wing, the wall of her cave being the dark-haired stallion's side. With the cold that was seeping into the room even now, the heat radiating from the body she was beside had caused her to instinctively press against him, an odd experience even for one of her age.
'This is why I chose a tropical location for my hive,' she thought darkly. 'It's too bucking cold in some places.'

She had heard of such bonds in the past, of creatures forming bonds with changelings but to do so in such a short time? There was also a hint of something else below the surface. Love, in an intensity she'd never been so close to. Maybe she could-

"I wouldn't if I were you."

Pulmonus jumped, looking up to see the armored queen peering over the stallion's back at her.

"I intercepted love intended for Din and it hurt," Zelus explained with a sad smile. "I still want it of course but for a while I became...I got a little crazy. I couldn't think straight; I just wanted a little more love. Cadance said I was experiencing symptoms ponies usually associate with addiction. I have some processed emotions if you want them and you're welcome to what he offers, but don't touch that love."

"He is the source of your hive's love?"

The larger queen giggled, nuzzling the males neck as he slept.
"Not exclusively anymore. There are a few ponies that have accepted drones into their herds, even a griffon that became quite close to one of the hive's drones after the attack. It turns out they bond strongly with those who fight beside them and the tom, well let's just say the drone has been dropping off a bit of extra honey."


Pulmonus nodded, though she felt a bit of irritation.
"Part of me likes the idea of so much emotion being available, but part of me has worked too long to keep changelings in the shadows to truly want this. How many generations of sired drones have you raised, how many queens?"


"One clutch," the larger queen giggled. "Excluding Pandinus' mutant offspring with this male, which are developing as pony hatchlings do for some reason, they are the first sired drones of our hive. All the others are from the scattered hives. We also have a proto queen that was given to the Alicorn of Love as a form of torture. Amare and Cadance are both doing well, last I spoke to them. That hatchling will grow up being better fed than any of us ever were, and I find myself surprisingly okay with that."

"Zelus? Is Cimmerian awake?"

Pulmonus scowled, recognizing the voice but not quite being able to place it. Craning her neck over the wing, her eyes bulged as she spotted the source of the voice.

"Oh, you're awake. I thought Zelus was speaking to Cimmerian, I apologize if I'm interrupting," Celestia said with a courteous bow.

The older queen shook her head.
"Even the Dawn Bringer. I suppose I shouldn't feel so bad if even you have been brought low by this latest incident."

Celestia circled around to the other side of the bed, allowing her to speak directly to the weakened queen.
"I'm sorry, but I've not been made aware of your name. I'd heard that Zelus had managed to recover one of the queens, would that be you?"

"I am," Pulmonus answered with a smirk as she took in Celestia's diminished stature. "I remember you. You caused me quite a bit of trouble in the past. You may remember me though, Dawn Bringer. Though many have taken the title of Flesh Shaper, only one has been called the Flesh Sculptor."

Celestia's eyes widened.
"That queen? I thought you died...I think it was five hundred and thirty years ago by now. There was a large battle, two other queens were confirmed dead at each other's hooves with a third being caught in a large explosion. I thought that was the last of powerful changelings in Equestria."

"Rumor's of my death were greatly exaggerated, of course. As I'd planned. Those two were getting aggressive, not just to other queens but to all races. I had hoped to quietly remove both of them from power by having them kill each other off or at least weaken themselves enough to destroy them myself, but they became dangerous. Before I was able to react-"

"-They'd started an open battle on the surface over a pony village, Safe Passage," Celestia interrupted. "The townsponies were scattered, we found them fleeing the battle while we were...oh, you clever little bug."

"I do try. I'd heard your sister has recovered from her madness. No that's not right, the youngling here told me it is a similar creature to what has infected your pupil. Is she well?"

"Luna distracted the Nightmare while we fled. She is currently in Canterlot, I believe. Under the hoof of the Nightmare. As far as I can tell, she is one of a dwindling number that the Nightmare still has any control over. Even then, I don't know if that's literal or merely that Luna is in her possession."
Celestia smiled softly as her thoughts turned to her sister.
"She was recovering, or so I believe. I will be speaking to her at length this time. Last time we dismissed this, trying to put it behind us. Even if we wished to, I do not believe Cimmerian would allow it."

Pulmonus snorted.
"You're his elder. What power does he have over you?"

"For one, he's the only alicorn that's at full strength," the white alicorn said with a chuckle. "He also helped my niece and former student. I believe that alone would give me reason to at least entertain his silly delusions of self-importance."

The smaller queen rolled her eyes and moved off the bed, shivering slightly as she left the warmth of her makeshift cave. A clatter behind her made her jump and when she turned, she saw a strange runed bangle on the floor behind her.

"Take it," Zelus said, yawning widely. "I'm happy using Cimmerian as a heater for now. Just know that I'm going to need it when we leave. I'm certain that between the two of you, you can find an alternate solution for keeping warm."

Hesitantly latching the bangle over her foreleg and adjusting it to fit her properly, Pulmonus smiled brightly as the chill in the air disappeared.
"Oh that is a clever little widget. I should get one."

"I'm certain we can find an alternative in time. Come, It's been a long time since I've been able to enjoy a conversation with another mare who's older than the stones around us," Celestia jabbed, walking to the door.

The smaller queen gave a faint smile as she slowly followed the Dawn Bringer.
"Very well then. Let's talk, youngling."



<-(0)->


The dark alicorn dragged himself along the streets of Hightalon, following a griffon to meet up with Herrick. The other Talon commanders were apparently on their way as well, as was the griffon queen. If everything worked out as he'd hoped though, they'd be clear of the city well ahead of the griffon forces and on their way to Freeside by then. And hopefully Celestia and Pulmonus had found an alternative to using Zelus' bracer, because he was sick of tripping over the mare's hooves.

"It's not that bad," she giggled, her wings buzzing and tickling his own as they walked down the stone paths.

"Zelus, I've tripped over your hooves several times already. And in spite of your efforts, no, you can't get any closer to me."

"Well you won't let me carry you so this is the best I can do until I get that bracer back," she snarked, using her magic to pull his wing more tightly over her back. "If I don't do this I'll have to maintain a full burn of emotions and at this temperature that gets costly."

Grunting, both in acknowledgement of the problem and in irritation, Cimmerian followed the griffin into Hightalon's castle. The long halls were chilly compared to the Temple but Zelus was no longer trying to melt into his side. She still wasn't giving him back his wing, though. They followed their guide through several turns before coming into what looked like the war room, Herrick talking to Twilight and his sergeants about something. Seeing the pair walk in the door though, the griffin gestured to a seat.

"Good morning, a bit too cold for the changelings?" Herrick asked, earning a growl from Zelus as she proceeded to tuck herself into the alicorn's side once more.
"There's a reason we never had too much trouble with changelings up here, as well as why the Nightmare had to strike before winter settled in. Without a good source of heat or insulation it's not very comfortable up here for most races."

"I had to enchant a scarf Rarity made for me," Twilight said, adjusting the aforementioned article. "If you don't get the bracer back from Pulmonus I'd be happy to enchant something for you. It won't last as long as the enchantment on your bracer but it will keep you warm for a few days."

The alicorn pulled Zelus into his shoulder, causing her irritated grumbling to devolve into comfortable purrs.
"We'll talk about that afterwards. Are we clear to head to Freeside, Herrick?"

"I'll have the first wave of troops moving out in a bit to reclaim a few outposts, you can move with them if you'd like. I've got plenty of griffons that would be more than happy to deliver the news to their friends in that town, you could leave tomorrow morning at the latest. I'd either leave around noon or wait until tomorrow. There's a bunker that you can sleep in to keep out of the cold on the way and by leaving around noon you avoid the coldest parts of the day up here."

"I'm convinced," Zelus muttered, pressing even closer to Cimmerian's side.

Chuckling at the queen's discomfort in the cold weather, the griffon gestured to another griffon in the room.
"There's another outpost that was taken by the Nightmare's forces on the way that I have a few teams of griffons working on taking back. After the queens do their thing to see if the ponies here are either trustworthy or have any information that would be useful, I'd like you to stop there as well. There was at least one unicorn and three earth ponies there according to the last reports.
"Also, while the pegasi have been a lot more likely to escape from the changeling arrays, we have run into a few half-mad pegasi while running patrols. They aren't under the control of the arrays, but they're just as likely to attack you as a pony controlled by the arrays due to their paranoia."

Cimmerian winced.
"Is there any way to stop them before they hurt themselves or more likely, someone else?"

"Not that I've found. We don't have the troops to run down these ponies and with the weather as finicky as it is, pegasi have the advantage. I'm not going to use the few pegasus under my command to hunt down a few mad ponies, not when they're as likely to attack us as any enemy. Not only that but I've seen what a scared Pegasus can do. I'm not risking my troops, not just yet."

"I'll try to get going by lunch then. The sooner we reach those queens the faster this is over. I don't know what's going to happen with the minotaurs, but their secondary to the nightmare."

"If it's possible I'd actually suggest letting the minotaurs reach Canterlot first. They'll break the drone waves, and since you have a few flying spell casters you could damage the path going up to the city. Break a large enough section of the road and they'll need to either build a bridge or cross one or two at a time.
"I wish I had more for you, but the talons are going to be taking back our lands. If we focus too much on retaking Canterlot, we'll never secure our own lands."

"That's a load of shit," Cimmerian growled. "Who's going to attack? The dragons, who've never banded together long enough to even form a city, much less an army? Maybe the diamond dogs, who avoid this mountain range due to the low mineral count? With so few gems in these mountains they can't support themselves here, right? Maybe the changelings who, oh wait, they're all either allied with us or in Canterlot."
"The minotaurs are the only threat right now and they'd rather take a single mountain in a plain than try to take a mountain range from a ton of flying soldiers."

Taking a breath to calm himself, the alicorn sighed.
"Even if you say your doing it to avoid getting too chummy with Equestria, we're talking about the source of all these issues. Canterlot is the nexus, the source of the-"

"Were mercenaries, not soldiers!" Herrick shot back. "Were supposed to be in this for money. The fact that we're taking back the griffon kingdom, do you have any idea what that means to me and my brothers? It means that somewhere along the way the griffons were weak. We folded to a foreign power and were defeated by these, these husks!
"My forefathers wouldn't even look at me if they knew what had happened during my lifetime. It's an insult to everything our culture is supposed to be about. Fierce, unbound, strong.
Herrick slammed a claw on the table in frustration, shaking his head.
"Here I am though, working with an alicorn to depose another, or at least something that looks like an alicorn. Hightalon was taken, most of the griffon lands were taken, the queen...I haven't heard anything from her recently, only the princess. With how things have gone, she'd have to step down anyway. The shame of losing Hightalon would drive her, if not her family, from power. There will likely be some power-struggles between the clans, though nothing bloody so soon after a war. Things are just a mess..."

"You've also retaken Hightalon with a mercenary group, you're working to return griffon lands to the griffons, and you're helping to remove a threat to not just griffon lands but to the planet. I'm sorry for snapping at you, but this is a bad time for all of us.  I was studying to be a guard. Not even a soldier in the military, a police officer, one who only patrolled his own country's streets," Cimmerian said, taking a calming breath. "We're all out of our element, Herrick. It's possible things will never return to how they were, but the faster we can normalize things, the faster the healing can begin. Once everything's safe and taken care of, I'm going to go hide in my room for about a month. Maybe more depending on how this goes."

"It's not just you and your soldiers that are uncomfortable," Zelus said as the two males took a moment to calm themselves. "Changelings will be known to every race after this. Many will think of those things the Nightmare used against them. It is unfair, but between Chrysalis and the Nightmare, that's twice that changelings have struck out at some of them. While Cadance knows us now, how do you think the Crystal ponies will react if she tries to return to her thrown with Amare attached to her side?
"There will be much fear and confusion in the coming days, or so Celestia has predicted. All we can do is to do what we can. Creatures will always demand more of us, but it is at that point that you ask them why they did not step forward."

"Some won't accept that line," the alicorn said with a wan smile. "People will want a scape goat after this, someone they can attach the blame to. Saying some alien brain parasite took control of Twilight Sparkle won't calm them, they'll turn to the nearest physical, palpable threat they can find. Griffons may target changelings and ponies, ponies will target changelings, dragons will hate alicorns, this mess could take years to clean up.
"Take care of your griffons and your princess, Herrick. I'll do my best to see this ended soon."

"I suppose that's all we can really ask," the old tom muttered, nodding. "I'll have that team ready in about an hour. After that, the two of you just need to keep going south-east and you'll reach Freeside. Best of luck to you."

"And you." Cimmerian offered as he stood up. It was time to get his bodyguards bracer back. She was guarding him a little too closely at the moment.



<-(0)->



"-think it was on fire with how quickly they dropped that tradition. Needless to say I was grateful for that one. A fertility goddess I am not and I did not appreciate the hundreds of ponies offering themselves to me in order to satisfy my ,ahem, desires."

Cimmerian and Zelus found the older mares going on about the olden times, likely times none other than golems and dragons remembered. Pulmonus was nodding along, giggling at memories he could only guess at before responding with a memory of her own.
"Didn't some turn to sacrifice? I seem to remember a few did that, most notably...Sunnyvale?"

The white alicorn winced at the name, her smile falling.
"That is a town I'd sooner forget about. And one of the few times I was thankful for a cultist visiting my castle. They were attempting to spread their influence as well. Foal sacrifices, to me! When I say I love foals, that doesn't mean I want them offered to me in barbaric rituals."

"You too?" Cimmerian asked. "They were dead certain I would want to eat kids when they set me loose, even had a few at the ready."

"They kidnapped foals?" Celestia asked in shock before her expression deadened. "Oh, yes I think I remember you mentioning that."

"They were cultists looking to bring about an apocalypse-level battle between alicorn's in the hopes we'd off each other. Besides, the kids have been well cared for since then. I think one of them had a father in the Equestrian Royal Guard, but we have to find out if he survived this situation."
Cimmerian's mood fell as he remembered the guards from the ship that he'd destroyed for the Temple's safety.
"I really hope he wasn't on one of those ships."

"There's no use worrying about it now, colt," the small queen at Celestia's side said with a hardened tone. "Best to make certain the hatchlings are safe before burning energy to find a parent that may or may not be there. You'd only harm yourself if you go looking and find the worst."

"And what would a changeling queen know of my emotions? Both queens I've spoken with have been fairly uneducated in emotional interactions."

"Well what do you expect when you're surrounded by little fillies?" The queen chuckled, looking over Zelus with a weighted gaze. "The mare beside you didn't have a hive while this youngster tells me your, mate was it? Pandinus molted into a full queen under your care. Both are young, like yourself. It's why you work well with them, I think. None of you have lived for even a generation. Your hearts have not been hardened, your minds still fresh, still mortal in your case."

"Don't look at me that way, colt" the queen cackled. "You have a distinct flare to your emotions, the taste of a mortal. The rush to complete your tasks, the desire to see your hatchlings grow, the desire to defend your mate and even the mare who's supposed to defend you, to defend others in general. You taste more like a griffon than an alicorn, but even then you're different."
"Each species has a distinct flavor, a distinct pattern of emotions that a queen can learn to use to identify them. I've sampled every race, even a few who are no longer present among us, stars guide those foolish birds, the Duodons," she trailed off, placing a hoof on her barrel. "None of them tasted like you, however. What were you?"

Celestia stomped her hooves in irritation.
"I was certain you were bragging."

"Bragging is well and good, Celestia, but sometimes a mare really is as good as she says."
At the confused expressions, Pulmonus explained.
"The Sun bet I couldn't guess your race. In spite of the hundreds of possibilities it brings up, guessing alien means a victory for me. You taste like no creature I've encountered in all my years, though you do seem a strange combination of thestral and griffon at first glance. The echo in your emotions doesn't help either."

"Echo?" the dark alicorn asked before brightening in realization. "Oh, like another set! Yea, the Nightmare left me with a mess of Luna's memories. They're sealed, though."

"You...how are you sane?" The queen muttered in shock.

"We never said he was," Zelus giggled, bursting into laughter a second later as the stallion glared at her. Unfazed, the armored mare sat on her haunches and wrapped her forelegs around his neck.
"How did I survive without this? Din, was right, ponies taste amazing when you tease them!"

The queen beside Celestia shook her head.
"No, I am actually concerned. Mind-spells are quite dangerous, especially on an unknown species. How did you end up with them?"

"As far as I can tell the first Nightmare, the one responsible for Nightmare Moon, used a spell to leave an imprint of Luna's memories while taking a stamp of my own," Cimmerian explained, concern ebbing into his voice. "I asked to have them removed actually, but they have saved my life and I haven't really had time to have them sorted properly. Is there a problem?"

"A mare's memories at that. Perhaps that is why you can distinguish between them. Have you fallen into them before? The memories, I mean."

He nodded.
"Once. I still can't remember what happened during that blackout, just waking up and wondering where my sister was."

"I've had memories imprinted on me before, Pulmonus. He's had them longer, but I didn't use half the safeguards he has," Celestia said as the changeling queen moved in front of the dark alicorn.

"You were likely already immortal, correct? And they were only a few memories from a pony. This is different and the fact that I have to tell you that is quite insulting. You are comparing placing a few drops of water in a lake to dropping half an ocean into one. I'm surprised he's not had more episodes," Pulmonus lectured, taking his muzzle in her hooves. "Think of your seal, hatchling. There, I see it. Now, is there anything else you can tell me about your situation?"

"I spent a long time in Luna's armor," Cimmerian said, looking at the small changeling in worry as she continued to look through him. "I managed to work out most of the knots in the memories before the cultists let me lose. Then I worked out a seal from the memories of magic, stopped me from referring to myself as the wrong gender for the most part. After I had Luna's help I haven't really had a break like the gnoll raid."

"The Everfree," Zelus offered, causing his eyes to widen. "He became emotionally distraught at the site of the castle even though he'd never been there and put on Luna's armor, though where he found it is impossible to guess."

"And your mental discipline from your old species?" The queen asked.

"Uh, if you're talking mental dives, none. I mean, I never really had access to magic before this world, so-"

Pulmonus' gaze focused on him before going to Celestia.
"He had no prior mental training. Did you at least warn him of the mental stress and damage that could arise from such things?"

As Cimmerian felt his heart skip a beat, the small queen looked to him in surprise before turning back to Celestia.
"He is a mortal in mind! Are you telling me you didn't give the colt a proper lecture on mind-magics?"

"We've been a little preoccupied, Pulmonus," Celestia defended.

"I was also asking for information I could use to defend the Temple," the stallion added. "It just wasn't a priority."

"Of course it wouldn't be a priority," Pulmonus said with a sneer. "Mares take care of their foals first, even to their detriment."

Stepping back from the wide-eyed stallion, she rounded on Celestia, ripping into her viciously.
"Every time. Every time I look into your activities you set ponies up for horrific damage. Your student almost killed herself and her friends several times, you're sister returned to you and you put her in the same position that drove her mad a thousand years before. This stallion ends up with a mind that looks to be half Mist Mountain cheese and half fruit salad and you not only let him use magic but you don't even have the common courtesy to tell him the dangers?"
The changeling looked back to him, taking a calming breath.
"It's nothing on you, colt. Knowing you had no formal education in magic, I can see why this would be missed. You said you made a seal for the memories using the memories, correct? Do you use them often?"

"Not as often anymore, but...what do you mean about there being dangers?"

"When a mind is damaged it seeks to repair itself. It can go about it several ways, but for the most part the mind will always try to put priority to those memories that most fit both your personality and your body. So what do you think happens when your body no longer fits your memories but those of Luna's?"
"What a mess. I can already see a few problems in there. Your mind is not some clean library like most immortals, it's a web. Just like griffons, diamond dogs, minotaurs and even most earth and Pegasus ponies."

"Memories like that are not something you can simply skip, especially if you use them," Pulmonus  explained. "Considering you even used them to create the separation-"

"And to walk," Cimmerian added, slumping slightly. "I was bipedal. And I'm pretty sure using my wings for balance wasn't trial and error. I didn't have too much trouble with them until I tried flying."

"Because the muscle memory was for the wrong form," the old mare hazarded a guess. "It would allow for some basics, but I would assume you were still clumsy. Yes, this could be a problem in your future. Luna should be able to help, though. Mind magic and illusions were one of the things she was good at. If not, I suppose I could lend a hoof. I do not like owing others, colt, and have not let a single creature leave this world while I owed them. I actually pride myself on that."

"I'd also like to take a look at the drone you put the alicorn in, dear," Pulmonus said to Zelus. "I understand that it is a rush job, but if it turns into something more long-term, her current form could cause problems. The mind will attempt to settle and a drone just isn't capable of holding the kind of mind and magic-channeling that filly is capable of. It could prove a challenge, working out a form that would contain her essence properly."

"Is there anything you didn't tell her, Celestia?" Cimmerian asked, looking to the white mare in irritation.

The smaller alicorn giggled nervously at the attention.
"I was- it was the first time I really talked to anypony who was even half my age aside from my sister. I may have gotten a bit excited."

"Oh it's not like I'm going to go around draining ponies dry or attempting to take your mate's hive when I recover," Pulmonus said, waving away the concern. When the stallion continued to stare a hole in her head she gave him a fang-filled smirk. "Oh, I like you. Cautiously optimistic with a bit of emphasis on cautious. I think we'll get along well, colt."



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Cimmerian met with the griffons that were to be taking the outpost just after lunch, a team of seven griffons and three pegasus ponies. Being more magically inclined, the Pegasus ponies were sought by the Talons for missions that had weather that would ground a griffon. The three Pegasi would be leading the way, cutting through any weather traps left behind by fleeing guards and making sure he griffons reached their destination without burning out their wings on he way. The only issue he was running into was the lack of a certain drone.

Twilight was nowhere to be found in spite of a message being passed along that they would be leaving for Freeside after lunch. After searching for nearly five minutes and even pulling a few griffons to help in the search and the dark alicorn was getting ready to pull out his mane.
"Cimmerian, she's in the jail!"

The alicorn thundered down the path, worry spurring him onward. The jail was where the queen's had been. Considering the younger mare's current state and the fact she was directly involved in the subjugation of the queens he wasn't certain it was the safest place for her to be.
Carefully trotting down the stairs as quickly as he dared with Zelus buzzing down the stairs behind him, he found Twilight in tears before the remaining gore of the queens, Pulmonus standing before her and touching the drone's horn with her own.

"Zelus, can we break them up without-"
the question wasn't even out of his mouth before the armored queen was pulling the drone away, holding her protectively while Cimmerian stared down the queen.
"I'm waiting for your explanation."

Pulmonus stared at him for a second, as if weighing her options. Finally she shrugged.
"I wished to know the truth. I wanted to know how the situation progressed from her eyes. That was my body over there, and while I've been nearly killed several times and even had to rebuild myself in the past, changelings have never been in this situation before. I wanted to know if your reasons for allowing her to live were true. I didn't live this long trusting blindly, colt."

"And you had to do this in the room that had served as your prison?" he asked, watching for the slightest flicker of her magic.

The queen actually smirked.
"An emotionally rattled pony is much more willing to submit to such a request."

Cimmerian continued to stare down the queen, waiting for anything else before shaking his head. It was dirty, but after being nearly killed by the actions of the pony Zelus was holding, he couldn't dismiss her anger.
"Did you tamper with her head? Aside from the emotional manipulation."

"No, just looked over her experiences for the last few decades. A bit of a tale, actually. I wasn't certain if I should have believed in this Nightmare creature you keep blaming but I could actually see its effects on her, heard its words to her. They are remarkably devious, but only when it comes to the target it seems. They seem almost incapable of planning for anything else and leave that to their host."
Pulmonus nodded, adjusting a small bangle on her left foreleg, a golden glow of magic keeping her warm.
"I was enjoying my vacation when she did this. I still have almost three decades if I remember correctly. I intend to use that time and I wont count my recovery. Perhaps a bit of a tour of the world is in order. I've heard there's a lovely fountain near Zarris these days, one that any changeling would be a fool not to see. May even be able to visit some places without a cover or disguise with the way things are going."

"I'll be returning soon, Pulmonus, as soon as I can manage in fact," Cimmerian growled. "If I hear of you doing anything even remotely-"

"I already said I owed you, colt. Until I pay back your little rescue, you and your mate's hive is safe from my plans," the diminutive mare dismissed with a wave of her hoof. "Even then, I have to say it would be nice to have a trade agreement with another queen who is content. They're very rare, you know. Queen's that are more interested in other things than subjugating ponies and other queens. I grew out of it about seven hundred years ago, but sadly my fellow queens tend to off each other before they even come close to my age."

"How old are you, anyway?" he asked.

"I could have sworn there was an old unicorn warning about asking a mare's age, but it doesn't matter because I don't remember. I've been around longer than Equestria, though. That's for certain," the shape shifter answered with a shrug.

"Is that because of your ability to," he circled his hoof, looking for the word "rebuild yourself, or are queens just able to live that long?"

"Well it is partly becau-" she cut herself off, her eyes widening and a smile blooming on her face. "Oh that's adorable! You fear for your mate, that she will not live as long as you!"
Cimmerian bristled but Pulmonus raised her forelegs in a placating gesture.
"As long as a queen is well-fed she should be fine dear. In fact, if she has the time and looks into it, she may be able to become a flesh shaper like myself. A queen that's starved for love and constantly under attack can survive for almost ten years on nothing but scraps, and that's experience speaking. I went through that when I first left my mother's hive and tried starting my own hive in a bad location. So ten years worst case and your dear Pandinus is living in much better conditions. I don't see why she wouldn't outlive even Celestia, so long as you do."

Cimmerian nodded.
"Thanks, Pulmonus. As long as you keep civil, I wouldn't mind you visiting the Temple. Start harassing Din or the people there, though-"

"Oh you are just too cute, colt," the queen giggled. "I promise to be good. I'm curious to see what this will mean to changelings in the long run anyway. Perhaps I'll finally be able to open a coffee shop or something like that? It would be interesting being able to do something like that without a cover name. I've been a queen, a mother, a warrior, a mage, an assassin, an alchemist, even a whorse but I've never owned my own business..."

Leaving the ancient queen to day dream, Cimmerian gestured for Zelus to lead the way. After only a slight additional delay of finding the griffons that they would be leaving with and finding their packs, they took flight for Freeside.

"Only a little longer, Twilight," Cimmerian called to the drone who was currently latched onto the back of the armored queen's neck. "A little longer and we can focus on making sure everyone's okay. Then? We find a way to make sure these damn things never reach this world again."

The drone nodded back at him, a flash of determination filling her eyes. She would still need to be watched, but for now there shouldn't be any threat of self-harm. The mare would be facing enough hardship as it was.
> Familiar Territory, Familiar Faces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The griffon outpost that had been taken during the invasion surrendered without a fight. Between no new orders, the changelings dying off in the cold weather, dwindling supplies and the alicorn following the mercenaries, the ponies were begging mercy the moment they realized they were being attacked.

"And the communications Crystal?" the stallion asked, following the possessed drone.

"I specifically designed them to only be able to communicate with the nexus in Canterlot. If you'd like, we could send her an ultimatum," Twilight said.

Cimmerian shook his head.
"Surprise is still an advantage. Even if she knows it's coming, she doesn't know when. We'll start the attack when she's not paying attention. I really should have brought the armor. I could enter the castle without setting off all the drones in it."

"Not anymore," Twilight responded. "With the crystals grabbing ponies and interpreting everything not linked as hostile, it's possible they could spot you. They won't be able to keep you in the armor, but then they'd have the armor in their possession. I don't think we need to give the Nightmare something like that."

The alicorn nodded, looking over the captured guards and the communications crystal right before Zelus finally walked back inside the tower.

"It's too buzzin' cold out there. I can't wait till we get home," the queen muttered, quickly moving to the stallion and pulling his wing over her back. Noticing the ponies huddled in the corner, she perked up.
"Oh yes, the prisoners. What do we do with them?"

"That depends on them," he said, looking over the ponies with a smirk. "They were left to die, right? And if the drones they had didn't die to the cold they'd likely be branded."

"B-branded?" an earth pony asked in fear.

"Oh, you haven't heard? The Nightmare set up the arrays to start grabbing ponies now. Equestrians were fleeing the country en mass to avoid getting linked to those crystals. If you approached Canterlot for help, you'd either be killed by drones or slaved to a crystal," Cimmerian explained, his smile slowly growing. "Or you could come along peacefully. This war is over for the most part. Your queen's power-base has fallen apart, Celestia is free, several queens are free, the griffons have retaken Hightalon and now we're going to stop that thing before it hurts anyone else. You can try to warn her with that crystal, in which case you'll all likely end up dead, or you can come along and work with us. In fact, I wont even make you swear any oaths to me or anything like that. Take a look at Freeside when we get there, at the ponies that are all over the place and you'll have a good idea of what would have happened to you if your drones hadn't died from the cold."

"Celestia will be making her way to Freeside eventually," Zelus added from the alicorn's side. "If even after seeing that you don't believe us, you can ask her yourself. I'm certain she'd be happy to talk to you. Since she was, you know, imprisoned for a long time by the Nightmare. It left her fairly desperate to talk to anyone again." 



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The guard ponies were fairly easy to convince to go along with Cimmerian's group. After all, it was either follow the alicorn who said he was working with Celestia, attempt to fight against a drone, queen, an alicorn, and two squads of mercenaries, or be held captive by aforementioned mercenaries. It also helped that the alicorn gave the guards some fresh food, something they'd been running frighteningly short on.
"Nothing else? You mean to tell me this is it?" Cimmerian asked early the next morning, looking over a single crate of dried foodstuffs. It was literally bottom-of-the-barrel quality and barely edible in some cases. In other's not even that. Zelus actually found it humorous, taking a carrot, holding it in her magic and striking it into the wooden floor like a nail. The fact that she managed to get it two inches into the floor before it broke was terrifying.
"There has to be more to it than this. Doesn't Equestria have rules about supplies? Like going out to forage if you need to? I'm pretty sure there are things like that-"

"Our pegasus ponies left a while ago, they were supposed to bring back supplies. Without them, we're kind of stuck here," the unicorn explained dejectedly, getting a few nods from his fellows.

"Well that's just stupid. Has being cut off never happened before?" Cimmerian asked, rummaging through some boxes containing clothes for colder weather.

"Not that I can remember. I uh, I also don't remember a bunch of ponies being stationed in a griffon outpost though," one of the earth ponies answered.

Nodding, Cimmerian closed the box he was looking through and turned to the guards.
"Grab what you want, we're leaving in a bit. You guys can likely meet up with the rest of the free guards in Freeside. Last I saw it was being used as a stop for refugees and Heart was breaking ponies free of the Crystal arrays."

"But how are we going to, uh-" the unicorn began.

Cimmerian looked to the guards, his smile becoming predatory.
"You still have the chariot that brought you here, right?"



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"I can honestly say this is one of the oddest feelings I've ever experienced," the alicorn said as he pulled the occupied chariot. The guards were holding on for dear life as they flew through the morning air, a few groans reaching his ears after a rough patch of turbulence. Of course, their discomfort didn't make the experience any less novel.

"Why is that?" Twilight called from her position on Zelus' neck.

Cimmerian weaved around a cloud, trying his best to keep the cart stable. He'd learned from the first impact that the cart was affected by clouds just as much as he was.
"Well, back home we have an animal called a horse, about the same proportions as an alicorn only lacking wings, horn and sapience. They're beasts of burden, actually. We use them for transportation, farmwork, they were also used in the military for a long time. Chariots and carriages were a thing, too. I've been on a few wagon rides that were pulled by horses when I was younger, so to be in this position...it's a bit odd. Like a role-reversal I never expected. Part of me says this is kind of demeaning, but another says it's an interesting position to be in."

The drone nodded.
"Sky-chariots are expensive, as they're extensively runed to allow them to sit on clouds permanently as well as imbue their cargo with both feather-weight charms and a moderate-duration cloud walking spell. Guard chariots have to assume that at some point they may come under fire, so the guards need to be able to disembark as soon as possible. Sometimes the fastest stop is a cloud. Doing so also allows the pegasus pulling the chariot to regain their full mobility. In the case of normal transport chariots, the reason for the cloud walking enchantment is so that if either the pegasus pulling the chariot becomes injured or the situation requires the chariot to perform a forced landing, the passengers won't immediately fall through the cloud upon landing. It also gives the Pegasus time to react of the feather-weight charm fails. After all, impacting a cloud is much safer than hitting the ground."

"I'm curious what you guys could do with technology if you ever actually gave it a shot. I mean if humans could get a several-ton vehicle to fly faster than any bird, surely ponies could do one better with magic. Granted you don't seem to need some of the things we did but- you know, maybe that's why your tech is so low-end compared to what I'm used to. You guys didn't need to fly because you have spells and pegasi. Didn't need to invent electricity for flashlights and light bulbs because you used magic. Didn't need to invent better weapons because your neighbors couldn't match you anyway."
"It's odd. You guys invent things because you want to, not because you need to. For humanity it was often about survival and safety. We needed ways to create light at all hours. We needed faster and safer ways to send information and to travel. We needed to defend ourselves with weapons because we don't have any built-in weapons or armor like most of the species of this world."

"I would like to hear more about your home at a later time, Cimmerian. It actually sounds similar to this place I visited a while ago. I...actually I don't recall what happened to the mirror. It was capable of transporting ponies to another world, one that was very different from this one yet it was similar to this one in the strangest ways. The beings there looked like ponies I knew but they weren't...they were different," Twilight said, her face turning contemplative. "I  wonder why I forgot about it."

"You can explain it to him later. We have company," Zelus shouted over the wind. "Griffons to the left, it looks like three of them. A patrol."



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The patrol intercepted the group and escorted them the rest of the journey into Freeside. Upon landing, a rather rough landing at that to Cimmerian's embarrassment and the detriment of his passengers, the alicorn was met by a very anxious looking griffon.
"Back to cause more problems for the Mad Queen? Well you'll have a hard time topping what she's already done. Corporal Faraday, Captain Hackett's in the command building. Wants you to meet up with him as soon as possible. Queen's back there too."

Cimmerian nodded and gestured to the cart.
"If you can get these guys to some of the Equestrian guards you've freed, preferably ones without links, I'd appreciate it. They were kind of left at an outpost with no backup and no resupply, been out of the loop for a while. After they're brought up to speed they should be good. If they aren't just smack them with an ugly stick till they're pretty."

A few of the gathering mercenaries chuckled, herding the guards towards a large collection of tents and changeling constructed huts towards the edge of the town. They kept their weapons ready though. They were still technically enemy soldiers.

The alicorn's group was soon entering a large briefing room, the base commander speaking with a mare that made Cimmerian's jaw drop.
"Heart?"

The changeling, slightly taller than a grown mare, turned and smiled brightly at the visitors.
"Zelus, Cimmerian! It is wonderful to see you again!"

It was an impressive change. The mare was the picture of health now, already having been able to accelerate her growth and begin to return to an adult form. She was looking to become bulkier than even Zelus as well and the reason for that became clear a moment later. Spike walked in the door, the bandages only covering one eye at this point and his scales regaining a good bit of their luster since Cimmerian had last run into the young drake. Spike made a beeline for the queen, the two sharing a quick and affectionate nuzzle before the dragon turned to look at him.

"Ah. Otherwise the drake would break you. Excellent foresight," Zelus congratulated, causing Spike to blush through his scales and Twilight to begin sputtering incoherently.

"You, you two-but, and I thought-" the alicorn turned drone-rider babbled. She looked between the two several times before gurgling and falling over.

Cimmerian laughed.
"Well I guess that's it for her today. You have her, Zel?"

"Of course I do; she's still babbling. Unlike ponies, changelings don't have the same concept of unconsciousness. We can hibernate, but right now she's still babbling in my ear."
In spite of her complaints, Zelus dutifully picked the drone up in her aura and settled it on her back. She then moved to her hive sister, giving the changeling a strong hug while keeping the insensate mare held to her back with her magic.

"Strange creatures, these changelings," Hackett muttered as he watched the queens staring at each other.

"You should know something about them by now," Cimmerian chuckled as he approached the briefing table. It was currently occupied by a large map of Equestria and several markers, most being extremely scattered about the area.
"Damn. Blue is the Nightmare, green is us, or at least the griffon mercenaries and red is minotaurs, right?"

Hackett nodded.
"Heart's pulled a damn miracle if you ask me. Coordinating the Equestrian soldiers here she managed to both hit their patrols hard and capture a good number of their soldiers. The guards she captures she quickly pulls into the hive, then she goes and uses those soldiers to capture more. The...Nightmare? Queen Twilight can't fight that kind of war of attrition, not with pony soldiers anyway. She still has a few equestrian guard in Canterlot stationed in important places but most of the guards she had captured are ours now. Or at least, Heart's."

"Ergo most of the Equestrian Royal Guard is mine," the alicorn said, looking to the shape shifters with a grin. "Fantastic news at last. She still has the queens producing drones, which will be a pain in the ass to fight to, but we can find a way to work around this. Maybe a winter storm or something to dull the changelings. It's already cold. Minotaurs?"

"Still making their way to Canterlot. A few of their patrols have been branded, but they turn right around and kill any minotaurs that end up captured."

"So we're winning in a war of attrition and the minotaurs are losing it. I'd love to let the Nightmare wear them down but it's not really feasible. How are your supplies?"

Hackett frowned thoughtfully.
"Supplies are holding for now, what with the ponies actually running a few winter farms on the outskirts of town. I always knew some ponies were miracle workers with the soil but being able to grow crops in the middle of winter? It's helping alleviate some of the strain but the faster we can start to normalize everything again and get ponies back to the farms in southern Equestria, the faster they can start feeding the countries again."

"So we're crunched for time. Alright...alright, we'll work this out. I have someone who has intimate knowledge of any and all traps and defenses the Nightmare set up in the castle before she got really bad. I don't know how she is right now, but the Nightmare was severely weakened. She still has Luna as far as I know, but otherwise-"

"Discord as well," Zelus reminded him, sitting next to him and laying the drone at her hooves. "She also caught him, didn't she?"

Hackett paled at the idea but Cimmerian shook his head.
"I've talked to Discord. He's patient, but says he's capable of getting out of the trap if he needs to. He's had others try this before and says he's familiar with all the weaknesses such a large mish-mash of containment spells create. If we...actually I think I will contact him. We have everyone out for the most part. He can go to town on the drones for all I care."

"I would be cautious of asking anything of Discord," Hackett cautioned. "The draconequus is volatile at the best of times and this is not one of those."

Cimmerian nodded.
"I understand, but the other option is attempting to assault a fortified position that has an almost endless supply of troops. Even if he can remove half of the initial forces we face, which I think is making light of his powers from what I know of him, it could save hundreds of live. Not to mention it gives us a moment to prepare for the minotaur assault."

"Cimmerian," Zelus said as she shifted uncomfortably, looking over the markers on the table. "If it comes to it, we could always..."

"Use the drones," he finished, nodding. "I'd rather not, but they're going to die. I don't want to use the arrays or leave them active any longer than I have to but in this case we may be able to remove the rest of the insane drones and cripple the minotaurs in one strike. The issue is getting to the control arrays."

"It would save us a lot of effort too. I'll try to contact Discord tonight, see if we can coordinate something with him. In the meantime I'd like to talk to Heart about preparing the Equestrian Guard to retake their home. I'm sure many of them are more than willing to help us."

"They are," Heart spoke up. "I did not expect things to go so smoothly, truth be told. The magic that ponies wield is powerful, though. Having access to it and using it to strengthen my hive...it is strange, being loved. The ponies as well, not just my guardian. They are thankful, they wish me well. It has given me power I could not have imagined."
"Some do not react well, it is true. We have had many ponies attempt to destroy the runes, either by adding to the damage or trying to heal the scar. It is not pleasant to deal with. Most are aware of the attempts by now, so it has stopped them from making such attempts themselves."

"What happened?" the alicorn asked her.

"It depends on what they do. If they damage the rune, it could either short out harmlessly or surge the magic as well as the power being used to direct them straight into their minds. We have seven ponies that have suffered such fates as of now, with many contemplating taking the risk. One cut the rune incorrectly, connecting two arrays and causing a feedback that resulted in an explosion. Several were injured and the stallion did not survive."
Heart slumped slightly at the memories, causing the dragon to pull her closer in an attempt to comfort her.
"I have done my best to be understanding of ponies and the differences between our species, but to have ponies that I have already cut from any contact through the link believe that taking their own lives is a better option than living with the array is-"

"An insult, even if they do not realize they are causing us grief," Zelus finished with a nod. "It is part of what we are. With time and effort we could likely remove the arrays safely, or minimize the effects they have on ponies. Some are extremely distressed by them though. I can feel it in the hive. The anxiety they feel spreads like fire. They will not do well in the coming battle if they can not control themselves. I will be able to suppress some of that fear, but too much and even the bravest being would be overwhelmed. I shall speak to them at a later time. Hopefully I'll be able to help them understand the issue that they're bringing about. Otherwise the arrayed ponies will be next to useless in an actual battle."

"I'll let you get to it," Cimmerian said to the changeling queens before turning to the griffon. "Hackett, would you mind if I try to contact you tonight in your dreams? It may be simpler to use a dream to plan out the assault, or at least let you be in on the talks with Discord."

The griffon clicked his beak in thought before shrugging his wings.
"Normally I prefer to be visited by hens, but I suppose I can host a stallion this one time. Certainly."

"If that's all," Heart interjected, moving to the door "than I suggest we make our way to my base of operations. The Equestrian remnants will speak with you there."


Ponies stopped and stared at him as he walked through the camp, escorted by both queens and the drake. It was an odd look, too. Like they weren't certain if his presence was an omen for good or an omen for evil. True enough, Celestia had led them for a long time but many of the ponies in the camp had been living under the Nightmare's rule for most of their lives now, longer than they had lived under Celestia and Luna.
'I don't think I've ever seen so much fear and anxiety before,' he thought as the ponies gave the group a wide berth. There was a general feeling of good will towards Heart, but they treated her as an exception to a rule, an exception that did not include Zelus.

"They're fear is cycling," Zelus remarked, swishing her tail and buzzing her wings in irritation. "A few feel fear, others react to that fear, assuming they are feeling the fear about us, the fear runs back to the ponies that were originally scared and doubles the fear they feel- they truly have no idea how connected they are or the dangers of rampant thoughts."

"It is why most ask to have the link dulled unless they are on combat missions," Heart explained. "The soldiers enjoy using it as a means of communication, often running their plans through a drone for dispersal to the group as we are more comfortable with that form of communication. The moment they return from their patrols however, they ask to have the link silenced again."

"It's not you guys, trust me on this. While changelings are used to such contact, most of us are used to being alone with our thoughts. It's not our natural instinct to be connected like this so I would assume it's also natural to assume the emotions are yours," the alicorn said, attempting to soothe the frustrated mares.

"I have already explained this to Heart several times," Spike rumbled slowly, pronouncing each word with care. "While she knows this to be true in her mind, she has only recently been attempting to account for the reactions and instincts of other species."

"I've been at this longer and it still frustrates me," Zelus muttered. "Ponies are such paranoid creatures."

"Says the mare who survives by disguising herself as a pony and harvesting the sperm of an unwitting male, then charging her drones to take their own disguises and harvest emotions from more ponies," Cimmerian retorted, earning a glare from the armored shape shifter.

Spike let loose a rumbling chuckle before stepping ahead, opening the tent the group was moving to.

Cimmerian ducked inside after the queens, nodding his thanks to the drake before turning to take in the room. There were several more tables in the tent occupied with maps with patrol routes, maps with enemy patrol routes, maps with troop positions, and several ponies rushing around keeping them all updated. Heart's arrival was met with a quick nod from most of the soldiers but the moment they noticed the mare was not alone they started to gather at the center of the tent.

"Some of you may remember hearing of the alicorn and queen that passed through here directly after the Nightmare's final act as queen. This is Zelus, the queen who saved my life, and this is Cimmerian. They will be aiding us in the coming days."

Cimmerian and Zelus nodded, both in agreement and in greeting. A single pony stepped forward from the group. "Lieutenant Gold Standard. As the highest ranked my Equestrian officer to, escape the branding unharmed I've been chosen from among my peers to lead this expedition. Will there be more coming after you?"

"Not likely," Cimmerian said. "I will be seeing about planning this with an insider though. With luck and timing we should be able to take Canterlot quickly. Speed will likely be our biggest ally. The longer we fight directly with the swarm the more drones will be added to the battle."

"In that we agree. We're working on a few possible routes into the castles but several of the ponies we've recovered have mentioned being involved in setting up traps in sewers or alternate routes."
Gold Standard started pointing out places on the map of Canterlot, explaining in greater detail the traps they'd been warned about. Blades, spikes, dead-drops, feral animals or changelings-an entire squad of feral changelings actually, and more.

"It's a good thing we brought someone who was involved in most of this," Zelus chuckled, dropping the drone in front of her. She struck it in the back of the head with a hoof, eliciting a yelp as she forced Twilight back into her host drone.
"Wake up, it's time to earn your keep."

"Be nice Zel, she-"

"Is going through something that's almost as bad as my experience, but not as bad. She can hold it together for another few days."

"That doesn't make it right, Zelus. Stop it."

Zelus opened her mouth to retort but stopped, growling in anger instead.
"I'm sorry Cimmerian, the emotions in the hive-link are getting to me. I am not used to receiving so many powerful emotions and many of them are...scared. It's not something I like to experience."

"Oh. It's fine, Zelus. Last time you were scared was a bad experience, I get it. But that's not what's going on. Just breath, keep calm."

The changeling queen nodded, scooting a little closer before breathing through her nose. She stopped, muzzle scrunching as she remembered something.

"Zelus? What is it?" Cimmerian asked. The next thing he knew, the mare was sticking her nose under his wing.

Gold raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.
"Um, what is she..."

"Changelings are big on pheromones. Her hive's a safe spot and her sister-queen, Pandinus, is my mate. It's led to some...odd experiences. Changelings don't have the same idea of ownership we do, and that extends to their memories and bodies. It means Zelus considers me as much of a safe spot as Din does."

"Her happy place," Spike rumbled in amusement, looking to Heart. "I won't have to worry about you chasing him, will I?"

"I already have my safe spot, my guardian. Most queens do not, though. It is not something we knew before the enslavement of our race. It is strange, but not unwelcome. I find your scent to be my safe place. Zelus does not have what Pandinus and I have, so she has accepted Pandinus' mate."

Gold's muzzle twisted in disgust.
"She's smelling under his wings, though. That's-"

"The strongest source of his scent, barring anything sexual," Heart shot back with a grin.

"It's weird, but it's something I've gotten used to. She literally tastes emotions, uses them for fuel, Gold. You're working with ponies that have been forced into this as well, not to mention working beside griffons and even a dragon. It's how they are as a species. Each one is unique."

"I'll be happier when this is all over and I can go back to my job. No more changelings, no more griffons, no more-"

"That's not happening," Cimmerian said with an eye roll. "The changelings are going to be living openly in some locations, even if some may wish to return to the shadows. The Temple is a place where they walk openly, some of Equestria's population are part of a hive link, and Spike here was raised in Equestria. Right?"

Spike nodded.
"I could always tell, Gold; when ponies think their race superior. You are only in this position because you were asked by your fellow soldiers. Put such things away for now. You can try to build your 'Better Equestria' when it is no longer threatened by minotaurs and insane parasites."

Cimmerian raised a hoof, though.
"I need to know first. Before we move on. What will you do with those who are linked? They didn't ask for such a thing. Will you deny them entry into your better Equestria for the scars they bear? What about hybrids? Is there a point at which a pony isn't pony enough? Tread carefully, Standard, because that's a very slippery slope you're walking."

The unicorn's hackles rose but otherwise he remained silent. Instead they turned to the map. Even if the stallion rubbed Cimmerian the wrong way, he was chosen by his peers. Cimmerian just had to remember to talk to those peers and make certain they knew what they were unleashing by putting the stallion in a leadership position.
In the meantime he had other things to worry about. The griffons were still trying to recover from their own losses and weren't willing to help remove the root of the problem. That meant that Canterlot had to be retaken by the Equestrians. A demoralized, traumatized and thoroughly scattered army that had less than a month ago watched everything fall to pieces around their ears, against an entrenched force of endless numbers, all feral monsters that would kill them on sight out of blind rage and hunger. Led by a creature that wanted nothing more than to see this world burn to ashes.

'Right, no problem,' Cimmerian chuckled to himself as Twilight began to identify each and every defense she and the Nightmare had installed. 'We've got this in the bag.' 
> Reality Meets Expectations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian's smile had long since left his face as he listened to a detailed list of both Canterlot's physical challenges to conquer as well as the actual state of the forces he had access to.

Celestia had designed the city as a multi-layered fortress and the Nightmare had locked it down tight. There were alternate routes into the city if you knew where they were, as Celestia had wanted ways to take back the city if it were conquered in her absence but most of those were heavily booby-trapped by Twilight and the Nightmare years ago. There seemed to be no way into the city without having to run through an endless tide of changelings while getting stuck at several choke points that would be a murder-fest.
The troops he had access to were also an issue. As Zelus had stated they couldn't fight prolonged battle. The stress would wear on them and eventually one would break. When that happened the linked Equestrian forces would unravel like a sweater, taking with them a good portion of his fighting force.
'An impenetrable city, inadequate troops and supplies, an infinite number of enemy soldiers, and a secondary enemy force looking to take the city that's better equipped and more experienced.
'This...is bad.'

The stallion had always kept his head up. It was a life philosophy that had helped him cope with his situation. Unidentifiable years of immobility, his sudden God/Demi-God status, the amorous bug-mare that had started as an acquisition during a foolish scouting mission he'd taken upon himself, even taking in the first of the changelings on the idea that there had to be more to a race than emotional vampirism. Optimism left him looking to Celestia when Luna proved hostile. Optimism left him looking for a way to usurp the Nightmare's power without a direct confrontation because he wasn't sure he could take her head-on. The main force behind the assault? A second changeling queen he'd asked Pandinus to allow entry even after the first mare had argued such an idea. A queen that stood beside him now as a powerful bodyguard and who had freed the third changeling queen on their side; Heart, a queen who even now was keeping the ponies that had been enslaved to the arrays safe and sane.

Optimism left him here in Equestria looking to take back the pony capital. But optimism alone couldn't win this fight.

He glanced at those currently present in the dream-simulation, a detailed map of Equestria making up the floor with forces marked in different colors for numbers and allegiance. Hackett was watching curiously, wondering what the alicorn would do with the odds so stacked. Zelus and Heart both were staring quietly, likely already sensing his lack of energy. Gold standard though was still standing tall, expecting Cimmerian to pull some Dues ex Machina from his ass. It was what alicorns did, after all.
'Not going to happen. Too much, the battle is too lopsided.'

Staring at the map and numbers for a few more minutes Cimmerian shook his head.
"It won't work. We can't win this fight."

Gold Standard almost had a conniption at the words, having been born and raised in a land where alicorns ruled for centuries. It would likely be the same when he delivered this news to the rest of the ponies. They'd hoped he would be able to pull this off and to some degree, so had he. Cimmerian wasn't stupid though. This would be a slaughter, and not the good kind.

"What do you mean we can't win? We have six hundred loyal Equestrian soldiers ready and waiting to kick those bugs out of our home!"

"Have you even looked at what we're up against? The changelings are endless. The queens will keep laying eggs to replenish their forces using the very magic that made it such a good home for unicorns! Then after pushing through thousands if not a million mindless drones and whatever traps the Nightmare has activated in her panic we have to hold it against a Minotaur invasion, with half the of the fortifications torn down from our own invasion. This isn't some Helm's Deep gambit where we hold for several days until reinforcements show up. We don't have reinforcements. We also have to fight our way in first, then defend it with soldiers that have already been exhausted taking the city!"

"You're an alicorn, you can't just say no!"

"Watch me. No, Golds Standard. I will not lead these soldiers to their deaths when there are other solutions available," he retorted.

"The princesses would-"

"Both Celestia and Luna have been taken out of this equation yeas ago. Celestia is only now recovering and while she can lead a country, she can't lead an army. Not because of your help mind you, but because my forces and I deactivated the array keeping them trapped. Luna is the only interest I have in Canterlot. Everything else in that city can burn for all I care."

Hackett remained silent as he stared at the map while both queens were watching from the far end of the table. Cimmerian could hear them speaking in hushed tones even now, though their topic tended to drift and have little to do with the planning.

"That's Canterlot you're talking about, you oversized-"

"That's an enemy city your demanding I take, Standard. That is a heavily fortified and strongly garrisoned stronghold with an infinite number of soldiers and a second enemy force on the way. It would be a slaughter for any Equestrian soldier I try to use to take it."

"You're darned right it will be a slaughter! Those changelings won't stand a chance!"

Zelus burst into laughter at the stallion's bravado and Heart shook her head. Cimmerian though was the one who had to  deal with this one.

"Are you daft? Six hundred soldiers, no reinforcements, no resupply aside from what you can scrounge from the abandoned homes along the way, no time to rest or set up your own defenses before a second enemy force, this one at least twice the size of what you have now, strikes the city. Even if we, by some act of God, manage to take the city from the Nightmare and the changeling swarms without a single casualty, you are facing two to one odds in another fight less then a day after that. The Minotaurs aren't stupid. They're not going to let you get settled in. Once they see you pushing, they'll push as well. This is not a situation I'm involving myself in."

Cimmerian removed Gold from the dream with a simple push of his power, cutting off the stallion's tirade before it could begin.
"Honestly, I'm all for being positive but there's a point at which it becomes a flaw. When you're willing to walk into a wood chipper because you don't think it's smart enough to hurt you, there's an issue."

"I thought you were going to try it," Hackett said, shaking his head. "That or demand I supply you with troops."

"Herrick made that point perfectly clear. They're pissed as it is, having to retake High-Talon. Having them retake another nations capitol would be going to far. As for Discord, he said he'd help. He didn't say he'd do ninety percent of the work for us. I'm not interested in owing a God of chaos, or spirit, or whatever the hell it is he flaunts himself as. We have a real situation to work with, not some stallion's need to show the world his dick's bigger than everyone else's. This city here, Mare-oh my god, you're kidding me."

Cimmerian had seen it before, but actually being in the country and looking at the names of the pony cities was another thing entirely. Mareland? Really? And Stalliongrad. Oh it was almost painful to look at. The puns...
"We'll retake Mareland while the changelings are focused on the Minotaurs, sweep the city for control arrays and destroy or deactivate them. That way we'll have a home-base or at least a city to house people in. What do we know of Mareland?"

"I shall ask in the morning, or better yet I shall have some of the drones write it out after I return to my dream-hive," Heart replied. "I'm certain I have ponies that would know."

"That would be amazing. If you can get anything on the other cities as well I'd appreciate that. We need to bring Equestria back up and running. That means getting people home, getting farms running, getting the...weather factory? Okay, Cloudsdale; can we move it?"

"I don't see why not," Zelus said. "It's a cloud city. It would perhaps be a bit more involved than I would think but we should be able to manage it. I assume you want to move it over here? Closer to Mareland?"

"And farther from the minotaur lands. Even if they pull back after finding out Canterlot can't be held they're still a threat. Their leader wants to see alicorns, and by extension ponies in general, pay for putting his race down. I really don't think ponies have done so, but what someone thinks and the reality of the situation don't have to be one and the same. You also don't have to be actively working against someone to hurt them."

"True enough I suppose," Zelus agreed. "The first Nightmare had no intention of causing you problems, right? It was merely a bonus."

Cimmerian opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut.
"I can't argue with that. I'm pretty sure it didn't care too much as long as it got out of the area. Any and all suffering that was a result was icing on the cake...a shitty cake, considering it lost, but a cake none the less."

"Does the suffering of the second Nightmare count?" Zelus added with a wry grin.

The queens shared a chuckle even as the alicorn continued to look over the map, adding lines or moving figures here or there. The minotaur forces were his primary concern at the moment. There was a good chance the minotaurs would fall back to resupply after the fall of Canterlot and then try to push into Equestria a second time. Without a standing army, the ponies wouldn't be able to defend the border as well and such tactics would be viable, even if it would add time to their movements.

Cimmerian stopped, looking to Hackett as he held a few more markers in his magic.
"If you'd like I can bring you back to your own dream. This is likely going to be an advanced and incredibly involved campaign. Multiple goals, multiple sides, it's not going to be an easy fix. I'll keep you updated but otherwise you're really not involved anymore."

"I'll be sending a report to Herrick tomorrow," the griffon said, shrugging his wings. "He wants to know what your planning and if he needs to be ready for an alicorn doing something stupid. If you're going this way I can tell him to start directing refugees to these towns you're grabbing. Personally, I think he'll be thrilled to hear you're taking this seriously and working the larger picture."

The alicorn nodded, tapping a map marker to his lips in thought.
"I want the minotaurs to hit Canterlot, but I also want to get Luna out of there. Sparky, you and I are going to make a route into the city Zelus and I can use to reach her. You remember where she was being kept?"

Twilight nodded, beginning to work the map and even helping the queens create a subterranean map that showed the sewers and tunnels under the city.
"The Nightmare knows about most of these and some of them I've even helped fortify but there were a few we used as escape routes. Some were even added after the fact, in case the other routes were known. One of them was a nice straight tunnel falling from about here in the castle into a cavern below the city. There's a straight shot from here to the queen's-"

"Where's Luna?" the alicorn interrupted.

"Oh, um, we kept her in the chambers across from the queens. I assume you want to take care of both-"

"Luna is the only thing I care about. The minotaurs aren't smart enough to use the queens. They'll kill them instead, or try to block them off. If they seal off the queens then we can recover them later, if they kill the queens...it's not ideal but its better than their current situation. My priority is Luna though. If the queens end up being too much trouble they may impede our recovery of the mare. Zelus and I are going to get into the city, grab her, then get the fuck out of dodge."

"Would you mind if I checked, Cimmerian?" Zelus asked. "To see if we could save any of the queens?"

"If you can do it without letting the drones loose into the hallway where I'm picking up Luna I don't care. If you think we can save a few of them let me know and I'll do what I can. Is there anything to stop us from teleporting in or out?" the stallion asked the smaller alicorn.

"A few runic wards, which are easy enough to bypass. I mean, I was the one who wrote a few of them and the rest are pretty generic or really old spells. Some of them just alter teleportation coordinates so you end up too high or too low, others prevent a successful connection with your teleportation beacon spell and cause the spell to fizzle. I grew up there though so teleporting in and out of Canterlot is fairly easy. It's one of the reasons I found teleporting in Ponyville so easy actually, there's no additional steps so-"

"Sparky, focus," Cimmerian said, chuckling. "Can we teleport into the room where the queens or Luna are being held?"

The mare looked away, abashed.
"Sorry. I don't think teleporting into the castle from outside will work unless it's Celestia herself, as she personally wrote some of the wards, and even then she didn't like doing that as it was difficult. Once we're inside though, it's easy to write a teleportation grid to move a large group out."

"Easy for you," Zelus corrected, smiling none the less. "I'll provide power for a teleport if we need it. I'll teach you to use another changeling's power tomorrow."

The purple mare squealed in glee, clopping her hooves together and bringing a smile to most of those present.

'At least she can still experience joy in learning,' Cimmerian thought. 'It's a good sign for her future...because eventually we may need her again. I can't lead two nations.'



<-(0)->



It was a commotion in the early morning that brought Cimmerian into the waking world. Zelus stepped into his tent, an irritated scowl on her face as she looked at him.
"Standard," was all she said but it was all the explanation he needed. Apparently the stallion wasn't going to let this go. That was fine, as Cimmerian was more than willing to deal with him in the real world, one where a slap upside the head with a hoof would leave a painful reminder for longer than a moment.

Sure enough the stallion was soap-boxing, literally in this case. He stood on a box, attempting to rile up the soldiers and guards around him to action, offering promises of glory and a retaken country that would celebrate them all as heroes. Upon seeing Cimmerian approaching, the stallion grinned, a vicious glint in his eyes.
"And he's the one that will lead us to victory!"

The crowd began cheering and stomping, clearly worked up and ready to go. The alicorn merely stared at Standard, though, no emotion present on his face.
'So that's it. Play my way or disappoint all these people.'

Looking over the crowds, the dark stallion smiled, causing the crowd to almost shake with anticipation.
"Have fun storming the castle."
With that Cimmerian turned and left, moving to the griffon control-building to start writing out his plans for country. Zelus followed along, snickering even as the throng's enthusiasm died a sudden death. They'd placed their hopes in him, and he'd dropped those hopes all over the ground like so many eggs.

"That was cruel," the queen giggled. "I approve, though I'm sure you'll hear something from Celestia about hurting their feelings."

"I'm here to fix this, not fuel their delusions of grandeur. Things are bad and could get worse but they can also get better. It's not going to be a quick fix though. We talked about that last night," he retorted.

"We did, but the ponies out there didn't. All they know now is that a stallion was hyping them up to march to war and part of his plan just fell out. Now they'll question his words in other things," Zelus said. "In soldiers that can be dangerous."

"I hope they question him, honestly," Cimmerian said as they arrived at the command building. He held open the door, getting an eye-roll for his manners and shoved her in before him with a quick burst of magic. "If they're asking questions they'll not charge off while I'm making plans. Heart can talk to the ponies in the hive, but the unlinked ones out there don't trust her. They won't accept her reasoning like those in the hive, but now they won't charge off to their deaths either. At least I hope they wont. There's the possibility Gold will try to take a bunch of soldiers and retake Canterlot himself, trying to force us into a fight we don't want."

The two were silent as Cimmerian began writing out the plans, mostly the priority cities he wanted back. Cloudsdale for weather and possible military support such power would bring. Mareland for a large metropolitan area, with plenty of room for refugees to sleep and work. Apploosa would be nice, and it was out of the way enough and had a large enough farming community that they could use it as a breadbasket while the other places were taken.
"Did the feral swarms even reach Apploosa?"

"Not sure," a griffon hen responded, walking up to the map Cimmerian was using. "Commander asked me to drop these off for you, latest scouting reports from around the local Equestrian territories. If you want information on that city though you're going to need to send a pegasus."

"I may be able to provide such a pegasus," Celestia offered, stepping into the room with a careful smile. "I trust you can explain why my...the ponies outside are fighting?"

"One of your lieutenants wants to retake Canterlot now. I wont support it. It would be suicide, so we're going to do this the safe way. Taking back the areas we can hold," Cimmerian explained without looking up from the reports. "What was it you were saying about a way to check Appleoosa?"

"I brought the Element Bearers with me. Rainbow Dash is recovered enough to make such a trip faster than anypony else could. She can get you the information you wish in a few hours."

Cimmerian blinked, looking over the map and guessing the distances they were talking about.
"Celestia, that's a long trip. I know pegasi are fast, but can she maintain that speed?"

"She can. It's part of the magic that flows through her. As an Element Bearer, she has access to the magic of the elements even if she can't actively use it. Loyalty gives her speed and endurance that is unmatched by others of her tribe."

"I'll talk to her in a bit, in that case," Cimmerian said, nodding. "There are several places we need to know about but I'm not going to have her hit them all in one day. Even with an artifact boosting her I can't loose her. We may need her later on and no way in hell am I losing that mare again. We may be able to use her to put Sparkle back."

Celestia perked at the notion.
"You believe you could return Twilight to her body?"

"Honestly I'm still a bit surprised I managed to pull her from it in the first place, but she's a special case. It may require having the Elements hit the Nightmare while she's nearby. It may work, it may not. I don't know. I'm working on guesswork here and I don't like doing that. I know next to nothing about the Elements."

"Well, most of my research on how they actually work took place after I lost Luna so that doesn't surprise me."

"You're telling me you two used these things for years and never understood them?"

"One does not need to understand hinges and locks to open a door. We knew how to focus the power of the elements and that was all we needed. We were also a bit preoccupied fighting every conceivable evil that decided to rear its head after Discord was removed from power. It was astonishing how many thought that because someone defeated him they were free to do as they wished."

Cimmerian sighed.
"No. No, you're right; I believe it. I think I can recall several situations on earth where some dictator was actually keeping several other dangerous groups from acting out and with his death they all thought they were free to do as they pleased."
"Alright forget that. Do you do think it would work? You know more about the magical rocks and their connections to those girls than anyone else."

"I do not know. The Elements are supposed to be a balancing power, one that returns things to harmony. If Twilight was still in her body instead of a drone I'm almost certain it would work but in this situation..."

"It might not. The Nightmare is a priority, but one that I can wait on. It's power-base is all but gone and what little it retains is autonomous. If it wasn't she would have driven it into the ground as well. She's scared and angry, so she's probably waiting for a last stand.
"And that's why I'm not going after her right now."

Looking up from his papers to the white alicorn, Cimmerian smiled.
"An enemy that knows they're defeated and is awaiting the coup de grace is less of a threat than one that thinks they can defeat you. I'm going to let the minotaurs smash themselves against the Nightmare's fortifications. I'm not going to walk into her traps and any suicidal last stands she has planned when I can let a bunch of guys I don't like do so."

"Will that not make taking Canterlot even more difficult, with an enemy force occupying it like that instead of just the drones?"

"Tia, Canterlot is a monstrosity. It's big, beautiful, shiny, looks expensive and seems like an awesome target. But my God those guys have made a mistake looking to take it. The train is the primary source of transportation on and off the mountain, which I don't know if they can use. If they can we rip out a small section of rail. Figuring out how to drive the train's likely easier than trying to replace a large chunk of rail; something that they don't have the materials or know-how to create. I plan on letting them learn just how bad their leader is then hit them as they start running low on supplies. It will take time, and Canterlot will need to be repaired, but in the meantime we can work on retaking other cities and giving the ponies a place to rally to."

"Canterlot really isn't that bad," the mare defended, earning a stare from both Cimmerian and Zelus.

"If it wasn't for the Pony farmers there's no way you could sustain the city. It is not only impractical but unsafe. I will likely not feel safe until I am clear of the city, and that's ignoring the threat of the feral drones and control arrays," Zelus said.

"If you are so against it, why do you have a map of Canterlot?"

"Because I want to get your sister out of there."

That made the smaller alicorn perk her ears.
"Luna. You plan on freeing Luna! You seek to use the Minotaur attack to divert the drones from your path and allow you to rescue her."

"I will be checking the queens as well," Zelus added. "While I think we can leave the...dead queen's there to harass the minotaurs for now. I wish to make certain any viable queen's are removed from harms way before he minotaurs have a chance to find them. Considering how well hidden the queens are it could be a long time and thus shall weaken the minotaurs even more but eventually they will find the location of the queens."

"Just follow the river of drones," Cimmerian chuckled, shaking his head. "There's going to be more to it than that but it's the main objective I have there. I also plan of goading the minotaurs a bit. I want them to soften up the drones and even walk into any traps the Nightmare has set up in the meantime. Their leader hates me. Us, alicorns and ponies in general. He'll jump if I ask in the right way. Which I will tonight. After that, Zelus and I will head to Canterlot.
"In the meantime you need to rally. I'll be here to help and lend power or an outside perspective, and the queens are willing to help as well, but in the end this is your country and your troops. They're desperate for a figurehead to rally around, even a strange stallion from the other side of the planet. They need you."

"They don't need me," Celestia said sadly, donning a smile in spite of her attitude. "They haven't had me in years. Why would they need me now?"

"Uh, because look at where they are now?" Cimmerian said sarcastically. "They're out of a country, out of a home, living in refugee camps and scattered to the winds. The fact that it took this long for someone to take down the country even without you is a testament to how well you led, Tia. Just because you don't see the knife in the dark doesn't mean you're a bad leader. I can name two leaders off the top of my head that were good at their jobs and were assassinated; more if you give me time to think about it."
"Besides, you think I want this country? I have my own to look after, thank you very much. One that is currently the home of my pregnant wife. To whom I shall be returning to post-haste."

"They took this long to take it down because they chose not to," the mare argued.

"What do you think would have happened if the Nightmare tried to do this sooner? If she'd tried this before she had all of the control arrays in place? Before she had convinced the military that taking other countries was not only the right thing to do, but their birthright?"

"They would have  tossed her out, alicorn or not," Zelus said. "Instead she used her own kidnappings as a driving force to propel herself into a position of power. She used their concern for you and the Element Bearers to move those who cared out of the way while she installed those who would follow her orders in place."

Cimmerian nodded.
"This was a carefully thought out coup, Celestia. One that had the full intellect of your student behind it. Right now though, the Nightmare is a spoiled brat that has no idea what it's doing. Even a brat can be dangerous when it's waving around a sword though. Now while I'm working on this, why don't you go make an appearance. They're looking for an alicorn to assuage their fears right now and I think you have plenty of practice with that. Besides, these are your soldiers, not mine. If they're following my orders, it should be by your word.

Celestia nodded solemnly, turning to leave and speak to her ponies again. Stopping at the door, she turned back with a smile.
"Thank you for watching after them, even if they can be difficult."

The dark alicorn waved her off, choosing instead to focus on his maps. Things were going to get tricky in the coming days. Once the ball started rolling, there wouldn't be time to stop it.



<-(0)->



Cairn frowned as he felt his dream twist, an unfortunately familiar feeling. The alicorn was back.

The crone had told him she could protect him from an actual attack, but the magic would not prevent the demon from invading his dreams. It would be up to him to expel the monster from his dreams.

The alicorn stepped from the shadows in his half-demon form, whistling a jaunty tune with a smile on his face.
"Sup, Cairn? I decided I'd give you one last shot. To surrender I mean. I'm back in the country and will be taking back Canterlot. Once I get to Celestia's secret room? To the sealed chamber she has inside the library? I'm afraid all bets are off. I don't have to deal with flies after all, and once I get there, you and your army will be naught but pests to me."

The alicorn left in a flicker of wind, causing the bull to sputter awake. The sun was rising slowly, as was his army. Once they were awake, he would push them forward. He had to take that city before the demon found Celestia's super-weapon.



<-(0)->



"Ready Zel?"
Cimmerian grinned as the shape shifter nodded, using a few simple knots to secure Twi-drone to her back. They couldn't afford to be detected by magic so no active spells were going to be used during their infiltration. This also meant that Zelus and Twilight would be mostly sealed from each other, relying on physical and vocal communications until they were inside the defensive perimeter. It would be fine though. The way was clear, mostly at least, and with the minotaur army riled and rushing to stop a perceived threat the drones would be swarming elsewhere. If the minotaurs caught site of them while he used their charge as cover? Even better. It would cause Cairn to panic and attempt to push through the gauntlet even faster. His haste would cause more casualties, which in turn would make his forces weaker. Not to mention what would happen when those same soldiers began to realize they were occupying a city they couldn't hold from a resource standpoint.
'He'll be facing a mutiny before the week is out. He'll either have to deal with it in a quick and bloody manner or deal with it blooming into a dispute and possibly a war. Which will distract him and the rest of the minotaurs while we rebuild and recover.'

It wasn't the situation he wanted, not one he'd normally even wish upon a race much less attempt to inflict. But the alternative was a war between his ally and the minotaurs while the rest of the world was recovering from the Nightmare's machinations. The griffons were down to a mercenary company fulfilling their military needs, the dragons were never really a united peoples as far as he knew( or maybe they just didn't publicize such things?), the changelings had been decimated as a whole, and the ponies were trying to take back their homes. Really, the only race that hadn't been hit hard had been the thestrals.
'And that was only because the Nightmare hadn't had time to hit them before she lost her powerbase.'

Cimmerian flapped a few times to stretch before taking off, hearing Zelus take to the skies behind him. Luna would be with them by the next day, God willing. Maybe a few more queens as well. It would take time, but his home would be safe. His children would be safe. Even if he had to personally fight in every battle to settle the region.

As he flew off, a rainbow colored blur moved south, Rainbow Dash off to complete a scouting mission before his group even reached Canterlot. The dark stallion smirked as he watched her contrail fade into the distance. Maybe he'd talk her into giving him some high-speed flight tips once this was all over.
> The Mission: Steal the Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cimmerian's group made a slow but steady pace on their way to Canterlot. They only encountered a few roving patrols of drones, each easily dealt with by the alicorn and the changeling queen. Zelus even took a few for herself, using them to guard the group as they slept. The drones would die soon and it caused the queen no small amount of discomfort to allow herself to bind them, but when asked about it she merely stated she'd persevere.
'Won't we all,' the alicorn thought to himself, watching as Twilight became more and more agitated the closer they came to Canterlot. Even with his words and assurances, it was the place of both her torment and her failure. Where in giving in to the Nightmare, she'd torn down her own country. She'd destroyed the country built by her loving teacher.

The castle itself was soon in view, the group resting just outside of Ponyville and using the Apple Family Barn as their last stop before they entered the city itself. Cimmerian wouldn't permit them to move any closer, instead insisting they get some extra sleep before they made the last rush.
"I don't know how long it will be, but we need to be ready to move. The drones will mostly be distracted once the minotaurs reach Canterlot Mountain and it will take the minotaurs a long time to fight through them, but I want us gone long before then."

"What about the queens that are not there?" Zelus asked.

"That's up to you, Zelly," he answered as he watched the buzzing cloud around the city on the mountain. "We could leave them and let them cause more trouble for the minotaurs, or you can destroy them yourself."

The queen nodded, moving back into the barn to find a comfortable place to rest. She would rest for an hour, then it would be Cimmerian's turn. Twilight was jittering nearby, nervously stroking her own silky tail as she looked upon the mountain. The alicorn sighed, moving closer and using a wing to pull her close.
"It's almost over, Twilight. We'll get Luna free, then take this country back. Nothing will be the same, but Equestria will survive. Not even you could destroy it completely, and that's saying something. You're a smart mare, and powerful."

"I used to be powerful," Twilight sighed. "The magic this drone is capable of channeling is more than a normal changeling, but it's still not even a fifth of my power as a unicorn, much less the power I had as an alicorn. It's likely I'll never have that kind of power again."

"Don't count yourself out. Either the queens will work with you to develop stronger drones, or we'll get your body back. There are issues with both outcomes, but we'll worry about that when we get there. For now we focus on our mission. You have that array memorized, right?"

"I could write it out in my sleep. The moment we get into the chamber we're keeping luna in-"

Cimmerian shook his head, cutting her off.
"No, if the chamber the queens are in isn't flooded with drones, I want you to etch the array in there. Luna will likely be small in her weakened state and I can move her more easily than we can move the queens. We'll also need the room, depending on how many survive and how bloated they are. You're certain we can't reach the main control crystals from Luna's room?"

"We could, but it would be quite the trip through what's likely to be a very open and difficult to navigate area. I know for a fact that I wanted that to be one of the most defended areas in Canterlot, even more so than the queens. If somepony managed to hit the queens, I had a few queen eggs in storage I could pull out in...an....I completely forgot about those."

"Are they in some sort of stasis?" the stallion questioned, worry seeping into his voice.

"Yes, they are. I remember where I put them now, they were actually hidden so well there isn't a pony aside from myself or the Nightmare that knows about them, and I don't know if the Nightmare knows how to use them. I mean, there's a lot that goes into preparing a queen for that kind of egg laying, to say nothing about the work that would be needed for bringing those proto-queens to maturity. That's a whole battery of issues in and of itself. It took me nearly four weeks of study to find the proper triggers to force a proto-queen to molt! Four weeks with unfettered access to queens and proto-queens and every bit of their biology! It would have been insulting if the mechanisms weren't so complicated. Because of that though, it was an amazing discovery. Did you know they can hold off their final molt indefinitely? A proto-queen can remain a proto-queen until she finds a suitable location to settle down, even if it means waiting decades if not centuries! Of course, when waiting for such an extended time, a proto-queen won't just wander around. She usually digs out a small cave or seals off a natural one and enters a form of hibernation. Why, if we could find a way to replicate that kind of stasis in ponies we could-"

Cimmerian nodded along absentmindedly, doing his best to keep up with her excited chattering about the advancements possible or technologies she'd love to look into. Eventually Zelus arrived, giving him a little time to get his own sleep. He nodded off, too distracted to really try anything while waiting. He couldn't be caught away from his body in a time like this. So instead he dozed as he usually did, listening to the lazy rolling of waves on a beach.



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it was with a nearly monumental effort that a certain mare managed to roll herself out of her comfortable bed. Finally settling onto her hooves, she winced as she felt her organs shifting, an almost alien sensation given how few of those changelings normally had. She grumbled as she made her way to her newly renovated bathroom, the toilet that had been installed an unfortunate necessity given her recent biological changes.
'It's never simple,' she grumbled, her muttering shifting onto a giggle as she felt the weight of both her alien organs and the internal chamber that currently housed her most treasured possessions.

Three foals of mixed species.

The first she was certain was a changeling at this point. The young female was already showing a link, a phantom presence in the dream hive and giving her an almost ravenous hunger for emotions. The second weight in her belly seemed to almost radiate heat, the pony-like foal already showing that it was warm blooded. The third...

Pandinus wasn't certain. It felt like a mixture of the other two, a little heat mixed with a faint pull on her emotional reserves. It also wasn't like it was the only one making her crave solid foods for once in her life. That went to all three of them, she was certain of that.
'What changes would that cause in a changeling queen? Will she always be required to consume solid foods?'

Exiting her room after her now-more-than-daily ritual she came to a halt, the momentum causing her to wince as her organs shifted at the sudden stop.
It wasn't a weakness. As Cimmerian had explained to her, food like wheat and carrots could be grown in a wide variety of places. There were also the pathfinders and rangers, the ponies and griffons she'd spoken with that survived in the wilds. Some griffons would brag of years spent alone, only their claws and their wits keeping them going. Since she was a changeling queen and had no issue with either the meats served by griffons or the roughest vegetation served by ponies, surely an omnivorous queen that could sustain herself on solid foods would be an advantage. She would be able to survive even alone in the farthest reaches of the world.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to assume you're contacting Cimmerian."

Pandinus blinked as she returned to reality, finding a grinning pink alicorn and her changeling proto-queen attaché standing before her. And on the mare's back...
Din's belly rumbled as the scents of sausages, eggs, and other breakfast foods reached her but staring at the platter the recovering princess before her was carrying and weighing it against the emptiness in her gut she just knew it wouldn't be enough.
"I'm headed to the dining hall. I'm afraid I'm rather hungry this morning."
'Mist, could you send two jars of honey to the dining hall for me?'

'Of course, your highness,' the medical drone replied. 'Any unidentifiable aches or pains this morning or just the usual?'

'Just the usual issues. No shapeshifting of the barrel, legs are still fine. Odd sensations from the digestive system, but that's becoming a bit easier to deal with. Aside from needing to...dispose of the excess waste, it's not unpleasant.'

'Would you like to speak with one of the pony doctors again some time today?'

'That won't be necessary. Thank you, Mist.'

'It's my pleasure, your highness. If you need anything else you need only ask.'

Din nodded, more to herself than the drone. There had been a change in the hive when Zelus's hatchlings were first introduced. New blood, the first  additions to any hive since the changelings first were driven to flight. It wasn't hers, true, but technically she'd become pregnant first. Would it be herself or Zelus that should be accounted for having the first clutch since The Hunt?

'It really doesn't matter, I suppose. In our own ways we were both first,' she thought, nodding in acknowledgement of the beings passing her by. They all were respectful, they all also radiated a bit of curiosity or loyalty at her passing, the difference between Cimmerians followers and the refugees. Not everyone was trusting of the stallion but that was fine with her. There were enough that loved him and trusted his word to sustain her hive. That didn't mean she didn't need him though. She was already craving that special form of love he'd started to radiate in her presence. The love for her, and what she carried.

She absentmindedly grabbed a tray in her magic, going down the line of breakfast items and quickly filling her plate. She grabbed another, and a third before making her way to her usual spot, setting all three plates down and beginning to eat even as her magic seasoned this item or buttered the toast. She listened with little interest as a few ponies and changelings practiced instruments, adding a bit of atmosphere that she didn't find any reason to object to. In fact the tunes were nice. Soothing, in some cases. She would have to see about getting one of those music machines some of the ponies were speaking of, a record player. She was sure Cimmerian would like it as well.
Din sighed, already missing the male and the pampering he would give her. Waking up to a plate of foods that he would feed her while they were in bed, his smothering her in his wings, drowning out all other scents and sounds, nibbling her neck or whispering into her lower belly as though they could hear him. Perhaps they could. After all, what did she know of live births? She was supposed to be laying eggs.

"Your honey, Queen Pandinus," a drone buzzed, setting two jars of emotion next to her breakfast. She nodded, smirking as the drone watched in a fascinated horror as she ate solid foods not out of curiosity or to keep her disguise believable but in actual hunger.

It was amazing what one could get used to. Here she was eating like a pony and only wondering at how natural it felt at the moment. She was curious actually. Could she keep her current set-up even after her pregnancy? The organs likely wouldn't be absorbing as much and her actual hunger would drop but if she decided to do this again...no, when she decided to. When she decided to use the stallion's seed a second time, her body would be ready. It also gave her a unique perspective. She'd always seen those that needed physical foods as weaker but the amount of energy involved in the processing of said materials was ridiculous.

Din swallowed the last of her solid breakfast before popping open a jar and beginning to chug the sweet sustenance that was changeling honey. All the drones were producing it now, or at least a good portion of them. Some were even getting access to love, meaning she wasn't entirely dependent on her own reserves. More advancement, more impossibilities. Drones pulling in several jars of love, and the only reason they couldn't bring in more was because they didn't have the capacity.

The drones just weren't used to such large quantities of emotion. Centuries of getting by on what they could nab without alerting their food source made them incredibly efficient, but they just couldn't handle the larger quantities of emotion the were dealing with now.
'That will need to be fixed. A little honey in cocoons should help make the changes. Expand their capacity, allow the emotion to flow a bit easier.'

The heavy queen finished the second jar without hesitation. Feeling the emotion-honey and the solid foods mixed in her gut had been strange, but now it was just a pleasant feeling. Some foods actually absorbed the honey, leaving them to radiate the emotion even hours later. It certainly wasn't efficient, but it helped stave off her own hunger while she worked, reducing the need to snack later.

The changeling queen made her way to the war room, still the center of activity in the Temple. Both of the top ponies were there, Gleam and Weaver silently reading reports and making note of anything important that was occurring nearby. Once more she found it inefficient, but it had its uses. The two kept physical copies of those reports, rather than reviewing a drones report and then forgetting about it. She didn't have to memorize patrols for her drones either, as one of the griffons were writing those up. Which left her...

"You didn't have to come," Gleam said, smiling gently as she looked up from her current focus.

"I like to stay in the know. I also won't have a drone doing this just so I know where everything stands," Din scoffed. "I am a queen, Gleam, and a little discomfort is t going to stop me from doing my job."

Shadow snorted in amusement, looking at the two over his own pile of paper.
"You knew she was going to come, Gleam. She does it more out of boredom than anything else though. No stallion to harass or to keep her occupied. Tartarus, even when he is here she ends up in this room, nibbling on his neck like a puppy looking for affection."

"Speaking of which, how did it go?"

Gleam blushed hotly, at the topic.
"We uh, didn't manage to get away. There's just too much to do at the moment and with Cimmerian gone, well-"

"Oh no you don't. I told you two to have a lunch in the port. There are ground and air transports going back and forth between here and there all day and there's even an inn. We have the bits and I can hold down this mess. Now get out, both of you! Depriving my children of their food, how dare you!"
Pandinus shuffled around the table and began  shoving both of them out of the room, closing the now much more sturdy and nice looking door behind them. She turned around and stared at the mess of a table before an idea occurred to her.
'Does anyone have experience with secretarial work, even as an infiltration position?'

There were a few responses and she found herself laughing as they offered any knowledge she may need.
'Oh no, you misunderstand. I need you to actually help me with this, not tell me how. Please come to the war room.'

Giggling as the drones realized what they had volunteered for, the queen looked out over the jungle. It was an odd and confusing existence she now led, but it was more than she'd hoped for.



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Cimmerian snorted awake, someone rustling his body having jerked him from his dream.

"I think the Minotaurs are reaching the maximum range the drones are being allowed to wander."

The stallion rose, nodding as a yawn split his face. It was nearly daybreak now, and they'd settled in in the late evening.
"While I, ahh-ha, appreciate the extra sleep, you didn't have to do that."

"You know as well as I do that I don't sleep in the same way as you do. I had our acquisitions standing watch," the changeling queen responded.

"You mean you kept watch through the drones."

"I set them to alert us if anything approached. Other than that I was working with Twilight on gardening herself against the array. It ignored her when she was a pony but it will be calling to her when we get there."

"Alright, let's get moving. Do you need help securing her?" He asked.

Zelus shook her head.
"Get your own packs, I can handle mine."

"'M nuh luggage," Twilight mumbled, sleepily rubbing at her eyes.

"Shush," The larger mare said, pressing a hoof to the drone-rider's mouth. "Luggage doesn't argue."


The three made good time on their way to the mountain. Too good of time it turned out. The minotaurs were being surprisingly cautious about this, moving little by little and peeling off the scouting parties while they moved closer, leaving no changelings to swarm them from behind. At the rate they were going it would take them a long while, and while the queens would keep pumping out drones to replace the ones killed, thus making the strategy senseless, it meant that Cimmerians group would have to wait.

The alicorn wasn't a fan of that. To push things forward he needed Cairn to rush the Keep, grabbing the full attention of the drones and the Nightmare. As the group flew closer to the Minotaur camp, keeping high enough to avoid any arrows or crossbows, Cimmerian caught sight of what he assumed was the bull's command tent.
'Normally not the kind of thing I'd try, but what the hell. If it works, it works.'







Cairn was alerted to something approaching the camp by the shouting of sentries. It wasn't anything new as the drones had been fairly constant in their attacks, a few drones following the same routes each day. The patrols didn't react to his killing them either. The next day would see another set of drones running the same route, even after his troops had killed over two hundred of them.
'What monstrous force can suffer such losses and not react?'

The call that drew his attention though, was the shout that they had spotted an Alicorn. The bull rushed out of his tent, a longbow in hand, and looked skyward. Sure enough he soon spotted a small group flying through the air, mere specs in the distance at their current height. They were flying overhead, making a circuitous route around the mountain to approach it from a different angle. Unlike Cairn and his army, the ponies didn't need to take the mountain path. Just another reason to hate them, in his opinion.

One dark shape split away from the other, further killing the chances of ballista actually managing to hit something. The shape flew closer, almost-no not almost, it flew directly over the Minotaur encampment.
"Spyglass!" He shouted, instantly being handed one. He found the lazily drifting shape, confirming that it was a feathered shape, the other being sharp with almost blurring wings; a changeling. There was something on its back but the bull shifted to focus on the feathered shape. It might have been...

Something fell from the dark, feathered flier. Cairn ducked his head, thinking it might be an arrow or an explosive of some sort. A cowardly attack from a distance his own weapons couldn't reach. The object struck his tent, a horrible ripping coming from the roof as the missile tore through the roof of his tent.

The bull waited, watching nervously as the spots flew away in no hurry. After a minute he sent a soldier into his tent, to make certain it wasn't a bomb. It wouldn't do to be assassinated by the demon because of his pride. Pride that nearly made him rush the city of Canterlot. He likely would have if not for his military advisors and the warnings of the drone. He-

"It, it's not a bomb, my chief. It's-"

Cairn pushed past the young bull, nearly knocking him to the ground in his haste. He opened his tent and looked to the hole in the roof before looking down. His eyes widened and his blood boiled at the sight.
"My rug!"







Cimmerian was flying slightly awkwardly while using his magic to, for lack of a better way to phrase it, clean himself up a bit. It was crude but judging by the scream of inarticulate rage, Cairn was suitably annoyed and would be moving forward soon. 

Zelus meanwhile was howling with laughter.
"You actually, haha, and right on his tent! I had no idea one could accurately do that! I wonder what you hit? Do you think you managed to hit his bed?"

"Don't know, don't really care. We need him pressing his attack, not sitting around trying to kill the drones five at a time. The queens are fully restocking their numbers overnight. They'll never get anywhere at this rate."
Shaking his head and still flushed with embarrassment, the alicorn looked back to the camp.
"I just hope that works the way I want it to. He could decide to come after us specifically."

There was a distant horn sounding behind them and the group stopped. Cimmerian watched cautiously as the minotaurs began 
marching out, leaving a small force to guard the camp. The banners were raised, the drums sounded, and soon the army began to move.

Right towards Canterlot.

The alicorn barely suppressed a hoof-pump. The political ramifications of his move were still hitting him, years of fighting possible just to hurry his own mission but he couldn't put this off. The faster they removed the threat, even if it was done by another threat, the better off they were.

The small group turned and flew towards their start point, eagerly awaiting the beginning of the battle. When the minotaurs began their assault in earnest, their own mission would begin.



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It was nearly four hours after the group had reached their designated start point that the drones swarming the mountain began to react to an external presence. The lower layers began to peel away, followed by more and more as the Crystal arrays tried to fill in the old patrol routes with new drones. Before long the buzzing doubles, the reserves that had been in hibernation deep in the castle finally being called forth to fight. That was their cue.

The small group took flight, flying fast and low while maintaining complete silence. Zelus and Cimmerian both knew their jobs and had reviewed the maps enough to know the route by heart. The queen sped for a moment while Cimmerian lagged, allowing the mare to take the lead. Even without words, Zelus had access to Twilights sight. She could see exactly where the drone-riding mare was focused and thus knew exactly where they were going so it only made sense that she would lead the group.

The sounds of combat grew steadily louder even from the other side of the mountain. A few drone patrols were still wandering the area of their approach, but the few that did approach the trio were met with little mercy.
Cimmerian drew a blade with his jaws, not trusting the alarms to not notice his magic at this range. Zelus freely cast, but it was only because hers was a different kind of magic. One that would not set off the alarms Twilight had created.

Zelus was a whirling mass of blades suspended in green magic, easily moving through the assaulting drones without even slowing. One managed to catch her pack with a hoof, desperate to slow the mare but was met with a solid hoof to its fragile skull. The stallion saw the drone fall, only paying the slightest attention as another drone drew his attention. He twisted into a roll, letting their combined momentum to drag the creature through the blade and leaving his flight almost completely unaltered.

'Thank you Zelus,' he thought as the approached the shelf Canterlot was hanging from. at their speed most of the drones that were left were only now beginning to react and if they had enough distance between themselves and the drones by the time they reached the shadows under the city they would be home free.

The group rushed onward, now pulling into a steep climb as they made their way to the tunnel. The plan was relatively simple. Zelus would climb the tunnel, using the natural climbing abilities of her species, and grow him a rope once she reached the top and the entrance to the escape tunnel. Nobody could fly up the tunnel and it would still be tight for the two of them but with their wings tucked it should be possible.

The alicorn focused, his eyes allowing him to make out the rocks in the darkness ahead. He scanned the rocks quickly, trying to use the changeling queen's bearing to find-
'There, that's it! We got it!'

His excitement died shortly after he spotted the entrance. Either due to their proximity or his Spike in excitement, a good fifty drones dropped from their hiding places in the rocks along with several emaciated thestrals and pegasi. Biting back a curse he moved closer to the queen and spoke to her over the howling wind.
"Get the rope in position, I'll lose them."

He grinned as the changeling mare snarled at him, but she nodded and kept her weapons ahead of her. Cimmerian in the meantime allowed a few emotions to bloom, catching the attention of most of the drones even as Zelus continued to cut a gory swath through their numbers. Pulling up and rolling into a dive, the alicorn heard the buzzing getting closer as the drones reached the changeling queen and passed her without a second thought.

'Not really reacting to changelings. Either they give emotions priority or they just don't see her.'
Either way it made her job easier. Now he had to lose them though. With a single flap of his large wings he propelled himself straight down. He rolled mid-flight, putting his belly to the mountain and squinting as the drones from before finally came into view. This wouldn't be comfortable.

The large body of the alicorn drove through the fragile chitin of the drones and scattered those struck like bugs on a windshield. Blinking the gore out of his eyes, Cimmerian twisted and circled the mountain, slowing and looking back to make certain he still had his tail.
'Yup, still a bunch of angry bugs.'

He gave a few more flaps, quickly accelerating to his maximum speed before circling the mountain enough to catch sight of the Minotaur army currently battling its way up the slopes. Seeing the hundreds if not thousands of drones swarming an idea reached him. It would likely make the minotaurs more difficult to deal with but at the moment he could already see their lines flagging under the endless swarms. There just wasn't enough room on the roads for a proper fighting formation.

Cimmerian looped away from the mountain and climbed, knowing his current plan was almost as stupid as any other. He could be overestimating his speed, overestimating his durability, overestimating the power of the wind, hundreds of issues and more that he couldn't think of. But the minotaurs needed to reach Canterlot. To that end, he needed to give them some support, some room to breath.
Looping up and around as he reached the apex of his ascent, the alicorn began to speed towards the mountain.

'So much here is different from home.  Belief, willpower, magic. These things can overcome physics if you apply them in great enough amounts. I know this should work. I've seen it done, I can do this.'

Approaching the swarm that was still tailing him the alicorn went into a tight spin, the after pressure from his flight catching any drones that didn't shatter against him and dragging them along with him, he kept spinning, too. He needed the speed to maintain the wind. He needed the wind for this move. He grinned, even as his will faltered just the slightest bit.

'Oh this is going to hurt.'







Cairn was furious. For every drone his forces cut down, two more arrived to take their place. Sure the drones were like fighting tissue paper. Even the ponies who would sometimes arrive to battle them were frail, only really taking a few strikes from the weakest of his army to die. But the numbers. They were almost endless.

He was debating the pros and cons of calling a retreat when he saw a dark shape rocket past, a smaller swarm of the drones chasing after it. The bull scowled but didn't speak, instead reaching for his spyglass. Sure enough it was the demon alicorn, currently going into a steep climb in order to gain altitude. At the height of his climb he looped over himself and twisted into a dive, spinning as he reached the drones pursuing him. As the alicorn continued to spin, a wind tunnel following the dark shape that dragged his enemies into an invisible vortex, Cairn had the first inklings of what the creature was doing.
'There's no way. He'd smear himself-he is. The mad creature's going to-'
"Brace for crosswinds! Anchor yourself or get down! GET DOWN!"

Taking his large ax and burying it into the mountain path, the Minotaur used a meaty fist to cover his eyes but watched as long as he could. The alicorn reached the outer edges of the swarm and then all hell broke lose.
There was a sound of shattering stone, the mountain shook slightly underneath him. A few rocks rolled down from above, but Cairn didn't have time to look to find if the alicorn had smeared himself or managed to survive. The next moment the tailwind  stallion had been using to drag along his pursuers struck, throwing all airborne creatures into the mountainside. A plate-wearing bull stepped in front of him at the last moment, bracing himself for the storm of chitin and gore. The wind howled for a moment and there were several shouts of pain as the changeling drones were shattered and broken.

Cairn opened his eyes, finally certain that he couldn't catch a stray rock or chitin shard in his eye for such and act. Looking around, he was left uncertain what to think.
The swarm that had been pelting them since the onset was lowered to a fraction of its original strength, most of the beasts now forming a thick layer of gore on the mountainside and on the still-standing troops he could see. Bulls were starting to pick themselves up off the path, many looking around and pulling out weapons to fight off the four or five drones that were attempting to attack even now. Several others were walking to the cliff side, hurriedly pulling a few of the lighter bulls up from where they'd nearly fallen.

'But where'a the alicorn?'

A sick squelching noise brought his attention to the cliff side high above him. Some of the gore that was layered onto the wall began to shift, bits of chitin and slime falling onto the trail or off of the mountainside. From under the layer of goop the shape of a pair of wings emerged, flapping weakly and beating against the rock in an attempt to throw the gore off of them. The shape of an alicorn's head pulled out of a small indent in the mountain as well, the clean rock underneath the demon giving him away more than anything else. It was almost impossible to see any dark fur amidst the chitin and green goop.

Cairn drew his bow even as the alicorn managed to free itself from the rock, drunkenly fluttering in place as the stallion regained his bearings. Cimmerian gave a wave with a hoof and began to fly away, turning and slowly floating towards the other side of the mountain again. As the alicorn left, Cairn fired. The stallion didn't react though, likely still numb from his impact against the cliff.
'The damn monster, what would it take to kill one?'

"My chieftain, the army wishes to know your orders."

Cairn looked away from the drunkenly flying stallion to the bull, a sneer forming on his lips.
"We continue. We take this damned city and prove once and for all that the ponies can be defeated."

The soldiers switched places, the ones from the back passing his leading unit and allowing them to clean themselves up a bit as well as recover from their almost constant battle to this point. He was pushing hard, but he also wasn't stupid. With the loss of most of the drones, the capital would be even easier to take. But he would also be racing against the alicorn to reach whatever super-weapon Celestia had hidden away in the castle. The lower number of drones meant less to impede Cimmerian as well. He wouldn't let that bastard get his hooves on it. It belonged to the minotaurs. It belonged to Cairn.
As he began trying to wipe some of the muck from his pelt, the bull grinned, spitting into the slimy trail that was even now beginning to fade away.
'Why stop with the ponies? With Celestia's superweapon in my possession I'll do what she was never able to do even in a thousand years. I will conquer this world.'



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It was with a great effort that Zelus finally pulled the alicorn over the edge of the pit. The climb hadn't been easy even for her so the alicorn had stood no chance of moving up the long drop and into the escape tunnel without help. As she pulled him into the small alcove that Twilight and herself were occupying she noticed several things. Firstly that he was absolutely caked in a layer of slime and shards of chitin. The second thing she noticed was how he was walking very carefully.
"You hurt yourself? Again? Cimmerian, we just started this mission."

"Well you know how it, uh goes," the punch-drunk stallion chuckled. "One minute you're flying around looking for a place to drop off a couple dozen angry drones and ponies, the second you see something that reminds you of a cartoon you once saw and think to yourself 'I bet I could do that.' I did, which was totally awesome, but good lord did it hurt."

Zelus shook her head, grabbing one of the stallion's legs and feeling it.
"It doesn't feel broken, but I wouldn't put it past you to have injured it in some-"

"Oh my gosh! Cimmerian, there's an arrow in your butt!"

At Twilight's outburst both of them looked to his rear, seeing the long shaft of an arrow sticking out of the slowly hardening layer of goop on his back.

"Huh, would you look at that."

Grumbling, Zelus pulled the stallion before her and began attempting to wipe away the slime. It was already starting to fade, but that didn't mean she wanted it getting into the wound. Satisfied that the area was as clean as possible given current conditions, she pulled out a small dagger and stabbed it into his flank.
The fact the alicorn only winced at the injury she inflicted worried her but she instead focused on the task at hoof. She cut along the arrow's entry route and grabbed the shaft with her teeth. Pulling it out, she spat it on the ground and took the bandages Twilight was holding. The changelings applied it quickly and efficiently, Twilight standing on his back to allow her better access while Zelus used her longer legs to thread the bandage around his leg and barrel.

Satisfied the stallion was properly bandaged, Zelus nodded to her assistant and moved to re-equip her packs.
"We need to move. The faster we get in the faster we get out, the faster we get back to camp and have you looked at by a doctor."

"I'll be fine," Cimmerian slurred, walking past her into the tunnel and doing his best not to trip. "It's not like it's the first time I played bait while you finished an important mission. It's why I keep you around. You're good at getting the important stuff done. And making sure I survive."

Zelus bit back a hiss at his self-deprecating humor. Pandinus would be pissed if she found out about this but it wasn't as if she could have prevented it. Not in this situation at least. She was too busy trying to make sure they could get to their goal. What the idiot did in the meantime was his own stupid fault.
The changelings followed along behind him, both well aware of what they were walking into. This was the source of the drones, as well as the strongest point of the arrays sphere of influence. It wouldn't be able to just grab them of course, but they'd been able to hear the siren call for a while now.

Giving a quick glance to the wincing drone following along behind her, Zelus made a mental note to ask the mare about it later on. About how it felt when she was the one who had designed the array. Did it sound different to her with her pony mind? Or was it harder because she had been the one to create the abomination? Certainly it was while under the influence of the Nightmare but it was still her hooves and spells that had created the arrays.






Cimmerian grinned even as he wobbled a bit from his earlier impact with the cliff. It had hurt like hell and he would likely be walking funny for days afterwards but the fact that he'd pulled it off was almost enough to dampen what little pain was getting through his dazed nerves.
'That and Din will kill me when she learns about that. It was still cool as hell, though.'

He watched with little interest as they passed through the corridor. For the most part it was almost completely dark save a few glowing crystals here and there. Then there came the first sign of activity, and it was a doozy. Opening up a fairly simple door, Cim was pretty sure he was in the labs.
"Twilight, I'mma slap you for this."

The place looked like a mad scientist had built it. Tesla coils sparked for no apparent reason, there were a few tanks with what he assumed were dead changelings from experimentation and even a few tables with bubbling fluids. The strangest part was that there was also a layer of dust on everything. This amount of activity was the base level for this lab. Which likely meant that all of the activity was for nothing.
"Is there anything actually being done in here or did the Nightmare just use your idea of a mad scientists lab when it made this place?"

"Is that a changeling horn?" Zelus asked, walking up to one bubbling holding-tank and tapping on the glass. "You devoted an entire vat to a single part of a changeling? And one that isn't even that remarkable? You and I both know the link-receptors are in the skull, Twilight. This is just being silly."

"T-this doesn't bother you?" Twilight asked in shock. "There are dead changelings in those vats!"

"Twilight, this is something out of a cheesy sci-fi horror fic," the alicorn chastised her. "I'm doing my best not to laugh at this. Yea it's horrible but the way it's set up-"

"Is the way a nymph would expect a mad scientists laboratory to look like. Certainly you could have done better than this."

"We are not doing this," Twilight muttered, burying her head in her hooves. "We are not spending time talking about how bad my evil laboratory looks when we're here for Luna and the queens."

"I don't know, I think we have some time," the queen giggled, tapping on the glass of another tank, this one with a single piece of changeling chitin.
"Wait, is that a flank-plate? Twilight, why are you keeping a changeling butt in one of these tanks?"

"Because she wants to stare at butts all day, duh," the alicorn answered, grinning as he took one last look around the lab. "Okay, but seriously-"
"Ha, butt!"
"Seriously, where are Luna and the queens?"

"I kept them down this hallway. One of the last things the Nightmare wanted to work on was finding a way to force the array's connection on Luna but she was having trouble making it stick."
Twilight led the group into a small corridor from the lab, several thick doors that reminded the stallion of blast doors from a sci-fi movie sitting open along the path.
"The doors were set to close if ever there was a breach or one of the queens got loose but they had to be activated manually. Now that I think about it, it's kind of useless. I probably should have set them to react to any kind of breach of security."

"Yea, you can think up improvements to your doomsday lab later. Is that it?" Cimmerian asked, pointing to a heavy door in their path.

"That's where we kept the queens," Twilight said. "Zelus, that's where you will want to go. The eggs were supposed to slide into another room with the conveyers too small for the drones to fit through but be careful. All that will be between you and them will be some metal bars and their lack of horns. They're still very dangerous, and strong too."

"Not as strong as I am now," the changeling queen whispered. "Twilight, make certain that Luna is well and if I do not tell you otherwise or follow you, bring her with you. We shall set up our teleport array-"

"The lab may be better unless the queen's chamber is really big or we manage to save a bunch of queens," Cimmerian said, looking back down the hallway. "I actually expected some sort of security in here but I guess this is also the kind of thing you don't show your troops. That's Luna's door?"

A nod from the drone rider confirmed his suspicions and he moved closer to the relatively new door. A quick check for traps and he pushed it open with a hoof.

Cimmerian winced as he took sight of the smaller alicorn mare strapped to the table in the middle of the room. There were arrays etched all over her, each one apparently failing as none of them had any color.

"The Nightmare couldn't figure out why the arrays didn't work," Twilight explained. "I understood by then, but I already was doing my best to mislead her. I, I, oh my goodness, what have I done..."

"You fucked up, Sparkle, I get it. Now help me get her lose. Is there any kind of alarm holding her or that we need to worry about?"

"Three or four," Twilight replied, shrugging as he stared at her. "I set up alarms for everything, all keyed to alert me with a different frequency if they were tripped. We already tripped three and Zelus will trip several more but the minotaurs have also been tripping them for the last few hours. The Nightmare doesn't know how to turn them off, so right now she likely won't even notice the addition of a few more. I don't think she even knows what the tones are set for. I mean, I had damaged gate set to vibrate my ear at 5 rpm, a queen escaping is a horn buzzer, the lab being invaded will buzz her left shoulder right behind the peak of the socket, and the castle itself being infiltrated is another seven different alarms based on the point of entry. They're actually based on Pinkie's Pinkie Sense, but with so many alarms I had to use some of the same body parts over again so I went with different frequencies for different causes. I memorized them, but the Nightmare didn't. With all the alarms going off in her head, it will likely be difficult to focus on anything."

Cimmerian stopped in his examination of the comatose mare before him to look at the black and purple drone.
"Twilight, that's the kind of thing I'd like to know ahead of time. I get it, it doesn't seem important. But we're tripping alarms as we go around and that's not something I want to hear."
The mare's ears folded back and he sighed.
"It's fine, in a way I feel better about this. I was waiting for some sort of alarm to go off and send in a ton of drones or troops but to hear the alarms were tied directly to you...I still don't like it and would prefer you warn me beforehand but I'm fine with this too. Just keep it in mind in the future, okay? Some of us prefer to know such things even if you don't think it's relevant."

Wasting no more time, Cimmerian moved over and began looking for a way to remove the bands holding the small mare down. It was almost painful seeing her like this when he knew what she was supposed to look like at the height of her power. Now though she was once more a filly, a form she would likely be both familiar with and sick and tired of at this point. Array scars littered her body except for where the straps held her to the table and possibly her underside. Her wings were missing a few feathers and she was filthy, but that could be fixed. It would all be fixed.
The most surprising thing he saw was that Luna's horn was still intact. To that small blessing he could only attribute the Nightmare's desire for Luna to remain combat capable, either after she was fixed with the array or if she could somehow take the alicorn's body.
'God, that would be a bitch, wouldn't it? I can ask Zelus- no, I can ask Twilight.'
"Let me know if her emotions seem weird when we wake her up."

With that the stallion moved closer to the table and began gently shaking the blue alicorn mare.
"Luna. Luna, wake up. Luuuuna."

The mare moved away from his hoof and he frowned, poking her again.
"Luna? Luna can you hear me?"

"Oh my gosh, she activated- I'm sorry, Cimmerian, I didn't even notice. The table has several arrays to keep ponies or drones docile while I work. Numbing arrays, stunners, vision and sound dampeners, she likely can't feel, see or hear anything at the moment. Here, let me turn them-"

"No! No, you do NOT expose someone who's been in a deprivation chamber for who knows how long to too much at once, it can hurt them badly. Have you ever been in a dark room and had someone flip the light on? Especially when you were sleeping? Multiply that by several days of being in total silence and darkness. You are not doing that to her."

Moving around the room, Cimmerian began grabbing things here and there. A bunch of cotton that would act as earplugs, some bandages that could be held over the mares eyes, even a pair of nose plugs in the event the smells were a bit too much. They'd have to be careful with her and watch carefully, as he had no way of knowing how long Luna had been in the magical isolation chamber and they'd have no way to know until she was able to tell them herself.
'Even then we may never know. Here, it's not possible to tell how much time has passed. Unless she could feel the time passing through her connection to the moon.'

"Sparkles, this is two. I need to know these things beforehand. Now help me get this stuff on her."

Luna was shifting as they worked, or at least trying to, but it was clear that the mare was both exhausted and just about out of fight.
'Don't think I'm going to have to worry about the Nightmare having taken her if she was left like this. It would have turned the arrays off first.'

Making certain all of the items were properly secured to the smaller alicorn, Cimmerian gave Twilight a nod. The drone-rider turned to a small controlling array, deactivating the spells one by one until with a snap, even the bands holding Luna down were turned off and retracted into the table.

Slowly, Cimmerian touched his hoof to Luna's, pulling back slightly as she jumped at the sudden contact. It made her ears perk though, and she moved her other hoof to grab his leg and began to feel what it was she had been touched by. Frowning at the dry croak the blue mare made, he pulled out his canteen...only to scowl as he found it punctured by a rock shard. 
"Fuck. Got any spare water, Sparkle?"



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Zelus was almost shaking with nerves as she forced open the heavy door that led to the queen holding area. The array's pull wasn't any stronger here than it had been, in fact after destroying the one in the Everfree she felt strong enough to fight it even if she was captured and the they tried to forcefully slave her to the link. The thing that scared her was the state of the queens she found.

Like Heart had been they were bloated, their reproductive organs working overtime to keep up with he extreme number of drones that was required by the arrays in the patrolling of the city. Even as she watched the queens would flex and shift. Eggs would drop behind them into a soft trough, carrying away the nymph to used as another cog in its unfeeling machine. They were lifeless to her eyes, the faces of these mares betraying no thought, no emotion. A nearby Crystal thrummed with power but she passed by it. This close to the main arrays, its destruction wouldn't stop the queens or the drones. There were too many others nearby. All it would do if she attempted to destroy it would be to set off an alarm that someone was in the queen chamber.

Instead she approached the cages, kicking away a few bones of deceased victims that the queens had been fed in their madness. They didn't even react to her presence. They could sense emotion, but the energy she had was not radiated. It was a form of energy they were not programmed to respond to.

Zelus bent the bars apart and began to check the first queen in the line, grabbing the mare's head in her hooves and using her magic to prod the broodmare's mind for any semblance of sanity. A thought, a memory, a desire. Something to use to follow it back to where the queen's hibernating mind was hiding away. She already knew that for some there would be no recovery. But she had to try, she had to give them a chance, even if they ended up leaving the hive once they'd recovered. She'd been given that chance, as had Heart, Lestidae, and now Pulmonus. She had to try, she owed it to her species.

Zelus pulled away from the first queen after nearly three minutes of prodding and searching. She moved to the next queen, silently repeating her promise like a mantra. She had to try, she had to give them a chance. She poked, she called out in the queen's mind, she twisted a link-connection, an action that would cause an odd pain and would wake her from even the deepest sleep, a trick her old companion had taught her a few months ago in the event they were put into a magical sleep. Still the second broodmare didn't respond.

Choking back her anxiety, Zelus nearly broke the third queen's neck as she lifted the bloated mare's head in her hooves. She had to try, she had to-
'I see you.'
The armored mare gave an almost manic giggle, following the faint wisps of memories through the maze of a mind. It was an older queen, one who knew how to protect themselves from a mental battle. She was still there.
'Open your eyes. Open them and find that this hell is about to end.'

Zelus was nearly giggling when she felt the queen stirring, likely for the first time in a long while. She was about to try speaking again when it all went wrong.

'Freedom,' the queen mumbled, reversing Zelus' intrusion and pushing into her own mind. 'I need...to get out.'

Zelus' words were ignored, the older mare brutally making her way into Zelus' own mind. It wasn't kind, it wasn't like her times with her mother or swapping around with Pandinus, this was the feeling of her physical control being suppressed by force.

With a grunt of effort, Zelus pushed back against the still weak mare, leaving them staring at each other in the waking world as their connection was broken. Panting with the rush of adrenaline, Zelus put her hoof on the other queen's neck, pressing down and choking the older mare even as she ground her teeth. She wanted to, to-
'No, they're scared. I should have seen this as a possibility. They need to get out of here and are willing to do anything. It's not evil, it's just desperation.'

Taking a breath to calm herself, Zelus removed her hoof from the bloated mare's neck and lifted the queen's head.
"We are getting the surviving queens out of here. The Mad Queen is losing her grip on Canterlot even now. I am checking to find which of you survived. After we get out of here, you will be given time to recover and when you wish, you may leave. None will stop you. My hive sister has already given this offer to four queens that have been freed before this including myself, so far only one has caused problems and the only issue Pandinus had with her was she stole drones from my sisters hive. She stole drones that did not belong to her when she chose to leave."

Letting the queen's head fall to the ground none-too-gently in order to make her irritation known, Zelus made her way to the next queen. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice, though. This time she was cautious, poking here and there in the subjugated mare's mind. Once more the mare was empty though, leaving Zelus with a measly one queen for four she'd checked. Looking over the rest of the queen's she began counting the remaining mares when she caught sight of something that made her blood run cold.

At the far end of the chamber were five empty cells, three of which seemed to have been occupied at some time in the past. The other two though, the last two were clean and unused. Sure there was room in the chamber for more of the cells, but these two were prepared. These two cells were waiting for occupants.
'She knew of us, knew we were on the run.'

Zelus walked past the remaining mares and stared at the two empty stalls. She could picture it now, actually. She'd likely end up in this first one, being the younger queen, while Lestidae would have been trapped in the second. They would have been enslaved to the arrays by the time they were brought here, their wills crushed, their crowns removed, and their horns shattered even as the arrays did their work, forcing their bodies to change and balloon in size, allowing them to produce more drones more quickly. The two would begin adding to the swarm as they were told to do, and she...she would...

With a scream of rage and terror, the queen ripped the doors off of the cell before her, throwing them across the chamber and embedding the alloyed bars into the far wall. She screamed again, biting the table that would have held her down, pulling it up with enough force to cause the bolts holding it down to give way. She threw it as well and charged forward, bursting through the bars that would have separated her from her now-deceased friend. She raised herself up and stomped on the table, crushing it as she stomped it into an unrecognizable mass of metal. It  was so close, and she wasn't this strong back then. It would have been over, that damn alicorn, that damn nightmare would have won and she'd be a brain-dead egg sack. She would have mindlessly laid eggs until the Nightmare decided that it was done with them and found a way to finally kill them as well. It-

"Zelus? Zel! Zelly, talk to me. Are you okay?"

She turned, still heaving and shaking even as she saw Cimmerian approaching. She wanted to lash out, to put him through a wall as well but she could taste it in the air. He wasn't like the one that had put her through this. It was only concern, concern for a friend and a sister. Family.
She continued to shake even as he looked around the cell she was thrashing, his emotions roiling and agitating the starving queens she still hadn't checked. One though, one of the queens was watching carefully, her eyes flickering with the array's power and the mare's own color as she began fighting its influence once more.

"I, I am. I'm sorry, I just saw these cells and-"

"I understand, you got scared," he soothed, pulling her into a hug and smothering her in a protective blanket of emotion and familiar scents. "Look, have you checked any of them? Can we pull any of them out?"

"The, the third queen," she croaked, "The first two and the one after her are blank. I-I haven't gotten any farther than that."

"Okay, I'm going to see about covering her and then I want you to finish checking them. When we get back to camp you can stay right next to me for as long as you need, okay? We're going to finish this, save as many as we can, and then we're going to leave this horrible place."

She wanted to argue, to just sit there for a moment as she recovered from her-episode? What would one even call that?- her thing but she caught sight of Twilight walking in the door, a weak-looking alicorn mare being pulled along behind her on a litter.
'It's not just me. I, I have to finish this. Twilight would get crushed by these mares the moment she makes contact. We need to be careful.'

She began once more, using her magic to pull the door off of its hinges as she approached the fifth queen. Cimmerian was currently stepping closer to the third, shrouding her in his power and causing the color of the arrays to fade completely from the queen's eyes. Zelus picked up the mare's head and focused.

She checked and she moved on.

She checked and moved on.

She checked and told Twilight to alert the alicorn to another living queen.

Zelus was almost done. One last queen remained, the last on the row before the room...she shook her head and picked up the queen's head in her hooves. One of the queens was raving mad, demanding Zelus join them all in service to their new god. Another had presence, memories and such, but Zelus had been unable to garner any kind of reaction from the mare. Cimmerian still wanted to take the mare, though. She deserved the chance, he said, and they would be able to give it a more concerted effort once they were safe.

That was all though. Sixteen queens that had been captured and they saved only four from this hell.

Zelus was slowly rooting through the final queens mind and was about to call a miss when she ran into a wall. A wall in the mare's mind, keeping it safe from her torment. Zelus snapped awake once more, testing the wall for weaknesses as she shifted herself into a more comfortable sitting position. She could already feel Cimmerian moving closer, encompassing the queen in his shadows and granting safety from the arrays. Then she felt him pushing into the mare as well, finding the queen in her dream-like hibernation. As if a door had been opened, Zelus felt herself physically stumble into the last queen's mind.

Cimmerian caught her with his shoulder, bracing her as she realized she was coming into contact with the alicorn in the queen's dream, or whatever this was.

"It's a safe place," Cimmerian whispered. Pointing ahead of them. "It's where she retreated when the world stopped making sense. We may be able to wake her, but we must be very careful. If we do this wrong, we could lose her."

Zelus followed his hoof and saw several changelings dancing and laughing and playing. A queen sitting high on a throne of stone, several little proto-queens giggling and wrestling about, and a few drones buzzing here and there and seeing to the needs of the royals. It was obvious to the armored mare; this was her family. It was a group the queen felt safe around. Should she shift into one of the drones and try to infiltrate the games that way before approaching the queen? Should she just walk up to the mare and start speaking? Should she-

She blinked, watching in confusion as Cimmerian slowly approached the foals and sat down on the ground close to them. He was smiling gently, the type of smile he used on foals in the Temple. Then he started humming some strange tune, a lullaby from what she could tell. Why he would approach the foals though...

Several of the drones faded away as the foals began to take notice of him. A few looked fearful but there were a few that focused, sensing the emotions coming from this strange creature. Cimmerian spoke quietly, almost a whisper as he began to speak.
"Hi, what's your name?"

The nymphs looked to the queen before looking back to him. One spoke in hushed tones, and Zelus realized it was the queen she was searching for. She wanted to slap herself for not seeing it sooner, but it was too late. At least Cimmerian had figured it out before she'd done something stupid.

"Momma said not to talk to strangers. Strangers can hurt us."

"Well my name is Cimmerian," the alicorn said gently. "I'm looking for a little queen. Have you seen her?"

Zelus watched cautiously as the proto-queen looked to her and back to the alicorn, not realizing the queen and the throne had faded from the hallucination.

"I'm gonna be a queen. Momma said I'm gonna be the bestest queen, too," the nymph boasted. "I-where's momma?"

Zelus winced, watching as the proto-queen started looking around in a panic as the rest of the nymphs faded away.

"I don't know," Cimmerian said, concern flooding his voice and emotions, both easily detected by the nymph before him. "Do you know her name?"

The little one thought hard, her frown deepening as she looked around the now-empty cavern.
"I, I think I remember. It was... it was Queen Red, Redo, Ruh-Reduv-"

"Reduviidae," Zelus whispered, stepping closer to the smaller mare. "Queen Reduviidae is your mother?"

The nymph nodded, backing away from the strange queen.

"I take it you know this queen?" Cimmerian asked. She could already feel his unease; he likely knew her answer. There was only one real reason a queen would know another after all.

"Do you know the name Zelus, little one?" Zelus asked the nymph, causing the little changeling to cock her head in thought.

"Zel-us. Zell...Zelly? Do you know Zelus? I think I remember....Momma said something about..."

"My name is Queen Zelus, little one. Queen Reduvii was my mother as well. I had not heard from her in a long while, but I knew..."
Zelus picked the little proto queen up, nuzzling her.
"You're going to be alright, little one. What do you re-"

"Zelus. Give her a moment, please," the stallion pleaded, pointing to the scared nymph in her forelegs.

Zelus almost dropped the smaller mare, placing her on the ground and pointing to Cimmerian.
"This is Cimmerian, little sister. This is the one who helped me when I was scared and lost. He has another queen as a mate, Pandinus, and Din wants to try and help all the queens we can. We're going to help you, he wants to help you, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask him, okay?"

She stepped back, feeling guilty about scaring the mare like that. There was no telling at this point if the queen truly was that young when she was taken or she was merely hiding in her memories, but any queen should have known...if Zelus had come across the little proto queen before The Hunt, she likely would have killed her without a second thought. Of course she was scared of the larger queen.

Taking a breath to calm herself, something she found herself doing quite a lot of lately, she closed her eyes and merely listened to the nymph as she spoke quietly to the stallion.

"I don't understand..."

"I know, kiddo. It's weird, but the queens that live with me don't act like that. It's...it's not good right now. Something bad happened. The changelings cant live like that right now. We need queens. We need them happy and healthy. You see how big she is? When I first saw her she was rail-thin. She was scared and hungry, and I couldn't stand it. So Din did as I asked, she helped her. Now Zelus is my friend. I help her and keep her safe, and she does the same for me.
"We have three queens in the same hive right now. Pandinus, Heart and Zelus. They don't hurt each other. They won't hurt you, I promise. Now, we're going to leave, and it's up to you. You can stay here for a while and we'll come back to get you, or you can come with us. Which do you want to do?"







Cimmerian returned to the land of the living in the blink of an eye, finding two shining eyes staring back at him. The queen's eyes widened and she began to panic and thrash only to have Zelus move closer and begin whispering into her ear, holding the younger queen in much the same way he had held her. Zelus was reassuring her, telling her it would be fixed, that before too long she would be free to go wherever she wanted. That it was almost over.

"How's the array coming, Sparky?"

"Do NOT call me that," Twilight hissed, turning back to her array with a bit of chalk she had kept in her chitin. "I'm just about done. It had to be big, because well, we're bringing a lot of ponies; er, people. Anyway I'm just putting on the finishing touches now, mostly corrections for the warping all the crystals around us cause. After that I'll need Queen Zelus for some power and we'll be ready to leave. How many...?"

"Three," Cimmerian replied quietly. "Four out of around seventeen queens. That's not good numbers but honestly I'm surprised we did this well. Their race will recover though. I'll make sure of it. Even if I have to supply the food myself."

"You're....insane," the third queen, the first one Zelus had found croaked before breaking into dry, heaving laughter.

"Maybe, but I'm in good company. And it turns out insanity is healthy for changelings. Right Zel?"

The mare set her sister down beside the circle and stood tall beside him, radiating pride as she stared down the other queen.
"I went from a frail mess to this in about a month because his mate gave me the love needed to force the changes quickly. A cocoon of love in which I hibernated while changing myself. She also kept my first clutch. They were there when I returned from the last mission Cimmerian wished to make, and they will be there when I return from this mission. She linked them to our hive and they will be treated as her own."
"And should a time come where Pandinus must travel, I will guard our hive as she did in my absence, and I will keep her nymphs as my own. Because we do not need to fight for food. We have a better way, one that allows our kind to be known and to thrive."

"The Nightmare has already exposed us to the world, more thoroughly than any mad changeling queen before her. Ponies, griffons, minotaurs and zebras will not forget us this time, old one. We are the force that was used to conquer. An army that rose under a pony queen's control and set this world aflame. We will let you do as you please for the most part, once you recover, but do not make the same mistakes my one-time ally did. In our new way of life, the food fights for us and we fight for them. To attack one is to attack the other, and we will defend one another."

"Done!" Twilight cheered, looking up and finding the tense situation that had progressed without her knowing. "Oh..."

Cimmerian chuckled, moving the scowling queen into position.
"We will be able to argue this point at a later time, your highness. For now though, we have places to be. Zelus, what do you want to do with the other queens?"

The thick-armored mare looked back to the cells at the bloated forms still within before looking her sister.
"I think we should destroy them. Were I in their position, death would be a release."

"Kill them," the first queen rasped, "Their minds were not strong enough, only their bodies remain."

"D-destroy them," Zelus' sister whispered. "Don't leave them here. Like this."

Cimmerian nodded, taking out a blade and moving from cell to cell. As a final attempt at freeing them, he would push the shadows around them. It cut off the arrays, letting them free at the very least. It wasn't the only reason he did it though. Some portion of him hoped that one would react. That one would wake up.

"You're wasting your power," a dry voice called to him from across the room.

"Offering someone the chance at freedom is never a waste," he retorted. "If I didn't believe in this sort of thing, I wouldn't even be here. I would have come up here, dropped an explosive in this room and left. Keep that in mind next time you call mercy a waste of time."

He moved down the line just as Zelus had, driving the blade into the queens that didn't respond which was at this point, all of them. Of the thirteen kept in this chamber, he was just about to drive his blade into the eleventh when he stopped, the blade centimeters from the mare's eye.
"Her eye twitched. Zelus, Zel I want you to check- no we'll do it later. Throw her in the array as well. If nothing else I'll sleep better knowing we gave her a fighting chance."

Putting the last queen out of her misery, Cimmerian made his way to the array as well. He watched as Zelus and Twilight began running power into the array, forcing magic through the lines the drone-rider had etched only moments ago. Magic was already in the lines, of course, holding the chalk to the floor and preventing scuffing but now the energy was crackling. The energy rose and his hair stood on end, he took one last look to Luna, making certain the mare was still on the litter and smiled. It was a good day. The only thing that would make it better at this point...



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Cairn huffed as he moved through the halls of Canterlot Castle. The fighting had been brutal but the drones were nowhere near as innumerable as he'd first thought. In fact it seemed the numbers had been tapering off in the last few hours. As the sun set, Cairn moved with determination in his search. It was here, it had to be. This was the library, the alicorn said-

"My Chieftain, we found something over here!"

The bull gave a last sprint to the voice, puffing and panting as he rounded the last corner in the back area. A door stood before him, a plain and otherwise non-descript door that even the minotaurs could feel thrumming with magic.
"This is it, the weapon. I, I've done it. I've beaten that damned alicorn! With, with this we won't have to stop with Equestria. The minotaur people will take this entire planet!"

"My chieftain, are you certain this is wise? It could be a trap set by-"

"No, no that bastard wanted to get here, we even saw him trying to find a way in that was not overcome by those damned swarms. But this, this is my victory! I will never again see a minotaur defeated by any race, in anything! This thing is mine!"
With that Cairn shoulder-checked the door, snapping the locks and breaking one of the doors off of it's hinges. He looked around for the weapon, a confused look appearing on his face as he noticed only a single chair in an otherwise empty white room. It slowly turned to face him, revealing a strange creature with mismatched body parts and a white mask on its face. The chair stopped as it faced Cairn and the minotaurs shifted, drawing weapons and preparing for a fight. Then the abomination spoke.

"Hello. I want to play a game with you all..."
> Recovery is a Not-So-long Road for an Alicorn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cimmerian's group appeared outside Freeside in a flash of light and were soon surrounded by both griffon and pony soldiers alike. Before the groups could even start to go about their business after confirming there wasn't a threat, a white and pink blur threw several full grown and armored stallions to the ground with her passing
"Cimmerian! Did you..?"

He moved one of  the queen's out of her way and allowed the almost-crying mare a view of Luna, still motionless on the litter and had to move fast to catch the white alicorn as she darted forward.

"Let me go I need to-"

"She's hurt, Tia," Cimmerian said, wincing as she pressed against his injured leg. "Let us get her looked at and we'll leave you two to get caught up like you want. For now though she's been stuck in a sensory deprivation chamber for a time and I want to be careful about overloading her. No reason to cause more harm than she's already been through."

"I'll take her to the medical facilities," Celestia said a moment later. She whizzed around him and grabbed the litter in her magic, rushing off before anyone could do more than watch.

"You need to get checked out as well," Zelus told him, poking his flank right where she'd pulled the arrow from his rear. "The arrow wasn't the only injury you suffered."

"I'll get there, I want to make sure these ladies are taken care of first. Heart? Where's- that will work. Where does heart want us to put the queens?" The dark stallion asked a nearby drone.

Zelus rolled her eyes.
"I'm already talking to her about it. She has a small underground chamber that will work for now, we just need to be, damn, no Rasahus, you're fine. We're going to be forcing the changes to reverse, okay? We'll get you'll be free soon. In the meantime you can use those drones to explore the area. Just speak with Heart about any rules she's set up beforehoof. We don't want to, oh, here she is."

Cimmerian and Zelus both turned the queens to face the approaching footfalls of a dragon. It still brought a smile to his face seeing the dragon so protective of the queen that had kept him sane. Not only that, but he could smell whatever medical paste had been applied to his eye.
"Spike. How's the eye healing up?"

"It will be fully healed in time, according to Zecora. She has cautioned against using it too quickly even when it works again though. Heart has promised to seal it shut if I try anything. That or stick me in a hole in the ground until it is safe. I see you managed to find the queen's. Did you also-"

"Celestia already took her to medical. I don't think anyone should get in her way right now, she'll run them down."

Heart dropped down from the dragon's back even as Spike rumbled with laughter.
"Yes, I barely had time to move my people out of her way when she tore through the town. If I hadn't had the heads up from Zelus there may have been some injuries."
"So these are the survivors. I thought there were...right. They didn't have a focus. Just, okay. I'll see to them and give them the official welcome and rule packet. Some of the unlinked ponies are kind of nervous about this but the ones who are linked know how it feels to have your body stolen. I'm certain seeing the condition of the queens here will leave many of those who were uncertain more firmly on our side."

Heart approached the queens, first walking up to the one Zelus was still standing protectively over.
"Did you wish to be the one to link with her or-"

"You will have to do it," Zelus told her. "She's still scared of me. I don't really blame her, but after the last few weeks...it feels odd to think about how I would have acted to her presence before all of this..."

"It is a different way of living, a different way of even thinking. I'm certain she will feel better once she recovers a bit. It will also help if she sees what we have achieved here," Heart soothed. "Give her some time to adjust."
Leaning down to speak with the mare, Heart smiled kindly.
"We're going to link you to this hive so we can start reversing the changes. Then we'll get some real emotion in you, okay?"

"So that's it? Turn ourselves over once more and you'll help us?" The older queen spat. "How do we know you'll not just do the same to us? How do I know-"

"I see you're as paranoid as ever, dear Migidae," a voice called out from behind the group, calling them to turn to the sound. It was quite shocking, but Pulmonus stood tall and proud now, her body about half of Zelus' size already as she strode casually up to the mares.
"Truly, it is not as though they had to remove you from that prison and the colt does not hide his emotions. All you need to do is reach out and touch them. What his intentions are is quite clear. He wants the changelings to survive."

"I'll have nothing to do with your games, Flesh Sculpter. Mother warned me about your games, about your-"

"Your mother and sisters all invited me into their hives and tried to kill me. It has been millennia since I last attacked another queen without provocation, and not once did I use my own hive to do it. I give them all a chance, dear. Sometimes I'm even pleasantly surprised. Several of the queens who invited me to their hives were wonderful hosts. I enjoyed seeing their hives and would do what I could to well, sway the happenings of the world in their favor. A monster hunting guild getting robbed and having to pull out of an area, easing of patrols due to lack of crime or monsters, that sort of thing. I treat those who are respectful well, nymph. Those that are not get paddled."

"And by paddled you mean absolutely destroyed," Cimmerian said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, the loss of drones doesn't strike queens equally. Some are hurt by such a loss, especially younger ones. Some don't care. That would be like Migidae here. She's laid enough clutches that she lost her connection with the drones. They just don't mean as much anymore."
"It happens, I'm afraid. Even I experienced that disconnection after my thousandth or so clutch. It's a form of insanity some queens recover from while others do not. Perhaps Zelus and Pandinus will never truly fall to it, considering their new outlook. It is something to think about in any case. Now let me see you, I can see you favoring those legs. What did you pull this time, colt?"

"How did you even get here?" Cimmerian asked the queen even as she began slowly running a hoof over his foreleg after forcing him into a sitting position. "Last I saw, you were recovering in High talon and were the size of a small foal."

"That was not the first time my body was damaged. I've done this sort of thing before and I keep caches of emotion in most high-travel areas. All I had to do was find out where it was in comparison to the changes in the city since last I'd been there."

"I can think of a friend who did something similar," Twilight chuckled, drawing a curious look from Pulmonus.
"A friend of mine tends to leaven supply caches of all sorts all over. Balls, disguises, party supplies, snacks. You name it, Pinkie has some stacked nearby."

"Pinkie, Pinkie..." Pulmonus mumbled, frowning in thought as she inspected the alicorn's injuries. "That name, I have heard it... Ah! She attempted to throw me a party when I wandered into Ponyville one day. Even had the proper number of candles on the cake which was impressive. Well, her tally was correct. She had different colors for different numbers. Most of the guests didn't understand but I found it quite impressive."

"Wait, you were in Ponyville? When?"

"Dear I don't keep track of the time anymore. It wasn't too long ago but I couldn't tell you the year. Your friend likely could though. And of course I was there. I visit all the towns now and again. I like to see how things develop. In fact the only place I don't visit is the dragon lands. They aren't very good hosts, though the dragon lord is nice enough."

"I...the Nightmare kind of took his treasure. The First Dragon Queen's Eye is in Canterlot."

"It will likely be in Minotaur hands before too long in that case. They were closing on the city last I saw and we wiped out most of the drone production. Oh, once Canterlot is clear or better yet, back in our control you're going to show me the eggs you stashed away. We'll take them to the temple and raise them there."

There were a few confused murmurs from the new queens but Twilight nodded. Pulmonus also nodded in agreement.
"I would like to see that. A few queens raised in that sort of climate and condition. They would undoubtedly grow quickly if Zelus was showing me the truth about your fountain. That I would also like to see. What about you, Migidae? How does a fountain filled with love tickle your fancy?"

"I'd see before I believed. And I will-no, stop! Put me down!"

Cimmerian chuckled as the bloated form of the angry queen, Migidae according to Pulmonus, was levitated away. The mare was flailing as much as she could manage until her bloated behind dropped an egg.

"Got it," Twilight called, causing the queens to relax.

Pulmonus nodded in thanks before looking to the other queens.
"Zelus and Heart, if you dears could grab the others we'll get them settled in and I'll work with them to begin the process of shrinking everyone back down. And you, Cimmerian, are going to follow the other alicorns and go to get those legs looked at. You have crystal slivers. Those wont heal on their own even with your alicorn anatomy and if you don't get them removed they'll start to grow in your legs due to your body’s high magic concentration. Not something you want to experience. They also become extremely difficult to remove once that starts."

The dark stallion winced but brought a hoof to his temple.
"Yes ma'am, right away."

"You laugh now but Zelus will be coming after you if you're not being seen to by the time we're finished settling the queen's in," Pulmonus warned him with a smile.

"Well, I guess that's my cue. Spike, if you could ask Hackett to either send someone to me or show up himself I'd like to let them know the full details. I really don't need crystals growing in my legs. That doesn't sound very pleasant."



<-(0)->


Cairn scowled at the chaos before him. His scouts were dead, his general was dead, even his spy was dead. The army Discord had summoned to battle him with had decimated his own, leaving the bull with only a handful of soldiers left, and at this rate...

"There's a lot to be said for a simple game of strategy, wouldn't you agree?"

The bull’s scowl deepened as Discord moved another piece on the board, using a simple scout to take his flag.
"This makes no sense, why does the flag matter? Why is it more important than the general?"

"Normally I would ask what fun is there in making sense but that would defeat the purpose of this little experience. The flag is your goal. It is your beliefs, your morale, what your army fights for. Some armies are able to continue even when leadership is lost, but when their cause is defeated? Most will fold. Why does your army fight?"

"To defeat these ponies," the bull growled. "I'm sick of them flourishing while we do not. I will-"

"Your people don't flourish because they don't change," Discord interrupted. "You still teach by oration, still train your warriors one at a time. You still have chiefs who teach their sons to rule the way they did, as their fathers did before them. You have one or two cities, true, but what do you use them for? They are mostly used as gathering places. You still have tribes that roam like the buffalo. You have foragers and hunters who can't read or write."
"Change means many things. It can be disastrous, or it can be for the best. The ponies, slow as they move, still advance; they still change. They have scientists paid by their rulers to find new spells or materials. They have soldiers that do nothing but fight, farmers who do nothing but farm. They specialize."

"Yet we crushed them. Took their city."

"No, you took an abandoned city in a shattered country. Not only that but you took it because he wanted you to," Discord chuckled. "While your army distracted the drones Cimmerian removed the queens. The source of the eggs; or did you think you and your soldiers were able to kill them all? He also ended that battle with a higher kill count than you."

Cairn grit his teeth, remembering the troops attitude even as he searched for the super weapon. It had been muted instead of the normal boasting of who had done more damage. No one could come close to the alicorn’s count after he slammed the drones into the mountain. Not even him.

“He played you like a damned fiddle, Cairn. He told you to jump and you asked how high. Your quick temper  and unreasoning hatred of his race...races allowed someone around own age to manipulate you like a mastermind.”

Cairn looked to the door, his soldiers still attempting to hack through the cotton candy barrier.
“Why do you tell me these things? Why do you not destroy us like you are known to do?”

“I don't destroy people, Chief Running Water. I pester, I poke, I prod, but I don't destroy. And I never kill. Death is the realm of absolute order. When all life is gone, chaos is at its weakest.”
“As for why I talk, well, I have to mix it up every now and again. If I turned you all into frogs you’d be expecting that. In fact you’d be expecting anything in that vein. So I tried something else.”

Rising from his chair Discord opened his mouth, reached in a talon down his throat, and pulled out his spine. He stretched it out, causing a few pops before slurping it back up like a piece of spaghetti.
“Think a bit before you act. Odd coming from me I'm sure but it's not just you and I that are impacted by our actions. With the power I throw around everyone gets a taste of chaos. With you orders a country moves. It's no longer about catching daddy’s attention. If you don't you’re forever going to be dancing to the tunes others play. Why do you think Celestia stopped me not once, not twice, but three times? Because she thought ahead. Because she knew how I acted.”
“Right now you’re doing exactly as that alicorn wants. In fact if I were in your position I'd take what I wanted and leave. I wouldn't stay here a moment longer than I had to. Now I have somewhere to be. There is an adorable pair of cheeks I haven't pinched in decades and I can’t let that stand.”

Cairn frowned in thought, not even noticing the spirit’s departure. Why would Cimmerian want him to take this city? He’d...he’d cleared the drones out of the city while Cimmerian went after his own goal. In fact the alicorn had helped him take Canterlot because now there were no more drones left, not to mention the traps his people started running into. He’d lost more soldiers to the traps than the drones.
Closing his eyes in thought, Cairn tried to calm himself. It wasn't easy, not with the realization that he’d been used by the demon.

‘Why would he want us in Canterlot? The ponies wouldn't let him take down the mountain, even if it would end the threat. But what-’

“Sir? My chieftain, we have cleared the obstruction and the chaos bringer has left. What are your orders? Shall we begin our victory celebration?”

The young bull was about to give the go ahead when he stopped, his mouth hanging open. The food. They were on a mountain that the ponies used their magic to maintain. Even the gardens produced more than they were supposed to because of that magic. Without such an advantage and without the ponies bringing more food in from the countryside...
“Go ahead. We will enjoy this victory.”

Even as his lieutenants took off to begin the celebration the Minotaur ruler continued to sit on the chair the Chaos Bringer had given him. He wasn't certain what was more terrifying, the fact that he’d been so easily manipulated, or the fact that what the monster had said made sense. He was supposed to be a monster, a trickster. And yet there was no way Cairn could find a falsehood in his words.
‘Then again that would be the point. At this point none would believe him so he could tell us all our futures and none would believe him.’

Cairn hunched forward, sitting his chin on his entwined fingers. He had to learn to focus, he had to get better at holding his temper or that alicorn would be leading him around by his nose for the entire war.

“Finally taking a moment to think about your actions?”

“Leave me be, crone. I have things to think about.”

The old female slowly walked around him into his range of vision.
“I told you to be weary of that demon. I warned you about his appearance in your dream to taunt you, I warned you about his antagonizing you with such a childish way. Yet you stormed ahead and did what you like. Now the Chaos Bringer is free to decimate the countryside! We are powerful, Chief Cairn, but our affluence in magic is not even worth mentioning when compared to the power Discord wields."

“And the Demon has found favor with the Chaos Bringer,” Cairn muttered, nodding. Cimmerian’s taunting had led Cairn to Discord’s prison and had led the minotaur to believe there was something of great value inside. All of this, his greatest victories, the greatest victories of his people, turned into a deadly trap that could destroy them all if they were careless. Without the monster’s warnings...

Cairn stood from his seat and moved to the door, looking back to the crone even as he left her behind.
“Bring me all you have on the Humans and their trickery. Make certain it is in my tent by tomorrow morning. Use the Canterlot library if you must, but I need to know about these creatures.”

“And where will you be?” Ravendraft asked, irritated at his quick dismissal.

“I have to make an appearance, but after that I will be in my tent. I have things I need to check on.”
As he left, he grabbed a nearby minotaur warrior and ordered the young bull to have his tent set up in the gardens and to have his commanders meet him out there in two hours. He’d let his soldiers celebrate, but he needed information. He needed to know if the monsters words were true. He just hoped his commanders had a better grip on the situation than he did at the moment.



<-(0)->



Cimmerian winced, looking down to his bandaged legs. There were a few red spots on the bandages but most of the cuts were already healing. On the table beside him were a couple dozen magically charged splinters of crystal that even now were growing due to being soaked in alicorn blood. Most were fusing together, leaving no question as to whether or not Pulmonus was correct in her prognosis. Crystal splinters were no joke. Nor was the fact that it had turned out to not just be his legs that had needed to be checked. He was currently sitting on his side, his barrel wrapped in bandages that had similar spots from the bleeding. The doctor had demanded to check somewhere else because of how he’d landed and at first he’d almost refused but...
‘Oh god, kidney stones are scary enough,’ he thought, shivering as he remembered the last crystal sliver the doctor had removed, and from where it had been removed. Luckily he was still numb, the result of his impact against the wall and a minor concussion (again) but feeling was slowly returning to him and with it an aching pain as his body was finally able to tell him just what it thought about his ‘awesome move’ he’d copied from a show. From now on he’d do a bit more studying before trying out physics defying feats like that. Or maybe talk to an expert on the topic first.

One such expert had spent several minutes going on about how stupid he was while the doctors checked her own wings, making certain she hadn’t strained anything during her scouting flight. Rainbow Dash had sworn up and down she could have pulled the move off ‘in her sleep, with her eyes closed and blindfolded, while wrestling a dragon,’ and that she’d show him how to properly pull out of such a roll once he was done healing from his injury. Which she knew wouldn't be long, given his quick healing rate.

Zelus had also been irritated, citing the fact that she’d promised Pandinus a full list of his stupidity and injuries once they’d returned home.
He couldn't help but grin at that. The Temple really was home, and he really wished he was there right now. Din was grumpy but that was completely reasonable considering her current condition. The place was picking up, looking better every time he’d taken a tour around the area. He could even advertise the healing springs later on, though they’d have to make certain everyone followed the rules. He wasn't going to fight off the entire jungle because some idiot got it in his head to take a bottle of the water.
‘It only takes one idiot to ruin it for everyone.’

He shifted, raising his head and looking across the way. Luna was still blindfolded and had earplugs on, but Celestia was brushing her mane even as the smaller alicorn was holding onto her big sister with a death-grip. They were together and they were free. It would only be a matter of time before they began returning to their previous states. Of course he’d be asking Heart to give Luna a love-bath at some point, or even taking her to the Temple for it, but for now a bit of sisterly affection was all the two needed. That and plenty of time.

‘Time is something everything needs,’ he thought, looking to the door. The queens would heal in time. Luna would heal in time. In time, Equestria would be back in pony control. In time...in time he’d have a few kids of his own.
It wasn’t something he’d ever really thought of before he arrived in the Temple. It was something to worry about later. It was something he’d get to eventually, once he’d settled into a nice comfortable life. Now he was waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. Not because of some cosmic lottery, but because she’d decided to be cautious and limit herself to three embryos for her first clutch. In reality she could have used more, though stars help him if the mare ever tried a larger clutch with an alicorn as a mate. She’d likely balloon up so quickly she’d be bedridden for a good portion of the pregnancy. Not that seeing a changeling get, for lack of a better word, fat, wasn't weird enough. The few chitin plates Pandinus had kept after her molt into a queen had been a little strained last he’d seen and he could only imagine it would get worse. The mare would possibly even forgo them entirely if she was even willing to go through this again.

Nodding, Cimmerian made up his mind. It would be dark back home, so at the very least some of the drones would be asleep and able to tell Din to go to sleep herself.


Finding the dream hive at the Temple wasn't that difficult, nor was it hard to find the changeling queen currently resting in her dream hive throne. The tough part was getting this far without any of the drones noticing him. He wanted this to be special. He wanted to be able to surprise his mare.

Coming up behind her, he faded out of the dream enough to slip through the walls of the hive, a large grin appearing on his face. He slipped in behind Pandinus, wrapped his hooves around her even as he altered the dream to remove the throne, and bit lightly on the back of her neck even as she squeaked in surprise. The squeak turned into a mewl, the changeling queen melting into him as he began kissing up her neck.
“Missed you,” he whispered, punctuating the statement with another kiss. “Couldn't wait until I get back to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m, oh I hate when you do this to me, I can’t actually feed on this. I’m fine, just slow. It’s frustrating but, but I think it’s worth it. I can feel, my belly feels warmer. I’m getting hungrier and hungrier for both foods as time goes on but, oh stars, I hate you so much right now.”

Cimmerian chuckled, his hooves roaming the mare’s body. It’s not like he had anywhere else to be, he just had to make sure she didn’t get a chance to return the contact. It would be hard to explain to the doctors or the others in the medical center. It may also be painful, considering his recent injury.
“You mean I can’t spend time with my favorite love bug?” he teased, nipping an ear.

Pandinus said nothing, pressing closer to him as he continued to tease her, his hoof reached her swelling belly and he slowed, pulling her tightly against his barrel.
“Canterlot’s fallen to the Minotaurs. We saved a few queens but had to put the rest down. They were gone. The arrays are done though, Din. You tell everyone that those things will soon be gone, and I'm going to be going through Equestria to make sure every single one of those things is ground into dust.”

The changeling queen purred in his grip, the odd vibration by now a familiar sensation. They sat there peacefully enjoying the time together for as long as they could manage, which for Cimmerian wasn’t nearly enough.

The stallion blinked as he was called back to his body and shaken awake. A panicked griffon hen was at his bedside, shaking him and attempting to get his attention.
“We, there’s... Outside, please, just...”

Cimmerian nodded before letting loose a yawn. Just because he had all of this magic didn’t mean he didn't need rest and with the recent mission and surgical removal of the crystal slivers he was running a bit low on energy. Nevertheless he managed to pull himself out of his bed and carefully began walking to the door, leaving behind the still-panicking nurse.

“So much for sleep,” he muttered as he found the source of the trouble. Discord had finally showed up and there were several things out of place around him. A floating crate, a pink door, a few singing apples. It didn't appear to be a focused effort however, as the Discord was much too focused on the butter-yellow pegasus he was swinging around by her impossibly stretching cheeks.

“Oh I’m so happy to see you again in the flesh, Fluttershy! It’s just been so long...well, for me it has. In fact I think it’s been a long time for everyone but the five of you. Oh the things I want, no! the things I need to show you! I took pictures of the animals like you asked.”
Discord stopped spinning and tapped a talon against his chin while holding the pegasus under his other arm.
“There were a few that I had to remove from my album of course, Shoggoths and Mind-flayers tend to not like having their pictures taken. Who knew? There were also a few creatures that tend to cause madness when a mortal looks upon them. I wonder if... Oh! Cimmerian, would you mind helping me with an experiment? You were mortal and now you’re immortal right? I want to know what happens when a relatively fresh immortal looks at a Shoggoth.”

“Shoggoths don’t cause madness on sight, Discord. They’re scary as hell but not memetically madness-inducing,” Cimmerian replied, stifling a yawn with his hoof. “Now if you had a picture of an Old God or something like that, please keep that away from me. I don’t want to spend the next several decades recovering from madness. Also, Din would try to kill you if you did that. Then she’d kill me if I volunteered, which I wont because I'm quite attached to my life and what little sanity I have left.”

“Says the stallion that flew headfirst into Canterlot Mountain,” Zelus snorted.

“Hey, I was pretty sure I'd survive! I mean, alicorns are tougher then pegasi and pegasi can survive crashes at high speeds so logically-”

“It’s fine, Zelus,” Pulmonus chuckled. “I find that the heads of young males tend to be thicker than the densest rock. It is little wonder his skull won against the mountain.”

"In all seriousness," Cimmerian said, ignoring the gasp of horror Discord made at the word, "it's good to see that you're free. Cairn and the minotaurs didn't give you any trouble?"

"Not a bit. I did have a wonderful chat with the leader while his minions were busy panicking, but after his initial panic he calmed down. I think I've given him a bit to think about as well."

Cimmerian frowned at Discord's odd words.
"What do you mean you...you told him what I did, didn't you? You actually went and explained this to him? Do you know how much more difficult it will make things in the future?"

"Oh pshaw, you have three alicorns and several changeling queens. I'm sure you'll have not trouble-"

"No, Discord, that's not the issue," Cimmerian pursued, stomping a hoof into the ground. "I don't like direct fights! If I can help it I'll never take someone head on! Why do you think I keep hitting important places? Surgical strikes! Full-scales battles are the worst possible thing for both sides. It guarantees a large loss of life and you know as well as I do that Cairn won't fight me one on one. He wants a battle, he wants there to be bloodshed!"

"He wants to prove himself," Discord countered. "He thinks the best way to do that is by becoming some glorious leader-general that will bring his race into a new age of power and prosperity. He is forgetting half of the equation though, and that's what I told him."

"That's surprisingly insightful of you," Twilight said, her muzzle scrunching up at the idea. "I'm not sure how I feel about having just said that to Discord."

"Yea, since when did you get all sappy and smart?" Dash asked, flitting up to bop him on the nose. "I mean, you're supposed to be the one who makes fun of everything and causes headaches for the rest of us."

"It's been quite a while since I last saw you all, and besides! Why would I do what everyone is expecting? When chaos is predictable, then order needs to start becoming unpredictable. And personally, I don't see Tia walking out the door over there in a clown suit. That's my shtick."

"Well depending on who you ask, some of the olden styles looked pretty clownish," Cimmerian said, frowning afterwards. "I really need to get that seal checked again."

Immediately Discord slipped right up next to him, holding the stallion's ear up and looking deep into Cimmerian's ear. He then pulled back and stuck his hand in, making the alicorn wince.

"Yea, it's been cracked," Discord said, holding up a small stone tablet with runes written on it. "Probably when you ran into the mountain."

"Magic does not work that way!" Twilight barked, her wings buzzing in irritation. "Rargh, I can't take this anymore! Goodnight!"

As the drone buzzed off in a huff, Cimmerian and Discord looked at each other.

"We found it to be funny," Cimmerian said, "Though I'd be most grateful if thou wouldst return the seal, I'm kind of feeling strange from losing it suddenly."

Discord sighed, grabbing Cimmerian's ear again and stuffing the large stone tablet back into the alicorn's head. Cimmerian's wings extended in surprise at the odd sensation but he shook it off with a quick rattle.
"Yea, that was odd. I think I can understand why you drive ponies up the wall. In small doses it's funny but after a while that would get irritating."

"Well excuse me for having a sense of humor, princess" Discord huffed, crossing his arms and leaning backwards to sit on his tail.

Cimmerian blinked, looking under his barrel before looking back up and raising an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, excuse me prince. Better? Or maybe I could- Yes, a quick spell and-"

"It is nice to see you again, Discord, but there's just so much we need to do," Fluttershy interrupted soothingly, flying up and petting his nose. "We just have a lot to think about. After everyone's rested we can-"

"-Have a party! Oh we definitely need to do that! Luna's back now, and she's not gotten her birthday cake in sooo long so I need to make a bunch of cakes and find the candles; Dissy! You're with me, we're going to celebrate and-" Pinkie snatched the draconequus' tail in her mouth, trying to pull him to Freeside's kitchens. Or at least his tail, which started stretching from his body while the rest of him remained in place, "-den we're gunna mek eh ton'o ceks 'nd cukies 'nd Eh nee' te hear 'bout yer trip 'nd...."

"Well, I suppose that's my cue. I have some catching up to do, and even if I'm not the best cook, nobody in their right minds would miss out on getting to lick the batter out of the bowl when the cook is finished," Discord said.
With the sound of a rubber band, the rest of Discord's body snapped back to his tail and Pinkie finally stopped pulling him along, content to chatter at him as he floated along lazily beside her.

Hackett stared after the strange pair before looking to Cimmerian with no small amount of worry in his eyes.
"Can't you do anything about him?"

"Discord?" Cimmerian asked. "The hell do you want me to do about him? I'm fairly certain he's the strongest thing on the planet right now. I understand, he's weird and he doesn't think through what his magic does to others, but you guys are going to have to put up with it until he wanders off. Besides, all of this? This isn't anything focused, it's little sparks of magic that he's letting lose without thinking about. He's just excited to be around people he knows again."

"I don't like it, nor do my griffons. Aren't you alicorns supposed to be all about harmony?" Hackett shot back.

"Harmony, right. When I figure out how to be peaceful and harmonic I'll let you know. Don't hold your breath though, you'll likely die of old age before that happens."
With an shake of his head, Cimmerian looked to the four remaining mares.
"You guys don't think he'll do anything too out there, do you? I mean, this seems pretty calm considering who just walked by." 

"He's just very happy," Fluttershy agreed, smiling. "It used to happen when he'd get excited about something. He sort of leaks magic when that happens. It usually only lasted a few-"
Suddenly the door behind her turned back to a plain wooden door with a pop, causing the pegasus to eep and jump several feet in the air.
"Oh my, yes. As I was saying it only lasts for a few moments once he leaves because there's no real power or focus put into it. It makes him easy to find, though. The same goes for when he's upset. Anytime I needed to find him I just followed the trail of random magic."

"Eh, Shy's right," Rainbow said, waving a hoof in the direction Pinkie and Discord had taken. "I think Pinkie does more strange stuff than Discord, though. I mean, with Discord you expect it. But an earth pony? I think it's why those two have always seemed to get along."

Nodding Cimmerian turned back to the griffon with a smirk.
"Think of it as a little practice with working past distractions or the unexpected. I don't think it gets much more unexpected than doors changing color, but it was still a door. That and as far as I can tell nothing was actually damaged. If something does get damaged just talk to him. See if he can fix it. As long as you don't snap at him or let him bait you there won't be any issues."

"I'm the commanding officer of this town, Cimmerian. I do not go up to anyone and-"

"You will ask nicely, not because it's what you need to do but because it's the proper thing to do," a voice cut in, catching the attention of those present.

"Ah, Herrick. Good to see you again," Cimmerian said with a smile. "I thought you'd be spending time in High Talon."

The griffon commander shook his head with an irritated scowl.
"The minotaurs wont talk to us anymore. I'm here to try again and see if we have to worry about them making an attempt on our own lands. I also have a few new reports to go over, mostly ponies surrendering their positions or being held until we can either link them to one of your queens or break any nearby arrays. Care to join me in the situation room? Considering your bandages, you've undoubtedly a story to tell."

'Yea, definitely not getting much sleep,' Cimmerian mentally complained, nodding and following the griffon. He'd catch up on sleep later. Likely by sleeping for a solid day.
> These Campaigns were Easier on the Computer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A deep yawn wracked Cimmerian as he stood over a map of the country of Equestria and the surrounding provinces. The last week had been a hectic pain in the flank, rushing all over the country to remove the arrays from the various towns and cities while setting up ways to defend it from minotaur strikes. The cleanup was just about over, too. Most of the country was cleared of the arrays, and while the population was slowly leaking back in from the surrounding territories(minus the Minotaur lands) there was the issue of rebuilding the defenses that had been destroyed by the invading army while they were unmanned.

The dark alicorn was currently set up in a small city near the Minoan border along with Zelus and the rest of the queens. With a good number of the ponies that had arrays being Equestrian Military, it was an unfortunate necessity. It did allow him to keep an eye on the newest queen's he'd gotten his hooves on though.

Migidae was still irritable and paranoid but was no longer snapping at everyone that walked by(literally in some cases. Cimmerian had brought up the idea of a muzzle once and the queen had just growled at him). Rahaza was still nervous around Zelus as was to be expected, but she was no longer shaking when the larger mare entered the same room. On top of that both queens were now mobile again, if shaky on their hooves.

Luna and Celestia had come along as well, both wanting to be present in case there were any issues with ponies either not trusting his word or attempting to start their own little townships in the meantime. It was a time to pull together, certainly, but a bunch of communities growing out of the remains of their own country wasn't helping. Especially when the alicorn sisters were trying to rebuild it after such a thorough thrashing.

One such stallion was currently discussing the future of his position with the sisters in the next room. And of course by discussion...
"-tell me to just hoof over all of my hard work! I won't do it, I don't care if you were ruling this land for so long!"

"We are not asking you to give up your position," Celestia was saying. "We are asking for your support in the reconstruction of this country. Equestria is-"

"Dead! Your country is dead and now we're left to pick up the pieces of our lives! Because you couldn't deliver on your promises of safety and peace!"

"My sister and I were betrayed by our own," Luna countered. "It was not some outside force that bested us but an insider who betrayed us. And even then it took her several decades to weaken our country to this state! Decades in which neither of us were capable of doing anything since we were imprisoned."

"It took the Nightmare almost twenty years to destroy our country even while running it, Turbine," Celestia added. "As far as we can tell, nopony bothered to go looking for us! Two alicorns disappear, one of them the ruler of the country for centuries, and there were no searches beyond those directed by Twilight Sparkle, who was under the influence of a Nightmare. No questions were asked, there were even ponies who knew where we were!"

Cimmerian perked his ears. He knew it was possible that the Nightmare had let a few in on it or hadn't kept everything air-tight, but confirmation that Celestia and Luna had been stabbed in the back? Oh, what he'd give to be a fly on the -no, he wouldn't need to be a fly on the wall. He wanted to be there as well for when they lined up to beat the asshats responsible for helping Nightmare contain the Sisters.

"I know of at least four of the higher-ranked ponies in the military who didn't say a word. I heard their voices outside our prison while the Nightmare entered or left them and mark my words, Turbine. Once I find them they will wish the Nightmare had destroyed them."

Cimmerian couldn't help but chuckle at that. They were all a bit high-strung at the moment. Tia was irritable, Luna was constantly tired, he was starting to feel both...a look to the right had him smiling a bit more. Zelus was sprawled out on a couch nearby, having passed out after her latest deflection of a small Minotaur attack group.

It was something Cimmerian was both irritable about and thankful for. Cairn had pulled back after the sack of Canterlot, hitting a few cities here and there on his way back to Minotaur lands. After that there had been precious little information coming from the Minoan border. A few Pegasus and changeling-manned clouds that were well above crossbow range was the best he could do at the moment and even that was spotty at best. The Pegasus guards needed to be relieved for breaks and be supplied with food and water while the drones, well, not all of the Pegasus guards were friendly with them. They had to be supplied with honey while on their missions just as much as any other soldier needed food. It had caused a few problems at first, the honey attracting a few remnant feral drones, but after that it things had settled. Food-wise and loyalty-wise, the drones were a bit more reliable. They were perfectly content to sit in the cloud scouting towers for as long as needed when properly supplied with honey. Unfortunately with it still being cold out, the drones needed to be supplied with other things the pegasi didn't need, like cold-weather gear and personal heaters.

It gave his side something to work with, but it was far from perfect. Several times a small raiding party had made it through the net. To that point, every town that had been retaken was also given at least one changeling as an emergency radio with the explanation that it was linked to the queens. A lot of ponies were still scared of changelings, which made sense all things considered, but the fist time a Minotaur raiding party was seen and reported to the drone though, the majority of ponies in the towns were convinced of their usefulness.

"Being proven and tested doesn't mean everyone will accept it though," he muttered.

Cimmerian frowned as several Pegasi and a changeling flew over to the map, moving markers that represented both griffon and Minotaur patrols. Herrick and his griffons had made contact with Cairn's people but had been turned away with threats. The griffons were pretty difficult to reach for the ground-bound forces, but considering most of the local areas relied on pony farms producing enough food to keep prices down they weren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of their neighbors being raided, nor were they foolish enough to think Cairn would stop at Equestria if he made another attempt to conquer the land.
"It would have been easier if Discord hadn't talked to him but in a way it doesn't change too much. We're at war."

"Not that it's much of a war," Herrick said, walking into the room.

"War is war, Herrick. People will die, people have already died, and possessions and property will be lost. That being said, I have only one issue with his war; I'm stuck fighting an enemy someone else made."

"Cairn is a hot-head. He would have tried instigating this sooner or later. I just wish it had been sooner so the Griffon Empire could have responded properly."

"But if the Nightmare hadn't put Equestria into its current weakened state and hadn't gone around stepping on every set of toes it could find for the giggles, do you think he could have sold his people this war?" The alicorn asked. "Wars require motivation, money, and manpower. Cairn had no issue selling his "revenge on Equestria" campaign after the Nightmare had spent the last ten years or so shitting on everyone it could find. If it hadn't and Equestria was still home to four alicorns, he wouldn't have done more than bluster and threaten."

The griffon hummed thoughtfully.
"Speaking of the Nightmare, I just received this."

Cimmerian looked up from the table before taking the offered scroll. The contents were not what he wanted to hear.

'Thestrals at war. Internal conflict. Cause originally suspected to be based on Luna/Nightmare/Cimmerian dispute(third faction allied with the first). Nightmare sighting confirmed, Thestral ship that had left for Equestria arrived home just before escalation into conflict, cloaked purple mare seen walking from ship.'

The alicorn's fetlock reached up and wrapped around his muzzle.
"You stupid son of a bitch."

"Awful set on causing as much trouble as possible, isn't it?" Herrick chuckled. 

"It's started feeding. I think that's why, it started and can't stop. If it does it will die. This is as much about its survival as anything else. Any sane being would wait for the heat to die down a bit, maybe look into some sort of disguise. Maybe it...
"I don't know," Cimmerian admitted. "I'm trying to predict the patterns of a creature that by all rights shouldn't exist. I get changelings even if they're weird. They feed on positive emotions but to ponies it's uncanny valley territory. The-"
The alicorn chuckled at the griffon's look of confusion.
"The uncanny valley is a term used to describe something that's unsettling. Some dolls freak people out because they're lifelike, but not quite real. It's something in your head, your brain isn't quite able to place it in the fields of 'reality' or 'fantasy'. The confusion leads to an overexertion of the brain, which it translates into fear. Or something like that, it's been a while since I read about it. Basically it means changelings look close enough to ponies that their brains pick up on those similarities, but the similarities make the differences even more striking. Once they get used to changelings its fine, but a first reaction is usually fear."
"Anyway something that inhabits the uncanny valley of their best food source would need to get close, thus the shape shifting. This Nightmare though, it seems to attempt to draw as much misery and hatred as possible. In the case of the first one it even tried to destroy the planet.
"But it moved too fast. It had Luna's power, sure, but it had zero support otherwise. Luna's depression and loneliness helped solidify its grip on the mare but it also meant that there was nowhere to retreat to, nobody else to guard it. Once it launched its attack, which failed, it had nothing else planned. This Nightmare knew about the failure of its predecessor through Twilight, one of the mares who stopped the first one's second attempt. It took the time to set up a much more complicated plan but in the end, this one fell apart too."

"For which I'm incredibly grateful," Herrick chuckled before his expression turned sober, looking to the map. "We got lucky. A chain of events nobody could have predicted is the only reason her powerbase fell apart. I don't like surviving based on luck."

"You and me both, Herrick," the stallion muttered. "I want to catch this thing, find out how it works. If we can separate it from Twilight's body and get her back in it, awesome. If not...she's accepted the loss."

The griffon hummed in thought for a moment.
"You said it feeds on misery, yet alicorns are empowered by love, didn't you?"

Cimmerian nodded.
"Idiots pick a powerful being who is weakened by what makes them powerful and is empowered by what makes them sick. You think they'd pick a dragon or something."

Herrick nodded but still seemed to be thinking about something.
"If it's a spirit that possesses individuals, what happens when it's left as the sole inhabitant of a body?"

The dark alicorn's scowl lightened as he processed the words, a certain set of armor coming to mind supporting the griffon's question. The Nightmares had never actually been alive in that way.
"I...don't know..."



<-(0)->



The mare wheezed in agony as she stumbled through the mansion. It wasn't the lap of luxury she'd been enjoying for the last few decades but it was better than that damn flying ship. Or the now-empty castle.

The Nightmare leaned against a stand in the hallway, knocking a vase out of her way in the process. She was familiar with hate, with pain, with fear. But she'd never felt them so vividly as she did now. The emotions were her own now, not something she felt through her link to another individual. After the dark male had taken her host, she'd spent the next three hours in agony. There was nowhere to divert the pain, no other mind to act as a buffer between her and the decaying body she was inhabiting.

She felt it all.

The burning of her wings, as the injuries she'd ignored and had become infected over the years, wearing down even an alicorn's durability and resistance to sickness and disease.

The emptiness in her gut at the lack of food, something she'd not cared about before.

The cracks in her horn which sparked with magic every now and again, sending jolts of pain up the raw nerves that were exposed.

She'd been unable to find a single soul that could fix any of it until the thestrals had showed up, bowing to her like the god she was and offering their bodies and souls to her. Most were added to her army around Canterlot, while a few others she'd managed to keep out of the swarms grasp.

The Nightmare snorted at that. She'd had to save the idiots from her own army, as without Twilight's knowledge of the arrays she'd been unable to do more than activate the final phase of the plan early. She no longer had control of the swarms though, only protection from their grasp. The thestrals she kept away from the drones were infinitely more useful than the mindless drones, able to patch her legs and wings and ease the pain. They served her food, offered her the finest linens for her rest and treated her like royalty. It was something she'd started to miss as time passed in Canterlot castle after she'd captured the majority of the staff. With the loss of her host as a buffer against the body's ills, she'd almost regretted the fall of the city. It would have been so much more...
'Stop it, it needs to be done. Do not let the body consume you.'

Odd as it may seem, it was a very real threat. She could feel the needs of the body and her own 'needs' starting to converge. She felt less energy from anguish, and more from the worship of these damnable creatures that were treating her as a God of Death.
The worst part was she could think of no way to stop the change. It was the sort of thing her host would have found a solution for, not her.

'Oh stars, now I'm assigning myself a gender,' she muttered, placing her muzzle in her hooves. 'How could this possibly-'

She was cut off by an odd gurgle in her host's, no, in her body. Not one of hunger, but of something else. Something deeper...

The Nightmare grumbled not for the first time against the alicorn that had removed a cornerstone from her plan. She'd strangle him if she ever got the chance.



<-(0)->



The dark alicorn stallion snorted awake, disconnecting himself from the nearby queens' dream-hive and the situation room Zelus had constructed to allow the changelings to quickly assess the needs of the pony population as they returned to Equestria. Many ponies had run off again as soon as they saw the queens. Others just curled up on the ground and wept, thinking they were screwed either way or that they had escaped one prison to trade it for another. Even Celestia and Luna were regarded with suspicion in some areas, as they were still weak and recovering. It was not a fast road either. With most of the love going to either ponies who were being treated for magic-shock or drones that were starving, Luna and Celestia were forgoing the love that would have boosted their own recovery to allow others to survive.

His wing was tugged as he shifted about, Zelus currently grumbling as her heat-source moved away from her. Winter ended earlier in Equestria than the rest of the world and was already fading into spring but the air still held a bitter chill. A chill that left Zelus particularly grumpy in the morning.

"It's too early. Go back to sleep," the queen grumbled, using her magic to tug at his wing.

Pulling away and setting his still warm blanket over her, he chuckled.
"I need to keep the rest of them updated. Not everyone has access to the dream-hive."

"Well it sucks to be them," the queen muttered, curling up under the blanket and falling asleep again. 

The stallion had barely closed the door before another voice echoed through the hallway, this one not grumpy but downright hostile.
"Away, I am no invalid!"

"Migidae, good to see you're feeling better."

The queen turned to him with fire in her eyes but bit back her usual snarl.
"Shadow."

"Close enough," the stallion sighed. "Go ahead guys, I'll make sure she makes it."

The three drones that were attempting to help the mare left, the sudden lack of support causing her to teeter unsteadily. 

"I'm fairly certain Pulmonus said not to rush your recovery or you'd hurt yourself," Cimmerian said, walking up beside the queen and pulling her into his side with a wing.

"Do not touch me! I do not need your help!"

"I'm not helping you. You're feigning weakness in an attempt to seduce me and steal my emotions."

To his amusement the queen huffed but otherwise accepted the excuse he provided her with. He pulled the unsteady mare along with him through the morning chill and into the cafeteria of the base-camp that was currently serving breakfast.

"I do not need to be here."

"I think you do. I don't care if you eat or not, but one of the first things I taught Pandinus was holding a conversation. Meals are important for many species, and a queen who can't at least pretend to know about other cultures isn't going to get far once things start to settle. You may not like it but you're not going to be able to fade into the shadows after this.
"Sit down and relax for a bit. Do you have any drinks you found enjoyable?"

"The blood of those who irritate me, preferably still warm and fresh from their still-beating heart."

"I don't think we can scrounge that up. Oh, I know."
Cimmerian walked to the buffet line, taking two plates for his morning meal. He normally was good with one but he'd skipped dinner the night before and then collapsed onto a bed after becoming too exhausted to continue. Coming to the drinks, he grinned at the little dispenser of changeling honey that had been added for the drones that were nearby. Making a cup of tea, he carefully added a few drops of the honey as well before mixing in some extra sugar.

"Here, tell me what you think," he said, setting the tea down before the queen while sitting across from her with his own meal. He tucked in to his breakfast, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She sniffed it carefully, lifting the still warm beverage to her lips and taking a quick sip.

"It...is tolerable. I didn't know they offered honey in this place."

"Normally they don't but with the influx of changelings working with the Equestrians it's easier to keep some on hand than to leave the drones to find someone to cuddle with. It also helps that it's helped ponies by restoring their magic above the redline. This stuff can be the difference between a week of headaches and possible permanent damage to their magic-systems and a few hours of being high as a kite then waking up just tired."

Migidae scowled again, at what Cimmerian guessed was the 'waste' of honey.

"As we've told the other queens, you can think of it as an investment. You pour this honey into a pony, they feel better, and you get more focused emotions from them as well as their friends. You're paying a small amount now for a larger amount in the future, not to mention the injured pony continues to live, thus increasing the ponies available to feed from."

Turning back to his meal, he watched as the queen chewed on the information. Her weariness was understandable, especially considering the torture she'd been put through.

"Why do you allow the other queen into your bed?"

"Zelus?" Cim clarified. "I don't know, it started as a comfort thing for her, but at this point I think it's comforting for both of us. I've spent most of my nights for the past few weeks, months now?-with a queen snuggled into my side, so I feel a bit...alone if I don't have someone with me."

"But why does she remain with you? You do not radiate the full and potent love like you tell the other drones to seek. For her the emotion is less. So why is she attached to you?"

The alicorn chewed his lip in thought for a moment before noticing two additional sets of eyes on him. Celestia and Pandinus had apparently heard the conversation and were looking on while he thought up an answer.
"I think it's because of her connection with Queen Pandinus."

"Your mate," Pulmonus said, frowning in thought. "Yes, I had heard from Zelus that the two are Sister-queens now. Though I don't see how hat would explain her fascination with you."

"Just give me a moment, I'm trying...okay, what was the one thing hives never have enough of."

"Love," was the immediate chorus, prompting Cimmerian to nod in agreement.

"Okay, so two queens would never inhabit the same territory because it would be suicide. You're already scrounging what you can to survive, there's nothing to spare. So queens would get very protective of their territories, leaving new queens to either find a weak hive to destroy or finding a new place to settle, preferably one with a pony settlement not too far from their hive.
"Because of this the queen's are quick to develop an 'every man for himself' attitude. But if we take away that issue, find a way to make it so that not only is love plentiful, but it's freely accessible, that issue goes away. I'm not saying the fighting stops, but the desperation for territory just isn't there anymore. Some will still fight out of habit if nothing else, but what if there was also no other hives?"
"In the case of Din and Zel, I had originally pushed it as a species survival thing. Even if Zelus left afterwards, it was one more queen that survived. Both reacted the way they were taught, but Din was aware that her race was in very real danger of extinction. Three free queens, four at that time if we count the one with Cadance."

"Amare. I saw her. Such a sweet thing," Celestia gushed.

"The relationship with the two queens changed somewhere along the line. I don't know when, but even though they were still calling each other beta and alpha queen, Din and Zelus weren't really acting that way. They were...to put it simply, there was a time where it was less they and more she."

"I do not follow," Migidae said, looking irritably to her tea to find it empty. "There is only one queen. Any others who joined her hive would be sub-queens, liable to betray or be executed at a moments notice."

"But they trusted each other," Pulmonus responded, smiling thoughtfully. "They didn't fear that the other would turn on them. They-"
Pulmonus' eyes widened as something dawned on her.
"They let the boundaries slip. They...they were the hive."

"What are you talking about?" Migidae asked. "A queen is in charge of the hive, each drone bound to her will. If there were two queens in charge, the conflicting orders would shatter a hive."

"Colt, did they ever seen to be...not themselves?"

"There was...they were speaking over the hive for a long while after an...incident and they were kind of speaking alternatively but always speaking the next line. Like they were completely in sync. It only happened once and it was after several hours spent talking over the link while close to each other but it happened."

Pulmonus giggled, clapping her hooves.
"Oh what I would give to see that. They are both very young, taught but not conditioned yet. Seeing old rules broken, start to wonder what else could be overlooked. And- oh, oh yes, that would have been very confusing. You only consider Pandinus your mate correct?"

Cimmerian shifted uncomfortably.
"That was actually the issue we were discussing. They wanted to...share or, I don't even think they considered it sharing. Just asking me to be the source of the queens' emotion and uh, sperm."

"I'd hate to say this, colt, but as they grow closer it's going to get a bit stranger. They're still young and relatively new to the link, but while they're personalities will always shine through in each shell, where Pandinus ends and Zelus begins may become a bit muddled."

"Yea. I kind of already got that feeling."
The dark alicorn stared at her for a moment before turning back to his plate.
"They don't really even think of each other as friends. Din is currently rearing Zelus' first sired clutch right now. That's not something friends do."

"It's something done by family," Celestia whispered, nodding. "In fact, it sounds like a herd."

"So we're back to square one," the stallion muttered. "It's not like I can ask them to throw this away, either. I kind of started this. I asked Din to look at Zelus as more than a rival and an enemy queen and she did. And now they share everything, even comforts."

"That, hold that thought" Pulmonus giggled, moving around the table and sitting next to him. She began sniffing at him before nodding. "So it is not some pheromone. The hatchling said your scent was calming. I suppose it has to do with her connection. Did your mate make similar comments?"

"I was present for Din's maturation into a queen and even before that. She saw me as a safe place, or something like that. Ever since her molt she'd been really affectionate, but I assumed she was just trying to seduce me."

"She likely was, but considering the fact that your very presence is comforting to her I'm not surprised. What does surprise me is that Zelus inherited that feeling of trust. It certainly adds water to the fact that they've become hive-sisters and not just two queens that are in the same hive.
"Yet it's not something you need to worry about now, colt. This 'merging' will take time, and I do not believe it will ever be absolute. The worst you may encounter is seeing them expressing bits of each other's personality when exposed to surprises. Pandinus could strike out if something spooks her, or Zelus could suddenly become very affectionate after waking. That is...I believe that is the true nature of a hive. A conjoining the level of which could be the first of its kind."

"Could be?" Celestia asked.

"Well it's not like many of us remember the First Hive," Pulmonus said with a shrug. "All I know for certain is that with its fall we lost a breed of changeling which was core to our continued survival. Luckily a queen accidentally discovered that ponies were close enough to allow cross-fertilization, otherwise we would have gone extinct years ago."

"You mean that at one point you had changelings that were bred specifically for siring more changelings?" Celestia asked, cocking her head in thought. "That...I am having a little difficulty understanding that."

The older mare just shrugged.
"Our kind is less concerned with inbreeding. Our genetics are a bit less intricate than that of ponies. If a queen finds herself producing bad drones, she can repair her own body if she takes the time to learn how."
"Speaking of new things that change the world of the Changelings, how is Pandinus and the foals?"

"She was doing well last I talked to her, which was..."
Cimmerian frowned.
"Damn. I think it's been almost a week."

"You best head back to bed then, colt. I've heard of mares gelding their stallions for less," Pulmonus chuckled. "Though from what I've managed to pull from Zelus, you may merely end up trapped in her room."

Cimmerian grinned, picking up his plate as he stood up.
"After all of this crap, I don't think I'd mind being locked in her room for a while."







Migidae accepted a second cup of tea from a drone, dismissing it with a wave of her hoof. It's effect was surprisingly nice; the warm drink fought the chill in the air while the honey energized her. The sugar was...it wasn't necessary, but ponies in general seemed all about things they didn't really need.

"You were worried that he could be producing pheromones," Migidae said after the stallion was gone, looking to Pulmonus. "That he was either actively or unknowingly influencing queens."

"I never truly thought he was doing it purposefully, his emotions are too easy to distinguish. If he was doing so, he wouldn't be worried about you biting him, or nervous when I ask questions. He's just a young colt who took in a starving proto queen and enthralled her. I must say, if I was in the hatchlings position and some handsome young colt came along and offered me food and shelter, I'd likely become quite attached to him as well."
Giggling at the idea, Pulmonus fluttered her wings and stretched her forelegs.
"Ah, but that's life. There is no use lamenting over the good fortune of others. What made me curious about the pheromones is Zelus' attachment to him. I have never seen a queen so comfortable around anything other than her own drones, yet betraying his trust is not something she could even consider at this point."

"You believe that they are truthful?" Migidae scoffed . "That they are, concerned for the future of the changeling race?"

"I already knew they were, actually. The only thing I questioned was his control over the queen. You and I both know her current form is not normal for a queen. That is a form made for battle, to guard the male. She is protecting her sister's mate, which I find very strange. I've never known a queen to endanger herself for anything, much less something or someone belonging to another queen."

"Well until recently he was the reason they could form a hive without being tracked," Celestia informed the older queen. "I'm certain that has something to do with it."

The younger queen frowned, staring at her tea. If it kept her hive safe, would she have been willing to...submit to the pony? No, submit didn't sound like the right word. What would it be called?

"Something on your mind, hatchling?" the other queen asked, her face serious.

"No, Just in thought. I will have much to do to rebuild, after all."

In spite of her negative response, Pulmonus nodded.
"They are using a combination of relationships that do not exist in the hive and are outside your frame of reference. If you require any details regarding them, I'd be happy to explain them. In return, I'd like you to tell me about your hive. How you started and what hardships you faced. I always enjoy listening to how others responded to the little things that you cant account for until they occur."

With that, Pulmonus excused herself, as did Celestia, the two leaving together and continuing to chat. Migidae was left alone with her thoughts once more, as not a single creature was willing to sit close to her. She could feel their presence, taste their emotions and glean their opinions of her but she found herself suppressing a shiver. It was getting quiet around her, and she'd had more than enough quiet to last her several lifetimes. Standing slowly and moving to refill her drink, which was oddly enough starting to grow on her, she decided to find Rahaza. That queen wasn't talkative but she was often in a more active area. One that would keep Dae from going mad from the loneliness.
> Hive Exploits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cimmerian really wasn't certain if he should be frustrated or amused at the current situation he found himself in. After heading back to bed and finding Zelus still present(in fact, she'd sprawled out to take up most of the bed) he'd had to wake her to move her out of the way. This led to her asking his intentions, which in turn led to her asking to tag along. After all, the connection to the hive at their current distance was extremely weak and only allowed for the most basic of information to be sent(Cimmerian had already been working on teaching the queens some form of Morse code, but since he couldn't remember half of the letters and the code was made for a different written alphabet, it was only a few simple messages that were transmittable, most being devised by the queens between themselves).

So it was that he'd dragged the other queen along, silently curious as to whether Pulmonus' claim was true. Sure enough they'd added a nice bed to rest on to the dream-hive, had him lie on his back, and proceeded to curl up on his wings while they chatted mentally, only the barest hints of their conversation reaching him. It wasn't that he couldn't hear it, but that they were communicating so damn fast.

It was probably a good thing they were only in the dream-hive. With two queens, one on each wing, he'd get pins and needles all over the already-sensitive appendages. In this way it was just his dream-image. He'd wake up, stretch out his wings, and then sit his flank back down in the command tent.

'Perhaps someday in the future we could visit as guests. Stay in the palace, see the cities fully occupied.' Zelus thought at him, bringing him from his musings. 'I never managed to see Canterlot, though I heard many speaking of it.'

'Wouldn't need a disguise either,' Zelus giggled. 'With such high exposure and the way things have played out, a few of the ponies have less fear of changelings than alicorns at the moment. Oh it's a rare thing, but there are a few.'

The alicorn leaned to his left, the side Pandinus had claimed, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
'How are you feeling?'

'Bloated, irritable, disgusted with my loss of mobility, vulnerable...delirious with happiness. I can pick up on some faint signals now and then. Two seem to be someone brushing against the hive, two are faint emotional sources inside of me...I think one will be a, a combination. Radiating emotions and yet connected to me. One will not though, and I just can't help but feel like it will be lonely.'

Cimmerian couldn't help but think of the arrays at his queen's sorrowful thoughts. Both had immediately flinched at the thought, but Din had perked after calming. It would let her be closer to her hatchling, to her foal.

If you do want to try that we're going to have to be extremely careful with them, Din. Maybe something that can be removed and reapplied. Twilight knows the arrays backwards and forwards so maybe she could find something. Maybe...'

'Would you let us in?' Zelus asked, seeing where his thoughts were going.

'If I'm even thinking about using them on a child I better be willing to try them myself. I'll think about it, ask Twilight if she can figure out a simple way to connect to just one or two others. Until the kid's older though, you'll have to make due with physically cuddling them, not both. I don't know what that would do to a baby and I don't want to think about it. We're not built that way and I don't know if we can adapt.'

The queens nodded, returning their heads to the bed and giving each other the full report of what each had experienced in the other's absence. Curious, he looked at one, then the other.
'Are you comfortable?'

'Yes' they responded almost immediately, both sticking their tongue out before settling back into his sides.

He chuckled, but his mind was mulling over the words of the older queen earlier that morning. That they were mixing and melding every time the two queens were together. He could still tell which was which both physically and through mannerisms. Pandinus was still taking lessons from the griffon matron, even if it was sometimes by proxy, and they showed through in a more eloquent form of speech. Zelus however had only learned a little of that through proximity to the other queen, preferring a more physical form of problem solving. It was why she was currently his bodyguard in fact. She wanted to travel, to have a bit of adventure queen's usually didn't crave. That wasn't so unusual, as even Pulmonus had admitted to going out and sightseeing after several centuries of ruling a hive.

Mothers didn't get vacations, after all.

Din interrupted his musings by moving to rest on his belly, scooting up to look down into his eyes.
"Out with your troubles. You were so quick to demand such of me, yet you cannot reciprocate?"

"I was talking to Pulmonus earlier," he said, rolling his eyes. "She said some...she said a few things that worry me. In a way I noticed  some of it but to hear her get all excited about it was a bit unsettling. She said that the two of you are likely the first queens to experience this level of blind faith in each other and thus the only queens that have, what was her phrasing... that you had basically shifted from two queens to two parts of a larger whole."

Zelus was staring in confusion while Din merely shrugged.
'Ours is a unique situation. What is the problem?'

'The problem is the you and I/we boundary we've muddled,' Zelus realized. 'If we are becoming closer, two parts of the same whole, what does that mean for him?'

'Ah. I see.'

"I just don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand I was the one who pushed for this, even if it was without realizing it," Cimmerian sighed. "On the other, it means that all of my arguments from before were null and void the second I asked you to help them."

'You're a frustrating creature,' Zelus thought. 'Even Pulmonus has not heard of this happening. She's making guesses and assertions based on what she knows. If a changeling queen old enough and powerful enough to not only be known to Celestia but refer to her as a younger being is left making theories, then no matter how sound they are there is no way a stallion from another dimension would have been able to foresee this.'

"Being able to predict it or not doesn't change the facts."

"You are correct but not in the way you think," Din said, grinning at him. "You believe that this leaves you with the same issue as when this topic was first broached, but several things have happened since then. You have become acquainted with Zelus, and have thus become more comfortable around her. Our...bond wasn't something we really thought about as such. We only considered the idea of your connection to the hive. Zelus and I did not consider the fact that we ourselves may be subject to some changes as a result of our acceptance of each other.
"The other thing that has changed is how we perceive your relationship with us."

Shifting herself to lie on his barrel, Pandinus nuzzled his neck.
"When this first came up we thought to use you as a resource for the hive. Not uncommon, as queens and proto queens even consider themselves resources for their hives. The difference is that we are aware of our importance to the hive. We also are able to allot more comforts to ourselves because of that importance."

"No longer are we trying to assign a resource for the hive, nor are we really thinking of changelings in terms of a 'resource'. With the freeing of my sister and Mig, as well as Heart's attachment to the drake...that will be two or three other hives. We are shying away from the fear of extinction you two instilled in me. We do not need to produce as many queens as possible, though I would still prefer a few more queens."
Zelus scowled, looking at the wall.
"I never thought I would be wishing for more queens in the world. My mother only ever told me that if I met one I should be ready to kill them before they find me as they would be looking to do the same to me. It instilled a paranoia in me, as I'm certain was done with others."

Din nodded in agreement causing Zelus to smile.

"I was told to strike quickly and from a safe angle. My safety was more important than any drone, as they could be replaced fairly easily. The death of another queen was a good thing as it meant less competition, and the best way to eliminate another queen was quietly. Could you imagine the rioting that would occur if changelings battled in the streets over who could harvest from ponies? So if you did make a mistake, either make sure they couldn't find your hive, make it look like another queen attacked, or get out of the area."
Pandinus chuckled, shaking her head.
"Now I'm inviting other queens into my hive and hoping a few more survived. Actually, Zelus and I were discussing trading for a little bit. I've gotten tired of overseeing things in the Temple and Zelus is getting worn down by the constant combat. Mentally, at least, since most of the exhaustion is easily healed with affection."

"Trading," Cimmerian repeated before his eyes widened. "Wait, as in bodies? You want to come to Equestria while Zelus watches the Temple?"

"Yes. I would also like to both speak with Heart as well as see Pulmonus. She sounds...interesting."

The stallion stared at the ceiling for a little, crossing off most of his outright denials. Din could fight, there was no doubt about it. Add the fact that they were trading information like sisters trading clothes and Din may be as good as Zelus in combat in a few days. The minotaurs were pulled back into their own lands, the arrays were down...

"I'm going to regret this."



<-(0)->



While it was nice to have Din nearby for a change, it was a little jarring for everyone. Many of the ponies were spooked by the queen’s sudden change in mannerisms and the explanation really didn’t do much to calm them. Then again, it was pretty strange to Cimmerian, and he helped set this up.
‘Actually, does that mean-‘
“Din? can changelings learn dream walking?”

The mare, currently in Zelus’ armored form, turned with perked ears. 
“Not as far as I know. Something about our connection to the hive. We don’t technically dream, but the hive tends to be close enough to a dream for dream walkers to enter it. Oh, if I could do this on my own Zelus and I could trade at any point, no matter the distance! I suppose I’ll have to ask about it. Is Luna nearby?”

“She should be. Luna is still recovering as we haven't had the time or resources to dunk her like we did with Celestia and Cadance. I'd still like to get her back to the Temple before all is said and done just to make sure she's gotten a bit of a boost. With how things are going she'll need it."
"Actually, what I was curious about was if you could enter another queen's hive with dream walking."

Pandinus stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in realization.
"I, I could infiltrate any hive at any time with that kind of ability."

"Or you could be infiltrated at any time," he whispered quietly. "This could be as dangerous as it could be lucrative. keep that in mind."

"I understand. I actually almost forgot about that, thank you. Mother always said I should be aware of both offensive and defensive capacities of any technologies or magics I learn as some spells leave an aura on the caster that can be tracked. That likely should have been the first thought I had."

Moving off again, Din smiled.
"It does not change the fact that I will need to speak to her. And it will be nice to do so in the flesh for once."

"So to speak," Cimmerian chuckled.

"Oh don't be like that. It's not that strange, is it? You've known we could do this sort of thing for a long time."

"I knew changelings could swap, but neither you nor Zelus ever showed interest in swapping, at least with each other. That's likely part of this whole trust thing you two have been developing though and I hadn't really thought you two would do it. The closest you'd come before that was..."

"When I shared my senses with her; I remember. I am still not certain why, but it seemed like the only way to make her understand my reasoning. You weren't the only one learning about yourself, after all. I told you what queens have always done, and the only reason I trusted you enough was because you'd taken care of me and even emitted love to me. Not a disguise I used, but my base form. I have never heard of a creature doing that for a queen, not that a pony has ever gotten that close to one."

"A negative of all the paranoia when you need to feed on others, right?" Cimmerian asked with a chuckle, opening the door to the meeting room. Sure enough, both alicorn mares were present, though Luna once more looked like she should have been in bed.
"Luna, you need rest."

"That is what I keep telling her, but she refuses to sleep," Celestia sighed, looking up from the latest reports. "She does not wish to be left out of the loop, though."

"I must also-"Luna began, interrupted by a yawn"-see to the damage to Cimmerian's mind at some point. Pulmonus has been harassing me about such."

Looking back to Pandinus, he saw her mouthing the word 'damage' with a growing look of horror.

"That's right, I don't think you were there for that. Pulmonus said I need to get checked by a professional or something, separate the jumble of memories that are Luna from myself. I'm uh, not really sure what that will mean. Memories are supposed to be kind of important to a personality."

"It should not be anything too destructive. It will be mostly unnoticeable from your perspective though. The best judge of any changes would need to be Pandinus and the ponies who were with you at the Temple for the longest time, those who came to know you. It is an issue with working with memories."

"It would not effect his emotions too much, would it?" Pandinus asked, stepping closer to the stallion.

"It could, I do not know. It would depend on how deep the memories blur. If it was just a recent injection, I would say no, but considering he has been marinating in them for years..."

"I think the best you can do for him is just be kind and patient," Celestia said, a smile worming its way onto her face. "That should be no trouble, seeing as you and your hive sister have had plenty of experience in that field."

"What, my putting up with a bunch of weird bug-women who didn't know what personal space is doesn't warrant any sympathy, but their dealing with me when I have my head fixed does?"

“Of course. Males are the more difficult ones, anyway.”

Cimmerian’s jaw worked soundlessly for a moment before he settled on a scowl, causing both alicorn mares to burst into giggles.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that you two are still recovering I'd thump you both.”

“You strike ladies?” Celestia gasped.

“No, but I haven’t run into one since...Thrisha? It’s been a while.”

“Ach, his words cut us deep, Tia,” Luna lamented, throwing a foreleg over her face.

"Not yet I haven't," the stallion chuckled. "By the way, this is Din."

Even as the changeling pouted at her ruse being cut short he could see the other two mares working over the information. It was Celestia who managed to figure out what he meant though.
"As with Cadance...they swapped forms so that she could spend time with you. That is...sweet in a strange way."

"This is she? The queen that was the focus of your first blood-rage backswing?"

Even as Luna moved to get closer, Celestia did a double take.
"Wait, he experienced a blood rage? But he's only been an alicorn for a few months!"

"Oh come now, Tia. It isn't how long one is an alicorn but what one experiences. We had already decided we needed to stop Discord well before we ascended so nothing he did truly upset us any more than usual. In fact I find it impressive he didn't even break anything. Didn't you kill the dragon that incited your first rage?"

"I, yes I did. And you ended up causing a small village to engage in a large...didn't they start a fertility festival in your honor after that? I seem to remember a statue of you being erected somewhere with special attention given to your-"

"Anyway. As I said Cimmerian, yours was hardly the most destructive blood rage experienced by an alicorn. I daresay that Twilight would cause thrice the mess of all three of us combined if she were ever to experience such a state."

"-and then I asked them how they knew what you looked like back there, and then they asked if I wanted one as well. I think that statue of me was what prompted the nobility to pass that decree about any artwork involving us," the white mare rambled on, her eyes staring into the distance. "I think I still have that statue in the vault somewhere..."

Luna shook her head as Celestia giggled to herself and began muttering about looking for the rest of the works of art involving her own image she'd collected over the centuries. Which, as could be assumed when you ruled a country for centuries and were viewed as a paragon of beauty, amounted to a sizable number.
As Luna approached, she took in Zelus' form, noting the differing posture.
"You are certainly not quite as uncomfortable around others as Zelus sometimes becomes. While it shows she is paying attention, she quite obviously has never done such a thing before and does not know how to react when her charge is in a crowded area."
"You also walk a bit more tenderly. I assume the pregnancy is going well?"

Luna and Cimmerian both stopped dead at the thought.

"Wait, Zelus is carrying the kids now, isn't she? Is she okay with that?" the stallion asked.

"I'm certain she fine with it," Pandinus chuckled. "Especially when she comes across the other surprise I left her."



<-(0)->



Zelus felt strange to suddenly be so weighted down. The small creatures growing inside her hive-sister were getting a bit heavy, leaving the smaller of the sisters a bit bloated and weighed down but it wasn't a bad feeling. In fact, Zelus thought it would cause the queen to be even closer to her daughters...children. One was supposed to be a male, right? Odd, since most drones chose their gender and queens were always female. Was the male the alicorn, or the hybrid Din was expecting?
Shrugging it off as inconsequential for the moment, she continued on her way, greeting those she passed by with an easy smile as she relaxed for the first time in a while. She was home, in her own hive where she could truly breath.

She opened a door to what seemed to be some sort of nursery, only to have a clutch of hatchlings latch onto her legs the moment she entered. After staring at them for a moment, she realized who's nymphs they were.
'My babies! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!'

Scooping the nymphs up into her legs, she giggled happily as they chirped and clicked in either joy or irritation, their minds now clearly present to her in the Hive.
'Mommies here. She's been waiting to see you for a long time. Have you been good for Queen Pandinus while I was gone?'

Closing the door to the nursery behind her, Zelus was certain that carrying a little extra weight for a few days would be well worth the break and a chance to hold her first clutch. It wasn't even that bad by her estimates. Maybe five extra pounds at the moment? It would give her a chance to bond with them properly, to allow the nymphs a chance to connect to her as deeply as her mother had with her first clutch.

She stopped, sitting there with her muzzle pressed against her nymphs as another presence touched her in the link. It was faint, so very faint she nearly missed it. But it was there, reacting to the sudden burst of chatter her own nymphs had been broadcasting at her when she'd arrived. A mind that was nearby, yet not fully...
Looking to her enlarged belly, Zelus sent a light probe to the area Pandinus had described as holding the foals. Something pushed back, confirming her suspicions.

"I, I suppose that makes us even," Zelus chuckled nervously as the presence began gibbering at her in the Hive and a second presence began to awaken as well. There was also the smallest points of emotion deep inside her, one that she felt reluctant to even taste. Would feeding on such undeveloped individuals harm them? Would the more changeling-like foals harm the other one with unrestricted feeding?

The queen shook her head, mentally sending for a bit of love to keep herself topped off. That had been Din's solution to any possible issues. Keep herself fully fed and make sure the foals are all well fed, pushing emotion to them if needed, and watching for any oddities she would need to report to the doctors.
As she cuddled her foals, her stomach began to gurgle, reminding her of the other change Din had warned her of. She set them on her back smiling brightly as she walked to the door.
'Come on, dears. Mommy needs to get something for your...'

The queen stared emptily ahead as she walked, her mind unable to find the proper answer.
"What would their relationship be? I want to say Hive-mates but it just doesn't sound right for this situation."



<-(0)->



Discord floated idly nearby as the ponies that had once petrified him walked into the abandoned city of Ponyville. Okay, maybe abandoned wasn't a good word for it. There were a few ponies here and there, mostly individuals who had returned home as soon as they were told the area was clear. Not all were that brave though, so the Elements were some of the first back.

Rarities boutique had been closed long ago, the fashionista's Ponyville site not having anyone to run it after her disappearance.
The large crystal Friendship Castle was still present, though it just didn't shine like it used to. Twilight asked that the group explore it last, as the site of her fall wasn't a place she wanted to wander. There was no telling what madness she'd subjected the castle to.

The cloud house Rainbow Dash had built herself was still present surprisingly, and relatively unmolested due to the minotaurs being unable to even reach it. The only damage was a bolt in the bottom of a dresser, one that didn't even belong to the pegasus as the house had apparently been sold off to another pony in her absence. It wasn't surprising, but it was another sign of how long they'd been gone.
Sugarcube corner was also still present, as was City Hall and several shops the girls recognized even if a few seemed damaged in some way or another. The biggest surprise though was at Fluttershy's cottage.

The moment Fluttershy was even in sight of it, there was a flurry of activity. Creatures could be seen scampering left and right and Discord could even see the glint of armor and weapons in the distance.
'What in the world?'

Fluttershy meekly slipped ahead of the others, trotting up to what looked like a small contingent of bunnies in armor.
"Um, yes...Oh, that's nice of you. Do you think- no, that's a friend of mine. Like who? Oh, the- yes, I met her as well."

Discord chuckled as the mare was distracted by the bunnies, watching as a larger group came down the well-cared for lawn. In its center was an older and larger rabbit, this one wearing the amulet he'd given Angel years ago. Apparently it was a sort of heirloom now. Odd how things work out.

"Greetings, most blessed Caretaker. The Guardians of Cott-Age welcome you! It brings joy to my heart to know the dark ones were successful. Please, come! Our harvest was good and we have plenty to share. Come and we shall celebrate your return!"

The bunnies began cheering and dancing, some even throwing flower petals down on a fiercely blushing Fluttershy as she was practically dragged into her still-pristine home.

"Wow, everypony else's homes are sold or broken and Fluttershy comes back to find a bunny civilization watching hers? How does that even work?" Rainbow Dash asked, watching as a few more armored rabbits approached them and ushered them into the living room. "I don't even see any dust. It's been, what? Decades?"

Pinkie was too busy giggling as she watched the bunnies, though. She leaned over and poked Discord before pointing to a particularly scruffy looking rabbit.
"Hey, hey Dissy. What do you call a bunny that's also a pirate? A Coarse-hare! Bahahahaha!"

Discord chuckled, ruffling the pink ponies mane as he floated to what was once his seat. He sat down, noting that the chair could still easily support his weight, as could the couch across the way. Everything had stood the test of time, just as he'd hoped. The spells he'd placed had worked. Looking to Fluttershy, now garbed in flowers and reeds as the rabbits continued to celebrate the return of their goddess, he couldn't help but wish such spells would work on living things as well as they did on furniture.
'But that's why we spend time with them,' he told himself, repeating Celestia's words from a conversation the pair had shared before his trip. 'You spend time with them and burn their memories into your mind. As long as you remember, they're never truly gone.'

He looked up, accepting a bunny's offer of tea as he relaxed. No place he'd been had ever felt as close to home, and he'd likely never find another place like this in all the worlds.
'And I can say that with certainty, having seen so many.'
> Wearing Down Resistance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I just feel like she’s out there to cause me problems right now, that’s all,” Cimmerian was mumbling. “I know her too well to think she’s not.”

“Saying she’s out there causing trouble is both obvious and useless, as you are stuck here with us,” Luna responded with a grin.

“Indeed. Though I understand sometimes we need to gripe,  so if it makes you feel better you may panic all you like.”
Pulmonus chuckled, cocking her head. He felt one of several scanning spells begin to focus on a particular part of his brain at that point.
“Ah, another possible issue at section 1c, cross section 7j. Feels like an inversion.”

Twilight rotated a small wire-frame replica of the brain, using her magic to mark the mentioned area. One of an increasing number of areas that were possibly damaged in one way or another.

“You know, looking at that thing I have the feeling I should be dead.”

“The mind is a bit more resilient than that, Cimmerian,” Twilight replied. “Most of this damage isn’t even physical. They’re also reporting possible memory disconnects or false-connections that the addition of Luna’s memories resulted in. So it’s not all physical trauma. Add to this the fact that you have the alicorn resilience to any and all damage, including magical and mental-“

“I was actually fairly close to insanity before the Nightmare,” Luna added with a twinge of guilt and shame. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that helped you here, as the unnatural thought patterns didn’t seem capable of influencing you. This put a good amount of open space the mind defines as time passing between my memories and yours. There is also very little of the Nightmare’s thought-patterns here either. It is mostly early me into the first outbursts of my madness.”

“Many immortals go mad, dear,” Pulmonus said softly. “I’ve seen more than a few go that way, most of them to the same enemy you faced. Loneliness. It is a terrible foe that sometimes you do not even notice. Others attempt to ignore it, hoping work will keep it at bay. For a mortal that may do, but one who will not die of old age will eventually fall to it.”

“I tried to use work, yes,” Luna said, not looking up from her scanning. “It helped for a little while. Eventually though I realized it was all I had anymore. I was working to work. I experienced no joy in it, I was not working for a purpose. I knew only my knights who stood watch at night with me, and most were looking forward to switching back so that they could see their families again.”
The blue mare sighed.
“It was one of the things that started to grate on me. That and when that maid asked who I was. That was...”

“As I said, seeking refuge in work changes nothing. Ponies especially need others. They are not meant to be alone. Even a changeling queen can get lonely after a few centuries. I befriended a few beings over the years, but none were privy to my race. None really knew me. Even such connections, though flimsy as they were, helped to ease my mind. I still check in on their descendants every now and again as well.”

Cimmerian looked between the two mares.
“I don’t know if loneliness is going to be as big of a problem for some of us. Changelings walking the streets means you can, what was it you said you wanted to do?”

“A coffee shop,” Pulmonus chuckled. “I have owned a few businesses but it was always an assumed identity. A mare who would eventually need to disappear. Oh, I tried the whole “pass the business on to myself” shtick, but that just raised more questions. Some ponies even accused me of being a Vampony.”
“Celestia eventually came around and I had to drop it all. Donated most of it to various charities or nearby friends, took the rest of the money and stashed it in case I needed it in the future. I’ve always been surprised at how often I needed money. My mother never even considered retaining wealth, always leaving it behind as inconsequential. And yet knowing how money works has saved my life and my hive many times. Even today there are places where a changeling can buy ponies.”

Luna almost growled at the mention of slavers, but Cimmerian was a bit more thoughtful.
“You wouldn’t even need to catch them. They’d be delivered right to you and nobody would ask questions. Interesting.”

“I...will admit that it is clever but I still find the idea infuriating. I spent years hunting down slavers, even going as far as passing laws that would prevent Equestrian traders from doing business with any country or city that worked with them. It is especially infuriating because I found out that the law was repealed soon after my banishment.”

“Was it Tia who pulled it or...”

“No, it was not. A few lords did so while she was away, also repealing our anti-slavery laws under the guise of undoing the damage caused by my madness. I would have loved to see her reaction when those lords were found wandering the streets with their new slaves. It was one thing that Tia and I never had trouble agreeing on. That slavery was not tolerated in Equestria.”

"That was actually something that always surprised me," Pulmonus said. "Creatures enslaving their own kind. I understand taking other species, but-"

"Humans did that, still a thing in some parts of the world. Some people also get away with it by using legal jargon to say that the slaves aren't technically slaves," Cimmerian added. "Of course for us it's only other humans because that's the only thing that can be a slave. You really can't enslave a dog. By definition, only a sapient creature can be a slave."

"Sometimes pets are often treated better than slaves," Luna said. “Of course, I was also surprised sometimes by the loyalty some slaves would have to their owners, and sometimes even a freed slave would remain near the owner, as they knew nothing else. They were...lost for lack of a better word. They were uncertain what to do with themselves."

The group fell into silence, save the occasional identification of possible problems in the stallion’s head. Looking over to the alicorn possessing a drone, the stallion idly noted she had several crystals around her, and was apparently on her third recording crystal.
"Is there just that much or-"

"Oh, no. Not really, I mean there's a lot compared to a healthy pony-mind, but sometimes the issues are so close to each other I can't really record them on the same crystal so I need to use another."

"There's also the possibility of the issues we're finding being the difference between humans and ponies," Pulmonus added. "For now we're not checking for that, we're just listing as many issues as we can find to review later."

"I am truly sorry, Theodore," Luna sighed. "If not for my madness and the Nightmare-"

"We'd all be worse off," Pulmonus cut her off. "While it left him with damage, it also saved most of us from a worse fate."
Pulling away, Pulmonus ended her scanning and motioned for Luna to do the same.
"I believe that's good for now. We still need to find an expert who could walk us through any repairs, but I believe two hours of scanning is plenty. Why don't you go find your queen and find out what she's up to before she brings the town down around her ears?"

The alicorn stallion nodded, standing and stretching after so long on his belly. With a quick flap of his wings he was off of the examination table and out the door, leaving Luna, Pulmonus and Twilight alone.

"I must find Tia. She has been short lately and likely has not slept well either. Enjoy your day."

Twilight blinked, looking up from her crystals and realizing that the only other creature in the room was Pulmonus. she chuckled nervously, seeing the queen's predatory grin.
"I think I need to check on.. um...stove..."

"No, no I don't think so dear. I know about your love of learning, and I've always wanted to teach a pony a few things...."


The drone-rider's ears perked even as she eyed the door. Learning new things was something she always looked forward to, but with a millennia old queen offering the information...

Pulmonus didn't give her much time to think about it, approaching the drone and circling her appraisingly. The queen began poking and prodding, mentally comparing the drone against the mare's previous form.
"I think you could do better. Yes, I meant you could do better. You learn fast, youngling. It is your best attribute."
"You could do anything with this form. That is something I do not think you have quite realized yet. The changeling form is much more malleable than a pony body. That is not to say flesh shaping is impossible for ponies, but with so many more biological systems, it is easier for a pony to make a mistake and kill themselves. Changelings have fewer organs to worry about. Fewer ways to make a fatal mistake. Add to this the fact that true drones are living but not sapient and we have plenty to practice with and changeling queens are just better suited for this sort of thing."

"I, I mean I could but uh, aren't you worried that I'd-"

Pulmonus shook her head.
"That will be one of the things we review. While your teacher taught you many things, all of her previous apprentices were mortal. There are things an immortal must be taught, either through lecture or experience. I believe a simple example would be Luna. Things don’t work the same way for us. If we attempt to use the same coping methods they will fail.”
“Oh this shall be interesting! I have only ever taught my daughters in the past, much less a pony. So prepare yourself, hatchling. You are going to be very busy over the next few weeks. I expect you to at least keep pace with a proto queen’s learning ability.”

Uncertain of what else to do, Twilight gathered the crystals and followed the mare, a pit of uneasiness growing in her stomach.



<-(0)->



Cimmerian sighed as he followed the trail of ruffled feathers and irritable scowls that signified the passing of his wife. She wasn’t truly meaning any harm, but these weren’t his ponies. These were either refugees or soldiers. Individuals who’d had a rough time, some of whom were still looking for loved ones or hoping to get home again.

When he finally did catch up to her she was in the middle of the town, walking down the main thoroughfare openly and admiring the designs of the pony buildings.
“It doesn't quite live up to the tales of Canterlot but it is beautiful in its own way. I remember sneaking through a few towns before, but...”
Pandinus giggled as she turned to him.
“I was too concerned with other things to really look at the town. Every dark spot held pony soldiers. Every cellar was host to an enemy queen. It wasn’t like new things to a hatchling. New was dangerous, and everything about the situation was dangerous.”

“Is that why you were at Zarris?”

“Zarris was small. It was also in dangerous woods, where the residents accepted that sometimes people would disappear. At least three of those you found with me were lost in the jungles. Either I would take them, or something else would. I’d say they got off fairly easily.”

“Drained of all emotion. I guess that’s better than dead as I don’t know if a dead pony can be recovered. Depends on the local feelings on necromancy I guess.”

“Worse than on changelings, even before the Hunt,” she answered. “In fact most creatures fear them. As well they should, I suppose. I've been told many see other beings as less than useless. Others see them as walking batteries. Not an individual you want to speak with."

"I seem to recall you looking at ponies in much the same way, even if you didn't kill them," the stallion said, poking her side.

Pandinus scowled but nodded.
"I guess there are some similarities. I just happened to find a way that didn't result in-"

The queen jerked at his cough, looking at him through narrowed eyes as he looked away innocently.
"I was shown a way that didn't result in a pony being relegated to a power source. I admit, it's much nicer to have them take care of themselves even if I have to put up with the whims of such strange beings. It cuts down on the number of needed drones by quite a bit. Normally a hive needs at least a hundred drones just to care for the ponies, simple tasks like transporting them, repairing pods, filtering the pods, all the simple things that keep the ponies healthy. Without the need for them, I really don't see many good uses of true drones aside from having them follow ponies and help with menial labor. Even then though, sometimes the tasks the ponies give are too complicated."

"A drone's connection with me means I can make them perform complex tasks, not because the drones are capable of it but because I can order them through every step of the process. In truth, without such a connection and without such constant orders, even asking a drone to retrieve a single bucket of water every day may be too much. Move the bucket it's supposed to use, and it will short out instantly. They do not handle such things well."

The alicorn nodded, a little uncertain about how to react to his wife using the body of what he considered a friend. He settled for a wing over her back and pulling her into a hug for now, at least until he felt a little more...comfortable with the situation.

"You taste funny again," she laughed. "Like you are uncertain. The love is there, as it usually it, but there is also confusion. The disconnect of changelings, as we discussed?"

"It's odd, yea. I know it's you, but every time I look at you I see Zelus. The fact you changed your voice is nice, but it's still odd."

"I suppose that means mating is out right now?" the mare asked with a fanged grin.

Cimmerian looked to her with a playful smile.
"I dunno, actually. Maybe if I can get Zelus to stop pushing this kind of oddness on me, I'll start hanging out with her more."

The mare, to his surprise, smiled at that.
"Excellent."

He stared at her in confusion before sighing.
"Of course that wouldn't bother you"

"What? Oh, I mean, uh, oh no, whatever shall I do and uh, what a world?"
Pandinus ended her false lamentations with a laugh, pulling the stallion into a hug.
"Oh no, he's seen through my plan. Whatever shall I do? I mean, it's not like he's become comfortable around her or anything silly like that."

"You girls are horrible, you know that?"

"And you're being silly. I won't press you while I'm exchanged with Zelus but it would still be nice. Perhaps as a celebratory thing?"

Cimmerian didn't answer, just staring over the buildings around him. It...didn't bother him as much at this point, oddly enough. Zelus was no longer this random female that was intruding in his family. She was someone he trusted, someone who had not only stood with him but literally carried him when he'd been incapacitated. Sure he still felt she was strange but when everything around you was strange, you began to take comfort in what was most familiar. In this case...
"Let's finish this Nightmare business first. Then we'll discuss family connections.

He steadfastly ignored the large smile that played over the queen's face at his words, realizing why she was excited a moment later.

He hadn't said no.
'These queens are going to be the death of me.'



<-(0)->



Rolling out of bed, or at least trying to, Zelus giggled as her different body shape caused her to roll back to her side. It would likely be frustrating after a while but for now it was new enough to be silly, something she didn’t often deal with. A novelty. Her nymphs were still following her everywhere and she adored the closeness, though the lack of her hive sister trying to communicate with her over the dream-hive with her mate’s aid was irritating. She’d been looking forward to telling them about the quiet whispers from the unborn foals and the reactions between their clutches.

Stretching languidly and moving to the dining hall, a motion she’d learned long before her body screamed for actual food, she absentmindedly began sorting duties among the connected changelings as queen’s normally did. She also mentally reviewed their reports and even assigned two changelings to put the reports to paper for the ponies, as her sister had instructed. It wasn’t like Gleam was a part of the hive after all. The queen couldn’t just dump the information into the mare’s mind.
‘Even if I could they don’t work that way. Sapphire had quite a few issues with any information transfers and her mind was constantly tripping over them.’

As her plate was set before her, Zelus belatedly noticed that she’d used a still-sleeping Trixie to gather her meal. It wasn’t even as if the mare had been the closest drone, she was just...the first one Zelus thought of. Sapphire was hers.

A cup of coffee was soon retrieved with the aid of another drone, prepared to the patchwork pony’s memories of the last cup she’d enjoyed with a small helping of honey to help wake her up. Zelus waved the cup under Sapphire’s nose, gently rousing her favorite pony/drone from their slumber.


“...you used me again...” Trixie muttered, grabbing the coffee with her hooves and taking a sip.
“Mmm, at least you thought of me this time. Honestly though, the other side of the world and you still cause Trixie problems. What am I to do with you, Zelus?”

The queen giggled at the disrespectful comment, pulling the blue unicorn against her side. It was funny, listening to the always-sharp comments or Sapphire’s constant needling. It was what made this one different.

“And you’re still calling me that. Some of the drones try calling me that as well. Will I ever get you to acknowledge my real name?”

“Probably not,” Zelus chuckled.

The mare sighed as Zelus chose to pick her up, smothering the chitin-plated mare both physically and through the link. Her irritation was all for show, both of them knew it. After so long trapped in her own mind, her Sapphire loved the attention. And no amount of whining or lying would hide it from a queen.

‘You’re a pain in Trixie’s flank.’

‘And you’re my Sapphire. A drone I found by accident that I grew to like. One who loves this kind of attention, even if you say otherwise. Or did you think I couldn’t tell?’

Zelus began eating while holding her drone, the nymphs helping her in the affectionate smothering of her captive. And while the pony in the queen’s forelegs continued to grumble, her mind was turning fuzzy as she relaxed.

“Just...don’t forget me.”

‘I’ll never leave you alone, Sapphire. You are mine now, until such a time comes that we see fit to part ways. But I don’t see that happening for a long, long time.’

Zelus smirked, shifting a few bits of the hive-connection in the mare and allowing her more access to the hive in general, a higher form of connection as well. One that her true drones and even most sired drones would recognize as a leading role. The queen couldn't change the type of connection as that was based on the array, but she could give her favorite a few perks.
‘And speaking of perks, I think a little cleaning would do us both good.’

Finishing her breakfast, Zelus dropped the still-dozing pony on her back and made her way to the deeper parts of the hive. I wash, polish, and a soak were just what she needed.







Trixie mumbled to herself the queen carried her along on Pandinus' back. Unlike before there wasn’t pain as her body was forced to do things it wasn’t made for, though. It was being pampered, surprisingly, the queen not using the unicorn to pamper herself but calling other drones to pamper the both of them. There was the faint sensation of a bath, with warm water being used. There was the comforting tug of a brush running over her fur. Then there was this odd sensation, an overwhelming sense of warmth flooding her body and setting her normally cool plates alight.
She opened her eyes and found herself now resting on her queen’s barrel as they soaked in a small pool of love. She allowed herself to relax in the mind-numbing warmth, feeling all her worries melt as her mind could only comprehend love.
> Life Lessons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia was torn as she took in the odd situation before her. On the one hoof, Twilight, her one time student and a mare who had suffered terribly under the Nightmare, was once more learning. Something the purple pony had always enjoyed.
On the other hoof, it wasn't Celestia giving the lessons.

"No, you're pushing yourself into the drone. You are not moving from drone to drone, you are directing them. Exert your will, not move your whole spirit. Again."

Twilight was breathing hard as Pulmonus instructed her, the wings on her back buzzing every now and again to help dissipate the heat she was building up in her constant exertion. Her eyes were alight with power and she was standing across from ten true drones, not one of them moving.

Pandinus was also watching from nearby, a knowing grin on her face, as was Cimmerian. He too was smiling slightly, as though they knew something Twilight didn't. Moving closer to them, the stallion whispered the answer to the white mare.
"Pulmonus is testing her intelligence versus her ego. Right now the ego is winning and as a result, Twilight's losing."

The white mare looked over the field where Twilight was practicing, not quite understanding the context. Cadance had mentioned doing something similar, saying how Din had been training her and she had gotten up to...
'Oh. She's laying out too much for Twilight to handle,' she realized. Twilight had always been worried about disappointing her teachers, so if something was asked of her...

Pulmonus shot her a dirty look as the drone-rider began to tremble under the strain and Celestia found herself flushing with embarrassment.
"I...likely was not as forward-thinking on that as I should have been. It had always been a good trait when I was teaching her and she was always good at finding ways to succeed..."

"But she doesn't know her limits now," Din responded. "I know how many drones I can control. Knowing my maximum capacity and knowing when I have improved enough to increase that number is important. As is knowing how much magic you are able to safely channel at once. Twilight has burned herself twice in the last ten minutes. Our maximum capacity for magic is something every changeling needs to be aware of. Without it we could easily kill ourselves."

Celestia frowned but otherwise didn't say anything. She'd already had her chance to teach Twilight these things and she'd ignored some of them, thinking she'd get around to it.
'That was the lie, wasn't it? There was always something more important. Always something else that came up, until eventually I just...left her to fend for herself.'

The young mare had not been taught anything about her newfound immortality, and now that Celestia thought about it that was probably the greatest disservice she had done her pupil. Twilight just hadn't been prepared for the new outlook, hadn't been able to mentally adjust to the new life expectancy. She had not been taught to find her limits, in fact Twilight's quick growth seemed to enforce the idea that she had none.
'And every time she found one, I would teach her the trick, I would show her a way to surpass it. Because I couldn't stand how negative my teachers had always been. They always shoved your limits in your face, always made certain you knew they were your superior. And the moment you did something they could not...

Celestia turned and left, vaguely hearing Pulmonus lecturing Twilight and telling her she was losing the 'tree in the forest'. Maybe one day she'd learn. Maybe one day, Celestia would be able to forgive herself for her own mistakes.

"You still can't let it go, can you?"

Celestia turned to the voice, a small smile on her face.
"Hello Luna."

"You still blame yourself for anything and everything wrong that occurs. We make mistakes, Tia. We always have and likely always will. Others will suffer, but that is not something we can always avoid."

"But I am the one making these mistakes," the white mare argued, her wings sagging. "I am the one who makes these mistakes, and yet others suffer in my wake. You, Twilight, our country..."

"And you internalize every single creature's suffering," Luna shot back. "Everyone's pain, from wondering what I was going through on the moon to your latest musings on Twilight's experiences to the years of suffering our country experienced. You let it all sit on your back and it does you no good."
"Yes, you should be upset that these things come to pass, but you need to know when to let it go as well. Twilight needs a different teaching method right now. She needs someone who will push back if she pushes too far, someone who is used to dealing with those who will be living longer lives."

"I...I know. It is just strange-"

"Do not dance around the this, Tia. You feel uncomfortable seeing someone else teaching her."

The alicorn of the Sun nodded.
"I just...I do not know, Luna."

"Yes you do. You feel jealous. You feel anger at this situation, possibly at Pulmonus, and the idea that the changeling queen could teach her something you could not eats at you. She has taught many over the centuries, sister, many who were much longer lived than any student you have ever had before."
"Instead of hating this, learn from it. Isn't that what you always tell me? Isn't that what you always tell everyone? To not allow your feelings to blind you to the experiences you have available to you? You have an opportunity, Tia. You can watch and see the differences between the teaching methods. Instead you retrieve your ball and go home to pout."

Even as the larger alicorn looked away in shame Luna stepped closer, setting a hoof on her sister.
"Go back and watch. Look at the situation from an outsider's view. Twilight is not doing well but Pulmonus wants her to fail this first task. It is a simple lesson, the first that we should learn. Just how much we do not know."

"That is something I've instilled in her, Luna. That there is always more to learn-"

"That is not the same thing," Din added, walking up to the alicorns. " As I've been told, Twilight is used to being able to succeed. She is always doing things no other pony is able to accomplish. Right now, Pulmonus is setting her amongst peers, amongst other beings who are born into this sort of power. Twilight is not a star student here, she is just another mare, another mare who will need to learn these things step by step. And the first step is asking the teacher for clearer instructions."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. "Did Pulmonus not explain this lesson?"

"Of course she didn't," the queen snorted. "My mother did this same thing to me. She set me to an impossible task and watched me fail, needling me constantly about how every queen can pass the test. It is not an issue of power, the lesson is not about control, or being able to succeed on the first attempt."
"We must be able to look at the problem in multiple ways. We cannot approach openly and trample a problem, we must use caution and care. Right now, Twilight is attempting the same thing every proto queen does. She's trying to force a solution."

Celestia's follow up questions died on her lips as the words registered. The same mistakes every proto queen makes.
"Pulmonus is training her as a queen?"

"Well she's certainly no drone," the younger mare snorted. "Her power, her learning curve, her lifespan, all of these things place her on the same level as a changeling proto queen. The only thing she's missing is the reserves and a proper form of link."

Luna burst into laughter a moment later, and after thinking about it Celestia felt a flush of anger. Not only was it a difficult task, but the queen wasn't even leaving her properly equipped for success. As a drone, Twilight's connection to the hive wouldn't allow the control the queen was asking her to exert. She was setting her student up to fail.

"Oh settle down, Tia. There's nothing wrong with this. I remember several of our own teachers doing this sort of thing over the years. And it is not like she's telling Twilight she cannot eat until she figures this out. Remember Tough Love?"

She shivered at the memory of the ancient stallion. It was a testament to just how bad he was, too. She rarely remembered anything from that long ago, but those nights of going to sleep without a single bite...
"Okay, it could be worse. In fact I have known worse. But I still do not like this."

"You do not have to like it," Din chuckled. "You merely have to stand aside and let the mare learn. She'll be embarrassed, we all are, but that's part of the process. Mother let me know when I needed to stop following her orders directly and start thinking bigger. Right now, Twilight is thinking big when she's just starting. All her knowledge of the arrays and changeling links will not allow her to overpower her body's biology. When she realizes just how little she knows, in this instance it would be in practical application, she should be able to begin learning."

Celestia looked back to the field, where Pulmonus was staring at a struggling Twilight with disinterest while throwing a few snide remarks at the fact that she wasn't able to finish a lesson a newly hatched proto queen could.
"I, I understand. I still believe it would be best if I distanced myself from this for a while."



<-(0)->



Later that day Cimmerian was flying to a nearby town, one that still had a few functioning flying ships. Pandinus, still riding her hive-sister's form, was following along easily while Twilight and the alicorns were staying behind, as was Pulmonus. The two older alicorns were certain they could handle things until he returned, so it was time to handle one last problem. One last bastion of the Nightmare.

"Do we even need to take this ship?" Din asked. "I am fairly certain we could make it there on our own power."

"We'll see how long it will take to get a ship together and on the way to Silver City. If it's too much, we'll head there on our own."

"Good. Zelus had some delightful memories of the city, and I wish to see the city myself."

Cimmerian chuckled as he looked to her in confusion.
"Technically, you still aren't going to be seeing it for yourself."

"You know what I mean," the mare grumbled, not even slowing a bit.

"I do, but I find it funny. Sometimes you phrase things oddly. I get what you mean, but still..."
Looking down, he nodded.
"Let's stop here. It's about lunch time anyway."

The two landed on a hilltop, not much in the way of snow remaining nearby. The winter, with many of the weather control companies being wrecked during the Nightmare's takeover, had been cut short and was already fading in Equestria. He'd already listened in on several of the Weather Panels coming to Celestia and offering suggestions on how to recover the seasons, from a mild summer to a much colder winter next year to make up for the early break-down of the season. There were also hundreds of pegasus currently trying to put the weather system back together, a monumental task from what he'd seen. The earth ponies were going back to construction and farming, the unicorns were going back to their crafts and...
'What else do those guys do?'


Shaking it off, he pulled out his lunch and found himself fighting off a bug-queen as she tried to steal bits and pieces of his lunch.
"Zelus doesn't need food, Din. You're in a normal queen, remember?"

"I cant help it," the mare said with a laugh, using a bit of magic to snatch part of his sandwich. "I'm used to eating now. It's your fault anyway, so you have to deal with it."

"Okay, fine. I understand," he said with a pout. "Your comfort is more important than my health. No, no its fine, I'll just starve. It's fine."

"You won't starve," Din retorted, opening one of her bags and pulling out an extra sandwich. "You really think I left without anything when I've gotten so used to eating?"

"If you had your own food, then why-"

"It's not about the food," she giggled, pressing up to him. "It's about having fun with you. Something I've been unable to do recently. And since you wont allow for other kinds of fun while I'm using Zelus like this, I'm left to find other ways to entertain myself. I could always ask if we are almost there repeatedly."

The dark alicorn rolled his eyes.
"I'll pass," he replied, taking a small section of her sandwich.

The changeling queen just laughed, stealing a kiss that left the stallion feeling a bit odd. He shrugged it off though. Din was always affectionate, so the fact that it was the farthest she'd pushed was a bit of a surprise in and of itself.

"I need you to be ready, Din. Either by switching back with Zelus or by starting to pay attention when we get closer. There's fighting going on there. After we finish you can enjoy the sights, but until then.

"I understand, Cim. I should be fine though. Most of us queens know how to fight, and I've been pulling from the guards recently as they are taught by a few of the griffons."

"Just remember that knowing the fighting styles is different from using them. You're larger than they are and that will change how the styles work."

"I know," the queen answered. "Zelus and I spent some time discussing this. I will be cautious."

"We have a target. The Nightmare is apparently leading one of the factions. If we can remove her, we should be able to finish this all up and be able to go home. Then, you won't have to swap out with Zelus to be with me."

"Well that's assuming it all goes well. The Nightmare's been fairly straightforward in her goals so far and I do not think there's anywhere else she can run. Actually I don't think she planned this out. from what I've been told, the thestrals arrived just before your mission. I assume she took their airship back."

"You mean that if they hadn't shown up she'd...wow, she really doesn't know how to plan ahead, does she?"

The changeling queen chuckled, leaning into his side.
"Well, I guess we'll just need to catch her and ask, wont we?"



<-(0)->



It was a few days later, the pair deciding to skip out on an airship since it would have taken even longer(but still asking that one be sent along just in case. The thestral loyalists may need supplies, after all.), that they finally arrived on the outskirts of the Silver City.  Landing lightly and stretching his wings, Cimmerian noted there was no external guard set this time, nor were there any visible individuals as they walked into the main entry cavern. The first pony they came across was a full patrol sneaking through the city. A stray arrow bounced in front of them before several more shouts were heard from across the way as another patrol began firing both on the alicorn and his guard as well as the other patrol.

Cimmerian raised a shield of magic before watching the 'skirmish' with confusion. He could barely see either side, and he knew they'd not actually looked or one side likely would have tried to approach. Instead they were shooting randomly and hoping to hit something.
"Ponies really have no idea how to fight in an urban environment, do they?"

"It doesn't seem so," Din said, watching with the same confusion. "The overabundance of cover and the close proximity between enemy and ally seems to have made them jumpy. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if they've killed more of their own with this method than enemies."

He shook his head, blanketing his wife and himself in the shadows before moving forward, ignoring the tiny arrows that would sometimes land on his back or wings. They didn't even really pinch, and Zelus' body would probably be impervious to all but a ballista bolt.

"This is silly. Where are we going?"

"I'm going to look for someone I recognize," he called back. "Silver Light said she would be staying here and the Night Wing's had a ship that was supposed to be headed back here a while ago. I haven't heard anything from the thestrals since well before we left. Their ship should have been able to make a full return trip by now."
Wandering the city, a bit more difficult considering some of it looked worse for ware, he found himself a little upset as he came across different places he could vaguely recognize. The city hall was in ruins, a few small fires still burning here and there. The market was still on fire, a spatters of blood here and there. Finally he found the underground waterfall, still not flowing at the moment but his tree was still present. Bits of it at least. Someone had shattered most of it. There were also several signs along the waterfront bearing a pony skull.

"Some idiot poisoned their own water supply? No points for guessing which side ordered that," Cimmerian muttered.

After walking a bit farther in the direction of Silver Light's home, or at least he thought it was the right direction, he started to see more and more thestrals. Slowing and stepping up to a stallion who seemed to be in charge, he released his grip on the shadows and coughed.

The pony jumped, turning around as everyone else who was present scattered in a stampede of terror.

"Really? I mean I understand you guys might be a little jumpy but-"

"T-the, Lord Cimmerian! What are you doing here?"

Looking to the stallion in charge, he smiled.
"I'm tracking down the Nightmare. Equestria is all but cleared of the Nightmare's influence and Cairn is back in Minotaur lands for the time being. High Talon is back under griffon control, and now all that's really left is seeing to Silver City. Who's in charge?"

"It, it's uh, actually I don't know. The entire City is in chaos and nopony really knows who is on which side. The Nightmare also advocated infiltrating the different groups and attacking from the inside as well as setting some attacks against her own followers, so we really can't trust anyone, and..."

"A stallion blew up the airship we were supposed to use to leave," a mare cried, throwing herself around his foreleg. "I want to leave, but I don't know who to trust. Nopony does! What do we do?"

Cimmerian took a breath, looking to Din with a nod. The changeling looked about before shrugging.

"I don't sense anything. Everyone here wants to leave as far as I can tell and they're looking at you as a possible way out."

"Alright. What I'd like to do is find a way to check others, get everyone out of the city and scan everyone. We could use some more changelings, actually. I need a place where Din can settle in. A defensible position we can use to rally against the Nightmare's forces."

"No, I think it would be best if we found her. The faster we remove the Nightmare, the faster we can either get her minions to fall in line, or the faster we can start weeding them out. I'll send a request for additional changelings to Heart, but I think we can get her faster than that. We just need to know where she's hiding," Pandinus said, looking to the alicorn.

"Oh, right. Dream magic," he said, tapping his temple. "I should have her by tonight then. Do we go and pick her up afterwards or-"

"I would like to do this quickly and quietly," she responded. "Less damage to the city and less dead ponies. After all, a dead pony is no good to any of us. And less damage means less time before I get to enjoy the beauty of Equis' cities."
She looked over the exhausted ponies and smiled.
"If you have a house with a basement I would like to use it. I can fortify it a little and then see about confirming the allegiances of any who pass by."

"That's not a guarantee," Cimmerian whispered into her ear as they were led into a nearby household. "There are ways around it."

"I know that and you know that, but what do thestrals know of changelings? Besides, these ponies need something. Some guarantee of safety they can rely on. I know you will do what you can, so let me provide them with a little comfort."

The alicorn grinned and bumped her with a shoulder.
"That's what I want to hear. I'll settle in and start checking every hour for her dream. It may take some time, but I might also be able to find some other friends nearby. Give them some hope."

"Go do your part, Cimmerian," she dismissed with a grin as he was ushered into a storage room covered in blankets and pillows. "Even if it is mostly sleeping."



<-(0)->



It wasn't a particularly difficult job he found himself with. He checked dreams at random, not really certain if the Nightmare's dream was even active at this time or if the mare had some special protections. If she did he'd call it in a few hours. If not, then he'd have her exact location and they'd be able to hit her when she was asleep.
'Best time to hit an alicorn, I think.'

Both of them were carrying nullification rings sized and attuned to the alicorn. Even if one of them made it while the other dealt with the zealots, the Nightmare would still be captured. At this point, with most of the plans the mare had set up burning to the ground around her, he really wasn't in a rush to put her down. He was more interested in why. Why would she do this? What was it that she gained from this mess she caused?

One dream was a Nightmare enthusiast, though as far as he could tell the stallion didn't know anything about his master. Only the orders, orders to cause as much damage as possible. Cimmerian approached him under the guise of a thestral as the dreamer slept, calling to him and asking him what he planned afterwards.

"After? After what?"

"This," the alicorn said, gesturing his hoof to the dream of a burning city. "This battle wont last forever. Win or lose, you have to have some plans."

"I, I follow my lady where she leads, don't you?" the stallion asked. "Or are you a traitor?"

"A traitor? No, I've not betrayed anyone. I'm just curious. I mean, the entire towns water supply will need to be purified at this point or we'd just have to chalk it up as a loss and leave. Where will you go afterwards?"

The stallion opened his mouth to retort only to pause, his brain hitching on something.
"I, I don't know. The commander said the Nightmare had plans for us, big plans. That we had a mission and."

"The Nightmare was the one who purged your ambassadors to Equestria," Cimmerian retorted. "She doesn't have a plan."

"And how would you know?"

"Because she's throwing your lives away. I don't know why you cant see this. She's lost, she's lost and she's now trying to cause as much damage as possible. Why are you helping her?"

The pony was silent before looking to him in horror.
"No, no I wont let you turn me against them! You won't steal my body!"

"Excuse me?"

"The commander said you'd come in the night, stealing our bodies! Turning us against our fellows! Well you wont take me! Not now not ever!"

The dark alicorn sighed in disappointment, weaving a simple spell that would prevent the stallion from waking up.
"You will sleep through this, and when we're done you'll have a choice. Goodbye."


He left the stallion, stepping through several more dreams and nightmares before stopping as he caught a glimpse of a familiar emblem. The symbol of the Night Wings, or at least the flag that had been hanging from their ship.
'I wonder if Lance is sleeping?'

He stopped before the Night Wing, a shaken stallion who seemed immensely heartened by the idea of this fiasco coming to an end soon,and directed him to their current hold-out before leaving the dream and pinpointing the dream of Lance.

The commander was exhausted, the dream almost falling apart due to either paranoia or exhaustion. The pony at the center of it didn't seem that much better off, jumping at every shadow in his dream. Considering Lance was dreaming about the caves Silver City was built in, that was not a small number.

Cimmerian flew around, making certain his target had plenty of time to recognize him so as not to spook the stressed thestral awake. The moment the Crimson saw him the dream buckled, the pony not certain if he was hallucinating or not. Cimmerian put out a little magic to steady the dream. He didn't want to keep the stallion asleep if something occurred in the waking world but neither did he want to lose his chance to contact the commander. Making certain the dream was stable but not enforced, the alicorn approached the dreamer.

"So you've finally arrived. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us. Good news from your end I hope? When will you arrive?"

"Pandinus and I just arrived in the city earlier today. We're actually with a few loyal thestrals near Silver Light's home. I'm looking for the Nightmare right now, hoping to remove the primary motivation of the loonies."

"That's...excellent news actually. I thought you'd only be checking in. This entire situation is horrific. Foals being used as bait, poisoning the cities water supply, it doesn't even make sense from a strategic standpoint. They've killed just as many of their own as our ponies. It's...like you said I suppose. The mare's just trying sow as much destruction as she can."

"I've asked that a flying ship be sent this way. We can get thestrals to some of the nearest Equestrian settlements until things are safe here. Elderly, young, the ones who shouldn't be in this sort of situation. Equestria's stabilizing so it should be safe. The Minotaurs are still a threat but we've not seen hide nor hair of any of them for a while now."

"That's nice, but I think I'm going to be suggesting the families head to Shadow Talon Port when we can. The jungle...it's a nice place you have created and there wont be any questions about loyalty. I still have my list from before, so those will be priority. Ponies I know wont cause trouble."

"I understand lance, and I'll do what I can but there may be more who want to leave now. After all this death, all this fear they've felt, some may prefer a new place to trying to repair this one. I will do everything I can to help you guys clean up shop, but there's not much I can do beyond that and offer you a place to retreat to."

"That will have to be enough. It's all I can really ask at this time. We don't know who's on what side, so if you could announce yourself, having a point to rally towards would be helpful."

"But it also gives them a target as well," Cimmerian pointed out. "Right now the entire city is in confusion. Yes it will help you, but it will also paint a lovely target on our back."
"If you could, I'd suggest pulling out of the city altogether. The water supply is ruined, the market's trashed, supplies are likely running out. I'm always going to put emphasis on lives, Lance. That's why I didn't try to take Canterlot before the Minotaurs got there and that's why I didn't announce myself. Right now my objective is to find the Nightmare before she can get out of here again. Otherwise...I really don't know where she'd go, but I don't think she's ever going to stop."

"Then you need to catch her. You need to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"That's why we're here, Crimson," he said. "I'm here to find her. Din and I both have inhibitors for her magic and we're going to drag her back to Mareland to hopefully work on getting Twilight back in her body. If not...well, we'll work on that if it comes to it. First we need to catch her though. Then we find something to do with all these Nightmare Loyalists."

"I understand a little of that. Can't make plans when you don't have all the things you need. I would appreciate if before you left though, you contacted me. Those who are on our side would respond to your presence. We could use you to rally when you're ready to leave, maybe take a lot of the less combat-oriented ponies out of danger. Unless everyone agrees to leave, which I doubt will happen..."
"There's an airship headed to the city as we speak. I'll see about contacting the captain and warning her about this mess. We'll get the ship to drop anchor a distance away though to prevent saboteurs and i'd like you to send some trusted guards to watch it. If you do have to evacuate, Crimson, my offer still stands. You can tell that to anyone else you meet."

"I shall, though the chances of meeting anyone else are slim. Farewell and good luck, Lord Cimmerian. I hope to hear your call soon."


Once more the Alicorn moved into the realm of dreams and once more he tried focusing on the Nightmare's dreams. It just didn't work though; he didn't even get an idea of if the being was asleep or even existed.

He sighed, making a quick stop with one of the night-crew of the ship and giving them the necessary warnings before returning to the waking world. He'd be doing this the hard way it seemed. Slipping out of the house and into the streets he faded into the shadows. There were a few large mansions he wanted to check, as the Nightmare seemed drawn to power. Maybe she would be drawn to shows of it as well?
'If not, I really have no idea where to look. There's no telling what kind of trouble that thing's getting in to.'



<-(0)->



"More wine!"
The Nightmare drank deeply of her glass as she sat at a table in an opulent bedroom, allowing the alcohol to blind her to her troubles. It normally took a lot of the substance for the alicorn body to be impaired but in its weakened state only a few glasses were enough to make her mind fuzzy.

More than enough in fact.

"I don't remember the last time I felt this good. Actually I don't think I have," she muttered, her eyes crossing slightly. It was nice, feeling so relaxed. Not something she'd had time to enjoy lately. In fact she didn't enjoy it at all before as she wasn't so tightly bonded to the body before...that.

No, that wasn't right. Not that she didn't enjoy things but that she was no longer bonded to another soul. It was her body now. It was her body as certainly as each of these bats owned their own bodies.

The nightmare swirled her wine, staring into the cup without seeing it. It was odd, finding herself in this situation. The sensations, the emotions...she wasn't even sure if she was capable of destroying herself at this point. After everything became so real to her, the idea of it destroying everything, which she now realized would have included herself...it scared her.
'I'm not even a Nightmare anymore, am I? I'm...I'm a being of flesh and blood.'

"Your majesty, one of the guards, he isn't waking up. There are also reports of other thestral groups, they're rallying. I think...I think It is here."

"Prepare yourselves as I ordered. That thing needs to be destroyed."

The stallion bowed deeply before walking out the door. A few moments later a young stallion walked in and set another bottle of wine on her table, asking if there was anything else the mare would like.

Night stared at the bed, or more clearly the supplies she'd hidden therein. It was about time for her to leave, it seemed. She wasn't going to die, not even if it meant destroying the world at this point. It would be less comfortable, but she would need to leave, she'd need to find somewhere else to stay. Somewhere an alicorn could disappear. At the moment, though, with how the world was, that left either the badlands or the east. West was the dark alicorn, east was...the minotaurs. After them, the lands were fairly rough. Not many creatures made their homes there, but as an immortal creature who was now actually eating and sleeping, she found herself regaining small fractions of her hosts original power.
'And perhaps once I have learned enough magic for myself, once I can alter myself in large enough ways to not be recognized, I could return to where it is more comfortable. I just need to learn...patience. Oh stars this is going to be painful.'

She sighed as she returned to the present, her eyes catching sight of the thestral still waiting for her orders. Looking to the meat-puppet that was still standing guard, albeit looking worse for wear(she really should have fed it, shouldn't she?) the Nightmare made several snap decisions.

First was that her toy had to go. It was broken, it was easily recognized, and now that rot was starting to set in at the bodies actual death, it was starting to stink. Not something she usually worried about but without a host to hide behind, yuck.
Second was she would be leaving as soon as she sobered up a bit. She needed to get out before that male figured out where she was. Otherwise she'd never escape and they'd catch her. After that, they'd likely have all the time in the world to figure out how to rip her from this body.

Third...
The mare's eyes glazed slightly as she let them run over the young male that was tasked with serving her. She'd never really thought about it before but with her thoughts bound to the flesh of her puppet and exposed to all the strange chemicals creatures of flesh generate, she'd found herself with odd thoughts. The one before her might not last long in the harsh wilds, but there was at least one thestral she knew about who would. He would also likely prove invaluable in learning how to survive in the wilds.

Stumbling off of her cushion and over to her bed she climbed into the sheets and looked to the puppet.
"Go to the City Hall, then the, water place, then find that alicorn and kill him."
The puppet nodded before walking out the door, leaving the air feeling clearer already. She knew it wouldn't win, but maybe it would at least slow the damn alicorn down.

Turning to the serving pony, she grinned wickedly.
"On the bed. You will address me as Mistress Night, and you will teach me everything you know about the topic of sex. Afterwards we're going to have some, some real-world lessons."

It wasn't as much enjoyment as she usually received from such a thing, but the young male's look of confusion and terror at her orders was something she still very much enjoyed.
> Marks of the Soul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cimmerian stepped back into their current base at a brisk trot, yanking a small arrow out of his wings. The weapons of the thestrals weren't even that painful, it was the fact that he'd not been the only one getting hit. In the last few hours it had all gone to hell.

For whatever reason, the Nightmare had ordered her troops to attack everything in the city. This included other Nightmare supporters for some reason, leaving many of the groups with a Highlander attitude or thinking the Nightmare would bless those who were victorious. On the plus side, by showing himself in the middle of town he'd made himself a huge target and allowed many of the loyal thestrals to escape. That coupled with the fact that most of the Nightmare's bats were no longer being sneaky made things simpler. Then it had showed up.

As he was shielding himself from most of the small-arms fire(and by that he meant bows, crossbows and, very rarely, what sounded like a small cannon), a bolt of sickly pink magic had cut across the courtyard and slammed into his shield. . As his newest attacker stepped into the yard the alicorn was holding, a silence fell over the thestrals present.

"...well, are you going to say anything or are you going to attack me?"

The armored being moved forward, the smell of rot and death becoming more powerful the closer it came. It picked up a good bit of speed before its armor flared, the runed metal pulling Cimmerian's shield down to power itself. With a flash, the pony struck with a punch that released a portion of the energy it had stolen from the shield.

The alicorn shook his head as he rose from the rubble of a wall, his vision a little blurry and an ache in his chest from the impact.

"That...was new," he coughed, stepping back into the yard in time to see the armored pony charging at him again.

Cimmerian was vaguely tempted to throw one of his imperfect blades just to see what the unstable magic would do but decided against it, opting instead to make a wing-assisted leap and slam down on the pony's back.

It was unfortunately another mistake. The pony shifted itself slightly, moving forward and swinging its flank to the left in such a way that left it squarely underneath the dark alicorn. Undisturbed by the shattered pathway not a pace from its head, the being lashed out with two more empowered strikes. The first caught the dark alicorn in the back of his leg, causing a loud pop to echo before a spark of pain to shoot up his right foreleg. As he stumbled, the armored pony twisted onto its back and struck upward, throwing the alicorn into the roof of the cave.

Seeing nothing but stars at this point, he stared down from his current position blankly for a moment before shaking his head.
"...ow."

"Honestly, do I need to do everything for you?"

He looked up, or down and to the right at this point, to see his wife-friend-body-swapped whatever they were at this point hovering below him. She didn't look happy.
"You seem cross, though I can't quite place why."

"You just had your flank handed to you, that's why. You're an important pony, Cimmerian, you cant go around playing in the mud. Or stone."

"Aw, you're no fun," he slurred, chuckling as he shifted loose from the stone.

"Do you have a concussion? Again? You weren't even out of my sight for a day, Cimmerian. Why do you keep getting hit in the head."

"Because I'm tough," he said as he slipped free, only to be caught by the changeling. "That and I think the universe hates me. Which is odd because I've been doing a lot to keep myself on the positive side of karma."

"I'm fairly certain the powers that be made you an alicorn because you'd not survive as anything less," the mare sighed, carrying him lower and looking at his opponent. An armored unicorn who surprisingly wasn't firing spells at them.

"Drop me, I'm gonna kick his ass for that."

"I'll do no such thing. That pony isn't even alive," Din responded, drawing a few shocked gasps from her surroundings. "Oh don't tell me you can't tell. If the smell didn't give it away, the lack of spells should have. A dead unicorn has no magic."

"You will not stop the Nightmare!" One shouted, earning a few cheers even as a few of the others took a few steps from the field.

Din sighed, sticking a bit of adhesive to Cimmerian's back and reattaching him to the ceiling.
"Don't go anywhere."

"Don't worry, I'll just hang out here till you get back," he chuckled, kicking his dangling legs. He winced as he moved his right foreleg though, causing the queen to frown in concern.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere without a bodyguard from now on," she sighed.

"Technically, you took my bodyguard when you...yea, I'll be quiet."

Flitting down to the surface and ignoring the few thestrals that were making a run at her husband, as he'd quickly erected another shield once she was far enough away, she landed lightly before the armored unicorn and stepped closer to it.

She negligently used a burst of magic to bat away a thestral who was trying to sneak up on her, the pony's emotions giving away its position, and approached the unicorn. It turned to her and she felt a burst of...something attempting to push into her mind.
"An array? No, not quite."

"Din? You okay?"

"There's some magic, something I don't remember. It's..."

The unicorn suddenly screamed, a bloodcurdling shriek that tore into the soul of every being present. Pandinus jumped back, shouting in fear as the air nearby suddenly became bone-chilling. The armor was covered in a sheet of ice and even the stone under its hooves froze almost instantly.

Cimmerian looked down with renewed focus. The magic in the air was becoming dark, twisted.
'Smell of death, soul binding? If that's the case, then the soul would be put through agony and in that case two outcomes are possible. Shrieker or-

"Din, back up, Wendigo."

"Windigo? Aren't those things repelled by cooperation?"

"Wendigos are beings of hunger and ice, stay clear of it. It will try to eat anything and anyone!"

Din flew up out of the creatures reach and it gave another screaming roar before turning on the nearby thestrals. Before the nearest could fly away it was on them, tearing into a pony and beginning to eat the still weakly struggling thestral.

"How do you kill them?"

"I don't know, most of the stories had them as unstoppable beings of ice and terror! They're also supposed to be just that, stories!"
After a minute of staring at the rampaging monster, Cimmerian struck himself with a hoof.
"Din, you're linked to a mare who is right next to three of the oldest beings on the planet. Tell Twilight to ask the alicorns and Pulmonus about a Wendigo."

The queen took off, keeping clear of the creature as it continued feasting on the hapless thestral it had caught.
"She is...they keep asking if I mean Windigo, they don't know what a Wendigo is."

"So they're useless. Wonderful," Cimmerian sighed.

"It's an undead monster, how hard can it be to destroy?" Pandinus asked, charging her horn with magic. With a roar, she dove downwards, intent on smashing the monster into a paste.



<-(0)->



Night jumped as an explosion rocked the city behind her. It seemed her plan had worked for once.
'I don't exactly have an upstanding track record at the moment, do I?'

Perhaps it was the start of her recovery; the start of a return to some semblance of power. She may not be able to destroy everything at this point but she was finding herself uninterested in such a course of action. She was becoming attached to her own existence and her form. Not just in referring to it as hers, either. It was hard to explain but living...it somehow made her want to continue doing so.

"Your majesty, where would you have us go?"

She blinked out of her thoughts, looking to a few of the Nightmare thestrals. Some had markings on their armor or clothing, others had tattoes or dyes, but all carried her mark. A symbol of the slit pupil.
"We're going south west. There is a lot of unexplored land there, somewhere we can rebuild. I won't die in some last-ditch effort. If that alicorn can manage to turn a few cultists into an actual civilization, I expect you to be capable of at least matching this."

The thestral bowed, moving forward and leading her small entourage from the caves. It was a blow to her ego, seeing so few now bowing and scraping before her but it was what she had to work with. In some ways it was more than enough. Her followers were well supplied with things they'd scrounged, they were willing to follow her, and a few even had wilderness survival training. She had more than twice as much starting equipment. She'd just have to learn. Learn to use her body, her magic, and her new existence.

Looking over her purple coat she scowled. She needed to find a way to change the colors to something nicer. Maybe black? Yes, all black. Black coat, black mane, black tail. Even her mark would...be.

Night didn't scream, nor did she do more than slow slightly in her pace. The starburst mark that had adorned the flank of her body since before she had taken it was gone.

She stared at the blank space on her rear for another minute, trying to comprehend what had happened before turning back to the road. The mark was a sign to the world that the pony had found their calling, so if the soul the mark belonged to was no longer present...
'I hate ponies.'

Things were much too complicated. She sighed, remembering when she would just sit in the shadows and torment her host. Those were simpler times, a time when she likely wouldn't have even cared if she was discovered and destroyed. now though, the thought of being purged like that...
She would survive. If that alicorn could do so, she would do so as well. And she'd do it in relative comfort.



<-(0)->



Twilight slumped into a bed, her body burning in ways a pony form was incapable of understanding. The magic in her body was her lifeblood, and her lifeblood was burning through her form.
'Magic exhaustion as a changeling is exponentially worse than as a pony.'

"Done already, little princess?"

Twilight jumped, wincing as every muscle in her body protested the movement.
"D-discord. I, um, I'm sorry about-"

"Pshaw, that little trap? Seen its like and many others hundreds of times over the years. Good use of the interception array. That was a new one. Usually they try to set up a couple hundred of those or attempt to lead me into those. I don't think I've ever been forced into one before."

"You're...impressed? By my trap I locked you in?"

"Oh please, only the Elements have ever really stopped me. Traps like that are a nifty puzzle, rife with holes and flaws that are fun to find. It gives me something to do. After all, something new is infinitely more interesting than just wandering the countryside. It took me a good day to figure out how you'd managed to intercept my return teleport. Impressive considering I was coming in from another plane. Starswirl's mirror?"

"Uh, yes. I used the mirror's type of magic to specify what a dimensional breach felt like and then had to filter the style of magic. Since you're the only one using chaos magic that I've ever met even as a princess, I set it to check for that kind of magic being used and if it was, then the trap would activate and relocate your beacon. Then you'd teleport yourself where I wanted."

"Clever little pony. It makes me wonder why you still haven't figured out the game Pulmy's playing."

"Game?" Twilight asked, running the scenario through her mind again. She'd been asked to control drones, not a difficult prospect when you knew as much about the arrays as she did, but for some reason she just couldn't form a proper link with them. She'd even inspected them, going as far as to scan the drones for any modifications a mare with the title Flesh-Sculptor would be able to make. The drones were fairly simple, so simple that she realized the queen had created this clutch for the sole purpose of this training.

"I don't...it doesn't make sense, I know how this works, I know how a queen issues commands and I know the frequencies. I know more about changeling links than most changelings, and this is from Pandinus and Zelus. I just, I don't understand what's wrong."

Discord grinned his best 'I know something you don't' grin before raising a single talon.
"So is there something wrong with the drones you're attempting to control?"

"No. I couldn't find any modifications that would cause problems and Din had said there weren't any changes, that she knew what was wrong but wouldn't tell me."

"So something's wrong. You have confirmation but the issue isn't with the drones you're attempting to control. What's the other possibility?"

"Something's wrong with me?" Twilight asked. "Zelus and I worked on this drone together. There's nothing wrong with it."

Discord chuckled, leaning closer as his grin grew wider.

"I'm so close I'm saying the answer, aren't I?" Twilight asked, her expression flat. "I oversaw this drone's modifications...I know there weren't any changes to its connection to the hive. A different hive? No, the drones weren't even shielded, any queen could have ordered them."

Her horn lit up to conjure some paper and a quill but she gasped in pain, curling into a ball as her entire magic system protested the strain. When she managed to open her eyes again, she found an easel sitting before her bed.

"I wont give you anything more, Twiggles. It's up to you now."

She ignored the strange sound that came with the draconequus' teleport, though it did sound like an error sound from one of her first golems.
'Poor Doewin, I'm sorry I put your optical-sensor arrays on backwards.'

Twilight didn't even bother trying to lift the quill in her magic, resorting to mouth writing. She etched it as Discord had suggested; a problem. On one side was her, on the other was the drones. Between them she wrote the command. From the command sprouted the complex algorithms changelings used to communicate, though for them it was as simple as walking. A thought even. By the changeling drones she began etching all the details from age to the variance in their spinal structure from what she usually saw in drones. It wasn't enough to stop the drones from reacting to an order though, so she soon moved to the other end. To herself.

"Non-standard changeling drone. Increased capacity of...casting potential...reserves are increased to allow contact with friends and family, as well as increased emotional transmission range to allow dumping or, in an emergency, intake of emotions."

She scowled at her information. She needed more to find this issue. It was staring her in the face but she still couldn't see it.

"Age, weight, magical frequency, link frequency-which shouldn't matter since the drones were unshielded. I just..."
Twilight climbed back on her bed, staring at the now-filled easel of information. She was feeling sluggish though. Her mind wasn't picking up on it. She was in pain, her everything hurt, she just...
"I don't know..."

"What was that, hatchling?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I don't know. I'm missing it and I don't know what it is," Twilight admitted, curling up on the bed. She wouldn't cry. She was done crying, even though she'd failed another teacher and this one in less than a few days.

"Good. Because you can't learn if you already know everything. Now, what are you going to do to correct your deficiencies?"

Twilight blinked, looking through her hooves at the queen standing by her charts.
"Uh...books?"

"There are no records of this information. Sorry, little bookworm."

Twilight wanted to object, as she had tons of papers on the information in her labs. Then again, if she didn't know the issue in the first place, she may not have it written down. After all, it wasn't like she could just ask a changeling...oh.
"You?"

"Me what?"

"Would you teach me?"

Pulmonus cocked her head in mock curiosity.
"Is that a guess or a request?"

"Will you teach me what I'm doing wrong?" Twilight said, this time with a little more certainty in her voice.

"I'd be delighted to," she replied, grabbing a quill and dabbing it in ink. Under the figure of Twilight, she wrote a single word.
Drone.

Twilight stared at the word.
"I don't...."

"What kind of hive connection does a drone have?"

"A receptive..." she trailed off, her eyes widening.

"A receptive one, yes. A drone is different from a queen in more ways than just laying eggs, dear. If you're going to order drones, you need to change your connection type."

"But isn't that extremely invasive? Not to mention the amount of energy such a rework would take and I don't think I can do that sort of thing..."

"I will show you how to make a form with the proper connections. We'll use an egg and start from there, Heart will connect it to the hive you are bound to."

"Um, what eggs?"

Pulmonus opened a back-plate, revealing a few small changeling eggs.
"I will not ask you to do something without the proper resources. Even in the last test you had all that you needed, mainly, I was right there. All you needed to do was ask, hatchling."

"I...oh. I, I'm sorry, I've just become so used to being expected to figure things out on my own. I mean, even in ponyville my friends left things to me to figure out, so I thought that..."

"Your teachers in the school, aside from Celestia? They left you to teach yourself because you were so far ahead of others. They were unused to such a quick student. Queens learn quickly though, Twilight. I am quite accustomed to a student who excels. As I am used to teaching a single pupil. Listen to what I have to say, ask questions, do not allow nerves or squeamishness to stop you from asking. My daughters were all taught this- I never punished questions. I punished their lack of listening skills."
"Now, lets start with simple things," Pulmonus said, flipping the paper on the easel over and leaving her with a clean paper to work with. "The connection a queen has with her drones is not a simple one way street of orders. It is a complicated street of orders, reports, sensory information, requests for information, relevant memories, and backup, and even your personal opinion on a matter. There are even arguments between drones. These are dealt with quickly and by a queen or a drone appointed as her speaker and if a speaker is the deciding voice, the drones may ask the queen for her decision. Once the queen makes her decision, the matter is settled, as we cannot have these things fester. It does something to hives, makes them...fall apart. I've seen it happen a few times, so do not be afraid to put your hoof down."
"Another thing to remember is that you are not the end-all be-all of the hive. While a queen is necessary, you are not. Drones are capable of morphing if the need is great enough. While rare, a brutal or uninterested queen who does nothing will cause a drone to evolve to challenge her."

Twilight listened in rapt attention. She was too sore to take notes, but the queen was writing a lot of this down for her to study later. This was what she loved, what she lived for. A pure, unfiltered stream of new information.

Sitting on her bed in a borrowed body, Twilight Sparkle found herself in her element again. A lecture, new information, and friends who loved her.

Neither she nor her teacher noticed the slight shimmer of magic that flowed over her form, marking her new body as it once did her old one.
> Did I Miss Anything?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pandinus was breathing heavily after her fight. It had taken nearly four hours, a lot of help from the locals who had to keep their distance, and Cimmerian's aid once they'd knocked the armor off of the monster, but it was finally contained. They just didn't know how to destroy it; no matter how much or how hard they hit it, it wouldn't stop moving. Cimmerian was wracking his brain even now, writing down odd rhymes and old stories of monsters, trying to find one that might work.

"Stake was vampire, so was garlic. Exorcism? maybe. Silver...werewolves. Salt was ghosts, spirits so maybe. Pure salt, nothing less.  Trolls were fire, unless it was one of those stone trolls. Then it was sunlight..."

"Is there any sense to this or are you just guessing?" Din growled, smearing resin over a crack in her shell.

"It's a fucking wendigo, most stories I read just say they can't be killed and yuou should run away. I know I've read something about killing one, but I can't remember. We're talking a single mention, years ago. I can't just pull memories from that far back like changelings can. So i'm trying to remember all the monster-slaying stories in hopes that I can find that one bit I need."

"T-the fires of friendship can melt any ice according to the Equestrians," a thestral mare offered. "Perhaps if you were to-"


"Right, let's just hug the undead monster and hope it doesn't rip out our throats." Din said, pushing the thestral towards the door. "Maybe the alicorn? It was Twilight's brother at one point. Perhaps it would recognize her and-"

"-eat her," he finished abruptly. "Wendigos were famous for always possessing someone and eating their family. It was a way to explain psychotic breaks and cannibalism. A lone family in the woods dies suddenly during a harsh winter when food was becoming scarce and one of them was found to have eaten the others before wandering off into the snow. I don't think it would work. You can give it a shot but all it's likely to do is break her heart and set it off again."

The queen grunted, though whether it was in understanding or irritation he couldn't be certain.

"Fire, fire...it has to be something about heat. A being of pure cold like a wendigo should...was that it?"

"Out with it. If nothing else, we can try it out. At this point the worst we'll receive is a few bites. And with the number of teeth I knocked out, it's becoming less of an issue each time."

He nodded.
"Boiling...something. Fat or lard? Forcing something boiling down its throat. Not water, though. The story made fun of using water because it freezes too fast. You want something it will try to consume, use its hunger against it. Lard would probably work but we'd need to have some griffons drop it off. I don't think ponies keep that stuff."

"Thestrals might. They're a bit more aggressive than ponies and a few have carnivorous tendencies. I'll ask."

The stallion nodded absentmindedly. It had been a brutal fight but eventually they'd managed to drop the damned monster into a large hole in the ground. It was currently roaring and screaming at the bottom of a twenty-some foot drop, unable to climb the walls of its new abode. A strong and sturdy sound-wall spell kept the beast from scaring everyone out of any sleep at all, but if you looked closely you could see pebbles shaking around the pit.

'It must have been dumb luck. If Celestia, Luna and Pulmonus, three of the oldest creatures on the planet, have never heard of wendigos it was dumb luck that the Nightmare managed to make one. You don't go around making a wendigo purposefully. It usually takes a special kind of torment, a special set of circumstances.'
He sighed. After the fight was over the city was mostly under their control. The remaining Nightmare forces were so scattered and prone to attacking each other than they didn't really last that long. There were still a few held up in small sections of the town and a few more in hiding, but as it stood...
'Cities still a loss. Need to get someone out here to purify the water. Otherwise it's not livable.'

That had hit a few of the remaining bats. Their city was salvageable, but until water was made readily available again, the nearest source was a spring that was nearly five miles away. Not bad for a flying species, but it was still too far to fly with large jugs of water when the shipyard was also in tatters. Magic could lighten the load, but the town's enchanter had moved to the Temple.
"Which means we may need Twilight anyway. She could probably enchant that kind of thing easily."
But would it be enough? He'd already sent several groups of thestrals to nearby towns. That was likely going to be straining supplies until Celestia and Luna managed to get their distribution routes up and running again. Add to this the fact that a good deal of food and medicine was now destroyed or ruined by the fighting and he'd have to be careful. Equestria could face the first famine it had seen since its inception.

"Right. I think they were already bringing the farms back up and when you mix the dead or missing with the reduced supplies, it may not be as bad."
He rolled his eyes. That was a horrible way to look at it and he knew it. It didn't change the facts though. Hundreds of ponies were still missing, others were likely still slaves to the minotaurs. Some were mad, desperately avoiding any and all contact out of fear. Still others were just...broken. Heart dealt with those on a daily basis. If not for her controlling them and using them for farming or other tasks, they likely would have just passed away from despair.

It was bad, but things were starting to turn around for the average being. For ponies, Celestia and Luna were back and starting to regain their old strength. With the spare energy came the ability to defend themselves and their country. Cairn would find any further attempts to conquer the country of Equestria turned back by protective alicorn mares who wouldn't let anything else happen to their country.
Griffons were looking to a long spring and summer spent repairing their homes as they moved back in. Herrick had muttered something about retiring once or twice as well, so he was done after this entire fiasco. The dragons...

'What became of them?' he wondered. He'd only seen two dragons so far and neither were working with other dragons. They were supposed to have some sort of country near Equestria but he'd not seen anything that even implied such a thing.
'Maybe stop by, bring that...didn't they lose some sort of gem to the Nightmare? Bring that back to them once we find it. It's either in Canterlot or...I really hope Cairn didn't take it.'

Writing a small additional list of things he needed to check on, he made his way out the door. He needed to see if Din had an idea of getting Twilight over here yet aside from laying a few eggs to make a batch of drones.



<-(0)->



In spite of their crunch for time, there hadn't been a good way. Pandinus did end up creating another batch of true drones in Silver City, this time in a basement she'd already claimed as her own mini-hive. Twilight's new form was given alterations to allow more magic capacity as well as a bit more love to mature it faster, meaning the drone was prepared in only a few days. Twilight herself was easy enough to bring over, the distance only a minor inconvenience to the queens and easily managed with a few drones acting as relays by moving between Heart and Pandinus.

Twilight was also quick to make a few personal changes to the drone even as she began moving about in it, elongating limbs, adding a bit of spiral to the horn which apparently made casting her old spells easier, and even increasing her magic capacity well beyond what a true drone should have been capable of. When Pandinus asked her where she'd learned, she simple said her new teacher was drilling her with new lessons every day.

The first issue he'd put towards the mare was water. Twilight had immediately dismissed the light-weight enchantments though.
"There's water right above us that's untouched. All you really need to do is bring in ice and snow and melt it in a controlled environment. There's enough water there to keep everypony healthy for a long while. And once the spring thaw starts, fresh water will be flowing into the cave again."

"Right, ice," he mumbled, staring at a wall. "I can't believe I forgot about that."

"Sometimes we get so settled on a solution we don't see an easier path," she said, smiling. "I'm guilty of that myself. Food should be simpler as well. With Equestria returning to production, we're going to be running supply lines back and forth. Thestrals were a main trade partner when we needed silver and gold, since they live underground. The diamond dogs do as well, but they tend to be hostile. We'll likely be trading food for metals to repair a lot of our magi-tech in order to get the weather factories and power facilities going again."

"I'll put you in touch with some of the thestrals then. I'm sure they'd be happy to hear there's a good deal waiting for them. It is a good deal, isn't it?"

"W-what? You don't think we'd short ponies who are desperate for food, do you?"

"It's happened in the past. Maybe not here, maybe not by your race, but it's a possibility," Cimmerian said. "As for the second issue?"

"The, the monster," Twilight said, flinching slightly. "It doesn't recognize me, as you said. In fact it only seemed to become more enraged when I tried to speak to it."

"It's not him, Twilight," Cimmerian said softly. "As far as I can tell he's been dead a while. The body wasn't allowed to rest, though. Because of that, something else found it. Maybe its been there for a while, maybe it just found it, but in the end it is there because there wasn't any other occupant."

"Which I'm not sure makes me feel better or worse," she muttered. "It means...it means that another pony died because of my failure. Another pony I should have been keeping safe."

"But we already know why that is," Cimmerian countered. "We know what the Nightmares are now. We know what they want, even if we don't know how they're arriving. The only thing we're missing is their true forms and where they actually come from. If we can find it, we might be able to learn more."

"That's going to be difficult," Din said, walking over with a few thestrals following. "They said they saw a large group of Nightmare supporters leaving the city, changing direction a little every now and again. She's gone."

"The worlds not as big as we make it out to be," Cimmerian dismissed. "Add in magical transportation and it gets even smaller. So she got away. I'm more concerned with what I was hearing from the prisoners."

"She was having the body she was riding in cared for?" Din guessed.

"The nightmare had no qualms about riding it till it broke. Either it can't swap easily from one shell to another, which would make sense because otherwise it would just drop the body and disappear, or...or something. I don't know. Either way, you don't change your tune just because something is stolen from you. She was having her body cared for properly, having infections treated, eating, drinking. I still want that thing found, but that's a secondary priority right now, especially considering her power is broken. Do we have an answer on the treasures?"

"Heart said the minotaurs took a few pony treasures as well as their own but didnt stay long enough for the others. A small drone group is flying the Dragon Mother's Eye out to the dragon lands and a few of the griffon artifacts were returned. This includes several powerful weapons."
Din grumbled at that idea.
"I don't know if i like the idea of just giving those back, but the griffons have been close allies for most of this. To do anything less would be an insult. As for the dragons, I understand where you're coming from but again, I do not like the idea of giving them their treasures back with nothing said. No agreements."

"We dont know the first thing about dragon politics," Cimmerian said. "In all honesty it could go either way. The dragons being insulted if we didnt return it or them feeling that the return of the gem is a sign of weakness. This hasn't happened before and I'm not leaving these artifacts in a recovering Canterlot where anyone who wants them back could end up wrecking the place looking for their old stuff while we're watching the border."

The queen's shoulders sagged, her irritation not abating.
"I suppose," she allowed.

"This is going to suck, there's no way around it," Cimmerian continued. "I want people to get back to their old ways as quickly as possible though. The faster the farmers are producing again, the faster the factories are churning out products, the faster everyone settles in and calms down, the sooner we get to go home. I know this is a vacation of sorts for you, Din, but i don't know how i feel about leaving Zelus with the kids. If it was in a normal sense, fine. I'd trust her to babysit. I'd trust her to egg-sit. But she's literally carrying our kids right now. That just seems...too personal to me."

Din blinked, looking at him strangely before her eyes lit in understanding.
"Oh, I didnt think about it like that. I suppose that would be confusing."

"Huh?" Twilight asked, "What's wrong with the queens changing out? It sounds like somethign herd-mothers would love to be able to do. From what I remember, pegasus mares would pluck their own feathers for such a chance."

"Humans don't do herds," Din replied, looking to him with a combination of regret and resignation. "It makes him uncomfortable. We've been talking about this sort of thing and for now we're just...we're talking. I suppose that this sort of thing would be weird to even ponies if they werent familiar with changelings."

"Oh, of course it would be," Twilight said almost immediately. "The idea of self is very engrained in the pony psych. While unicorns have learned how to, through potion or spell, alter our physical forms, most of these changes are not enduring. As such, even I initially found the idea of having a disposable or easily modified form to be unsettling. This is even after not truly having a form of my own for years. There were actually several studies on the subject with issues ranging from spiritual damage to morphic disonance experienced when a pony...actually Cimmerian likely experienced a bit of morphic disonance himself."

"When I went from human to pony?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm certain it played havoc with your senses. After all, humans, at least what I experienced or have read, are very dependant on sight and touch. Ponies are still very physical, but we also rely heavily on smell and hearing. Everything must have smelled extremely strong to you, and things were likely very loud."

Cimmerian nodded before blinking, looking to the little drone who was merrily babbling about the differences between the species.
"Wait, how do you mean experienced?"

Twilight stopped, looking at him in confusion before turning green in a changeling equivalent of a blush.
"There, oh wow. There's a mirror that allows for travel between this world and another....and I completely forgot about it. Oh that's so not good."

"Did you forget about it before or after the Nightmare possesed you?" Din asked.

"After...no, before? I don't remember. In fact I really dont remember feeling the takeover. It was just, one day I wanted to go get something to eat and my body didnt respond. It was after a long study session too. I was exhausted and was finaly ready to call it a night-or morning- when I realized something was wrong."

"We'll talk about the Nightmare in depth later, Twilight. The humans?"

"There was an old mirror created by Starswirl. It led to another world, one that was inhabited by bipeds who were called humans. It was a very strange experience, as when you entered the mirror it caused you to take the form of the local species. I spent several days in human form."

"I seem to recall hearing about a mirror several times, but I don't remember hearing about humans being involved," Cimmerian said. "Is there anything to worry about on that side?"

"I...don't think so. I'm not sure what happened, but...maybe..." Twilight mumbled, burying her head in her hooves.

Pandinus approached, lifting the drones head and meeting the other mare's eyes. Both stiffened as they communicated faster than any words could manage, then both relaxed.

"T-thank you, Pandinus. Right, I had a journal that was linked to another that was in the possession of a mare...uh, woman on the other side. I'll need to find it before I go looking for the mirror. Time doesn't work the same way between the worlds, but at the same time it's been a few years at least."

"Time dilation?"

"It's more like a tidal shift. The time speeds back up as the portal opens and we end up on the same time-progression, but afterwards the time seems to slow down again. I've also theorized that the portal isn't the cause but is reacting to the ebb and flow of time, only opening when the time-flow was safe to cross."

"Or it could be that the distance between the two worlds is changing as their position in the bigger picture shifts."

Cimmerian blinked, looking above the drone-rider to the mismatched creature that was suddenly there.
"You've probably been punched a few times for doing that, haven't you?"

"Once or twice." Discord replied nonchalantly. "I find it to be worth it though. Sometimes the reactions are just priceless."

"Except for the price of the injuries you incur," Pandinus added with a grin.

"Bah, it's not like most beings can actually hurt me. Most of the time I let it show as an injury for their benefit."

"You've had some experience, Discord, do you know anything about Wendigoes?" the alicorn asked.

"You find your enemies and drop it on them," he chuckled, slithering through the air and beginning to poke his nose into every container and shelf. He opened a cabinet and cocked his head in confusion before pulling out a small buffalo figuring and tossing it over a shoulder.

"That's nice, but that still leaves a monster running around, one that's going to find the nearest population and try to kill everyone there," Cimmerian said. "I want the Nightmare to be caught, but she's...changing. I don't know the kind of threat she is at the moment. The Wendigo is an active threat. Or at least it's a more immediate threat. So is Cairn, though that's fallen after Canterlot. At this point I think Tia and Luna have that covered."

"And if they don't Heart is backing them up."

Cimmerian looked back towards the door and the city, his wings slumping with fatigue.
"I...I think we're about done. Is there any other major threats? The griffons, the thestrals, the ponies, the minotaurs, changelings, dragons..."

"Oh, there was that yeti thing," Twilight added.

Cimmerian blinked.
"Yeti thing."

"Some army that was building up. We sort of crushed him with hundreds of changelings. I think the Nightmare put his stick in the vault."

"Right, so no threat?"

At the mare's negative response, he turned back to the mismatched creature.
"What do you think, Discord?"

"Me?" the draconequus asked, looking back in surprise. "You're asking me about this?"

"You've been out of the loop, but you still know the general layout. I also daresay you know more about the threats of this world than even Twilight. Is there something in Equestria and the surrounding areas we're missing?"

Discord floated into a seated position, tapping a chin in thought.
"You know, I don't think anyone's ever asked me."

He looked over the others with a smile that carried more weight then Cimmerian had seen before.
"There are a few threats out there that not even Tia knows about. Terrisus, a pegasus wind-mancer that was banished before they arrived here. Rock-Jaw, something like an alicorn-level diamond dog. He went to sleep centuries ago deep underground, don't think he's moved in a long time. I don't even remember his general attitude. Grogar is in a separate dimension, disconnected from Equestria, where he runs his own eternal world where he doesn't have to deal with the living..."
"No, nothing that I can think of off the top of my head."

Looking to the shocked look that was plastered over Twilight's face Cimmerian nodded.
"If there's nothing else, I'm going to go speak to Pulmonus and Celestia before getting ready to head back."

"You're leaving?" Twilight asked.

The changeling queen rubbed a hoof on Twilight's head.
"This isn't our land, Twilight. We're here protecting our lands by supporting Celestia and Luna. We've removed the biggest threats, we've chased the Nightmare out of the country, Cairn is focusing elsewhere... why would we stay, aside from nervousness about the minotaurs? I want to make certain my...family is well off. That it is well-cared for. I can't do that from the other side of the world. Would Celestia let us stay? Most likely. But we have other things to deal with. We won't just abandon everything we've worked on and we will be working on tracking down the Nightmare, but we aren't needed for this bit."

"Crystal Empire," Cimmerian said, stomping a hoof. "I'll talk to Tia about getting over there. So one last stop."

"I'd be cautious of bringing queenie here," Discord idly commented, floating closer and tapping a talon against the changeling queen's nose.

"I'd have to agree. The last time I thought about the Crystal Empire, they were under siege from my changelings," Twilight added, scuffing a hoof on the floor. "I...don't really remember what happened to it afterwards."

Pandinus was about to object when Cimmerian shook his head.
"The Nightmare's modus operandi has been to leave a queen or two in every conquered city. I want an allied queen with us for when we find her."

"No doubts as to if we find one more queen?"

"She was petty," Cimmerian explained. "Everything she's done to this point only reinforces this point. I really doubt she would miss the chance to leave a changeling queen in Cadance's kingdom."
> Crystal Corpse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train had been left behind two days ago, the old rails having fallen into disuse and disappearing under the layers of snow.

The drones weren't made for this temperature and had stayed behind as well.

After a night spent shivering against the alicorn in a cold tent, even Pandinus and Twilight had been sent back. The enchanted bracers and  clothing were only able to do so much, and the farther they pushed north, the more biting the cold became. Eventually even the queen would freeze, bracers and burning love or not.

'Fuck, if it wasn't for the pegasus resistance to cold I'd probably have started getting frostbite already,' Cimmerian thought as he pushed on through the snow.
Even he wasn't attempting this trip without gear. He'd taken a thick cloak of some sort from the thestrals, the hide of some beast they'd hunted in the past keeping the majority of the chill off of him and preventing the snow from soaking his fur. On his back was a large saddlebag with dried fruits and meats, enough to last at least two weeks as long as he wasn't a pig, as well as a cold-weather tent he'd acquired from an old equestrian outpost near the tracks on their trip north. After the first day he was thankful for it all, as his legs were becoming damp and starting to feel cold, the first time he'd felt such since before this mad experience began. If he'd ended up soaked to the bone over his entire body, including his wings, and been forced to sleep in the snow he'd be in big trouble.

Why wasn't he flying though? Because the driving snow made it impossible. He was by no means an expert at flight even with the lunar alicorn's memories, and with them being sealed at the moment his flight was mediocre if not outright bad. Add the fact that the wings of planes were what tended to ice over first, and he wasn't willing to risk the limbs in such a way. They would stay tucked under the cloak until he needed them.

The city was supposed to be only three days from where he was let off so he pushed on until the temperature started to drop noticeably. Then he blasted the fluffy snow away with a burst of magic and set up his tent, allowing it to almost be covered on three sides while the entrance was facing away from the snow. Checking his compass and making sure he was still heading north, he stepped inside the tent and sighed in relief as he dropped his wet cloak in a special bin. He dried himself with a towel before moving to set out a sleeping mat and blanket. It had been a while since he’d checked on the Temple, so maybe...







The area around the temple was full of lights as the alicorn drifted through the dream-world. Pinks, yellows, whites and blues, all of them dreaming peacefully in spite of his absence.

‘And why wouldn’t they, with a queen nearby and their enemy routed?’ He thought.

The small cave that had become the behemoth’s lair was quiet, only a few changeling guards sleeping as they prepared for their shift that night. The same was true of the temple. A few more turned out to be ponies or griffons sleeping in the infirmary, healing up from new and old injuries. He called for the dreams of several ponies, watching them float by before he dismissed each, finding the pink dreams too personal for a visit like this. He’d also managed to avoid slipping in to such a dream so far and had no intention of starting now.

Landing lightly in a dream that was half connected to the changelings, he watched as the Alicorn of love did what she loved most. Teaching a foal simple games.

“Sunshine Sunshine, ladybugs awake.”

He blinked in confusion as the song was shared. Was that really something to teach a foal, or did she just not see anything wrong with it?

The little queen, Amare, noticed him first and ran closer, squealing and giggling all the while. He picked her up and gave her a bop on the nose before turning to her mother.
“Zelus not sleeping yet?

“No, something happened with the mare, Trixie-“
“Sapphire” Amare chirped, giggling at her mother’s frown.
“-and she’s having her checked over by the doctors. Apparently the plates and other changes reacted to the love-bath Zelus took with her and the queen’s in a tizzy. Trixie doesn’t seem to be in any danger at this time though, just an odd reaction to the emotion.”

“Odd how?”

“Best you see for yourself,” Cadance sighed, bringing up a view of the hospital wing from the eyes of a nearby drone before cocking her head and sending a notice to the hive that she was borrowing its eyes.

Cimmerian frowned as the drone stared at Trixie, as well as the form of Pandinus as the queen currently behind the wheel hovered like a mother hen over the unconscious form. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with the mare as far as he could see. In fact she looked perfectly healthy.
“Her scars are faded. The plates look like they connect a lot more cleanly.”

“Yes, and while the doctors are sure the issue will fade in time and she’ll wake up once her magic stabilizes, Zelus is panicking. And she’s been making the rest of the hive a bit nervous.”

The dark alicorn nodded, fading from the dream and settling into a familiar form inside the temple. For the first time in several weeks, the dark armor shifted as it was brought to life once more.







Zelus stroked Sapphire’s cheek, wondering where it had gone wrong. Love was a powerful thing, and had healed two other ponies so far of so much damage. So why didn’t it help her Sapphire? The changeling parts of her form flowed with power, certainly, but the unicorn parts, the bits that made her unique?

The doctor said she was recovering now, but he also knew the damage she’d seen. The burned flesh, the cracks that had developed in the unicorn’s horn.

The fact that her heart had stopped.

The griffin and pony doctors were baffled, putting out an order that ponies were to avoid large amounts of love. While low amounts only ever produced a strange euphoric stunned state that quickly passed, the next worry was that larger amounts would cause similar situations. So the fountain was watched now, a few changelings nearby to make certain no pony overdosed on love. But what happened to Sapphire wouldn’t happen to them. She knew it now. It was the changes that the Nightmare had pushed on the pony-drone that were the reason for the bad reaction to the love-bath.
The plates were practically glowing with power even two days later and she was reluctant to pull the energy away when the skin around the plates was healing at such an accelerated rate. Several plates looked smaller, others larger. In some places it almost looked like extra plates were growing, in another a plate had actually fallen off completely, exposing raw skin that had only a very light covering of fur just starting to grow.

She heard the clanking of metal on the floor behind her and she growled. The nurses should have known to keep the soldiers out by now, and most injured soldiers wouldn't be walking in with their armor still on.

"Well hello to you too."

Zelus blinked and turned to look at the voice, finding herself face to face with a shadow wearing one of the armors Cimmerian kept in a lower room, one that had become a religious location for thestrals and ponies alike.
"I...sorry, I'm a bit-"

"She doesn't look too bad," Cimmerian said, his voice having an odd echo as the armor walked beside the bed Sapphire was sleeping in. "The plates look healthier than ever, her skin doesn't look irritated...actually, it looks like- wow."

The armored shadow shifted a blanket and exposed the plates sitting on her back, revealing that where before a jigsaw of plates covered the back, now the mare's back-plates were closer to what he saw on most changelings, while the plates on her legs were cleaner and formed a proper defense now. Frowning, she watched the shadow shift the mare, revealing what looked like underdeveloped wings sprouting from her back, barely visible even to her eyes.
"Amazing. It's like it corrected the failed grafts and even shifted the plates. No, not shifted. She grew new ones. It's...but why? How? She's not really a changeling so-"

Zelus didn't answer, too lost in thought as she stared at the tiny diaphanous protrusions. They weren't there the last time she looked. Nor did the plates look so clean. The stallion was correct; it was like her body was...correcting the grafts.

"I'll talk to Pulmonus about this. She might now something about it or at the very least be able to tell us if everything is growing properly. I'll definitely bring her back."

Pulling the blanket back over the sleeping mare, he turned towards her with an odd, shadowy smile.
"Sorry, Zel. Cadance showed me the damage and I wanted to get a closer look. It's actually not half as bad as I thought it was, though her horn still looks bad. Probably the overload of magic? How are you feeling, anyway? Enjoying time with your kids?"

"Yes, they've been wonderful," she replied, her gaze still drifting to her drone. "I um, I've been spending time with them but right now they're being watched by a clutch-nurse."

"Zelus, she'll be fine," he soothed. "She's in good hooves and the nurse will tell you the moment something comes up, good or bad. Get some sleep, you're not just keeping Din's body for her. I don't want to hear you're stressing that form any more than it needs to be, got it?"

"Shit."
She'd completely put it out of her mind. She still ate, the pull was too strong to ignore at this point, but she certainly wasn't sleeping as much as the doctors and nurses asked and many of them she'd outright threatened when they'd tried to separate her from Sapphire. Now she'd need to get them to look over her sister's form to make sure she hadn't abused it too badly.
"I'm so sorry, I was completely caught up in-"

"Z, it's fine. I get it. You're nervous. Have the doctors look you over, get some food and drink, then get some sleep. And make sure you get a bath, too. Remember what I said. Trust them to do their job. They're the specialists, right? They're doctors for a reason."
An armored hoof stroked her cheek, the cold metal feeling strange with the gesture it was used in.
"You're not really on vacation, you're just swapped out from one job to another. Enjoy the quiet and the things we've built, and get ready to swap back with Din before too long. This wont last forever so get your time with the hatchlings in now."

The armored shadow turned and left, leaving her with the not-quite patchwork drone. A single changeling medic stuck her nose in after the stallion left and Zelus gave a put upon sigh.
"Bring me a decent meal and fetch me someone to check me over. I'm...I need to go to bed."







Cimmerian shifted his ethereal shoulders, feeling strangely cramped after being in the armor. Maybe he'd have to get the armor adjusted? How the heck did it impact him like this, anyway?
'I mean I get that the sizes are different, but I'm not even physically wearing it. Why would it actually impact my sense of self? Why would it make me feel cramped?'

Moving to return to his form quickly, he was flying by several dream orbs when he thought he recognized a few.
One of the dreams even felt like it was waving at him, which was confusing for all of five seconds before he grinned and entered the dream.
“You’re looking much better.”

“I feel better,” Pinkie said. “Is Twilight okay?”

“She’s staying on the train leading to the Crystal Kingdom. We were going to go there to check on it but everything’s covered in a raging blizzard. As it stands I’m going it alone, while Din and Twilight keep a tag on me to pull me back if I ask them too. The frozen north in late winter is no place for a changeling.”
“How is the everyone doing?”

“Well AJ and Big mac are already looking into repairing the busted trees and planting new ones, Rarity was reading fashion magazines for three days straight before passing out in her old work-room, Fluttershy is staying with me and thinking of donating her cottage to the bunnies since they're basically a self-sufficient civilization at this point, and Rainbow's...lost."

"She's confused and doesn't know what to do ? It doesn't surprise me considering the situation."

"Oh, she knows what to do at the moment, but clearing the sky over a mostly empty town doesn't take that long. It never did before, but she was training to be a member of the Wonderbolts. Now, she doesn't really know what to do with the extra time. I mean, she could do her training again, but if the Wonderbolts no longer exist, there's not a big reason for her to train."

"Oh come on, you're telling me that even if the group was disbanded or fell apart she wouldn't be willing to restart it? If nothing more, I'm sure Celestia and Luna would be more than happy to help her bring them back. In fact, Celestia would probably let her do that."

Pinkie thought for a moment before smiling.
"I'll let her know. I'm sure that will cheer her up a bit and she'll start training again right away."

"Honestly though, hearing what I have about her, she doesn't sound like a militarily-inclined mare."

"You don't seem like a stallion that would be willing to stand up and lead."

Cimmerian stared at the mare for a moment, his jaw working soundlessly before he frowned.
"And what would you know of me? It's not like we've spent that long together."

"I'm pretty good at reading ponies, mister," Pinkie said, giggling. "And you don't really act like any of the ponies I know of that do that for a living. You feel more like...a repairpony? I dunno, I feel repairpony and an accountant or something like that."
Trotting closer, she gave a tentative sniff before grabbing his foreleg and licking it.
"Hmm, repairpony with a hint of bit-smarts. Aged...well that's odd, usually I can taste the-oh! That's right, you said you were stuck for a while. Okay, that explains the weird stretch I taste."

The alicorn could only stare, his mind hitching on the oddity of her, whatever it was she was doing before pulling his leg away.
"That's uh, you ever offer clinics? I know of about three million people back home who would love to attend one. Get a translator and you could probably book a few seconds with every living human being on the planet."

"Nah, I'm good. Most ponies don't listen to me anyway, and just because you're good at something doesn't mean you'll be happy doing it. I mean Princess Celestia always tasted of gardener and-" the mare leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially "Cats."

"You're calling her an old cat lady."

"Shh! She'll hide them if she thinks we're on to her!"

"Mare, you're insane. Keep your friends safe, okay? And don't be afraid to visit or write if you need to. Especially you. You take it easy, you hear me? That's an order, and if I need to get Celestia or Luna to enforce it I will."

"You're no fun," Pinkie pouted, crossing her forelegs. "I've been sleeping almost as much as Dashie used to. It's boring."

"Suffer a little boredom now and make your recovery. I'd be very disappointed to hear if you push yourself and get hurt again. I'll send Mist if I have to."

Watching as the alicorn started fading from the dream, Pinkie giggled.
"Threatening to send a friend to see me again? It's like you don't even know me! Bye!"







Stepping out of his tent and beginning to collapse it early the next morning, Cimmerian caught the shadow of a looming tower deeper into the blizzard that was still raging. It was a jagged tower, with several smaller spires that rose around it. Anything more was blocked by the blasting winds and the blinding snow.
'Still, good to know I'm closer than I thought I was.'

As he stowed the tent and began to walk towards the spire, a lone thought was echoing around in his head.

Where was the shield that Twilight had mentioned?


After walking for another few hours, the cold was beginning to intensify even more when he heard the clack of his hoof striking something. Cimmerian stopped, using a bit of magic to clear the snow away from his hooves to reveal an odd pink crystal under his hooves.
Curious, he dug out the crystal more, throwing snow and ice about as he dug into the deeper and more packed snow. What he found made his heart sink.

Deep under the snow and ice he'd found his first sign of civilization, aside from the looming tower he was approaching. He'd uncovered the roof of a house made entirely of crystal.

Worried, he stared digging a path down into the snow, circling the house until he found a door. It took a bit of magic finesse, something he was admittedly lacking in, but eventually the locked door was opened, letting him step into the house where he looked around, hoping not to find any bodies.

He did find one, a young looking stallion in the upstairs bedroom. But in spite of the cold, or perhaps because of it, the body wasn't rotting. Cimmerian frowned, stepping closer to the pony. The crystal pony's body was strange, and made him begin to second guess himself. Could the body decay? Was it even a corpse or was the pony in some sort of hibernation?

"I knew I should have asked Cadance for more information on this place," he grumbled as he walked back out the door and to the surface. He'd already heard the place disappeared for a long while, but at that time it was a curse. If this was the same thing, well, curses usually didn't save your life. Not in his experience, anyway.

Stepping back out in to the blizzard, he turned to walk back towards the tower when he noticed a figure nearby, standing in the snow. It was tall, thin and black, a changeling queen from what he could tell. But most queens didn't have glowing crystals sprouting from their shells, or had glowing blue eyes. They didn't exude power like this, or have a few floating crystal shards for a horn.

It's glowing eyes locked on him before it spoke, a deep power present in its tone.
"Who are you who disturbs my children's slumber?"
> Crystal Resurrection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pandinus woke up in the evening, having taken a nap while waiting on the train. There really wasn't much she could do at this point. They had plenty of supplies for the ponies and she could last quite a while on her reserves, not to mention several jars of honey that were in the cargo hold behind her. The Equestrian guards were exercising as best they could in the limited space, several changelings were even working with them.

Until such a time as she was able to do something useful though she would likely just sleep. Heart had control of the Equestrian hive, the ponies were working on returning to power in their land, the drones were still a day away from returning the dragon-mother's eye to the dragon lands, and Zelus was watching the Temple. There was nothing she was needed for, nor was there much she could do, separated from the hives as she was. She might be able to help with sorting information or jobs in Equestria, but considering how most of the Equestrian hive were actually ponies who had only recently come to trust Heart, the presence of another queen ordering them about and receiving their reports unsettled them. They found it scary when she was right there next to Heart, what would they say when she was doing so from miles away?

Simple. They'd panic.

"Why are ponies so quick to panic? It's not even as though their panicking is useful to others. Many just run around screaming."

Twilight, who was sitting across from her, looked up from her scrolls.
"What?"

"What is the reason for ponies being so quick to panic? They do not even flee sometimes, so its not a survival trait as it is in most species I have observed. I would even suggest that it is the opposite. It's likely to end in their death."

"I um, never really thought of it. Most of the time my friends and I were galloping towards the screams, so-"

"So you were even more lacking in survival instincts?"

"No, we were acting to protect ponies. Like if your hatchery was attacked."

Pandinus tapped her hoof against her cushion.
"Fair enough. But that still does not answer why ponies have come to be so flighty, yet refuse to leave their homes in spite of such reactions."

"What brought this on?"

"Boredom," the queen said. "I have nothing to do at the moment, not even able to follow Cimmerian into the cold. I can watch the rune passively so even that isn't going to distract me."

Looking over to the papers the drone-rider was working with, Pandinus scowled. She recognized some of the algorithms as changeling control sequences and commands, usually used to give unsired drones long-term duties such as surveillance or transportation jobs.
"Reviewing the links?"

"Pulmonus gave me some things to work on in the meantime. I've been working on memorizing them, but there are several that are very similar to each other that I sometimes get crossed. She also has me studying flesh-shaping which while certainly of questionable morality if practiced on ponies, has much less disturbing implications on true drones given their lack of sapience."

"She has taught you flesh-shaping?" Din asked. "Mother never really finished many of my lessons and that was sadly one of the lessons that I was never able to complete. Could you show my what she has been teaching you?"

"I um, I'm not really sure- I mean I could ask her next time or-"

"Twilight, I am not asking you to just teach me," Pandinus chuckled, moving across the train car and sitting next to the smaller mare. "I'm asking you to help me review my own lessons and see if you know anything that I missed. I already know some flesh-shaping. You are not teaching me; or did you forget that Zelus and I crafted your first altered drones?"

Twilight hummed, looking at the mare before shaking her head.
"Alright. I expect to learn a thing or two from you as well though. Mutual learning."

"That's fine with me. I'll even provide a few drones for practice after we've gone over a few things. If nothing else, this will give me something to do."






Cimmerian followed the weird queen through the snow as she led him towards the Crystal Castle. Eventually he spied a tunnel, leading under the spire. The queen entered the cave, the odd illumination of her crystal shards giving the tunnel an eerie glow.

"So the Crystal ponies are in hibernation?"

"My children find safety in sleep," the queen's echoing voice said, not bothering to look back at him. "When the shadow came, when it broke my daughter's heart, it left other shadows. They were ravenous, constantly gnawing at my power. They gnawed at me, at my children, at our song; I could not silence the song they sung, so I let my children sleep. When they slept, the cold returned. The shadows fell silent one by one, and soon, their song was silent."

The tunnel opened into a large cavern, and Cimmerian glanced around, noting the blending of ice and crystal throughout the room. From the direction he'd traveled he'd been expecting a stairway or a door, but instead there was only what looked like a crystal pedestal in the middle of the chamber.
The queen stepped up onto the pedestal, facing him before resting upon it.

"Their song has ended, but the shadow still walks the lands to the south, spreading its song of death. My daughter is missing, my children sleeping. Rousing them would bring only more pain. So they shall sleep. They shall sleep, and wait until it is safe to sing again."
"But what of you?" the queen asked, tilting her head curiously. "Your song is discordant, a sour note amongst the choirs of this world. Not a shadow, not consuming, but you are different."

"I was brought to this world by a second shadow," Cimmerian explained. "It was fleeing the Elements, and used me as a shield."
"The other shadow, the one who stole your...daughter? I assume you're speaking of Cadance?"

"You were judged by the six who are one," the queen hummed, a smile breaking out over her face. One that confused the stallion. He squinted, looking closer to the queen while attempting to see past the glare of the glowing crystal shards and her glowing eyes.
"It is not often one who was their target, even if by accident. I do not know what the others call her in their own songs. I never learned them. I never had to."

Cimmerian's eyes widened as she 'spoke'. In the snow, she was hard to see. In the tunnel, she was ahead of him and never looked at him while speaking. Now, he could easily see her mouth. It wasn't moving.

"What are you?"

"I am the heart of the song of this kingdom. When my children sing, my song grows stronger. When my children suffer, so too do I."

"...You're not a queen at all, are you?"

The changeling looked confused before glancing towards her own body.
"This one's song was long silenced. By time or others, I do not know."

"So if you're not a queen then what are you? What, what did your children call you?"

"They sang for me many titles. Their life, their love, their breath. They called me their sun, their soul. But one found a tune they all loved. They sang of their heart."

Cimmerian stepped closer, looking over the crystals that seemed to be interwoven into the queen's body. Getting closer, he recognized the color. He'd seen it before, not too long ago. Only at that point it had only been an image. A beautiful image that he was told pictured an ancient artifact that sat at the center of the Crystal Kingdom on a pedestal. The same one that the queen now occupied.

"You're the Crystal Heart? But it was an artifact," he blurted, looking around in confusion. "Cadance never mentioned you were actually alive. Just that the Crystal Heart channeled the good will of the ponies into actual power. Their love became a force that held back the blizzard."

The queen frowned, looking almost hurt by his words.
"They were not singing to me?"

"What?" he asked, not understanding the question.

"You refer to me as a lifeless thing, a simple trinket. Did...did my children not know of my love for them? Could they not hear my song?"

"I don't know."
The stallion looked about the chamber, noticing the four crystal pillars barely visible in the ice. Just how was this castle designed? This wasn't some sort of chamber?
"Cadance didn't mention the Crystal Heart having its own...song. She just mentioned a powerful artifact that was the most important thing in the empire."

"A trinket."

"The center of their power and source of their life," he insisted. "When did you uh, start to sing?"

"When does a child know they are a child?" the Crystal Queen replied. "When do they learn they are capable of song? This I do not know. I only know that for years they sang to me. For years they sang and I began to wish to sing with them. That desire grew until I could; until my voice joined with theirs. I sang, we sang, and our joined voices made my love only grow."
"I learned that their songs were passing. That new songs would come, that old ones would fade. I learned that some sang to themselves, that some sang to others, that some even silenced each other. I learned of the un-song, the one who's voice silenced many songs. I learned of my daughter returned, whose song joined perfectly with my own. Then I learned of the shadow."
"It was two songs, a strangeness I have never felt before. Some songs were softer than others, sometimes there were multiple songs in the same voice. But this was two songs of two voices. The stronger voice broke the song of my daughter. It brought more shadows, pulling at my children, weakening their songs. Then it...did something to me. I felt wrong. I felt. I still do not understand. It took my daughter when it left, stealing her heart and voice and love."

"Do you know where this, body came from?" he asked her. "I went looking for the rest of its species and have had a little success, but you said it was already gone. Did the shadow bring it with her?"

"I do not know. I am still unsure how I feel about it. In fact I am still becoming used to feeling at all. It was not so long ago that I was not quite aware of anything, and yet now I am. I know that I am."

The alicorn stepped closer, most of his fears allayed by the fact that the queen seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, the Crystal Heart.
"Is it possible that at one time, you were a trinket? That over time, you grew into more?"

The Crystal Queen's irritation faded at the idea, her expression becoming thoughtful.
"I do not know."

He stared at her for a moment. Was the this really the Crystal Heart? Nobody had said it was sapient, but then again would they even realize it? Or was it the fusion of changeling and artifact that gave it sapience? Was it inferring experiences it had from before its fusion? Before it's 'creation'?
'Though considering the Heart's use, I don't think you could have picked a body more reactive to it or its magic.'

He hadn't been told much about how the Crystal Heart worked, just that it focused and amplified the positive emotions of the citizens of the empire into a powerful protection that kept the city warm in the midst of the blizzards the area experienced.
'It could have always been sapient, or maybe it was just the decades, maybe even centuries of channeling emotions?'

"The shadows," he said at last. "I've been either freeing them or destroying them if they're mindless. When the one who took your daughter came, did she bring creatures that look like you do now? Black shells, usually slaved to a glowing crystal?"

"The false songs," the queen spat. "The songs that hold no joy, no love, no life. They bound the smaller shadows to their song. The smaller shadows pulled at the songs of my children. I could not stop them, so I did what little I could. I sang for my children a lullaby. They slept, the cold came, and the shadows faded. When the last of the shadows fell into silence, so too did the false songs."

"Could you show me the Crystals? The source of the controlling songs?"

The Crystal changeling looked off into the distance before standing from her pedestal. She stepped down and made her way to a wall, the snow and ice seeming to disappear from her path. So once more he followed the glowing queen, this time to a frozen chamber that contained two half-buried control crystal arrays as well as the frozen bodies of dozens of changelings and a single queen.

"I thought we'd accounted for all of them," Cimmerian muttered, walking up to the body and using a quick spell to check for signs of life. He couldn't find any, but then again he'd found queens to be pretty durable. Was it possible it was still alive? He really couldn't dismiss that idea. Instead he stepped over to the control crystals, hefted them in his magic, and began bashing them together several times. Then he twisted the one of the crystals sideways, attempting to jam a pointed edge into the newly formed cracks. With a few more shoves, ones of them split in half with a horrid straining creak. With the broken half, he began to attempt the same with the second crystal, jamming the sharp end into the damaged chinks. Eventually and with a bit of magical elbow grease, he was able to break both of them.

"Okay, I think...I think that's it. I don't know of any other locations she put these things so- are you okay?"

The Crystal queen was staring at the shattered control arrays in what looked like horror. After a few seconds to think about it, the dark alicorn almost found it comical.
"Yea, I'd almost bet money you're the Crystal heart if seeing a few crystals broken bothers you. You ever experience that yourself?"

"Once," she whispered. "The Shadow shattered me, distorting my song. When I was next aware, I was...different."

"Well I'll be sure to send Cadance up here," he told her. Lighting his horn, he showed a profile image of the pink alicorn. "I'm sure she'd be happy to have her kingdom back, though I'm not sure what she'll think of the center of her kingdom wandering around. Was the Shadow the only thing you were worried about? It's on the run and it doesn't have much in the way of power right now. Do you need something to help restore the city? Magic? Maybe a lot of focused emotions?"

"The Shadow is gone? I have your word; it will not harm my children?"

"Even if it makes an attempt, which is doubtful considering how little power it has now, at least three other countries will rush to destroy it. We're currently searching for it. I just thought it more important to find out if this city needed help. Unfortunately, the railroad that lead up here is under several feet of snow and my friends couldn't make it. They don't do well with the cold."

The Crystal Queen nodded. She motioned for him to follow before leading him back to the main chamber and taking her place on the pedestal. She closed her eyes in focus, the air beginning to buzz with power, before she opened them and said a single word.

"Awaken."

The alicorn braced against the sudden burst of magic, the wave of power nearly knocking him over. The snow and ice around them seemed to disintegrate in an expanding ring, clearing from the rows of now visible houses and shops. The blast traveled upwards as well, eventually blowing away the clouds and leaving the sun shining down on the land for the first time in years.

The power slowly faded, holding to a weak barrier just outside of the city. Ponies stepped out of their homes, some stretching and yawning, others greeting each other cheerfully as they all came towards the town center. Those that reached the castle though didn't look so certain of themselves.

Looking behind him to where the frozen queen's drones were slowly dissipating in the grass, he could understand why. He stepped over to the queen, checking for any pulse of life or magic he could detect before stepping away from the body. He would have to ask an actual changeling to perform a more thorough check, but for now, the ponies looked confused, torn between fleeing and rioting and there was nothing he could do for the possibly dead queen.

"Good afternoon!" he shouted, drawing the eyes of all present. "If you'd wait a moment for your fellows to arrive, I'd be happy to deliver some good news. I'll start with this- Princess Cadance is safe, and is currently regaining her strength. In the mean time, I'm here to make sure you're all still alive."

A wave of excitement passed over the crowd, followed by another wave of something altogether. Confusion. Speculation. Who was this? What was the crystal-studded changeling? What had happened to the monsters?

"A while ago, a mare came into this city, took your princess, and broke the Heart, right? Does anyone know the full story? I'm working back from what I know."

Looking at the confusion in several  of the closer ponies start to shift to embarrassment, he chuckled as several even hid behind others.
"Look, I know speaking in public sucks, but I kind of need to know the full story here. Can someone walk me through it?"

Eventually a stallion stepped forward, a few odd scars showing through the fur around his legs. Looking at him and seeing the lack of armored ponies in the city, he took a guess.
"A guard?"

The stallion nodded.
"When the...when the Princess's sister attacked with the changelings, the guard was disbanded. She left a bunch of the drones here, along with a few Equestrian soldiers to keep them controlled."

The pony snuck a quick glance at the crystal queen before looking back to Cimmerian.
"I will tell you, but who are you?"

Looking around at the gathered ponies, some showing fear while others showed curiosity, he smiled before beginning his tale. After all, if one wanted a story, you sometimes had to be willing to tell one.